The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 78

[February 9, 2028]
You arrived at the designated location as agreed. The contact person, carrying the anomaly-energy equipment, entered the Special Countermeasures Department under your cover. Once inside, accomplices lurking outside deliberately caused chaos, throwing the base into disarray. Working from within, you successfully rescued the woman.

Her name was Xia Mei. She seemed surprised to see you—after all, you had rejected her advances twice and refused to cooperate. When she learned you had sided with them for a pair of shoes, her demeanor shifted noticeably. Her gaze at you carried a hint of resentment.

After the rescue, you returned to Rong City. Through conversations with the contact, you learned that this organization, named Sakura, was after the corpse of a 6th-Class anomaly stored at the Quanlong Mountain facility. You knew little about this entity, but Xia Mei had gathered substantial intelligence over the years.

According to her intel, the 6th-Class anomaly at Quanlong Mountain possessed an ability suspected to be a signal-blocking anomaly space. Its designated trait was “No Exit”—meaning anything that entered could never leave. This entity had been retrieved at the cost of the lives of Rong City’s former Special Countermeasures Director and numerous agents.

At this point, Shen Ge—who had been lying in bed reviewing the logs—suddenly sat bolt upright.

“Blocks all signals?”
“No exit?”

Could it really be this much of a coincidence?

[Log Continues]
The 8th-Class anomaly domain in Takaguchi City, Japan, was still expanding. If left unchecked, it would soon bring about The Sinking of Japan. Desperate, Japanese authorities had learned through various channels that Rong City had contained an anomaly capable of total blockade. Their plan was to harness this ability to create anomaly-energy equipment that could isolate Takaguchi City and halt the domain’s spread.

Xia Mei wanted to exploit your status as a Special Countermeasures agent to help them locate this anomaly’s corpse. In return, they promised another piece of anomaly-energy equipment.

You pointed out that stealing a 6th-Class anomaly corpse would be difficult—and as a citizen of China, aiding them would amount to treason…

“So you’d better make it worth my while.”

“……”

Typical future Shen Ge—still as shameless as ever.

However, these logs revealed another critical detail: Was the “6th-Class anomaly ‘No Exit’” mentioned here the same entity currently wreaking havoc in Chongqing?

Though Chongqing’s incident was classified as 4th-Class, anomalies were notoriously hard to destroy. According to Li Xiang’s research reports on the Anomaly-Cat and Anomaly-Rat, an anomaly’s “death” was often a dormant state—hence why they were contained, not eliminated. Under the right conditions, they could reactivate.

For example, the Anomaly-Brain “Unforgotten”, currently contained at Rong City’s branch, was only 1st-Class at capture. Yet the system had flagged its evolution into a 4th-Class entity within four years.

This implied that “No Exit”, now a 4th-Class entity in Chongqing, might have been contained by Deng Yuqi and other agents at great cost—only to mutate into 6th-Class by 2028.

Alternatively, “No Exit” might have already evolved to 6th-Class during containment.

After all, the incident originated in a pet market—who knew what horrors lurked within that anomaly space?

But regardless of its current state, the logs pointed to one inevitable outcome:

Deng Yuqi would die.

Shen Ge rubbed his temples. If he hadn’t activated the system early, would Cheng Shengnan have survived the “Immobility” incident? Or had his interference already altered her fate?

“Headache-inducing.”

He collapsed onto his bed, tossing a grenade absently while reviewing all logs since the system’s activation on January 3.

One glaring detail stood out:

In the original timeline (where future Shen Ge’s organization was absorbed by Rong City’s branch), none of the names he now recognized appeared in the logs.

Even more telling—when referring to Rong City’s Director, the system used “he”, not “she”.

Deng Yuqi’s death during the “No Exit” incident seemed all but certain.

Yet, knowing her personality and her recent reactions, Shen Ge wasn’t surprised she’d lead a team into that anomaly space.

He stashed the grenade away. No use overthinking. If he wanted answers, the fastest way was to visit Dongyu Street—the system would identify the anomaly’s traits on the spot.

And this “No Exit” anomaly space?

He was very, very interested.

…..

The Next Day

Shen Ge arrived at the operations department early and approached Section Chief Chen with a request:

“I’d like to take a few days off. For tourism.”

“Tourism?!” Chen’s eyes darkened with barely suppressed fury. “Where exactly?”

“Heard Chongqing hotpot tastes different from Rong City’s. Thought I’d try it.” Shen Ge replied flatly.

Chen’s anger evaporated, replaced by dawning realization and excitement.

Though they’d only worked together for half a month, Chen knew Shen Ge was anything but ordinary. Even Feng Chengxiu—dubbed the “Devil’s Muscleman”—had groaned through Chen’s brutal training regimen.

Yet Shen Ge, though often carried back to his dorm by Wang Han and Ma Chao after sessions, never once complained.

“This pain is nothing. I’ve seen hell.”

At the time, Chen had thought it a joke. But after discussing Shen Ge with Deng Yuqi, he realized there was far more to this man.

Deng Yuqi’s judgment was impeccable. If she had fought to keep him in the department, he was no ordinary recruit.

“Granted.” Chen said finally. “Take as long as you need. Want a department jet?”

“Sure, saves airfare. Oh, and with things so dangerous these days… mind if I grab some gear? Purely for self-defense.”

“Approved.” Chen would’ve stuffed equipment down his throat if necessary.

Armed with Chen’s authorization, Shen Ge looted the most advanced combat gear from the armory and a truckload of anomaly-energy canisters from the tech division.

“Hey! HEY!” Li Xiang chased him out, aghast. “Robbing us blind while the Director’s away?!”

Shen Ge tossed him a Mental Apple. “You’ve got free time. Study this.”

“I’m not Newton—why would I… Wait. Anomaly-energy?!” Li Xiang’s detector screeched as black mist curled from the apple. “Since when do FRUITS mutate?!” He sprinted back to the lab, forgetting all about the stolen canisters.

After strapping 23 canisters to his body (the maximum without hindering movement), Shen Ge regretfully returned the rest. Then he boarded the department jet to Chongqing.

…..

Dongyu Village – Temporary Command Post (2 Miles from Ground Zero)

The tent’s atmosphere was suffocating.

Deng Yuqi and the others stood grim-faced before a flatlined comms device, its unbroken tone a stark reminder of their failure.

Thirty minutes ago, elite agents from headquarters—including a veteran from Chen’s era—had entered the anomaly space with a full squad.

And, predictably, disaster struck.

The entire team lost contact within seconds.

It was like sending lemmings off a cliff—one after another vanishing, forcing headquarters to declare a Tier-1 Combat Alert.

International anomaly organizations were monitoring the situation closely. If China failed to resolve this, global forces would bypass them and authorize a nuclear strike.

Not an ideal scenario. Humanity might end itself before the anomalies got the chance.

But with no intel from inside the anomaly space—were the missing agents dead or merely trapped?—options were dwindling.

Nuclear weapons were starting to look like the only solution.

As the command team debated helplessly, the thrum of helicopter blades cut through the tension.

No reinforcements had been announced. Who was this?

The squad watched as a fully armed figure disembarked and strode toward them.

“Yo, everyone eaten yet?” Shen Ge greeted cheerfully.

“……”

Whose lunatic is this?!

Deng Yuqi’s expression twitched. “Shen Ge? What are you doing here?”

“Saving the day. Hold on.”

Without hesitation, he walked toward the military blockade.

A agent from Guizhou frowned. “He’s yours?”

Deng Yuqi nodded. “A rookie, but Chen endorses his skills. He might… have a solution.”

The others exchanged skeptical glances. If veteran elites had failed, what could a rookie possibly do?

“Is he seriously just walking in?!”

“Deng, aren’t you stopping him?”

“The guards are asking if they should intercept!”

“If Boss Deng isn’t worried, why are you?”

Shen Ge stopped three meters short of the boundary, standing motionless as the system blared:

[WARNING!]
[Host is approaching a 6th-Class anomaly nest! This area is under anomaly-domain suppression. Entry at current capability will result in: Certain Death | No Escape | Instant Annihilation | Doom Inevitable…]
[Evacuate immediately!]

The system was really flexing its vocabulary this time.

This was bad.

But also—

Confirmed: A 6th-Class entity. Just like the logs predicted.

Ignoring the alerts, Shen Ge unshouldered his cryo-device and sprayed the anomaly space’s edge.

“What’s he doing? Trying to distort space?”

“Is he actually going in?”

“Suicidal.”

“Deng, control your man!”

Deng Yuqi remained silent, her gaze unwavering. Whether it was confidence in Shen Ge or sheer resignation, no one could tell.

(Truthfully, she had no idea what this madman was doing either. But after a month of his antics, her heart had grown resilient.)

Finally, Shen Ge turned and marched back to the command tent. He slammed his rifle onto the table and dropped into a chair.

“Judging by your faces, things are dire. More agents lost, no volunteers left—am I right?”

A Yunnan agent scowled. “Kid, show some respect. Everyone here outranks you.”

“Is ‘acting cool’ illegal? Point me to the law.” Shen Ge shrugged. “I’m willing to cross that line right now. Are you?”

The man shut up.

Deng Yuqi leaned in. “Did you discover something?”

Shen Ge nodded. “This anomaly-energy is different. Unlike the invisible anomaly space at Hexing District, this one seems to block even spatial distortions from other anomalies. My guess? It’s a maze. Those agents aren’t dead—they’re lost.”

“No Exit” – a labyrinth with no way out.