茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

After reading the answers about vampires posted by the ID “Kasumi of August” on Zhihu, Xiang Kun made extensive preparations to connect with her online and agreed to meet offline.

Through the memory fragments of Guo Tianxiang that he later obtained, he learned that it was a female hacker named Mijoe who had obtained the account “Kasumi of August” and had been “fishing” online.

Mijoe had originally discovered another identity that Guo Tianxiang had used in the past. She knew he was involved in a murder case and planned to blackmail him with this information.

But when she discovered that Guo Tianxiang was a vampire, she contacted him directly, sent him the information she had found, taught him how to hide to avoid suspicion and discovery, and said she hoped to receive his “first kiss” and become a vampire.

Guo Tianxiang promised to give her the “first kiss” on the condition that she find at least one other vampire or mutant.

Mijoe did a pretty good job “fishing” for Xiang Kun, another vampire, and completed the task. Unfortunately, Guo Tianxiang was unable to keep his promise to her – Xiang Kun suspected he never intended to keep his promise in the first place.

Of course, Mijoe might not know that Guo Tianxiang is gone. Later, Xiang Kun logged into the emergency contact mailboxes on the dark web that they used, found two sentences in them:

“The vampire seems to have located me, what do I do?”

“The police are also looking for us, do not contact via mobile phone.”

By that time, Xiang Kun had already been to Yangcheng, and outside Guo Tianxiang’s clinic and Mijoe’s residence, he found that the police were watching.

So, when he saw these two sentences, he wondered if Mijoe would be in the hands of the police, helping them to “fish” for Guo Tianxiang.

But now it seems that maybe she wasn’t helping the police to fish for Guo Tianxiang but helping “Divine Technology”. Xiang Kun noticed that besides the police, there were also vehicles from the “Run Fast” courier company outside Guo Tianxiang’s clinic and Mijoe’s residence, probably being watched by people from “Divine Technology”.

Of course, she might have simply wanted to notify Guo Tianxiang at that time and didn’t fall into the hands of “Divine Technology” till later.

As Xiang Kun recalled Mijoe’s fleeting glance, apart from the absence of dirty braids, her eyes and expressions were more relaxed, curious, even anticipated. There was no sign of tension, fear or other negative emotions.

It makes sense. If she was in a restricted state, she wouldn’t be allowed to sit on the back seat, let alone freely roll down half the window to look at the scenery.

So, she’s already been co-opted by “Divine Technology”?

In that case, “Divine Technology” must already know where Guo Tianxiang disappeared and why he went to that city. They must also know about the “Pipikachu” on Zhihu being another vampire, and they may have begun targeted investigations.

As Xiang Kun was thinking, he quickly reached the intersection and saw the Q7 parked outside the entrance of the “Divine Technology” enterprise. The driver was talking to the gatekeeper.

After a while, the electric gate slowly opened and the Q7 drove in, disappearing from Xiang Kun’s view.

Looking at the complex of buildings, Xiang Kun rubbed his chin, mulling over how to sneak a peek inside.

However, all the plans that came to his mind were instantly vetoed. It was broad daylight, and anything he do would be too conspicuous and risky. Even if he could get in, there would be a chance of being noticed and exposed.

It wasn’t time for him to take the risk of snooping yet.

Xiang Kun found a secluded corner and entered the “Super Sensory State”, sensing the pencil drawing that he had stuffed in someone’s backpack pocket earlier.

Based on his interpretation of the sensory information, he could tell that five people had entered the first floor of that building. They then quickly moved upwards, probably taking the elevator.

The fluctuations in the perceptual information around them indicated that they were talking. Unfortunately, Xiang Kun was currently unable to parse the details of their conversation from this information.

After a bout of dizziness, Xiang Kun exited the “Super Sensory State”. For now, his ability to interpret special sensory information acquired in the “Super Sensory State” was too weak to obtain more useful information using this method.

Xiang Kun texted Alice about Mijoe and his speculations based on Guo Tianxiang’s memory fragments. He asked her to conduct more searches on Mijoe based on this information.

Next, he found a high point to observe the traffic situation on several surrounding roads, noting where traffic lights were and where traffic flow was higher. He asked Alice to predict traffic trends using data from various traffic platforms and navigation apps.

At around four in the afternoon, the Q7 rolled out of the gate. Seeing this, Xiang Kun, who was positioned around the corner, immediately turned around and started sprinting. Following the route he had previously scoped out, he took a shortcut through several buildings to a traffic light intersection.

Xiang Kun had previously speculated that Mijoe’s trip to the corporation wouldn’t be permanent. From his observations, the buildings inside didn’t seem very inhabited at night, suggesting there weren’t many residential spaces.

If they were to leave, whether it was to go to the city for dinner, shopping, to the airport, the train station to leave, or to get on the highway, they would have to pass through this traffic light intersection.

Based on previous observations and data analysis by Alice, there was a relatively high volume of traffic here and it was a place where traffic jams were more likely to occur.

The Q7 would most likely stop temporarily as it passed by.

Xiang Kun had considered staging a minor accident, such as puncturing the car’s tires. However, upon further thought, he decided not to interfere directly. Although he had initially determined that there were no other vampires or mutants in the Q7, there could be other formidable people around. So he decided to proceed with caution.

Two minutes later, the Q7 arrived as expected.

Watching the traffic light turn red and the Q7 slowly come to a stop at the end of a line of vehicles, Xiang Kun breathed a sigh of relief. It was, after all, a fairly busy road, but it wasn’t peak hour, and there was a chance that the Q7 might have sailed through a green light with no issues.

He adjusted the black knitted hat on his head, took out the chewing gum he had only chewed for a short while from his mouth, wrapped it around a bead which he had established a “super sensory contact” with, held it in his hand and proceeded to dial 10010 while crossing the road briskly.

As he walked past the rear of the Q7, the movement of his hand was small, discreet but accurately shoved the gum and the bead into the crevice of the car’s license plate. He knew that even if people in the car behind the Q7 noticed, they wouldn’t see what he was doing.

To the onlooker, he just appeared to be a rude pedestrian who couldn’t be bothered to walk a few more steps to cross the road at the traffic lights because he was busy making a phone call.

Of course, if they noticed, they would most likely curse, “No manners!” or “Jerk!”

Anyway, the person in the Q7 won’t notice it.

Over an hour later, guided by the location of the small orb, Xiang Kun located the car. They were parked at a restaurant, which led Xiang Kun to initially assume that they were dining inside.

After confirming from a distance that there was nobody in the car, Xiang Kun leisurely “passed by” it, using scent and sound to ascertain that the car’s occupants had entered the restaurant.

Xiang Kun took out his mobile phone and pretended to make a call as he walked into the restaurant.

He pointed at his phone to the approaching waiter and mouthed “looking for someone,” then spoke into his phone, “…I’ve arrived! I told you I’d be fast. Where are you guys exactly?”

Meanwhile, he used the scent extending from the car to quickly lock onto their location, then listened for voices. Soon, he identified that the people from the Q7 were in a private room on the second floor.

As Xiang Kun stepped onto the second-floor stairs, he paused, frowned, and whispered into the phone, “What? You’re not at the ‘Baogui Restaurant’ but the ‘Fubao Restaurant’? Damn, then I’ve made a wasted trip. Just take your time and wait for me…” He then turned around and naturally walked out of the restaurant.

The “Fubao Restaurant” he mentioned indeed exists. It’s a well-known local eatery. He learned about it during his preliminary research of QiCheng City.

After he left the “Baogui Restaurant”, Xiang Kun entered the Li Ning store next door, walked straight to the second floor, and stood against the wall that was adjacent to the “Baogui Restaurant”, appearing to be engrossed in the clothing on the display rack. In actual fact, he was eavesdropping on the private room’s occupants.

Although a wall separated them, Xiang Kun could still hear and interpret most of the conversation.

“Miss Chen, although our QiCheng City may not be as bustling as the metropolises, it still boasts numerous good eateries. You should try them out during your time here. Today, we’re dining at a renowned restaurant where the most famous dish is… ”

There were four people in the private room, three men and one woman, and it was apparent that Miss Chen was Mijoe.

Xiang Kun knew that the police were also searching for Mijoe. This “Miss Chen” seemed to be a new identity arranged for her by Divine Technology. The man acting like the host and describing the food was probably someone from a local enterprise that Divine Technology had acquired. Whether or not this man was aware of Divine Technology’s secret research on mutants was yet to be determined.

Upon discovering Mijoe, Xiang Kun initially considered several plans, such as anonymously tipping off the Yangcheng Police to let them do the groundwork. However, he quickly dismissed these plans. Stirring up the water might make it easier to discover what’s hidden beneath but would lose the chance to discover the mud’s shape. He still didn’t know who was behind Divine Technology, whether it’s Lu Cheng’an or any others, whether they were vampires, or what they aimed to achieve with their actions.

So Xiang Kun decided to observe more conservatively.

Continuing to eavesdrop on the private room, Xiang Kun inferred from their conversation that Mijoe was “sent here by the boss”. Officially, she was here to learn, but the local personnel clearly believed that she was here to supervise and inspect their operations.

Mijoe rarely spoke, only humbly and politely chiming in occasional sentences. She maintained a perfect balance of modesty and composure, entirely different from the ambitious and aggressive female hacker that Guo Tianxiang remembered.

“Sir, may I ask…” interrupted a nearby female sales associate.

“It’s ok, I’m just looking,” Xiang Kun casually replied.

“But… these are women’s sports bras. The men’s section is over there.” The saleswoman spoke in a low voice, considering that Xiang Kun had been standing there for a long time.

Startled, Xiang Kun kept his cool, flashing her a kind smile. “I’m picking something out for my girlfriend. I asked her just now, but she’s having trouble choosing between these two.” And pointed to his phone.

The saleswoman eased up and began introducing the features of both sports bras.

Xiang Kun listened attentively for a while, then looked down at his phone and opened a conversation thread. He then apologetically said to the saleswoman, “My girlfriend says she’ll come by and choose herself tomorrow. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

The dinner party in the private room at the restaurant next door had not ended, but Xiang Kun didn’t intend to eavesdrop anymore. He had already determined that he wasn’t going to hear anything substantial. Although the local company’s representative spoke enthusiastically and was obviously trying to build a rapport, he didn’t mention anything related to their jobs or the research conducted by their local company. Based on a conversation he had chanced upon outside a small-town hotel earlier, the people employed by Divine Technology dealing with relevant fields all had confidentiality agreements and were not allowed to discuss related matters outside the designated places of work.

Xiang Kun waited quietly in an alleyway across the “Baogui Restaurant”. Half an hour later, the four people he had been observing left the restaurant.

Short-haired Mijoe, dressed like a corporate executive, bid farewell to two of the men with a polite yet aloof expression. She watched the two men leave in a cab before climbing into the Q7 with another tall man in a black suit.

From his eavesdropping session earlier on, Xiang Kun knew that the tall man in the black suit had been referred to as “Assistant High”. He was sent by the “boss” to help Mijoe in QiCheng City, both with work and in her daily life.

As for Xiang Kun’s initial impression, formed through his observation of this man’s figure, movements, and habitual situational awareness, this individual had been systematically trained in strength, close combat, and security. His role was clearly more than just an assistant.

It seemed, though, that his job was to primarily ensure Mijoe’s safety rather than keeping a strict surveillance on her.

Considering all of the information available, it could be safely concluded that Mijoe was indeed working with Divine Technology.

But why would Divine Technology want to recruit her?

Her forte was hacking, but compared to Divine Technology, a giant that possessed an array of highly advanced technologies, her skills shouldn’t be much of an asset.

Was there another characteristic of hers that had managed to catch the attention of the people behind Divine Technology?

After the Q7 departed, Xiang Kun leisurely followed behind.

At around 10 PM, Xiang Kun reached an upscale residential compound. The Q7 should have entered there.

It seemed that Divine Technology was indeed treating Mijoe well. The place they arranged for her was a lot better than the rental house where an ordinary employee like Zhou Rui lived. They even provided her with a luxurious Q7 for commuting—an amenity not provided to Zhou Rui.

The security in the posh compound was also top-notch. However, Xiang Kun spotted numerous security breaches that could not compare to the hush-hush research facility of Divine Technology.

Xiang Kun easily found a segment of the perimeter wall without surveillance and easily climbed over it. Using the orb’s signaling, he determined that the Q7 was parked in the underground garage.

He didn’t go into the garage to confirm. Although sniffing and following the scent from the car would have made locking onto their location much easier, the numerous cameras in the garage posed an inconvenience.

Either way, Xiang Kun had other methods to determine which apartment Mijoe occupied.