Think It Through Yourself

That evening, many people in Peng City witnessed the incredibly powerful lightning storm. Strands of lightning struck directly between the city's buildings, but caused no real damage. To them, it was more like watching a 5D movie.

Moreover, it's not just Peng City; people in many other places around the world have experienced similar hallucinations, feeling as if they heard thunder, or even as if lightning struck near their homes, except that unlike the people in Peng City, they didn't actually see it.

Liu Shiling and Yang Zhen'er, the two "instigators," had already returned home. After taking hot showers and changing into their pajamas, they were happily slurping down the hot mushroom and beef soup that had been delivered to them.

Yang Zhen'er glanced at her phone and muttered, "I can't get through to Chef Xiang's phone. I wonder what he's up to."

Then she glanced at Liu Shiling, who was sitting cross-legged on a chair just like her, drinking soup with her chubby face flushed red. She moved her chair closer to Liu Shiling and said:

"Hey, Little Bell, just tell me, what exactly happened just now? That lightning storm... that thundering lightning, how did it make it rain? It was sunny just a moment ago... Did you do it, or did I, or Chef Xiang? And those five Coin of yours, they just flew up into the sky like that, how did that happen?"

"Uncle Bald said that if you think about it more, you'll figure it out, and if you really don't understand, just ask him," Liu Shiling said, tilting her head back, before continuing to drink her soup. She had just been caught in the rain, and now, after a bath and some hot soup, she felt especially comfortable. Old Fairy Sister had asked similar questions at least ten times since the rain started, and she resolutely followed Uncle Bald's instructions, always giving the same answer no matter what.

"Chef Xiang is obviously trying to fool me! And I can't contact him at all now!" Yang Zhen'er said angrily. Then she glanced at the Little Chubby Girl's soup bowl, which was now empty of beef, and chuckled, "Little Bell, I still have several pieces of beef here, you can have them all, okay?"

Liu Shiling was about to say yes when she suddenly remembered something, glanced back at Yang Zhen'er's expression, and immediately said, "Thank you, Sister Immortal, but no need, I'm full!"

"You're not full!" Yang Zhen'er said decisively. "I can tell from your eyes, Little Bell, you're definitely not full yet!"

I'm full!

"Little Bell, how about I order you another serving of wontons? Isn't this your favorite wonton place? And then, how about an egg pancake?"

"Old Fairy Sister, my belly isn't that big."

"Then we'll just call it wontons?"

Liu Shiling hesitated for a second before finally shaking her head and saying, "Old Fairy Sister, I need to go home to feed Egg Pie; it wants a midnight snack too." Normally, if Old Fairy Sister offered her something to eat, she wouldn't be too coquettish, but now she knew that Old Fairy Sister was using "sugar-coated bullets" to try and win her over and gather information.

"Didn't I install an automatic feeder for the Egg Pie before? We can control it with our phones and give it extra food anytime," Yang Zhen'er said, taking out her phone.

"Then... I need to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't eat too much."

"We can control the amount of food we feed it. If you want Egg Pie, let's go get it. Sleep with Sister Fairy tonight. Your mom will be working late again tonight. I'll tell her you can sleep with me, and she'll definitely agree."

"No... I... I need to do my homework."

"Take it down and do it here, I can even teach you!"

"Old Fairy Sister, I really can't tell you."

"I'll buy you something delicious tomorrow. Hmm... how was that egg yolk pastry we had last time? Or maybe a lava bun? Oh right, National Day is almost here, I'll take you back to Chongyun Village as soon as the holiday starts, hehe, and I'll Chef Xiang prepare some delicious meat buns for you in advance, okay?"

"Old Fairy Sister, if I don't tell you, will you not take me back to Chongyun Village?" Liu Shiling finished drinking the beef and mushroom soup in the bowl, tilted her head slightly, and said pitifully.

Yang Zhen'er was stunned. Although she was quite certain that the Little Chubby Girl knew some information that she didn't, she really couldn't bring herself to say, "Little Bell, if you don't tell me, I won't take you back to the village." So she could only say, "Of course I'll take you back to Chongyun Village. If I don't take you with me, I'm afraid Nana, Lao Xia, and Chef Xiang will kick me back. Little Bell, please have pity on your old fairy sister and tell me a little bit."

Liu Shiling scratched her head, seemingly quite troubled. After thinking for a while, she said, "Old Fairy Sister, Uncle Baldy must have a reason for making you think for yourself. You're one of us now, Uncle Baldy will definitely think of you."

Yang Zhen'er snorted, "Your bald uncle just wants to see me make a fool of myself. Think about it myself? I don't even know how I created those illusions before, I don't even know what happened to those erasers, I don't even know how you, Little Bell, managed to electrocute the TV and refrigerator before. If you really want me to think about it myself, I can only make things up... Huh?"

As they were talking, Yang Zhen'er suddenly seemed to realize something and froze.

Liu Shiling craned her neck to look at Yang Zhen'er, and after calling out "Old Fairy Sister" softly without receiving a response, she quietly tidied up the soup bowl, put it in the sink, added dish soap, filled it with water, and then quietly left Yang Zhen'er's house to return to her own home.

Anyway, her home is in the same building; you can get there by taking the elevator.

Chongyun Village.

The lightning storm in the distant mountains gradually subsided, and the fireworks display over the village also came to an end.

Tang Baona tilted her head slightly, looking at the night sky that had returned to its clear and peaceful state, and for a moment she felt as if she were in a dream.

"These fireworks... you and Xiang Kun arranged this, right? Making such a big fuss, won't it disturb others?" Tang Baona looked at Lao Xia and asked with some concern.

"No," Lao Xia gave a simple and affirmative answer.

"Such a big commotion, the whole village must have been alerted. There are quite a few elderly people in the village, they're probably already asleep. Being startled like this, they'll probably start cursing... Or did you give them prior notice?" As she was speaking, Tang Baona suddenly realized that something seemed amiss.

Their house was located on one of the higher grounds in the village, and from the rooftop, they could see most of the village. In addition, the whole village now has streetlights, and once the streetlights are on at night, everything is clearly visible. It's very unusual that not a single person came out to look after such a loud fireworks display.

Earlier, when a lightning storm occurred in Chongyun Mountain, a few people came out.

Then Tang Baona remembered that the fireworks seemed to rise from nowhere, as if they appeared directly in mid-air, then quickly rose a short distance before exploding. Even the fireworks that exploded directly above their heads didn't smell like fireworks, and they didn't leave any debris like the fireworks she had seen before.

Could it be fake? An illusion?

Tang Baona then asked Little Apple, "Little Apple, did you hear a lot of fireworks just now?"

Little Apple nodded. "Yes, the fireworks were especially beautiful... Oh, I mean, the images I imagined when I heard the sound were so beautiful! Happy birthday, Nana!"

No, you can't be sure if you ask Lao Xia or Little Apple.

Tang Baona quickly came to this conclusion.

She then thought of the lightning storm in Chongyun Mountain. Xiang Kun had asked them to come to the rooftop in advance to wait, saying there was a "grand show" going on. This proved that he had foreseen the lightning storm, and it might even be directly related to him.

What exactly is Xiang Kun doing in the mountains?

Tang Baona, who had watched many anime and read many novels in the past, couldn't help but let her imagination run wild: Could Xiang Kun be cultivating immortality? Did he awaken some kind of immortal vein or spiritual root, the price being his hair? Or is he secretly building some terrifying super machine that can summon lightning and control electricity, manipulating the power of heaven and earth? Did Lao Xia quit his job to come and work with Xiang Kun on some Research Base, or is it just a cover for breeding research and biological research, while actually building a super weather control machine?

In Tang Baona's mind, Xia Libing appeared as a man in a military uniform, wearing black high-top leather boots, an eye patch, and holding a whip.

She remembered hearing that a "lightning storm" had occurred in Chongyun Mountain before, and that it had killed two escaped convicts.

Thinking of the "Little Sprite," her ability to sense the rhythm of everything, Yang the Third's recent unusual behavior, and the extraordinary qualities of Little Bell and Little Apple, she felt that she had grasped some of the clues to the truth, but there was still one last layer of thin film covering it that hadn't been peeled off.

Originally, she planned to wait until she and Little Apple had figured out a basic formula for the melody sensing of all things before confronting Xiang Kun and asking him for clarification.

But now she couldn't help herself, because she had a feeling that Lao Xia and Little Apple knew more than she did.

So Tang Baona picked up her phone, dialed Xiang Kun's number, and heard a soft female voice:

The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

With the help of Alice and a large number of "Super-Linked Object" and electronic devices, Xiang Kun was very clear Xiang Kun the situation and questions of Peng City, Chongyun Village, Yang the Third, Little Chubby Girl, Little Apple Tang Baona, and Lao Xia. This was actually his deliberate guidance.

If the plan hadn't changed, and if the decision hadn't been made to eliminate the threat of the "Ultimate Predator" in the short term, Xiang Kun wouldn't have actually wanted to use such a direct method to make them realize the truth and the existence of the "Super-Sensing Item System" so quickly.

From the current perspective, both Yang the Third and Nana are making progress beyond his expectations, and there is still plenty of time. He hopes that before he directly explains his situation and their situation to them, they can come up with some "development projects" based on their own unique understanding.

Xiang Kun then turned his attention to Mr. Liang, who was already fast asleep under the "awning" at his feet.

After drinking the blood, Mr. Liang fell into a deep sleep. However, after falling asleep, his body automatically entered an invisible state.

This also made Xiang Kun realize that Mr. Liang's invisibility ability was not something that could be "activated" when needed. Invisibility was actually his normal state, and he had to deliberately control and "activate" it to "appear" and be seen by others.

Xiang Kun entered a "Hyper-Sensory State" to further observe Mr. Liang's physical changes during this phase of transformation through cognitive information.

Because he had already observed it once before, Xiang Kun was very familiar with Mr. Liang's cognitive information this time. He clearly knew which changes in cognitive information during this phase of transformation came from that mutated bird.

He was also sensing and observing the special cognitive information left in Mr. Liang's body by the "Ultimate Predator". His biggest "research achievement" in the mountains during this period was finding a way to cut off and shield the influence and control of the special factors and special cognitive information left in other organisms by the "Ultimate Predator".

After temporarily blocking the "Ultimate Predator," when Xiang Kun perceives those special cognitive information again in his "Hyper-Sensory State," it will not be immediately erased. With the conditions for observation, he can further study and decode those special cognitive information.

This allowed Xiang Kun to synthesize previously obtained information and data, as well as numerous observable and accessible phenomena, and discover more characteristics and essence of the "Ultimate Predator," thereby refining and updating his plan and providing support for his series of actions.

As for the method, it still relies on a massive and extremely dense number of "Super-Linked Object" to unleash the power of the "Super-Sensing Item System" and Alice.

The area in Chongyun Mountain, created by Little Radish and a massive amount of "Super-Linked Object," is a protective shield that can isolate the "Ultimate Predator." Therefore, he doesn't need to erase Mr. Liang's special cognitive information, nor does he need to worry about their plans here being exposed or affected.

Xiang Kun's original plan was to fill the entire globe with "Super-Linked Object" to completely block the communication between the various parts of the "Ultimate Predator," essentially paralyzing it. In that case, it would lose its means of wiping out other creatures to threaten Xiang Kun could slowly and gradually erase the special cognitive information from all creatures, completely eliminating it from this world bit by bit.

Of course, by then, the "Ultimate Predator" will just be Xiang Kun's little pet or toy, something he can mold and manipulate at will.

However, the "Ultimate Predator" may not know Xiang Kun's specific plans or what he was going to do, but it clearly sensed the danger, which led to the bird-controlling collision incident involving the mutated giant bird.

Given that the "Ultimate Predator" might continue its actions and pose a threat to its friends and family, Xiang Kun had no choice but to bring his plans forward.

Essentially, the "Ultimate Predator" controls all parts of its body and all its special factors, and in its underlying principles, it's similar to Xiang Kun's "Super-Linked Object" communication method. However, it's clearly far behind. It's like it has hands and is trying to practice boxing with them, while Xiang Kun, after having hands, directly controls firearms, cannons, computers, and atomic energy. It simply can't understand Xiang Kun's "Super-Sensing Item System" and its related derivative abilities. Of course, this doesn't mean Xiang Kun can easily kill it instantly, because it's hiding in underground caves and hasn't surfaced. Unless Xiang Kun blows up all the caves, he can't eliminate it all at once. And above these caves, there are all sorts of innocent creatures. He can't risk it, so he has to make it all come out on its own.

More than three hours later, Mr. Liang awoke from his deep sleep, having completed this phase of extreme transformation, and his figure slowly began to appear.

Xiang Kun had previously discovered that his own dormant period after consuming the blood of other "Mutated Creature" was always much shorter than the normal dormant period. However, both Mr. Liang and John had much longer blood-drinking dormant periods after consuming "Mutated Creature." Moreover, their blood-drinking cycles were very irregular, unlike his, which had been controlled to around five days for a long time until recently when he found a way to extend them to the limit, significantly breaking through this cycle.

After waking up, Mr. Liang checked his condition, talked with Xiang Kun for a while, and then summoned several medium-sized drones, using the accessories on them to set up a communicator with a screen.

"Let me introduce you to someone," Mr. Liang said.

Xiang Kun immediately knew who Mr. Liang had contacted.