Xiang Kun then sent a message: "You're not the owner of this account, are you?"
The other side immediately replied, "What does it matter? Didn't you also create a fake account before you dared to send me a private message?" Clearly, they had completely given up on deceiving Xiang Kun by creating the image of a cute female vampire.
Xiang Kun ignored her previous "ultimatum"-like reply and didn't care about her threat to block him. He knew from their previous communication that the guy on the other end of the internet was much more anxious than he was.
"Meet me at 2 PM tomorrow at the 'Long Time No See Cafe' on ** Street in *** City. Tell me about your clothes or physical characteristics, and I'll look for you then."
Although Xiang Kun also wanted to see what other "vampires" were like, he wanted to find more mutation samples for his "Vampire Mutation Model," collect more data, and know more about the mutations in order to find the root cause of the mutations.
He didn't have a real need to meet the "vampire." If the other party blocked him, so be it; he never intended to use that account again anyway. Even if he lost all contact with the "vampire," he wouldn't be unable to accept it.
Xiang Kun released the mouse and gently poked at a bowl of dumplings that had been served next to him with his chopsticks.
The meeting place he suggested was in the neighboring city where he had spent the whole day exploring. He had originally just been making a contingency plan, preparing for a possible in-person meeting, and choosing a few places that were easy to observe and where he was familiar with the routes. Now that the other party had proposed meeting, it was natural to choose a location that he had already scouted out.
As for why he didn't place the location in the city, it's naturally because he didn't want the other party to think he lived in this city.
He now basically concludes that the same Mutated Creature can obtain special senses through sensory information such as smell within a certain distance, just like when he inexplicably noticed the scent of the "Giant Owl" in that small hill.
We don't want them to come to this city and wander around aimlessly, only to be caught off guard and run into trouble on the street.
It's like encrypting a file using the salted PBKDF2 algorithm, thinking about how to prevent brute-force attacks and rainbow codes, only to have the attacker know the password length and just randomly try a password by mashing the keyboard...
Therefore, Xiang Kun must reduce the probability of this happening, and the meeting place must be chosen in another city.
As for setting the time so tightly, Xiang Kun wanted to prevent the other side from having enough time to prepare or set up an ambush.
Can we get there in time? With current transportation speeds, it shouldn't be a problem within China. If the other party is currently in *** city, where the meeting was just proposed, then we definitely have enough time. Besides, that's their problem to consider; it's none of his business.
After sending the message, Xiang Kun silently started counting down in his mind.
When he counted to 157 seconds, the other side finally replied:
"I'll wear a blue top and order two drinks. But tomorrow afternoon is too rushed, so how about 2 pm the day after tomorrow? Also, you need to tell me your clothing and physical characteristics so I can confirm it's you!"
Xiang Kun ignored her bargaining and replied directly, "Then it's settled. See you tomorrow at 2 PM."
Then he simply closed the browser, deleted the virtual machine, shut down the computer, got up and asked the waiter to pack up the dumplings, and left.
Judging from this brief private chat, Xiang Kun's preconceived notions about "August's Kasumi" were basically correct. This "vampire" clearly had ill intentions and wanted to "fish" for her, and he was very eager to do so.
At first, she thought she would use the persona of "August's Kasumi" to fool Xiang Kun, but after discovering that Xiang Kun was slippery and had already taken precautions, she still relentlessly wanted to know his identity or meet him offline, completely ignoring his abnormal behavior and his relentless probing.
"It must be starving..." Xiang Kun muttered to himself. Just like that "Giant Owl," even though it was injured and hadn't recovered, it was unwilling to leave to heal before coming back, which gave Xiang Kun, a ground creature that couldn't fly, the opportunity to pin it to the ground and gank it.
Thinking of this, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, frowning as he recalled his thoughts and actions after learning of the existence of other "vampires".
Was I also being influenced by that instinct to devour the blood of other Mutated Creature?
If it were another Mutated Creature, like the "Giant Owl," transformed from a non-human animal, he had no doubt that he would actively "hunt" it.
Is that instinct, perhaps ingrained in his genes, driving him to "hunt" this "vampire"? Just as the other person desperately wants to meet him?
Xiang Kun carefully recalled and felt his psychological journey and motivations before making each decision over the past few days. He basically judged that his decisions were not directly influenced by physical impulses or desires, but his subconscious mind should have had such a tendency.
Xiang Kun didn't dwell on it any longer. He walked to a beggar who was curled up and dozing at the foot of the overpass stairs, placed the packaged dumplings next to him without making a sound, and then silently walked onto the overpass.
Before making a decision, Xiang Kun would hesitate and weigh the options, but once he had made the decision, he would just follow the plan; otherwise, he would be even more conflicted later.
Back home, Xiang Kun first organized and refined his chat history with "August's Kasumi".
Basically, both of their statements were more lies than truths; most were tests, and the rest were difficult to discern as genuine or false. However, relatively speaking, Xiang Kun the other party:
1. The other party may primarily feed on human blood and may have had blood on their hands;
2. Bloodletting "therapy" to suppress manic behavior during hunger;
3. The city or town where the other party agrees to meet might be their "base camp," or at least a familiar place.
1 and 3 are not entirely certain yet, but we'll find out about 2 once we have the time to try it out and see if bloodletting can really suppress the mania caused by hunger.
In addition, there is some information that the other party is obviously using to "phish," such as QQ number, website, company name, etc. He will not immediately pursue these, because judging from the other party's behavior, it is highly unlikely that he will find any useful information.
He repeatedly reviewed and checked his reply, and believed that he had not revealed any information that would expose him.
Moreover, during the chat, he continuously monitored the port and data in real time, and there were no abnormalities.
At 2 a. m., Xiang Kun prepared food and water for the canary and the remaining rabbits, then put on a wig he had prepared beforehand, changed his clothes, and took a carving knife with him, heading to a neighboring city overnight.