Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 96: Spiritual Communication

After lowering her expectations to the minimum, Du Jiajia was ready to accept any strange and chaotic ability. But when the moment arrived, she still felt anxious.

"So, what exactly is my ability?" she asked.

"It's up to you to figure that out," Tang Jing shrugged.

"Up to me?"

"Little Huang comes by every few days, and it's definitely because of you. Think about what you did before it comes each time."

"Well..." Du Jiajia fell into contemplation. "I don't think I did anything special..."

"The first time the little cat came, what were we doing?" Chang Junyan interjected.

"It seems we just finished setting up the water tank and were waiting for rain," Chang Junyan said.

"And then?"

"Tang Jing started talking about whether the sound of rain would deafen us and began explaining hearing-related things..."

"When Tang Jing was speaking, what were you doing?" Tang Jing asked.

"I wasn't doing anything," Du Jiajia said, feeling a bit wronged.

"What were you thinking about at that moment?"

"I..." Du Jiajia seemed to recall something, her face turning a bit embarrassed. After hesitating for a while, she finally admitted, "I couldn't understand a word Tang Jing was saying, so I found it boring and started thinking about something fun to do..."

The others exchanged glances and several of them burst into laughter.

Obviously, Du Jiajia's words echoed the feelings of many others.

Tang Jing didn't get upset; she could only smile helplessly.

Chen Mu chuckled, "So, you were feeling bored, and that's why this cat came to play with you?"

"It can't be that exaggerated," Du Jiajia said, although she faintly felt there might be a connection, she didn't dare to be certain from a logical standpoint.

"Then, what were you doing or thinking about before this mouse was brought here?" Chen Mu asked again.

Du Jiajia lowered her head and pondered for a moment, her face suddenly becoming a bit strange.

"Well... perhaps... it might be because of cooking."

"What's wrong with cooking?"

"I... When I was cooking that day, I secretly tore off a small strip of meat and tasted it. I felt unsatisfied but didn't want to eat more... In short, I really wanted to eat meat... Could it be because of that..."

"I've cracked the case!" Qian Fei slapped his thigh.

Chen Mu couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, remembering that when Dong Junwei suggested that Du Jiajia take charge of cooking, he was worried that this gluttonous girl might be a bit greedy.

"I really only ate a tiny bit, a very small strip of meat, and only that one time..." Du Jiajia looked full of regret and guilt.

Dong Junwei laughed and said, "It's a chef's privilege to taste the food before serving, so just consider it a taste test."

Chen Mu said, "So, when you feel bored, the cat comes to play with you, and when you want to eat meat, the cat brings you a mouse. That's probably the idea behind it."

Tang Jing said, "Based on the current situation, this is the most reasonable explanation."

"Pretty impressive."

"But what does this ability really mean? Animal control?" He Ying asked.

"I remember a former comrade who had the ability to mentally control non-human animals. Could it be that after his death, Du Jiajia randomly inherited this ability?"

"That's unlikely," Tang Jing shook her head. "Shortly after we became smaller, we all collectively experienced a headache. If I guess correctly, at that moment, all of us already had these special abilities, but the time of discovery varied for each person. By that time, your comrade probably hadn't died yet."

"True," He Ying nodded, agreeing with Tang Jing's analysis. "And that person needed to actively control animals, and the most he could control were ants and the like. Even flies were challenging, not to mention cats."

Dong Junwei added, "Du Jiajia doesn't seem to need to confront the little cat; she just has to think about it, and the other party will come to fulfill her wish. Isn't that much stronger than that person?"

However, Tang Jing shook her head and said, "Not necessarily."

"Why is that?"

"From the current perspective, in the initial stages of these abilities, there seems to be a balance. The more magical and powerful an ability appears to be, the greater its difficulty and limitations in usage. On the contrary, abilities that don't seem as impressive tend to have a wider scope of influence."

"I don't quite understand." Most people were left confused.

Tang Jing explained, "Let's take Du Jiajia and He Ying's comrade as an example. Active mental control seems like a very powerful ability, but precisely because of that, he can only control very small objects, and it's quite challenging for him."

"But when it comes to Du Jiajia, from the beginning, she can influence animals like cats, which indicates that the effectiveness of this influence may not be as good. At least it's unlikely to reach the level of mental control."

"That sounds somewhat reasonable."

"For instance, Zhao Xiaoyan's enhanced sense of smell has limited effectiveness, but its range of influence is quite broad. On the other hand, Wei Dalei's immense strength is only effective in close combat. Perhaps, within certain rules, this is fair."

"But Chen Mu's ability has great effects and a wide range of influence," Du Jiajia seemed a bit unconvinced.

"That's because Chen Mu's mental power is much stronger than others', and this is one of the distinct features of these abilities - they can grow. If we recall, at the beginning, Chen Mu's ability could only affect something as small as a thumbtack, and its precision and speed were nowhere near what they are now. But today, he can easily control objects hundreds of times heavier."

"Alright," Du Jiajia couldn't refute and had to accept this explanation. However, she then asked, "So... what exactly is my ability?"

Tang Jing replied, "This needs further research and experimentation."

"Is it that complicated?" Du Jiajia seemed eager and couldn't wait.

Tang Jing smiled and said, "Special abilities are an extremely complex system. In fact, even Chen Mu and the squad leader's abilities still have many aspects that are unclear."

"Okay," Du Jiajia felt somewhat helpless.

"But..." Tang Jing took a different approach, saying, "Let's make a bold assumption."

"What is it?"

"I speculate that Du Jiajia's ability might involve spiritual communication with animals."

"Spiritual communication?"

"Yes, in terms of its effect, it seems weaker than direct mental control, but it could explain why Du Jiajia could influence animals like cats right from the start."

"So, does that mean I can communicate with Little Huang?" Du Jiajia broke in with curiosity.

"I'm not sure about mutual communication, as most animals' intelligence doesn't reach that level. Even among the same species, communication is usually limited to conveying information and conditioned reflexes. It's still quite different from the kind of communication humans have."

As Tang Jing noticed some minds starting to wander again, she could only smile and add, "Anyway, it's more or less like that, but there are still many things we need to confirm about Du Jiajia's ability, such as why only Little Huang received her thoughts."

"How do we confirm that?"

"Let's take it step by step."

Though Tang Jing couldn't explain everything right away, her determination grew even stronger. At this moment, she gave a meaningful smile and suggested, "Du Jiajia, how about you try having a face-to-face communication with your Little Huang?"

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