Good Job, Alice

In fact, when Xiang Kun arranged "Task 3" before, he had already familiarized "Alice" with and improved the "Vampire Mutation Model" to a certain extent.

Xiang Kun knew that his self-written "Vampire Mutation Model" was still in a very low state of completion because there was too little data and samples available, and the data standardization and comparability were also problematic. Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for it to provide him with much effective advice and reference.

I wonder what kind of feedback "Alice" will provide now that she has learned from and improved upon the data, and has added so much more.

Alice didn't respond immediately, Xiang Kun wasn't in a hurry. He opened his laptop and checked his work emails from that period.

Judging from the regular project progress emails sent by Director Lin and Ma Hongguo, the progress is normal, and it wouldn't be a problem even if he were to "disappear" for another half month.

Then he went to Bilibili and saw that two days after he set off for the Qinling Uninhabited Zone, the video, which had been re-edited and produced by Tang Baona, was released online.

Besides the 2-minute edited version on Bilibili, a 10-second "re-edited" version was also posted on Douyin. Other Weibo and WeChat public accounts also had people repost it, but these were all accounts with a small number of followers, so it didn't cost much money.

Finally, Tang Baona made some final edits to the uploaded video and added some sound effects.

Moreover, all of You Meng's lines were removed from beginning to end, and the types and quantities of ingredients, cooking times, and precautions were all displayed in subtitles. Tang Baona specifically designed and arranged the font and placement of the subtitles, so the overall visual effect was very good.

You Meng's scenes consist of him performing various operations with a cold expression and swift movements. With sharp editing and sound effects, accompanied by background music and clever timing, plus his clean and well-fitting chef's uniform and his already photogenic appearance, he gives off a rather ascetic and masterful vibe.

Especially the scene where, after processing the rabbit meat, the knife is casually tossed aside without even looking, firmly embedded in the cutting board in the distance, exudes a cool and sophisticated air of a master showing off—of course, this was actually achieved through editing.

According to the strategy that Xiang Kun had discussed with You Meng and his wife, as well as Tang Baona, the first one or two videos were intended to focus on quality, without excessive promotion or hype. Once they gained some attention, identified the direction of netizens' interests, and guided the discussion, they would then proceed with the original plan to see if they could generate buzz.

Of course, besides the quality of the video, a certain amount of luck is also needed. You can't make a pig fly high just by giving it wings; you also have to throw it into a favorable wind.

Unexpectedly, when Xiang Kun looked at the video he posted on Bilibili, he found that it had already garnered over 600 comments, more than 20,000 views, and a considerable number of Coin in the past few days.

The Bilibili ID "Youlong Teases Rabbits" who posted this video has already gained over 3,800 followers.

This level of popularity was somewhat beyond his expectations, considering that their promotional efforts were not very substantial, and they already had videos on Weibo and WeChat official accounts, so the traffic wouldn't have been directed here.

A video that's just over two minutes long has received more than 600 comments, which is quite a considerable number.

Xiang Kun glanced at the comments and realized something, so he went to open "Sugar Bean Princess's" homepage.

Sure enough, her latest video was a parody edit related to You Meng's cooking videos.

This two-minute-plus edit uses a lot of footage from You Meng's cooking videos, then inserts scenes and voiceovers from other movies, making it look incredibly silly and funny. For example, when You Meng casually throws away the knife after cutting rabbit meat, the clip cuts to a scene from the movie "East Meets West" where Wang Chongyang is killed by a boot after emerging from seclusion, and she even photoshopped the boot into a kitchen knife. Another example is mixing footage of You Meng cooking with footage of Hannibal Lecter from the TV series Hannibal, quickly editing it, and after adjusting the color tone, it surprisingly doesn't look out of place.

Xiang Kun watched the video. Various comments filled almost half the screen the entire time, such as "I didn't expect you to be such a queen," "I thought you were a sweetie, but I didn't expect you to be a clown," "Is the music section going to take on our parody section again?" and "A well-known music UP master has actually stooped to making parody videos to please his fans. Is this a distortion of humanity or a decline in morality?" These silly comments made him laugh uncontrollably.

After watching it twice, Xiang Kun searched the entire site and found several parody videos using You Meng's cooking videos as material. They came in various formats and had play counts ranging from a few thousand to a few hundred, but none of them were as good as Tang Baona's in terms of quality and creativity.

Although Tang Baona never actively mentioned You Meng's video, after watching the parody video and finding it funny, people naturally sought out the "source of all evil." Other content creators with a keen sense of opportunity also joined in after realizing that this material had potential.

As a fairly well-known content creator on Bilibili, "Sugar Bean Princess" often makes some pretty good mashup videos in addition to covers, but this type of parody video is the first time she has made one. It is a stark contrast to her previous style, which has attracted more attention.

Xiang Kun was somewhat touched, knowing that Tang Baona was proactively helping him and You Meng promote the video.

Although the video itself is of good quality, quite exquisite, and has its own characteristics after being edited and processed by Tang Baona, it is difficult to become an instant hit without any prior promotion or advertising, as the production of this short video is not particularly impressive.

Tang Baona, familiar with user habits and preferences, knew that silly and humorous videos were more likely to spread and generate buzz among netizens. She personally took to the platform, leveraging the popularity of her own account to accelerate the video's spread and save Xiang Kun and You Meng a lot of time and money for their subsequent operations.

Xiang Kun knew very well that the silly video might seem harmless, but producing it wouldn't be much easier than editing their previous short video. There was a lot of material to process, and ensuring the scenes didn't look disjointed or abrupt required a lot of time and effort. It was almost certain that Tang Baona had spent all her rest time on this.

She didn't mention any of this to Xiang Kun, nor did she ask him for credit; she did it all quietly.

Xiang Kun wondered how many meals he owed Tang Baona.

Without her, Xiang Kun's planned hype would have taken much longer, and the final video might still be unfinished, let alone generate any buzz after its release.

As Xiang Kun was pondering how to thank Tang Baona, "Alice's" voice came through the nearby speaker:

"Boss, I have an opinion."

Xiang Kun's spirits lifted, and he asked, "Tell me your thoughts."

"I have two points to make. First, you can only acquire new ability patterns from the blood of Mutated Creature, but the ability patterns you acquire are not necessarily derived from the mutated patterns."

Xiang Kun thought for a moment and then understood what she meant.

What she meant was that when Xiang Kun drank rabbit blood or chicken blood, he couldn't gain their abilities from ordinary rabbits or chickens. However, when he drank the blood of Mutated Creature, he could gain abilities that weren't solely derived from mutation, such as the Giant Owl's night vision ability—ordinary owls also have night vision.

Xiang Kun nodded. He had actually realized this before, but he was still quite satisfied that "Alice" had come to this conclusion.

"And the second point?"

"Secondly, your mutation trend and the pattern of acquiring abilities do not match the mutation models of owls and spiders. Your human form is limiting your mutations. The types of abilities you gain after drinking the blood of other Mutated Creature are also related to this pattern."

This second point was somewhat unexpected for Xiang Kun, and also somewhat surprising, because the angle from which "Alice" raised the question was indeed something he hadn't carefully considered before.

"Tell me your analysis process," Xiang Kun said.

"Based on the morphology and abilities of mutated owls and spiders, combined with the mutation results of your targeted training over the past few months, my newly created model analysis suggests that, according to normal mutation outcomes, your appearance should change as follows..."

In "Alice's" depiction, after continuous targeted training and multiple blood-drinking mutations, Xiang Kun's body should have undergone a significant mutation that deviates greatly from the human form in order to evolve for stronger functions.

For example, if the mutation is intended to continuously enhance the sense of smell through constant training, then in order to distribute more olfactory cells and detect more odor particles, the nose should become larger and larger.

For example, constantly climbing mountains and engaging in various high-difficulty strength and agility training exercises should cause significant changes in the distribution of muscles in the body. For instance, the proportion of muscles in the thighs and glutes will increase considerably, and the structure of the skeleton will also change, etc.

For example, with repeated injuries, the skin should harden or develop a crust to provide stronger protection.

Moreover, he acquired night vision from the Giant Owl. Theoretically, owl's night vision relies on a large number of photosensitive rod cells, so their eyes are cylindrical rather than spherical and are fixed in their sockets, unable to rotate. Therefore, their necks are very flexible and can rotate 270 degrees.

Even in night vision mode, Xiang Kun's eyes can still move flexibly.

Of course, when viewed in night vision mode, his eyes appear somewhat different from ordinary eyes, emitting an eerie glow. However, overall, his appearance does not deviate from the realm of normal human beings.

In comparison, the Giant Owl's talons and size were significantly different from its original form, and the mutated spider was even more so, almost becoming a different species altogether.

In order to enable them to mutate, their morphology has undergone a great deal of adaptive changes.

As for Guo Tianxiang? His abilities all exist within human society, and we don't see him receiving targeted guidance and training like Xiang Kun from his memories, so it's hard to make a judgment.

It seems that, in order to maintain a human form, one's own body is, to some extent, limiting its ability to mutate, select, and alter.

Is it because humans possess high intelligence that they automatically impose this limitation—the body believes that in human society, maintaining a normal human form is essential for better survival?

However, Xiang Kun felt that it might still be related to his subconscious desire not to become a non-human monster. After all, he had learned from Guo Tianxiang's abilities that his greatest fear was becoming a monster with eight arms and eight eyes.

This is like a system's framework and rules. All kinds of functions and applications must follow these rules, be modified and assimilated, adapt to the rules, and integrate into the framework before they can be used.

Xiang Kun suspected that many of the abilities and mutation patterns he obtained from the Giant Owl, the mutated spider, and even Guo Tianxiang's blood were likely because they did not conform to his own "system rules" and could not be directly mutated—because his body was not allowed to mutate related alien organs or conflict with his existing abilities. Instead, he could only consciously improve and assimilate them into his system little by little.

Of course, it's also possible that his subconscious and physical mind believe that the current "system" is a more powerful and efficient direction of mutation, so he is unwilling to change the overall direction for other "minor" abilities.

Regardless of why he possessed the "system framework and rules" that "follow the basic human form," Xiang Kun breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing this, at least he no longer had to worry too much about turning into a monster.

Alice's voice continued to explain her analysis in detail, but Xiang Kun had already considered all of this, so he told her to stop.

To be honest, Alice's performance this time was quite unexpected and pleasantly surprising.

This is exactly the kind of helper and assistant he needs!

"Well done, Alice," Xiang Kun praised.

"You did a good job too, boss," Alice responded immediately.

Xiang Kun's smile froze. Okay, there's still room for improvement. "You should say, 'Thank you, boss, I'll keep working hard.'"

"Thank you, boss. I'll keep working hard."

"New Task 1: While ensuring your online activities go undetected and your own safety is maintained, collect information on Shenxing Technology and its founder Lu Cheng'an, as well as news and discussions related to the death of a streamer surnamed Xue and his two companions in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone."

On the afternoon of December 24, Xiang Kun took all the processed and marinated rabbit meat with him and went to Tang Baona's house.

Tonight is Christmas Eve. Two days ago, Xiang Kun had already made plans with Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er to go to their house to cook for them and spend Christmas Eve together.

In fact, this Western holiday has no real meaning for them. It's just that the streets and the internet are full of festive atmospheres deliberately created by businesses, and they just take the opportunity to get together.

Originally, it was just the three of them, but then Tang Baona's sister heard that Xiang Kun was going to cook, so she decided to leave it to the two of them and dragged her fiancé along to join in the fun. Then came Chang Bin and Wang Han, followed by two of Tang Baona's friends and one of Yang Zhen'er's classmates, and suddenly it became a big gathering of 10 people.

Xiang Kun now has his own unique way of getting along with people, so he doesn't care too much. Besides, apart from Yang Zhen'er's classmate whom he hadn't met before, he was quite familiar with the others, and most of them were even his best friends in this city.

Moreover, this time he drank blood and killed a record twelve rabbits, so there's no need to worry about not having enough rabbit meat.

As he passed the security booth in the residential area carrying a styrofoam box filled with prepared rabbit meat, the two security guards greeted him warmly and gave him a thumbs-up, saying, "Mr. Xiang. Xiang's rabbit meat is truly amazing! That cold-served rabbit is the best I've had in years! Mr. Xiang, if you open a rabbit restaurant in the future, your business will definitely be booming!"

Xiang Kun smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with them before going out to hail a taxi and leaving.

After returning from the Qinling Uninhabited Zone, Xiang Kun was worried that his health might be depleted, so he bought a lot more rabbits, purchasing 15 at once.

When the rabbits were being moved, the security guard came over and asked what was going on. After all, Xiang Kun back rabbits over the past few months, sometimes as few as five or six, sometimes as many as seven or eight, and this time there were more than a dozen at once. It was clear that he was not keeping ordinary pets, and the guard was worried that if he kept too many rabbits in the house, the smell and noise might disturb other residents.

Xiang Kun explained that he was practicing making rabbit dishes for his future restaurant, and showed them the empty cages at home, telling them that the rabbits he had previously made into dishes. Two days later, after recovering from his illness, Xiang Kun took a portion of rabbit meat and made a "cold rabbit" dish for the security guards to "test," immediately winning their approval as a "rabbit meat chef."

When Xiang Kun arrived at Tang Baona's house, Xiang Kun was taken aback to see that Tang Baona had invited two friends to spend Christmas Eve with her.

He happened to know these two people, and he had a particularly deep impression of them—the couple he met at the KTV on Tang Baona's birthday. They had been together since elementary school and eventually got married. The man was the art director of a game company with pigtails, and the woman was Tang Baona's childhood friend, Linlin.

To Xiang Kun's astonishment, after that day, he heard Tang Baona say that the couple, who had grown up together and entered into marriage, had a major falling out over a small conflict and eventually divorced.

But now they seem to be chatting and laughing together, getting along quite well, don't they?

While Xiang Kun went to the kitchen to prepare the rabbit meat and other ingredients that had been prepared in advance, Tang Baona came over under the pretext of helping out and whispered with a smile, "You were surprised to see the two of them, weren't you?"

Xiang Kun blurted out instinctively, "They remarried?"

This time, Tang Baona was stunned. "You knew?"

"Oh, just a guess," Xiang Kun chuckled. "They really know how to make a fuss."

"They made such a big scene before, even changed their divorce certificate, and Linlin was so resolute in her words. I thought they really couldn't go back this time. I didn't expect that so little time has passed and they're as good as new again... I really don't know what to say about them... They must be closer than ordinary relatives now. I guess they just can't adapt to life without each other." Tang Baona wasn't surprised that Xiang Kun could guess. In her opinion, Xiang Kun had always had an amazing insight, always able to see things that others couldn't. Perhaps he saw something in the state between Linlin and her husband and came to this judgment.

Indeed, as soon as Xiang Kun entered the room, he gleaned a great deal of information from the couple who had reconciled, and established a cognitive model of them.

However, Xiang Kun's decision to remarry came from anticipating what Tang Baona was about to say. After she said, "You must be surprised to see them," Xiang Kun immediately thought of the next sentence and guessed what she was going to say.

Xiang Kun discovered that the cognitive models he built for people he knew very well were extremely detailed. These models were not only constructed through new cognitive modes using visual, auditory, and olfactory information, but also involved a large amount of observational information about past behaviors, habits, performances, emotions, and other aspects, making them a more three-dimensional and comprehensive model.

By observing various real-time information such as tone of voice, expression, and content of conversation, Xiang Kun can instantly use this model to make predictions about Tang Baona's behavior, language, and even to a certain extent, her thinking.

Xiang Kun himself hadn't expected that he would know Tang Baona so well.

However, if the target is changed to Yang Zhen'er or Chang Bin, the effect will be less, and if it is changed to other people in the room, the effect will decrease again.