What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 530: 530

“Saved Nana?” Xiang Kun asked in surprise, “What happened?”

“Sister Nana was on the rooftop last night, then she was heading back, about to go down the stairs, and she almost fell, it was so dangerous, a close shave, and I just, I grabbed her legs, putting all my strength into it! I saved her!”

As Alice narrated, she mimicked Tang Baona’s almost falling posture, even fashioned a Crispy Pig’s Elbow, and put it behind her thigh to simulate her own position last night.

However, the Crispy Pig’s Elbow naturally couldn’t extend its arms to hug her legs to prevent her from falling. Therefore, Alice, who faithfully mimicked Tang Baona’s fall, plopped onto the ground nonchalantly.

Of course, she didn’t feel any pain, so she got back up, then went on her knees, stating, “If I hadn’t held onto Sister Nana, she would have slipped down just like that and tumbled down the stairs! But after I pulled her back, she just kneeled down and landed safely! I checked, and her knees are not injured!”

“Good job, Alice,” Xiang Kun naturally knew Alice’s flaunting performance was for praise, he did not hesitate to commend her, patting her on the head.

Of course, in Xiang Kun’s original expectations, after Alice’s abilities fully infiltrated the network and were included in the “Super Sensory Item System”, protecting the personal safety of Tang Baona, Yang Zhen’er, Old Xia, Little Apple, Little Fatty Girl, his parents, and even Chang Bin, Zi Cheng, Liu Caifu, etc., was her responsibility.

And being able to do so proved that Alice was indeed fulfilling her duties faithfully, and she also possessed the actual ability to do so.

This aspect could allow Xiang Kun to further leave the “back” and some important tasks that he might not be able to take care of to her in the future.

Alice had the ability to become Xiang Kun’s truly Omniscient “Assistant.”

And as it stands, her real “Small Personality” doesn’t interfere with her executing tasks, but rather often tremendously helps.

When Little Fatty Girl felt lonely and bullied at home, the feeling of having a warm and realistic Alice accompanying and protecting her was entirely different from a cold and robotic Alice.

Not to mention, many times involving the invocation and understanding of “Emotion Infused Objects” require her to have emotional judgement skills of her own.

Upon receiving praise from Xiang Kun, Alice’s face was all smiles, very happy and a little bit proud.

“Did you scare Nana or did she see you?” Xiang Kun then asked.

“No! After I made my move, I dispersed!” Alice immediately replied, “But Sister Nana wanted to look at the surveillance footage, she texted you about it. I asked Old Xia, and Old Xia told me to agree for you, and told her the location of the spare key.”

Xiang Kun picked up his phone and indeed saw the chat records of Alice talking to Tang Baona using his tone.

Xiang Kun knew that when Alice co-manifests, all recording devices capable of capturing her position stop working, she has absolute control in this aspect. Not to mention that she can alter all information and data stored in electronic devices, so naturally, she wouldn’t have left any evidence for Tang Baona to find in the surveillance footage.

Alice continued, “When Sister Nana was checking the surveillance, Old Xia was there too. I recorded their conversation, do you want to listen, boss?”

After Xiang Kun nodded, Alice instantly had the computer speakers in the room start playing the recorded conversation between Tang Baona and Old Xia from last night.

No matter where they were located, as long as they had their phones with them, or there was an electronic device capable of receiving audio data nearby, Alice could record the sound. She could even preprocess it to enhance the volume of human voices and eliminate background noise. If there were objective reasons for certain sounds not being clearly recorded or being distorted, she could even repair and complete them according to the original as long as she could identify it. Thus, the quality of the audio records she presented was very good and extremely clear.

Xiang Kun asked Alice to speed up and skip to the part where there was more dialogue. He quickly listened to the recording and learned that Old Xia had skillfully calmed down Nana’s scared soul, and even successfully made Nana feel goodwill and anticipation towards the possibility of a “guardian spirit.”+

He had to admit, Old Xia’s grasp of the personalities of those around him was really steady.

Xiang Kun also noticed a detail. Nana seemed to be more skilled at flipping coins than before. Old Xia mentioned, “You have learned it,” which clearly didn’t mean minor progress but was a definitive sign of improvement.

Xiang Kun believed that Old Xia, who was already extremely familiar with the “Super Sensory Item System,” would say that line and make that judgment, meaning he definitely had good reasons to believe so.

He sensed the “Lucky Coin” he gave to Nana and did not feel the sense of a slight decline he felt from the coins Little Fatty Girl had. However, this didn’t prove that Nana had not established a connection with the coin. After all, in the entire “Super Sensory Item System,” only Little Fatty Girl could cause a “super-connected item” to experience this kind of sensory decline – she had connected that link to herself, which was why she was so at home in the “Super Sensory Item System.”

Xiang Kun entered the “Super Sensory State,” casually selected one of the “Emotion Infused Objects” in that building for his consciousness to descend upon, then located Nana’s position. As expected, he found some weak connections between Nana and the “Lucky Coin’s” cognitive information.

It was evident that Tang Baona had also entered the “Super Sensory Item System.”

Or to be more precise, she had one foot in the door.

According to Xiang Kun’s previous understanding, to enter the “Super Sensory Item System” and form an active association with a “super-connected item” or “Emotion Infused Object,” one first required his “approval,” followed by a unique way to establish the connection.

The former was undoubtedly possessed by Tang Baona. No matter what, Xiang Kun trusted her. When he first gave her that “Lucky Coin,” this “approval” was explicitly completed.

However, Tang Baona did not previously have a way to form a connection with the “Lucky Coin” or any other “super-connected item” or “Emotion Infused object.” It was as if a cave hiding a treasure had its door open for a specific person. That person still needed to find their own way to reach the entrance of the cave and find its location in a dense forest.

Did Nana suddenly establish a connection with the “super-connected object” because Alice “scared” her?

Xiang Kun reconsidered the recording he had just listened to and immediately rejected this assumption. This was because Nana specifically told Old Xia that she was thinking about things on the rooftop at night. Unconsciously flipping the coin in her hand, she became more and more proficient as if she had suddenly “acquired a skill.” Clearly, she had established a connection with the coin before tripping and being rescued by Alice.

So the key was, what was Nana thinking about on the rooftop at the time? Or rather, what was her state of mind while she was thinking?

Xiang Kun then asked Alice about the time Tang Baona went to the rooftop and when she tripped as she was leaving.

“So late… What about Yang Lao San at that time?”

“She was sleeping!” Alice answered right away. She then immediately realized what Xiang Kun was considering and played the accelerated recording of Yang Zhen Er and Tang Baona’s conversation on the rooftop earlier for Xiang Kun to listen to.

The logical connection became apparent now. It was highly likely that Nana became confused by Yang Lao San’s speculative theorizing, or her pre-existing observations and doubts about some peculiarities were drawn out by Yang Lao San. Thus, Yang Lao San went to sleep, but she couldn’t. Instead, she went up to the rooftop to think about these things.

Combining the content of her later conversation with Old Xia, Xiang Kun was able to infer her line of thought. When she was pondering on the rooftop, it’s most likely that she unconsciously established a cognitive system of Xiang Kun’s abilities.

According to previous experiences, this cognitive system doesn’t necessarily have to align perfectly with reality or with Xiang Kun’s real abilities. As long as she believes in it, has a logical explanation, and the system can reflect some specific manifestations of the abilities, it can work.

Alice, still in co-manifestation state, looked at the pondering Xiang Kun with glowing eyes and asked, “Boss, what ability will Sister Nana have?”

Apparently, Alice had already realized that Tang Baona was about to be incorporated into the “Super Sensory Item System”.

“I don’t know either.” Xiang Kun looked at her and suddenly asked, “Do you love Nana very much?”

When Alice was just born, except for Xiang Kun, she addressed everyone else by their full names. But with her rapid growth, the enhancement of her self-awareness, the increasing richness of her “little emotions”, especially after fully incorporated into the “Super Sensory Item System” and being able to exist purely as Super Sensory Information, she also developed her own preferences — of course, mainly influenced directly by Xiang Kun, but there were some preferences related to herself.

From Alice’s narration of her series actions last night and mentioning Tang Baona, Xiang Kun could clearly perceive that she had a strong affinity and affection for “Sister Nana”, and took pride in protecting Tang Baona from harm.

Alice stated naturally, “Boss likes Sister Nana, Old Xia likes Sister Nana, Little Lingdang, Little Apple like Sister Nana! Alice of course likes Sister Nana too! And… Sister Nana also likes Alice!”

Xiang Kun curiously asked, “How do you know Nana likes you?”

As soon as he said this, the speaker next to him played a clip of Tang Baona’s voice, noticeably lowered, as if whispering:

“The little elf that just saved me, can you hear me? I didn’t have a chance to thank you just now, could you come out one more time so I could see you? Of course, if it’s inconvenient for you to come out, it’s okay… um… If you can hear my voice, could you blink your light?”

After a while, it was still Tang Baona’s voice: “Goodnight little elf, thank you.”

Xiang Kun laughed upon hearing this. It was clear that after talking with Old Xia, and dispelling her fears and horror, Tang Baona had developed a cute imagination of Alice and wanted to take the initiative to reach out and seek the entity that had saved her.

After playing the recording, Alice chin lifted, triumphantly saying, “Sister Nana called me a little elf!”

Xiang Kun laughed and said, “Little Lingdang also calls her coin a little elf.”

Alice paused, mouth slightly open. Although every one of Little Lingdang’s coins could be “hyperstimulated” by her and became “super-connected coins”, and each was endowed with an individual name, she clearly didn’t think the coins were comparable to her. In her view, “Little Elf” should be a nickname embodying cuteness, righteousness, and strength.

“It’s not the same! Sister Nana’s little elf is not a coin! Sister Lingdang’s little elf is a ‘Little Spirit Guardian’! Not a ‘Little Elf’!” Alice pursed her lips and said.

Xiang Kun nodded and laughed, “Yes, yes, Sister Nana’s little elf is the super powerful Alice.” He then asked, “So, at that time, did you respond to Nana’s call by blinking your light?”

“No,” Alice sighed, “Old Xia said whether or not I could let Sister Nana know about me, I had to ask the boss.”

“Hmm, not yet,” said Xiang Kun.

“Old Xia guessed you would say that.”

After understanding the situation from Alice, Xiang Kun left the yard and headed towards the small building where Old Xia and Tang Baona were located.

He knew that Xia Tianhuo was in town at the moment and that only Old Xia, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen Er, Little Lingdang, and Little Apple were in the house.

When he walked into the yard and stepped into the living room on the first floor, he saw that Xia, Nana, Apple, and Fatty Girl were all gathered around the sofa, gesturing and pointing at Old Three Yang who was seated on the sofa.

Of course, he knew that the four were teaching Yang Zhen Er how to flip coins, sharing their own tips and experiences with her.

Without even having to ask Alice or anyone else, just seeing the situation, he could tell that Yang Zhen Er had clearly seen Nana learning to flip coins and had been stimulated by it, feeling the frustration of being the only one who couldn’t do it, thus, she had resolved to practice until she could.

He didn’t say anything, just squeezed between Old Xia and Tang Baona, craning his neck to watch Yang Zhen Er, who was practicing flipping coins with a frown on her face.

The coin Old Three Yang was using was a “super-connected object” – lent to her by Old Xia.

Xiang Kun suddenly said, “Don’t tense your forearm, support it with your elbow on your thigh, relax your wrist, relax your fingers, don’t think of it as a coin, think of it as a cigarette, gently pinch it, and then pass it to the side finger gap…”

“I don’t smoke… eh, Brother Xiang!” After reflexively responding, Yang Zhen Er suddenly realized something and looked up at Xiang Kun.

But just at that moment, the coin on the back of her left hand suddenly flipped very smoothly, and very naturally followed her pinky to the thumb.

“Eh?” Liu Shiling, standing on the side, had her eyes slightly rounded. She looked at Xiang Kun, then the coin, and then had an “I see” expression.

Yang Zhen Er, on the other hand, was startled by herself, looked at the coin in her hand, “F*ck… sss… damn it! Did I just do it?” She almost let out a swear word, but seeing Little Fatty Girl on the side, she swallowed the curse back.

“It’s very simple. You don’t have to concentrate too much, just relax, the more you want to learn, the less you can learn. Your hands will be too tense, and it won’t be smooth. Hey, are you guys hungry, do you want some late-night snacks?” Xiang Kun said with a smile.

In fact, it wasn’t Yang Zhen Er suddenly understanding and mastering the technique just now, but he quietly controlled the coin to flip around following Yang Zhen Er’s subconscious mechanical movements.

If Yang Zhen Er really focused her attention on her hand and the coin, he wouldn’t have been able to flip the coin that smoothly, because it would be wrestling with Zhen Er’s fingers.

He knew that to associate with a “super-connected object”, it wasn’t enough to simply “practice hard”. What was needed was “destiny”. Therefore, he didn’t want Yang Zhen Er to be too obsessed and to take this matter too seriously.

——

I’d like to recommend a new fantasy novel, “Unromantic Fantasy World”. The friend who recommended it to me has great taste, so I believe the book must be good.