Chapter 380: 380

Ever since his first encounter with the “Giant Owl” and discovered the unique scent of “mutants”, Xiang Kun has been extremely sensitive to the smell of “mutants”. This scent is more distinctive and lingers longer than that of normal creatures, making it easy for Xiang Kun to pick it out from other smells.

Upon entering Zi Huan Mountain, Xiang Kun’s senses, including hearing, smell, and vision, were all fully operational, gathering information from the surrounding environment on a large scale.

So even though the scent of the “mutant” was very weak now, Xiang Kun detected it immediately.

Although the main purpose of night exploration in Zi Huan Mountain was to find traces left by the “mutated parasite” and to gather information, he did not really expect to find the “mutated parasite” within the mountain, nor to find its nest via its scent.

After all, the parasite, unlike other creatures, does not have a long-term habitat, but moves with its host. The host is its “habitat”. In normal cases, it wouldn’t have left any scent on the mountain, considering the fact that it had been a whole year since it parasitized a “Vampire Patient”.

When it wasn’t in parasitic state, it lived in the water when it was in the mountain.

So when he smelled it this time, he was somewhat surprised.

Did it leave the “Vampire Patient” and re-entered the mountain through another host?

Was it attached to this mountain in an unusual way?

Xiang Kun narrowed his eyes, focusing entirely on the faint scent, trying to determine its direction.

A few minutes later, after finding the source of the scent and moving towards it, Xiang Kun made a discovery – he had smelled this scent before!

Although Xiang Kun had seen the true parasitic condition of the “Vampire Patient” through the “Dream in A Dream” set up by Old Xia, he couldn’t smell any scent of the “mutated parasite” in the dream because the host of the dream had never smelled it and had no cognition of this smell.

So in the normal case, Xiang Kun would not have smelled the “mutated parasite”.

So, whose scent was this?

The peculiar scent of a “mutant,” when mixed with all other scents, is extremely distinctive, but it’s much less identifiable among the scents of “mutants”.

However, Xiang Kun had only come into contact with and smelled a few “mutants”, and by process of elimination, he quickly determined whose scent he smelled in Zi Huan Mountain.

As he followed the direction of the scent and the source of the scent became more certain, Xiang Kun found a high point, climbed a tree and looked towards the distance.

Under Infrared thermographic vision mode, Xiang Kun’s vision covered a great distance and had strong penetration. He instantly locked onto a vague blue dot in the distant dense forest.

Without a doubt, the blue dot represented the “mutant”.

From this distance, it was difficult to tell what creature the blue dot represented based on its structure, but Xiang Kun had already judged that it was the “mutated big bird” he had encountered near Wushu Mountain a year ago, based on the scent.

A year ago, when he and his companions went to Tongshi Town, this “mutated big bird” caused an accident by attacking tourists while hunting a “mutated ant” living on the main peak of Wushu Mountain. This drew the attention of a survey team led by Fang Pingfang and Mijoe from “Divine Technology”.

Xiang Kun even had a brief face-off with this “mutated big bird” one night, narrowly avoiding a confrontation.

Why was it here?

When Xiang Kun determined that the scent belonged to the “mutated big bird”, he knew that this bird did not come for him.

Because if it had, he would have detected it long before now. If that big bird wanted to “keep an eye on him”, it wouldn’t have been possible for it to go unnoticed, even if it was high in the sky.

The position the big bird was in now didn’t seem like it was trying to monitor or follow him.

Did the big bird simply decide to rest here, or did it consider this place its new habitat?

Xiang Kun didn’t believe in such a coincidence either.

The most likely explanation is that this “mutated big bird”, like himself, came for the “mutated parasite” that had previously appeared in Zi Huan Mountain.

It might have encountered the “mutated parasite” in Zi Huan Mountain before, or it might believe that the “mutated parasite” would return, so it stayed here waiting for it?

Regardless of why it appeared here, now that Xiang Kun had discovered it, it automatically changed from the “hunter” to the “prey”.

The reason why Xiang Kun went to great lengths to collect information related to the “mutated parasite” and determine its whereabouts was because he wanted to capture a “mutant” to enrich the secret research base he and Old Xia were about to establish in Chongyun Village, so that they could study more “live” samples apart from himself, along with Old Xia and Alice.

Of course, the more samples, the better, regardless of whether they were insects or birds. As long as they were “mutants”, he would not mind.

If it had been a few months ago, facing this “mutated big bird”, Xiang Kun might only have had the ability to defend and retaliate – if it attacked him, and he succeeded in pulling it into a ground battle, he might have been able to defeat it.

But if the big bird was cowardly enough to simply fly away immediately, like it did in the brief encounter near Wushu Mountain, Xiang Kun wouldn’t have been able to pursue it.

But now things were different. Xiang Kun was no longer helpless facing creatures that could fly.

Given the current situation – a dark windy night deep into Zi Huan Mountain, with no watchful eyes of “Divine Technology”, only him and the “mutated big bird”, and the fact that he discovered the “mutated big bird” before it detected his presence – it was indeed the perfect time for hunting.

Of course, Xiang Kun does not relax his vigilance. He remains in the tree, observing the surroundings, ensuring there are no other threats or spies.

After all, this “mutate big bird” was definitely marked by “Divine Technology”.

At the same time, based on the observed topography, his own capabilities, and various other information, he was calculating and speculating, making executable plans in his mind.

When he switched to the low-light night vision mode, Xiang Kun noticed that he couldn’t see the “mutated big bird”.

It wasn’t because it was too far or too dark. Under night vision mode, his vision was almost the same as during the day; he could see far-off distances and discern minute details.

But the spot where the “mutated big bird” was supposed to be was indeed empty. However, when he switched to “Infrared thermographic vision mode”, he could see the blue dot again.

Xiang Kun immediately understood: the bird had gained the ability to become invisible!

He lamented for a moment for a certain “mutated ant”. There was no doubt that the bird’s ability to become invisible was gained from the ant it had captured.

From the devouring instances of the “mutated spider” and this “mutated big bird”, we can infer that these creatures, unconcerned with their own appearance or group identity, can quickly and drastically obtain characteristics from other “mutants” once they’re ingested.

Compared to them, Xiang Kun, being a “mutant” with quite a bit of “human burden”, acquires characteristics and abilities from devouring other “mutants” relatively slowly. Additionally, he may not acquire many of the characteristics or abilities, or they may drastically diverge from the original host.

But because of this, he has the potential to derive stronger, more complex, more profound abilities or traits based on the abilities of other “mutants”.

While other “mutants” just accrue and expand their abilities through blood-sucking and consumption, Xiang Kun, on the other hand, absorbs and integrates these abilities.

Take the “mutated spider” and “mutated big bird” for example. They take as many abilities from other “mutants” as possible, using them like plug-in devices, adding as they go.

However, for Xiang Kun, when faced with a new ability, he first needs to “format” it, to incorporate it into his own system. Even the most formidable abilities are worthless to him if they are incompatible, much like Guo Tianxiang’s ability to hypnotize directly through eye contact and speech.

This isn’t a choice actively made by Xiang Kun, but rather an instinct or nature that comes from his subconscious.

Staring at the blue spots in the infrared thermographic vision mode, Xiang Kun on the tree couldn’t help but rub his hands, somewhat excited. This big bird is not only a “mutant” but also a “mutant that has ingested at least one other mutant and gained its invisibility ability”. Its research value has undeniably increased.

He looked up at the night sky. The clouds were thick. He couldn’t see the moon or stars. It was an overcast day.

The humidity in the air was not low either.

This wasn’t the perfect weather, but it was pretty good. If it were stormy weather, with heavy winds and rain, the “mutated big bird” might not appear here at all.

Xiang Kun quietly descended from the tree, then slowly creeped towards the position of the big bird. He was cautious, moving slowly, and stepping with the rhythm of the wind, the chirping of insects, and other natural sounds of the mountains to conceal his movements.

When he was about thirty meters away from the “mutated big bird”, Xiang Kun stopped, raised his hand and looked at the coins that he had been holding to avoid them clinking together in his pocket. He began to prepare for action.

The “super-connected objects” that he could freely control were the main reason he dared to try and capture this “mutated big bird”.

Suddenly, a small bird on a adjacent tree let out a flurry of bird calls, instantly shattering the tranquility of the woods.

What the f…

Xiang Kun wanted to swear, no, he wanted to curse the bird!

Although Xiang Kun couldn’t understand the specific content of the bird’s chirping, through his long-term interaction and observation with “Golden Flash” and his bird language communication with “Xiao Pingguo”, he had a natural response and general understanding of what the bird calls were expressing.

Without a doubt, this bird call was a warning.

As to who it’s warning, it’s self-explanatory.

Even under the infrared thermographic vision mode, there was no change or movement in the position or body of the big bird, but Xiang Kun still instinctively knew that it had his attention. It had noticed him!

During his approach, Xiang Kun had noticed the small bird in the tree, but he had not paid it any attention. According to his experience, the small disturbance he made would not startle it.

Obviously, he made a mistake. This was not a “normal bird”.

Xiang Kun didn’t have time to regret his mistake. His brain was working quickly, calculating the possibilities of various plans of action.

Should he continue to stand still, pretending nothing had happened, hoping that the “mutated big bird” hadn’t noticed him?

No, that would be pointless. Even though he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the bird had noticed him, placing a bet on that slim-to-none chance would be too passive.

Should he launch an attack following his original plan, hoping to capture the big bird?

But his previous scheme was based on the premise that the big bird hadn’t noticed him and he would be taking the initiative. The most crucial step was to attract the big bird’s attention with the flight-controlled “super-connected objects”. But now, since the big bird had already noticed him, that plan could no longer be fully executed.

Based on his brief encounter and observation of the bird’s behavior pattern on Wushu Mountain, Xiang Kun deduced that if he were to launch an attack now, there was a ninety-seven percent chance that the big bird would immediately take off and fly away.

Cutting off his train of thought and calculations, Xiang Kun had a solution in an instant. So, almost immediately after the small bird on the tree started its warning call and the “mutated big bird” shifted its attention, Xiang Kun shouted out:

“Shut the hell up! You’re so damn noisy!”

As he spoke, he bent over to pick up a stone and threw it towards the tree. However, he didn’t hit the small bird, he only startled it and made it fly away from its position.

Then, Xiang Kun no longer hid his whereabouts or noise, grumbling and cursing as he moved around the forest. However, he moved in a direction opposite to where the “mutated big bird” was located.

If he launched a sudden attack, the big bird would definitely run away. At this distance, his chances of intercepting the bird were very low. Since his whereabouts had already been exposed, he decided to act freely, creating a facade of being unaware of the “mutated big bird”‘s presence, while openly moving about the mountain.

After all, the “mutated big bird” had been invisible the whole time, and it might not know that Xiang Kun had detected it.

Of course, if the bird was as cautious and skeptical as Xiang Kun, it would definitely wonder why Xiang Kun only detected it at such a close range. But after all, it wasn’t human.

Xiang Kun took a gamble on it not being as skeptical.

Moreover, Xiang Kun is also a “mutant”.

From its diving attack on Wushu Mountain last time, it could be proven that in the eyes of the big bird, Xiang Kun was also “prey”.

If it came to Zi Huan Mountain for the “mutated parasite”, then seeing Xiang Kun, this suddenly appeared “mutant”, it should stir up some interest, shouldn’t it?

Xiang Kun took a gamble on it being greedy.

The direction Xiang Kun was heading towards was the top of the mountain. Along the way, he would occasionally stop, close his eyes, raise his head and use his “sixth sense” to sense the changes in the atmospheric electric field.

He was about to make a bold attempt, truly combining the ability that Little Fatty Girl helped him “develop” and the ability of “Electric Mastery Flight”. This deep night in the mountains was the perfect experimental field.

And this “mutated big bird” was the perfect experimental subject.

Of course, the premise was that it really took the bait and flew over.