What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 615: Chapter 615: The Dream Begins

Knowing that Old Xia and Nana were asleep and could be drawn into a dream, Xiang Kun nodded.

Now, they were waiting for the “big fish” to bite.

Alice, standing next to him, imitated Xiang Kun’s pose of standing with his hands behind his back for a while, but quickly grew restless. She began to wander around, glancing left and right, up and down, like a contractor assessing a worksite.

Yet in reality, she did not need to use the “eyes” of her co-manifested body to observe the surrounding environment. Like Xiang Kun, she could learn everything about the surroundings through “Xiao Luobo”, as well as a large variety of “Super-Connected Objects” buried underground. Her constant wandering, looking as though she was patrolling, was merely play.

After a few laps, Alice returned to Xiang Kun’s side, leaning against his leg and occasionally raising her head to look at him.

Xiang Kun sensed Alice’s request to co-manifest again, but he ignored her, knowing that her aim to re-co-manifest was to perch on his shoulder.

Even though she didn’t need a higher position to improve her vision, she just liked to stand high, with her favourite position being on Xiang Kun’s shoulder. He wondered how she had developed such a preference.

Seeing that Xiang Kun was ignoring her request to co-manifest again, Alice didn’t get disheartened. She directly reached for Xiang Kun’s belt, grabbed his sleeve, and began climbing up him like a tree, apparently intending to climb onto his shoulder by herself.

Xiang Kun smiled helplessly at Alice’s “monkey-like behavior”.

He held Alice’s head to stop her from climbing and gave her an intimidating look–if she continued causing mischief, he would cancel her co-manifestation. Alice finally settled down and obediently stayed put.

Xiang Kun recognized Alice’s slightly hyperactive behavior as a sign of excitement.

In this plan against the “Ultimate Predator”, Alice participated in every factor, from information collection to model establishment, running calculations, to plan improvement and revisions. True to her title as an “Assistant”, Alice completed many tasks on her own after being assigned by Xiang Kun, saving him a lot of trouble and greatly improving efficiency.

Thus, when it was time to execute the critical phase of the plan, it was no surprise that Alice was intensely looking forward to it.

Suddenly, Alice spontaneously disintegrated without warning.

Xiang Kun opened his eyes and glanced at the tree where Mr. Liang was resting not far away. He gave a faint smile and closed his eyes again.

If viewed from the perspective of an ordinary person, the hillside appeared empty– aside from Xiang Kun standing there alone.

Although the sunset had caused a sharp drop in temperature and a slight increase in wind, there was no observable change in the trees, grass, or soil around him; everything was absolutely tranquil.

However, Xiang Kun knew the “Ultimate Predator” had arrived.

There was no roar of tigers or dragons, no darkening of the skies, no earthquakes, yet this “mutant” entity – which could affect the survival of billions of organisms and may have existed even before the advent of humanity – had descended in a manner that would be entirely imperceptible to an ordinary person.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Or rather, it had “activated” inside of Mr. Liang’s body.

The special factors and Super Sensory Information left behind in Mr. Liang by the “Ultimate Predator” had not been erased by Xiang Kun. Instead, they were reserved for this moment, allowing the “Ultimate Predator” to incarnate through them and consume Mr. Liang.

If the “Ultimate Predator” had been human, Xiang Kun might have implemented a different strategy, perhaps involve a bit of intellectual manipulation, maybe even pretentiously erase the special factors in Mr. Liang, and then let Mr. Liang be “accidentally” infected by the special factors again.

However, having understood the operating mode and characteristics of the “Ultimate Predator’s” special factors, he knew once Mr. Liang had completed sufficient transformative stages and a “blood source” satisfying the “Ultimate Predator’s” conditions was born, it would have no other choice but to step into the snare, despite its awareness of the trap.

Xiang Kun had identified the reason for the periodic limitations of the “mutants” and the progressive relationship between each stage of these limitations by analyzing special factors and changes in Super Sensory Information during multiple incidents of Mr. Liang, John, and others’ transformative stages after consuming “mutants”, and thus established a “transformation stage model”.

Thanks to that, he was able to accurately calculate the extent of transformation needed in the “blood source” for each transformative stage of Mr. Liang, locate a myriad of “mutants” worldwide through the “Super-connected Objects” scattered around, and have Alice assist him in analyzing their Super Sensory Information to identify suitable “blood sources” for each stage.

Also due to this method, Xiang Kun knew that after Mr. Liang’s current Blood Feast and the end of this transformative stage, his transformative extent would meet the consumption standards of the “Ultimate Predator”.

Why did he think the “Ultimate Predator”, despite knowing it was walking into a trap laid out by Xiang Kun, would inevitably fall for it?

Because Xiang Kun knew that the “Ultimate Predator” had already reached its stage limit. However, by integrating itself into countless creatures and existing in a semi-dormant state, it had managed to delay the inevitable collapse brought by reaching this stage limit.

Therefore, when it detected a “blood source” that satisfied its stage transformation needs, it would inevitably be unable to resist. This was an instinctive drive of the “mutants”, or perhaps the “High-Dimensional Factors” within them.

Based on previous speculation with Alice, Xiang Kun had concluded that the “Ultimate Predator” would make a move on Mr. Liang, but they had identified various potential moments for its attack.

From the looks of it, the “Ultimate Predator” chose the earliest – and objectively speaking, most optimal – moment, which was when Mr. Liang had just completed consuming the previous “mutant”, had just overcome his periodical limit, and when the transformation was nearly complete but he had not yet awoken from his slumber—similar to the state of the previous insect-like “mutant” hidden in its shell and buried in the soil.

If Xiang Kun weren’t by his side, it would have been a classic case of a mantis stalking a cicada unaware of the oriole behind. Mr. Liang would have been defenselessly turned into a stepping stone for the “Ultimate Predator” to overcome its stage limit.

Of course, even if Xiang Kun were not there, even if Mr. Liang had completely completed his transformation and was fully conscious, he would still be a defenseless piece of meat on the chopping block of the “Ultimate Predator”. For the vast majority of organisms on this planet, the “Ultimate Predator” was an invisible and even undetectable enemy. They would not understand what had happened until their life was claimed and they were consumed.

Xiang Kun entered a “Super Sensory State”, determining the “Ultimate Predator’s” movements through perceived cognitive information.

Xiang Kun previously found that merely by going into a “Super Sensory State” and perceiving the special cognitive information left within other organisms by the “Ultimate Predator”, he could erase it. As such, although he was previously capable of effortlessly eradicating the “Ultimate Predator’s” special cognitive information present in his surroundings, he was not able to analyze or understand it.

But with the already well-developed “Super Sensory Item System” as a support, and Alice acting as an assistant, Xiang Kun naturally found ways to bypass the restrictions.

Just like bypassing the ability of “death from sight” by using mirrors or electronic devices to image, Xiang Kun bypassed his power of erasure at the first sensing through Alice. Through Alice’s indirect perception, he gained insights into the special cognitive information of the “Ultimate Predator”.

He carried on using this method and confirmed that the “Ultimate Predator” had already activated the special factors within Mr. Liang’s body. Like a seed in Mr. Liang’s body, it sprouted and grew quickly, forming a structure capable of engulfing Mr. Liang. All the energy and materials consumed came from Mr. Liang himself.

As soon as he sensed that the “Ultimate Predator’s” engulfing construct had formed and was about to start devouring Mr. Liang, Xiang Kun immediately induced the “Emotion Infused Objects” around Mr. Liang, triggering his dream state.

Because there is a strong connection between the consciousness of various creatures and their own high-dimensional factors, the ownership of high-dimensional factors is marked by consciousness. The mutual devouring among “mutants” is also a battle for the control over high-dimensional factors. As the “Ultimate Predator’s” special method of devouring, at this moment, when trying to take control of the high-dimensional factors, the “consciousness” is seen as one with Mr. Liang, hence, it was also pulled into the dreamland.

As soon as he sensed the dreamland, Xiang Kun immediately let Alice take full control.

This takeover could only last for an instant, but that moment was enough — Xiang Kun immediately used the dream within a dream method of Old Xia, quickly inducing the “Emotion Infused Objects” around Old Xia, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen Er, Liu Shiling, and Xiao Pingguo. With each person he sensed, he let Alice temporarily take over, “hanging up” the dream. In this way, one by one, he pulled all five people into the dreamland.

Then Xiang Kun took over the work from Alice, providing the fundamental support for the entire dreamland, stabilizing it. Alice, according to their pre-agreed plan, began constructing the entire dreamland system framework.

Xiang Kun himself was not afraid of the “Ultimate Predator”. The “Super Sensory Item System” has an overwhelming advantage in the hierarchy over its construction method. Once there are “super-connected objects” everywhere, it’s just a matter of time before he completely annihilates it.

However, the “Ultimate Predator” has been around for too long and has infected almost all creatures. Xiang Kun’s global deployment of “super-connected objects” will take time and if he is to act in advance, another method is required.

This method involves sorting out the means through which the consciousness of the “Ultimate Predator” exists and the connections between all special factors.

Xiang Kun knew that the overall consciousness of the “Ultimate Predator” was constructed through high-dimensional factors, but he didn’t understand how exactly this process worked. He needed to understand this system structure, and then he would have ways to influence and destroy it. Without completely wiping out all special factors, he could paralyze its ability to activate special factors and indirectly eliminate its likelihood of compromising other organisms.

But Xiang Kun couldn’t obtain this information through the special factors within any one creature, or a few creatures, because at that time its consciousness was dispersed and not focused at one point. Only when it undergoes a phase change and proceeds with blood-drinking and devouring, Xiang Kun could be one hundred percent certain that the consciousness core of the “Ultimate Predator” would converge on this point.

Because if it wanted to complete engulfing, wanted to take control of Mr. Liang’s high-dimensional factors, it had to mark with its consciousness, regardless of the form in which its consciousness exists.

…

Xia Libing stared at the familiar living room in front of her, it was their house in Chongyun Village.

She saw a high pony-tailed girl sitting at the dining room’s round table, sipping hot soup.

The girl was just like her in appearance.

Suddenly she also heard the sound of typing on a keyboard, she looked over at the sound and found another girl like herself sitting on the sofa, typing on a laptop.

After that, one after another “herself” appeared. Some were cooking, some looking at their phones, some staring blankly, and some dozing off.

Xia Libing attempted to raise her hand to touch her face, only to find out that she couldn’t do this motion. Then she realised that she couldn’t even blink, apparently she didn’t have a body at the moment, but instead was just a mobile, perceptive, and observant consciousness embodiment.

She knew that she was dreaming, to help Xiang Kun fight the “Ultimate Predator”. At present, this dreamland is fundamentally built and supported by Xiang Kun and his “super sensory item system”. The base of the next level of the dream is supported by Mr. Liang and the “Ultimate Predator”, whilst she and Tang Baona, Yang Zhen Er, Xiao Pingguo, and the Little Fatty Girl are on the topmost layer. It is Alice who is responsible for controlling and coordinating the dream within her dream, enabling the normal operation of the dreams.

Xiang Kun didn’t tell them exactly what to do, because he didn’t know at that time what they could see in their dreams. They were able to play it by ear to assist Xiang Kun in understanding the consciousness formation of the “Ultimate Predator”, its cognitive system, and perception system.

Seeing that there are many of “herself”, but her consciousness entity is a void, Xia Libing knew after a moment of thinking that this should be the influence of the “Ultimate Predator”. This was the “Ultimate Predator” using her own cognitive groove to influence her dreams.

Xia Libing observed these “herselves”, understanding that this was an amplification of her confusion about self-identity and that she needed to find the right form to inhabit.

Looking at their appearance, body shape, and their actions, they were just like her and she couldn’t spot any flaws.

Indeed, these selves were created by her own subconscious, how could they seem fake?

Xia Libing thought for a while, then had an idea, and the roof of the whole building was blown away, the surrounding walls also shattered, all the furniture vanished, and dozens of “Xia Libing’s” appeared standing on open ground. The “Xia Libing” who was originally sitting on the sofa and typing on her laptop fell to the ground, as did the “Xia Libing” who was eating. Though they got up after dusting themselves off and began observing their surroundings.

Suddenly, rings of fireworks exploded above their heads, dazzling in their variety. Each explosion had different patterns from cartoon cats, chicken legs, cakes, even to coins.

All the “Xia Libings” looked up at the sky as innumerable cakes appeared out of thin air, hitting their faces.

Some “Xia Libings” were covered in cream, some raised their hands to block it, some managed to dodge it in time.

But one of them, after being smeared with cream, stood there giggling foolishly.

That was the one.

The original Xia Libing moved towards that “Xia Libing”, and merged into her.