The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 132

This person had four heads, each facing a different direction: forward, backward, left, and right. The front and back heads belonged to a young man and a young woman, while the left and right heads were those of a middle-aged man and woman.

Eight arms grew from the sides of the body. Four of them resembled normal arms, while the other four seemed to extend from the back, as if two people were joined back-to-back.

Two of the arms wielded a Gatling gun, while another two carried a large ammunition box. They were currently unleashing a barrage of fire at the crimson anomaly pinned under the collapsed wall.

The remaining four arms were occupied as follows: two held a black bone knife over a meter long, and the other two raised white bone shields to the left and right.

The Gatling gun delivered fierce firepower, but the bullets vanished without a trace upon hitting the crimson anomaly’s body. Shen Ge estimated the anomaly to be Tier 2, realizing that firearms were already useless.

While the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity dealt with the anomaly, Shen Ge used “Invisibility + Silence” to sneak up behind it. Just as he raised his Anihilation Anomaly Revolver to blow off its four heads, his gaze caught sight of the situation on the other side of the collapsed wall.

The spacious, chaotic laboratory was littered with the corpses of low-tier anomalies. There were hard-shelled types resembling crabs and shrimp, as well as “rotting flesh” anomalies like worms, cats, and dogs. Regardless of type, all were dismembered and decapitated, a gruesome sight. At least seven or eight bodies lay there, their blood forming a thick layer on the floor.

Among the anomaly corpses were also numerous mutated, parasitized hosts and large deathworm corpses. A fierce battle had clearly taken place here.

Evidently, this person had fought their way through.

Shen Ge first entered the experimental area and sold all the sellable anomaly corpses on the ground. Then, he stood at the collapsed opening to observe the fight between the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity and the anomaly.

The Gatling gun was ordinary. Despite its intense firepower, the bullets pouring into the crimson anomaly were easily neutralized by its anomalous energy.

Strangely, the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity seemed unconcerned with the futile effort. Only after emptying the entire ammunition box did it discard the Gatling gun and ammo box, switching to close combat with the bone knife and shield.

The “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity was burly and exceptionally agile. However, it wasn’t wearing the black hoodie characteristic of the Twelve Branches, so Shen Ge couldn’t immediately identify which member it was.

A few minutes later, the crimson anomaly was slain by the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity. It used the black bone knife to slice open the anomaly’s carapace and cut through the black anomalous flesh. With a series of crisp “ding” sounds, the bullets that had been fired into the anomaly’s body fell to the ground.

The “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity bent down, picked up a bullet, examined it, and then tossed it into a large ammunition box nearby.

Though Shen Ge found the entity’s shell-collecting behavior odd, his minutes of observation had given him an understanding of its combat capabilities. Having confirmed what he needed to know, he decided not to leave any witnesses.

Raise the gun, aim!
Fire several shots!

Under “Silence,” the black anomalous energy bullets from the Anihilation Anomaly Revolver flew soundlessly. With a “thud,” one pierced through the forehead of the young woman’s face facing backward and exited through the forehead of the man’s face facing forward.

In the next second, the originally calm, indifferent expression on the woman’s face facing Shen Ge was replaced by terror and shock, before her eyes gradually emptied, as if she had died unwillingly.

Just as the first two bullets hit the young woman’s face, Shen Ge expected the remaining shots to easily strike the heads on the left and right.

However, the moment the front and back heads were hit, the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity crouched down, dodging the remaining bullets. Simultaneously, it raised its shield to cover half its body, abandoning the anomaly corpse and bullets on the ground. It then lunged forward and hid behind a metal cabinet storing instruments.

Shen Ge hadn’t expected the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity to react so quickly, accurately pinpointing his location from the first shot and finding cover.

Shen Ge had no intention of letting it escape. He sprinted forward, stepped onto an experiment table, leaped, and dove through the air while aiming and firing.

Bang!
Bang!
The first bullet pierced through the metal cabinet, but with a “clang,” it seemed to be blocked by the bone shield. The next moment, the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity burst out, its arms gripping the edge of the experiment table and flipping over the several dozen jin heavy table.

However, the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity had only judged the bullet’s trajectory based on where the anomalous energy bullet hit the bone shield and the impact force. By the time it attacked in Shen Ge’s direction, Shen Ge had already moved elsewhere.

This was the first time Shen Ge, under “Invisibility + Silence,” had his position pinpointed twice by a target.

[No Exit Anomaly Zone]!

While charging forward, Shen Ge raised a hand, first using [No Exit Anomaly Zone] to trap the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity. At the same time, he holstered the Anihilation Anomaly Revolver, drew a black bone dagger and a cleaver, and charged forward.

Although the Anihilation Anomaly Revolver had strong penetration, several shots hadn’t taken down the “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity. Shen Ge decided to cut off its four heads first.

The Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity gripped a crimson arm with three of its hands and squeezed hard. A “boom” sounded as the crimson arm transformed into a dense cloud of red mist, instantly enveloping the entity like the anomalous energy black mist that shrouded anomalies after mutation.

The red mist rapidly filled the entire rectangular [No Exit Anomaly Zone]. Shen Ge, already in close combat, dismissed the zone and, judging the entity’s chest and head position based on the mist’s height, thrust forward with the black bone dagger while slashing horizontally with the cleaver!

Bizarrely, both the dagger and cleaver passed through the red mist as if the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity wasn’t hidden within it.

The next moment, a large black sword slashed out from the red mist. Shen Ge reacted swiftly, raising his hand to form an anomalous energy shield to block the black sword.

With a “clang” reminiscent of metal striking metal, Shen Ge was sent flying back by the tremendous force.

Shen Ge crashed through a row of chairs. As he flipped up, he retrieved an anomalous energy canister from the rotting flesh armor on his leg, “stuck” it to the rotting flesh on his neck, and began absorbing anomalous energy while employing the intangible anomaly zone “Collapse” in an attempt to bury the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity hidden in the red mist into the ground.

Boom!
As “Collapse” activated, the lower half of the red mist exploded. In that instant, Shen Ge was astonished to see what seemed like a distortion in the air!
Was this… an anomaly zone collision?

Was the red mist an anomaly zone?
Shen Ge had no time to ponder, because the halved red mist coalesced again, and several crimson arms reached out from within.

One held a sword, two held shields.

Fortunately, even though the red mist was troublesome, Shen Ge’s advantage lay in the entity’s inability to pinpoint his exact location, forcing it to fight blind most of the time.

Shen Ge constantly shifted his position, seizing opportunities to pull several Molotov cocktails from his blood-leather pouch and hurl them around, igniting the entire laboratory.

Then, Shen Ge quickly devoured a Mental Apple and activated three traits simultaneously—Intangibility, Silence, and Non-flammability—to battle the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity within the flames.

Shen Ge wanted to see how long this guy could last in the fire!

One minute.
Two minutes.
Three minutes.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely, each second feeling like an eternity to both the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity and Shen Ge.
The Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity was stunned by Shen Ge’s self-immolating tactics, completely unprepared for someone ruthless enough to set the entire experimental area ablaze.

Amid the flames, lab equipment continuously exploded. The red mist enveloping the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity gradually diminished over time.

It wasn’t that the entity didn’t want to escape the inferno; Shen Ge simply gave it no opportunity. Whenever it tried to flee through the hole in the collapsed wall, Shen Ge used [No Exit Anomaly Zone] to block the exit. If the entity broke through another wall, Shen Ge sealed that one too, determined to have a BBQ together!

“Could this person have fireproof anomalous gear?” the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity thought in horror, but it seemed unlikely.

The special effects of anomalous gear were all based on consuming “anomalous energy.” The more peculiar the function, the greater the energy consumption. Even if there were anomalous armor that could completely resist fire, it would still rely on consuming anomalous energy. Today, he would see how long the hidden figure in the flames could last!
Shen Ge’s consumption of anomalous energy canisters and Mental Apples was significant, but seeing the red mist decrease, he had no intention of letting the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity off easily.

Two minutes later, the entity’s heads had emerged from the red mist, along with arms holding various weapons. Only its body remained hidden within the mist.

Strangely, the two heads previously killed by the Anihilation Anomaly Revolver now showed no bullet wounds on their foreheads, their expressions restored to their original aloof, indifferent state.

“Does this red mist have healing properties?” Shen Ge was inwardly shocked, but his movements didn’t slow. Circling behind the entity, he raised his cleaver and brought it down on the young woman’s face.

The cleaver descended vertically, half its blade embedding into the head. With a forceful pull, Shen Ge split the skull open.

However, instead of brain matter and flesh, the cleaved head contained a mass of red mist!
The next moment, two of the entity’s arms shot up, using the cleaver’s strike to locate Shen Ge’s position, gripping his hand tightly to prevent escape.

Simultaneously, the arm holding the black bone sword swung horizontally, aiming to bisect Shen Ge.

Clang!
Shen Ge used [No Exit Anomaly Zone] to form an intangible barrier at his side, blocking the black bone sword.

But before he could sigh in relief, the black bone sword released what seemed like a smoke bomb, exploding into a cloud of red mist that spread in all directions.

The space around Shen Ge and the entity warped violently. The collision of their anomaly zones ended with the red mist gaining a slight upper hand, transforming into a large net that descended upon Shen Ge.

Protected by the red mist and leveraging its numerical advantage in arms, the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity gained the upper hand. Just as it used two arms to restrain Shen Ge’s cleaver-wielding hand, one arm to grip his shoulder, two arms to swing its sword in attack, and the remaining two arms to hold bone shields front and back, protecting itself like a scallop—

It thought itself invincible, but Shen Ge used “Collapse” on both of them simultaneously. Even though the intangible anomaly zone attacking the entity was neutralized by the red mist anomaly zone, Shen Ge’s body began to sink downward. The entity, gripping him, was pulled down as well.

The entity tried to let go, but Shen Ge gave it no chance. Wearing the anomalous glove “Grasp,” he seized the entity’s wrist and yanked it downward.

By now, the red mist around the entity had mostly dissipated. Three faces on three heads wore expressions of shock. The next moment, it crushed another one of its hands.

As the entity was about to be enveloped in surging red mist again, Shen Ge, while falling, fiercely swung his cleaver, hacking repeatedly at the neck of the woman’s head he had split open.

Boom!
The moment the red mist exploded, the neck of this head was nearly severed by Shen Ge’s blows. He grabbed the hair and yanked the head free from the mist.

Shen Ge’s mental energy was nearly depleted. Based on the entity’s rate of one hand equaling one use of the red mist anomaly zone, it could likely use the red mist at least six more times.

Unwilling to prolong the fight, he grabbed the head, broke free from its grip, landed, and continued using “Collapse” downward through the floors.

The entity tried to reclaim its head but immediately crashed into the sealed floor.

“Bastard! Give me back my head!” the entity roared in fury.

The moment the intangible anomaly zone vanished, the entity only heard a taunting voice from below: “Come down and get it yourself!”

After descending, Shen Ge immediately devoured another Mental Apple, restoring his mental energy to full, and continued using “Collapse” to go further down.

He glanced at the woman’s head in his hand. The cleaver had split it open from the forehead to the nose, red mist still seeping out.

After a moment’s thought, Shen Ge emptied the blood-leather backpack of “Xu’s” head, grenades, Molotov cocktails, and other items, then stuffed the woman’s head inside.

He then rummaged through the office, found several waste disposal bags, nested them together, and placed “Xu’s” head inside.

He slung the waste bag over his back, and Little Seven immediately extended several rotting flesh tentacles, adhering the bag to his back like straps.

No anomalies or people were detected nearby for the moment, so Shen Ge stopped maintaining his traits. His anomalous energy canisters were depleted, and only two Mental Apples remained.

The Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity clearly wouldn’t let him take the head easily. Before replenishing his canisters, he needed to conserve anomalous energy as much as possible.

“Little Seven, what’s my current location? Where is the mission target point from the Minister? Where is the equipment storage?” Shen Ge asked.

Little Seven replied: “Report, Master. You are currently in Headquarters Experimental Zone A, Floor -3. The mission target is on the lowest level of Zone A, A-7. Headquarters Experimental Zone has three areas. Zone A is the research area. Zone B connects to Zone A and is the area for containing anomalies. Zone C is the comprehensive area. The Operations Department and equipment room are in Zone C.”

“How do I get from Zone A to Zone C?” Shen Ge asked again.

Little Seven said: “Transfer through the passage on Floor 1. The two zones are approximately 800 meters apart. The area above is the Da Jing Military Base.”

The mission target was on A-7, while the anomalous energy equipment storage was in Zone C. This undoubtedly dashed Shen Ge’s hopes of replenishing his anomalous energy canisters.

If the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity hadn’t been so troublesome, Shen Ge might have considered raiding Zone C first before returning to complete the mission.

But this guy was clearly also targeting A-7. Compared to anomalous energy canisters and gear, the human experiment files were obviously more important.

Boom!
Boom!
Loud noises came from above.

“Is this guy planning to smash through the floor directly?” Shen Ge’s expression turned strange. Judging by the mental energy consumption of “Collapse,” the “floors” between levels were at least several meters thick and reinforced. Could he really break through?

[Three heads couldn’t put together one brain]?

Boom!
Before Shen Ge could finish his mental complaint, a huge explosion sounded from above, as if something had blown up. It seemed the entity intended to blast a path through.

The abilities of both Shen Ge and the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity were unpredictable and seemingly lawless to each other. The entity was fighting someone intangible, silent, and fireproof for the first time, while Shen Ge was battling someone who used an “anomaly zone” to envelop others for the first time.

In a short time, neither could gain a decisive advantage.

“If those ‘three-headed, six-armed’ guys from the Twelve Branches can mutate further and all gain this ‘red mist’ ability, it would be troublesome.”

One “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity was already this difficult. How could he handle several more?
But on second thought, so far, there were many “two-headed, four-armed” entities, but according to the branch names, there were only about a dozen “three-headed, six-armed” ones. This “Four-Headed, Eight-Armed” entity was most likely the leader.

Even if not the leader, it was certainly a right-hand man or second-in-command.

Thinking this, Shen Ge felt the woman’s head in his blood-leather backpack was extremely important. He absolutely had to take it back for Li Xiang to study and find a countermeasure against the red mist.

As explosions continued from above, Shen Ge hesitated no longer. He directly expanded his intangible anomaly zone and used “Collapse” to rapidly descend, going straight to Floor -7.

A-5 connected to the containment area and was also the most severely affected. Anomalies had smashed a huge hole in the ceiling.

Corpses of headquarters researchers and soldiers were everywhere, along with a few roaming anomalies, including one Tier 3 anomaly.

This anomaly was crimson all over, covered in tentacles, and stood at least three to five meters tall. When Shen Ge spotted it, the crimson anomaly was grabbing and devouring black deathworm anomalies.

Using the invisibility from “Intangibility,” Shen Ge bypassed the anomalies and found the monitoring room on Floor -5. He had Little Seven connect to the underground research institute’s monitoring system.

Through the monitors, Shen Ge confirmed the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity had dispersed the red mist around its body. However, it now only had three heads and six and a half arms.

“Are the arms ‘containers’ for storing the red mist? Can unused portions be recovered?” Shen Ge remembered the half arm was the second one the entity had crushed.

In other words, the entity had used the red mist anomaly zone equivalent to one and a half arms to exhaust Shen Ge’s remaining 4 anomalous energy canisters and two Mental Apples.

However, Shen Ge emerged unscathed, while the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity lost one head.

Shen Ge opened the blood-leather backpack to check. The head remained in its original state, the red mist gathered inside, seemingly about a centimeter smaller than before.

“It seems the red mist continuously diminishes. I must hurry!” Shen Ge was currently on Floor -5, while the Four-Headed, Eight-Armed entity was on Floor -2.

Collapse!
Shen Ge continued downward.

Upon reaching the target A-7, the rest was up to Little Seven manipulating the control console to sift through the numerous files and data for information related to the deep-sea humanoid anomaly.

While Little Seven searched the research archives, Shen Ge didn’t idle. He searched lab by lab, initially wanting to see what the headquarters was researching. In a sealed laboratory, he found an eyeball similar to the “Anomalous Eye (Unseeable).”