Guarding Prosperity Building

By sensing the Rabbit Woodcarving, Xiang Kun's senses successfully descended to the vicinity of the carving in a "Hyper-Sensory State".

Most of the sensory information around him remained unchanged; it was still the same space with many metal partitions and electronic devices, a space he had sensed countless times before.

He immediately identified the "Mutated Creature" that had taken the Rabbit Woodcarving, as well as the other three "Mutated Creature" he had been able to sense each time before.

But this time, he instantly sensed something was different. He no longer had the cognitive information of four "Mutated Creature" around him, but five!

Previously, based on his perception and analysis of spatial structure information, apart from the "Mutated Creature" that took away the Rabbit Woodcarving, the other three "Mutated Creature" were all confined to separate spaces, which should be considered as being imprisoned or locked up.

Now it seems that the "Mutated Creature" that took the Rabbit Woodcarving has been caught again?

However, after Xiang Kun perceived and analyzed the cognitive information of the newly appeared "Mutated Creature," he discovered that the cognitive information of this "Mutated Creature" had a great overlap with that of humans, and according to his analysis, the creature was wearing clothes.

Although he didn't have the ability to enter a "Hyper-Sensory State" when he faced Guo Tianxiang, and couldn't record the cognitive information of such a humanoid "Mutated Creature," nor could he deeply analyze his own cognitive information, he was still able to instantly determine that this "Mutated Creature," which had a lot of cognitive information similar to humans, was a "Mutated Creature" transformed from a human.

Is he an accomplice of the "Mutated Creature" that took the Rabbit Woodcarving? Also from "Shenxing Technology"?

Could this be the real "Mr. Liang"?

But Xiang Kun sensed something was wrong. Although he was still unable to analyze human voice information or reconstruct actual scenes in his "Hyper-Sensory State," his ability to distinguish human emotional cognitive information had improved a lot since returning from Montamira. He was now able to distinguish a lot of negative emotional cognitive information, especially fear.

At that moment, he realized that the "humanoid Mutated Creature" was experiencing intense fear, as if its life was under great threat.

This struck him as very strange. Could this "humanoid Mutated Creature" not be part of the previous "Mutated Creature"? Was he, like the other three "Mutated Creature" imprisoned in the confined space, also captured?

Based on the environment and other cognitive information, Xiang Kun believes that the latter possibility is indeed more likely. The target of the fear of this "humanoid Mutated Creature" should be the "Mutated Creature" that took the Rabbit Woodcarving earlier and is now in front of him.

After emerging from the "Hyper-Sensory State," Xiang Kun glanced back at Lao Xia, who was still fast asleep in bed, and at the pitch-black night sky through the gap in the curtains. After thinking for a moment, he decided to try to find the location of the orb or the Rabbit Woodcarving again before heading to Peng City.

Just now, in his "Hyper-Sensory State," he sensed the ball stuck in the damaged drone and received very faint feedback, but he couldn't directly perceive any cognitive information.

Therefore, he could basically determine that the location of the Rabbit Woodcarving was not very far from the ball, which proved that both were in Peng City, and possibly within the same building complex.

Perhaps determining the location of one will allow us to determine the location of the other.

Xiang Kun thought for a moment and then instructed Alice to search for targets in the previously designated area that were associated with "Shenxing Technology" and included companies and real estate that might have a large volume of industrial parts deliveries or a large volume of confidential transportation transactions.

If it's a place that repairs or disposes of those drones, there will definitely be clues to be found. After all, there were dozens of drones around that "flying Mutated Creature" that night alone, and their performance is far superior to that of commercially available drones. Whether it's research and development, manufacturing, assembly, repair, recycling, or disposal, it's not something that can be done by one or two people or a few small rooms. There must also be related transportation and material procurement transactions.

Following this direction, Xiang Kun continuously provided Alice with new search rules and added new search conditions. After more than twenty minutes, only three results remained to be determined.

All three targets are located within the factory area. Clearly, based on Alice's judgment of numerous rules and conditions, only these factory areas meet the criteria for being targets.

One of the factories is even a drone assembly plant under "Shenxing Technology".

Shenxing Technology already has commercial drone products and has even been piloting drone property management systems. It also has flagship products for professional drones in the express delivery and film and television industries, with a significant market share.

It makes sense to use this place as a recycling center for those special drones, but Xiang Kun felt something was off.

"Aren't there any suitable targets in the office building area?" Xiang Kun asked Alice.

Alice: "Office areas were prioritized for exclusion. According to the search rules, drone recycling and repair sites generate a lot of noise and require trucks to enter and exit for loading and unloading, making office areas unsuitable. In factory areas, the related supporting needs are easier to meet."

But Xiang Kun carefully recalled the various cognitive information he had under his "Hyper-Sensory State" and said, "Let's include the office building in the list and see if we can find the construction blueprints. There's a fairly deep basement space, much deeper than a three-story parking garage. We can start by looking at the relevant elevator installation records."

In his "Hyper-Sensory State," Xiang Kun sensed the cognitive information around the Rabbit Woodcarving countless times. He was very certain that the space where those "Mutated Creature" were located was underground, and not just any underground space, but a very deep underground space with a very complex structure and a large number of electronic devices installed. The perception range centered on the Rabbit Woodcarving could not even sense the surface.

But as he explored upwards, and analyzed some cognitive information about the interior of the ground that he couldn't fully comprehend, he had a gut feeling that he was in an urban area, surrounded by high-rise buildings.

Moreover, based on his previous investigations of several secret Research Base of "Shenxing Technology", if they were located within the factory area, they wouldn't be hiding so deep underground.

After some time, Alice got results; her target was a building funded and constructed by "Shenxing Technology".

This building, belonging to the Peng City branch of "Shenxing Technology", is more than 20 stories high. Among the many office buildings in Peng City, it is not particularly eye-catching. Moreover, it is called "Guarding Prosperity Building", a rather rustic name that seems to have nothing to do with "Shenxing Technology".

The building had not been completed and put into use for long. Alice found the blueprints and found that apart from the three underground floors, there seemed to be no other underground structure, and nothing deeper than the three underground floors.

However, under Xiang Kun's guidance, Alice discovered from a lot of information related to the construction and some design details in the drawings that this was clearly not an ordinary 20-story office building. Many things were not prepared solely for this building, and the large small square and green belt behind the building were also very out of place. The planning drawings also had many problems.

After focusing their attention on the building, Xiang Kun and Alice worked together, one constantly adjusting their thinking and gathering information, while the other expanded their ideas and mobilized resources. They quickly discovered more problems with the "Guarding Prosperity Building".

First, there is a problem with the power consumption;

Secondly, the underground parking garage's surveillance only extends to the second basement level; the third basement level is not open to anyone, including employees, and the elevators also do not go to the third basement level, as if the building does not have a third basement level at all.

Third, the parking garage has a dedicated entrance that leads directly to the third basement level, which is also not open to people working in the building; there is an electronic gate at the entrance.

Regardless of whether the Rabbit Woodcarving, the tungsten steel ball, or the recovered drone are in the "Guarding Prosperity Building," there is no doubt that there are extremely secretive things about "Shenxing Technology" on the third basement level and below of this building.

Xiang Kun compared the location of "Guarding Prosperity Building" with the street map and asked Alice to send over some surveillance footage from the underground parking lot, the ground, and the surrounding area.

There is surveillance at the entrance directly opposite the three underground parking garages, but it's not part of the building's security system, Alice hasn't taken control of it yet. So she checked the surveillance footage from the fruit shop across the street. This camera also doesn't show the entrance, but any car driving into that entrance from the street will definitely be captured by it.

Once you see a vehicle turning in that direction, it's definitely entering that entrance, because there are no other roads or parking spots after that turn.

Xiang Kun did not conduct real-time monitoring; the current network does not support it, and the transmission is too slow. Alice only sent him some video clips as requested to help him determine the angles of the monitoring in order to determine the subsequent search rules.

After reviewing the shooting angles of several videos, Xiang Kun instructed Alice not to rush into finding a way to hack into the other dedicated network lines in the "Guarding Prosperity Building," but instead to first filter the surveillance video of the fruit shop to see which vehicles entered and exited through that entrance within the past 72 hours.

Alice quickly sifted through the computer storing the surveillance videos at the fruit shop and sent back 68 video clips.

Xiang Kun was somewhat surprised; there were so many cars passing through this entrance/exit.

Wasn't it supposed to be off-limits to people who work in the building?

After watching the passing vehicles for a while, it was clear that some were delivery vehicles, going in and coming out within two hours; others were commuters, going in in the morning and coming out in the evening.

What caught Xiang Kun's attention most was a huge black GMC RV, which was clearly carrying either important people or important items.

The RV left the Guarding Prosperity Building yesterday afternoon and only recently returned.

Xiang Kun pondered for a moment and said to Alice, "First, book two plane tickets for Peng City today. Then, try to track the movement of this GMC RV and see if you can find any other clear surveillance footage to determine its license plate number. Try to analyze where it went from leaving the building last night until it just returned. It would be even better if you could find its stopping point and footage of the people getting out of the car. But don't force it. Remember the first rule of carrying out a mission online."

Alice's voice, tinged with a hint of cheerfulness, rang out. "Don't worry, boss! Alice is invincible in the digital world! No one can find Alice! Nobody!"

Xiang Kun tapped the speaker lightly. "Keep it down!"

"Okay, boss!" Alice quickly lowered her voice.

In the vast, empty hall deep beneath the Guarding Prosperity Building.

Neither "Mr. Liang" playing with the wooden Rabbit Woodcarving nor John, who had just escaped a disaster and was still in shock, could have imagined that a "Bloodline" or "Blood-feeding Creature" in their eyes had just spied on them in a way they couldn't understand, and even locked onto the building by sheer luck.

"You say you can find the 'Eight-Armed Giant' of Montamira?" Mr. Liang asked, his dark eyes, devoid of eyelids, fixed on John.

"Yes... I can find it... To be precise, that 'eight-armed giant' is an illusion; I'm referring to the 'Bloodline' who created it."

"Are you sure that illusion was created by other 'Bloodline'? Have you seen it before?" Mr. Liang asked.

"I've never seen it before, but I'm sure..."

As John spoke, he secretly observed "Mr. Liang," especially the Rabbit Woodcarving that he was playing with.

The rabbit was carved very ugly and crudely. If it weren't for its long, large ears, it would be hard to recognize it as a rabbit. It was already strange enough that "Mr. Liang" would be carrying such an ugly wooden carving, but the carving was also covered in scratches, cuts, holes, and even some obvious burn marks.

This made John wonder if "Mr. Liang," who had transformed into such a terrifying form, also had sadistic tendencies and was a psychopath.

In truth, he had no idea how to find the "Bloodline" who created the "illusion of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant." He had just faced the giant serpent "Blood Beast" and knew he was doomed. In desperation, he remembered that "Mr. Liang" was also investigating this matter in Montamira and would likely be interested. So, he decided to shout it out as his last chance to survive.

As he spoke, he rapidly racked his brains, trying to come up with a plausible explanation that wouldn't be exposed.

He knew that if he said he couldn't find the "Bloodline" or "Blood-feeding Creature" now, his fate would probably be even worse than if he had just been swallowed by that snake.

"You should know my ability, which is to hypnotize people by making eye contact and using your voice to assist. But when I was in Montamira, those who saw the 'eight-armed giant illusion' on the night of March 8th were all immune to my hypnosis and completely unaffected."

John said with a grave expression, "This means that the influence of that 'eight-armed giant illusion' has not been completely eliminated even after so many days. The 'Bloodline' who created that illusion is far more powerful than me! And several levels stronger!"

"Oh? Better than those old earls and dukes in your old nest?"

"They're all stronger! Much stronger!" John said with great certainty. "Whether it's me, or the other main lineages... other 'Bloodline,' including that Guo Tianxiang, hypnotizing other humans is an innate ability of ours. But our hypnosis and guidance are about operating in accordance with the target's mind. Essentially, it's about letting them actively imagine the state we want them to achieve."

"When it comes to group influence, what they see, their thoughts, and their emotions may all be different; the only guarantee is that their final behavioral outcomes will be consistent."

"But that guy in Montamira... he can create an illusion that everyone can see. Although everyone sees slightly different details, the overall effect is the same, and it generates almost the exact same sense of fear. This influence is several levels stronger than our methods. I have never heard of any ancestor in the history of the 'Red Rose' who could do this..."

John's frantic exaggeration of the "Bloodline" power that Montamira used to create large-scale illusions wasn't entirely for the purpose of increasing his own "value"; what he said was something he himself actually believed in.

However, after secretly observing Mr. Liang's condition, John quickly added, "Of course, with your abilities, sir, if that 'Bloodline' encountered you, it would be just like a tiny insect like me, utterly powerless and unable to affect you."

Mr. Liang didn't react at all to this pointless flattery and asked directly, "How are you going to help me find him?"

John paused for two seconds, his mind racing, before speaking, "At first, I thought that 'Bloodline' Montamira might be an official of your country, risking using large-scale 'illusion influence' to stop the riot that night. But since you are also investigating him, sir, that means he is not from your country."

"My lord, you should understand that a 'Bloodline' or what you call a 'Blood-feeding Creature' of a very high level and great strength is inherently selfish. Under what circumstances would he risk using such a wide-ranging ability in a large human-populated city like Montamira?"

Seeing that Mr. Liang didn't respond, John naturally continued his self-answered question, "He must have been conducting a 'blood hunt' in Montamira at the time. There must have been 'blood sources' he was hunting that infiltrated the city of Montamira. His large-scale illusionary influence was probably a way of screening 'blood sources'! He was able to pinpoint the location of 'blood sources' through this influence! Perhaps he had already reached his limit, to the point where he couldn't survive without drinking the blood of other 'Blood-feeding Creature' or 'Bloodline,' which is why he risked taking action!"

John glanced nervously at "Mr. Liang," and seeing the latter nod in approval to continue, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued, "The riots in Montamira that night might have been caused by that 'Blood Source.' With the riots raging, he could use it as cover to carry out a blood-drinking feast! So that 'Blood Source' might be unknowingly being targeted."

Get to the point.

Sensing a hint of impatience in Mr. Liang's tone, John quickly said, "That 'Bloodline boss' might be creating mass illusions by affecting streetlights or other light and shadow, emitting sounds of certain frequencies. If he is indeed searching for the 'blood source' in this way, then the place where the illusion ends last, the last place someone saw the illusion, is very likely where the 'blood source' is located. We can start our search from there."

After speaking, John noticed that "Mr. Liang" was just looking at him quietly without saying a word. Thinking that he was not satisfied with the answer, he quickly added, "Sir, I am willing to act as 'bait' to go to Myanmar to lure out that 'Bloodline boss.' I believe that after he completes that stage of transformation, he will definitely be interested in a high-ranking Bloodline like me. You can completely trust me. After you drink... after you deal with the 'old Joel's prosthetic limb' in that knife, I will have no chance of returning to Slovakia. I can only rely on you to have any hope of survival."

"How long until your next blood-drinking need?" Mr. Liang asked.

"There are... about... 40 to 60 days? Uh, it should be within 90 days, 100 days should be..." John said somewhat uncertainly.

Mr. Liang snapped his fingers, startling John, who had been on edge the whole time. He jumped to the side as if he had been kicked.

He looked in horror toward the room where the giant snake was, only to find that the partition had not risen, but rather the entire screen had lit up, allowing him to see the giant snake trapped in the room again.

By this time, the giant snake's eyes had recovered, and it was still coiled up in the corner, dozing off, as if the battle—or rather, the one-sided chase—had never happened.

As he stared blankly at the screen, "Mr. Liang" threw the wooden carving in his hand at him again. He instinctively caught it with both hands, looking surprised.

"I'll give you 40 days. You can choose one of the two tasks," Mr. Liang said, pointing in the direction of the giant snake and then to the wooden carving in his hand. "Defeat that snake one-on-one and eat it; or figure out what's so special about that wooden carving in your hand and tell me."

John's mouth gaped open in astonishment. He never expected that after racking his brains to finally provide that information about the "Bloodline boss" who created illusions in Montamira, "Mr. Liang" neither flew into a rage and killed him, nor sent him to Montamira to find that "Bloodline boss," but instead gave him these two strange "tasks"?