The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 61

After a while, Li Xiang and his assistant walked into the conference room carrying a thick stack of files. As they distributed the documents to everyone present, Li began summarizing the recent paranormal incident.

“Based on our analysis of the residual paranormal energy and subsequent data comparison, we’ve confirmed that this entity had recently undergone a second-stage mutation. Its ability was to render targets invisible. The blue blood found at the scene still retains traces of this energy and can achieve the same effect.”

“However… tests on the octopus corpse recovered from the scene revealed no residual paranormal energy in the remains.”

“In other words, there is no corpse of the entity.”

As soon as Li Xiang finished speaking, everyone—led by Deng Yuqi—instinctively turned their gaze toward Shen Ge.

Shen Ge blinked, looking genuinely baffled. “Why are you all staring at me? Blame the person who made the explosive grenade. It’s not like I ate the corpse or something.”

Deng Yuqi said, “You were the one who engaged the entity directly. We just want to know if you missed any details—for instance, are you absolutely certain it died in the explosion?”

Shen Ge thought for a moment before answering seriously, “It… should have, right? The grenade was twice as powerful as a standard one. An entity the size of a basketball wouldn’t have survived. Besides, if it hadn’t died, the paranormal space wouldn’t have dissipated, would it?”

Still uneasy, Deng Yuqi turned to her assistant. “Arrange for rotating patrols to monitor the building 24/7.”

“Understood.”

The meeting continued with Deng Yuqi’s summary of the incident and follow-up assignments before finally granting everyone involved a day off.

Back home, Shen Ge took a shower, made himself a cup of instant noodles, and settled on the couch to claim his weekly mission reward.

[Eliminated entity: “Trait: Invisible.” Weekly mission complete. Reward: 300 System Points, 3 random F-grade recovery items, 10% free attribute points.]

[Claim reward?]

“Claim!”

[Drawing rewards—]

[Draw successful!]

[Obtained: “Special-effect Bandage x1 (F-grade),” “Mental Apple x1 (F-grade),” “Ace Bruise-Relief Ointment x1 (F-grade).”]

The special-effect bandage could heal fractures and cracks—just wrap it around, and the injury would mend within ten minutes. The bruise ointment worked more like a painkiller, numbing any discomfort upon application.

All in all, scoring the “Mental Apple” was a major win.

Though Shen Ge had opted to extract the Invisible trait rather than sell the corpse, running around in the paranormal space had still netted him 300 System Points. Combined with the weekly reward and his previous savings of 501, he now had a total of 1,101 points—enough for a ten-draw.

This time, Shen Ge decided to switch things up. He queued up “Er Quan Ying Yue” (a melancholic Chinese musical piece) for ambiance.

“Let’s test the waters with a single draw first!”

[Drawing prize!]

[Ding!]

The flickering selection wheel gradually slowed before landing on [Free Attribute Points (5%)].

“Hey, 5% in one go? That’s a new record. Not bad!”

Time to press his luck.

“Ten-draw!”

Ding-ding-ding-ding—

[Congratulations! Obtained consumable: “Flashbang x3.”]
[Congratulations! Obtained daily item: “Instant Noodles x1 (box).”]
[… “Free Attribute Points (2%).”]
[… “Morbid Cola x12.”]
[… “Instant Noodles x1 (box).”]
[… “Timed Explosive x1.”]
[… “Hellhound” Tactical Dual-Blade Dagger.]
[… “Free Attribute Points (2%).”]
[… “Extendable Stun Baton.”]
[… “Beretta Px4 Storm Handgun x1, Magazines x4.”]

The fleeting joy of the ten-draw faded fast. Aside from the attribute points, explosives, and handgun, everything else could be bought with ordinary money.

“Ugh, what was I even expecting?”

Sighing, Shen Ge stashed the weapons under his bed and booted up his computer to check the news. The trending topics were all about today’s “anti-terror drill.”

“Wow, is that our Rong City’s special forces? So cool!”
“Hubby, wreck me.”
“New tech is wild—making half a building visually disappear? If this gets militarized, world domination is just around the corner!”
“Check out those soldiers leaving the complex. The one in front is fine.”
“He looks kinda familiar.”
“Isn’t that the guy who torched a car downtown? So that was a drill too?”
“Why so many anti-terror drills lately? Are we going to war?”

Even skeptical comments either mysteriously vanished or were quickly buried under similar chatter.

Shen Ge was surprised how effortlessly the incident had been swept under the rug. Then again, peaceful times bred complacency—people rarely sensed looming danger.

[Congratulations on surviving another day in this entity-infested world. Reward: 1% free attribute points, 10 System Points.]

Midnight arrived, and the log updated.

[January 10, 2028: Forming an exploration team proved difficult. Most capable personnel in the organization already had fixed squads, leaving only problematic slackers. Preferring quality over quantity, you postponed team-building and set out alone. With the “Silent” trait, solo ops might be more efficient.]

[You left headquarters intending to scavenge supplies at the nearby Tom’s Mall, only to find the location replaced by an empty lot.]

[Then, the system alerted you: You’ve entered the paranormal space of a 7th-stage entity, “Invisible”!]

“Oh?”

So the future version of him would face Invisible too?

Shen Ge was curious how his future self would handle it. Unfortunately, the log ended there—he’d have to wait until tomorrow for the conclusion.

“Trash system, learning cliffhangers from those Qidian novelists!” Grumbling, Shen Ge flopped onto the couch and fell asleep.

He woke early the next day. Though Deng Yuqi had granted participants a day off, Shen Ge had no plans to laze around. He had some “questions” that required verification.

After changing, he grabbed a black sling bag, dumped out its contents, and wrapped the cleaver in newspaper. Along with the tactical dagger, grenades, flashbangs, handgun, and baton, he stuffed everything inside.

And the most crucial item—his Special Investigations agent ID.

“I’m with the Special Ops. Carrying a gun, grenades, and flashbangs on my day off is totally normal, right?”

As he reached for the doorknob, a thought struck him. Instead, he pressed his palm against the door and activated the “Invisible Paranormal Space.”

Then, he stepped straight through the door.

Deactivating the space.

One second. Wall-phasing complete.

“Damn, this space has potential.” His logic was simple—if the space could make floors collapse, it could do the same to walls.

Next, he wanted to test its “trap” applications on a live target.

After leaving, he hailed a cab to the city’s largest private hospital and headed to the third-floor office of “Urology Chief Dr. Tang.”

Tang Jinze—Shen Ge’s childhood friend.

Their parents had been close, and the two grew up together. After the accident when Shen Ge was ten, the Tangs had considered adopting him, but his uncle swooped in to seize the family property instead. Soon after, Shen Ge was shipped off to Rongshan Mental Hospital.

Shen Ge was kind-hearted and forgiving. After his discharge, he didn’t fight for the house. If his uncle’s family loved it so much, he let them stay there… permanently.

He and Tang Jinze reunited in college, where the latter learned Shen Ge hadn’t moved back to their hometown but had been institutionalized.

“You’re here?” Tang Jinze looked surprised.

Shen Ge dropped his bag on the sofa and sat opposite him. “Need a favor.”

“You’ve been looking better lately. Not overworking?”

“Changed jobs. I’m with the Special Ops now.”

“Spe… cial Ops? What kind of name is that?”

“Special Events Management and Security Countermeasures Division. Think Men in Black—fighting aliens, saving the world. Government job, stable benefits.”

“…”

Tang Jinze silently picked up the phone. “Xiao Luo, check how many appointments Dr. Zhao in Psychiatry has today.”

Hanging up, he plastered on a professional smile. “Alright, continue.”

“Just check the news, would you?” Shen Ge sighed and pulled up footage of the recent rat and cat entities on his phone.

“Decent CGI. Looks real. So you’re an actor now?” Tang Jinze asked.

Shen Ge tossed him the sling bag.

Tang Jinze opened it and immediately broke into a cold sweat. “Holy hell, are you dealing arms now? And this ID—wait, you’re serious?”

“I’ll explain later. First, I need a full physical workup. The most comprehensive one you’ve got…” Shen Ge said gravely.