What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 509: Chapter 509: The Buried Secret (Part 2)

The content of the investigation report was about a series of incidents that occurred in June of 1992 at a research institution named the 955 Institute. Forty-seven researchers and related staff members died during these incidents. Apart from those who died in a fire later, most died of sudden unexplained death, with their internal organs experiencing large-scale necrosis prior to their demise. Yet, the cause could not be determined even after autopsies.

Some details in the investigation report indicated that the 955 Institute was the official research institution focused on “mutants”.Moreover, just before this series of severe incidents, the 955 Institute had just captured a live specimen of a “Blood-eating Creature” and had conducted over two months of research on it, already reporting substantial findings to higher authorities.

After the incident, not only did the live research sample disappear, but all those involved in the research and those who knew about the situation died. Most of the relevant materials were destroyed in the fire.

Initially, the direction of the investigation was focused on “enemy sabotage”.

But as the investigation progressed, they discovered more and more strange and inexplicable circumstances.

Xiang Kun looked serious after reading this. It turned out that the government had a dedicated agency to investigate and research “mutants”, or what they defined as “Blood-eating Creatures”.

However, he had never heard of the name “955 Institute” before, not even in the various tales, unofficial histories, or gossip.

Generally speaking, the official classified research institutions all start with 5 and 7, such as the 704 Ship Equipment Institute of the CSIC Ship Research Institute and the 503 Satellite Information Engineering Institute under the Aerospace Science and Technology Group.

In various works discussing peculiar abilities, mysterious areas, and science fiction, institutions often mentioned include the 507 Institute, the 749 Bureau.

If he hadn’t seen this document here, in another context, he would have thought it was something fabricated by an author of a novel.

Yet, how come the death of dozens of researchers, such a big event, had never heard about before?

Xiang Kun continued to read more relevant documents, especially those that were categorized in the same way as the investigation document.

Soon enough, he discovered the follow-up. The investigation into the series of incidents at the 955 Institute linked many bizarre phenomena to incidents that occurred at some scientific research institutions in the 1960s.

And just when the investigators were preparing to conduct further in-depth investigations, the higher-ups introduced them to an expert from the former Soviet Union. The expert told them that a few years ago, several departments including the “Biological Information Laboratory” in the former Soviet Union had encountered similar incidents while researching “Blood-eating Creatures”—all related researchers died of sudden unexplained death, and most of the relevant research materials were destroyed for various reasons. Due to the characteristics of the “Blood-eating Creatures,” no living samples were left behind, and no sample tissues were preserved.

Not only the former Soviet Union but also several “Blood-eating Creatures” research programs led by DARPA in the United States during the same period yielded little to no results. Any institution that had obtained a living “Blood-eating Creature” sample and conducted extensive research or had significant research findings would soon experience unexplained “annihilation”.

The findings of research and observation of “Blood-eating Creatures” were not completely destroyed. However, following scattered pieces of information, investigators into the incidents and research on “Blood-eating Creatures” also encountered problems each time they uncovered some content.

Later on, any “Blood-eating Creatures” detected by relevant institutions would almost instantly decompose into grey powder upon being discovered, and some of the investigators and witnesses who found them would suddenly die.

With similar occurrences in the former Soviet Union, the various investigations and research in America began to halt, the related files were archived, and no declassification date was set.

This investigation report apparently was incomplete, but Xiang Kun didn’t find any follow-up content in the subsequent documents. He wasn’t sure whether the follow-up investigations were halted or the relevant information was lost.

However, he soon discovered more documents that could answer his questions, detailing the different attitudes and development history both nationally and internationally in research regarding “Blood-eating Creatures”.

In a document written by a researcher named Shen Hai Chong, he elucidated the mysterious incidents related to “Blood-eating Creatures” in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After losing a large number of researchers, countries made a consistent decision to suspend research and archive materials—after all, be they researchers or investigators, almost all relevant individuals would die of sudden unexplained death or do something unimaginable. Should the affected scope expand, it would inevitably lead to widespread unrest and panic.

Yet, given the characteristics demonstrated by the “Blood-eating Creatures,” all countries were unwilling to give up completely and continued to conduct “tentative research.”

Of course, during this period, various cognition based on conspiracy theories, mysticism, and religious legends also began to emerge among the public.

Shen Hai Chong believed that there seemed to be a “power” monitoring human research into the fundamental cause of “Blood-eating Creatures” mutation. Once humans were likely to discern something, it would trigger its “defense mechanism,” annihilating everything possible.

The appearance of “Blood-eating Creatures” may date back to a distant past, but their traces of existence were perhaps “erased” in a similar way in history, or they may have been passed down in a form that has already deviated from the truth.

The wave of research on “Blood-eating Creatures” in the late 1980s and early 1990s did not entirely yield no results. At the very least, the greyish powder left behind by a “Blood-eating Creature” after its death had been analyzed for its specific components.

The components of the greyish powder left by different types of “Blood-eating Creatures” differed slightly. For example, the main component of the greyish powder left by human “Blood-eating Creatures” after death was a special nitrogen-carbon compound.

Through research into the composition and crystal structure of this nitrogen-carbon compound, humans made significant progress in materials science, such as the synthesis and application of β-C3N4 and g-C3N4 materials.

Because of the foreseeable huge temptations, humans are still cautiously exploring the power hidden within the “Blood-eating Creatures,” even though they know it may trigger terrifying disasters.

Shen Hai Chong, using analyses from various other national institutions and related personnel, made his own conclusion:

When humans conduct research on “Blood-eating Creatures,” the more people are involved, the more people know about it, and the deeper the research is, the more likely it is to trigger the “defense mechanism” of that mysterious power;

When national power is involved, the “defense mechanism” is easier to trigger;

The mass killings in the late 1980s and early 1990s were a result of the high triggered state of the “defense mechanism”. If only one nation, one institution, a small group of people is conducting research on “Blood-eating Creatures”, that power might not be so “sensitive”;

If the researcher is a “Blood-eating Creature” themselves, the “defense mechanism” will be more lenient.

This judgment is not only made by Shen Hai Chong, but it is also the consensus of most people in the world who know about the existence of “Blood-eating Creatures” and still intend to conduct research. This is the experience obtained by conducting “experiments” with lives at stake.

Therefore, after the twenty-first century, research on the “Blood-eating Creatures” in all countries adheres to several principles:

1. Officials try not to be directly involved, and private research institutions are the main bodies;

2. They try to have human “Blood-eating Creatures” as the research team;

3. They suppress the news about “Blood-eating Creatures” from the public;

This document written by a researcher named Shen Hai Chong provides a systematic and easy-to-understand introduction to the research history of “Blood-eating Creatures” both nationally and internationally, and the reasons behind various decisions. It clearly is a guidance document for “those who come later.”

At the end of that document, he left a sentence:

“The study of blood-eating creatures is like Pandora’s Box; despite knowing the dangers that lie within once open, its lure is irresistible to humanity.”

Xiang Kun continued to review the received documents, and in there were many documents signed by “Shen Hai Chong.”

Among them were simple records and descriptions of the characteristics of “Blood-eating Creatures” found in the wild, as well as observations and experimental records of live “Blood-eating Creatures”. Notably, a record of a “human Blood-eating Creature” was incredibly detailed, complete with numerous pictures and comprehensive data, and showed a significantly prolonged observation and experimental period.

Then Xiang Kun noticed the label of the “Blood-eating Creature”: Shen Hai Chong.

It turned out that this researcher was a “mutant” himself. No wonder he could still be responsible for related research after the incident at 955 Institute.

Xiang Kun quickly found information about a research institution established by Shen Hai Chong. Under Shen’s leadership, the department trained only human “Blood-eating Creatures” as researchers. They themselves were both researchers and test subjects.

This research institution was also funded by the state, but all research progress, methods, and results were under Shen Hai Chong’s control.

However, from the timeline in Shen Hai Chong’s other documents, by the third year after he established the institution, he was still conducting various experiments by himself.

Among the documents, Xiang Kun came across several files named “Academician Shen’s Manuscript Sorting”. So, he had Alice search and indeed found an academician named Shen Hai Chong. But according to public records, he had passed away from illness in the late 90s, at the age of 68.

Yet in the pictures of research records on himself that Xiang Kun had seen before, Shen Hai Chong looked like a vigorous young man in his twenties, but with silver hair.

It turned out that he was already an academician before mutating, which justified why the authorities trusted him and were willing to let him take full responsibility for the relevant research.

Next, Xiang Kun found a research dissertation signed by Shen Hai Chong. The research direction was the “surveillance mechanism” of humans or other creatures by the mysterious power behind “Blood-eating Creatures”.

Before he even started reading, Xiang Kun remembered something. He quickly picked up his phone and called Old Xia.

“Are you reading those documents?” Xiang Kun immediately asked once the call connected.

“Yes,” Xia Libing replied.

“Stop reading for now,” Xiang Kun said.

“Okay,” Xia Libing’s response was still decisive, without any question or hesitation.

Hanging up the call, Xiang Kun resumed reading the document with a serious expression.

At the beginning, Academician Shen introduced the background of why he was writing this document. He had found out some news at a considerable cost:

An American private research institution adopted a method wherein a human “Blood-eating Creature” researcher observed and recorded experimental data on a live plant “Blood-eating Creature” sample. Then they left the laboratory to go to a building tens of kilometers away to discuss the refined data and observation results with experts from various fields in Europe and America via the internet. The experts did not know the actual situation of the “Blood-eating Creature” or even the concept of “Blood-eating Creatures”

But in the end, all the participating experts encountered accidents and died suddenly for unknown reasons. The assistants of one of the experts also died. The plant “Blood-eating Creature” subjected to the experiment and the human “Blood-eating Creature” who recorded the experiment both disintegrated, and a fire even broke out in the laboratory afterward.

However, the owner of the research institution did not encounter any mishap.

He proposed this idea, provided directions to the human “Blood-eating Creature” researcher, facilitated the expert connections with financial and other resources. However, he did not participate in the whole process and knew nothing about the experimental procedure and data.

From this case, Academician Shen deduced that the “mysterious power’s” “surveillance method” was not a simple feedback of physical mechanisms, such as a “Blood-eating Creature” being scrutinized by a certain number of humans or the existence of many humans around a “Blood-eating Creature”.

The “mysterious power” should have the ability to understand human language, knowledge systems, and expressions. And, its “surveillance” points were not limited to “Blood-eating Creatures”.

Academician Shen listed a significant amount of research in the field of biological senses to verify his several speculations, including whether the power was an “unconscious, pure energy reaction mechanism” or a “conscious, purposeful behavior entity”. Overall, Academician Shen leaned toward the latter.

Because from its defense mechanism, to the “execution” of humans who conducted in-depth research on “Blood-eating Creatures”, and to the “eradication” rule of “Blood-eating Creatures” discovered by humans, it did not have a very uniform standard and triggering mechanisms.

During the early 90s when various countries secretly invested massive resources and manpower in researching “Blood-eating Creatures”, it was noticeably more “sensitive”. At some point, as soon as they were discovered by a group of humans, even if they had not been captured, the “Blood-eating Creatures” would immediately disintegrate.

It likely also had the power to determine life and death over the majority of “Blood-eating Creatures”.

Regarding its refusal to allow humans to research “Blood-eating Creatures” or understand the principle behind it, Academician Shen believed it might consider such actions as posing a fatal threat to it.

If this assumption held, humans would likely become its “nemesis”. Considering it had tremendous power, yet did not slaughter or exterminate humans, it either meant its power usage had major restrictions and it couldn’t use it freely, or it was also dependent on the human population, or it might even be one of them?

Xiang Kun kept reading Academician Shen’s research documents. Perhaps because of the loneliness of the researcher, who didn’t need sleep, had no family, or other entertainment, and had ample time for thinking and research, he wrote many documents.

From specific records and investigation of individual “Blood-eating Creatures”, to the speculated existence form of the “mysterious power”, whether the “mysterious power” represented an individual or a clan, to the potential theoretical breakthroughs and research directions brought about by the observed mutation data, and so forth.

In fact, many documents were more like a soliloquizing diary, filled with a vast amount of speculation and reasoning processes. As he gathered more information, later documents often overturned the conclusions drawn from the previous ones, but essentially, one could see the consistent research methods of Academician Shen and his process of establishing a theoretical framework.

Xiang Kun gradually understood why Academician Shen wrote in such meticulous, complicated detail. He was probably preparing for no one to succeed him, leaving only these documents and data behind.

As Xiang Kun read, he also compared with his own situation, pondered over the same questions as Academician Shen, and sought to solve the doubts that Academician Shen couldn’t answer.

The more documents he read, the more sure he became:

His mutation, even amongst “mutant creatures”, was a very special existence.

Or rather, at some point after his mutation, he had jumped out of the river with the rest of the fish and onto the shore, grown a pair of legs, and had started walking a path of evolution completely different from most of the “mutant creatures”.