IMC Chapter 29

Lan Qing couldn’t believe that his cute, fluffy teammate could be so rough. He shook his head in disbelief and stared carefully at his fluffy friend.

Shu Bao felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at and asked curiously, “What’s up? What are you looking at?”

Lan Qing: “…” Why did it feel like his fluffy friend’s demeanor had suddenly become strange?

At that moment, in the live stream, the screen went blank for a moment, and then the comments started flooding in.

“Hahaha. Even though I can understand the meaning through the translator, why does it still feel weird!”

“Which home planet’s language is this? It’s so unique! What are you looking at?”

“What are you looking at?”

“I’m more concerned about whether we’ll see another incomprehensible world tonight like yesterday!”

“Hahaha. What’s going on?”

In the interstellar era, language communication was no longer an issue. There were many types of external language translators. The bracelets carried by participants like Shu Bao also had translation functions. Instant translation was not difficult with current technology. Therefore, the interstellar residents quickly grasped the essence of the Northeastern Chinese dialect the first time they encountered it.

Shu Bao didn’t realize that he had accidentally revealed his origins. But since Earth didn’t exist in this universe, there was nothing to worry about.

Lan Qing was silent for a while before saying, “It’s nothing. I just think the story you told was very meaningful.”

“Right, right. I’m not saying we can cut out a universe, but exploring it should be possible.” Shu Bao even thought that he could create some axe weapons in the future to match the vibe of the story.

Lan Qing tried to convince himself and restore his fluffy friend’s demeanor, “Not only that, but you see, in the story, Pan Gu was initially asleep. A person who is asleep doesn’t have a clear consciousness, so everything was chaotic. But when he woke up, he started consciously observing his surroundings. That observation led to the collapse of the chaotic universe, forming everything he imagined, thus creating all things.”

After finishing the story, Lan Qing looked at his mouse teammate and found the little mouse slightly gaping in surprise. The snake couldn’t help but scratch its chin with its tail. “Did you not understand?”

“No, no, I understood!” Shu Bao was shocked precisely because he understood. The myth he casually recounted had been given a scientific explanation by his snake teammate, and it seemed quite reasonable.

Coincidentally, Shu Bao had indeed encountered situations in this universe where imagined things became real. It happened when the mouse discovered the black stone. The imagined cat-headed snake and snake-headed cat became real!

Seeing his fluffy teammate like this, Lan Qing couldn’t help but doubt. The fluffy teammate hadn’t even learned simple hand signals; could he really understand his explanation?

Perhaps sensing the slight doubt in Lan Qing’s eyes, the mouse suddenly got a little angry. The fluffy ones couldn’t continue being looked down upon! The fluffy one needed to re-establish his image, so Shu Bao cleared his throat, “Let me tell you another story!”

Lan Qing immediately coiled himself up out of habit, signaling Shu Bao to continue.

Shu Bao began pacing back and forth as he told the story, “Put a cat and a bottle of poison in a box together. The poison has a 50% chance of breaking. Close the box and do not use any observation method; then the cat inside the box is in a 50% dead and 50% alive chaotic state.”

“But when we open the box or use any method of observation, the cat inside the box collapses from the half-dead, half-alive chaotic state into either a dead or alive reality¹I think this is a modified version of Schrödinger’s idea. In Schrödinger’s original formulation, a cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are placed in a sealed box. If an internal radiation monitor (e.g. a Geiger counter) detects radioactivity (i.e. a single atom decaying), the flask is shattered, releasing the poison, which kills the cat. The Copenhagen interpretation implies that, after a while, the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. Yet, when one looks in the box, one sees the cat either alive or dead, not both alive and dead. This poses the question of when exactly quantum superposition ends and reality resolves into one possibility or the other.. Observation causes collapse, or one could say consciousness causes the chaos to collapse into reality. The universe is like the box in the story, and Pan Gu is the first consciousness born. It was his awakening and observation that caused the chaotic universe to collapse into the real universe.”

As Shu Bao narrated, Lan Qing’s eyes gradually brightened. “This story is great! It cleverly combines quantum mechanics with the macroscopic world. Shu Bao, you’re amazing!”

Shu Bao bashfully scratched his head. “This wasn’t my idea; it was proposed by someone named Schrödinger.”

“Is he a fluffy one like you?” Lan Qing curiously asked.

Shu Bao shook his head, recalling an old photo of Schrödinger he had seen. “No, he’s a bit bald.” Then he glanced at his snake teammate and added, “Not as bald as you.” After all, the other guy only had a receding hairline due to age, not a full baldness.

Lan Qing: “???” Discriminating against baldness is wrong!

To shift the focus, Lan Qing began to share his speculations. “People usually think that in states of sleep, coma, or death, there is no consciousness. Sleep is the most peculiar because people dream when they are asleep. In dreams, people are conscious. But this consciousness is limited to the dream and does not respond to reality.”

Shu Bao nodded. “So, dreams are often considered the boundary between chaos and reality. And here, for us who have activated the magic line, night is the boundary between chaos and reality!”

Lan Qing raised the tip of his tail to high-five Shu Bao’s paw. “Exactly! So, the night is a chaotic world, and the creatures of the night are chaotic beings, possibly even imagined entities created by someone’s consciousness. We just don’t know why these imagined things became real.”

With just a few words, they speculated about the nature of the nighttime world. After celebrating with a high-five, they were curious about why this universe had such a mechanism. What kind of universe had they crossed into, and why was it so unique?

Of course, the above speculation still required more exploration to verify. A world created by imagination holds infinite possibilities and infinite dangers.

“No wonder you’re a treasure-seeking mouse, Shu Bao! You’re so smart!”

“You’re indeed a Lan Snake; your thinking is really flexible!”

After their speculation, the two didn’t forget to compliment each other before making up and going for a stroll together.

After submitting the task, there were still twenty-four hours before the next task would refresh. During this time, they decided to check the tribe, especially the fence. The fence seemed to be a default barrier that could block the invasion of chaotic creatures from outside.

Everyone in the tribe was very busy—some were collecting resources, some were tending to seedlings in the planting area, others were practicing weapons and magic, and of course, some were repairing the defensive structures. From everyone’s positive attitude, it seemed they were not scared by last night’s events; rather, they were filled with determination.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion. Since it was cloudy today, the people from the Long tribe didn’t come to investigate or attack. It seemed like everything was moving in a positive direction.

That was until dusk, when Shu Bao, who had been fishing by the river, got pulled into the water by a fish. He climbed out, soaking wet, and laid out on the pebbles to dry off his fur.

Then, a commotion erupted from the tribe, catching the attention of both Shu Bao and Lan Qing. Lan Qing retracted his tail, which he had been using as a fishing rod, and ate the fruit tied to its tip. “Let’s go back and see what’s happening.”

Shu Bao quickly shook off the water from his fur, instantly fluffing up like a hedgehog. The two hurried back to the tribe and found that the argument was between the original residents of the Xia Wang tribe and the slaves from the Sishe tribe.

This was unusual, as the people from the Sishe tribe had been working hard to become official residents and had always acted low-key. Why were they arguing with the Xia Wang people?

The high priest was caught in the middle of the two groups, looking very troubled. Seeing Shu Bao and Lan Qing return, he quickly brought them over and silenced the crowd to explain the situation.

It turned out that while preparing dinner, the Xia Wang tribe members discovered a shortage in the tribe’s grain reserves. Food was extremely precious at the time and stealing it was a serious offense. After questioning everyone, they found that no one in their own tribe had stolen the food, so the cooks began to suspect the Sishe people.

After all, compared to their own tribe members, a group from an invading tribe seemed more likely to be at fault.

Faced with the Xia Wang people’s suspicions, the diligent Sishe people were angry and repeatedly denied stealing the food. This back-and-forth led to the argument.

“That’s the situation,” the Grand Sorcerer said, clearly troubled.

“How much food is missing?” Shu Bao asked.

“About enough for one person’s daily ration,” replied the person who had been cooking.

Shu Bao looked around, seeing the righteous anger on the faces of the Xia Wang people and the frustration and anger on the faces of the Sishe people. His eyes looked even further out, “Is it possible that it wasn’t anyone from our tribe who ate the food?”

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, then turned their gazes to Shu Bao, seemingly asking what he meant by his statement.

Shu Bao sniffed the air carefully and then quickly started inspecting the tribe. Seeing this, Lan Qing also began to wander around. After a short while, the two returned. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Shu Bao spoke in a somewhat serious tone, “Someone unfamiliar has entered our tribe, and they should still be hiding here.”

Lan Qing nodded in agreement, “Yes, there’s a strange scent. But for some reason, it’s hard to pinpoint.”

There was an immediate uproar. The tribe members looked around, surprised and somewhat creeped out. An intruder had entered their tribe and they hadn’t noticed at all!

What Shu Bao and Lan Qing didn’t mention was that they had found a footprint—an unmistakable shoe print. The shoe seemed to be made of rubber or some synthetic material, with a finely detailed tread pattern, something that could not have been made in their current era!

As the others dispersed to search for the intruder, Lan Qing leaned towards Shu Bao, “Do you think it’s another participant?”

Shu Bao, busy tidying his spiky fur, looked worried. “If it’s a participant, that’s one thing. I’m afraid it’s something from the chaotic world.”

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  I think this is a modified version of Schrödinger’s idea. In Schrödinger’s original formulation, a cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are placed in a sealed box. If an internal radiation monitor (e.g. a Geiger counter) detects radioactivity (i.e. a single atom decaying), the flask is shattered, releasing the poison, which kills the cat. The Copenhagen interpretation implies that, after a while, the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. Yet, when one looks in the box, one sees the cat either alive or dead, not both alive and dead. This poses the question of when exactly quantum superposition ends and reality resolves into one possibility or the other.