Ant Enthusiast

Looking at the middle-aged man of medium build, rugged features, and a small mustache who had just walked out of the scenic area entrance, Ji Hang wondered:

How did he get here?

This middle-aged man Li Shiping. He and Ji Hang used to work in the same unit and could be considered comrades-in-arms.

When Ji Hang started his security company, he naturally contacted many of his old comrades-in-arms. He knew very well who had the strongest business skills and professional expertise. Li Shiping was one of the first people he contacted. He knew very well that Li Shiping had a lot of experience in leading and commanding small teams.

For their line of work, there aren't actually very high requirements for physical fitness or fighting skills. As time goes by and they get older, they will inevitably be inferior to younger people. In comparison, experience and other professional skills are the real priceless treasures, things that ordinary people can't learn even if they spend money and time.

However, Li Shiping not only declined his offer, but also recruited him, saying that a large company was hiring with very generous compensation, with an annual income that could reach seven figures, and the best insurance and benefits.

Yes, the comrade he mentioned to President Chu and President Liu last night who found a "suitable job" and earns a seven-figure annual income is Li Shiping.

To be honest, he was very interested at the time and asked some follow-up questions, but Li Shiping said that more specific details would require a specialist to talk to him, and that some confidentiality agreements would need to be signed.

After careful consideration, Ji Hang decided to continue his entrepreneurial journey.

First, he had already gathered some old buddies and raised enough funds; he couldn't just abandon the business. Second, based on Li Shiping's description, the tasks that company wanted them to do wouldn't be easy. The big money certainly wouldn't be earned for nothing. It might not be illegal or criminal, but they would either be away on business trips for extended periods or on call 24/7. With the complex confidentiality agreements, it would probably be similar to their previous missions. He was getting on in years and still hoped for a normal life.

Upon seeing his old comrade-in-arms, Ji Hang didn't greet him. He noticed that there were five people with Li Shiping— two women and three men—who were probably working right now.

Li Shiping, having just left the scenic area, maintained his keen observation skills and quickly noticed the dark-skinned man leaning against a GL8 in the parking lot. He didn't linger on the man's face for long, but simply nodded slightly as a greeting.

Ji Hang responded with a slight nod.

It seems he's truly in work mode now.

Ji Hang couldn't help but wonder about Li Shiping's job. Judging from the people accompanying him, their attire, appearance, the things they carried, and their personnel, they didn't seem like wealthy people going up the mountain for leisurely sightseeing.

If it's not for tourism, what's the point of coming to Wushu Mountain?

Judging from Li Shiping's position as he walked and the state of the others, it can be inferred that among them, the two women held the highest or most important positions.

The two women looked quite serious and were talking in hushed tones, as if they had encountered some problem.

However, despite his curiosity, Ji Hang knew that if he rashly investigated without involving any relevant interests, it would be tantamount to provoking Li Shiping and affecting his work.

Half a minute later, watching Xiang Kun and his group following closely behind as they emerged from the scenic area, a thought suddenly popped into Ji Hang's mind:

Xiang Kun's visit to Wushu Mountain today, could it be related to Li Shiping and the others?

However, he quickly dismissed the thought; it couldn't be such a coincidence.

He naturally had no idea that while he and Li Shiping were subtly and tacitly exchanging greetings from a distance, Xiang Kun, who was not far from Li Shiping Xiang Kun group and was also leaving the scenic area, had already noticed their "communication" and instantly connected them.

Xiang Kun didn't think Ji Hang was from "Shenxing Technology," because he could clearly sense that the person from "Shenxing Technology" who nodded to Ji Hang showed a moment of surprise or astonishment when he saw Ji Hang. Moreover, based on the conversation between Ji Hang and Xu Kai after they entered the scenic area, he could confirm that the reason they came to drive today was because of Liu Feibao, and had nothing to do with "Shenxing Technology."

As for the person from "Shenxing Technology" knowing Ji Hang, it's actually easy to understand—they may have served in the same unit before.

Several hours earlier, while they were still in the car and had not yet arrived at the scenic area, Xiang Kun had already sensed that Mi Qiao and the people from "Shenxing Technology" were already at the Wushu Mountain Scenic Area by sensing the piece of paper next to Mi Qiao that had established a "Super-Sensory Link".

Therefore, Xiang Kun was not surprised to encounter Mi Qiao, Fang Pingfang, and others in Wushu Mountain; in fact, he was somewhat looking forward to it.

Although they had some suspicions about their purpose in coming to the vicinity of Wushu Mountain, it was only at this moment that they could be completely certain that they were indeed after the Mutated Creature that might appear on Wushu Mountain.

Xiang Kun was also very curious about what methods they would use to investigate, and what role Mi Qiao and Dr. Fang would play in this process.

Compared to the whereabouts of the "mutated ants" or "mutated birds," he was more concerned about the investigation methods used by "Shenxing Technology" for such matters.

When Xiang Kun and others went up the mountain, Mi Qiao and others were already on the mountain, and they were in the area where the accident happened the day before yesterday. That area had been blocked off and isolated, and the staff of the scenic spot were watching, and ordinary tourists were not allowed to enter.

When tourists go up the mountain, they can see Mi Qiao and his team working on something from a distance halfway up. Some tourists want to go over, but when the staff stops them, they point in that direction and say, "How can they go over there?"

The staff member replied, "They are not tourists."

Xiang Kun guessed that the staff at the scenic area probably only knew that they weren't tourists, but they doubted that the people coordinating from above would tell them exactly what their purpose was.

Although the distance was far, Mi Qiao's bag contained Xiang Kun's "Super-Sensory Link" item, which could help him pinpoint the location so that his superhuman hearing could accurately collect sound information.

So while Xiang Kun Tang Baona and the others on their hike, Xiang Kun also had to keep an eye on the information from Mi Qiao and Dr. Fang, as well as the conversation between Ji Hang and Xu Kai in the parking lot.

Although his brain can now process multiple types of information simultaneously, most of it is a subconscious instinct that he has developed through extensive training and training. For example, when he enters a building or area, his brain automatically collects various sound and smell information and performs basic preprocessing. Only if there are details that he should pay attention to will he become aware of them.

Now, he needs to consciously concentrate his hearing to collect sound information from two locations that are extremely far apart. Even for him now, it is somewhat difficult. As a result, when climbing the mountain, he looks a bit dazed and inattentive.

"Xiang Kun, are you feeling unwell?" Tang Baona, who was walking ahead, noticed his unusual condition, turned around, helped him up, and asked with concern.

Xiang Kun then withdrew his attention from Ji Hang and Xu Kai in the parking lot. On the one hand, they had already stopped chatting, and on the other hand, they were too far away. With him multitasking, it was already very difficult for him to hear their voices.

"It's probably because I'm not getting enough sleep; I'm feeling a bit sleepy," Xiang Kun explained with a smile.

"Sleep deprivation? Seriously? You're sleep-deprived and you still go for a run so early in the morning?" Zicheng, who was walking a little ahead, turned around and stared at him, asking, "I don't even know what time you left! Yesterday morning too, you went for a run first thing in the morning, in this cold weather... Why bother? Isn't it comfortable in bed?"

Yang Zhuo laughed and said, "Brother Liu, look at Brother Xiang's physique. Without an extremely strong will, there's no way you could have built up that physique in just a few months." He had previously seen photos of Xiang Kun on social media when he was still working, and knew about the changes in Xiang Kun's physique before and after he started working out.

Zi Cheng nodded and sighed, "Looks like I'll never be able to lose weight in this lifetime. I can't resist sleeping in and delicious food!"

Yang Jie couldn't help but complain, "Hey, how come you describe laziness as if you love life?"

Xiang Kun gestured to Tang Baona that he was fine, then pointed to a small pavilion halfway up the mountain. "I'm going to rest there for a while. You guys continue up."

"Xiao Jie and I are a bit tired from climbing, let's all take a rest," Zhang Qian said, then led the way to the small pavilion with Yang Jie and Xiao Min.

So all eleven people rushed into the small pavilion, filling it to capacity.

Everyone was drinking, eating, taking photos, and chatting, making it quite lively.

Xiang Kun sat in the corner of the pavilion, pretending to rest, while attentively eavesdropping on the movements of Mi Qiao and Dr. Fang.

However, judging from what he overheard, although Mi Qiao and his team had many investigative channels and sources of information, collected some relevant videos taken in the surrounding area at the time, and had a large number of eyewitness accounts of the accident, their specific direction of investigation was still unclear, and the truth they had uncovered was far less than that of Xiang Kun.

Listening to them analyze and speculate about the circumstances of the accident on the morning of the 18th, Xiang Kun couldn't help but feel anxious for them. He wanted to guide them onto the right path and make them realize what they were investigating.

He wanted to see what kind of handling mechanism the people at "Shenxing Technology" would have after confirming the existence of the Mutated Creature, how they would carry out subsequent actions, and how they would mobilize resources.

Although they might eventually get back on track with the investigation, it would just take a little longer, but Xiang Kun couldn't stay in Tongshi Town for long. He had already booked his flight back for tomorrow, and he hoped that Mi Qiao and his team's investigation would make progress as soon as possible, ideally with a breakthrough today.

But he couldn't just go over and tell them, "You're looking for two Mutated Creature! One might be a mutated ant! The other might be some kind of large bird! They were probably fighting each other and accidentally harmed the tourists! They're no longer on the peaks near Wushu Mountain; you can try searching deeper into the mountains!"

However, after Xiang Kun discovered that among the people with Mi Qiao and Dr. Fang Zhou Rui, a researcher from "Shenxing Technology" whose identity he had previously confirmed with Alice's help, he had an idea to try it out.

Sitting by a pillar in the pavilion, Xiang Kun closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, thus entering a "Hyper-Sensory State".

Using the "Black Circle Graffiti" tucked inside Mi Qiao's backpack in his softcover notebook as a location marker, Xiang Kun's senses descended upon their surroundings.

In his "Hyper-Sensory State," Xiang Kun was already very familiar with the bodily sensory information of Mi Qiao, Dr. Fang, and the others, and he knew very well which information represented which person.

Previously, relying on the control of multiple "Emotional Injection" items given to her Xiang Kun, Little Apple "developed" a collection of emotional representations that could invoke these "Emotional Injection" items, causing them to exert an emotional influence on the target while simultaneously creating corresponding hallucination projections.

Through Xiang Kun's attempts and experiments, it was found that using it in a "Hyper-Sensory State" can also induce corresponding emotional projection hallucinations, the principle of which is the same as that of dreams.

Therefore, Xiang Kun had an idea: could he apply the methods of dream editing to this, directly causing people to experience similar hallucinations in reality?

According to his deduction, this method is still feasible to a certain extent, especially now that there is an opportunity to conduct this experiment. Mi Qiao's bag contains the "Black Circle Graffiti," and Zhou Rui is within the range of influence.

Therefore, after Xiang Kun invoked the emotional representation set of "Black Circle Graffiti" and input it into Zhou Rui's perceptual information, he began to visualize a certain image in Zhou Rui's sensory information.

Hallucinations in a waking state are naturally much more difficult to create than those in a dream, especially when they occur remotely in a "Hyper-Sensory State".

Previously, the Dr. Fang's influence caused her to see "diced rabbit meat" in the lab, which was a concrete representation of the emotions conveyed by the Rabbit Woodcarving. Now, however, he is trying to "edit" the illusion on his own.

He couldn't just make up whatever he wanted, because there was no corresponding "code". Fortunately, Xiang Kun had previously sensed Zhou Rui's dream, so he could try to edit some elements that had appeared in the dream and make them appear in Zhou Rui's visual senses at this moment.

It's like a rudimentary "drawing editor," without any paintbrushes, only pre-defined patterns that it can "place."

The pattern Xiang Kun chose to display was ants.

This was the most memorable element he had seen in Zhou Rui's dream. He and Alice found Zhou Rui's true identity through the ant box they saw in the dream.

And now, the ants are the best clue for them.

So, under Xiang Kun's influence, Zhou Rui, who was taking photos next to Fang Pingfang according to her requirements, suddenly saw an ant the size of a little fingernail quickly burrow into the mud.

Zhou Rui froze.

If other people saw this ant, they probably wouldn't find it unusual, since it's a very common insect and seeing it in the mountains is perfectly normal.

But Zhou Rui is a seasoned, even fanatical, ant enthusiast. He knows a great deal about the habits of many ants and knows that during this season, there shouldn't be any ants outside, as they mostly stay in their nests to hibernate.

Moreover, the large worker ant he had just seen was the species he was currently raising, and this type of ant was not found in Haixi Province.

Driven by intense curiosity, he lay down on the ground and carefully observed the spot where the large worker ant had disappeared. After a moment, he took out a tool and began digging in the soil.

His unusual behavior quickly attracted the attention of Fang Pingfang, Mi Qiao, and others, who all came over to inquire.

But Zhou Rui didn't say anything. He just dug hard, examined the ground after digging, and then started searching in other places.

In the distance, in a small pavilion halfway up the mountain, Xiang Kun had already emerged from his "Hyper-Sensory State".

He only created a brief illusion of ants for Zhou Rui, and even the illusion itself had very limited realism. Fortunately, it was taken from Zhou Rui's own dream, otherwise Zhou Rui probably wouldn't have recognized it.

But regardless, the desired effect has been achieved.

Xiang Kun believed that, given Zhou Rui's familiarity with ants, he would soon discover the absence of this particular ant species on the mountain, which would then prompt Mi Qiao, Dr. Fang, and others to conduct more targeted investigations and actions.

"Xiang Kun, let's go back early later. You really need to catch up on your sleep and get some rest," Tang Baona said worriedly as she sat next to Xiang Kun, seeing him "wake up."

Xiang Kun jumped up, stretched his arms out wide, and said energetically, "I'm OK! I just took a little nap, but I'm back to being a lively dragon. Let's climb the mountain!" With that, he took the lead and started climbing up the mountain.

Seeing his appearance, Tang Baona, You Meng, and the others put their worries aside and followed him back to the mountain path.

Xiang Kun hadn't walked far ahead when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He picked it up and saw it was WeChat from Xia Libing: "Are you worried about those two drivers?"

Xiang Kun was taken aback. He turned around and looked at Xia Libing, who was walking up in the middle of the group with his phone in hand. He was a little surprised. Lao Xia had actually noticed that Ji Hang and Xu Kai were suspicious? There shouldn't have been any flaws in Ji and Xu's behavior. Lao Xia didn't have as many ways to sense information as he did.

"What's wrong with them?" Xiang Kun quickly replied on WeChat.

After a while, Xia Libing replied, "Although their driving skills are very proficient, they don't seem like professional drivers. Ji Hang talks too much, and you're being too deliberate in your responses; you're trying to trick him into revealing information."

Xiang Kun suddenly realized that Lao Xia had deduced the conclusion by observing him.

"It's alright, they meant no harm. I was thinking about other things, don't worry," Xiang Kun replied quickly.

Lao Xia replied with an OK emoji.

When they were going down the mountain, Xiang Kun didn't actually intend to get together with Mi Qiao and Dr. Fang; it was just a coincidence.

However, Mi Qiao and his group were on their way ahead and did not notice Xiang Kun and the others behind them.

According to the information overheard by Xiang Kun, they were still confirming the situation of the ants when they suddenly received news that traces of the large bird had been found in other places, and they needed to rush there immediately.

After returning to the car with his friends, Xiang Kun mentally constructed a "map" of the surroundings, trying to determine the possible movement trajectory of the large bird.

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I recommend a light novel with an infinite flow theme called "What's it like to be summoned as a giant?" It's very interesting.