Heaven and Earth

The large iron ball hovered in the air, vibrating at a high frequency, with electric sparks surging above, nearby, and below it. Being located at the core of a thunderstorm, it looked quite like an alien object.

If someone witnessed this scene, they would probably think it was some kind of advanced black technology, far superior to Earth's civilization.

The mutated bird, encased in tens of thousands of tungsten steel beads, was naturally struggling desperately, using every trick in the book to try and escape.

The last time it encountered a similar attack method when it was besieged by Niu, Xia, Ai and Guo in Chongyun Village, the four of them worked together to create a field that contained fine sand, mineral particles and metal shavings in the surrounding environment to trap the mutated bird. Among them, there were only a very small number of Super-Linked Object tungsten steel beads.

Therefore, the sand and gravel did not have a strong ability to trap or imprison. The main purpose was to use the sand and gravel as cover to allow a small number of Super-Linked Object to drill into the nostrils, ears, and beak of the mutated bird, attempting to penetrate its body and cause damage. In the end, the bird broke free and escaped by "igniting" itself and exploding.

However, in the current environment, with Xiang Kun personally appearing and fully activating the Super-Link Object Matrix, creating an optimal "home field environment," and with the entire body of the mutated bird covered not by filler sand or debris, but entirely by "Super-Linked Object," no matter how the mutated bird struggles or what method it uses, it has no chance of breaking free.

Looking at the "iron ball" suspended in the air by the Super-Linked Object, Xiang Kun suddenly began to step forward, his bare feet touching the ground. Each step caused the electric arcs on the ground to change and jump violently, and also triggered the violent release of electrical energy in the air.

Xiang Kun's pace quickened, turning from walking to running. As his speed increased, the electric "hair" behind his head suddenly extended several meters, flying and dancing wildly. Then he leaped into the air, soaring into the sky amidst the electric light.

As he soared into the air, the lightning storm intensified, with countless "electric dragons" vying to ram their heads into the ground nearby, illuminating the entire area as bright as day.

However, the lightning storm that Xiang Kun triggered this time was different from the past because he deliberately created a field on the ground. After the lightning struck, it did not cause much damage. The energy was not converted into heat energy, but continued to circulate.

Xiang Kun soared into the sky, flying directly above the giant iron ball. He then stopped, paused for half a second, and then charged towards the iron ball, kicking it away as it enveloped the mutated bird.

Xiang Kun didn't rely on sheer strength to strike the large iron ball; his kick was more like a firing pin that stirred up energy, propelling the iron ball like an electromagnetic cannon the moment it made contact.

The iron ball flew dozens of meters before burrowing into the ground.

Upon landing, the Super-Linked Object Sphere temporarily disintegrated. Although the mutated bird's bones were shattered and twisted irregularly when it was trapped, it still struggled desperately to escape now that it had a chance, and sparks began to burst from its feathers.

But just as it poked its head out of the crater, countless roots and vines suddenly emerged from between the surrounding crater walls and pulled it back into the crater.

Above it, the roots and vines twisted and clung together, rapidly merging at a speed visible to the naked eye. During their growth, they even emitted constantly flickering arcs of electricity, and were surrounded by a very faint white light. Soon, a huge, crooked tree was formed directly on the pit.

Around the crooked tree were a large number of "seed plants" that Alice had previously mobilized the ant army to help "Little Radish" deploy— Xiang Kun and Alice also relied on them to determine the exact location of the mutated bird.

The mutated bird trapped underneath was still struggling desperately; it certainly couldn't be trapped by the roots and stems of the "Little Radish" plant.

But now there are not only the "Little Radish," but also the countless Super-Linked Object spheres that previously enveloped it. These spheres are still filling the gaps in the rootstock in the soil, creating intense pressure and restriction.

Furthermore, many tiny thorns extend from those roots and stems, which, with the assistance of the Super-Linked Object spheres, pierce into its body and continue to extend, reaching into its blood vessels, muscle tissue, and soft tissue.

Xiang Kun did not land immediately, but flew in the air at an extremely fast speed for more than ten seconds, causing violent lightning dragons to flash and continuous thunder to roar in the sky.

This action wasn't for any particular purpose; Xiang Kun simply wanted to experience the feeling of flying freely. The high-speed flight amidst the storms and tempests was vastly different from the feeling of flying from inside an airplane.

Especially with the help of tens of thousands of "Super-Linked Object" around him to expand his perception, he could clearly feel the entire area of the lightning storm and the energy of this entire area at his disposal. For a moment, Xiang Kun really felt that he had become a god, able to control thunder, lightning, wind and rain, and to destroy the world. He was omnipotent.

It was absolutely awesome, so awesome!

However, Xiang Kun quickly controlled his floating and inflated emotions, because there was a little guy even more floating than him constantly requesting to manifest and fly with him on electric waves, allowing him to pull his thoughts back from the Super-Sensing Item System to his own body.

After releasing most of the energy in the clouds, and after Alice also appeared and flew for three seconds with a "whoosh" sound, her whole body electrified, Xiang Kun landed back on the ground.

As he walked towards the enormous and ugly crooked tree, he relaxed his influence on the entire area. With each step, the long, electric hair behind his head quickly shortened and then disappeared.

After the frequency of thunder and lightning decreased, heavy rain quickly began to fall.

In the rain, Xiang Kun stood before the huge, crooked tree, closed his eyes, and entered a "Hyper-Sensory State."

If this scene were filmed or photographed and posted online, it would likely spark a heated discussion.

Wearing only a pair of somewhat worn-out jeans, barefoot, with his muscular upper body bare, bald, eyes closed, and a peaceful expression, he stood amidst the heavy rain, like a giant tree that looked hundreds of years old and was so ugly it seemed like a Cthulhu invasion.

This scene, this contrast, will probably conjure up stories of "high monks" and "tree spirits" in many people's minds.

In fact, if Xiang Kun had wanted to, after trapping the mutated bird in the air with a large number of Super-Linked Object and turning it into a giant iron ball, he could have simply summoned a few bolts of lightning to strike it, and the mutated bird would have been killed very quickly.

Although the mutated bird had been enhanced and specialized in its resistance to lightning strikes due to being struck by lightning at Purple Huan Mountain, its main characteristic, besides rapid recovery and resistance to high temperatures, was that it could shed a layer of its "outer skin" at the moment of impact and then establish a vacuum insulation layer in its place, thus "cutting off its tail to survive." Otherwise, no matter how resistant to high temperatures it was, it would be difficult to escape unscathed from continuous direct lightning strikes.

Once trapped by the Super-Linked Object, it lost the ability to use that coping mechanism. If bombarded again, it would truly only turn into roasted chicken, then into charcoal, and be reduced to ashes.

Xiang Kun didn't do that; he simply trapped and captured it, not so that he could better devour and drink its blood.

Xiang Kun's own development and evolution system is fundamentally different from that of traditional "Mutated Creature". His strength lies in the continuous expansion and strengthening of his "Super-Sensing Item System". Although his own mutation and evolution are the cornerstone and source of his abilities, the cornerstone is now very stable and does not need to evolve rapidly.

Of course, the biggest reason was that after the passenger plane attack, he had already changed his original plan and was preparing to deal with the "Ultimate Predator" in advance. He also judged that the "Ultimate Predator" had entered a "sensitive state" and was trying to target him from all aspects. Therefore, he decided that before implementing the plan, he would no longer drink blood or enter a dormant state, but would always stay awake to deal with the possible means of the "Ultimate Predator".

Moreover, this mutated bird is an important "tool" that he may need to use in his next plan.

Standing in front of the crooked tree, Xiang Kun entered a "Hyper-Sensory State," relying on the massive amount of Super-Linked Object surrounding the mutated bird to deeply analyze and even influence its cognitive information.

Xiang Kun originally intended to search for the "Ultimate Predator" special cognitive information fragments on its body to see if they were different from the previous special cognitive information, in order to find out how it influenced the mutated bird to attack—he was quite certain that the mutated bird itself could not "plan" the attack that just happened to evade his Super-Linked Object perception range.

This perception led Xiang Kun to discover something strange:

Inside the mutated bird's body, there was another "Mutated Creature"!

This is quite a novel discovery.

Xiang Kun quickly determined that the "Mutated Creature" that was almost integrated with the mutated bird was a thing that looked like a toxoplasmosis, but it had many tentacles attached to the mutated bird's body.

Is it Mutated Parasite?

Xiang Kun had previously seen and even eaten a Mutated Parasite, and had also seen and eaten a mutated spider that had partially devoured mutated plants in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone, so he wasn't too surprised by the mutated bird's current state.

It seems that this mutated bird is in a state of coercion, and this Mutated Parasite is the "messenger" of the "Ultimate Predator," coming with a mission?

However, Xiang Kun soon discovered a problem from the cognitive information of the Mutated Parasite on the mutated bird. According to this cognitive information, the characteristics of this Mutated Parasite were too consistent with those of the bird. This was why he and Alice did not discover it immediately when they determined the location through long-distance cognitive information.

However, when Xiang Kun attempted to influence the parasite's cognitive information through the Super-Linked Object, that cognitive information suddenly began to disintegrate and dissipate, along with the special cognitive information representing the "Ultimate Predator."

Xiang Kun instantly understood that it wasn't a "Mutated Parasite" controlled by the "Ultimate Predator," but the "Ultimate Predator" itself!

Or to be more precise, it is a small part of the "Ultimate Predator." It is a part that "edits" out of the mutated bird through a special extrasensory information fragment existing in the mutated bird's body, using the mutated bird itself as nutrients and materials. In this way, it controls, coerces, or bewitches and deceives the mutated bird into performing certain behaviors.

This discovery made Xiang Kun understand many characteristics of the "Ultimate Predator," its methods of biological influence, its style of action, some of its thought patterns, and even some of its "personality."

Xiang Kun immediately revised his original plan based on this discovery, which also gave him greater confidence in the plan's success.

Around 7 a. m., Liu Zhengyi, who was jogging along the village road, suddenly saw a shirtless figure washing his feet by the pond at Liu Caifu's farmhouse.

Liu Zhengyi originally wanted to reprimand him, but he immediately noticed that the figure was bald. After hesitating for a second, he immediately judged who the person was from his build.

Liu Zhengyi ran over quickly and smiled at Xiang Kun, who had just finished washing his feet and was putting on his shoes, "Mr. Xiang, so early?"

Xiang Kun glanced at him, then got up and dressed, nodding as he said, "Yeah, I got up early this morning to go hiking for some exercise. You run every day now?"

"Yes, I'm used to waking up early now," Liu Zhengyi said, scratching his head a little embarrassedly.

The original buildings for the research center were almost finished, but recently Xiang Kun and Liu Caifu discussed it with the village and town and expanded the area of the research center. They also hired more people. Many experimental equipment for the first phase of the project has been moved in and needs to be watched over and maintained. As a result, the Liu Zhengyi brothers, Liu Gaoshang, have also been promoted and no longer need to take turns watching the construction site every day. Now they can also maintain a regular schedule and get up early to run every day.

After getting dressed, Xiang Kun exchanged a few pleasantries with Liu Zhengyi and then went home. He knew that Lao Xia had just gotten up, and Nana and Yang the Third were still asleep, but they would probably wake up soon. He was going back to make breakfast so that they could eat just as they woke up.

As Liu Zhengyi watched Xiang Kun's departing figure, he thought about the news he had seen yesterday.

They had learned from Xia Libing that Xiang Kun was coming back yesterday, so when the video of the plane crash was circulating everywhere yesterday afternoon, their first thought was whether Xiang Kun was on that plane.

However, before they could even confirm whether Xiang Kun was on that flight, they received news that the plane had landed safely.

Then, rumors began circulating online that a little girl in a white dress appeared outside the plane, protecting and blessing it so that it could land safely.

Others might not have thought much of this, but the brothers Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang immediately recalled an incident a few months earlier when Pig Tail and Liu Two Dots were stealing materials from a construction site in the village—they were cornered by a little girl in a white dress who suddenly appeared, and they were so frightened that they called the police to rescue them.

Everyone laughed at them for being cowardly at the time, but now, recalling their descriptions and comparing them to the appearance of the little girl that appeared outside the plane, the Liu brothers suddenly realized that Pig Tail and Liu Two Dots might have really seen something.