Lao Xia's Analysis

Xiang Kun and Lao Xia ran to the rooftop, moved a small table to put their laptops on, and sat on small plastic stools, huddled together, looking at the screen and discussing the information he had gleaned that night—mainly analyzing the dream content of the humanoid "Mutated Creature" they had sensed.

Xiang Kun had already learned from Alice that the "humanoid Mutated Creature" who was staying at the bottom of Guarding Prosperity Building with Mr. Liang was named John. He only knew that John was from Europe and had not entered the country through normal channels. His specific background and identity were still unclear.

In the dream Xiang Kun John that Xiang Kun perceived, he was fighting a giant snake in a dark and gloomy underground building. The underground building looked like an ancient tomb, with a top that was tens of meters high. There were a lot of buildings or altars that were a mixture of ancient Egyptian, medieval and ancient Chinese styles. The surrounding environment was obviously not the underground space of Guarding Prosperity Building, but an environment that he imagined based on his own experiences and the influence of his emotions.

The giant snake was enormous, standing at least seven or eight meters tall. Its body was as thick as an oil drum, and it had a huge mouth full of sharp teeth on its chest, from which several barbed tentacles extended, baring their fangs and claws at him.

Whether it's the information Alice obtained or the information Xiang Kun decoded through his "Hyper-Sensory State," it can be confirmed that the giant snake-like "Mutated Creature" beneath the Guarding Prosperity Building is not actually that huge.

John himself was wearing a piece of Europe medieval-style plate armor, but in his hand he held a huge white porcelain knife. The knife was so sharp that it easily severed the tentacles from the giant snake's gaping maw.

John effortlessly killed the giant serpent, which was much larger than himself. The serpent then vanished in a cloud of white mist. John turned around and walked to the bottom of a huge platform, knelt on one knee, looked up at a huge throne at the end of the hundred-step staircase, and made a gesture of submission.

Then, a strange "monster" appeared on the throne.

The monster, though humanoid in form, was naked, had no eyelids or lips, and a wide, flat nose with large nostrils pointing outwards, as if two holes had been carved into its face. Its skin was covered with strange patterns that seemed to shimmer.

The humanoid monster slowly rose to its feet, about to speak, when it suddenly sensed something and turned to look at the space above it. There, an enormous figure slowly appeared in the glow of the fires from the surrounding altars.

First came a gigantic head, its eight eyes like eight living beings, each with its own life and consciousness, coldly surveying everything below.

Beneath the enormous head, slowly rising from behind the building, was an equally enormous body, along with eight arms like giant pillars, hanging down and pressing against the ground, supporting the body as it continued to grow taller.

The eight-armed, eight-eyed giant was not only rising from the ground, but its body was also continuing to expand, as if it wanted to occupy the entire underground space.

The humanoid monster that was originally on the platform retreated step by step, and then its body suddenly disappeared.

John quickly got up from the ground, leaped onto the altar beside him, glanced around, picked up a plate of rabbit meat, placed it high above his head, and then knelt down again.

But moments later, a gigantic hand descended from the sky, covering the plate of rabbit meat, John holding the rabbit meat, and the entire altar beneath his knees.

The dream ends here.

Xiang Kun speculated that the humanoid monster that appeared and disappeared on the high platform was most likely Mr. Liang.

Through John's sensory information in the dream, Xiang Kun knew that John had a slight fear of the humanoid monster, but he felt a strong sense of longing, joy, submission, and worship towards the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant that almost burst the entire underground space.

It's easy to understand Xiang Kun didn't feel fear towards the eight-armed, eight-eyed creature, because what triggered the dream was the Rabbit Woodcarving, not the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving. The person affected should be showing in the dream what they are focused on thinking about when awake.

But if that's the case, why does the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving occupy such a large proportion in the dream, and why does it evoke feelings of worship?

Could it be that this guy had somehow sensed the emotional projections of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving before?

For example, in Myanmar?

No, if he was indeed influenced by the emotional projection of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving, then among the many emotions he experienced when he saw the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant in his dream, there would definitely still be fear, and he would materialize what he feared most, rather than this intense feeling of submission and worship.

The dream and the memory fragments Xiang Kun obtained after consuming the blood of other "Mutated Creature" are naturally very different. They are basically just single scenes and limited activities. Moreover, what he sees and perceives is mostly processed by the subconscious, and deviates from real memories and objective facts.

Although Xiang Kun can now edit the dreams he creates to some extent, his ability to directly explore the other person's memories, hypnotize, and guide them is still far inferior to Lao Xia's "Dream Within a Dream." He cannot guarantee that he can find the information he wants in the dream, or make the other person forget the hypnotic process through dream hypnosis, so he did not act rashly.

However, the dream information he perceived this time still allowed him to draw several conclusions:

1. His "Emotion-Infused Object" can trigger dreams in "Mutated Creature," but whether other non- Humanoid Creature can also have their dreams triggered remains to be tested;

2. John had clearly just devoured the giant snake and entered a blood-drinking slumber. Based on his experience, during the slumber following the consumption of a "Mutated Creature," he would acquire some of its memories; fragments of sensory information would rapidly scroll through his mind like a slideshow. John didn't know if he had already acquired the memory fragments, or if that process was interrupted by his "Emotion-Infused Object" guiding his dream, or if John simply couldn't acquire memory fragments by devouring other "Mutated Creature."

3. By comparing the sensory information from other people's dreams with John's, Xiang Kun could tell that John's sense of hearing, sight, and smell were significantly enhanced compared to ordinary people. However, the degree of enhancement was still far less than Xiang Kun's, roughly equivalent to his level after his third or fourth blood-drinking mutation. At least in terms of sensory perception, John was relatively ordinary and not a powerful "Mutated Creature."

4. The huge white porcelain knife that John used to fight the giant snake in his dream is very similar in shape and material to the one Xiang Kun obtained Guo Tianxiang. It is highly likely that they came from the same source, which means that John and Guo Tianxiang may be connected.

5. Even if Mr. Liang's appearance in the dream differs from the real Mr. Liang, it shouldn't be too far off. Alice hadn't been able to find any video footage of Mr. Liang before; he seemed to enter an invisible state when monitored. This was also true in the secret underground space of the Guarding Prosperity Building. When operating the control panel and the relevant cameras were pointed at him, he would become invisible. Therefore, Xiang Kun and Alice hadn't had a very concrete concept of his specific appearance. However, based on Xiang Kun's sensory information and John's observations in the dream, it's clear that Mr. Liang is different from Xiang Kun and doesn't adhere to a human form.

6. John's attitude towards Mr. Liang in his dream suggests that, similar to Xiang Kun and Alice's previous assessments, he and Mr. Liang are not from the same organization, and he is most likely Mr. Liang's prisoner.

After listening to Xiang Kun's description of the sensory experience of dreams and his six judgments, Xia Libing pondered while creating a simple table on the computer with Alice's assistance.

Since Alice fully integrated into the "Super-Sensing Item System," Xiang Kun, knowing Alice's near-invincible dominance in the digital world, has basically put aside his concerns about data security. Whether discussing with Lao Xia or recording things himself, he directly uses the computer and lets Alice do it for him, ensuring that all relevant information is recorded and further improving the "Vampire Mutation Model."

Xia Libing would occasionally ask about the details of the dream, and Xiang Kun. She even asked Alice to help her create a simulation software to build a similar huge underground cemetery based on John's dream description, and even "recreate" Mr. Liang's appearance in the dream.

After a while, Xia Libing finished filling out a form before saying to Xiang Kun, "Judging from past cases, the target's dream is, on one hand, a reaction to the current situation:"

"The dark and boundless underground environment, along with the various vague and inconsistent buildings, suggests that he was not entirely clear about his own situation, nor did he fully understand Mr. Liang's background, only having some general and vague guesses;

"The sheer size of the giant serpent indicated that he judged its strength to be far greater than his own. However, the fact that he quickly dealt with the serpent suggests that he was in a relaxed and triumphant state after eliminating and devouring it."

"Mr. Liang's tall stature, placing him on a platform far above him, indicates that, both in terms of actual strength and mentality, he is at an absolute disadvantage when facing Mr. Liang, completely suppressed, and he has neither the confidence nor the thought of resisting on his own."

"On the other hand, it is an expectation for changing the status quo and for future changes:"

"The Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant's body was enormous, almost filling the entire space. Its appearance was quite abrupt, and it rose from behind Mr. Liang's platform, scaring Mr. Liang away. This proves that in his subconscious, the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant and the power it represents are far stronger than Mr. Liang, and he also hopes that this power can help him deal with Mr. Liang and change the status quo;"

"When he saw the dream projection of 'Emotion-Infused Object meat', his first reaction was to pick up the rabbit meat and 'offer' it to the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant, proving that in his heart, he believed that the 'rabbit meat' was related to the 'Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant';

"Finally, the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant's hand fell, pressing down on him and the entire altar, proving that in his heart, he also held a skeptical and worried attitude towards the idea of placing hope in the power of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant."

"Based on your and Alice's previous exploration of the Guarding Prosperity Building's underground space, the target was not confined in a closed space like the other three 'Mutated Creature.' He was in a semi-free state in the underground space and stayed with the Rabbit Woodcarving the whole time. I speculate that Mr. Liang may have thought that the target could uncover the origin of the Rabbit Woodcarving and told him about the dream and the rabbit meat."

"As for the connection between the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant and the Rabbit Woodcarving, it may be based on Mr. Liang's judgment, or it may be his own judgment. For example, he may have learned about what happened in Montamira through the Internet or other media, and then connected them through some internal logic. Alice's failure to steal information a few days ago caused the 'Emotion-Infused Object' to have a side effect, which made him see the 'rabbit meat' hallucination, and this should also indirectly deepen his understanding."

"A few days after seeing the 'rabbit meat' hallucination, the target devoured a 'Mutated Creature,' which was clearly arranged by Mr. Liang."

"Based on the current imprecise speculation, Mr. Liang's treatment of other 'Mutated Creature,' whether they were mutated from humans or other organisms, was basically to call on researchers and field personnel from secret departments to investigate when their whereabouts were discovered. However, after actually capturing the 'Mutated Creature,' he adopted a completely closed, single-person controlled approach, and no systematic research methods were found. It seemed more like an emotional and random approach."

"I suspect that Mr. Liang has a natural strong desire to control and a wary attitude towards other 'Mutated Creature.' If we want to make contact with him, we should prepare for the possibility of conflict. Alternatively, we could establish our own Research Base, achieve some research results, and obtain valuable information before directly contacting the people at that 'Abnormality Research Center.' In comparison, Mr. Liang would be a larger and more difficult variable to control."

"Based on the target's psychology, we might be able to influence and guide him in the future through the Rabbit Woodcarving and the 'Super-Linked Object' already deployed nearby, so that he can help us further probe Mr. Liang's specific attitude towards 'Mutated Creature' and why he doesn't allow researchers to participate in the direct research of 'Mutated Creature'."

After listening to Lao Xia's analysis and judgment, Xiang Kun nodded in agreement. "Yes, I certainly won't contact Mr. Liang. At least I'll wait for Alice to help me Guarding Prosperity Building and see if we can figure out those questions before we do anything."

Xiang Kun spoke, he chuckled and added, "By the way, given Alice's current control and grip on information within 'Shenxing Technology's' secret department, we can not only mislead or guide their investigation and thinking, but we can also utilize their established information gathering network, external investigators, and related equipment and researchers to help us with our research. Actually... we don't need to develop our own equipment; we can just use theirs. Right, Alice? You can do it, can't you?"

The laptop responded crisply, "You can do it!"

Xia Libing immediately rejected the suggestion. "I want to do it myself."

Xiang Kun didn't insist, and laughed, "Then we'll do it ourselves."

Alice seconded, "We'll do it ourselves!"

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I recommend the new book by Divine Wisdom Wolf, <The Ancient God Nurter>, which is about transmigrating to another world and raising dragons and ancient gods.