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

Thwack.

For a moment, it was like Chinese New Year fireworks going off—the heads of thousands of parasitized hosts exploded simultaneously. The scene was nothing short of spectacular. Anyone unaware might have thought it was a zombie siege!

Heads transformed into tentacles, each one uniquely grotesque.

Some ended in a four-petaled, bloodthirsty maw like a man-eating flower; others resembled a conglomerate of giant worms; some were covered in eyeballs… Every terrifying feature born from eerie corruption was manifested on these revolting parasitized hosts.

Shen Ge suspected this was the Twelve Branches’ secret weapon—their attempt to unleash chaos in Dajing City using this Tier 3 anomaly, even at the cost of destroying an entire metropolis!
Instantly, it struck Shen Ge that the Twelve Branches’ goals were far more complex than merely reclaiming the remains of “Xu.” If that were their only aim, this would have been the perfect moment for them to strike.

Even though one of their teleportation points had been destroyed earlier, that was a one-way escape route. In other words, the Twelve Branches operatives must have already been lying in ambush within the locked-down zone.

Their prolonged silence could only mean they were either lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity, or preparing a major move… Another possibility was that their target wasn’t just the remains of “Xu,” but something else entirely, and they were currently operating elsewhere.

For instance, the “humanoid anomaly” discovered deep underwater by Headquarters over a decade before the “first” recorded anomaly incident.

If the Twelve Branches were indeed connected to Headquarters’ human experiments from back then, they would certainly know the value of these “humanoid anomaly” remains!

“It seems I must deal with this Tier 3 anomaly quickly, break through the anomalous space, and get out of here.” Shen Ge’s gaze swept the surroundings. As the large green anomaly emitted its characteristic swallowing sound, the parasitized hosts, as if controlled, began converging toward him and Fang Mingyue.

Beyond the hosts gathered in the park, others emerged from surrounding shops and residences, all drawn by the sound.

Shen Ge and Fang Mingyue had followed the path indicated by the detection equipment, avoiding searches in the surrounding buildings. They hadn’t anticipated such vast numbers of parasitized hosts.

After all, the apartment building Shen Ge had burned down earlier contained only several hundred, maybe a thousand hosts. Yet now, within minutes, a dense sea of figures swarmed from everywhere—truly bizarre.

It would be one thing if these hosts were merely controlled by the large green anomaly. But if the Twelve Branches could also manipulate the parent organism from behind the scenes, things would get seriously complicated!

“Investigator Shen, look over there!” Fang Mingyue suddenly shouted, pointing toward the distant parasitized hosts.

Shen Ge followed her gesture and saw the various parasitic anomalies sprouting from the hosts’ heads begin devouring their bodies. In the blink of an eye, the bodies were reduced to skeletons. The black mist—anomalous energy—emanating from these parasitic anomalies thickened, triggering further corruption!

Though Shen Ge estimated the energy increase wasn’t substantial, at least not enough to reach Tier 2 corruption.

However, post-corruption, these hosts became noticeably more aggressive. Gurgling swallowing sounds erupted from them as they charged toward him and Fang Mingyue.

“They’ve gotten faster too. Be careful!” Shen Ge warned.

Fang Mingyue, wearing her anomalous bone armguards, a protective anomalous skin vambrace on her right arm, and gripping her anomalous bone staff in its long form, adopted a classic staff-fighting stance. “Understood! I’ll give it my all and definitely not hold you back, Investigator Shen!”

Having trained extensively in traditional martial arts with Chen Ke and his wife, Shen Ge recognized a skilled practitioner when he saw one.

“Trained?” Shen Ge asked.

Fang Mingyue nodded earnestly. “My instructor said while the anomalous bone staff excels at transformation, its core is still a long staff. So, he had me learn some Eight Immortals Staff techniques. Please don’t laugh.”

“What a coincidence! I’ve dabbled a bit in traditional martial arts myself. Let’s have a contest—see who can take down more!” Shen Ge scanned the encircling horde, pointed in a direction, and signaled Fang Mingyue to fight their way out that way.

With that, Shen Ge activated his full-body armor, surged forward, and executed a Mountain Shoulder Strike, slamming into a nearly two-meter-tall parasitized brute, sending him crashing back into the crowd and toppling a whole group.

He then leaped into the “horde,” crunch-crunch crushing two heads underfoot, followed by side kicks, sweeps, explosive punches, and palm strikes—for a moment, nothing could get near him.

Just then, a faint click sounded as Shen Ge pulled the pin from a green “sweet potato” (grenade) and tossed it into the parasitic crowd. BOOM! Body parts flew everywhere.

One moment it was fists and feet, the next grenades and Molotov cocktails, supplemented by the flamethrower on his anomalous armguard, the butcher’s cleaver, the black bone dagger… He might not have mastered the essence of Bājíquán, but he’d taken one lesson to heart: “Leave no option unexplored.” If he’d had a rocket launcher on him, he’d probably have shouted, “Eat this, old Shen’s cannon blast!”

Like a god of slaughter, Shen Ge instantly cleared a bloody path through the parasitized horde toward the shops ahead. His unorthodox, rule-breaking style would have earned him a string of “heartfelt greetings” from anyone else. With hand grenades and Molotovs in the mix, what kind of contest was this anyway?
But.

Fang Mingyue felt not a shred of disdain. Instead, she had an “epiphany,” firmly convinced that Shen Ge was demonstrating how to combine traditional martial arts with modern special tactics to eliminate enemies most efficiently in the shortest time possible!

Her eyes lit up. As if injected with adrenaline, she charged into the parasitized horde, staff whirring, smashing anomalous insect heads with resounding thwacks.

Combining the “air cushion” shield from her anomalous armguard, the claw-like spikes on her anomalous bone armguards, and the Eight Immortals staff techniques with her anomalous bone staff, Fang Mingyue’s kill count, though perhaps only a tenth of Shen Ge’s, still rapidly reached the position he’d indicated.

BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Shen Ge tossed his last few grenades toward three different directions, instantly blasting another large group of parasitized hosts to pieces. But facing tens of thousands—likely a six-digit number—even with explosives and Molotovs, there were still thousands outside, an endless tide!

Shen Ge fought his way to reunite with Fang Mingyue. Her clothes were soaked red with blood, all from the parasitized hosts. She wasn’t injured; instead, her eyes shone brightly from the killing, clearly having genuinely grasped something during these intense dozen or so minutes of battle.

“Let’s go, into that shop!” Shen Ge cleaved the anomalous heads off two parasitized hosts, and they retreated into the shop behind them, shutting the door and barricading it with a nearby cabinet.

Shen Ge hadn’t suggested the contest on a whim or merely to gain combat experience. He wanted to run some tests.

First, to test if these parasitized hosts, when killed in combat, would “resurrect” like ordinary anomalies or consume the corpses of the slain.

Second, to test if they fought under control or had some autonomy, and to what extent their combat power could grow as the anomalies devoured corpses and corrupted further.

He discovered that while the parasitic anomalies inside these hosts originated from the large green “parent” organism, they could be treated as independent entities.

In other words, the anomalous energy within them didn’t completely dissipate upon death and somewhat repaired wounds, albeit much slower than a Tier 1 anomaly. Secondly, they would consume corpses of their kind, absorbing anomalous energy to accelerate corruption, just like anomalies.

Combat-wise, these parasitized hosts weren’t particularly strong. Even the monsters that had devoured their own bodies to become “octopuses” were far weaker than Tier 1 anomalies.

However, the fact that mutual consumption accelerated corruption made these monsters a significant “threat.” Once they became food for anomalies, the consequences would be unthinkable!

“I observed these parasitized hosts during the fight. They’re controlled by the Tier 3 anomaly within a certain range, but that control weakens with distance, and they start acting on autonomous will. Currently, they’re similar to movie zombies, acting mostly on instinct—’feeding’ and capturing living beings. They’re influenced by sight and sound, particularly reactive to noise,” Shen Ge said while moving objects to block the door.

Even if their combat power was inferior to Tier 1 anomalies, facing such numbers, even if Shen Ge could cut his way through Haicheng Park, his eyes would dry out from strain. Besides, wasting energy on these minions wasn’t wise.

Thus, he used the earlier fight to study them and “lure” the parasitized hosts away, creating an opportunity to enter Haicheng Park and eliminate the parent organism.

Testing revealed their vision was far inferior to their hearing. A single grenade explosion could grab their attention.

Some, upon hearing the explosion, would even struggle to reach the blast site to investigate, completely disregarding the engulfing flames.

The shop they’d taken refuge in was a funeral services store—a one-stop shop from grave selection to cremation.

The store was filled with funeral-related items: instruments and paper offerings for “Chinese-style” services, or objects for “Western-style” ceremonies.

Shen Ge had Fang Mingyue use her anomalous bone staff to brace the door while he rummaged through boxes and cabinets, finding several speakers, megaphones, and brand new, sealed copper gongs, suonas, erhus, Bibles, and crosses.

“This store’s business scope is quite broad. Covering both Eastern and Western heavens?” Shen Ge remarked, unwrapping a suona and blowing into it.

“It won’t sound?” He examined the newly unpacked instrument—why was it broken?

Fang Mingyue suddenly said, “That’s not how you do it. You have to… like this… and then this. Try again. There you go.”

Shen Ge tried and indeed produced a sound. “Didn’t know you could play this?”

Fang Mingyue said, “Actually, I originally studied traditional folk music. I was planning to attend a music conservatory, but my family arranged for me to go to National Defense University instead.”

“Here, play a tune to liven things up for me.” Shen Ge handed the suona to Fang Mingyue.

Fang Mingyue glanced at the door, nearly battered down by the parasitized hosts, and was taken aback. “Uh, right now?”

Shen Ge, examining an old speaker he’d found, seemed utterly unconcerned about the hosts outside. “Why not?”

“Uh, what would you like to hear, Investigator Shen?” Fang Mingyue asked.

Shen Ge said, “Ashes of Time, Little Knife Society Overture, something like that. Anything’s fine.”

“I, uh, I don’t know those,” Fang Mingyue said awkwardly.

Shen Ge added, “Then anything similar that you do know.”

“Oh, there is one!” Fang Mingyue said, raising the suona and playing a familiar BGM that echoed through the shop.

“Yo, The General’s Command! See, you do know it. Quite the folk music scholar, even mastering the suona,” Shen Ge praised.

As he spoke, he pulled all the speakers from the cabinets, set aside the plug-in ones, organized the battery-operated ones separately, and found some batteries.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs. You can play for me slowly there.” Shen Ge carried the pile of equipment upstairs.

Fang Mingyue: ?

Though not understanding Shen Ge’s plan, she trusted his often brilliant, if unconventional, ideas. Without hesitation, she followed him upstairs.

Once on the second floor, Shen Ge pulled Fang Mingyue close and said, “Close your eyes.”

“Okay.”

“Open them.”

“Huh?”

Fang Mingyue was startled to find herself already on the rooftop. Shen Ge crouched ahead, arranging the speakers and megaphones in a row, connecting them with data cables, then setting out a small stool and a microphone—giving the impression of a street performer about to play the erhu.

While Fang Mingyue was still amazed at how they’d reached the roof, Shen Ge pulled her over and sat her on the stool. “In a moment, play the suona here to draw the surrounding parasitized hosts over. They’re sensitive to sound. This method might lure hosts from nearby buildings not yet under the parent’s control.”

“These hosts still contain anomalous energy. We must find a way to deal with them together. Otherwise, if other anomalies devour them, I estimate it won’t be long before a Tier 4, or even higher, anomaly emerges.”

“You lure, I’ll kill.”

Fang Mingyue, hearing this, was startled. “But, there are so many…”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan. Just focus on playing the tune to set the mood,” Shen Ge said confidently.

Fang Mingyue didn’t doubt his confidence for a second. If Shen Ge said so, she firmly believed he had a way to handle the hosts.

“Investigator Shen, rest assured, I will complete the task you’ve given me. Even if my throat goes dry, I won’t stop!” Fang Mingyue vowed.

Shen Ge said, “No need for that, no need. I just want to use the noise—ahem, the music—to draw the surrounding hosts together for a clean sweep. After all, things like Molotovs are limited; too scattered, and it’s just wasteful.”

“Understood!” Fang Mingyue said.

Shen Ge patted her shoulder, his eyes conveying encouragement for this important task. Fang Mingyue nodded vigorously, raised the suona, adjusted her breath, and began to play!

Amplified by the row of speakers and megaphones, the pure sound of the suona playing The General’s Command instantly reverberated throughout the entire block.

The parasitized hosts who had lost the parent’s control due to distance and were wandering the streets aimlessly, along with others inside nearby buildings, were quickly drawn by the sound.

Seeing his noise strategy working, Shen Ge jumped down from the back of the building, activated “Invisible,” and passed through the shop to another street.
To deal with these tens of thousands of parasitized hosts, clearly only a major conflagration would do.

Relying solely on the flamethrower on his anomalous armguard would probably drain its energy long before making a dent. Ultimately, he had to count on Molotov cocktails.

Hiding in a shop, Shen Ge had 4273 system points and 42 lottery draws. He could only hope the system would be generous and provide plenty of Molotovs.

Listening to the distant suona music, he didn’t even need his own BGM.

“Ten-draw, commence!”

Ding ding ding ding ding—

[Congratulations, Host, on drawing weapon “M134 Minigun x1, ammunition x5000.”]

[… “Free Attribute Points (2%).”]

[… “Fragmentation Grenade x3.”]

[… “Molotov Cocktail x20.”]

[… “Drinking Water x3 (barrels)”]

[… “Instant Noodles x2 (boxes)”]

[… “Free Attribute Points (2%).”]

[… “Molotov Cocktail x20”]

[… “High-Explosive Bomb x3”]

[… “Free Attribute Points (2%)”]

After four ten-draws, Shen Ge had gained a total of 27% free attribute points, Molotov Cocktails x180, and double-digit quantities of bombs, grenades, and other throwables.

Several assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols, and a pile of ammunition. Even the Minigun he’d once longed for—this time, he got three.

Plus two grenade launchers, two rocket launchers, and one mortar.

The mortar was a “new item.” Though the model was somewhat old, with five shells provided, it still delighted Shen Ge.

“273 system points left, two draws. Can I get a ‘miracle single draw’? System, give me some strength. You’re totally being shown up by Little Seven now,” Shen Ge mused, initiating another draw.

“Draw!”

[Prize drawing in progress—]

[Congratulations, Host, on drawing vehicle “PLA Type 99A Main Battle Tank” x1.]

BOOM!
With a flash of white light and a deafening roar, a tank materialized inside the shop, bursting through the ceiling and walls.

“Holy crap!”

Shen Ge’s feelings were complex, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on the system’s sudden surprise. The “surprise” had made too much noise, already attracting the attention of nearby parasitized hosts.

Shen Ge immediately moved all the newly drawn items into the tank’s cockpit, climbed in himself, and said, “Little Seven, you’re in charge of driving the tank and firing the cannon. Head toward Fang Mingyue’s location.”

“As you command, Master.” Little Seven immediately extended corrupted flesh tentacles to take control of the tank, started it up, and crashed through the shop onto the street.

Shen Ge, meanwhile, climbed into the machine gun turret, first strafing the surrounding parasitized hosts with the tank’s built-in machine gun, while simultaneously throwing Molotov cocktails.

The heavy tank crushed everything in its path, grinding hosts and vehicles into paste. Combined with the cannon fire and explosions, more and more parasitized hosts converged on their position.

Fang Mingyue, still playing the suona to attract hosts from afar, heard the commotion and looked over. Seeing Shen Ge commanding a tank, her shock was no less than if he’d arrived riding a rainbow.

Yet, instead of wondering where he’d found these things, she thought, Investigator Shen truly is divine! He said he had a way to deal with these hosts, and he really does!
“Investigator Fang, jump on!” Shen Ge fought his way to the front of the shop and called up to Fang Mingyue on the roof.

After over a dozen-plus minutes of “concert,” every host that could be lured out was out. All that remained was a mowing operation—a great slaughter!

Fang Mingyue leaped forward, jumping directly from the second-floor roof, landing precisely on the tank.

“There are plenty of weapons in the cockpit. Let’s go all out!” Shen Ge said.

“Yes!” Fang Mingyue was thrilled. She always considered it an honor to fight alongside Shen Ge. She dove into the cockpit, grabbed a firearm, and joined the slaughter!

Protected by their iron box, Shen Ge and Fang Mingyue could even retreat into the cockpit to snack and regain stamina when tired—there was virtually no danger.

Thus, using the Type 99A tank as their “stronghold,” and relying on copious throwables, shells, and firearms, they spent the next several hours clearing out most of the parasitized hosts in the block.

“The rest is up to you.” Shen Ge patted Fang Mingyue’s shoulder and recalled Little Seven.

Several thousand hosts remained on the nearby streets, converging toward the tank. No more were emerging from Haicheng Park.

With no minions in the way, Shen Ge intended to deal with the parent organism.

After giving Fang Mingyue a few instructions, Shen Ge, clad in his full-body armor, jumped from the tank, leaping several times as he charged toward the distant Haicheng Park.

Fang Mingyue knew her current strength might only be a hindrance if she followed. Her task was to thoroughly eliminate these remaining hosts, allowing Investigator Shen to focus on the parent organism without any worries.

Thinking this, she hoisted a rocket launcher, emerged from the cockpit, fired a shell into the distant crowd of hosts, and followed up with rifle fire.

Meanwhile, once out of Fang Mingyue’s sight, Shen Ge activated “Invisible.” Using the enhanced jumping power of his anomalous skin boots, he sped toward the central area of Haicheng Park.

Unimpeded by hosts, his progress was swift. Upon seeing the large green anomalous “parent” organism on the grassland, he noticed it had grown nearly another meter—clearly having devoured many hosts and digested their anomalous energy.

Shen Ge was grateful he’d realized this earlier, using the hosts’ sound sensitivity to lure them away from the parent’s control zone for elimination. Otherwise, with that massive numbers, the parent could have potentially grown into a Tier 4 or 5 behemoth just by feeding!

Shen Ge charged toward the parent across the field of host corpses. Protected by Invisibility, it hadn’t detected him.

He threw a Molotov cocktail at the parent, igniting it, then supplemented the flames with black fire from his anomalous armguard.

The subordinate anomalies crouched nearby, sensing the parent was under attack, immediately became alert, adopting aggressive postures and scanning their surroundings.

Shen Ge then activated “Silent.” Invisible + Silent—unseen, unheard. The worm conglomerates lost their target, emitting confused swallowing sounds.

Suddenly, the parent’s body shuddered, and the flames on it seemed to simply “shed” off.

Shen Ge’s eyes narrowed. He immediately realized the parent was composed of countless tentacles and worms. Even if set ablaze, the fire would burn from the outside in.

By shedding the burning worms, it could protect its interior.

Unfortunately, it had its plans, but Shen Ge had his workarounds. He threw another Molotov, again igniting the parent with his anomalous armguard’s flames. Just as it prepared to shed—

No Exit Anomalous Domain!

Shen Ge sealed the parent inside “No Exit,” trapping it for a good roasting. The shed worms couldn’t save it; instead, they acted like kindling beneath it.

And since “No Exit” had an opening above, oxygen deprivation wasn’t an issue.

However, to Shen Ge’s surprise, the parent utilized this very oxygen gap. Its body began frothing with green bubbles, as if actively self-destructing some worms.

Then, tentacles coated in green liquid surged out from within No Exit, stabbing into the corpses of dead humans and animals nearby.

Even animals that had been parasitized and killed before fully corrupting underwent rapid mutation upon being pierced by the parent’s tentacles.

Their backs, heads—similar corruptions to the parasitized hosts appeared.

These animals, besides sight and hearing, retained their keen animal sense of smell. They quickly detected Shen Ge’s invisible form and converged on him.

“Tch, seems I need an ‘Odorless’ trait for a perfect stealth combo,” Shen Ge mused. Since he was discovered, he deactivated the trait effects. The surrounding Tier 1 anomalies immediately spotted him, emitting furious swallowing sounds as they pounced.

Shen Ge leaped into the air. The anomalies crashed into each other below. Using his falling momentum, he landed, crunch-crush stomping two heads, then swung his butcher’s cleaver.

The sharp cleaver severed the tentacles growing from the animals. Before they could counterattack, their bodies were hacked to pieces.

Shen Ge continued, one hand spraying fire from his anomalous armguard, the other wielding the cleaver. Protected by “Non-flammable,” he could walk through fire unharmed.

Several more anomalies tried to flank him from behind, launching a sneak attack, but before they could jump, they suddenly sank into the ground, buried alive.

By the time they dug themselves out, Shen Ge had already rushed to the parent’s side. His left hand sprayed black fire, his right aimed a freezing device, subjecting the parent to a trial of ice and fire.

The black fire burning forced the parent to shed worms, but the moment they shed, the freezing device injured them. Shed again, burned again.

While Shen Ge’s primary goal was conserving his anomalous armguard’s energy to ensure he could still produce black fire, the alternating extreme heat and cold actually inflicted greater damage on the parent.

After several rounds, the parent, originally four to five meters tall, was reduced to two or three meters. As the outer worm conglomerate completely shed, its true form was finally revealed.

A large green worm covered in tentacles!
“Brother, you are truly ugly!” Shen Ge raised his cleaver and brought it down hard on the monster’s head.

Clang!
The blow only left a mark!
“Wow, Iron Head skill, huh?” Shen Ge swung his cleaver repeatedly, fending off the anomaly’s grasping tentacles, while retracting his anomalous armguard and switching to the black bone dagger.

Stab!
The black bone dagger, thrust into the mark left by the cleaver, sank deeper. Clearly, the combined anomalous energy had a armor-piercing effect.

This parent was, after all, a Tier 3 anomaly, its body covered in incredibly agile tentacles. Even with his anomalous shield and armor, Shen Ge didn’t dare be careless.

Timing it right, Shen Ge stuck the “Unseeable” anomalous eye onto the parent’s back, then fought while retreating, engaging in hit-and-run tactics, occasionally sucking on an energy canister to replenish mental energy.

Although the anomalous eye affected the parent’s vision, its hearing was as sharp as the parasitized hosts’. Combined with its flexible tentacles flailing wildly, it formed a defensive barrier Shen Ge couldn’t immediately breach!
After some thought, Shen Ge conceived a bold plan. He directly reached out toward the parent—

“Collapse!”