Blood Neon

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Idealism

A strange sensation lingered in Lin Ying’s heart.

She could clearly feel that her presence in this world had been significantly reinforced. The previously vague and elusive feeling had noticeably lessened.

Although there still weren’t any dramatic changes in her facial expression, Lin Ying was already celebrating in her heart with cheers and the sound of champagne bottles popping.

Because her emotional fluctuations couldn’t link directly with her body the way normal people’s could—where the changes in her heart would naturally reflect through every frown and smile—Lin Ying, when not deliberately controlling her facial muscles, would appear somewhat expressionless, only able to display reactions on the level of a "smile".

Lin Ying couldn’t help but complain inwardly—was it because this body only needed to smile?

If one regarded the body as a projection of the true self, then it made perfect sense. Starting from this hypothesis, it seemed that although this body could eat normally and even underwent typical human metabolic processes, she was, in essence, a projection created in this world by a supernatural being through some method that was neither scientific nor mystical. She wasn’t a real human.

And what was the most complex and difficult thing to simulate in the human body? Naturally, it was the human brain.

As an extremely intricate collection of neural networks, the brain controlled nearly all bodily functions—from automatic breathing, balance during walking, to full-body temperature regulation, and the identification and processing of massive volumes of visual data transmitted from the optical center—and so on and so forth. One had to know: the human eye alone transmits several gigabytes of data every second.

At least in the era Lin Ying came from, no man-made neural network could surpass the complexity of the human brain. Let alone the fact that this was a naturally grown biological computer, formed through DNA and developed via weakly supervised learning.

And what was the most mysterious part of the brain? Naturally, it was the cerebral cortex, responsible for human "consciousness." The desire for reproduction etched into DNA could be processed here into the phrase, "The moonlight is beautiful tonight." The mate-recognition mechanisms shaped by evolutionary pressures and sex hormones could be refined here into what was known as "aesthetic preferences between men and women." A predator, in spite of its nature, could feel sympathy for the prey about to be eaten—one of the greatest capabilities of higher lifeforms, "empathy," the ability to put oneself in another’s place, also originated here.

Getting a computer to work with countless motors to make a robot perform parkour wasn’t too hard. Equipping a mechanical hand with an array of sensors to maintain tactile perception wasn’t that difficult either. But using silicon-based hardware to simulate the most complex fluctuations of human emotion? That was as hard as reaching the heavens.

According to Lin Ying’s own speculation, she was probably just such a case: an incomplete simulation of a human being.

Of course, it probably wouldn’t always stay like this—she was sure she would continue evolving, or something along those lines. After all, if her true self had absolutely no capacity to support human thought, then she wouldn’t be bothered by these kinds of questions in the first place. The current situation seemed more like her true self didn’t yet have a tight enough "connection" with this world, and so couldn’t fully "control" the projection of herself that existed here.

Actually, deep down, she more or less understood it already—but the sensation was just too hard to describe. To put it another way, it felt rather "indescribable".

At the very least, after today, she was now somewhat able to sense the emotions of others—this definitely and unmistakably counted as a new kind of supernatural ability. So, going by this development, as long as she continued to put in the effort and worked to strengthen her existence in this world, her path… and her body would likely continue to evolve as well.

.

"Anyway, thank you, Jack."

Lin Ying suddenly patted the shoulder of the boy in front of her.

Zhang Qiming was visibly startled and fell into a daze. The effect was overwhelming.

Looking at the boy who showed no clear reaction, feeling the flustered confusion emanating from him, Lin Ying shrugged. "What, really? Kids these days don’t even get that reference?"

"Uh…"

Was he supposed to respond with a punchline? No, seriously, who could possibly follow up on a random, out-of-the-blue line like that? Also, what happened to her emotionless persona? Girl, your character setting just shifted out of nowhere. Zhang Qiming kept ranting in his heart.

"Hmm? You’re a little confused? Are you thinking I’m not like the impression I gave you before?"

The girl tilted her head.

"Ah, you caught that? Alright, yeah… I thought you were a bit more… quiet, maybe."

Lin Ying shook her head. "That was your illusion. I’m actually quite lively."

A girl maintaining a completely unchanged expression while claiming she was "quite lively"—it was, frankly, utterly unconvincing.

A few black lines metaphorically slid across Zhang Qiming’s face.

"What’s wrong? You don’t believe me?"

"Ah, not exactly."

To be honest, he had only just met Lin Ying not long ago. He didn’t really know much about her personality in the first place.

"No, I felt it. Deep down, you still don’t fully believe me."

"Emmm… just curious—when you say ‘felt,’ is that just a figure of speech or a literal verb?"

Lin Ying had been waiting for this question for a long time. She finally had the chance to show off her amazing power to a living person.

"Of course it’s a verb."

She put her hands on her hips and flashed a smile.

"It’s all thanks to you. Right after we talked about that topic, in the moment I figured things out, I felt my influence on this world grow stronger… It might be a little hard to explain, but in short, this new ability of mine has now officially unlocked."

"Like in an RPG?"

"If there’s no interface, no stat points, and no numbers… then yeah, it’s kind of like that."

Speaking of which, Lin Ying was actually pretty annoyed. She’d finally crossed over into another world—not some magical fantasy land filled with beautiful girls, fine, she could live with that. No cheat-like game system or golden-finger ability either, whatever, she could tolerate that too. But why was it that other people’s skills came with clear names, complete with skill books, and when they fought they’d even shout out the move names like it was a show—while the new ability she had just awakened amounted to nothing more than a vague inner feeling of “I think I’ve figured it out!” and absolutely nothing else...

Life was hard; even a tentacled being had to sigh.

“Well, whatever the case, this is definitely the biggest change in the past few days. Thank you, really—you helped me a lot.”

Lin Ying looked a little embarrassed. “Also, sorry about earlier. I already knew that normal people might have negative reactions when they see my body. But just now while talking with you, I wanted to study the specific effects and changes a bit more… so I let you look at me again.”

“But the first time really was an accident. And just now, I also controlled the intensity—the amount you were exposed to won’t have any aftereffects,” she quickly added.

“Ah, no worries, really. I’m still feeling fine, you don’t have to be so concerned.”

Zhang Qiming took it lightly, waving it off like it was no big deal. After all, she was a beautiful girl—whatever she did could be forgiven.

“But I do have a question,” he said after thinking for a moment. “Back at the start, when I was being surrounded and beaten by those guys, did you already have this all planned when you stepped in to help me?”

That had been bothering him—it all seemed a bit too convenient.

“No, not really. At that time... to put it simply, I just thought you were too pitiful, so I wanted to lend you a hand.”

“...That’s it?”

“Yep, sore dake.” Lin Ying nodded. “But the more I looked, the more a few of them seemed like they needed a beating. So I thought, why not give them a chance to end their lives early?” As she said this, she smiled and gently touched her belly.

Zhang Qiming suddenly felt a familiar sense of dread crawl up his spine, making him shudder. Weird... He hadn’t even seen anything sanity-shattering, so why the reaction?

A beautiful girl smiling while touching her stomach—anyone else would call that charming. Why did it make him feel like his life was in danger?

He didn’t dare think too much. His instincts told him: people who thought too much around someone like this didn’t live long.

Of course, Zhang Qiming also knew that Lin Ying ate people, and that she’d hunt suitable prey and swallow them whole or something. But knowing something rationally was one thing. Until he saw it with his own eyes, he couldn’t truly grasp it emotionally.

This was the difference—hearing someone say they killed, and actually seeing someone kill with your own eyes.

But… so what?

At any rate, they were getting along quite well, and having a cute girl sitting right in front of him was a pleasant enough sight to wipe away the frustration he’d felt after getting beaten up earlier.

Well, to be fair, most of that anger had probably been scared away at the time…

While thinking about all this nonsense, Zhang Qiming couldn’t help but yawn.

He glanced at the clock hanging on the living room wall—only ten o’clock.

But the overwhelming fatigue came in waves now that he’d relaxed, mostly the result of the injuries on his body.

“Tired?” Lin Ying asked.

“Yeah, a little. But I usually don’t go to bed until around eleven or twelve…”

“You’re probably exhausted today. It’s about time you got some rest—ah, right.”

Lin Ying reached into the plastic bag on the table and pulled out the aspirin she’d bought. After opening the packaging, she handed him one tablet.

“If it’s not too painful, just take half of one with some water later.”

“Mm, thank you.”

He nodded, and Lin Ying also stood up.

“Well then, I really troubled you today. I won’t disturb your rest any longer. If there’s a chance, I’ll come play with you again.”

“Mm… sure, don’t mention it.”

Zhang Qiming had wanted to say something like “stay safe,” but then he suddenly remembered—this girl didn’t need to worry about safety. If anything, it was the people of Pingyang City who should be staying safe from her…

Watching the girl crouch at the door to change her shoes, he hesitated for a moment before asking with a thoughtful expression:

“Are you heading out to continue hunting now?”

“Mm.” The girl nodded. “I’ll wander around until one or two in the morning, then go back to my den and wait for daylight.”

“Your home, you mean?”

Lin Ying finished changing her shoes and turned to reply.

“Ah, not anything that fancy. I just found a building that hasn’t been fully demolished, tidied it up a bit, and laid out some cardboard to sleep on.”

She patted her own shoulder. “Actually, I can sleep suspended above the ground on my own shadow, so as long as there’s room to lie down, I won’t get dirty.”

After hearing that, Zhang Qiming’s mind suddenly short-circuited, flooded with a sense of sympathy.

“If you don’t have anywhere to go, you can stay here tonight. No one else is home for the next few days anyway.”

The moment he said it, he regretted it. Had his brain shorted out just now?

Yeah… probably.

.

Hearing the boy’s words, Lin Ying couldn’t help but show a slightly amused expression.

Well, she could at least be sure that this guy didn’t say it with any ill intent—after all, she now had a little emotional radar of sorts.

But still, asking a girl to stay over… if she believed not a single adolescent thought had passed through his mind just now, she’d be lying to herself. At best, this kind of invitation could be taken as polite small talk—that’s probably how he gave himself the courage to say it.

“But that would still be too much of a bother for you…”

Lin Ying had been about to casually reject the offer, treating it as the social nicety it was—until she suddenly recalled the feel of the sofa earlier.

Yes, while she could indeed rest suspended without touching the ground, and could honestly say she could sleep anywhere no matter how harsh the environment…

That softness she’d felt on the sofa just now… if she had the choice, she’d definitely prefer to sit on something that warm and comfortable.

If she could curl up on a cozy couch, wrapped in a blanket, holding a hot water bottle or warmer pack—that would definitely be wonderful.

From a purely practical point of view, Lin Ying realized… she didn’t really want to reject this polite offer.

.

“It’s really no trouble, not at all. If anything, I was the one being rude for asking—sorry about that.”

Hearing her polite refusal, Zhang Qiming felt a mix of disappointment and relief. If she had actually agreed to stay over… how would a pure-hearted virgin like him even handle that kind of stimulation? A beautiful girl, alone with him in the house—just imagining it was enough. Something like that couldn’t possibly happen in real life…

“Really? Then I’ll graciously accept your offer.”

But her next words made his brain freeze.

“Ah?”

Zhang Qiming stood there, dumbfounded.