“Little Seven, plot an escape route!”
After handing over control of the Red Mist Battle Armor to Little Seven, Shen Ge deployed his immovable weird domain. He raised his hand and released barriers around them to stop those disgusting worms from falling onto the group.
“Received, Master!” Little Seven could multitask, using dozens of rotting blood tentacles at once. Some swept away falling rocks, while others stuck to surrounding abandoned buildings, swinging the group left and right to dodge the falling rotting flesh and worms.
Shen Ge raised his hand and released a large cloud of red weird fire into the air.
“Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!”
After handing over control to Little Seven, Shen Ge suddenly found himself “free” and, faced with the situation, switched into his “playful Shen” mode.
The three women were all tied up with rotting blood tentacles. Watching the debris, stones, rotting blood, rotting flesh, and disgusting worms falling like a torrential downpour, they felt anxious but couldn’t help.
Seeing that Shen Ge still had the energy for a joke, they felt quite helpless. Yang Yuxin said, half laughing, half crying, “Probe Shen, is that the last bad joke I’ll hear before I die?”
Little Seven suddenly chimed in, “Correction. That wasn’t a bad joke from Master. At best, it was a bout of chuunibyou.”
Cheng Shengnan, however, said, “The fact that he still has the energy to joke around shows he isn’t worried about this danger. At the very least, we’re safe right now.”
Although Yang Yuxin had been led on a few missions by Shen Ge when she first joined the department, making him sort of a “mentor,” in reality, they hadn’t worked together much. Most of the time, Shen Ge fought on the front lines while everyone else provided support.
Therefore, only those who knew him well, like Cheng Shengnan and Fang Mingyue, understood that when Shen Ge was being “playful,” it meant they were safe. Once he got serious, that meant real danger was present.
Still, Shen Ge’s “Great Fireball Technique” worked pretty well. It successfully turned the rain of worms into a rain of scorched worms.
At least it was less disgusting.
This wasn’t the first time Little Seven had handled a situation like this. Even with three “dead weights” this time, relying on the upgraded Red Mist Battle Armor’s powerful capabilities, they performed a “Tarzan” act in the air, successfully dodging obstacles one by one and bringing everyone into a building on the opposite side whose half had already collapsed.
Rumble!
Rumble!
With a series of deafening collapse sounds and intense ground tremors, the weirdness that had successfully expelled the “pests” – Shen Ge and the others – from its body, as if seeing its nemesis, unhesitatingly burrowed into the soil.
“Master, the target weirdness is rapidly moving downward. At this rate, even if we chase it, it will be hard to catch up,” Little Seven reported, trying to retrieve the deployed blood spiders while simultaneously determining the approximate location of the Tier 6 weirdness based on their positioning.
Shen Ge said it was fine if it got away. The weirdness’s ability to relocate its heart was quite troublesome; even he couldn’t find a good solution for it at the moment.
“Shen Ge, are you okay?” Cheng Shengnan couldn’t help but walk up and ask, seeing him standing at the edge of the rubble, looking out at the collapsed tower ruins in the distance.
“I’m fine. What about you?” Shen Ge asked.
Cheng Shengnan shook her head, then asked, “Is this… the Dream World you mentioned? I never imagined it would look like this.”
Shen Ge shook his head. “Theoretically, this is just one fragment of the Dream World. Whenever one Dream World collapses, new dream fragments generate a new Dream World. You have to understand that the so-called ‘weird space’ is actually a twisted, bizarre world generated from the endings produced by the countless restarts of World 1/2. Their number is as vast as the stars in the sky.”
As the Logistics Director of the Rongshi Special Tactics Department, most reports on weirdnesses and weird spaces passed through Cheng Shengnan’s hands. Therefore, her understanding of weird spaces was even deeper than that of captain-level agents.
Just then, Yang Yuxin and Yun’er approached from behind. The former stepped up to Shen Ge and said, “Probe Shen, based on the feedback from the weird energy detector, we should be trapped in a multi-layered weird space. The situation here seems more complicated than imagined, with the appearance of a Tier 6 weirdness.”
Shen Ge glanced at her and asked, “Have you read the weird space file ‘Weird Eye (2)’?”
Yang Yuxin hadn’t expected Shen Ge to suddenly quiz her. She was stunned for a moment, then immediately recalled the weird space file related to “Weird Eye (2).”
According to the images recorded in the file, there was a pitch-black space resembling the “universe,” with no end in sight. In the center was a “black, fog-like substance” resembling a black hole. Around it were three planets very similar to Earth, orbiting the black hole in a triangular formation.
Researchers labeled these planets as “1,” “2,” and “3” from top-left, bottom-left, and bottom-right. The azure blue planet labeled “1” slowly began to “dim,” like a thriving plant gradually withering.
As the planet “withered,” it faintly emitted a plume of black smoke, starting light, then growing thicker, more and more, until black fog completely enveloped the planet.
Then, “Planet 1,” completely shrouded in black fog, poof, exploded completely. After the black fog dissipated, the planet returned to its original appearance.
A few seconds later, the withering, black fog, and explosion occurred again, then it returned to normal. This whole process repeated endlessly.
However, only “Planet 1” repeatedly changed. Planets 2 and 3 maintained their original appearance without any change.
According to the report’s conclusion, the scene seen through the weird eye was like the birth and destruction of a planet. But the demonstration process was somewhat strange.
Planet 1 continuously cycled through birth and destruction, the whole process taking only a few seconds. But after repeating this hundreds of thousands of times, it remained in a withered state.
Then, Planet 2 began to repeat the process of Planet 1 until, after hundreds of thousands of times, it also stopped in a withered state.
Finally, Planet 3 began to repeat the process of Planets 1 and 2 – constantly restarting, destroying, restarting, destroying – until it stopped after 1,009,320 times.
Planets 1 and 2 remained withered. Although Planet 3 was full of vitality, it was faintly entangled by an intermittent black fog, but it was still slowly rotating on its axis.
As a captain-level agent, Yang Yuxin had naturally read this report. Theoretically, it was already a mandatory file for every captain in the Special Tactics Department.
However, because the file’s researcher, Li Xiang, was still constantly researching and modifying it, no final conclusion had been reached yet on the study of weird spaces and Worlds 1, 2, and 3.
Although Yang Yuxin was a captain, she wasn’t a researcher. Compared to research and mountains of data, she, like Shen Ge, preferred frontline combat. So she only knew of this file’s existence.
If you asked her to describe the file’s contents, she could recite them for you. But if you asked her what the file actually meant, she’d rather go fight a Tier 4 weirdness one-on-one.
Shen Ge and Cheng Shengnan could also tell that Yang Yuxin had only read the file and didn’t have a clear understanding of its contents. The latter explained, “According to the latest revised information from Shen Ge and Li Xiang on ‘Weird Eye (2),’ countless worlds that have restarted and perished have been twisted by some kind of force, giving birth to so-called ‘weird spaces.’ Due to the instability of weird spaces, it’s not surprising to encounter high-tier weirdnesses.”
Shen Ge added, “And I’ve recently discovered that the emergence of weird spaces is mostly man-made, controlled by the Weird Person Organization. They combine primordial weirdness cells with special weird energy to create twisted spaces, thereby merging the weird space with reality and pulling people from the real world into the weird space.”
“Because the Weird Person Organization holds the initiative in creating the weird space, there’s a high degree of uncertainty about what kind of weird space we’ll eventually be pulled into. However, I’ve found a reliable way to break the weird space. Unfortunately, when one weird space shatters, the ‘endings’ generated from previous restarts create new twisted spaces.”
“So I need your help. After the world collapses, help me seize as many world fragments as possible. I suspect that once I have enough world fragments, I might find a way to stop the Weird Person Organization from continuing to create weird spaces.”
The reason Shen Ge told Yang Yuxin and Yun’er some information about weird spaces was to use their help to capture more dream fragments when the Dream World finally collapsed. However, he didn’t reveal the whole truth. On one hand, the so-called “truth” might not even be real, and he was still investigating its authenticity.
On the other hand, Shen Ge always felt like he was being “watched.” Coupled with the strange incidents happening to Li Xiang, it made it hard for him to fully trust others. Therefore, even Cheng Shengnan, his closest companion, only had a partial understanding of the Dream World’s truth, let alone “outsiders” like Yang Yuxin and Yun’er.
There was another reason: Shen Ge wanted to take this opportunity to test whether anyone besides him could touch or capture dream fragments.
Although Hu Tinglan and Fang Yaori had been around before, their strength was practically negligible. Even though Fang Yaori had a weird person body, he had been scared out of his wits back then. Hoping he would capture dream fragments was less reliable than hoping Little Seven could control one more rotting blood tentacle.
After listening to Shen Ge’s explanation, even though he avoided the concept of the Dream World itself, Yang Yuxin and Yun’er had gained some understanding of weird spaces, “endings,” “fragments,” and related information.
Even Yun’er, who hadn’t read the “Weird Eye (2)” file, now had a clear understanding of why the world was heading towards doom.
“So, to leave this world, we have to go to that collapsed tall building in the distance, right?” Yang Yuxin asked, looking at the distant ruins of the high-rise.
Shen Ge nodded. “I originally thought that after you fell into this world, you would choose a high point as a landing spot. So, I sent Little Seven ahead to scout. Now that it has a clear picture of the surrounding situation, we just need to go and do the final verification.”
The three women found it both funny and frustrating. Shen Ge’s “predictions” about them were never accurate. Fortunately, their luck and strength weren’t bad. Even though they fell straight into the weirdness’s stomach upon entering, at least they survived until Shen Ge arrived to save them.
If Shen Ge had had just a little more confidence in them, leaving aside Yang Yuxin and Cheng Shengnan, Yun’er, the “self-destructing pretty girl,” probably wouldn’t have made it.
They emerged from the ruined building and headed towards the tall building. Little Seven had previously controlled the secondary armor to go to the tall building to “save the day” and had also scouted the situation along the way. It displayed the distribution map of nearby weirdnesses and a topographical map for Shen Ge through the Red Mist Battle Armor.
To be safe, Shen Ge had the system perform a scan based on the map. The scan results were roughly similar to what Little Seven had detected but provided more precise locations for high-tier weirdnesses.
If Shen Ge were alone right now, he would definitely consider farming some system points before leaving. But with Cheng Shengnan and the others around, it was safer to send them out first. Besides, now that he had mastered a way to actively enter the Dream World, he could carry out his point-farming plan anytime.
Avoiding high-tier weirdnesses and clearing out low-tier ones blocking their path along the way, the four arrived at the ruins of the high tower. Little Seven, wearing the secondary armor, was already waiting there.
The closer they got to the tower ruins, the more Yang Yuxin and the others could feel the invisible oppressive pressure the eerie tower ruins exerted.
It felt like being targeted by a terrifying beast in the dark night, slowly walking into its mouth under its gaze.
“Should we… go in?” Yang Yuxin asked.
Shen Ge didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze passed over her and landed on Yun’er behind her. He then asked, “Yun’er, how’s your luck been lately?”
“Huh?” Yun’er was stunned. Yang Yuxin also looked bewildered. Cheng Shengnan, however, looked thoughtful.
Cheng Shengnan knew very well that Shen Ge wouldn’t stoop to “teasing” Yun’er, at least not right in front of her.
She then recalled the operation report from when Yun’er had first been sent to the Quanlong Mountain base, only to be forced to evacuate due to a weirdness incident at Dong’an Lake Park. She immediately realized Shen Ge was up to something again.
Clearly, Shen Ge had decided to make reasonable use of Yun’er as an “unlucky power bank,” skipping the step of climbing the stairs to enter the tall building.
“If you set aside trivial things like finding no seasoning packet in instant noodles, bottles bursting when you drink, and drink tabs all saying ‘Thanks for playing’… it’s probably… okay?” Yun’er replied.
“Sounds like no different from before.” Shen Ge nodded satisfactorily, swallowing the unspoken follow-up, “That’s a relief,” as it would be a bit rude.
Shen Ge raised his hand and made a grasping motion towards Yun’er in the air. To the three women’s astonishment, a mass of black fog flew out from Yun’er’s chest and into Shen Ge’s palm.
This “pull” from Shen Ge instantly made Yun’er feel weak. Fortunately, Yang Yuxin caught her quickly, preventing her from collapsing to the ground.
“Probe Shen, is that… weird energy?” Yang Yuxin asked, confused.
Shen Ge smiled and explained, “Exactly. Because weird energy is highly repulsive to humans, even though Yun’er has a weird person body, she’s still affected by weird energy. In more mystical terms, this is the ‘bad luck’ that causes her misfortunes. Of course, that’s just speculation.”
He paused for a moment, then his gaze swept across the three women. “Have you heard the legend of Liu Xiu?”
