The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 54

“Can you hear me?” Shen Ge raised his voice toward Cheng Shengnan.

“Yes.” She blinked in surprise before nodding.

Clearly, even she found it strange. Before the neighbor fainted, she’d tried communicating with him but couldn’t hear anything. Why could she hear Shen Ge now?

Shen Ge wasn’t particularly surprised. Based on his theory, the ghost space was constantly shifting. The 21st floor had initially allowed sound before cutting it off—so it made sense that the same could happen here.

He took a few steps forward, approaching the “invisible” wall. “Is this your front door?”

“Yes.” Cheng Shengnan nodded.

Shen Ge immediately attempted to apply the “Unyielding” trait to the door.

According to Cheng Shengnan, the door was the first thing to turn transparent, so he suspected the “Intangible” ghost was attached to it.

But the “Unyielding” trait didn’t react. Either “Intangible” had already left, or it was still in motion.

Given the circumstances, the latter seemed unlikely.

Shen Ge aimed the freezing device’s nozzle at the “door” and sprayed. Soon, frost outlined the door’s shape.

He’d been using the freezing device to scout his path, and its stored ghost energy was already two-thirds depleted. Without hesitation, he pulled out a fresh ghost energy canister, slotted it in, and refilled the device.

A quick check showed the canister had only lost 27% of its energy. Just as Deng Yuqi had said, one canister could recharge the device multiple times.

Once the door’s outline became visible, there was no trace of the ghost on its surface.

That left another possibility: the ghost wasn’t outside the door—but inside. Since the octopus had been brought in by Cheng Shengnan, this scenario was far more likely.

“Step back into the bedroom and close the door,” Shen Ge called to her.

Though unsure of his plan, Cheng Shengnan trusted his judgment. Feeling her way along the wall, she retreated into the bedroom and shut the door.

With everything “transparent,” her movements looked like a bizarre pantomime.

“Done,” she shouted.

Shen Ge first dragged the unconscious bald man to the stairwell, then returned to the door. He took off his sock, tied it around the handle near the lock, and pulled the pin on a specialized breaching grenade from the Special Investigations Department.

He stuffed it into the sock, then bolted around the corner.

A few seconds later—

BOOM!

The explosion sent dust flying. Since the entire area was transparent, the drifting smoke revealed the blast’s trajectory—confirming the reinforced door had been blown open.

The breaching grenade packed enough punch that even a ghost-enhanced door would’ve cursed, “Damn it, I’m a security door, not a blast door!”

“Cough—”

Shen Ge waved away the dust, silently appreciating the perks of having high-tech gear. Might as well ask the Director for licenses to carry knives, guns, grenades, even tanks. At this rate, if I ever pull a nuke from the system, I’ll need the paperwork to match.

If he’d had this equipment earlier, he wouldn’t have had to rely on fire tricks against ghosts.

But as Deng Yuqi had warned, against ghosts and their reality-warping abilities, numbers and firepower were rarely an advantage.

Take the collapsing 21st floor—if a whole squad had been there, casualties would’ve been catastrophic, if not total.

Lower-tier ghosts could be treated like monsters, but once they developed a ghost space, finding their patterns and weaknesses became exponentially harder.

Shen Ge tested the door with his combat knife. The lock was destroyed, and the door hung precariously. A firm kick finished the job.

He sprayed the interior with the freezing device, confirming “Intangible” wasn’t lurking inside either, then signaled Cheng Shengnan to come out.

Just then, Deng Yuqi’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie: “Shen Ge, I heard an explosion. What’s your status?”

“Found the 17th floor. Suspected the ghost was attached to the door, so I used a breaching charge,” Shen Ge replied.

“Better safe than sorry. We’ve evacuated survivors below the 13th floor. Feng Chengxiu and I are on standby outside the ghost space—signal if you need backup.”

After a brief pause, Shen Ge declined. “Hold off for now. We haven’t cracked this space’s rules yet. Unless you’ve got a second pair of ghost gloves lying around, even Ethan Hunt wouldn’t last long with how the 21st floor collapsed.”

He summarized his findings—the 21st floor’s instability, the shifting space—then turned to Cheng Shengnan. “Earlier, you mentioned buying an octopus from the seafood section. You saw the clerk kill and bag it?”

Cheng Shengnan nodded. “Yes. But when I took it out at home, only a wet, slimy bag remained.”

“You’re sure the clerk killed it?”

“Absolutely. I watched him gut it, discard the innards, and chop off the tentacles.”

Dismembered that thoroughly, it couldn’t have survived… right?

Even a ghost like the regenerative rat needed its pieces reassembled first.

But if “Intangible” was truly near Tier-3, why would it just lie there and take a supermarket clerk’s butchering?

“Director, contact the team at the supermarket. Ask the seafood clerk if any stock went missing recently. Confirm Cheng Shengnan only took one octopus.”

“Three minutes.”

Deng Yuqi relayed the request. In under three minutes, the answer came back.

“Shen Ge, the clerk says after Cheng Shengnan’s purchase, there should’ve been seven octopuses left in the tank. Now there are only six.”

Just as I thought.

Shen Ge frowned. Ghosts were powerful, but not unkillable—so “Intangible” wouldn’t have passively accepted slaughter.

Meaning only one possibility remained: the butchered octopus wasn’t the ghost.

Shen Ge believed traits followed logic. “Silent” came from a cat, “Unyielding” from sewer hair, “Indestructible” from a cleaver, “Unyielding Grasp” from ghost gloves.

In short—aside from that missing “four-word” ghost—traits starting with “No” or “Without” always tied back to their origin.

And among octopuses, one species stood out: the mimic octopus. Masters of disguise, capable of altering color and shape at will.

A perfect match for “Intangible.”

More importantly—octopuses were cannibals.

Yet one question nagged at him: If “Intangible” could erase half a building, turn floors transparent, and collapse levels at will—why had it lain dormant in the supermarket for so long?

And where was the butchered octopus now?

“Director, check the shipment records for those octopuses—arrival date, quantity, sales. Fast as you can. Thanks.”

“On it!”