The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 125

The hooded man rushed into the shop where the black sedan had crashed out of control. Two blood-red arms extended from his clothes; his left hand clutched a pulsating mass of flesh, while his right held a strangely shaped bone.

He slowly approached the sedan buried under shelves and goods, lifted a rack, and peered through the shattered window into the driver’s seat.

It was completely empty—not a person, not even a single drop of blood in sight!

A wave of terror and foreboding washed over the hooded man. He tried to retreat, but a cold sensation pierced through his back. A black bone dagger stabbed straight into his heart from behind.

“Hey, looking for me?” A teasing voice rang out. Shen Ge stood behind him, having appeared without a sound.

How did he get behind me without me noticing?

The hooded man was bewildered, but he had no time to think. Shen Ge gave him no opportunity, stabbing him several times in the back while speaking.

The black bone dagger possessed a certain ability to tear through anomalous energy. It could even affect anomalous spaces. Despite the hooded man’s clothing being anomalous equipment, it couldn’t fully block the dagger’s damage.

The flesh in the hooded man’s hand suddenly spurted a stream of crimson blood, forming bloody armor that spread across his body.

However, before it could cover his back, Shen Ge, prepared for this, opened his Anomalous Stomach—a bloody maw that chomped down, biting onto the entire hand and stopping the blood armor’s spread.

Simultaneously, Shen Ge stabbed several more times with the dagger. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the Corrupt Flesh Tentacle adhered the dagger to his arm, and he switched to a butcher’s knife, slashing it toward the hooded man’s neck.

Swish!

Suddenly, a “flash of white light” appeared before Shen Ge’s eyes, and the hooded man vanished into thin air.

Shen Ge smiled, a string of pull rings dangling from his finger. He didn’t seem particularly concerned about the hooded man’s “teleportation.”

According to intelligence from the Qianzhou Branch, the Twelve Branches’ teleportation devices, while achieving near-instant transmission, required extremely “expensive” materials—corpses of Tier 3 Anomalies.

Currently, Tier 3 Anomalies were relatively “rare” worldwide. Even if the Twelve Branches had some method of accelerating Anomaly development, procuring such materials likely posed significant difficulty.

Otherwise, with such an overpowering teleportation ability, the Twelve Branches’ operations would be far more frequent; they could wreak havoc across the globe relying on teleportation.

Furthermore, this teleportation wasn’t random. Based on the devices found by the Qianzhou Branch, the teleportation routes were fixed.

It was akin to trains or planes—”base stations” were built in specific locations, and Twelve Branches members activated the teleporter elsewhere to return to a base station.

Shen Ge’s main purpose for carrying the remains of “Xu” and swaggering around the blockaded zone was precisely to lure out members of the Twelve Branches.

He had anticipated sniper tactics like this. Even without his “Peter Tingle,” the “LiXiang Type I Combat Armor’s” auto-defense function, controlled by Little Seven (the AI), would intercept anything thrown at him, even a piece of bread.

Even though the hooded man used armor-piercing rounds, Little Seven successfully identified the threat and activated the Corrupt Flesh Armor to block them.

While it consumed a considerable amount of the armor’s anomalous energy, Shen Ge wasn’t harmed in the slightest. In other words, as long as the armor’s energy wasn’t depleted, Shen Ge couldn’t be injured.

After blocking the bullets, Shen Ge went along with the act, having Little Seven control the car to feign losing control and crashing into the shop, attempting to draw the hooded man out.

Originally, Shen Ge planned to capture the hooded man directly. But then he reconsidered; the headquarters’ human experiment data was more important. Starting a full-on war with the Twelve Branches now was unwise. So, he improvised, deciding to “delay” the Twelve Branches first.

During the short time it took for the hooded man to arrive, Shen Ge activated his dual traits “Formless + Soundless” and got out of the car, preparing quite a few “gifts” for him.

In those few seconds of stabbing, Shen Ge had hung plenty of things on him.

If he didn’t run, he’d be decapitated.
If he ran, he’d take a bunch of gifts back to the teleportation point.

Even if the Twelve Branches had prepared extensively for the Beijing Anomaly Disaster, even building multiple teleportation points at great cost, destroying one would still hurt them significantly.

Besides, they were “high-explosive charges.” Even if Twelve Branches members fused with Anomalies, this explosion could take out both the person and the point in one go.

There might even be unexpected surprises, like other Twelve Branches members being at the teleportation point.

[Host’s ingenious and brilliant plan, setting a trap to kill a Tier 2 Anomaly (Trait: Two Heads, Four Arms). Reward: 100 System Points, Random F-grade Supply x1.]

[Host’s flawless strategy, setting a trap to kill a Tier 2 Anomaly (Trait: Two Heads, Four Arms). Reward: 100 System Points, Random F-grade Supply x1.]

[Host’s flawless strategy, setting a trap to kill a Tier 2 Anomaly (Trait: Two Heads, Four Arms). Reward: 100 System Points, Random F-grade Supply x1.]

[Extract rewards?]

“Yes!” Hearing three system notifications in a row put Shen Ge in an excellent mood. It meant his bomb tactic had taken out three Twelve Branches members in one go.

While they might not have been key figures, it was still a good haul.

With three flashes of white light, a “Mental Apple,” a bottle of “Internal Injury Healing Pills,” and a roll of “Healing Bandages” appeared before him.

Shen Ge stored the items away and then left the shop to search for a way to break through the overlapping anomalous space.

…

…

41 Hours Until International Anomaly Organization Entry

Outside the Blockade Line

Fang Mingyue had eaten some food and gotten off the ambulance. She hadn’t chosen to be transferred to a hospital, opting instead to rest in the ambulance.

After sleeping, she felt much better mentally, sighing with emotion at Shen Ge’s miraculous “healing methods,” her admiration for him growing yet again.

“Team Leader Zhang, any news from Investigator Shen?” Fang Mingyue walked over to Zhang Wei, who was arranging work, and asked.

Zhang Wei saluted Fang Mingyue and said, “Reporting, Investigator Fang. Six hours ago, we received a message from Investigator Shen. Survivors were trapped on the 27th floor of the Su Chun Road Comprehensive Building. A rescue team was organized for support. But the signal was lost soon after, and we haven’t been able to contact Investigator Shen since.”

Fang Mingyue frowned upon hearing this. Although she believed Shen Ge’s capabilities meant he couldn’t be in real danger, she suspected he might have encountered an overlapping space.

“Ah! How could I forget this thing!” Fang Mingyue smacked her forehead. After the Dongyu Village incident, headquarters had been vigorously researching anomalous energy equipment to break through overlapping spaces.

During the evacuation of the headquarters research institute, Fang Mingyue protected a researcher who managed to retrieve this set of equipment, but the researcher unfortunately died.

Although she hadn’t had time to study the equipment’s usage and effects herself, given Investigator Shen’s extraordinary and outstanding intelligence, he should understand it at a glance.

“Team Leader Zhang, get me a motorcycle, preferably a smaller, more maneuverable one,” Fang Mingyue said.

“Understood!” Zhang Wei spoke into his walkie-talkie. Soon, a soldier brought over a scooter-style electric motorcycle.

Having been inside the blockade zone once, Fang Mingyue knew the road conditions were extremely complex—vehicles crashed together chaotically, including not just cars but buses and trucks too. Even driving a tank through would be difficult, let alone a regular vehicle.

So Fang Mingyue chose a motorcycle that could “weave through gaps,” wanting to reach the Su Chun Road Comprehensive Building quickly to find Shen Ge.

Fang Mingyue was from Beijing and knew the roads well. Weaving through shortcuts, she soon entered Su Chun Road.

Arriving at the comprehensive building, Fang Mingyue first went to the 27th floor, finding it empty. She then returned to the street to search for any sign of Shen Ge.

Because the blockade zone still had “parachuted-in” mercenaries and the “Twelve Branches” members reported by the Rong City Branch, Fang Mingyue abandoned the motorcycle and proceeded discreetly.

“The survivors from the comprehensive building were rescued. Given Investigator Shen’s style of solving problems at the root, he would definitely go directly to the headquarters area, which was the most severely affected.”

“From the comprehensive building to headquarters, cutting through Haicheng Park is the shortest route.”

Fang Mingyue tried to fathom Shen Ge’s thinking. But as she approached the Haicheng Park block, she felt something was wrong. Just as she was about to enter Haicheng Park, the next second she found herself two streets away.

“Sure enough, an overlapping space.” Fang Mingyue frowned, thinking that if Investigator Shen had taken this route, he might also be trapped nearby.

However, Investigator Shen, caring deeply for the people and concerned for the nation, probably wouldn’t head directly to headquarters. Most likely, he would search the surrounding buildings for trapped citizens or roaming Anomalies.

Thinking this, Fang Mingyue scanned her surroundings, spotting the Xinminhe Apartments not far away. She guessed if Shen Ge was rescuing people, he must have gone there.

The Xinminhe Apartments had lost power due to the anomalous space. The entire building was pitch black. The lobby was a mess with overturned tables and chairs; the front desk counter had largely collapsed. It seemed a fight had happened here; black bloodstains on the floor led to the emergency exit.

Fang Mingyue carefully made her way up the stairwell, listening intently to her surroundings, alert for Anomalies hiding in the darkness.

The stairwell was very dark. Fang Mingyue could only see with her flashlight. She deliberately lightened her footsteps to listen, making the pitch-black space eerily quiet.

Fortunately, she was an experienced Anomaly investigator. This level of eeriness wasn’t enough to scare her.

Gulp.
Gulp.

A faint sound caught Fang Mingyue’s attention. It sounded like someone gulping down a bottle of water desperately.

“Survivors?” Fang Mingyue thought first of this possibility. She swept her flashlight ahead. The safety exit sign showed floor 17.

“Hello? Anyone there? I’m from the rescue team. I can evacuate you from here.” Fang Mingyue positioned herself sideways by the door, leaning against the wall, not rashly entering the hallway.

She called out twice, but there was no response. When she quieted down, she could still hear the gulp gulp swallowing sounds.

Fang Mingyue felt something was wrong. Holding her breath, she slowed her steps and walked into the hallway, sweeping her flashlight ahead to ensure safety before proceeding.

After about twenty meters, the swallowing sounds grew clearer.

Fang Mingyue swept her flashlight forward. In the center of the light, two women with tattered clothes were hunched over a corpse, eating voraciously.

The corpse on the ground was also human. His stomach was torn open, his internal organs dug out. But bizarrely, those organs seemed alive, like red “worms” slowly writhing on the man’s body.

“Hey! Are you crazy! Stop that!” Fang Mingyue held her flashlight in one hand and a pistol in the other, adopting a tactical shooting stance.

She felt these two were very, very wrong. If it was just “hunger,” a few days wasn’t enough to drive someone to cannibalism.

Moreover, this overlapping space wasn’t like the one in Dongyu Village, where time accelerated, decaying over ten or twenty years, spoiling all food.

The Beijing Anomaly Disaster had only happened a few days ago. Even trapped in an apartment, most families would have some food stored.

Even if their own home didn’t, breaking into others’ homes in these hive-like crowded apartments, they should find some food, right?

Was there any need to eat another person?
And that corpse was also wrong. Its organs and flesh more like the “worm-like form” of an anomalized Anomaly. How could anyone stomach such disgusting, terrifying things?

Fang Mingyue shouted several times, but the two showed no reaction.

Bang!

Fang Mingyue fired a shot near them and shouted again, “I said stop! Stop! Are you insane? Stop!”

The two women finally stopped eating and slowly raised their heads to look at Fang Mingyue. What she saw nearly scared her soul out of her body.

Facing strange and ugly Anomalies, Fang Mingyue wouldn’t say she was completely used to it, but she had some psychological resilience.

But the moment she saw these two women, she felt the kind of primal fear that rose from the depths of her heart when she first saw an Anomaly!

The woman on the left had the flesh on both cheeks gone, only bloody worms hanging from her face, constantly chewing on her cheeks.

The woman on the right still had her left eyeball hanging, but her left eye socket was filled with bloody worms, like a maggot’s nest,恶心 (nauseatingly disgusting) enough to make one vomit.

Most terrifyingly, despite being like this, the two women were “smiling” at Fang Mingyue—a ferocious, horrifying smile.

“Eat? It’s delicious.”
“Hungry, right?”
“Have some. You won’t be hungry anymore.”
“This is the most delicious food.”
“It’s a gift from heaven.”
“…”

The two women spoke, slowly standing up, holding lumps of dripping blood and flesh and organs, stepping closer to Fang Mingyue.

Fang Mingyue fired at their feet, shouting angrily, “Stop! I said stop!”

“Eat.”
“Eat.”
“It’s delicious.”

They completely ignored Fang Mingyue’s warnings, closing in step by step. Fang Mingyue immediately shot each of them once.

One was shot in the left leg, the other in the abdomen. But they merely shuddered upon impact, as if bitten by a mosquito, feeling nothing, and continued forward holding the flesh.

Fang Mingyue was forced to retreat continuously. Just as she reached the stairwell door, a familiar voice sounded beside her: “Don’t waste your effort. These people ate Anomaly corpses and have had their consciousness devoured by the parasitic Anomaly. They’ve become monsters similar to zombies.”

“Ah! Investigator Shen!” Fang Mingyue, already quite frightened, instantly calmed down upon hearing this familiar voice.

It was like a drowning person in the sea suddenly seeing a lifeguard appear on a speedboat.

“It’s me. But, why are you here?” Shen Ge asked.

Fang Mingyue quickly said, “Team Leader Zhang said you contacted the perimeter seven hours ago, telling them to send people to rescue survivors in the comprehensive building, but then lost contact. I thought there might be overlapping spaces here with many Anomalies. Headquarters developed a new piece of equipment that can break through overlapping sp—”

Before Fang Mingyue could finish, the two women holding the flesh were already less than three meters away, still repeating those phrases incessantly.

“Thanks, not hungry,” Shen Ge replied calmly. Then, placing a hand on Fang Mingyue’s shoulder, he guided her upstairs.

Fang Mingyue looked back puzzled at the women slowly following behind, “persuading” them to eat, and couldn’t help asking, “What about them… just leave them?”

Shen Ge replied, “Essentially, they’re already dead. Now they’re flesh monsters controlled by the parasitic Anomaly, only possessing the instinct to feed, like zombies. Seen zombie movies? Resident Evil, Living Dead Trilogy, Day of the Dead? Surely heard of them?”

Fang Mingyue quickly said, “I know zombies. I’ve seen Resident Evil. The others… not so much.”

“Just know they’re similar to zombies. The difference is, a parasitic Anomaly is parasitizing inside them, constantly devouring their flesh. Once the internal organs are consumed and the person completely dies, the Anomaly will take over the body, becoming a flesh monster. Like the writhing organs you saw in that corpse—that was actually the fused Anomaly,” Shen Ge explained.

“How do we deal with them?” Fang Mingyue asked.

Shen Ge said, “Simple, set a fire. Before you came, I’d searched up to the 23rd floor. No survivors found, but plenty of these parasitic monsters. I suspect whether it’s eating Anomaly corpses containing the parasites, or eating people devoured by parasitic Anomalies, or even being bitten by them—as long as you come into contact with the parasitic Anomaly, you’ll slowly turn into this kind of monster.”

“Isn’t that as tricky as an infectious disease… If we don’t find a way to control this, even if we resolve the Anomalies in Haicheng District, the citizens here are in grave danger! No, at this rate of spread, the entire city might fall quickly!” Fang Mingyue worried.

Shen Ge nodded: “Right. I tried finding the source, but so far only found this parasitic Anomaly in a few rabbit-type Anomalies.”

“Is it a special ability of rabbit-type Anomalies?” Fang Mingyue asked.

Shen Ge thought for a moment and shook his head: “Not necessarily. The Twelve Branches have methods to accelerate animal anomalization. Rabbits have strong reproductive capabilities and short growth cycles. If I were to choose an animal to cultivate a parasitic Anomaly, I’d also pick rabbits.”

As they spoke, they had gone up two floors. Several people—men and women—were gathered in this stairwell, similar to the two women on the 17th floor, with blood holes all over their faces and bodies, red blood worms constantly chewing their flesh.

These people seemed to feel no pain. They held squirming flesh, staring at Shen Ge and Fang Mingyue coming upstairs, murmuring:

“Eat if you’re hungry. Don’t be shy. Come eat.”
“Eat. Hurry up and eat.”
“Eat this, and you won’t be