Puzzle Madness

Chapter 150 Howling (Part 2)

Oh dear, I was too hasty before; he works quite well with these things.

DouDou gave a thumbs-up with both hands and waved them above his head. Now that he could speak again, he naturally wouldn't hold back his praise:

"Hey, can you see this? You're pretty amazing!"

Neither the sticky mouse trap in his hand nor the bouncy spheres clearly possessed hearing. Yet, this cataloger could command them with almost supernatural ease, as if they were his own limbs, through mental communication.
Back when I was at Shouzhu 151, the section chief auntie from Asia-Europe Post Office said: "[The Witch in the Building] is the closest to weaponizing a fanatic. Although it's limited edition with the premise of Southeast Asia and the company."

However, in DouDou's opinion, this human cataloging center has already surpassed them; the cataloger in front of her with a bunch of "peripherals" is clearly more like a mature [weapon].

Against most enemies—whether berserkers or ordinary people—sound waves should be more efficient; their scalability also seems good. While the mobility isn't particularly fast in DouDou's eyes, it's difficult for others to interrupt.

Should I be a normal person or just a human? I wonder if I'll end up like the witch in the building, someone even Dou Dou could barely kill—
The wind howled and tore at the rain, and the salty, damp smell of the sea enveloped everything.

All sounds returned to normal. But as soon as DouDou finished speaking, the researchers' shouts suddenly erupted, exceptionally loud, even drowning out the sound of the rain.

"Cataloger! Don't switch operating modes! Don't switch!"

"The subspecies is not ready! The outcome is uncertain!"

[Control mode? Oh. It seems these balls can be used in other ways. This noisy, chaotic feeling feels familiar, like a game match.]

DouDou reached into her rain hat and carefully scratched her head.

He found the structure of the Human Cataloging Center too strange, at least for the researchers and catalogers working in the field.

There was no conventional armed force protecting them, and it was unclear who made the decisions or who was in charge of the group.

The cataloger might seem to be at a higher level. But in reality, he and the researchers are more like players to the coaching staff, or race car drivers to the car crew.

In comparison, are the people at Asia-Europe Post more—more organized?
[Okay, okay/No problem/The howling didn't work/His physical strength is too high/Let's do it this way/We need to break through the thought wave].

The cataloger's response came quickly. First came a jumble of words—then all silence.

Only one crystal-clear thought suddenly spread throughout the surroundings, without any distractions or echoes. Compared to it, the cataloger's previous mental broadcasts seemed like ramblings in a dream or drunken ramblings:

[The circle is the most inclusive shape. Nothing in the world is excluded.]
The researchers' words fell silent; there was no more obstruction or protest. After a brief silence, a low murmur of agreement arose from the crowd, blending with the sound of the rain:

"Because the circle is the most inclusive shape."

Therefore, there is nothing in the world that is impossible.

DouDou's head darted around rapidly, its gaze shifting between the researchers and catalogers; looking here and there:

[Uh, why are we suddenly chanting slogans?]

He had only ever heard things like "a triangle is the most stable structure" --
What does "nothing in the world is impossible" mean? Does it mean that anything can be done? These two already vague sentences, put together, left DouDou even more confused: they say "because, therefore," but there's no logic to them at all.

The ritualistic chanting, with its religious undertones, sounded eerie coming from the mouths of these researchers dressed in orange protective suits.

DouDou squinted: those long, slender, multi-jointed arms were still dancing wildly around the rain shelter. The flowerpots cultivating the arms, and the chest of the researcher's protective suit, were all adorned with those perfect white circles.
[Oh, that's their logo. Maybe it has some special meaning? Like part of their corporate culture or something. What else did he just say? "Waves of longing"? I think I've heard that before?]

The cataloger grasped the hand that extended outward from his mask: he held the index finger and began to twist and rotate it; the fingertip traced a circle from top to bottom.

pat-
The click of the push-button switch.

[Oh, have you come up with a new trick?]

DouDou held her breath: but nothing happened, even the researchers on the other side of the street were silent; only the sound of rain continued.

After a short while, the cataloger suddenly clapped his hands; the broadcast became chaotic again:
[Try again/Try again/Get ready/Adjust/Adjust].

[Fist/Fist! /Fist/Mankind's best weapon/Most primitive/More effective/Capable of penetrating].

The ant-like [spheres] suddenly stopped moving—pushing and jostling on the slippery roof, nearly falling off; but they managed to stop their momentum, splashing up a patch of accumulated water.

Ping ping ping ping
With the remaining members who came from the crates and joined the queue, the [sphere] team reached about thirty.

Apart from the two at the cataloger's feet, the remaining [spheres] all hooked their arms around each other, pressed tightly together, and made a continuous thumping sound.

Immediately afterwards, their rapid series of movements suddenly converged: all the [spheres] abruptly contracted their muscles, like clenching fists, converging one ring after another, finally forming a giant "fist".

Viewed from the side, it resembles a long, chain-like structure, with each [sphere]'s limbs forming an interlocking link, the way they are joined is extremely bizarre.

To construct this massive striking structure, some of them were clustered together and secured near the supporting beam at the very top of the eaves.
Limbs extended, gripping the drainage ditch and the steel reinforcement joints; knuckles deeply embedded in the wall, twisting and locking the joints, like vines entwining the pillar.

On the other side, the [spheres] at the tail end turned around and embraced each other: their arms and limbs intertwined, stacked like a human pyramid, forming an even larger circle.

This should be where the fist strikes.

[Start!]
With a command from the cataloger:
The spheres suddenly unfolded.

Their feet moved swiftly, accelerating, their bare toes digging into the cracks in the roof; their arms remained tightly intertwined. The outermost [spheres] leaped, pushed off the eaves by those behind them.

Behind him, the [sphere] gripped the ankle of his companion in front, its muscles bulging; this long "arm" composed of dozens of [spheres] connected together fully extended and began to swing, the [spheres] at the very end becoming nothing more than a blur.

A buzzing sound: The air and rain were torn apart, producing an eerie roar; the remaining mist was stirred up by the [Sphere] subspecies as it sped along, forming a spiraling, pale vortex.

It resembles the arm of a giant, but does not follow the structure of the human body: it is not constrained by joints, bones, and muscle bundles; thus, the overall and explosive power of the force is pushed beyond the limit.

A potentially unprecedentedly smooth physical power chain--
Crash, crash, crash.
As the fist swung and slammed into the street, the row of shops diagonally to the right of the corner suddenly shrank. One by one, the small buildings collapsed like pieces of paper, the dull thud accompanied by the clear, ringing sound of dominoes.

The massive, several-meter-diameter hammer slid along the ground, tracing a destructive arc—wherever it passed, storefronts, windows, and pillars shattered into thin pieces like building blocks.

But there was no dust storm; all the dust that was raised was suppressed by the rain.

The fist continued to accelerate, sweeping diagonally towards DouDou: to an ordinary person, this was nothing more than a fleeting moment—but to DouDou, it was still too slow.

(End of this chapter)