Mud Pit

It was very late when he got home. His parents, who never stayed up late, were already asleep. Xiang Kun went back to his room and began to ponder the ability he had "developed" from Lao Xia to "manifest" items from his dreams in reality.

Xiang Kun temporarily named this ability "Fantasy Manifestation".

This seemingly over-the-top, incredibly powerful ability can only manifest as either a "Napoleon cake" or a "crispy pork knuckle."

For now, compared to his ability to "develop" the abilities of Little Chubby Girl and Little Apple, Xiang Kun's grasp of this ability is a bit more rudimentary. Currently, he can only manifest the two kinds of food that Lao Xia can manifest, and he can't use these two foods as a basis to transform into various forms like Lao Xia does in his dreams. At most, the ability he can "call" is stronger and can maintain "manifestation" for a longer time than Lao Xia, but he can't yet make other derivations based on this ability.

This is probably related to the fact that Lao Xia's ability was "developed" in her dream, which made Xiang Kun's understanding of it a bit distant—but if it weren't in a dream, Lao Xia probably wouldn't have been able to "develop" this ability.

Xiang Kun sat at the table, took another slice of Napoleon cake and examined it carefully.

The layers of puff pastry, cream, chocolate chips, and more are clearly defined and look very realistic. The aroma is also very clear and can be clearly transmitted to the brain through the sense of smell. The feel in your hand is just as clear, whether it is the weight or the texture, it is all real.

Xiang Kun slowly brought the cake to his face, stuck out his tongue to lick it, but just as he was about to lick it, the cake disappeared without warning.

Whether it was sight, smell, or touch, everything had vanished without a trace. Even with Xiang Kun's current extraordinary perception, he was unable to detect any trace of its disappearance.

Next, he brought out the crispy pork knuckle, but like the cake, it looked, felt, and smelled just like the real thing. However, it would disappear as soon as you tried to eat it or break it off and pinch off a piece.

This gave him the feeling that a program was not fully developed, as if some functions were missing. However, when users tried to use those functions, the program did not fail to respond; instead, it would forcefully exit the program and "go on strike."

Xiang Kun tried to take a picture of the cake that had appeared on his phone, but although he could see the cake on the phone screen, it disappeared as soon as he pressed the shutter button.

He recreated the cake, filmed it, and then it disappeared again as soon as he pressed the record button.

This puzzled him greatly. Logically speaking, since he didn't use a flash and was simply taking the picture, it shouldn't have had any impact on the existence of the material.

Could this thing really just be an illusion, making it impossible to record with light and shadow equipment?

But that shouldn't be the case...

Xiang Kun entered a "Hyper-Sensory State" again, attempting to use his sixth sense to observe the manifested food under that special state. However, he saw nothing in the "Hyper-Sensory State," and after exiting the "Hyper-Sensory State," he discovered that both the manifested cake and the pork knuckle had disappeared.

It seems that once he enters a "Hyper-Sensory State," the food that appears in his mind cannot be sustained.

Xiang Kun then wondered if, if Lao Xia were to appear, he could observe him from the sidelines through his "Hyper-Sensory State," could he then proceed?

Because he can use "Emotional Injection items" to jump between different states while in a "Hyper-Sensory State," he doesn't necessarily need to be next to Lao Xia to do this.

So he began to watch whether Lao Xia was "calling up" his abilities through those three Coin, but strangely, Lao Xia showed no signs of doing so, even though he had been frequently calling up his abilities on the way back, clearly having become addicted to it.

He sensed the chopsticks that had been "Emotional Injection," but there was no emotional response from Lao Xia. Based on his experience, Lao Xia was probably asleep.

However, because the ability to induce dreams through "Emotion-Infused Object" cannot be used continuously on the same person and has a cooldown period, he cannot induce dreams in Lao Xia even when Lao Xia is asleep.

But Xiang Kun found it strange. Based on his judgment of Lao Xia, he thought that she should have been able to "reproduce" the two kinds of food that had appeared in her dream in reality, making them appear so realistically in front of her. She should have been "playing" with them for at least an hour or two, just like when they were on the road, he could feel her frequently and continuously using her abilities.

Or is it that I'm just too sleepy?

But didn't I just wake up from a nap?

Xiang Kun entered Hyper-Sensory State, his senses immediately focusing on the pair of chopsticks Emotion-Infused Object. Using the cognitive information nearby, he quickly confirmed that Lao Xia was there.

Lao Xia was already very familiar with the cognitive information his body possessed in the "Hyper-Sensory State," so he wouldn't mistake it. Besides, in the "Hyper-Sensory State," those three "Super-Linked Object" Coin were as clear as three lighthouses.

He is not yet able to determine whether a person is asleep or awake through this cognitive information in a "Hyper-Sensory State," but judging from the structure of the wooden furniture next to Lao Xia, she should not be lying in bed, but sitting at the table.

Xiang Kun suddenly realized that Lao Xia must have just finished a series of "experiments" and was now summarizing his findings.

It's possible that because Lao Xia had several "Emotional Injection" items from Xiang Kun around him, all in the room, including the calligraphy lyrics, the Black Circle Graffiti, and the homemade chopsticks, it had a certain amplifying effect on Xiang Kun's perception. He felt that his ability to collect and retrieve cognitive information about his surroundings was much stronger than when he used this method to perceive things in the past.

However, after Xiang Kun sensed Lao Xia's and her surroundings, he found something was wrong. Lao Xia was basically not interacting with the cognitive information of her environment. In other words, her current state was either sitting at the table in a daze, or... sleeping on the table?

If she was just spacing out, it probably wouldn't have lasted that long. She was probably just too tired and fell asleep on the table.

Was it a significant burden on Lao Xia to just use three Coin to activate his abilities?

Just as Xiang Kun was thinking this, he suddenly sensed that the cognitive information representing Lao Xia's body had changed.

Then he sensed that a laptop was turned on near Lao Xia. Xiang Kun was the most accurate at identifying such electronic devices in his "Hyper-Sensory State," and he could also make relatively precise influences, such as turning off the power to the computer, causing the screen to malfunction, making the phone lose signal, or making the screen unresponsive.

Of course, he wouldn't interfere with Lao Xia's computer use. He guessed that Lao Xia was probably searching for relevant information online, or recording what he was observing.

I wonder what Lao Xia's judgment and understanding of this phenomenon is, and what his thoughts are?

This ability comes from Lao Xia combining his connection with the three "Super-Sensory Link" Coin. In his dream, he projected this connection in some form and made certain settings in the dream. After returning to reality, he still relies on his connection with the three "Super-Linked Object" Coin to realize the settings in the dream.

It's like designing an object using a computer and then printing it out with a 3D printer.

Of course, Xiang Kun didn't believe that Lao Xia had actually "created" the two foods from the dream, but it didn't seem like an ordinary hallucination, nor did it seem to directly affect a person's consciousness; it should be somewhere in between.

Just as he was pondering this, Xiang Kun suddenly felt the three Coin activating his abilities. He was immediately alerted, knowing that Lao Xia was about to perform the "Manifestation" operation again.

Sure enough, the next moment, a very special cluster of cognitive information suddenly appeared next to Lao Xia.

In his "Hyper-Sensory State," Xiang Kun could clearly determine that the appearance of that information originated from the three Coin he Lao Xia, and that a large amount of information was being exchanged.

Xiang Kun had never seen this cognitive information before, so he couldn't understand its specific meaning for the time being. It was different from the cognitive information of objects he had perceived before, and naturally very different from ordinary crispy pork knuckles and Napoleon cakes.

However, through comparison, he could tell that part of the information that suddenly appeared was exactly the same as his "Super-Sensory Link item"—it seemed that part of the cognitive information was the core and framework that guided and constructed that cognitive information.

Moreover, Xiang Kun had a strange feeling about that cluster of cognitive information. It was as if it did exist, but it didn't seem to exist completely. This feeling was somewhat similar to his perception of some "Super-Linked Object" whose location could not be completely determined, but only whose direction could be determined.

There's a sense of emptiness that transcends time and space.

After a short while, the cluster of cognitive information disappeared, but he could still sense a significant change in the cognitive information representing the three "Super-Linked Object" Coin, as well as their interaction with the surrounding environment.

Those interactions seemed to be extending infinitely, but Xiang Kun knew that the cognitive information was interacting with his body, "calling upon" his abilities.

It's conceivable that if Xiang Kun could enter a "Hyper-Sensory State" to observe when cakes and pork knuckles appeared in his home, he would be able to see the numerous connections between his body and the objects that appeared.

After leaving the "Hyper-Sensory State," Xiang Kun sat in his room deep in thought. Just like with all the new abilities he had discovered in the past, he was still "boldly hypothesizing and carefully verifying."

However, he hoped to discuss this hypothetical scenario with Lao Xia.

He picked up his phone and sent a WeChat that he already knew the answer to, "Are you asleep?"

A few seconds later, Lao Xia replied, "He's awake."

Xiang Kun didn't discuss this over the phone; instead, he asked directly, "What time do you need to work tomorrow?"

Lao Xia: "Noon."

Xiang Kun: "Is there a lunch plan for tomorrow?"

Lao Xia: "No."

Xiang Kun was just about to type a message to her to come to her house for dinner tomorrow when Lao Xia's reply came again:

"I'll invite you to my house; you can cook."

So Xiang Kun deleted the half-typed message and replied with an OK gesture.

He figured Lao Xia must also have a lot of questions he wanted to ask him. Thinking about it, it was understandable. If it were just her previous special connection to Coin and chopsticks, there might be some plausible explanation. But now, after those two dreams, and through those dreams she gained the ability to "manifest" those two foods in reality—this completely surreal phenomenon was not so easy to understand or accept.

In fact, when faced with Lao Xia's repeated attempts to probe him directly in Tongshi Town, Xiang Kun had considered whether to reveal his own situation to Lao Xia and ask her for help.

There's a saying that goes, "Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang." Even if his brain has mutated and evolved multiple times, giving him thinking and calculation abilities far beyond that of ordinary people, past experience has proven that, many times, it is very necessary for others to provide alternative perspectives.

Previously, this "other person" could only be barely filled by Alice. He counted as one and a half, Alice counted as half, so together they were two "cobblers".

If Lao Xia could also join, it would be of great help to the execution of many of his plans and to his self-awareness.

But just like his previous considerations, if we're talking about trust alone, he can trust his parents, his brothers like Chang Bin and Zi Cheng, and even Tang Baona, whom he's only known for half a year. He believes that even if he tells them about his huge changes and asks them to keep it a secret, they will definitely keep it.

However, they are all ordinary people with normal lives, and Xiang Kun already knows from his previous experiences that he may face some great dangers in the future—he may even become the source of danger himself.

So although he always hoped that someone else could help him, give him advice and assistance, especially to help him with certain research and to provide assistance while he was in a blood-drinking slumber, he never dared to easily drag those he trusted into this "quagmire".

Yes, Xiang Kun felt like he was stuck in a quagmire, and he didn't want to pull the others down with him—even though they would rush to pull him out if they found him in the quagmire.

But Lao Xia was a little different, because Xiang Kun discovered that Lao Xia might also be in some quagmire.

Moreover, Lao Xia himself was reaching out to him, wanting to get into his quagmire.

Now Xiang Kun needs to consider just how deep the mud pit Lao Xia is in is. If it's also a big mud pit, then since everyone's covered in mud anyway, pulling Lao Xia into the pit to huddle together for warmth might slow down their sinking speed...

Therefore, Xiang Kun decided to have a more "open and honest" conversation with Lao Xia tomorrow, to first understand Lao Xia's situation, and then see if he should completely reveal his own situation.

Of course, if Lao Xia was unwilling to explain the situation of her "quagmire," then Xiang Kun would not show her his "quagmire," even though he believed that Lao Xia had no ill intentions towards him.

However, based on his understanding of Lao Xia, the events of tonight... no, it should be the early hours of this morning, and that ability to "Fantasy Manifestation" was enough to make Lao Xia confess to him.