茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

On the other side, Fang Pingfang, who was in a conversation with “Mr. Liang,” had a noticeable tone of excitement in her voice:

“From the images we’ve observed, considering the beak and other body characteristics of the giant raptor, it resembles a bird from the Falconiformes order. But it significantly differs from the average bird in terms of body structure, muscle strength, and even the feathers. I suspect it’s either a new species that has yet to come into public view or it’s undergone some sort of mutation.”

“The creature it captured, I suspect, just like it, is either an undiscovered new species or has undergone a mutation. It has wings, can fly, dig into the ground, burrow tunnels, and even refract visible light to achieve a certain degree of ‘invisibility’. However, it’s clear that such ‘invisibility’ cannot escape the sensory perception of the giant raptor.”

“We speculate that the giant raptor didn’t previously inhabit the nearby area, otherwise its large size would have been noticed as it flew about. Its appearance in Wushu Mountain Scenic Area, its vigilance there last night, and its frantic digging, were all because of the invisible insect. There might be a unique ecological relationship between them.”

“The invisible insect had been there on the main peak of Wushu Mountain before. The accident where the tourist fell off a cliff on the morning of the 18th was likely caused by the giant raptor hunting the invisible insect. That ‘small bird’ seen by numerous witnesses was likely the visible form of the invisible insect.”

“Zhou Rui noticed that there seemed to be a missing ant population at Wushu Mountain’s main peak. Confirmation is still needed and we plan on conducting a thorough field investigation in the future. We suspect that it may be related to the invisible insect.”

“Mr. Liang, what should we do next? Do you want us to help find the whereabouts of the giant raptor?”

“No need.” Mr. Liang said: “Continue your investigation, I’ll send others to pinpoint the bird’s location. Once found, if needed, I may ask for your help again.”

“So… What should we focus our investigations on? The giant raptor or the invisible insect?” Fang Pingfang asked.

“Follow your own line of thought.”

Mr. Liang’s response left Fang Pingfang, Mijoe, Zhou Rui, and the rest of the team slightly puzzled—Wasn’t it Mr. Liang who asked them over here to investigate the anomalous event? Surely there must be a purpose?

Not only was Fang Pingfang curious, but others who had been involved in the field missions also noticed that Mr. Liang’s mission requirements seemed somewhat odd.

Fang Pingfang thought for a moment and said, “Last night we conducted numerous investigations in the area where the giant raptor was digging and the spot where the invisible insect was hiding. Although no direct biological samples were obtained, we’ve collected a lot of environmental samples that require professional equipment for analysis. If possible, it would be best to send one or two experts in zoology, entomology, or paleontology.”

Although Mr. Liang knew that their methods of analyzing the environmental samples probably wouldn’t yield any substantial results, he still said, “The research base in Haixi Province is still under planning, and our nearest fully-equipped laboratory is in Yangcheng. You can have Ye Chong send the samples you want analyzed and instruct the researchers there to handle and analyze them according to your needs, or you can bring them there yourself. I’ll also arrange for the other experts for you, but don’t expect them to arrive any time soon. For now, you’ll have to rely on yourselves.”

Fang Pingfang was a bit helpless. Of the six people in the room excluding her and her old colleague Zhou Rui, Miss Chen Tianhua Chen seemed to be more knowledgeable about computers, the internet, and various electronic devices. Lin Chong was only responsible for logistics support with information and equipment, rarely offering proactive suggestions or advice. As for Gao Shu and Li Shibao, they were security professionals and could provide little professional help with the investigation and research.

“Right, today we went back to review some videos recorded last night. We found that the sudden frenzy of the giant raptor happened after it was nearly hit by a smooth stone.”

As Fang Pingfang was speaking, she lifted up a pebble, the size of a fingernail, with her gloved hands and showed it to the camera, “This is what we found near where the giant raptor was standing after watching the video. Based on the trajectory of its fall captured on video, it seems to have been thrown from the position of the drone. The drone operators have told us that there were no such stones on the drone, and it has no apparatus for launching stones.”

Normally, in their communication with Mr. Liang, he could see their images while they could only hear his voice.

Inside “Laboratory No.6” of D2, after hearing Fang Pingfang’s words, Mr. Liang picked up a tablet and looked at the image being transmitted.

Fang Pingfang’s voice continued, “Based on its trajectory, if the stone wasn’t dropped from the drone, it must have been thrown from a height higher than the drone. I asked the technicians that if there were other creatures or flying devices up there, they should have been detected. This suggests that, the stone was probably thrown from the ground then fell down after reaching a certain height, landing close to the ‘giant raptor’.

“Using the angle it fell and its speed from the video, we calculated the possible location where the stone was launched being at least six kilometers away. The drone explored the area today and except for forests, no launching devices or signs of equipment moving were found. So, we are still puzzled about where this stone came from and why it fell so conveniently next to the ‘giant raptor’, startling it.”

Mr. Liang nodded slightly, with a thoughtful look, and after a while said, “Start your investigation from this stone. You will be fully responsible for this matter.”

After ending the call with Mr. Liang, Fang Pingfang looked at the others in the room and asked, “What are your thoughts, feel free to share them?”

Fang Pingfang believed that regardless of the others’ expertise and professions, there must be a reasonable explanation for Mr. Liang to arrange them in this temporary investigation team.

Zhou Rui hesitated a bit before saying, “Having seen that bird snatch up the pest yesterday… I don’t know why… but it reminded me of the movie ‘Godzilla 2’ I saw a while ago… um, just an offhand comment… Pretend I didn’t say anything…”

Withdrawing her gaze from Zhou Rui, Fang Pingfang turned to Miss Chen: “Miss Chen?”

Miss Chen said: “Dr. Fang, since Mr. Liang has said to follow your ideas and put you in charge, he must trust your judgement. Just tell us your ideas and we will fully support you.”

Truth be told, she was very confused. There were so many things that Mr. Liang clearly knew about, yet why was he withholding them from Dr. Fang and the rest? She was left wondering what she knew and whether it was okay to share it or not?

After much deliberation, she decided to lay low for a while, and try to contact Mr. Liang privately later to clarify his positioning.

Lastly, Fang Pingfang asked Ye Chong, Gao Shu, and Li Shibao for their opinion; as expected, none of them had any ideas to put forth and simply took their cues from her. After all, since Mr. Liang had already announced that Dr. Fang held full responsibility, there was little left for them to say.

Since everyone agreed, after a bit of thought, Dr. Fang started to assign tasks:

“So, we’ll split into two groups. Zhou Rui and Old Li, continue your investigation on the ants at the main peak of Wushu Mountain. Also, look into the living environment of the ‘invisible insect’ and whether there are any others of its kind. Ideally, find its nest. The place where it lives can’t be without any traces. At the very least, you should be able to find some droppings or something.

“The two of you might not be able to handle everything. When going to the scenic area, coordinate with the local staff members. If you need anything, have Ye Chong to handle it.

“Miss Chen, Gao Shu and I will go re-examine the location where that ‘giant raptor’ was ambushed last night, and then determine where this stone really came from.”

Inside “Laboratory No.6”, Mr. Liang looked at the rabbit wood carving in his hand, studying the analysis results of Dr. Fang Pingfang and other researchers on a tablet computer.

The analysis results not only included data and information about the material of the wood carving but also speculated about its model, the carving techniques, and the possible tools used for carving.

It was clear that the person who carved this wood carving wasn’t a “wild man” living in the wilderness all the time.

Mr. Liang’s hand gently stroked the wood carving as he envisioned an image of an ordinary adult male in his mind.

This man, upon discovering his own mutation and becoming a monstrous “vampire,” came across other “blood-eating creatures”. He realized that devouring the blood of these creatures made him stronger, so he began to hunt on purpose.

He discovered the video shot by Host Xue from the news, learned about the misadventures that befell Host Xue and his team, and realized that other “blood-eating creatures” existed, thus he came to hunt.

The cave was most likely the lair of the indigenous “blood-eating creature”. But why did the “predator” leave the rabbit wood carving behind?

Mr. Liang also considered the possibility that the cave could be the refuge of the mutant human “vampire” who was hunted by another “blood-eating creature”.

However, from his previous observations in the cave, it did not seem to show signs of human habitation – even a “vampire,” who doesn’t need to eat, drink, and excrete like ordinary humans, would still carry traits of civilized society in their living habits, which are fundamentally different from those of wild animals. If he truly did live there, the cave’s condition would have been different.

Perhaps this was his behavioral habit; to leave a wood carving behind after every successful hunt of a “blood-eating creature”.

The rabbit wood carving might have been chosen because the “blood-eating creature” that he hunted was a mutated rabbit.

As for how the wood carving caused Dr. Fang and the others to dream and hallucinate? Or maybe, it wasn’t the cause from the very beginning.

Even if the “predator” possessed the ability to turn “invisible” and become invisible to the naked eye, there was hi-tech thermal imaging surveillance deployed both in the camping area of Dr. Fang’s team in the Qinling Uninhabited Area and around the research center. It would be quite hard for the “predator” to hide if he approached.

Could he possibly evade thermal imaging?

Mr. Liang contemplated for a moment and decided to keep the rabbit wood carving with him for continuous observation. In fact, during his next “sleep,” he would place the wood carving next to him – he wanted to see the so-called “dream induced by rabbit meat” for himself.

If the “predator” could truly empower the wood carving with this miraculous ability, it might be the most valuable discovery he has made in all these years.

This “predator” might be his greatest hope.

However, what he didn’t know was that while he generated numerous hypotheses with the wood carving, the “predator” was “observing” him meticulously in some form.

In his “Super Sensory State,” Xiang Kun focused on observing and memorizing some special cognitive information by the rabbit wood carving.

Although Xiang Kun had never perceived other mutants in the “Super Sensory State” before, he had an intuition that the cognitive information he was perceiving belonged to a mutant, most likely a human “vampire,” potentially the differently voiced Mr. Liang.

In the “Super Sensory State,” normal senses such as sound, image, smell, and touch are absent. Even the senses of location and distance have to be judged and interpreted through the cognitive information.

While perceiving the information of the mutant in the “Super Sensory State,” Xiang Kun didn’t understand what this information represented, but he knew he might understand it in the future. Opportunities to observe mutants in the “Super Sensory State” were scarce, and this could assist him to understand and decode his mutation status and origins.

So he decided to memorize everything first no matter what the situation was.

However, the information was complicated, vast, and rich. Initially, it appeared to be a single branch of cognition, but when his conscious mind delved deeper, it branched out into finer, innumerable sub-branches, seeming infinite as if it could branch endlessly.

Even though Xiang Kun’s cognitive capacity had increased tremendously, he couldn’t maintain it for long and quickly exited the “Super Sensory State”.

However, he wasn’t discouraged. After a short rest, he reentered the “Super Sensory State” and continued to recall the cognitive information, fearing that the mutant would leave the rabbit wood carving and he would lose this crucial source of information.

Fortunately for Xiang Kun, until the flight landed and they disembarked the plane, the mutant didn’t leave the perception range of the rabbit wood carving, allowing him to memorize a lot of cognitive information.

At that moment, he was like a student, poor in every subject but possessing strong memory, cramming all the textbooks, reference materials, and exercises for the examination.

After getting off the plane, Xiang Kun felt a bit dizzy, likely because he had exhausted his mental capability.

However, to others, he seemed like someone who was still a bit groggy after just waking up, which didn’t seem strange at all.

Xiang Kun took a coach with Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er straight back.

After getting on the coach, the three of them sat in a row. Tang Baona stretched her phone over, giggling, “Take a look at this video.”