The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 209

Shen Ge couldn’t deploy his anomaly domain. Instead, he condensed an invisible barrier at the restroom entrance to block the parasitic-type anomalies inside, then stepped in.

The deceased was barely recognizable as a woman. She must have been attacked the moment she sat down, with insects surging from the toilet to burrow into her body, starting to devour her from the internal organs and consuming most of her body in a very short time.

“Ugh.”

The chief flight security officer and a flight attendant, who had originally stood at the doorway intending to ask if Shen Ge needed help, turned pale upon seeing the victim’s condition.

The flight attendant had never witnessed such a scene and immediately rushed to a nearby trash bin, vomiting violently.

Just then, Shen Ge’s phone rang again, though this time it wasn’t a call from Deng Yuqi but a message from Liu Jiayi, the new head of the Intelligence Department.

“Xiao Shen, this is Liu Jiayi. I should have been in charge of this incident, but unexpected interference during the investigation caused me to miss the flight.” After briefly explaining the situation of this anomaly incident, Liu Jiayi inquired about the current status on the plane and whether arrangements needed to be made to return, among other things.

While Shen Ge was communicating with Liu Jiayi, a flight attendant called the chief security officer to the cockpit. After receiving Liu Jiayi’s notification, authorities had also immediately contacted the captain.

“Li Jianjun, we’ve received a notification from the Special Countermeasures Department. A very serious anomaly incident has occurred on your flight. However, there’s no need to panic, as one of our Great Heavenly Dynasty’s finest Anomaly Investigators happens to be on this very flight.”

“Currently, the flight’s position is closer to Da Jing. Although it’s possible to land at other airports en route, the Special Countermeasures Department’s analysis indicates that only Da Jing and Rong City have the proper facilities to handle the anomalies aboard. Turning back now is already too late, so the only option is to proceed directly to Da Jing City.”

“Given the extreme urgency of the situation, I have only one requirement for you: unconditionally follow Investigator Shen’s commands and directives. Even if he orders you to use your weapon to maintain order, or even to… ‘eliminate a threat,’ you must execute immediately!”

“Understood?”

Chief Security Officer Li Jianjun immediately responded, “Yes, understood.”

However, what Li Jianjun didn’t know was that Liu Jiayi, as the person in charge of this operation, had requested that the plane immediately return to Rong City Airport for handling by the branch office.

But headquarters had received information that the hazardous materials on this flight were related to the “new type of Aberrants.” Combined with considerations of distance, continuing to Da Jing was indeed the best choice.

Therefore, after communication between upper management and headquarters, the decision was made for the flight to proceed directly to Da Jing City. The original transfer points were all canceled, with headquarters taking responsibility for handling this anomaly incident.

Of course, whether it was the Rong City branch or headquarters, the confidence to let the plane proceed to either the starting point or the destination, rather than immediately arranging an emergency landing at the nearest airport, stemmed from Shen Ge’s presence. Headquarters proactively issuing the order for the flight security to fully cooperate was also a gesture of “goodwill” towards Shen Ge.

Shen Ge wasn’t particularly surprised to learn from Liu Jiayi that headquarters strongly insisted the plane proceed directly to Da Jing instead of returning to Rong City. After all, regardless of which city they headed towards, his priority was to suppress the spread of the anomaly incident as quickly as possible.

“Investigator Shen, we have received orders. You have full command of this operation, and we will unconditionally follow your instructions!” Li Jianjun stood at the restroom entrance, saluting and speaking earnestly.

The several security officers beside him had never seen their captain so serious, feeling both surprised and sensing the urgency of the situation.

“When facing anomalies, you haven’t received the training and won’t be of much help. Compared to panicking at the sight of monsters and getting yourselves killed, I’d rather you help keep the passengers calm. You know as well as I do that anomaly incidents often cause the most chaos, and chaos leads to trouble. I don’t want to have to worry about passenger safety while I’m focused on dealing with anomalies and Aberrants,” Shen Ge said to the officers at the door while instructing Little Seven to examine the victim’s body and analyze the anomalous energy.

“Understood, we will maintain control over the passengers in each cabin,” Li Jianjun vowed.

He said “control,” not “calm.” This was one of the “Ten Guidelines” for assisting the Special Countermeasures Department in operations, as stipulated in the nation’s latest Anomaly Response Protocols. In necessary situations, “control” was more conducive to anomaly combat than “calming.”

“Are you armed?” Shen Ge asked.

“Baton, taser, handcuffs…” Li Jianjun immediately reported his equipment. Officers like them typically weren’t issued live ammunition firearms.

“Those things are fine for intimidating passengers, but they’re useless against anomalies,” Shen Ge said, raising a hand and tossing out a camouflage bag full of weapons.

“Inside are anomaly-specific weapons, mainly pistols and submachine guns. The ammunition has been specially treated and is highly effective against anomalies and Aberrants.”

“The usage is the same as regular firearms. You’re all police officers; I believe you’ve received firearms training. This level shouldn’t be difficult for you, right?”

“I have only one requirement for you: guard the entrances to each cabin. If you see insects or monsters that defy normal understanding, empty a magazine into them first!”

“Understood?”

Upon hearing this, Li Jianjun nervously swallowed, stepped forward, lifted the weapon bag to the doorway, and opened it. It was indeed packed full of weapons, leaving him dumbfounded.

“Understood, we will complete the mission!” After distributing the equipment, Li Jianjun immediately assigned his team members to guard different exit points.

He personally took up the most crucial position: guarding the entrance to the cargo hold.

After incinerating all the insects in the restroom, Shen Ge stared thoughtfully at the victim’s melting, candle-like corpse, pondering the “purpose” behind the Aberrants’ actions this time.

First, Shen Ge’s “action” this time was impromptu, aimed solely at flushing out all the covert surveillance that had been monitoring him.

Therefore, unless it was an Aberrant organization that had been closely watching him, it couldn’t be such a coincidence that they just happened to be on this exact flight, causing so much trouble.

However, according to Liu Jiayi, the anomaly incidents related to the Anomalous Octopus and the Aberrant organization had been under investigation for quite some time and shouldn’t logically be connected to Shen Ge.

Moreover, Deng Yuqi had previously explained over the phone that the issue stemmed from the former head of the Intelligence Department, leading to problems with the contact involving Du Mingwu.

And the transfer time arranged for Du Mingwu by the covert surveillance was earlier than the time Shen Ge chose his flight to Da Jing. On the surface, it did indeed seem like a “coincidence.”

But Shen Ge felt he must have overlooked some detail. After all, this anomaly incident was coincidental to an “absurd” degree: he happened to emerge from the anomalous space, he happened to be going to Da Jing, he happened to board this flight, and it happened to involve a new type of fusion anomaly related to “intangible” blood.

Most importantly, the Aberrants involved in this operation “happened” to be the new type that suppressed their anomalous energy signature, making them undetectable by the system and Little Seven.

One coincidence was a coincidence, but several coincidences piling up was no simple coincidence!
Judging from Deng Yuqi’s and Liu Jiayi’s reactions, the possibility of them being in cahoots with the Aberrant organization was almost zero. After all, even Deng Yuqi only learned he was leaving today after Shen Ge arrived at the airport.

Who?
Could grasp his itinerary so thoroughly?

Shen Ge temporarily pushed this question aside. Finding the “covert surveillance” obviously wouldn’t be accomplished quickly. The most important task at hand was resolving this anomaly incident.

Currently, Shen Ge had two options. The safest choice was to have the plane land first, then let the Special Countermeasures Department seal off the aircraft and evacuate the passengers one by one.

But this option was vetoed by “Headquarters.” Firstly, headquarters wanted the research materials, worried the Rong City branch would pocket them again.

Secondly, there was a key issue: screening passengers during transfer was difficult. After all, even Shen Ge hadn’t identified all the Aberrants yet. Landing at any random airport, even with local Special Countermeasures Department support, their capabilities were far inferior to headquarters and the Rong City branch.

If the strange person who orchestrated this bizarre incident, hiding among the passengers, manages to escape, it will be very difficult to catch him again

So the best method was to keep the plane flying. Shen Ge would resolve the anomaly incident while simultaneously rooting out the hidden Aberrants.

However, as time passed, the worsening anomaly incident, and whether the Aberrants would remain patient or, in desperation, resort to a scorched-earth tactic…

Passenger safety would only become increasingly endangered over time!
After much consideration, Shen Ge took out the anomalous sleeping bag containing the large bald Aberrant’s corpse and also placed the waxy corpse of the female victim inside.

His intention was to prevent the “anomalized” corpse, left unattended in the restroom, from causing problems after he left. Unexpectedly, after placing the waxy corpse into the anomalous sleeping bag, the wax slowly spread over the large bald Aberrant’s corpse, seemingly initiating “fusion.”

“…Well, well. You new-type anomalies really aren’t picky eaters, are you? As long as it’s a corpse of a living being, regardless of what it is, you just gobble it up first?” Shen Ge couldn’t be bothered with who would end up consuming whom. Even if they fully fused, it would at most become a Tier 3 Aberrant, posing no real threat to him.

As for whether it would retain any research value after fusion, that was Li Xiang’s headache to deal with, not something he needed to consider.

At worst, once the two Aberrants finished fusing, he could release and eliminate it, feed it directly to the system, and earn a wave of high-tier elimination and contribution rewards.

After “cleaning up” the corpses in the restroom, Shen Ge walked to the economy class aisle and found Li Jianjun. “How’s the situation?”

“We’ve been patrolling all exits and pipeline access points as instructed. No anomalies detected so far. Several passengers wanted to use the restroom. I had the flight attendants provide them with plastic bags…” As Li Jianjun was speaking, an older woman stood up and began complaining.

“What is wrong with you people? We are passengers, consumers! We have our own freedom and human rights! This is illegal confinement! I will definitely file a complaint against you when we get to Da Jing! And do you even know who I am? My son is the deputy director of ****. When the time comes, none of you will…”

The woman was in the middle of her tirade when Shen Ge’s icy gaze swept over her. The rest of her words got stuck in her throat; she couldn’t utter a single syllable.

In Shen Ge’s instinctive glance, she saw impatience and disgust—a look she had seen before, like that of a butcher numbly slaughtering livestock day after day.

In Shen Ge’s eyes, she was like an ant that could die at any moment.

However, the surprise wasn’t limited to the woman. Even Shen Ge was taken aback, puzzled by the fact that he had genuinely “felt a flicker of killing intent” towards her just moments before.

Although since joining the Special Countermeasures Department, Shen Ge had never abandoned a mission or plunged himself into peril because he was overly concerned about civilian casualties, he had also never entertained the murderous thought of simply eliminating these “dead weights” to be done with it.

This was very wrong!
Shen Ge took a deep breath. He didn’t have time to ponder what exactly was amiss, but he faintly sensed that since experiencing the dream world, his emotions had become somewhat unstable.

Shen Ge had a feeling: the clearer the “blurred memories” in his mind became, the more irritable, or perhaps… unhinged, he grew.

“First, let me correct you. This isn’t confinement. Both I and this officer have the authority to demand your cooperation. As for your son… thank you for the tip. I’ll have someone investigate him thoroughly later. If he’s a good official, I guarantee his career will continue to prosper. But if there’s even the slightest problem, he’ll be joining you back home to farm the fields tomorrow!” Shen Ge smiled slightly, but the seemingly mild smile sent shivers down the woman’s spine.

“Secondly, I regret to inform everyone that you’ve encountered an anomaly incident. I am the Anomaly Investigator in charge. Here are my credentials.”

“Finally, a fatal incident has already occurred in the restroom. If you don’t want to end up like the deceased, then obediently follow our instructions!”

As he spoke, Shen Ge raised a hand and retrieved the anomalous sleeping bag. Just as the passengers were wondering how he managed this “sudden appearance of a sleeping bag,” he pulled open the zipper, revealing the ghastly corpse inside.

“Ah—”

“Ugh—”

Instantly, chaos erupted throughout the cabin. A wave of retching sounds quickly drowned out the screams.

Although Shen Ge’s method of “deterrence” was effective—even the woman clamoring for freedom and human rights quietly returned to her seat—the smell inside the cabin was indescribable.

On public transport like planes, trains, or buses, once someone vomits, the odor easily triggers others to do the same.

Even the resolute Li Jianjun couldn’t help but frown, while his two subordinates turned pale, suppressing dry heaves.

Shen Ge, however, showed no reaction, even wearing a faint smile. He walked to a position near the rear section, his gaze settling on two men with lowered heads.

“You two have pretty strong nerves, huh? Didn’t join the vomiting brigade. Are you used to smelling worse things normally, or…” As Shen Ge spoke, his Anti-Anomaly Revolver clicked, loading a round, and he aimed it at one man’s head.

“Wa-warning… Wh-what do you m-mean? I d-don’t understand,” the man stammered, face pale with fear as he looked at Shen Ge.

Shen Ge couldn’t be bothered with his excuses. He directly pulled the trigger, the bullet piercing the man’s temple. The sudden gunshot immediately caused shrieks of terror from those nearby.

But the next second, something even more horrifying happened. The head pierced by the Anti-Anomaly Revolver immediately began to melt like a candle, slowly sliding down and covering the shoulders and seat.

“Tsk, looks like the guess was right!” Shen Ge remarked calmly.

Li Jianjun, standing not far behind Shen Ge ready to assist, was stunned. He had thought Shen Ge was certain the man was an Aberrant before acting. Turns out it was just a “guess”?