Mysterious Organization and the Team Behind It

Peng City.

In a meeting room on the 10th floor of an office building, eight people, including Zhang Qian and Tang Baona, are having a meeting to discuss several issues that have come up unexpectedly.

However, the expressions on their faces were quite relaxed, after all, it wasn't a big problem and time wasn't tight.

Yang Zhen'er, sitting in the corner of the conference table and looking at her notebook, had a serious expression on her face, as if she felt the problem was very serious and was very dissatisfied with the way Tang Baona and Zhang Qian were discussing it.

However, even after the discussion was over and Tang Baona, Zhang Qian, and everyone else in the meeting room got up to pack their things and leave, she didn't say a word. She simply closed her laptop silently and followed Tang Baona out, as if she were just a meeting recorder.

Zhang Qian and the others were going to take the elevator down to the underground parking lot to get their cars, while Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er were staying at a hotel near the office building, which was within walking distance, so they said goodbye and parted ways on the first floor.

As they exited the office building, Tang Baona glanced at Yang Zhen'er beside her, who was carrying a backpack and still squinting, seemingly preoccupied with something. She couldn't help but chuckle, "Were you watching some heavy, tragic news story during our meeting? Why did you keep looking so glum?"

Yang Zhen'er was taken aback, then retorted indignantly, "Hey? How can you accuse me like that? Do you think I'm the kind of person who would openly read the news and slack off while others are discussing important matters in a meeting? Couldn't I be looking at company documents and thinking about the issues you're discussing? Maybe I even have some unique insights! None of you asked for my opinion just now!"

"So, 'Manager Yang,' what are your opinions?" Tang Baona asked, making a loose fist with her right hand as if she were holding a microphone.

Yang Zhen'er stopped, leaned back slightly, glared at her, and said, "This isn't the conference room, and Zhang Qian and the others aren't here either. Talking to you alone won't help. I'm not talking!"

"Oh, still being a little temperamental?" Tang Baona said, putting her arm around Yang Zhen'er's neck and pulling her close, laughing, "Come on, just now in the conference room, I could see what you were looking at on your screen through the reflection in the glass behind you. You were looking at news with pictures and text! Scrolling through Weibo! And Zhihu! And what was that website with the white background again?"

"I didn't! I didn't!" Yang Zhen'er retorted, wrapping her arms around Tang Baona's neck.

"Still not admitting it? Take out your computer and check your browser history. It shows all the browsing times!" Tang Baona tightened her grip on Yang Zhen'er's neck and chuckled.

Yang Zhen'er was first pulled under Nana's armpit, losing her positional advantage and unable to exert any force to counterattack. She could only reach down and tickle Nana's waist.

Tang Baona laughed and bounced away, then reached out to grab her laptop bag.

While dodging, Yang Zhen'er said with a "serious" expression, "Stop fooling around, I have something I discovered that is very, very, very big!"

"What's wrong? Did the anime you're watching get canceled, or is the merchandise you want out of stock? Or is your mom telling you to go back and get married, or your dad telling you to go back and inherit the family business? Or have you run out of points on your driver's license, or did you forget to get your car inspected?" Tang Baona clearly felt that she was changing the subject, so she casually teased her.

Ignoring her friend's teasing, Yang Zhen'er maintained a serious expression. "It's related to Chef Xiang. Do you remember the news from Myanmar we talked about at lunch? The one about riots and monsters appearing?"

Tang Baona asked curiously, "You mean the fact that many people are seeing hallucinations in Montamira? What does that have to do with Xiang Kun?"

When they had lunch with Zhang Qian and the others, Director Lin casually mentioned this news, but only briefly said that a riot had broken out in Montamira, Myanmar, and then a vision of a huge monster appeared, which frightened the rioters and stopped the riot.

However, since they had other things to discuss at the time, the topic was only mentioned casually, and Director Lin did not elaborate on it, nor did the others discuss it in depth.

After all, it happened in another country, and to Tang Baona, things like monster hallucinations and illusions sounded like some kind of collective delusional behavior, not information she would pay attention to or be curious about.

"Do you know what that monster hallucination that appeared in Montamira was like?" Yang Zhen'er leaned closer and asked mysteriously.

"Since it's a hallucination, does it matter what kind it is?" Tang Baona asked curiously.

Yang Zhen'er shook her head. "Several blocks, many, many people have seen similar hallucinations, so it's more than just a hallucination. You know, the monster hallucinations they saw all had one thing in common: eight arms and eight eyes! Does that remind you of anything?"

Tang Baona frowned slightly. "You mean, the wooden carving that Xiang Kun used to carve?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it's the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving he made for your grandfather. Later, didn't your second uncle secretly send that carving to someone for a 'ritual'? Then you found out and took it back, right? Didn't you say that Chef Xiang told you that the eight-armed, eight-eyed image was designed by himself?" Yang Zhen'er nodded repeatedly.

"He did say that back then, but the image of eight eyes and eight arms shouldn't be a unique feature of his wood carving, right?" Tang Baona said.

Yang Zhen'er took out her phone, looked through it for a while, and then showed it to her. "Look, this is the wood carving that Chef Xiang before."

When Xiang Kun gave the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving to Tang Baona, she took several photos and even sent them to Lao Xia, asking her to analyze Xiang Kun's motives for creating such a carving.

In addition to the photos of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving she had taken earlier, Yang Zhen'er scrolled through the pictures again, showing Tang Baona another image she had just found.

That picture was also of an eight-armed, eight-eyed monster, clearly drawn by someone with artistic skills. Although it wasn't colored, it still looked very realistic.

First look at the photograph of the wood carving, then look at this drawing. By comparing the two, anyone would feel that they are different artistic representations of the same thing.

"This was drawn by someone who witnessed the scene in Montamira last night. This is the image she saw. What do you think? It's almost identical to Chef Xiang's wooden carving, isn't it? And this..." Yang Zhen'er took back her phone, searched on the browser, and then handed the video she found to Tang Baona: "Look at this. This is a 3D image reconstructed by foreign media based on descriptions from several other eyewitnesses. Isn't it also basically the same?"

Tang Baona frowned slightly as she looked at it. "It does look somewhat like it... but Xiang Kun's wood carvings are much cuter... This painting and that 3D image... it should just be a coincidence, right?"

Yang Zhen'er immediately said, "While you were in the meeting just now, I searched online. Generally, those statues with many arms are three-eyed, multi-armed, or have three heads and six arms, or three heads and eight arms. I searched for a long time but couldn't find an image that simultaneously has eight eyes and eight arms. The only one with similar characteristics... is a spider."

"So you mean that the hallucinations and illusions that so many people in Montamira experienced were caused by Xiang Kun? Why did he do that? How did he do it?" Tang Baona asked.

"Is that even a question? Of course, it's to stop the riots targeting Chinese people in Montamira!" Yang Zhen'er said, lowering her voice, snuggling close to Tang Baona, and hugging her arm. She whispered, "Nana, do you remember when I told you last time that Chef Xiang might have joined some secret organization with superpowers? Suppressing the riots must be the mission that organization gave him! Hey, Nana, do you remember the JOJO series we watched together before? The one you said you couldn't accept the art style and only watched two episodes, and I watched the rest by myself. Actually, you'll get used to the art style if you watch it a little longer... Anyway, in Part 3, the strong characters' abilities are all performed by a kind of phantom called a 'Stand.' Do you think that eight-armed, eight-eyed monster phantom might be Chef Xiang's 'Stand'? When we see Chef Xiang cooking, carving wood, or doing many other things, he's actually summoning a 'Stand' to do the work, we just can't see it..."

At first, Tang Baona frowned slightly and listened quite attentively, because she also felt that the paintings drawn by the survivors of Montamira and the 3D images made by the media were quite similar to the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving that Xiang Kun had carved before, at least the overall structure was basically the same. But as she listened, she couldn't help but laugh so hard she bent over. Zhen'er had started to overthink things again.

"Come on, let's go get some late-night snacks, I'm starving. You can eat and daydream at the same time." Tang Baona walked behind Yang Zhen'er and pushed her forward.

"Where should we eat? I want some soup, but that place is a bit far, and it's too late now. How about beef noodles instead... Wait a minute, what are you daydreaming about?! I'm seriously analyzing the problem, okay?!"

After finding a noodle shop nearby and ordering her food, Yang Zhen'er continued to "refine" her reasoning.

However, seeing Tang Baona's smiling, squinting expression, Yang Zhen'er couldn't help but ask, "Nana, don't you believe what I said? Is what I said unreasonable?"

"No, if you want to confirm, why don't you just ask Xiang Kun?" Tang Baona said with a smile.

"While you were in the meeting, I sent him more than a dozen WeChat, and he didn't reply to any of them! I also asked Liu Chuang on WeChat, and he's still in Tongshi Town, but he said Chef Xiang hasn't been to 'Youlong Restaurant' these past two days! I also asked Lao Xia, but Lao Xia hasn't replied to me yet," Yang Zhen'er said.

"Why don't you just call him?" Tang Baona said.

"That won't do... then... then let's alert them!"

Tang Baona laughed and said, "Are you afraid that Xiang Kun will directly expose your naive guesses?" As she spoke, she picked up her phone, found Xiang Kun's name in the call log, and dialed it.

"Huh?!" Yang Zhen'er was startled and quickly got up, moved closer to Tang Baona, and leaned in to eavesdrop on her phone.

"... The subscriber you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later. Sorry, the subscriber you dialed..."

Hearing the female voice notification tone coming from Nana's phone, Yang Zhen'er chuckled, leisurely walked back to her seat, and said, "See, it's happening again. The phone is unreachable, and the person has disappeared. Every now and then, it happens for a day or two, or even several days! They must be off 'on a mission'!"

Tang Baona frowned and thought for a moment, then prepared to call Lao Xia to ask. She knew that Lao Xia was helping Xiang Kun set up a breeding research center, and he had been either in Tongshi Town or Chongyun Village lately, so he should know Xiang Kun's whereabouts quite well.

However, before she could press the dial button, Yang Zhen'er's phone rang first.

Yang Zhen'er picked up her phone, paused for a moment, and said to Tang Baona, "It's my mom... Strange, why would my mom call me so late?"

"Is something urgent? Answer it quickly!" Tang Baona urged.

After Yang Zhen'er answered her mother's call, she didn't say much, but her expression grew increasingly surprised. She chatted with her mother for a while before hanging up.

Tang Baona asked with concern, "Has someone in your family been kidnapped?" Judging from the few words Yang Zhen'er said to her mother on the phone just now, someone in her family had been kidnapped, but strangely, judging from their tone of voice, it didn't seem like it was a very urgent matter.

Yang Zhen'er moved a chair from opposite Tang Baona to her side and whispered, "You know the kidnapped person too, it's my big, clumsy cousin, 'Big Guy' Xia Tianhuo. But he's alright now, he's been rescued. He was actually kidnapped in Myanmar three days ago..."

Tang Baona immediately grasped the key word and frowned as she asked, "Myanmar?"

"You guessed it too, didn't you? That's right, it's Myanmar, and it's in Montamira!" Yang Zhen'er lowered her voice, but couldn't hide her excitement and agitation.

"We were just talking about Myanmar, so of course we'd think about that. Who kidnapped your cousin, and how was he rescued?" Tang Baona asked, her curiosity piqued by Yang Zhen'er this time.

Yang Zhen'er said, "My mom just found out too, and she doesn't know the specific details yet. It seems she's been kidnapped for about three days. But you know what? The first person my silly older brother had the kidnappers contact wasn't my aunt and uncle, but Lao Xia!"

"So... your cousin's rescue was thanks to Lao Xia? But Lao Xia is still in China, right?"

"I don't know, but if Chef Xiang knew immediately that my cousin's kidnapper was Lao Xia, then he probably knew immediately too!" Yang Zhen'er became even more excited. "Then, Chef Xiang on a mission for the organization in Montamira when he received Lao Xia's call for help, so he rescued 'Big Guy' in the process!"

Tang Baona rolled her eyes at her. "Here we go again! If what you said before is true, Xiang Kun's phone was unreachable while he was 'on a mission,' then how did Lao Xia contact him? How did he find out about your cousin's kidnapping? And why were they both in Montamira? Is it really that much of a coincidence?"

Yang Zhen'er was taken aback, then nodded and said, "That's right! Could it be that Chef Xiang Lao Xia to go to Montamira to rescue 'Big Guy,' and then the people in his organization said, 'Hey Brother Xiang, it's time for your mission. What? You're in Myanmar, in Montamira? That's perfect, there's a mission there too, you can take care of it while you're at it.' So after rescuing 'Big Guy,' he conveniently quelled the riot in Montamira!"

"Why don't you call Lao Xia and ask him where Xiang Kun is and if he knows about this?" Tang Baona suggested.

"That makes sense!" Yang Zhen'er then dialed Lao Xia's cell phone, but it didn't get answered after ringing once.

"I guess Lao Xia is already asleep?"

"No, that's not right. I sent her WeChat during the meeting, but she didn't reply. She's not going to sleep that early." Yang Zhen'er said, dialing again.

After ringing a few times, the phone was finally answered.

Xia Libing sat up in bed, looked at her incessantly ringing phone, then glanced at Xiang Kun who was sleeping on the floor not far away. After thinking for a moment, she pressed the answer button.

"Lao Xia! What are you doing?" Yang Zhen'er's voice, which came through the receiver, was somewhat urgent and a little excited.

"Sleeping," Xia Libing replied matter-of-factly.

"Hey? Didn't you usually stay up really late? You were even posting in the group at 2 AM?"

"I didn't sleep well last night," Xia Libing said.

"By the way, I just heard from my mom that 'Big Guy' got kidnapped? And the kidnappers called your phone demanding money? Did you notify the others?"

"Yes," Xia Libing replied.

"Who kidnapped 'Big Guy' and who rescued him?" Yang Zhen'er asked hurriedly.

"After he returns to China, you can ask him yourself; he'll know the answer better," Xia Libing said.

"Where Chef Xiang? Where is Chef Xiang now?" Yang Zhen'er continued to ask.

Xia Libing answered without hesitation, "He went to Nande City the day before yesterday."

"Nande City? Isn't it Montamira?" Yang Zhen'er on the other end of the phone seemed quite surprised.

Why Montamira?

"Didn't you ask Xiang Kun to rescue 'Big Guy' in Montamira?" Yang Zhen'er asked.

"I didn't ask him for help, so why would you think that?" Xia Libing countered.

"Have you seen the online discussions? Last night in Montamira, many people saw an eight-armed, eight-eyed illusion. An eyewitness drew a picture, and it looks a lot like Xiang Kun's original wood carving! So I suspect that what happened in Montamira was done by Chef Xiang to complete a mission for his secret organization! Remember what I told you last time? Xiang Kun might have had some kind of adventure last year and joined a secret organization..."

Yang Zhen'er became more and more excited as she spoke, and she described to Xia Libing her earlier guesses and what she had just said to Tang Baona, refining her conjectures as she went.

Finally, Yang Zhen'er said, "Lao Xia, during your time in Chongyun Village, have you noticed anything strange about Xiang Kun? Have you noticed that he often disappears, doesn't reply to WeChat, and can't be reached by phone?"

"I didn't notice anything wrong," Xia Libing said. "His phone seems to be broken. Wait until he gets back or buys a new phone, then ask him yourself."

After ending her call with Yang Zhen'er, Xia Libing sat on the edge of the bed, using the light streaming into the room from the living room to look at Xiang Kun, who was sleeping on the floor, completely still and undisturbed by the ringing of his phone and her voice. She was deep in thought.

She had only slept for a little over two hours so far, which was obviously not enough sleep. However, after being woken up by her cousin's phone call, she did not immediately go back to sleep.

She wasn't surprised that she had fallen asleep on the sofa before, but was now on the bed—clearly, it didn't matter Xiang Kun whether he slept on the bed or not, so putting her on the bed was the most efficient use of this "resource."

After getting up and going to the living room to pour herself a glass of hot water, Xia Libing returned to her room and began recording some data on Xiang Kun, who was lying on the floor, just as she had done during Xiang Kun's previous blood-drinking slumber periods.

Then she went back to the living room, sat on the sofa, looked at the laptop on the coffee table, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Yang Zhen'er's speculation, which was close to the truth, did not shock or arouse Xia Libing's suspicion.

As each blood-drinking period passed and the mutations deepened, Xiang Kun, though outwardly not much different from when they first met, actually experienced a significant change in his way of perceiving the world, his thinking efficiency, and his perspective due to his ever-increasing abilities.

As the "Super-Linked Object" system continues to expand and evolve, this change is subtly and rapidly intensifying.

He didn't have much contact with people before, and after the mutation, he deliberately kept a certain distance from most people. Only those with extremely strong insight could sense his uniqueness in the few times they had contact with him.

However, if someone has a good relationship with him and interacts with him frequently, even if they are slow to notice, they will still notice his unusual behavior to some extent; this is almost unavoidable.

Even if they are not consciously aware of it due to habit, they will certainly have a corresponding awareness in their instincts and subconscious. In essence, Xiang Kun's way of existing in this world is already vastly different from that of ordinary humans.

Xia Libing knew that not only her cousin Zhen'er, but also Nana, Zicheng, Chang Bin, You Meng, and even Liu Caifu and Chu Xiuwen, whom she had been in frequent contact with in Chongyun Village recently, had all noticed Xiang Kun's unusual behavior to some extent.

However, the information they have is very limited, and they can explain it all with some reasons and convince themselves. When it comes to familiar and trusted people, people's psychology will automatically adjust and adapt their cognition.

Xiang Kun must have considered all of these situations.

Xia Libing is now pondering a different problem.

She had just come to the living room to get a drink of water when she noticed her laptop screen facing the door.

If Xiang Kun used the computer while she was asleep, the screen should have been facing the sofa, since there's only one row of sofas in her living room and no seating on the other side.

Moreover, based on her observations of Xiang Kun's laptop usage habits, he would always close the laptop after using it for a period of time, such as when he was leaving home or going to eat, regardless of whether it was on or off.

Since he was supposed to fall into a deep sleep after drinking blood, he should have closed the computer after using it, as is his habit. He wouldn't have left it like this, facing the door in such a strange way.

The computer screen was off, but it was still powered on and plugged in. She clearly remembered that her laptop wasn't plugged in before Xiang Kun returned.

If other people saw this, most of them probably wouldn't think much of it.

But Xia Libing suddenly thought of many things, such as the sudden lighting of the camera indicator light in Xiang Kun's house when she first helped Xiang Kun keep watch during his blood-drinking slumber.

Right now, the laptop screen appears to be facing the door, which doesn't seem to make much sense, but the webcam above the screen is actually also facing the door, even though the webcam indicator light isn't lit up right now.

During this time in Chongyun Village, she spent most of her time with Xiang Kun, conducting experiments on "Zero Zero One", "Zero Zero Two", and other organisms from earlier times. Even when she was sleeping and Xiang Kun wasn't, she basically knew what Xiang Kun was doing.

She was certain that Xiang Kun didn't have time to sit in front of the computer writing code, designing, or making modifications according to requirements. However, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, Zhang Qian, and the others were still constantly receiving new game versions that were modified and iterated based on various opinions. Moreover, it was clear from their discussions that the game was evolving significantly, not just making minor fixes.

Xia Libing didn't know much about programming or game development, but she did have some basic knowledge about the subject. She had also played the game that Xiang Kun had developed, and judging from the game's rich features, version iterations, and speed, Xiang Kun simply didn't have the time to implement it now.

So, he might have another team working for him?

But if that's the case, he has absolutely no reason to hide it from Zhang Qian, Nana, or himself.

Unless, of course, that team is exceptionally special, knows the secret of Xiang Kun's mutation, and has been providing him with technical support, even monitoring his condition to prevent his exposure?

However, she immediately dismissed this guess.

First of all, given Xiang Kun's current financial situation, he absolutely cannot afford to support a development or technical support team.

Secondly, recalling Xiang Kun's words, expressions, and behavior when he explained the mutation to her, she still believed that it was the first time Xiang Kun had revealed this secret to someone else. She was the first person to know Xiang Kun's secret about the mutation, and to this day, she should still be the only one.

Otherwise, there are many things that Xiang Kun would not have made that choice about.

So... how did Xiang Kun manage to do certain things?

Xia Libing narrowed her eyes and looked at her laptop.