The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 165

Two different Mysteries destroyed Takaguchi City?

To be honest, Shen Ge had imagined countless scenarios about “Misfortune” and the situation described in the system log for the day Takaguchi City was destroyed. The one thing he never expected was that Takaguchi City wasn’t swallowed by “Misfortune.”

Eighth-rank Mysteries were already considered “top-tier” existences. If two could pop up in such a short time, then the world was truly in grave danger!

Kaede Hanabana was somewhat puzzled why Shen Ge would ask such a question, but then she remembered he had been hibernating in the underground base for a long time, so it wasn’t strange for him not to know. She explained:

“We still haven’t found the high-level Mystery hidden within Takaguchi City. We only know it’s incredibly powerful, with a Mystery Domain capable of covering the entire city. However, regarding the high-level Deep-Sea Mystery in the ocean, satellites captured humanoid figures within the fog, and the International Mystery Response Organization also detected two distinct types of Mystery Energy.”

Shen Ge nodded when he heard this. “So, not only do we have to deal with the strange influence of the strange domain that has sprung up in Tuokou City, but we also have to be prepared to be swallowed by the strangeness in the deep sea?”

“It’s a long story. Let me explain in more detail once we reach the shelter.” Kaede Hanabana, aware that Shen Ge had just woken up from hibernation and was out of the loop, didn’t suspect he was deliberately fishing for information.

Just as they left the dormitory, they heard several sharp whistling sounds from the sky.

Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!

The sound of explosions echoed in the distance.

If not for Kaede Hanabana’s nervous expression, Shen Ge might have thought someone was setting off fireworks outside. One had to admit, the Recon Team’s “alarm system” was quite creative.

However, this type of “alarm” that detonated in the distance actually suited the nature of the Parasitized and Mysteries. A standard alarm blaring within the base would only attract more enemies.

As Shen Ge, Kaede Hanabana, and the others evacuated from the dormitory building, Kaede Hanabana explained the common situations encountered within a Mystery Domain.

Mysteries could accelerate their mutation by absorbing the Mystery Energy of their kind. So, for a Mystery, cannibalizing another Mystery was far more effective than devouring humans.

However, for Mysteries, cannibalizing their kind was like eating plain rice—it could fill their stomachs and was beneficial, but it wasn’t particularly delicious.

Humans, with their abundant life energy, were the “delicacies.” No matter how healthy plain rice was, it paled in comparison to delicious food.

But according to investigations by the International Mystery Response Organization, once a Mystery grew to a certain rank, its desire for these “delicacies” decreased significantly. Instead, Mystery Energy, which could enhance itself, became more attractive. That’s why it was rare to see Mysteries of rank four or five and above actively hunting humans.

However, not actively hunting didn’t mean a high-rank Mystery would remain indifferent if humans passed by. Moreover, if they went without feeding for extended periods, Mysteries could experience “hunger.” This hunger wasn’t the same as human hunger; it was a need for Mystery Energy and living beings.

Due to the unique nature of the Takaguchi City Mystery “Misfortune,” the various effects it initially caused were mistaken for urban legends. By the time the people of Sakura realized the truth, it was already too late.

But it was true that after “Misfortune” became a high-rank Mystery, it did not actively reveal itself to hunt humans. This might also be due to the presence of the Deep-Sea Mystery lurking nearby.

However, just because “Misfortune” wasn’t actively attacking didn’t mean it posed no threat to humans. First, there was the Mystery Domain it deployed to “shield” itself.

For Mysteries of rank six and above that awaken a Mystery Domain, their inherent Mystery Energy effects and “Traits” would influence the environment within the Domain to a certain extent.

“Misfortune’s” Trait was quite special—it could infinitely amplify a target’s misfortune, generally manifesting in terms of “luck,” and it also had a certain effect on human emotions.

For example, humans within Misfortune’s Domain would experience amplified fear, hatred, and other negative emotions, leading to emotional outbursts, mental instability, and other reactions.

The most terrifying among these was the amplification of fear, which could cause people to experience various hallucinations. This was also the reason why urban legends in Takaguchi City proliferated after the birth of “Misfortune.”

Apart from the Domain’s inherent effects, survivors like Kaede Hanabana within Takaguchi City also faced a second threat: the appearance of rank 3-5 Mysteries and Aberrants.

On one hand, these entities hadn’t completely shed their need to actively prey on living beings and would hunt humans based on their scent. On the other hand, they were delicious meals for “Misfortune.”

Therefore, the appearance of high-rank Mysteries also meant that “Misfortune” would take the initiative to attack. Just like the “natural disaster” that occurred in Takaguchi City in the afternoon, it was actually “Misfortune” using its Domain effects to eliminate high-rank Mysteries, then seizing the opportunity to devour them and absorb their Mystery Energy.

Hearing this, Shen Ge finally understood why, after the meteor shower in the afternoon took out the Mystery Turtle and the Aberrant, only the Aberrant managed to climb out from underground.

It seemed the former must have been dragged underground and devoured by “Misfortune,” while the Aberrant, being stronger than the Mystery Turtle, and “Misfortune” being occupied with consuming the turtle, gave Shen Ge the chance to finish off the Aberrant.

So, was “Misfortune” hiding underground?

Shen Ge couldn’t help but think of the massive maw formed by countless mysterious hands in the cavern, suspecting it might be related to “Misfortune.”

After Kaede Hanabana’s explanation, Shen Ge gained a clear understanding of “Misfortune’s” Domain and the dangers the Recon Team faced.

After evacuating the dormitory building, Shen Ge, led by Kaede Hanabana and her team, circled around to the gymnasium behind the teaching building.

At the gymnasium entrance, Watanabe Natsushirou was directing the Recon Team soldiers to move supplies inside. Kaede Hanabana immediately instructed her accompanying squad members to assist.

Just then, Kaede Hanabana suddenly looked up at the sky with a terrified expression. “Hands, so many hands! Watch out, run! There are so many mysterious hands in the sky!”

Then Shen Ge saw Kaede Hanabana and about seven or eight other Recon Team soldiers terrified, falling to the ground, scrambling and crawling desperately towards the gymnasium.

Shen Ge looked up, puzzled. The dark night sky didn’t even have a single star visible. A thick black fog enveloped everything, like the weather before a heavy storm.

But where were the hands?

Judging by Kaede Hanabana and the others’ reactions, it didn’t seem like an act. Shen Ge guessed they might be experiencing one of the two “dangers” Kaede Hanabana had just mentioned.

Since there were no signs of Mysteries or Aberrants nearby, it was clear these people were affected by the Domain, their fear amplified, leading to hallucinations.

“But why are they all affected, while I see nothing?” Shen Ge considered himself fairly brave, but he definitely couldn’t compare to that guy next door who had his fear sealed away.

There was a time when Shen Ge used to watch horror movies every night, to the point where even the slightest rustle while walking home in the dark would make him imagine ghostly figures. This proved he did have fear. If everyone around was affected by the amplified fear from the Domain, there was no reason he should be an exception.

“Could it be because I allocated all my attribute points to Spirit?” Shen Ge didn’t think it was due to Spirit Power, because Spirit Power was Mystery Energy—a conclusion verified multiple times. The only reason he put all his attribute points into Spirit was to make his Trait abilities last longer.

If the Domain’s influence was being blocked by his own Mystery Energy, then his Mystery Energy should be continuously decreasing. But Shen Ge observed through his [Status] that his Mystery Energy wasn’t being consumed.

Shen Ge scanned his surroundings. The gloomy campus was eerily quiet, apart from the occasional “whoosh” from the rooftop of the distant teaching building as they launched signal flares into the distance. This silence made the sight of the Recon Team soldiers scrambling and crawling towards the gymnasium seem somewhat comical.

There were no signs of Mysteries or Aberrants in his field of view. Little Seven also performed a Mystery Energy detection and found no Mysteries hiding nearby.

When he left the dormitory building, the system had issued a reminder, but it was just a routine random event alert, nothing special.

[The current area is severely contaminated by the Mystery Domain. Unpredictable dangers may occur. If detected by the Rank 8 Mystery, influenced by its Domain, the current area may transform into a swamp, magma zone, quicksand area, etc., due to the Mystery’s Trait. Host, please leave this area immediately!]

For Shen Ge, as long as he was within a Mystery Domain, this kind of prompt had become a routine “broadcast,” so he hadn’t paid much attention to it initially.

Shen Ge was no longer the novice from six months ago who, excited by the system’s “enthusiastic” broadcasts, would cross the street back and forth just to earn a few system points.

After all, eliminating a single rank 2 or 3 Mystery would net Shen Ge more rewards than triggering random events in the city for days and nights on end.

But putting rewards aside, Shen Ge was now in the apocalypse four years in the future. The system’s “warning” indicated that he was indeed being affected by the Mystery Domain.

Not far away, Kaede Hanabana sat slumped on the ground, clutching her submachine gun and firing wildly into the air while screaming in terror.

Shen Ge was very curious about what she was seeing.
“Stop! Cease fire!” Shen Ge shouted at Kaede Hanabana. While he wasn’t worried about being hit by stray bullets from the submachine gun—their power couldn’t hurt him—he didn’t plan to expose his Rotten Flesh Armor ability in front of others.

Kaede Hanabana seemed not to hear Shen Ge, continuing to fire her submachine gun into the sky. During the moment she paused to reload, Shen Ge stepped forward and kicked the gun out of her hands.

“Hey! Snap out of it!” Shen Ge crouched beside Kaede Hanabana, placed a hand on her shoulder, and then展开ed his “No-Exit Domain,” enveloping both her and himself.

Kaede Hanabana, who had been screaming, suddenly froze, her eyes looking dazedly at the sky as if she could no longer see the hands falling from above.

“Tony Mr…. Da Ying!” Recognizing the person in front of her, Kaede Hanabana excitedly lunged towards Shen Ge.

Shen Ge instinctively jumped back two meters. Kaede Hanabana missed and fell face-first to the ground.

But Shen Ge’s movement caused a problem. The No-Exit Domain was centered on him. While its range was controllable, he hadn’t spread it very far to conserve Spirit Power. So, when he moved, Kaede Hanabana left the Domain’s coverage and was immediately affected by “Misfortune’s” fear amplification again.

“Hands, hands!” Kaede Hanabana once again pointed towards the sky.

Seeing this, Shen Ge stepped forward and helped her up. Now that he had confirmed his No-Exit Domain had a certain defensive effect against “Misfortune’s” Domain, he decided to take Kaede Hanabana to the gymnasium. After all, he still had many questions for her; he couldn’t let her break down like this.

“D-Da Ying.” Kaede Hanabana seemed not yet free from fear, her voice trembling.

“You’re experiencing hallucinations due to the Domain’s influence. Remember, everything you see is fake! Don’t be fooled by the illusions!” Shen Ge said while supporting Kaede Hanabana as they moved towards the gymnasium. Under the influence of the No-Exit Domain, Kaede Hanabana’s mind gradually cleared.

“How long does this situation usually last?” Shen Ge asked.

Based on his reasoning, this “danger” probably wasn’t permanent. Otherwise, simply entering the Domain would mean falling into an endless cycle of hallucinations, eventually driving people insane.

Kaede Hanabana replied, “Maybe a few hours, maybe a day. At… at most, it hasn’t exceeded a day.”

Kaede Hanabana felt that after Shen Ge supported her, the invisible oppressive feeling in the air seemed to lessen. It was a very peculiar sensation.

After the two retreated into the gymnasium, they saw many soldiers still scrambling and crawling inside. But after running a few steps, some would panic and start shooting.

Firing at empty air was one thing; the most terrifying part was that some mistook their comrades for Aberrants and unleashed a barrage of firepower on them.

By the time Shen Ge entered, several Recon Team soldiers had already fallen in pools of blood. Kaede Hanabana, seeing this, frantically shouted at those shooting to stop, but no matter how much she yelled, they kept firing like madmen.

Shen Ge’s eyes narrowed. He suddenly deployed the “No-Exit Domain” to cover the entire gymnasium. This was the first time he had used his Domain on such a large scale, and his Spirit Power immediately began to drop rapidly.

But in those few seconds, the soldiers tormented by fear regained their senses. Grieving, they quickly moved the wounded towards the passageway.

While supporting Kaede Hanabana as they retreated to the underground shelter, Shen Ge tested the effect of the No-Exit Domain on “Misfortune’s” Domain along the way. He finally understood why, according to the log, Sakura would set their sights on “No-Exit.” If this blocking Trait could really be manufactured into Mystery Energy equipment, perhaps they could trap Misfortune within Takaguchi City.

Because, according to the International Mystery Response Organization, high-rank Mysteries didn’t actively seek out humans. So, trapping them in a specific location might be a good strategy!

After entering the underground shelter, the Recon Team began taking stock of the casualties. This “Domain” attack had been too sudden, giving the soldiers almost no time to react. The wounded exceeded thirty, and this was with Shen Ge secretly assisting while testing his No-Exit Domain.

For an enemy they couldn’t even see to cause over half the casualties in a forty-plus member Recon Team… it was truly a miracle that a thousand-strong regiment had managed to hold on for a year.

While Kaede Hanabana was busy tending to the wounded, Shen Ge used the pretext of “helping” to look around the shelter. He discovered it was converted from the school’s storage warehouse.

The ceiling of the underground shelter was lined with the “skin” of Mysteries, the walls were reinforced with their bones, and scattered around were rotting flesh pieces emitting black Mystery Energy, resulting in an unbearably foul stench throughout the shelter.

“No wonder the soldiers’ Domain influence significantly lessened after entering the underground shelter. So, they used Mystery corpses to create a ‘defensive array’… One has to admit, when pushed to the brink, humans can come up with any solution,” Shen Ge couldn’t help but sigh.

Although this method could use Mysteries to block the Domain’s effects, it was like being in a problematic meat processing plant. The mix of rot and fishy smell was torturous with every breath, let alone living here long-term.

After a busy night, Kaede Hanabana rested for a few hours and then found Shen Ge in the monitoring room. She expressed her gratitude for saving her the previous night.

“Da Ying, you’re truly not an ordinary person, able to stay clear-headed under the Domain’s influence. If it weren’t for you yesterday, I definitely wouldn’t have made it. How… how can I repay you?” Kaede Hanabana lowered her head, her face slightly flushed, her hair covering the scar over her left eye. Thinking of the scar on her face, she felt a bit nervous.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it… If you want to repay me, why not sit down and have a chat?” Shen Ge leaned back in his chair and looked at Kaede Hanabana.

Kaede Hanabana glanced at the soldier nearby who was intently monitoring the school’s perimeter for Mysteries and Aberrants via the surveillance equipment and said nervously, “Ah, h-here?”

“It’s fine, right here is good.” Shen Ge figured the information he was seeking wasn’t any secret to them, so there was no need to be secretive.

“Oh.” Kaede Hanabana, blushing, sat down next to Shen Ge, nervously awaiting his next move.

Then she heard Shen Ge ask, “I’ve been hibernating in the underground base for too long. I never imagined everything would change so much when I woke up. Could you tell me some things related to the Takaguchi City Mystery? And what’s the deal with that Deep-Sea Mystery? Is it also a rank 8 Mystery?”

?

Kaede Hanabana was stunned. She had even mentally prepared for some “public display of affection” role-play, and instead, Shen Ge wanted to talk not about romance, but about Mysteries?

Big brother, are you serious?

Kaede Hanabana immediately realized she had misunderstood. For a soldier like Shen Ge who had just awakened from an underground base, survival in a world overrun by Mysteries was the priority.

“The Mystery in Takaguchi City appeared as early as two years ago. Back then, we even formed a special investigation team. At first, we thought it was an ordinary Mystery incident, but in just three months, it escalated into a Mystery Disaster. Even though the higher-ups tried to cover up the truth, as the bizarre events caused by this Mystery increased, using ‘urban legends’ as an excuse couldn’t suppress the worsening situation, and the Mystery was completely exposed to the public.”

“Then last year, specialists sent by the International Mystery Response Organization detected that the Mystery hidden in Takaguchi City had already undergone seven mutations, making it the highest-rank Mystery encountered worldwide so far. After discussion, the decision was made to evacuate Takaguchi City’s citizens, and the International Mystery Response Organization would use nuclear weapons.”
“However, the result was disappointing. The two deployed nuclear bombs detonated within the compressed Mystery Domain, and the nuclear energy instead made the Mystery even stronger, allowing it to undergo an eighth mutation.”

“After this mutation, the Mystery Domain expanded from the city center to cover all of Takaguchi City. Just as it seemed about to spread towards Shin Kawana and Okagame, a massive tsunami suddenly struck the Chiba coastal area.”

“The International Mystery Response Organization detected a giant Deep-Sea Mystery appearing off the coast of Chiba. Overnight, Chiba, Hamayoko, and Oda were wiped off the map, leaving only a vast expanse of water.”

“No one knows what happened that night. Even satellite footage only captured a blanket of black fog, with a glimpse of a giant humanoid Mystery within the mist.”

“Strangely, since that Mystery appeared, the Takaguchi City Mystery’s Domain stopped expanding. The Mystery Countermeasures Department theorized that since Mysteries feed on other Mysteries, perhaps the powerful Mystery Energy of the Takaguchi City Mystery attracted the giant Deep-Sea Mystery. To avoid having its main body discovered, it went into hiding within Takaguchi City.”

“Our Recon Team entered Takaguchi City partly to search for and rescue survivors, and partly to find the Mystery sustaining the Domain.”

Shen Ge lowered his head in thought for a moment, then asked, “Since Mysteries have been revealed to the public, what progress has been made in Mystery research in recent years?”

Kaede Hanabana replied, “After the exposure of Mysteries, the world fell into chaos for two years. Among them, Great Tian Dynasty restored order first, while Mao Nation and Pretty Nation gradually gained control. Here in Sakura, due to the Domain in our central city, Takaguchi, the frequency of Mystery incidents has been increasing daily.”

“According to the international research report on the weird organization, the reason why non-human creatures in the world are transformed into weird things is due to an invisible weird energy that gushes out from the ground.” Having said that, Fenghua Youcai was worried that Shen Ge was out of touch with the world and didn’t even know what weird energy was, so she specially explained the weird energy.

Then she continued, “This invisible Mystery Energy only affects non-human beings. Humans who inhale it don’t mutate, nor do they develop physical ailments like prolonged exposure to the black fog Mystery Energy. To combat Mysteries, various nations began researching Mystery Energy, using Mystery corpses to manufacture various types of weapons and equipment to fight Mysteries with Mysteries.”

“Through research on Mystery Energy, the International Mystery Response Organization also discovered that Mystery Energy has many different ‘effects.’ These effects influence a Mystery’s abilities, such as ‘Rapid Regeneration,’ ‘Hardened Shell,’ etc. Higher-level Mysteries exhibit special abilities, which we call ‘Traits.'”

“Through the study of Mysteries, the International Mystery Response Organization found that many Mysteries’ Mystery Energy abilities are determined from their first mutation. However, some abilities only manifest after their Mystery Energy reaches a certain level. For example, Traits awaken at rank 4, and Domains at rank 6.”

“Of course, these are all research reports and estimates from the International Mystery Response Organization. I’m not sure how accurate the specific values are.”

“But based on intelligence provided by the International Mystery Response Organization, our Sakura investigation confirmed the ‘Trait’ of the Takaguchi City Mystery approximately relates to ‘Misfortune,’ ‘Bad Luck,’ ‘Negative Emotions,’ etc., so it was tentatively designated as ‘Trait: Misfortune.'”

“And since ‘Misfortune’ has mutated to rank 6 or above, it has awakened a terrifying Domain capable of pulling the entire city into a space influenced by its Trait.”

“This space is isolated from the outside world; even satellite signals can’t penetrate it. The outer area is shrouded in thick fog. Very few who have tried to pass through the fog have returned. Captain Watanabe once led an elite squad to try and breach the fog zone. According to him, they walked for nearly half a month but still couldn’t exit the fog. They were ultimately forced to turn back after encountering an invisible barrier.”

“But there’s very little intelligence on the giant Deep-Sea Mystery. Perhaps there have been new discoveries outside, but we’ve lost contact with the outside world since entering Takaguchi City.” At this point, Kaede Hanabana’s expression turned somewhat downcast.

Shen Ge nodded upon hearing this. “It seems the research on Mysteries in these past two years hasn’t changed much from before I went into hibernation.”

Actually, hearing this, Shen Ge suddenly realized a “flaw” in his initial story when he first met Kaede Hanabana.

He had told Kaede Hanabana he went into hibernation in 2024. But according to her account and the situation in the log, Takaguchi City wasn’t enveloped by the “Misfortune Domain” until 2027.

Kaede Hanabana might not have noticed this flaw yet, but Shen Ge deliberately mentioned the lack of significant change to patch this potential hole.

As Shen Ge “reminded” him, Kaede Hanabana indeed noticed the inconsistency. “Da Ying, why were you in hibernation for so long?”

“At the time, the base was conducting research on the uncertainties of Mystery Space. To test certain hypotheses, I was selected as the test subject, placed into a hibernation pod, and then introduced into the Mystery Space. This was to verify if we could solve the issues of uncertain Mystery Space entrances/exits and spatial/temporal distortions.”

Shen Ge thought this was a relatively reliable explanation. Mystery Space had many unsolved mysteries, but Kaede Hanabana only mentioned Traits and Domains awakening at ranks 4 and 6, not Mystery Space awakening at rank 2. This gave Shen Ge the feeling she might be withholding some information.

This explanation could not only cover the “flaw” in his previous story but also serve as an opportunity to probe Kaede Hanabana for more information—killing two birds with one stone.

However, to Shen Ge’s surprise, Kaede Hanabana looked at him with a bewildered expression. “Mystery Space? What’s that?”

?

Shen Ge was even more shocked than Kaede Hanabana. While Mystery Space had many issues, for operatives like them, it was basic knowledge that everyone knew. How could this world know about “Traits” and “Domains” but not “Mystery Space”?

Shen Ge tried to glean something from Kaede Hanabana’s expression, but she seemed genuine, her eyes filled with confusion, not like she was lying.

Shen Ge’s heart sank. Either Kaede Hanabana was far more skilled than he imagined, or he had truly shot himself in the foot this time.

After a moment’s thought, Shen Ge once again shifted the focus to the underground research base. “Our institute discovered that some rank 2 Mysteries awaken abilities similar to Domains. The coverage isn’t as vast, usually pulling a building or a city block into a sub-space-like area. Those outside trying to enter get teleported to random locations. Also, Mystery Spaces can have distorted space and time.”

Shen Ge briefly summarized Mystery Space while observing Kaede Hanabana’s reaction. Seeing her grow increasingly surprised, he became more convinced she wasn’t lying.

“Rank 2 Mysteries have such terrifying abilities?” Kaede Hanabana exclaimed in amazement.

“Only a very few. That’s why the institute was conducting secret research,” Shen Ge said. But in reality, in his world, most rank 2 Mysteries possessed this ability.

According to research in Shen Ge’s world, Mysteries were born with special Mystery Energy effects, then awakened Mystery Space at rank 2. If they had Traits, those awakened at rank 4.

As for Domains awakening at rank 6, so far, “Misfortune” was the first rank 6+ Mystery encountered, so his world hadn’t researched that far yet. Even the awakening of Traits at rank 4 was a deduction based on the Yu Zhou incident, aided by Shen Ge and voiced through Li Xiang.

It wasn’t hard to see that, apart from the rank 2 Mystery Space awakening, the “research” in the two worlds didn’t differ significantly.

Kaede Hanabana continued asking Shen Ge about Mystery Space, but each “basic” question deepened the sense of foreboding in Shen Ge’s heart.

Suppose his world and this world were the same, without so-called “Mystery Space,” but instead, Mysteries could use Mystery Energy to establish a connection between these worlds, causing two different timelines to overlap and distort. Then, some of the “mysteries” of Mystery Space might be explained!
Distorted space, chaotic time…

During his first encounter with Mystery Space, the Mysterious Bus, why was the originally bustling downtown area devoid of any vehicles after he was pulled in?

During the Yu Zhou incident, why did different areas of Dongyu Village have different timelines, even featuring blocks that had been abandoned for decades?

Then, an image flashed in Shen Ge’s mind.

In the center of a pitch-black space, there is a “black hole vortex”, surrounded by three azure planets that look 80% to 90% similar to the Earth, forming a triangle that surrounds the black hole in the center.

Yes!

That was the mysterious scene he saw when he found the Mystery Eye from the “Primordial Mystery” at the Da Jing research base!
The report was titled “Mystery Eye (2)” and documented the headquarters’ two-year research on that eye.

One segment of the recording was the very image that had just flashed in Shen Ge’s mind.

In the recording, researchers studied the “Mystery Eye” and used a computer to simulate the observed imagery.

In the pitch-black space’s center was a “black hole vortex.” Surrounding it were three azure planets, strikingly similar to Earth, arranged in a triangle around the black hole.

The researcher numbered these planets “1,” “2,” and “3” from top to bottom left and right. Then, he placed the “Mystery Eye” into a VR headset and put it on. The view was like observing the universe through a telescope.

The azure planet numbered “1” gradually began to “dim,” as if a thriving plant was slowly withering.

As the planet “withered,” it faintly emitted a black smoke that grew from faint to dense, from little to much, eventually enveloping the entire planet in black fog.

Then, the completely shrouded “Planet 1” exploded with a bang. After the black fog dispersed, the planet returned to its original state.

A few seconds later, the withering, black fog, explosion, and restoration repeated. The entire process cycled continuously.

But only “Planet 1” kept changing repetitively. Planets 2 and 3 remained unchanged in their original states.

The “Mystery Eye (2)” report ended here, but over the past few months, Li Xiang had continued researching the Mystery Eye.

According to him, the imagery seen through the eye resembled the birth and destruction of a planet, but the demonstration process was somewhat strange.

Planet 1 kept repeating the cycle of creation and destruction, each cycle lasting only a few seconds. But after repeating hundreds of thousands of times, it would stop, remaining in a withered state.

Subsequently, Planet 2 would begin repeating Planet 1’s process until, after hundreds of thousands of cycles, it too stopped, remaining withered.

Finally, Planet 3 started repeating the processes of Planets 1 and 2, constantly restarting, being destroyed, restarting, being destroyed… until it stopped at the 1,009,320th cycle.

Planets 1 and 2 remained withered. Planet 3, though full of vitality, was faintly entangled with a intermittently appearing black fog, but it still slowly rotated.

If not for that, Li Xiang would have thought the image was “frozen.”

When Shen Ge previously listened to Li Xiang discuss the “Mystery Eye” experiments, he didn’t find anything particularly odd. But now, after experiencing “time travel,” he suddenly realized a problem… Could the imagery seen through the Mystery Eye be “civilization resets”?
Could the so-called Primordial Mystery be a “survivor” from a previous epoch’s civilization, hence why its eye could record the destruction of that civilization?
Or perhaps, Earth itself undergoes constant resets and destruction. The Mystery Eye recorded this process, and Shen Ge’s world was the latest “reset.”

Therefore, only his world had the concept of “Mystery Space.” And what they called Mystery Space wasn’t an ability of the Mysteries, but rather, influenced by Mystery Energy, they returned to those destroyed worlds?
Shen Ge felt his CPU was about to overload. If his speculation was true, did it mean that this “reset” would ultimately end in destruction, followed by the next reset, until the reset attempts were exhausted, and like Planets 1 and 2, it became a withered planet?

How would the world be destroyed?
Mysteries continuously grow, eventually breaking through rank ten and swallowing Earth whole? Or humanity, knowing Mysteries are unbeatable, goes mad in a final act, leading to a nuclear apocalypse?
Both scenarios were predicated on humanity’s inability to defeat Mysteries. Through his experience in this world four years into the future, Shen Ge personally witnessed the true power of rank 5.

The pig-slaughtering knife that could easily slice through a rank 2 Mystery couldn’t even pierce the skin of a rank 5 Aberrant. A mere Mystery Turtle was as big as a building.

Even Shen Ge was helpless against them, let alone other Mystery operatives.

Coupled with high-rank Mysteries feeding on nuclear energy, humanity truly had no means to deal with high-rank Mysteries. The world was ultimately doomed!
Wait!

While high-rank Mysteries were difficult to kill, low-rank Mysteries posed little challenge to Shen Ge now. This “time travel” experience served as a stark warning, showing him how terrifying Mysteries could become once they grew.

Although, even if Shen Ge returned to his world, he alone couldn’t possibly eliminate all the low-rank Mysteries even if he ran himself ragged. But if he could find a way to locate the fleshy maw, the means to travel between past and future, perhaps that could become a significant variable.

In the “future,” low-rank Mysteries were everywhere. For instance, yesterday, the Aberrant kicking over a building not only revealed a rank 4 Mystery Turtle but also unleashed a swarm of rank 1 and 2 Mysteries like stirring a hornet’s nest.

If he could travel between past and future via the fleshy maw, hunt low-rank Mysteries here, and send them to the past to be manufactured into Mystery Energy equipment, fully arming combat personnel so everyone could become a Mystery operative, perhaps they could control the mutation frequency of Mysteries?

Shen Ge was in a complicated mood at this moment, but there was no point in thinking too much. He was not sure whether he could go back. After going back, there was still the thorny problem of “misfortune” and the huge monster hidden in the deep sea.

In other words, in his world, “Misfortune” and the “Deep-Sea Mystery” were already two confirmed high-rank Mysteries. Without dealing with them, even if Shen Ge found a way to travel between past and future and shipped large quantities of Mystery corpses to his world for equipment manufacturing, “Misfortune” would still be the trigger for the world’s destruction.

However, in Shen Ge’s world, “Misfortune” was exposed two and a half years earlier. Perhaps it hadn’t grown to an unkillable level yet.

As for whether it was a Domain or a Mystery Space, Shen Ge needed to verify that upon returning.

If it was just the spatial distortions caused by a Mystery Space, and not “Misfortune’s” inherent Domain, then perhaps there was still hope.

If “Misfortune” had already grown to an unkillable level, then Shen Ge could only let the past develop towards this future, let “Misfortune” attract the Deep-Sea Mystery to swallow Takaguchi City, stalemate with “Misfortune,” and then seize the opportunity to travel between past and future, continuously strengthening their forces.

“Da Ying, are you okay? You look a bit pale. Are you feeling unwell?” Kaede Hanabana asked with concern.

“I’m fine. Maybe it’s just too much Mystery information at once; my mind is a bit overwhelmed.” Shen Ge shook his head, pushing those thoughts aside for now. If he couldn’t return, then any amount of thinking was pointless.

For now, the best he could do was gather as much intelligence related to Mysteries and Aberrants as possible to take back, helping his world “avoid detours,” before considering anything else.

“Good news!”
“The Domain energy has dissipated!”
“We can go out!”

Suddenly, the soldiers in the monitoring room cheered. One of them immediately picked up the walkie-talkie to contact Watanabe Natsushirou and report the good news.

Kaede Hanabana also turned to Shen Ge excitedly. “Great, we can go out. Da Ying, you just woke up from hibernation. Don’t overthink things; some information takes time to process. I believe we can all survive and leave this Domain. Come on, I’ll accompany you outside for some fresh air.”

But before Shen Ge and Kaede Hanabana could reach the surface, Watanabe Natsushirou sent someone to summon them to the conference room for an emergency meeting.

The meeting had two main points. First, this Domain attack caused severe casualties among the already depleted forty-plus soldiers.

Seven dead, fourteen seriously injured, sixteen lightly injured. The base lacked medical supplies. If no measures were taken, the seriously injured soldiers might not make it.

Additionally, base supplies were critically low. So, Watanabe Natsushirou decided to take advantage of the Domain attack’s end. He tasked Kaede Hanabana and another squad leader to lead Shen Ge and a few other uninjured soldiers to the St. Julianna Hospital, a few kilometers away, which was occupied by Mysteries, to search for supplies.

Shen Ge thought this would be a good opportunity to search for the fleshy maw and accepted the mission.