The Sea God's Might Descends (Part 1)

After Alice found a method for "large-scale, automated Super-Linked Object," and established "temporary Emotion-Infused Object connections" through the continuous Secondary Emotional Assimilation of several of Tang Baona's songs that went viral, and expanded the scope of deployment and association of "Super-Linked Object," Xiang Kun also relied on the ever-increasing and expanding network of "Super-Linked Object" to determine some information that he could not fully determine before.

For example, in Xiang Kun's perception, there was the location of the "Mutated Creature" linker within the "secondary Emotion-Infused Object network" established under the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving".

When the "Mutated Creature" was first discovered to be in the "secondary Emotion-Infused Object network," it exhibited the characteristics of Emotion-Infused Object. Xiang Kun could sense its emotional changes, but without any "Super-Linked Object" around it, he was unable to pinpoint its location.

However, Xiang Kun's "Super-Linked Object" have now spread to the vicinity of the "Mutated Creature" linker, so his location can be used for positioning and reference.

If Xiang Kun hasn't been to that place before, he can only know the general direction and make a rough distance calculation with the nearest "Super-Linked Object" in the area he has been to. Although Alice is now helping to build a conversion model that can provide a relatively reliable error, it still can't be like a map app on a mobile phone, which can directly and accurately locate a place even if the person hasn't been there.

However, the location that Xiang Kun sensed this time, the location of the "Mutated Creature" linker under the "Level Two Emotion-Infused Object Network," was a place he had been to before, so he instantly pinpointed the location—it was the place where he went out to sea in Myanmar, in that small village by the sea.

Clearly, the "Mutated Creature" linker was influenced by the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant illusion" in Montamira, established a "secondary Emotion-Infused Object network" connection, and then went to the seaside.

As for the timing of the mutation, Xiang Kun is certain it occurred after being influenced by the emotional projection, but whether it happened in Montamira or in the seaside village is uncertain.

In his "Hyper-Sensory State," Xiang Kun made some preliminary judgments based on cognitive information. This "humanoid Mutated Creature" still had human characteristics as the dominant feature, and its appearance had not changed into a non-human form. Emotionally, it was also relatively peaceful, without any violent or manic behavior.

Generally speaking, if we are in China, and we know our location, with Alice's assistance, we can obtain a lot of information directly.

For example, by using various surveillance cameras, mobile phones, or other shooting devices to obtain audio and video information.

But in that small seaside village, not only did the "Mutated Creature" linker himself not have a cell phone or a computer, he also rarely interacted with people. The one or two people he did occasionally come into contact with either didn't have cell phones or were still using feature phones.

There were no surveillance cameras nearby; the closest ones were in towns several kilometers away, and he would never go near those places.

It seems that the "Mutated Creature" linker deliberately went to such a backward and isolated place on the coast of Myanmar to avoid having its mutation discovered.

After considering it for a moment, Xiang Kun decided to go directly to Myanmar to observe the "humanoid Mutated Creature" that had established a secondary connection with the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" up close.

Currently, within his "Super-Sensing Item System," this person is the only "Mutated Creature"—Little Radish is only a semi-"Mutated Creature," and there is still a very fundamental difference between them.

However, relatively speaking, Little Radish's connection with him is much closer, and his "authority" within the "Super-Sensing Item System" is much higher. He was aware of the system's existence from the beginning and was able to proactively apply and develop the system's functions.

The "Mutated Creature" on the Myanmar coast is probably still unaware that it exists within the "Super-Sensing Item System," just like other linkers within the "secondary Emotion-Infused Object network."

This trip to Myanmar was much simpler. Xiang Kun flew directly to Montamira, Alice arranged everything for him, including his passport, e-visa, and plane ticket.

With Alice around, even if something happens later, her traces can be completely covered up, and there's no need to worry about anyone noticing anything unusual.

Upon arriving in Montamira, he found another car and headed to the beach where the "Mutated Creature" was located.

However, when they were still five or six kilometers away, Xiang Kun got out of the car and walked towards the target location.

The "Super-Linked Object" extending here mostly consists of domestic industrial products and their parts, including related electronic products such as mobile phones, home appliances, and toys, as well as parts used in automobiles and fishing boats.

However, those "Mutated Creature" are currently outside the "Super-Linked Object's" perception range. Following the process of elimination, he should be in the sea right now?

Xiang Kun wasn't in a hurry. He took off his shoes and slowly wandered along the beach, searching for traces of the "Mutated Creature" while flicking a few tungsten steel beads from his pocket every now and then to expand his and Alice's sensory range.

Under Alice's control, these beads will not remain on the beach, but will "clump together" and continuously head towards the depths of the water, serving as a basic extension of the "Super-Linked Object" on the shore, helping her find and locate the "Mutated Creature".

However, after a short while, Xiang Kun heard some noises coming from the sea, and then calmly leaned against a large rock on the beach.

A few dozen seconds later, a naked figure covered in various algae and shellfish rose from the water, holding a large fish, and walked towards the beach.

At first, he seemed to stagger, his steps were heavy, and he moved with great difficulty, as if his body was very heavy. But after walking on the beach for a while, he became normal and even light-footed.

In an instant, Xiang Kun determined that the person who rose from the sea was his target, the linker under the second-level network of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving," and the "humanoid Mutated Creature."

Using low-light night vision mode, Xiang Kun observed the target's appearance. He looked to be a middle-aged Asian man of medium height and strong build, but judging from his facial features, he didn't seem to be a native Myanmar.

Using the huge rocks by the sea as cover, Xiang Kun observed from a distance, relying on his superb eyesight.

For the time being, the middle-aged man had not noticed him, so he did not reveal himself and continued to observe from the shadows.

After getting ashore, the middle-aged man wiped off the shellfish and algae clinging to his body. Then, carrying the large, half-dead fish, he walked into a simple wooden hut on a higher elevation not far from the sea. He placed the fish in a bamboo basket by the door and left without lingering.

Xiang Kun sensed that there were three people sleeping inside the small wooden house: an old man and two children.

After delivering the fish, the middle-aged man walked back to the beach, went to a secluded area shaded by many trees, climbed onto a rock, sat cross-legged, stretched, and then sat there gazing at the distant sea, seemingly lost in thought.

Xiang Kun laughed, not because of the middle-aged man's actions, but because as he did so, he muttered to himself, "Comfortable."

The voice was very soft, but it was still carried by the wind and Xiang Kun could hear it. The two words were spoken in standard Mandarin, which meant that the middle-aged man was most likely Chinese.

Xiang Kun took out his phone and told Alice about the middle-aged man's facial features and height. He then asked her to search for any Chinese people in Montamira who matched the description and whose whereabouts were currently unknown when Xiang Kun created the large-scale impact of the "eight-armed, eight-eyed illusion" in Montamira.

Alice retrieved four files in just a few minutes, then placed the one she considered most likely first.

The man was a 41-year-old single Chinese man named Jiang Chun. He disappeared the day after the Montamira mass hallucination incident and there were no records of him leaving or entering the country afterward. His bank cards, Alipay, and other payment tools showed no signs of being used again.

Xiang Kun looked at the personal information of Jiang Chun sent by Alice on his phone. After seeing the photos of Jiang Chun and comparing them with the appearance of the middle-aged man he had just seen, although there were some differences, he could basically confirm that it was the same person. He could ignore the other three files.

Judging from Jiang Chun's medical records, he already had a terminal illness and didn't have much time left before coming to Myanmar.

Of course, that was before the mutation. After the mutation, according to Xiang Kun's perception of his cognitive information under "Hyper-Sensory State", his physical condition was excellent, and the cancer cells could no longer have any negative impact on his physical functions.

Are his terminal illness and the fear projection from the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" all related to the cause of his mutation?

Xiang Kun recalled the information Alice had learned about Guo Tianxiang's true identity through "Shenxing Technology" and Tai'e's information network. This first "humanoid Mutated Creature" and "vampire" that Xiang Kun had encountered had a rather tragic childhood before the mutation.

Guo Tianxiang's parents were both addicted to drugs. His father died from a drug overdose, and his mother later found a boyfriend who was also an addict. When his addiction flared up, he would beat him and his mother. His mother also beat and verbally abused him at will. Then, on the eve of his junior high school graduation, his mother and stepfather had an addiction flare-up and attacked each other with a kitchen knife and a fruit knife. They both died from excessive blood loss.

When the police arrived, they found that Guo Tianxiang had fainted from fright. They took him to the hospital, intending to send him to a social welfare institution. However, after he woke up, he left the hospital on his own and did not care about the funeral arrangements for his mother and stepfather. He has been missing ever since.

Based on the fragments of memory he obtained from Guo Tianxiang, and combined with the police's on-site records, Xiang Kun believes that Guo Tianxiang seems to be directly related to the deaths of his mother and stepfather. Moreover, it was after their deaths that he began to mutate and drink their blood.

Based on the examples of human mutations that Xiang Kun knows and has studied, the most commonality among the mutation nodes of himself, Mr. Liang, Guo Tianxiang, and Jiang Chun should be the intense emotional fluctuations.

Of course, physical ailments might also play a role; perhaps when he and Guo Tianxiang mutated, their bodies already had some lesions they were unaware of.

Jiang Chun sat on that rock until almost five o'clock, then went back into the sea.

Xiang Kun thought for a moment, then took off his phone and clothes and hid them, leaving only his underwear. He then submerged in the water, entered "Oxygen-Saving Mode," and followed.

As soon as he entered the water, the tungsten steel beads he had thrown around gathered together, like an army waiting to be summoned, ready to charge into battle at any moment.

Xiang Kun initially kept a great distance from Jiang Chun, relying solely on controlling the "Super-Linked Object" sphere he sent out to sense Jiang Chun's location from afar. He then used Jiang Chun's reactions to determine his perception range and mode in the water.

He began to patiently and gradually shorten the distance between himself and Jiang Chun in order to find a more convenient and suitable observation position.

Jiang Chun's swimming speed in the water was not actually very fast, and he would often sink to the bottom of the sea, sit cross-legged and observe his surroundings, giving Xiang Kun the feeling that he was like an underwater tourist.

Jiang Chun's breathing pattern is clearly different from Xiang Kun's "Oxygen-Saving Mode," but it is also different from the gill breathing of ordinary fish.

Based on Xiang Kun's observation of his behavior patterns and analysis of his cognitive information under "Hyper-Sensory State," his breathing method should be somewhat similar to that of a whale, and he still needs to return to the surface to breathe.

His eyes have also undergone corresponding mutations and evolutions, allowing him to see easily underwater and possessing relatively strong protective capabilities.

Xiang Kun was also puzzled as to why Jiang Chun had evolved the ability to stay underwater. Was he being chased and forced to jump into the sea to hide?

Maintaining an excellent observation distance, after following Jiang Chun in the sea for more than ten hours, Xiang Kun suddenly sensed that Jiang Chun's emotions were beginning to become agitated.

He realized that Jiang Chun's time to bleed had come.

Jiang Chun did not immediately hunt or drink the blood. He lay down at the bottom of the water, stretched out his limbs, and closed his eyes, seemingly trying to control his emotions and forcibly suppress the urge to drink the blood.

After more than an hour, with his bloodlust being suppressed and then surging back several times until he could no longer suppress it, he finally began to hunt in the water.

His hunting method involves relaxing himself, making himself appear like a harmless, inanimate object, and then suddenly lunging out to seize the prey when it gets close. He then surfaces to drink its blood. The movements look rather clumsy and comical, but they are undeniably efficient and effective.

After drinking the blood, Jiang Chun swam back and found an underwater reef near the sea. He sat down and wedged himself into a small hole at the bottom of the reef.

It is obvious that Jiang Chun often hid here to spend his blood-drinking slumber. He was stuck in the cave and could use the rocks and seaweed nearby to cover himself, making it difficult for humans who happened to dive nearby to find him.

As for other fish or aquatic creatures, they don't consider it edible.

After confirming that Jiang Chun was asleep, Xiang Kun moved closer and carefully observed him. Then he entered a "Hyper-Sensory State" to perceive the changes in Jiang Chun's cognitive information and see how the mutations and evolutions were expressed in his cognitive information during his blood-drinking slumber.

Just eight hours later, Jiang Chun showed signs of waking up. Xiang Kun from the water and continued to observe from afar. He already knew that different "Mutated Creature" had different blood-drinking cycles and blood-drinking dormancy periods depending on their individual circumstances, so he wasn't surprised at all that Jiang Chun had completed his blood-drinking in eight hours.

Jiang Chun swam around in the water for a while, and then swam back to the beach around 8 or 9 pm after dark, quietly going ashore.

This time he got ashore much earlier than when Xiang Kun found him last time. He ran to the little wooden house by the sea, croaked like a frog a few times, and then a little boy and a little girl ran out happily. Behind them was an old woman whose back was so hunched over.

Xiang Kun emerged from the water at another beach, but as soon as he was ashore, he immediately sensed something was wrong through his enhanced senses.

Not far from the cabin, a number of people were lying in ambush.

Judging from their posture, they're here for Jiang Chun?