What It s Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 602: Chapter 602 – A Melody that Breaks the Heart (Part 2)

The bowl of instant noodles in front of Tang Baona had no drop of water left. The noodles, which had just been soaked in hot water, had become dry and hard again, only their shape had fallen apart quite a bit.

Tang Baona took off her glasses and wiped them with the hem of her clothes, observing the dissipation of the mist around her as she did so.

It seemed like there was nothing unusual, just the steam. The room had been dry and now had turned humid.

Once the mist had dissipated, Tang Baona boiled another pot of water and re-soaked the bowl of noodles.

But this time, she didn’t play around since her stomach was already grumbling. She was really hungry.

As Tang Baona ate her noodles, she pondered the rhythm of the melody she had just played. Although she didn’t verify it with Alice, she could clearly feel that when Alice manipulated the water, it felt more at ease.

After slurping down a bowl of noodles, Tang Baona got up and went to the kitchen. She took various bowls and pots, filled them with hot water, and placed them around the living room. She also took out the bags of rock slabs she had just stashed in the room’s cabinet and placed them behind the sofa.

Then, she dragged out the electronic piano she used when she was a child. After checking it was still usable, she set up her mobile phone ready to film.

Tang Baona sat on the floor next to the door, crossed her legs, put the electronic piano on her lap, and placed her hands on the keys, ready to play.

With her eyes closed, she sighed and softly muttered, “A song to express my anguish… Where in the world can I find a soulmate?” As her words faded, her fingers pressed down on the keys of the electronic piano. But the piano hadn’t been equipped with batteries nor plugged in, so it didn’t make any sound.

Even without any sound, Tang Baona played very seriously and with great involvement, humming a little tune of “a lamp, a lamp, waiting for a lamp” to accompany her pretend playing.

As she played and started humming, white mist suddenly emerged around her. Within several seconds, it filled the entire living room.

Once her vision was obstructed, Tang Baona immediately stopped “playing” the piano, got up from the floor, ran to the side and dragged out the bags of rock slabs she’d placed behind the sofa. She then poured them in front of the electronic piano, hid behind the sofa, felt the bracelet on her wrist and composed a new melody in her mind. She whispered, “Alice, add this.”

And so, the dampness in the room quickly dissipated, while behind the electronic piano, a grey… “fake mountain” appeared?

Tang Baona waited a while before she crawled out from behind the sofa, ran to pick up her mobile phone and checked the footage she’d captured.

Because she’d hidden the containers filled with water in places the camera couldn’t capture, obscured by various pieces of furniture and decorations in the living room, it seemed like the vapor rising and fog steaming in the room appeared out of thin air.

When the fog quickly dissipated and was suddenly replaced by the “fake mountain” sitting in front of the electronic piano where Tang Baona had once sat, the scene was visually impactful. Especially when the fog dissipated and the “fake mountain” gradually came into focus, one could see the constituent parts of the “mountain” moving and combining rapidly.

Tang Baona first went over to break the “fake mountain” back into small granules, put them into a bag and took them to her room, then she went with her phone to her father’s study room to edit the footage.

While downloading several video and audio editing software she often used, Tang Baona found a piece of paper to note down the music she had composed in her mind earlier. She then used a software to simulate the music. If the result was satisfactory, she would record it using an actual musical instrument and add this background music to the video. She thought it would surely make for a great effect.

She was satisfied with the front half of the video, and the pace of the fog dissipating matched her expectations – the scenes transitioned smoothly. The only regret was the rock slabs failed to take the shape she intended. She had hoped that they would assemble into a figure sitting there, looking like a human even if it didn’t resemble her. However, it ended up looking like a small “fake mountain” less than half a meter high.

It seemed that Alice was more proficient in manipulating water than the components of rock slabs.

Fortunately, at least it was not like before when it took a form resembling rice fields.

Although the light outside was gradually brightening, Tang Baona had no signs of sleepiness. She continued working on what she considered a very cool video. However, while editing the video, she suddenly remembered something and frowned, “Wait, I can’t post this video online once it’s done. Who do I show it to then?”

But this question did not bother her for long, as she quickly remembered that she could certainly show it to Xiang Kun. She could also show it to Yang Lao San, Old Xia, and Xiao Lingdang who would surely get excited. And yes, she could let Little Apple listen to the music as well. Perhaps, she could simply post it in the group chat when the time comes.

…

While Tang Baona was working on how to edit the video and match the background music, Xiang Kun was sitting on a slope in a rather desolate forest in Australia, holding a tablet that was obviously from Divine Technology. He was watching a video on it and couldn’t help but laugh.

Although it was just dawning in China, the sun was already high in Australia. But this place was so remote that Xiang Kun could setup precautionary measures in advance. With a large number of “super-connected objects” deployed, Xiao Luobo taking over, and Alice coordinating everything, they could almost guarantee that no one would be able to approach the area.

Behind Xiang Kun was a pit with a diameter of over ten meters. In the middle was a patch of rubble on which lay Mr. Liang, currently in his blood-drinking sleep – of course, still in his invisible state.

This trip to Australia, naturally, was for “hunting”.

Their target was originally under the large pit behind him. A creature that had integrated plant and animal characteristics, resembling a network and spanned over the subterranean region of the mountains here.

This mutant creature had been in existence for a very long time. It could move over a large area underground discreetly, and it could also emerge from the ground discreetly to hunt when needed. Any plant, animal could become its prey during the blood-drinking phase – this included humans. After drinking blood, the bodies would be buried deep underground for concealment and decomposition.

Just a few months ago, three Australian youths who had camped in this forest became one of its “blood sources”.

Besides the camera they carried, which was left on the ground, all traces of the three persons were erased, their entire bodies taken underground, leaving no remnants behind. It was not until half a month ago that someone found the camera and notified the Australian authorities and the media. The authorities organized a new round of search and rescue, but, of course, they found nothing once more.

However, several clips from that camera were detected by Alice’s surveillance conditions, drawing her attention. She consequently mobilized her resources, deploying and associating a portion of “Super-connected Objects” in that forest. After further confirming the presence of a “mutant creature” hiding underground, she quickly propagated the seeds of “Xiao Luobo” throughout that area. Due to its growing limit already reaching a peak, the expansion area of Xiao Luobo mainly focused domestically, concentrating on places where Old Xia, Tang Baona, Xiang Kun’s parents, and other relatives moved about. As for overseas, targeted deployment occurred only as a need or clear goal arose, hence the establishment of the “Xiao Luobo Control Zone”.

This kind of surveillance and determination of the global locations of “mutant creatures” is a long-term task that Xiang Kun had assigned to Alice—it’s also a task carried out while deploying and associating a broad range of “Super-connected Objects” to establish a comprehensive “Super-connected Object Network”.

Once enough “Super-connected Objects” have been set up to establish perceptual anchor points, Xiang Kun can enter a “Super Sensory State”, analyzing cognitive information to determine the status of nearby “mutant creatures”.

To be honest, if Xiang Kun or Mr. Liang had to deal with this “mutant creature” themselves, it would require quite an effort. Not because it is particularly powerful but because it hides underground and is very agile with a wide range of activity. It would be quite troublesome to capture and kill it without causing a significant disturbance.

But fortuitously, dealing with subterranean creatures that possess plant-like characteristics is Xiao Luobo’s specialization. After a period of gradual development, Xiao Luobo dispersed and transformed a sufficient amount of “sub-plants” in and around the area. When Xiang Kun and Mr. Liang arrived, Xiao Luobo swiftly went into action, confining the underground “mutant creature” to its location.

After Xiang Kun provided the precise coordinates, Mr. Liang, having replaced his “Biological Components” suitable for subterranean operation, directly drilled into the ground, executing the kill and blood-drinking. The entire process was straightforward and took less than ten minutes. In this process, Xiao Luobo contributed 90% to this operation, which led Xiang Kun to reassess Xiao Luobo’s abilities as a “Semi-Mutated Being”.

It was similar to sending scouts ahead before a battle to gather intelligence, draw maps, and establish coordinates for the main forces. However, before the main forces arrived, the scouts unexpectedly sprung into action and captured all the enemies.

Upon his arrival in Australia and en route to the target location, Xiang Kun received a report from Alice that Tang Baona’s father had a heart issue—a low-probability event. Mr. Tang had regular physical examinations, and his heart was healthy. Specific conditions happened to coincide and resulted in a quick manifestation of these symptoms. It was extremely unlucky for Mr. Tang, but since Xiang Kun and Alice were available to help, it could also be considered extremely fortunate.

With Alice’s current application and control of the “Super Sensory Item System”, she could handle such emergencies on her own without the need for Xiang Kun to enter the “Super Sensory State”.

She also didn’t need to co-manifest. By directly utilizing Tang Baona’s bracelet, a few “Super-connected Objects” on her person, and many “Super-connected Objects” previously associated and deployed in her home, Alice was able to perform the emergency procedures and revive Mr. Tang’s heart function.

Knowing that Nana, like Old Xia, Xiao Pingguo, and Xiao Lingdang, was also an integral participant in the upcoming “Ultimate Predator” plan, Xiang Kun planned to further integrate Nana into the “Super Sensory Item System” and reveal more information. As such, Alice “casually” applied for co-manifestation.

She didn’t actually think Xiang Kun would agree, but to her surprise, he did. Hence, she was able to appear directly in front of Nana, placing her hand on Nana’s, and performed the emergency procedures.

After Tang Baona returned home from the hospital, Mr. Liang had already finished drinking blood and entered his sleep. While keeping vigil by his side, Xiang Kun, having some spare time, continuously monitored Tang Baona’s condition through the “Super Sensory State”.

He then discovered that Tang Baona seemed to find the unique rhythm of the “Super-connected Objects” and could even sense the existence of the entire “Super Sensory Item System”. So, after she fell asleep, Xiang Kun contacted Old Xia and initiated an operation that was originally planned for later — entering Nana’s dreams to try and “wake” her up.

Maintaining a lucid state within a dream is a difficult task, and the same thing holds true for specific dreams induced by “Emotion Infused Objects”. Currently, only Xiang Kun and Old Xia can do it.

Xiang Kun is the foundation of all dreamlands, all “Super-connected Objects”, and “Emotion Infused Objects”, so he can always remain lucid in his dreams.

As for Old Xia, that’s pure “talent”. Xiang Kun once read a saying, “One who sleeps without dreaming is in divine peace, and such is the state of a total man who never dreams.” Even without meeting him, Old Xia has already reached the mindset of “a total man”, naturally being able to forget about himself and the world.

Others, however, find it hard to escape the shackles of emotion, even in dreamlands. Even Little Fatty Girl, who has a strong controlling power of “Super-connected Objects” and power of assimilation in dreams, only acts out of instinct in her dreams and not lucidly. Although she can remember her experiences in the dream after waking up, the subconscious still dominates during the dream itself.

In Tang Baona’s dreamland, through Old Xia and Alice’s input of reversed melodies, she successfully makes Tang Baona aware of her own dreamland, thereby “waking up” in her dream.

This step is a crucial step for Xiang Kun to deal with the “Ultimate Predator” using the powers of Tang Baona, Old Xia and others.

After Tang Baona woke up, she suddenly realised a method of using Alice to call the “Super Sensory Item System” and reverse edit the item melodies, which was beyond Xiang Kun’s expectations.

It’s not that this ability itself was unexpected to Xiang Kun. When Tang Baona could perceive the item melody, he already knew that this application could exist. Because when Nana composes music from the Emotional Melodies derived from human emotions, it can affect other people’s emotions, proving that as long as the item melodies are “Super Sensory Information” compiled, they can affect the existence state of the item itself.

Xiang Kun initially thought he would slowly guide Tang Baona towards “developing” this ability step by step, but he didn’t expect that Nana would find this method so quickly.

It seems that “waking up” in her dreams and communicating with Old Xia and Alice helped her suddenly find a “group”. She merely gave the problems she couldn’t solve herself to Alice, trusting them unconditionally.

After compiling Nana’s perceived Item Melody and Emotional Melody for a long time as part of Xiang Kun’s assigned tasks, Alice can now easily accomplish what Nana wants. She can take the melodies that Nana composes, convert them to “Super Sensory Information”, and directly manipulate and edit objects with it.

If Xiang Kun himself were to develop the ability to edit “Super Sensory Information” for corresponding items, it would require lots of preparation and steps. For example, if it were that rock slab, he would first need to decompose it into elements, understand the specific conditions of the natural clay, silicon dioxide, feldspar powder and other components that make up the rock slab, their corresponding “Super Sensory Information”, and then manipulate based on this.

Of course, with such a skill, Xiang Kun’s operation would be extremely precise. He would have no trouble shaping that rock slab any way he pleases.

But with Tang Baona’s method, the direct applications of her development of the Melodies provide him with a direct ability, allowing him to conduct deeper level research through applications.

What he didn’t expect was that after acquiring such an amazing ability, Nana’s first reaction was to make a wacky video of “A Song of Heartbreaking”.

Watching the poetry recital video from Nana on the tablet, which was sent by Alice and had no BGM, Xiang Kun had a great laugh.