Eating Hamburgers

In fact, Xiang Kun had also considered the idea that Mr. Liang used the projection of fear from the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" to unify people's hearts and maintain order.

However, at first he was worried that the fear caused by the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" might have any aftereffects on ordinary people, or any undiscovered adverse reactions.

After obtaining a sufficient number of samples, it was found that this thing has a similar effect of "punishing the guilty and reflecting on one's own sins" and will not cause any harm to ordinary people.

But he also understood that the scope of influence of "emotional projection onto Emotion-Infused Object" was not unlimited.

If you only need to influence a single person or multiple targets in a small area, it's naturally simple. However, if you want to influence a large number of targets in a large area, you need to have enough "Super-Linked Object" around you.

Just like before in Montamira, Alice was far from integrating with the "Super-Sensing Item System." She lacked the powerful, mass-produced, and automated ability to associate and deploy "Super-Linked Object." The entire city of Montamira hadn't been pre-positioned with enough "Super-Linked Object." Therefore, if she wanted to create a wide-ranging impact in the city and let more people see the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant Illusion," she could only continuously control a bunch of "Super-Linked Object Orbs" while in "Hyper-Sensory State," and then constantly exit "Hyper-Sensory State" and relocate herself to achieve more precise control. This was extremely tedious and troublesome.

On the other hand, to exert a wide-ranging emotional projection influence, differences in the effectiveness of the emotional impact are inevitable. In this case, the effect of emotional projection is best achieved if the same type of emotion exists in the area. For example, in Montamira, the riots created a pervasive sense of fear in the affected area, which in turn amplified the "emotional projection" effect, providing it with a platform to manifest.

If we only consider these two conditions, at this point in time, with Alice perfectly integrating the "Super-Sensing Item System" and "Super-Linked Object" and having deployed them to most human settlements worldwide, both problems can already be perfectly resolved.

When necessary, Alice can even play songs by Tang Baona corresponding to a certain emotion within the area to warm up the emotion, evoke emotional resonance, and create a perfect environment for the "emotional projection" to arrive.

The biggest problem is that Xiang Kun has discovered that the effects of "emotional projection" do not end after the illusion and the immediate emotional outburst; it is a continuous effect that can even form a deep conscious connection with the corresponding "Emotion-Infused Object".

The emergence of the "Emotion-Infused Object Level-2 Network" is proof of this situation.

Based on his analysis and understanding of the "Emotion-Infused Object Level-2 Network," Xiang Kun believes that this system has a carrying capacity limit.

There is an upper limit to establishing secondary network connections, just as there is an upper limit to the number of units that are affected by emotional projections, much like the membership service and visitor access of a website server.

Although he is still very far from that limit, Xiang Kun roughly knows that there is such a limit. As for the relationship of that limit, it is probably related to his emotional capacity. Because when he projects and influences emotions on a large scale, he himself will also receive extremely weak feedback from the same emotions. If this feedback is only from a few people, it will not have much of an impact, but if the number of people affected is extremely large, the accumulation of a large number of weak feedbacks will exceed the limit.

Of course, this limit is very large. For the time being, it is certainly possible to affect a city with four or five million people at the same time, but it is hard to say if it is larger. After all, he cannot be sure how many people affected by the emotional projection will establish contact with the "Emotion-Infused Object Level-2 Network".

Therefore, for the time being, he will use the fear projection of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" on a small scale to achieve certain goals. He will also allow Alice, Little Apple, and Little Chubby Girl to cooperate in remote emotion projection. He will continuously use the four cat wooden sculptures of the "Youlong Restaurant" for long-term emotion projection. However, unless there is an emergency like Montamira, he will not use the fear projection of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" to establish order.

In the future, once the "Super-Sensing Item System" is further improved and there is a more comprehensive understanding of the connections in the "Emotion-Infused Object Level-2 Network," it may be possible to establish more standardized and formalized Emotion-Infused Object links. At that time, the upper limit will no longer exist, and it will not be impossible to use emotional projection to correct and unify thoughts and behaviors.

This is just a very basic demo version, so it's not suitable for large-scale deployment.

However, Xiang Kun couldn't explain all of this to Mr. Liang in detail, so he summarized it into a single sentence:

"The conditions for widespread and comprehensive use are not yet met."

After completing Little Radish's fusion experiment with the "non-user Mutated Creature" and slapping the "Ultimate Predator" who tried to use Xiao Ding as a "spy" to obtain information, Xiang Kun and Mr. Liang also left the underground passage.

As they left, the vast amount of moss underground began to dissipate and decay, migrating to deeper, more secluded places, like an army retreating.

After returning to the ground, Xiang Kun walked naturally through the city streets. Mr. Liang, who was invisible, followed beside him, somewhat puzzled as to why he had come to the city.

Not walking beside Xiang Kun, he suddenly felt that the city seemed to have changed. Even without consciously perceiving it or using his reconnaissance drone to obtain information, he could still tell the location of some buildings, electrical facilities, and electronic devices around him, as if there was some special connection between them.

He couldn't help but immerse himself in it, feeling as if his soul had left his body and was roaming freely.

He vaguely discerned that the first things that had a clear connection to the surroundings were electronic devices, and the second were simple metal objects.

But not every electronic device or metal object can sense anything; it's only a portion of them. He's a little confused about the difference between the presence and absence of this sense.

It seems that newer devices are more likely to produce that kind of vague perception or connection?

While Mr. Liang was immersed in this feeling, Xiang Kun went into a fast food restaurant and bought two Hamburger.

This puzzled Mr. Liang greatly. Neither he nor Xiang Kun could eat ordinary food, so why buy Hamburger?

Moreover, the cash Xiang Kun used to buy the Hamburger was arranged to be delivered to them by someone when they first arrived in the city from the wilderness, which clearly indicated that it was planned in advance and not a sudden whim.

Xiang Kun, carrying the paper bag containing the Hamburger, continued walking into a park. He found a quiet corner, sat down at one end of a bench, handed one Hamburger to Mr. Liang, took one for himself, took a bite, and said while chewing, "No need to become invisible, it's fine. No one will come this way." With Alice around, she would use some manipulation to lure anyone approaching.

Mr. Liang hesitated for a moment, but still showed himself as instructed, then took the Hamburger and sat down on the other side of the bench.

Even though he had restrained himself, the bench still creaked when he sat down. The two of them weighed nearly 600 pounds combined, and their bodies were extremely dense, with a relatively small contact area with the chair.

"You can... eat regular food?" Mr. Liang asked, frowning as he glanced at the Hamburger in his hand.

"I can swallow it temporarily, and then spit it out after I finish eating," Xiang Kun said with a smile while eating his Hamburger. Now, when he eats normally, he no longer needs to swallow the pebbles that have established a "Super-Sensory Link" to soothe his stomach. He can control the nausea and vomiting, but the food he eats still cannot be digested directly and he still has to vomit it out in the end. However, he can now control the time it takes to vomit, whether it takes two or three hours or more than ten hours.

Xiang Kun glanced at him. "Eat it, you can taste it too. Just spit it into the paper bag after you're done."

He paused slightly, gazing at the darkening sky in the distance. "Next, we'll reach the final stop of our 'hunting journey.' Once we've completed that blood-drinking ritual, we'll begin implementing the plan; there's no stopping now. And after the plan... although I believe the success rate is over 90%, I can't guarantee that you'll retain your current body. In the future... if we reshape your body, I can't be sure if your taste memories and senses will be able to recapture the same sensations. So, have a few last bites."

Mr. Liang stared at the Hamburger in his hand, paused for a few seconds, and then suddenly said, "You can read my memories?"

Xiang Kun didn't deny it, saying, "It can't be called reading memories. Rather, I should say... I've seen a few of your dreams, when you were drinking blood, which was also the only time you could dream."

Mr. Liang nodded and didn't ask any further questions. In any case, Xiang Kun's amazing abilities were being displayed one after another, and he had long since given up trying to understand them using his previous cognitive framework.

Mr. Liang grinned from ear to ear, opening his mouth wide enough to swallow five or six Hamburger at once. He carefully took a small bite of the Hamburger in his hand and then slowly chewed it.

If he were still in his original human form, he would have closed his eyes and slowly savored the taste, but now his eyes have no eyelids, so he can't close them.

He gazed at the blood-red sunset in the distance, chewing on his Hamburger, as if he had returned to that underground laboratory from a few years ago.

"Ta-da! Ah Liang! Look what this is!"

A pretty girl took out a bag and said to Lu Qinliang, who had just entered the laboratory.

Looking at the "KFO Hamburger" logo on the plastic bag, Lu Qinliang was both amused and exasperated. "Where did you get this? How did you buy it...?"

Academician Shen, who followed him in, glanced at it and said, "Oh, Xiao Xue asked me to buy it. She said this kind of Western fast food is popular now, and that young people like to eat it."

Upon hearing that Academician Shen had bought it, Lu Qinliang had no choice but to swallow back his words, "Why did you buy a knock-off?" and walked over to watch Xiao Xue curiously as she dug holes in the three opened Hamburger.

"What are you doing?" Lu Qinliang asked, puzzled.

"I want to put candles on it," Xiao Xue said, sticking the candles on the Hamburger. "Happy Birthday, Aliang!"

Lu Qinliang stared blankly as Xiao Xue placed a thumb-thick white candle, the kind used for lighting, on the Hamburger, lit it, and presented it to him. Academician Shen stood not far away, nodding slightly. "Happy birthday, A-Liang."

For a moment, he felt like laughing and crying at the same time, both moved and amused, but his lips involuntarily curled into a silly grin.

"Come on, blow out the candles and let's eat Hamburger together," Xiao Xue urged.

Academician Shen nodded, "Yes, this kind of open flame violates laboratory regulations. It must not be done again."

Lu Qinliang blew out the candles, both amused and exasperated, and took the Hamburger, saying, "We can't eat regular food, so buying food is pointless. You might as well buy me some clothes or something. Even if you're going to buy food, buy a birthday cake or something. Who buys Hamburger for someone's birthday?"

Xiao Xue her eyes at him. "Because I haven't had Hamburger in ages, I want to eat Hamburger!"

"Alright, alright," Lu Qinliang said with a helpless smile.

"Academician Shen, come on, you must have eaten something in a long time, why don't you try some?" Xiao Xue said with a smile, picking up a Hamburger and handing it to Academician Shen.

So the three of them sat around the table, each holding a Hamburger, chewing it carefully, and then spitting it into the trash can or plastic bag next to them.

If you only look at this picture and ignore the surrounding laboratory equipment, you might think it's a father having a meal with his two children.

On the park bench, Mr. Liang had already finished his Hamburger, but he was still gazing blankly at the distant sky, which was now completely dark.

His lips curled into a wide grin that reached all the way to his ears, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

Xiang Kun beside him, neither urged nor spoke, waiting until Mr. Liang's body returned to invisibility before standing up—he knew Mr. Liang was ready.

"Let's go, last stop," Xiang Kun said.

Peng City.

Zhang Qian met Yang Jie and Yang Zhuo, siblings who had just arrived, along with Yang Zhuo's girlfriend, Xiao Min, at the airport arrival gate.

"Hey, didn't you say on WeChat that you were incredibly busy? How come you had time to pick us up?" Yang Jie asked curiously.

These guys were on holiday for National Day and came to Peng City for fun. Zhang Qian originally had something to do at work and couldn't pick them up, so she sent the company driver instead. But they ended up coming by themselves anyway.

As Zhang Qian helped them put their luggage away, she sighed, "I was so busy, I don't know how Xiang Kun managed it, what connections he made, but he actually partnered with 'Shenxing Technology.' They sent people over to coordinate, and there's a ton of stuff to do. I'm such a workaholic! Even though it's supposed to be a collaboration with 'Universe Technology,' all the people going to coordinate and discuss the plans in detail are from our side. Xiang Kun, Yang Zhen'er, Lao Xia, Nana are all gone. Oh my god, I'm completely overwhelmed!"

"So you still have time to come pick us up?" Yang Jie frowned. "You just go about your business. We're not children who will get lost."

"Sigh, my old man is here," Zhang Qian said helplessly.