What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 362: The Reason for the Mutation (Part 3)

Chapter 362: Chapter 362: The Reason for the Mutation (Part 3)

At the airport, after replying to a message on WeChat, Xia Libing put her phone back into her pocket and continued to look at the black soft-cover notebook in her hands.

However, this notebook was neither the one she used to record her own conditions and behavioral patterns before, nor the two books in which she later recorded Xiang Kun’s mutations and observations of his sleeping periods using special symbols, but rather a noticeably smaller A6-sized notebook.

The book recorded Xiang Kun’s perception of the “Napoleon Cake” that Old Xia co-manifested a few days ago while in a “Super Sensory State”. Through his “compilation”, the cognitive information that couldn’t be perceived by traditional sensory abilities was “described” using “Black Circle Graffiti”.

The “Black Circle Graffiti” made by Xiang Kun before was generally a fragmented record of the perceived cognitive information, noting down whatever he thought of.

But this time, he tried to describe Old Xia’s co-manifested “Napoleon Cake” entirely through the black circle graffiti, focusing only on this object.

However, like the time he sensed the “mutant” holding the rabbit wood carving while in a “Super Sensory State”, the perception of Old Xia’s co-manifested “Napoleon Cake” kept going deeper, layer after layer, like a mille-feuille, or matryoshka dolls, seemingly endless.

So in the end, Xiang Kun filled all the 74 one-sided pages of this A6 notebook with black circle graffiti, but didn’t fully describe the cognitive information of the “Napoleon Cake” –or according to his judgement, it was simply impossible to fully describe, perhaps due to its manifestation through “Super-connected Objects”.

He filled this whole book with the “Black Circle Graffiti” targeting the co-manifested Napoleon cake, primarily to help Old Xia further understand the ability of “Illusion Reality”, analyze the essence of co-manifested items, and thus find the connection and essence between “Emotion Infused Objects” and “Super-connected Objects”, developing more ways to apply the “Super Sensory Item System”.

The various black circle graffiti given by Xiang Kun to Xia Libing before, though she could see that these circles and arcs had a certain hidden rule and were not random scribbles, the specific rule was difficult to figure out.

Even after Xiang Kun told her the meanings represented by those arcs, she still couldn’t correspond them, as the perception in the “Super Sensory State” was difficult for others without this sensing ability to comprehend, and even Xiang Kun himself had a very limited understanding of those cognitive voices.

Now this notebook filled with 74 pages of “Black Circle Graffiti” were all descriptions of a single item, an item co-manifested by Old Xia himself, providing a more convenient way for Old Xia to understand and parse the related cognitive information.

However, just as he received this small notebook filled with drawings, Old Xia looked at it for a long time, analyzed and summarized the characteristics in many ways, and constantly consulted Xiang Kun who developed this method of expression, and still couldn’t discern the connection between these circles and arcs.

The opportunity arose last night, or rather, early this morning.

While Xia Libing was staying up late for Xiang Kun, who was in his sleeping period, and looking at the black circle graffiti notebook, which she codenamed “CAKE01”, and actually co-manifesting the “Napoleon Cake”, she suddenly felt a sense of inspiration.

She felt as though she had established a special connection with the 74 pages of black circle graffiti in the notebook, but she couldn’t specifically and realistically sense the impact of this connection on herself.

Through continuous attempts, Xia Libing finally found that when she imagined the process of co-manifesting the Napoleon cake in her mind, and imagined herself as the “Napoleon cake” she co-manifested, she could easily immerse herself into a very peculiar conscious world along this connection.

In that conscious world, she experienced a sense of perception that was unprecedented, but she was aware that it was not the “Sixth Sense” described by Xiang Kun, nor was it entering a “Super Sensory State”, since this kind of perception was still perceived through the five basic senses.

Recalling the process described by Xiang Kun in which “Xiao Pingguo” perceived the emotional projection of the “Eight-eyed wood carving” that she had never seen or even knew existed, through her hand’s “Emotion Infused Objects”, Xia Libing speculated that she might also be able to perceive other “Emotion Infused Objects” or even use this special sense to perceive other people who could establish a connection with or be emotionally affected by the “Emotion Infused Objects” via this conscious world.

Xia Libing took the experience of this sense seriously, like a person who was first in the water, not exploring the waters, but learning to tread water and swim.

This finding made Xia Libing realize that although Xiang Kun’s “Black Circle Graffiti” used to express his cognitive information in the “Super Sensory State” appears “visible”, and appears to be a kind of “symbol” or “code”, in reality, due to the uniqueness of the information it conveys, the best way to “understand” is to establish a connection and perception.

In other words, page 74 of the “CAKE01” notebook with black circle doodles was not meant to be seen, but to be “used”.

She also knew that the reason she suddenly connected with the black circle graffiti during this time was probably related to Xiang Kun’s mutation during his sleeping period.

This notebook was drawn by Xiang Kun before he fell into the blood-drinking sleep. When Xia Libing got it, it had not yet been officially transformed into an “Emotion Infused Object”.

Not until Xiang Kun’s blood-drinking sleep this time, at this stage, the transformation was fully completed. It just so happened that she, through the “co-manifested Napoleon Cake” it “depicts”, established a deep connection with this “emotion infused object”.

When Xiang Kun learned about this situation after he woke up, he also believed that Old Xia’s perception of an “emotion infused object” is somewhat similar to what “Xiao Pingguo” has, except Old Xia has yet to “explore” other “emotion infused objects”.

Of course, it is also possible that Old Xia and “Xiao Pingguo” are not in the same “network”, or connected to the “emotion infused object”, not through the same “port” and “protocol”.

As for how it actually is, Old Xia has to continue her exploration.

Upon arriving at the airport, due to a flight delay, Xia Libing spent these several hours while waiting in the terminal frequently entering the conscious world through “CAKE01”, practicing controlling her senses within it, and further exploring her abilities.

Xia Libing discovered that when she was immersed in that state, her consciousness was not affected by physical fatigue. That is to say, in that state, her thoughts could remain highly active, without being disrupted by drowsiness.

And in that process, her body seemed to be in a semi-rest state, consuming less energy.

Therefore, after she guarded Xiang Kun for these 25 hours of his sleep period, her physical fatigue was far less than the previous two times, and her drowsiness was much lower too.

So, after entering the conscious world with the help of “CAKE01”, Xia Libing not only perceived and explored but also contemplated the problems she would normally need to think about.

She even considered replacing some of her sleep time with this method. If so, wouldn’t she find more time for thinking and working?

Especially when she has to stay up late for Xiang Kun’s blood-drinking sleep period, this method would be very useful. It wouldn’t just help her guard for 25 hours but even 48 hours shouldn’t pose a problem. In the “conscious world”, she could leave at any time and wake up at any moment, without neglecting the task of monitoring the data of Xiang Kun’s sleep. The freedom was extremely high.

In fact, when she was able to have a “lucid dream”, Xia Libing once considered whether she should have a “lucid dream” every time she falls asleep in the future and work, think, and study in the “lucid dream”?

But she quickly vetoed this idea because it would require her to bind Xiang Kun’s dream perception at the same time, equivalent to “hijacking” Xiang Kun’s time. If she were to consider the overall time efficiency of both parties, it would not be worth it.

Moreover, she also found that if she was simply induced to dream by Xiang Kun through the “emotion infused object”, the quality of sleep would not be greatly affected. But if she introduces a “super-connected object” projection and then enters the “lucid dream” state, it could have some impact on sleep. This is why she had dark circles under her eyes recently and was constantly lacking sleep. Of course, the main reason was she stayed up three times during Xiang Kun’s blood-drinking sleep periods.

However, the method of entering the “conscious world” through “CAKE01” made her discover a strategy to achieve an even better thinking state and more thinking time.

If it was before, the thoughts Xia Libing had the most were about why she couldn’t perceive most of the normal emotions, how to perceive normal emotions, and observing and summarizing other people’s behaviors and emotional expressions, then thinking about how to imitate these expressions.

But now, the thoughts Xia Libing has are usually related to Xiang Kun’s mutation, the cause of his mutation, the mutation features, the related “Super Sensory Item System”, and the characteristics of each “developer” under this system, etc.

As for her own emotional matters, she directly left them to Xiang Kun. She can experience various emotions in the short term through Xiang Kun’s “Emotional Assimilation”. If she wants to gain permanent emotional experiences in the long run, she should put her hope on the understanding and application of Xiang Kun’s abilities.

Just like Xiang Kun’s “Super sensory Item System”, if she could acquire the emotions contained in all of Xiang Kun’s “Emotion Infused Objects” and call upon them at will, then in a certain sense, she would also possess the emotional perception abilities of a normal person.

So Xia Libing knew that her current needs and Xiang Kun’s are fundamentally the same.

Now, sitting in the waiting room and being in the “Conscious World”, the issue Xia Libing is contemplating after pausing her exploration and perception, is the cause of Xiang Kun’s mutation.

During these past two weeks, she has learned about Xiang Kun’s experiences related to his mutation that took place around July 11th, and obtained memory fragments of other “mutants” organized by Xiang Kun. She even went together with him to the habitat of the “Giant Owl” for an on-site inspection.

But after these two weeks, the cause of Xiang Kun’s mutation made her increasingly confused.

When they had previously visited the “Giant Owl” habitat, all supplies such as food, water, tents, sleeping bags, survival tools in the wilderness, etc. were carried by Xiang Kun. The backpack Xia Libing carried was filled with lighter items, and for most of the time trekking in the mountains, her backpack was also carried by Xiang Kun on his chest.

Because Xiang Kun’s strength and endurance far exceed that of ordinary people, it is most efficient for him to carry everything. He even joked that if he had known beforehand, he would have brought a basket for Xia Libing to sit in, which would have allowed him to travel faster than them both walking together.

Xia Libing also knew that during Xiang Kun’s previous expedition to this area, he brought hardly anything with him. He barely needed to eat or rest, didn’t require sleep when not in his Blood-drinking period, had physical fitness and sensory abilities far exceeding ordinary people, had night vision capabilities, and the ability to deter beasts and insects. So there was really no need to bring many items or tools.

Now, compared to his last visit, he has evolved so much more, made his abilities even stronger, and developed many new ones. In the wilderness, it’s not just about adaptability or survivability, but more like dominance. Apart from other “mutants”, there’s probably no creature in the forest stronger than him. In theory, he could even enforce and manipulate some animals to a certain extent using his “Mental Deterrence” ability.

With Xiang Kun’s care, Xia Libing’s life in the wilderness was also very comfortable. Basically, Xiang Kun could prepare everything for her. She could sleep peacefully at night with Xiang Kun keeping watch, completely unperturbed by wild animals or insects.

Watching the differences between Xiang Kun and herself, or rather, between him and ordinary people, Xia Libing began to wonder.

Given the huge gap between his abilities and those of ordinary humans, why does Xiang Kun’s appearance remain indistinguishable from that of ordinary humans?

Other mutants, like the “Giant Owl”, “Mutated Spider”, “Mutated Big Bird”, “Mutated Ant”, “Horned Wolf” and so on, have had their appearances greatly altered according to their living environments, survival needs, and the direction of their mutations.

However, both Xiang Kun and Guo Tianxiang, the two human mutants, retained their human form after mutation.

In the case of Guo Tianxiang, it can be said that his mutation is relatively small, and the abilities evolved are more mysterious, mainly affecting others through sound and visual contact, so the relationship with human form might not be significant.

But Xiang Kun has evolved so many more abilities that it seems more reasonable for him to have grown a pair of antennas on his head rather than remaining largely unaltered.

Xia Libing therefore speculated that, just like “Super Sensory Contact” and “Emotional Infusion”, which are directly linked to consciousness, the mutation factor X should also be connected with the consciousness of the “mutant”.

Xiang Kun and Guo Tianxiang live in human society and need to blend into it, so they are unwilling to change their form. No matter how great their mutations, they need to carry them out based on the appearance of humans. As for creatures like the “Owl”, “Spider”, “Ant”, “Big Bird”, etc., they do not have the conscious intent to maintain their appearances. They mutate to maximize the efficiency of their evolved abilities.

After discussing this guess with Xiang Kun, Xiang Kun revealed that he had come to the same conclusion a long time ago. His methods of guiding mutations and evolution direction were adjusted based on this.

However, today, as Xia Libing was recalling the details of her discussion with Xiang Kun as well as information about other “mutants”, a new idea occurred to her.

Even if the mutation factor X is influenced by the consciousness or subconscious mind of the mutants, it would be quite difficult for it to precisely control the degree of mutation evolution, consistently preventing Xiang Kun’s appearance from changing non-human. This would be a complex and huge project full of too many variables.

Why is the mutant factor X so highly adaptable to various types of organisms, controlling their mutations so congruently according to their needs and subconsciousness?

The microstructures that make up an organism are like countless different kinds of soldiers. If an air-dropped commander were to lead them, even with the mandate and command, there could still arise misunderstandings about the soldiers’ abilities or misexecutions of their orders during large-scale combat.

If the mutation factor is extrinsic, how can it so precisely control the mutations of various different organisms?

Xia Libing can’t help but conjecture, perhaps X already exists within the “mutant organisms”. It isn’t an ‘air-dropped’ commander, but a commander ‘promoted’ from ordinary soldiers?

Moreover, not just in “mutant organisms”, but in all organisms, X exists. It just hasn’t been “activated”, it hasn’t become the driving force for mutation?

Perhaps, this could also explain why the “mutant organisms”, before each evolutionary mutation, after feeling hunger, need to devour the “blood” of other organisms – perhaps, this is a replenishment of X?

In the departure lounge, sitting next to Xia Libing, who is ‘looking’ at her “CAKE01” notebook, is a fashion-forward, handsome, middle-aged gentleman. He occasionally glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

It’s clear that this handsome gentleman has taken a keen interest in this ponytailed, beautiful, unique girl – in fact, there are several other men in the departure lounge stealing glances at Xia Libing.

But, this handsome man prefers to take action. After observing for a while, he smoothed his clothes, stood up naturally, and sat down next to Xia Libing. He then casually glanced at the black circle doodles on her notebook and asked, “This drawing looks abstract, doesn’t it? Did you draw it, beautiful? Ah, sorry for intruding, I used to own an art gallery in New York, so I have a certain interest in art…”

The head-down Xia Libing slowly lifted her head and slowly turned to look at him.

The handsome man, prepared to introduce himself, his face filled with what he thought was his most charming smile, suddenly noticed that this beautiful, ponytailed woman had a blank look in her eyes, unfocused as if she wasn’t even there.

This feeling caused a chill to travel up the gentleman’s spine, his smile frozen on his face. Her facial features were still exquisite, but her expression and overall state were somewhat chilling.

“Um…ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you…” The handsome man moved back to his original seat before Xia Libing could reply, sat down for a few seconds, and then packed up his things and moved further away.

Xia Libing slowly turned back and continued to look at her notebook, her gaze slowly refocused.

She had been in the “conscious world” just now, her body being in a semi-sleepy state. Although her eyes were open, she had no visual input.

When the handsome man came to talk to her, her subconscious realized he was talking to her. However, her consciousness hadn’t fully disengaged from the “conscious world”, and her body reacted first by turning her head towards him.

This time, she really didn’t mean to scare anyone…

But this was not a bad thing; it saved her from unnecessary interaction.

Xia Libing yawned, rested her head, and reentered the “conscious world”, using this method to “catch up on sleep”.