The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 124

Whoosh!

The Molotov cocktail smashed into the larger aberration, exploding with a bang, flames instantly engulfing it and the two smaller aberrations nearby.

Yet while the flames appeared to consume the larger aberration, an invisible barrier seemed to shield it, completely isolating it from the fire.

Non-Flammable—truly unburnable.

Since the “Non-Flammable” aberration itself couldn’t burn, Shen Ge tossed a few more Molotovs while retreating, dodging the smaller aberrations’ lunges.

Though the system had warned that “Non-Flammable” was Tier 4, Shen Ge estimated its aberration energy was barely above Tier 2—clearly a “Tier 4” from four years in the future.

The two smaller ones had likely just mutated.

Dealing with two Tier 1s and one Tier 2 was no challenge for Shen Ge.

After several Molotovs, the smaller aberrations were reduced to flaming wrecks, while the larger one remained unaffected, its tentacles lashing out and its bloody maw snapping at Shen Ge.

With a flick of his wrist, Shen Ge slapped the Aberrant Eye (Trait: Unseeable) onto the aberration’s forehead, then drew his cleaver and swiftly dispatched the two smaller aberrations.

For safety, he snapped his fingers and donned his full-body armor before engaging “Non-Flammable” in a measured fight.

At his current strength, a Tier 2 aberration was easy prey, but since he planned to devour “Non-Flammable” for its Trait, he wanted to test its fire resistance first. After all, he couldn’t exactly douse himself in gasoline post-Trait acquisition to experiment.

After the Molotovs, he tried frag grenades and explosive charges. The blast damage and shrapnel barely scratched “Non-Flammable,” its aberration mist neutralizing most of the impact.

Being “Non-Flammable,” combustion-based damage was naturally nullified.

With little else to test, Shen Ge decided to finish it off—its appearance, while oddly cute, gave no hint of its original form.

“Collapse!”

Shen Ge extended his hand, activating his Invisible Domain. The aberration plummeted downward before he canceled the domain, leaving half its body embedded in the concrete, only its dumb-looking head and flailing tentacles exposed.

With two swift strokes of his cleaver, Shen Ge severed the tentacles, then peeled the Aberrant Eye off its forehead.

A final stab into its skull, a downward slash—

Chop! Chop! Chop!

Black blood splattered as Shen Ge’s butchering skills grew ever more refined. If the Special Countermeasures Department ever fired him, he could always find work at a slaughterhouse.

Not that they’d ever let go of their top aberration hunter.

[Host eliminated Tier 4 aberration (Trait: Non-Flammable). Sell corpse or devour to extract Trait.]
[Value: 3,000 system points.]

“Devour.”

[Trait “Non-Flammable” extracted. Adjusted for host compatibility. Trait added to attribute panel.]

“Gotcha. Now, let’s see the effects.” Shen Ge opened his status.

[Non-Flammable: When active, host becomes immune to all combustion-based damage. Costs 1% Spirit per second. Can be used alongside other Traits.]

Immune to all fire damage?

Holy hell.

If Indians joked about bathing on the sun at night, Shen Ge could now take a daytime solar dip—for nearly seven minutes, at least.

More practically, next time he burned a building down, he could enjoy the spectacle up close.

After selling the two Tier 1 corpses, Shen Ge recalled the melted metal door and charred footprints on the 15th floor. Those didn’t match “Non-Flammable.”

If a “flammable” aberration existed, where was it?

Eaten by “Non-Flammable”?

Honestly, compared to “Non-Flammable,” Shen Ge would’ve preferred a “Flammable,” “Extra Flammable,” or “Burn Like Crazy” Trait to enhance his arson arsenal. Fire was, after all, highly effective against most aberrations.

Checking the time—52 hours until foreign teams arrived—Shen Ge decided to sweep the building floor by floor.

If “Flammable” existed, pairing it with “Non-Flammable” would be like an offensive version of “Invisible + Silent”—too good to pass up.

Descending to the 31st floor, Shen Ge opted for efficiency over subtlety—a breaching charge blew the door open.

The hallway was pitch-black, his flashlight revealing no aberration mist. Everything seemed normal.

But when the charge detonated, he’d heard faint movement deep inside.

Survivors?

Or another aberration?

Either way, Shen Ge ventured in, his right arm shielded by his Aberrant Armor, his left ready to summon his Nonexit Domain for a quick “barbecue” if needed.

The eerie silence was oppressive, his own footsteps muffled by the carpet.

The hotel manager had mentioned floors 27-33 were luxury suites, hence the plush hallway.

Gulp.

Gulp.

Soft chewing came from a room ahead. Unlike the deafening swallows of aberrations, this sounded like normal eating—unnervingly loud in the stillness.

Shen Ge crept closer.

Dripping water.

The rip of tearing flesh.

Unfazed, he entered the open door.

The suite was dim, fog-filtered light from the windows adding to the gloom. His flashlight swept across the room—

A one-meter-long rabbit, its body emitting faint black smoke, lay eviscerated on the blood-soaked bed.

Around it, four men and one woman feasted.

Two gnawed at the rabbit’s flesh. One gorged on organs. Another had his head buried in its gut, chewing wetly.

The last knelt by the bed, mouth open to catch dripping blood—though most splattered across his face and chest.

For a moment, Shen Ge felt like he’d stepped into The Walking Dead.

The rabbit was clearly an aberration, its flesh writhing as it regenerated.

Then—

One of the men looked up, bloodied organs in hand.

His grin widened.

“Heh.”

“Heheh.”

“Officer… hungry? There’s plenty. Eat… eat! Don’t be shy!”

Clutching gore, he shuffled toward Shen Ge.

“No thanks. Lost my appetite.” Shen Ge leveled his pistol.

The man kept advancing, grinning maniacally, repeating his offer.

“Stop!”

“Halt!”

No reaction.

Bang! Bang!

Shen Ge shot his knees.

The man collapsed but crawled forward, still urging Shen Ge to eat.

Just like zombies—mindless, hunger-driven.

Then Shen Ge’s flashlight caught the woman.

The “organs” in her hands were a squirming mass of blood-red worms, already burrowing into her arms.

The others, too—their “food” was alive, eating them from within.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Headshots this time.

Yet even with holes in their skulls, they kept advancing, chanting:

“Eat… so good…”

“Eat… eat…”

“Plaga parasites? Seriously?” Shen Ge fired again, noticing the wounds regenerating as worms wriggled inside.

Though they weren’t aggressively attacking, their zombie-like state and parasitic infection screamed biohazard.

Grabbing the nearest man, Shen Ge yanked him into the hall and shut the door on the others.

The man struggled to rise—

Stomp!

Shen Ge pinned him, poured a Molotov’s fuel over him, then sliced off a piece of his face and some worms, sealing them in a sample bottle.

Kick!

He booted the door open, knocking back the charging infected, then hurled a Molotov inside.

Whoosh!

Flames engulfed them as Shen Ge activated Non-Flammable, walking unscathed through the inferno.

“Eat… so tasty…”

“Eat… eat…”

Their voices faded as they curled into burning husks.

Shen Ge contained the flames with his Nonexit Domain, preventing the fire from spreading to the rest of the building—and the 27th-floor survivors.

[Sell Tier 1 aberration corpse? 200 points.]

Though he wanted Li Xiang to study the rabbit (suspecting a link to the Twelve Branches’ parasites), leaving it risked an outbreak. Even a preserved sample would vanish if he sold the corpse.

“Sell.”

+200 points.

The bottled worms disappeared in a white flash, leaving only the flesh sample.

Checking the bodies, he found no visible parasites—but who knew what lurked inside?

He couldn’t haul five corpses around.

Best to call Zhang Wei for extraction and analysis.

Boom!

Boom!

A distant tremor shook the building.

Outside, a ten-story-tall sphere of aberration mist lurched away, each step seismic.

Tier 3?

No Trait?

Then—gunfire and screams from the 27th floor.

The survivors were under attack.

——

Minutes earlier, 27th floor.

The explosion above had unsettled everyone.

Old Zhang, despite his injuries, grabbed a submachine gun.

“Going to check on that cop. He saved us—we can’t just sit here.”

Others volunteered.

His wife, Wang Shufang, panicked. “Are you insane? Stay put!”

“I was a soldier once. I won’t hide while others die for us.”

Arguments erupted—

Then pounding at the stairwell door.

Something massive was trying to break in.

Old Zhang led a team to investigate.

BANG!

The door burst open—

A five-legged, bear-dog hybrid aberration charged in, swallowing half a person in one bite.

Chaos.

Panic.

A one-armed man, clutching grenades, bit the pin and leapt into its maw.

BOOM!

The blast only tore half its face off—black mist already healing it.

Just as despair peaked—

Splat.

Something stuck to the aberration.

A figure dashed from the stairwell—

“Cease fire! Fall back!”

Shen Ge.

In three strokes, he decapitated the aberration.

[+50 points.]

“Barricade yourselves. I’ll clear the building.”

After sealing the 27th floor with his Aberrant Stomach’s “welding,” Shen Ge swept downward, eliminating three more aberrations (+150 points) but finding no trace of “Flammable.”

Giving up, he had Little Seven drive toward the giant aberration.

But the streets looped—like in Dongyu Village’s layered spaces.

Then—

Crack!

A sniper round shattered the windshield, striking Shen Ge’s temple.

Black blood sprayed.

His body slumped.

The car veered into a storefront, shelves collapsing atop it.

On a rooftop nearby, a hooded figure lowered their rifle and approached the wreck.