茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Mijoe had always been a little puzzled as to why, despite Mr. Liang’s knowledge about the characteristics of these mutants, he never informed those who worked in the secret department of Divine Technology, nor did he provide enough information.

If it were ordinary staff, the need for confidentiality could explain this.

But Dr. Fang Pingfang and the other members of this team have a high level of confidentiality. In particular, Dr. Fang Pingfang and the security officer Li Shibao have been involved in missions in the Qinling Uninhabited Area and even taken responsibility for them. The rabbit wood carving and other related items were brought out by them, and Dr. Fang led the testing and analysis of these items, and she accurately identified the anomaly caused by the rabbit wood carving on the 18th, shutting down the underground laboratory in time.

Now, this team is also led by Dr. Fang, and Mr. Liang has said many times that she should take control and make her own decisions. The whole team has seen those two mutants and obtained quite a bit of information. It seems that Mr. Liang should trust them implicitly.

Logically, Mr. Liang should at least divulge some information about the peculiarities of the mutants to Dr. Fang. Otherwise, how is she supposed to make decisions and choose the direction of the investigation?

As it happened, two days ago, Mijoe had privately contacted Mr. Liang and asked about this.

In fact, she had asked similar questions in the past multiple times. Why the secret department workers, the lab researchers, seemed so ignorant about the mutants, not even knowing what their focus of study was.

Yet Mr. Liang never directly addressed her questions.

So, she asked Mr. Liang if she could share what she knows about the particular traits of the mutants with Dr. Fang Pingfang or the other team members. Mr. Liang’s response was, “You can decide that based on the situation.”

This left her quite confused, not understanding Mr. Liang’s intentions.

So these past two days, she has been thinking about whether she should tell Dr. Fang and her team, to what extent she should reveal, and the real reason for Mr. Liang’s attitude.

It wasn’t until just now, after she’d heard the conversation between Dr. Fang and Mr. Liang, that she finally made up her mind.

Upon entering the room, Dr. Fang invited her to sit down and poured her a hot drink before taking a seat and asking what she wanted to discuss.

Looking at the mug with steam rising from the instant coffee, Mijoe became a little lost in thought. She recalled the first night she arrived. She had a conversation with Dr. Fang in her room, asking her about the incidents in the Qinling Uninhabited Area, the anomalies in the laboratory of An Tie Town, and the peculiarities of the rabbit wood carving.

Dr. Fang had also given her a hot drink. It was a cup of warm milk.

That night, she dreamed. She dreamed of the conversation with Dr. Fang and dreamt of Guo Tianxiang.

In her dream, Guo Tianxiang asked her for help and whispered, “be careful of Mr. Liang.”

She knows that dreams are just dreams, they have no connection to reality, they don’t mean anything. She hasn’t had any dreams about Guo Tianxiang since, but for some reason she keeps recalling that dream and the caution within.

She couldn’t quite figure out whether her decision to share some information with Dr. Fang had been influenced by that dream.

“Dr. Fang, I have some more information about the two creatures we’re investigating.” Mijoe began to carefully choose her words.

The Doctor didn’t seem surprised at all. After a nod, she replied, “Before you tell me, have you checked with Mr. Liang to make sure that disclosing this information doesn’t break any confidentiality agreement?”

“There’s no need,” answered Mijoe, “I’ve asked him already. He told me I could make my own decision.”

Dr. Fang nodded, “Then tell me.”

“If the two creatures we’re investigating are indeed what I believe them to be… then they may not have always been a new species. They most likely were normal, common creatures. For example, the ‘Giant raptor’ might have been just an ordinary bird.”

“You mean, the characteristics exhibited by the ‘Giant Raptor’ and ‘Invisible Insect’ are the result of mutation?” asked Dr. Fang – a possibility she had considered before.

“If they are what I think they are… then yes, that’s what I would assume from the current evidence. They should have certain characteristics: firstly, they are blood-suckers; regardless of their original diet, after the mutation, they feed primarily on the blood of other organisms;

“Secondly, their bodily tissues rapidly lose vitality once they detach from the main body, causing drastic changes and transforming into a specific type of minuscule powder-like substances that easily disperse in air, invisible to naked eyes, unlike normal biological tissues which undergo a slow decomposition process;

“Thirdly, there is a natural or necessary predatory instinct between mutants, and some mutants may develop a fondness for the blood of their own species after mutation… so I speculate that there is a good chance the ‘Invisible Insect’ originated from some sort of ant;

“Lastly, this mutation may enhance some of a creature’s innate characteristics. For example, the ‘Giant Raptor’ became larger, its flight and sensory capabilities improved, and it developed more extraordinary abilities, such as invisibility, to adapt to the environment.”

While Mijoe was speaking, Dr. Fang listened carefully and thought it over.

After Mijoe finished speaking, Dr. Fang rose and walked around the room to digest the information.

She didn’t question the authenticity of the information, because Mijoe had no motive to lie – the information resonated with what she had observed, and could clarify many uncertainties.

Nor did she ask Mijoe why she kept such critical information to herself until now even though it was apparent she didn’t just learn of it.

She fully understands the special nature of her work; a lot of answers have to be sought by oneself. For many questions, if someone doesn’t tell you, asking ‘why’ will yield no answers, much like Mr. Liang’s peculiar attitude towards their team.

“If the mutation can change normal creatures… does it mean… humans can mutate too?” Dr. Fang, who had stopped pacing, asked Mijoe.

“Yes.” Mijoe replied concisely.

This reminded Mijoe of Guo Tianxiang, while for Dr. Fang, it was a reminder of the footprints they found in the Qinling Uninhabited Area, the cave and rabbit wood carving.

However, they both simultaneously thought of another person who might be affected by a mutation – Mr. Liang.

Nevertheless, they both tacitly avoided delving into this topic.

After giving it a thought, Dr. Fang finally spoke, “I think I know the direction of our investigation. We should focus on the ‘mutation’ of these creatures, their ‘reason for mutation’, ‘process of mutation’, and other related information, instead of the creatures themselves. I believe, this is the direction Mr. Liang would like us to take.”

Mijoe nodded, “I agree too.”

Dr. Fang Pingfang said, “Listening to you, I suddenly have a conjecture. Could it be that on the night of the 20th, in those mountains, in addition to the ‘giant raptor’ and ‘invisible insect’, there was a third mutant creature that we have not detected. It might have wanted to hunt the ‘giant raptor’, but it noticed the presence of our drone and was cautious about us. Thus, it wanted to use a stone to disturb the raptor, aiming to make it leave our surveillance before it could act. As to why it was not discovered by the drone, it probably has other ‘invisibility’ abilities, just like how the mutant ‘invisible insect’ cannot be detected by the naked eye. This ‘third mutant creature’ might even be able to avoid infrared thermal imaging and radar detection.”

Mijoe nodded thoughtfully, “So you mean that at that time there was a mutant creature capable of flight, with even stronger ‘invisibility’ ability, that flew to our drone carrying that stone and then threw it towards the ‘giant raptor’ to startle it, thus alerting it to the presence of the drone?”

Dr. Fang Pingfang said, “This is my conjecture, though it indeed can explain why the stone fell from that position, following that trajectory. Moving forward, our main investigation should focus on the causes and processes of the mutations of the ‘invisible insect’ and ‘giant raptor’ and to validate this conjecture.”

After sending Old Xia, who had eaten lunch, away, Xiang Kun spent the whole afternoon preparing ingredients for New Year’s Eve dinner and chatting with his parents.

However, once his mother found out that Xiang Kun planned to bring some food to the hospital for Xia Libing, who was working overnight, she immediately called in some favors and got a friend involved in seafood business to provide a fresh Australian lobster. Not to mention, other pricey seafood as well.

Today being New Year’s Eve, one can imagine that even with a friend’s discount, the price wouldn’t be low.

In Xiang Kun’s memory, it was only when he got accepted into a university thirty years ago that his mother brought home a lobster for him. Even then it was an inexpensive spiny lobster and only a single small one at that.

His usually frugal mother suddenly being so lavish, spending a high price on so much seafood on New Year’s Eve, was indeed quite surprising to him.

“How is it, do you know how to cook it? This thing is very expensive, even more than your mom’s phone, be careful with it, don’t waste it…” As soon as the lobster was in, Mrs. Xiang started nagging Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun flat out put his hands up and stepped aside, “Then I won’t do it, you do it.”

“What? Didn’t you say you’ve done it before? If you have done it before then you do it, didn’t Xia say that she loves your cooking? You do it, you do it!” Mrs. Xiang waved her hand and said.

Xiang Kun said helplessly, “Xia… Xia never said she likes eating lobster.”

“I asked her at noon, she said she loves seafood.”

“She was eating shrimp at that time. When you asked her if she liked seafood, of course she said she liked it,” Xiang Kun said, “Mom, how do you want to eat it? Sashimi, or steamed with some vermicelli?”

“Stab what stab, cook it well and eat! Hey, anyway, whatever you think Xia will like, you prepare that,” Mrs. Xiang said.

“You mean… that angelfish, that octopus, that crab, are they all for Xia?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Xiang responded matter-of-factly.

Xiang Kun resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “Mom, are you treating her like a pig? There’s so much, she won’t be able to finish it, and it’s just a late-night snack… Are you asking me to set up a banquet for her in the Third Hospital?”

Mrs. Xiang glared at him, “Can’t you make a little of each?”

“Alright, alright, I’ll make a little of each, and we’ll eat the rest. What flavors do you and dad want?”

Although he had already prepared lobster for the Christmas feast at Tang Baona’s house, he had studied the recipes extensively beforehand, and the dishes he made received rave reviews.

But as for Xiang Kun himself, he didn’t really enjoy preparing this kind of dish. Fresh Australian lobster, the natural taste and texture was already very good, so there was little room for him to show his cooking brilliance with ingredients like these. The flavors and texture need to be respected, and too much seasoning or complicated cooking methods would make him feel wasteful of the ingredients.

Needless to say, the main reason is that he hasn’t researched and tested these ingredients too much, so his knowledge model doesn’t cover them fully.

Xiang Kun decided to save half of the expensive seafood his mother had brought back, to share with his parents for their hotpot dinner, and to cook and pack the other half just before going to see Xia.

He considered making lobster and fish dumplings, but after weighing up the flavors and textures of these ingredients, as well as the eating method and experience of dumplings, he felt it would be somewhat wasteful, so he decided to prepare lobster with vermicelli and a fish soup to bring with him instead.

Just before dinner time, around six o’clock, Xiang Kun’s phone rang. Picking it up, he found it was a video call request from Xiao Pingguo.

Although Xiao Pingguo was blind, she had become quite adept at video calling, especially with Tang Baona, since she joined the chat group with Tang Baona, Yang Zhen’er, and Xia, who were her video chat partners.

As a popular Bilibili influencer, Tang Baona often guided Xiao Pingguo in singing through video calls. The duet “You give love a bad name” which she sang with Xiao Pingguo and posted on Bilibili later received quite positive feedback. Tang Baona is now negotiating with Xiao Pingguo about whether she should start her own account to post some solo singing videos.

However, what he saw at this moment wasn’t Xiao Pingguo, but Canary.

The camera of the phone was facing Canary’s cage. The door of the cage was as always open, and the canary Canary was standing on the perch Xiang Kun had made for it, facing the camera.

“Canary, say Happy New Year to Uncle Xiang!” From outside the view of the camera, Xiao Pingguo’s crisp voice came, and as soon as she finished speaking, Canary started chirping.

It was clear that Canary gave a direct feedback to her voice.

Xiao Pingguo laughed along and then turned the camera towards herself. Although she couldn’t see, she had become quite adept at adjusting the camera angle to face herself after long-term usage, “Uncle Xiang, did you hear that? Canary is wishing you a Happy Spring Festival and a prosperous New Year!”

Xiang Kun also laughed, “Not bad, Xiao Pingguo, you’ve taught Canary well! It seems you two are getting along well… Hey, it looks like it’s gained a lot of weight, no wonder it listens to you so well, you must be feeding it very well!”

In truth, he could tell from Canary’s chirping that it was mostly expressing joy, as well as a bit of showing off and satisfaction.

He could understand the joy, as seeing the “hardworking” owner who had raised it for several months through the video would naturally make it happy. But why was it showing off and feeling satisfied?