Hunting Season (Part 1)

After leaving Chongyun Mountain, Xiang Kun did not return to Chongyun Village first, but went directly with Mr. Liang to the black GMC RV parked on the side of the road outside Chongyun Village.

It wasn't that time was really that tight, that he didn't even have time to tell Lao Xia, Tang Baona, and Little Apple, but rather that after his guidance last night, he needed to give Nana some time to think and figure things out on her own. His extensive past experience told Xiang Kun that when they discovered a certain anomaly and realized the influence of a portion of the "Super-Sensing Item System," it was the best time for them to develop unique system applications and establish a cognitive framework.

Upon arriving at the RV, Mr. Liang opened the sliding door to the back seat and suddenly felt a little awkward, because there was only one seat in the back. He was a size larger than Xiang Kun, so the seat was custom-made. In addition, there was a lot of equipment, so there wasn't much space left. He also rarely rode with others, so one seat was enough.

But now things are awkward. Xiang Kun isn't like John, who will just squat in a corner when told to.

But for Mr. Liang to squat in the corner by himself? It seems... a little embarrassing, doesn't it?

Just as Mr. Liang was considering whether to have another car arranged, Xiang Kun opened the front passenger door and got in, jokingly saying to Mr. Liang, "I'm used to sitting in the front; the view is better, and I don't get carsick. You can sit on the 'throne' in the back yourself."

"This..." Mr. Liang paused for a moment, thought for a moment, but still didn't say much. He just said to Lao Xie in the driver's seat, "Lao Xie, this is Mr. Xiang. Mr. Xiang, if you need anything, just tell Lao Xie. He's trustworthy." Then he got into the back of the car and sat in the only seat.

After exchanging brief greetings with Xiang Kun, Lao Xie drove towards Jianzhou City.

On the way, Lao Xie couldn't help but glance at Xiang Kun sitting next to him out of the corner of his eye. This bald, burly man with glasses looked quite ordinary and normal, but he knew very well that this was definitely not an ordinary person.

Since he started driving for Mr. Liang, this was the first time he had ever seen Mr. Liang invite someone to ride in the car so solemnly. Even Old He had never ridden in this car before. Even when they met, it was either Mr. Liang came to his door or Old He went to the "Guarding Prosperity Building". As for that foreigner last time, he was obviously not "invited" but captured. Mr. Liang would not have considered whether there was a seat for him in the back seat. He might have even had to kneel the whole time.

This was the first time he had heard Mr. Liang say something like, "If you need anything, just tell Lao Xie," which sounded rather polite. Even when speaking to Old He, Mr. Liang was always very direct and never engaged in small talk, let alone with other people.

Moreover, Mr. Liang hadn't been visible at all; he had been invisible the whole time. Yet, Xiang Kun's interaction with him was perfectly normal and natural. Lao Xie could now communicate and interact with Mr. Liang was invisible, very naturally. However, he clearly remembered how surprised he was when he first discovered Mr. Liang was invisible. Even after a long time, when Mr. Liang spoke in front of him, he would still subconsciously try to find the source of the voice and Mr. Liang's location. It took him a long time to change this instinctive reaction. Judging from Xiang Kun's reaction, he seemed very certain of Mr. Liang's location, showing no confusion about where Mr. Liang was, and his eyes didn't search at all.

This "Mr. Xiang" is probably a powerful figure on the same level as "Mr. Liang," a superhuman being like them, from a different world than ordinary people like them.

Based on his experience, Lao Xie quickly and silently labeled Xiang Kun in his mind.

He naturally didn't know that Xiang Kun could actually "see" Mr. Liang. Whether Mr. Liang was invisible or not, he was merely a change in the information presented to him, with very little difference. Whether through infrared thermal imaging visual mode or other sensory information, he could make accurate judgments about Mr. Liang's position and state.

Xiang Kun glanced at Lao Xie beside him and casually started chatting with him.

In Lao Xie's view, this was their first meeting, but in reality, Alice had already thoroughly investigated and uncovered all the information about Lao Xie long ago.

Xiang Kun knew very well not only about his past experiences and his time at "Shenxing Technology" after meeting Mr. Liang, but also about his habits when he was alone.

It's fair to say that, in terms of understanding Lao Xie, not even Mr. Liang, and perhaps even Lao Xie himself, doesn't know as well Xiang Kun and Alice.

Xiang Kun frequently encounters situations where people treat him like a stranger, someone he's meeting for the first time, yet he seems to know a great deal about them. This isn't just a problem for Lao Xie; Mr. Liang is another example, as is Old He in the previous video.

It's a strange feeling, like you've got a cheat code, able to see all other players' attributes, inventory items, friend list, chat history, quest logs, and achievements, while other players can't see any of your information.

Honestly, this feeling... is pretty good.

Their destination this time is a grassland between the two Africa countries of Kampania and Tampania, but the exact location will be determined once they arrive.

If it were Xiang Kun himself, he would undoubtedly just take a plane.

With Alice around, his visa applications and border crossings are incredibly easy, and he can change or delete records at will without worrying about leaving any traces that might attract attention or lead to investigation. Besides, the only organization in China that could potentially investigate him is now one of his own. As for overseas, he believes that on the entire planet, apart from the "Ultimate Predator" or something similar, nothing can monitor him—even the "Ultimate Predator" would be fooled once he discovers it.

Given the previous incident involving the "mutated giant bird," the "Ultimate Predator" is unlikely to dare to make any further moves against the plane carrying Xiang Kun in the short term.

However, Mr. Liang is also going to Africa with him now, so they can't take a commercial flight. Mr. Liang is even bigger than him. Although he could enter stealth mode and hide on the plane, Old He would definitely not allow him to do so. There are clear prohibitions in the relevant rules for "human Blood-feeding Creature researchers".

Of course, Mr. Liang didn't need to do that. Whether on land, sea, or air, "Shenxing Technology" had its own transportation channels.

Mr. Xiang Kun and Mr. Liang took a cargo plane directly to Luobi City, the capital of Kampania, where they were secretly picked up by a car sent by the special liaison office of "Shenxing Technology".

After arriving at the liaison office and organizing their equipment, Xiang Kun asked for a jeep and, with the cloaked Mr. Liang in tow, headed towards the grasslands.

"Didn't you tell me to bring underwater equipment? Why are we heading in this direction? Aren't we going to the beach?" Mr. Liang, crammed into the back seat, couldn't help but ask. It was because of Xiang Kun's words that he brought a large number of "Biological Component" suitable for underwater use, and these "Biological Component" were quite heavy. Taking a cargo plane and then using trucks on land was also a convenient way for him to transport a large number of "Biological Component" and related equipment across borders.

At that moment, several drones were flying overhead, including one responsible for transporting Mr. Liang's "Biological Component." Although drone control in the wild is not as strict in Africa, it is not like China, and it is impossible to have 100% control over many situations. Of course, what Mr. Liang did not know was that with Xiang Kun around, those drones could not be detected, monitored, or affected by other electronic devices.

"You'll find out when the time comes," Xiang Kun said, continuing to drive without further explanation.

On the Africa continent, Xiang Kun's deployment of "Super-Linked Object" is naturally far less than in China. And the Little Radish, limited by its current growth limit, has only seen a small number of seeds grow on the Africa savanna, even though they have been planted there, and cannot serve as a major support.

Fortunately, China can now be considered the world's factory, providing all kinds of industrial and electronic products to the world, including Africa.

Just like the Jeep that Xiang Kun is driving, it contains several of Xiang Kun's "Super-Linked Object" that allow him to establish connections.

Furthermore, wherever people live in the surrounding area, there are also some degree of "Super-Linked Object" connection, placing the entire Africa continent under his "Super-Sensing Item System" network. Although this network has many holes and the mesh is relatively large, it is still a network, isn't it?

While driving, Xiang Kun would occasionally pull out a handful of tungsten steel beads from a bag next to him and casually scatter them to the side.

However, as soon as those beads left my hand, they all flew out in all directions like insects released into the wild.

When Mr. Liang saw this scene, he immediately thought of the tens of thousands of tiny beads that had wrapped the "mutated bird" into an iron ball and controlled it so that it had no ability to resist. He wondered then how he would deal with Xiang Kun if he used that bunch of tiny beads against him.

If they could have known beforehand, things might have been easier; they could have built a sufficiently strong "Biological Component" mech to fight back and prevent the orbs from getting into the water. But considering Xiang Kun's ability to control lightning, it's pointless no matter what they do. Moreover, judging from the situation with that "mutated giant bird," a typical "Biological Component" mech would probably not be strong enough to withstand the combined crushing force of tens of thousands of orbs and that crooked tree.

Mr. Liang couldn't help but ask, "Xiang Kun, how exactly do these balls fly? How do you control them? I observed them carefully before; they look like the ballpoint pen tip, and only 0.5mm in diameter—too small to be able to accommodate any mechanical structure..."

Xiang Kun said, "Mr. Liang, it's not that I don't trust you, but you have to experience these things, all of these things, through your own feelings, follow your own intuition, and build your own thought process and system. Only in this way can you maximize your abilities. If I directly tell you what I know and what I feel, it will actually be a constraint for you, because my perceptual system and my perceptual dimension are far greater than yours and far greater than anyone else's. You don't have that perceptual dimension, so you can't truly understand. Only by using a system that you can understand to build a methodology and application framework can you connect with your feelings."

On Mr. Liang's journey to Africa after devouring the "mutant bird," Xiang Kun had already confirmed that Mr. Liang had also established contact with the secondary Emotion-Infused Object network of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving," so he was now considered "one of their own."

That's why he talks to Mr. Liang about "feelings," "connections," and "building ideas and systems," because Mr. Liang is now also a "developer" within the system, and a rare "Mutated Creature" developer—he is much more powerful than Jiang Chun.

Of course, compared to that, Jiang Chun's integration with the "Super-Sensing Item System" is much deeper.

Mr. Liang seemed to be deep in thought, pondering the meaning Xiang Kun's words.

A few hours later, feeling the jeep stop, Mr. Liang, without needing to Xiang Kun, focused his attention on a small lion lying in the grass in the distance, almost blending into the color of the grass and difficult to distinguish.

Mr. Liang had his own way of identifying "Blood-feeding Creature," and he was quite certain that the little lion, which looked big, cute, and about the size of a medium-sized dog, was indeed a "Blood-feeding Creature."

Is this the "bloodline" that Xiang Kun believes he needs to replenish next?

According to normal understanding, as the number of his transformations increases, the requirements for his "blood source" will become higher and higher. The "blood source" he needs to feed on now must be a being that has undergone more transformations than that "mutant bird". Therefore, it is definitely not as cute and harmless as it appears on the surface.

Seeing the lion cub moving stealthily and clumsily through the grass, Xiang Kun said Xiang Kun Mr. Liang, who had jumped out of the car and was now invisible, "Don't let its small size fool you, this little thing looks like a pet. About two weeks ago, it was this very appearance that got it rescued by a wildlife conservation NGO and taken to their camp. They took great care of it. But within three days, it found an opportunity and slaughtered everyone and everything in the camp, causing all the wild animals to go berserk. The investigators thought it was another adult lion that did it. This guy has drunk human blood before, and he's a repeat offender. This attack on that wildlife conservation camp wasn't his first time killing someone."

His tone turned somewhat somber when he spoke the last sentence.

Mr. Liang really wanted to ask, "How did you know all this?", but seeing the lion cub slowly retreating in the distance, seemingly preparing to flee, he temporarily put the question aside, mobilized his drone to bring over the "Biological Component," and began hunting the lion cub.

The "Mutated Little Lion" initially seemed to want to lure and ambush Xiang Kun by acting cute, but it quickly noticed Mr. Liang's presence and realized the danger, so it decisively turned and ran away.

It runs much faster than an ordinary lion, so fast that it leaves a blur.

But no matter how fast it goes, it can't outrun Mr. Liang, because Mr. Liang has already completed the connection of the "Biological Component,"... can fly.

Although Mr. Liang was also invisible in the air, his pounce still alerted the little lion.

The lion cub abruptly changed its running direction in a way that almost defied the laws of mechanics, causing Mr. Liang, who thought he had predicted the location and was pouncing steadily, to miss and almost fall to the ground.

However, after dodging the attack, the lion cub did not continue running. Instead, it turned around, stopped, and roared at the spot where Mr. Liang had pounced.

The roar was very strange, like the whimper of a wild beast having its mouth covered.

But after the roar, the entire grassland seemed to come alive, with all sorts of creatures emerging, and vultures and falcons circling and gathering in the air, seemingly preparing for an attack by a group of fighter jets.

As soon as Mr. Liang adjusted his position, he noticed that the little lion's light gray fur began to change drastically, as if it were covered with a layer of black granite. Its entire body also grew larger and became more angular, looking like a fine stone sculpture in the sunlight.

It opened its mouth and roared at Mr. Liang's location, but this time, no roar came out—or rather, no roar that an ordinary person could hear—but Xiang Kun, who was in the distance, clearly caught its roar.

Although Mr. Liang's auditory system was not as powerful Xiang Kun's, he immediately understood that the lion was using sound waves to locate itself.

Sure enough, the next moment, a large number of eagles, falcons, and other birds swooped down towards his location.

Mr. Liang could handle even the "mutated giant bird," so he naturally wouldn't care about these ordinary birds. But at the same time, a small lion with a shiny black coat pounced on him, and two pairs of new limbs grew on its back, which looked like human hands, but each only had four fingers!

Not far away, Xiang Kun, leaning against the jeep, was still just watching from the sidelines, but seeing this scene, a thought flashed through his mind:

We absolutely mustn't let Little Bell see this thing, otherwise the Egg Pie theme in her dream will go completely off track again.

Wishing all my book lovers good health, a smooth life, success in all exams, great success in all endeavors at work, and a harmonious and happy family in 2021!

─=≡Σ(((つω)つ

I also hope that all single people, including myself, can find a partner!