茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

So any creature that most people would not pay attention to, or even despised, he would instinctively give a few more glances and then associate them with relevant memories from his previous research.

Just like certain car enthusiasts who, upon seeing a distinct car model, would immediately make judgments in their minds and be able to guess the car’s brand and model just from a hubcap, a rear window, or a fender. They could even identify the engine by the sound of it revving, and could tell you about its specifications like how many cylinders it has, how much horsepower it churns out, and its maximum torque and efficiency curve.

And if the engine sound, exhaust pipe design, car details, or rear emblem doesn’t match, they would instantly recognize that the car has been modified.

However, unlike cars, living organisms cannot undergo modifications. They are what they are, and any significant differences would amount to a huge discovery.

At that moment, Zhou Rui had the feeling that he had stumbled upon such a discovery.

The insect perched on the chair’s backrest belonged to the Order Hymenoptera. His first instinct was that it was a reproductive ant, judging from the size of its abdomen he presumed it to be a “princess” (a female ant ready to mate).

However, upon moving closer for a better look, he speculated based on its color and physical attributes that it could be a species of Polyrhachis discothorax, commonly found in Szechwan, Guangdong Province, Hunan and Chu, so sighting one in Haixi Province was not odd.

But upon a closer look, Zhou Rui realized that this Hymenopteran insect seemed to be no ordinary ant.

Besides the two regular antennae on its head, it also had two thin, long whiskers which struck him as quite unusual!

Moreover, its wings were peculiar as well. They bore complex and conspicuous vein patterns and were much smaller compared to the wings of a typical Polyrhachis discothorax “princess”. They were so small that they could barely cover its abdomen, leading him to question if it could actually fly.

Zhou Rui gently picked up the ant, scrutinizing it meticulously.

To his shock, he discovered similar whisker-like structures underneath its shorter wings, clinging against the sides of its body.

What could this be? A parasite?

The more he looked at it, the more he felt a sense of bizarre discordance towards the ant.

Parallel to relying on his knowledge of ants, he recalled that time when he was investigating a case involving a giant raptor attacking tourists on Wushu Mountain. He had encountered an ant on the main peak of the mountain.

Back then, just like now, he had caught a glimpse of an ant scurrying underground. The ant was of the same rare species that he kept at home, unlike the Polyrhachis discothorax which is unlikely to be found in the wilderness in Haixi Province. He had immediately started digging where the ant had disappeared, hoping to find an ant colony or other ants of the same community.

However, much to his disappointment, he hadn’t found the ant he saw. Instead, his effort had helped Dr. Fang discover the anomaly that there were no ants at all on the main peak of Wushu Mountain.

“Is this…a reproductive ant?” Mijoe, who had walked over, stood by his side and asked, looking at the ant in his hand.

Her thoughts also immediately went to that invisible insect that could fly and was carried off by a “giant raptor”.

According to the analysis provided by Dr. Fang and Zhou Rui, based on the visuals captured by her infrared thermal imaging camera, the “invisible insect” was also a Hymenopteran insect, and its head shape resembled more that of an ant.

“It’s a bit strange. I want to take it back for further research,” Zhou Rui said, and the three of them ended their shopping trip ahead of schedule and headed back to their parked car.

Meanwhile, the sky started to drizzle again.

Unbeknownst to them, a bald man stood by the window on the second floor of Youlong Restaurant, peering out from behind his glasses and the window at them.

This man was none other than Xiang Kun.

Honestly, he didn’t expect Mijoe, Zhou Rui, and the others to come and dine at the Youlong Restaurant today.

He, Old Xia, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen Er had already been in Tongshi Town for two weeks.

Shortly after their arrival, Zhang Qian and Zi Cheng were also summoned and came over to meet with them. They discussed with You Meng and Liu Caifu about how to operate the game project. The other “shareholders” who couldn’t attend delegated their decisions to either Zhang Qian or Zi Cheng.

In truth, Tang Baona had already discussed the main points on behalf of Xiang Kun and Zhang Qian and everyone else mainly followed their decisions, only giving their inputs on some minute details.

To others, this was like being with good friends, doing something together, participating in the same thing. Fundamentally, it was about involvement and trust in Xiang Kun or Zhang Qian.

All of this was quickly sorted out. Zhang Qian led a team to Peng City to establish an operational team and start the company, while also preparing for the game’s launch.

The affairs of “Youlong Restaurant” were also running smoothly. After Xiang Kun had rearranged all the principal dishes and released several videos online in a row to stir up interest, they began to link up the online “Youlong Play Rabbit” with the offline “Youlong Restaurant”.

In addition to arranging for people to deliberately expose the store run by “Youlong Play Rabbit”, he also invited a few local influencers and internet celebrities to visit the restaurant, to create a buzz and promote it.

Since they were not very famous, but were well-known in the local area, it didn’t cost a lot.

However, after returning to Tongshi Town, before one of his blood-drinking sessions, using the emotions he recorded in Star City when Little Fatty Girl ate the rabbit meat he cooked, Xiang Kun made four Q-version “Custard Pie” wood carvings and placed them around the shop, joining the 12 yellow people already arranged in the shop.

These carvings were quite different from the actual “Custard Pie”, they not only had a Q version but also each carved cat had several pairs of wings carved on it, and each cat is eating different food such as a drumstick or ice cream, looking very cute.

Aside from being cute, these four carvings, along with the 12 yellow people, had the ability under Xiang Kun’s stimulus to affect the emotions of the people in the restaurant.

Therefore, the web celebrities and influencers who visited the restaurant, even though they already knew they were invited, when they really tasted the dishes under the influence of emotions, would perform far beyond expectations.

This performance led to exceptional live streaming and programming effects and allowed the influencers to give genuine recommendations and ratings, further generating heat and reach for the topic.

Moreover, with the impact of the emotions, other local customers who came to the restaurant by chance also spread positive word-of-mouth, so although “Youlong Restaurant” officially opened just a week ago, it was soon necessary to start forming queues during meal times and the business was booming.

You Meng and his wife have even applied to Xiang Kun to open a branch in the town.

Once the restaurant’s customer flow and reputation were steady, Xiang Kun didn’t need to stimulate the cat wood carvings at every mealtime to guide customers’ emotions. Afterall, the dishes he adjusted for the restaurant already tasted very good and were especially suitable for local tastes. In the context of already having formed a reputation, and many people having dining memories, even the absence of the wood carving’s emotional influence wouldn’t ruin the dining experience.

After the restaurant opened, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er also went to Peng City to represent Xiang Kun in further cooperation with Zhang Qian.

During this period, in addition to the two blood-drinking sessions under the cover of Old Xia, Xiang Kun also did a lot of work in studying his personal mutation.

The most important thing was to try and find a way to use the abilities of the “mutated parasite” and the “all things birth” mode to affect other creatures.

Xiang Kun hopes to enhance Canary’s self-protection abilities and the influence on the outside world. For example, make her capable of calling upon the emotional projection of “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Wood Carving” and other Emotion Infused Objects to influence others even when “Apple” is not present, but only upon “Apple’s” instruction.

But he couldn’t directly experiment on the “Canary” since from the moment she got her name, she has held a different meaning to Xiang Kun, an irreplaceable too, compared to the other canaries in this world.

Therefore, Xiang Kun needed to first experiment on other creatures, to understand the process, ensure success rates, find out the side effects and find a way to avoid them before proceeding on the “Canary”.

In the beginning, Xiang Kun used the experimental mice brought by Old Xia for the tests, but he was unable to find a way to deliver the impact.

So he tried to link the mice into the “Super Sensory Item System” just like the “Canary” and “Custard Pie”, but to no avail.

Old Xia suggested Xiang Kun try other creatures. They adopted the suggestion, and the two of them went deep into the northern mountains from Chongyun Village, “harassing” almost all the creatures they found during the two-day trip.

In order to better “transform” those creatures, they also brushed up on a lot of relevant biological knowledge and came to a basic understanding of most of the animal species, features, and habits in the mountainous region.

And every time they “harassed” a species, they would conduct a detailed study of it combining both theory and practice.

Unfortunately, for most animals, Xiang Kun was not able to find a way to “parasitically” influence them through the “Super Sensory Item System” or to establish a connection and bring them into the “Super Sensory Item System”.

In the end, on the way home and on the verge of giving up this attempt, Xiang Kun accidentally succeeded in influencing an ant while in a “Super Sensory State”.

Xiang Kun was not sure if it was the special nature of the ant or if he happened to find the right method at that point.

The modification Xiang Kun made to that ant was small, only making its body a bit bigger and the muscles controlling its lower jaw stronger. The overall change was less than 10%, and it took several hours to complete.

But although that ant was successfully modified by Xiang Kun, it was unable to receive his commands and crazily attacked the other ants. After killing a lot of ants, it died.

From an individual experiment perspective, it was undoubtedly a failure. But from the overall objective of the experiment, it was a successful beginning.