The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 97

The black fog gradually dissipated. The temporary command camp was only a few miles away from Dongyu Village. Deng Yuqi and the others quickly took out their tactical binoculars to survey the area.

With the anomalous fog gone, Dongyu Village was now unrecognizable. Large sections had been reduced to ruins, with only broken walls and debris remaining where buildings once stood.

The anomalous energy building had also vanished. A massive chunk of Dongyu Mountain was missing, as if the building had been carved out. The forest—whether lush or withered—looked as though it had been flattened by a giant steamroller, leaving only scattered branches and dead leaves on the ground.

At the center of the village stood a towering pile of rubble resembling a garbage heap—what remained of the anomalous energy building after its fusion with the “No Exit” anomaly.

“Feng Chengxiu!” Deng Yuqi called out.

Feng Chengxiu, Wang Han, Ma Chao, Zhang Hu, and Zhao Long quickly stepped forward.

“Take your teams and conduct a thorough search of Dongyu Village. Find Shen Ge at all costs!” Deng Yuqi ordered while dialing Shen Ge’s number on her phone.

With the anomalous space gone, the interference blocking signals had also disappeared. If Shen Ge had his phone, the call should go through.

As Deng Yuqi issued her orders, teams from other branches were also mobilizing to search for survivors in Dongyu Village.

Ten minutes later, one team found soldier Xiao Li and the evacuated survivors near the outskirts of the village. Meanwhile, those who had been on Dongyu Mountain returned to the command camp.

“Director Deng!” Fang Mingyue rushed into the command center and hurried over to Deng Yuqi. “The last thing I saw was Shen jumping into the No Exit anomaly’s mouth. That anomaly was a fourth-stage entity fused with the anomalous energy building. That mountain of rubble in the center of the village is the building. We need to send people in for search and rescue immediately!”

Deng Yuqi’s heart clenched. If a building collapsed, there might still be gaps for survivors to hide in. But if it had been shattered into rubble and piled into a mountain, it was practically a burial. If Shen Ge was buried under that rubble, his chances of survival were slim.

Deng Yuqi immediately grabbed her radio, redirecting all teams in Dongyu Village to the rubble mountain. At the same time, she called headquarters, requesting immediate reinforcements from nearby military districts and municipal bureaus. They would dig through that mountain in the shortest time possible—alive or dead, they would find Shen Ge.

The mood in the command camp plummeted at the thought of Shen Ge possibly buried under the rubble.

Fang Mingyue had rushed down from the mountain to report the situation, knowing that charging into the rubble alone wouldn’t help Shen Ge—it would only waste precious rescue time.

Now that she had relayed the information, she prepared to join the remaining soldiers in heading to Dongyu Village.

Deng, deng, deng, deng, deng—deng deng! Deng deng deng deng deng, deng deng deng deng deng—

Suddenly, the iconic opening theme of The Little Knife Society—often associated with the Monkey King’s grand entrances—blared outside the command tent.

While everyone inside was still frantically coordinating search efforts for Shen Ge, he appeared at the entrance, a speaker slung over his shoulder and pulling a black suitcase behind him.

“Hey, everyone. Miss me?” Shen Ge asked with a grin.

Silence.

The entire tent froze. After all the worry and fear over his disappearance, here he was, strolling back on his own.

“Shen Ge!”

“Investigator Shen!”

Deng Yuqi, Fang Mingyue, Li Xiang, and others—whether they knew him or not—immediately rushed over, surrounding him.

Shen Ge pushed the black suitcase toward Li Xiang. “Here, some local specialties for the department.”

Then he turned to Deng Yuqi. “Director, my paid leave still stands, right?”

Deng Yuqi was overjoyed to see him safe, but his first words nearly made her laugh in exasperation. “I’ll think about it.”

“Then switch it to sick leave—” Before he could finish, Shen Ge suddenly collapsed toward Deng Yuqi and Fang Mingyue. The two barely caught him in time.

After dealing with the “No Exit” anomaly, Shen Ge’s energy and stamina were completely drained. Though his major injuries had been treated with special bandages and bruise ointment, he still had over a dozen wounds. He had pushed himself to the limit just to make it back to camp.

Even on the verge of passing out, he had held on—determined to collapse in style, preferably onto something soft.

“Shen Ge!”

“Shen Ge!”

“Investigator Shen!”

Deng Yuqi, Li Xiang, and Fang Mingyue steadied him, only to find their hands wet. Blood had soaked through his tactical suit from multiple tears in his protective gear. Though his critical wounds had been treated, the rest were still bleeding.

“Get him to medical!”

“Where are the doctors?”

“Call the medics! What are you all standing around for?”

“Take him straight to the hospital!”

Chaos erupted once again in the command camp.

…..

When Shen Ge woke up, days had passed. He was back in Rong City, admitted to a VIP ward at Rongxi Hospital with a dedicated nurse attending to him.

With the Special Investigations Department and Deng Yuqi handling the aftermath in Dongyu Village, he—as a mere “foot soldier”—had no responsibilities. The department had turned the ruins upside down, searching for the corpse of the fourth-stage “No Exit” anomaly.

After days of work, less than a tenth of the rubble mountain had been cleared. Fully processing it would take months.

Based on testimonies from Old He, Fang Mingyue, and others, the rubble mountain was the fourth-stage anomaly. Higher-ups had ordered that not a single brick be overlooked—they would find the corpse containing fourth-stage anomalous energy.

But no one knew that after destroying the anomaly’s heart and killing it, Shen Ge had immediately ordered the system to devour it.

He had considered circling to the other side of the village to devour the third-stage “Anomalous Chicken” corpse as well, but his energy was too depleted. With no guarantee that hostile mercenaries might still be lurking, he had to choose between spending thirty minutes searching for the corpse or ten minutes returning to camp.

He chose the latter.

Besides, thanks to the “three rules” he had established before entering the anomalous space, the Anomalous Chicken’s remains fell under the Rong City branch’s jurisdiction.

On the way back to Rong City, Li Xiang opened the black suitcase Shen Ge had given him and nearly blurted out, “Godfather!”

Inside, alongside some damaged anomalous gear, were three anomalous turtle shells and various body parts—brains, eyeballs, hands, feet—you name it.

Now this is what you call a true comrade and employee!

Even in mortal danger, he had thought of bringing back resources for the department. A third-stage Anomalous Chicken was impressive enough, but he had even managed to sneak out the No Exit anomaly’s remains.

Exactly!

After Li Xiang reported the suitcase’s contents to Deng Yuqi, both assumed Shen Ge had secretly retrieved the No Exit anomaly’s corpse.

With the fourth-stage anomaly confirmed as a turtle by Old He and Fang Mingyue, plus the three anomalous turtle shells, the connection was obvious.

Deng Yuqi ordered Li Xiang to keep it quiet—these materials would be taken back to the Rong City branch for discreet research. No need to report it to higher-ups.

After all, the Rong City branch was underfunded and under-resourced, with only two pieces of anomalous gear to its name. After such a major operation, a little under-the-table development was justified.

And just like that, while unconscious, Shen Ge had unknowingly maxed out his favor with Deng Yuqi, Li Xiang, and the entire Rong City branch.

…..

Shen Ge lay in his hospital bed, snacking on a mountain of fruit brought by his comrades, while reviewing his system panel.

[Host has slain a sixth-stage anomaly (Trait: No Exit). The anomaly’s corpse can be sold or devoured by the system to extract its Trait.]

[Anomaly (Trait: No Exit)—Value: 20,000 system points.]

[Devouring the anomaly will extract its Trait.]

Though only one stage apart, the sixth-stage anomaly was worth less than half of a seventh-stage. Clearly, progression grew exponentially harder at higher levels.

But after realizing the issues with the system’s “shop,” Shen Ge had lost much of his interest in random draws. Aside from gambling for Trait gear, everything else could be obtained in the real world.

Firearms and ammunition might have been hard to acquire before, but with his Special Investigations Department status, getting Deng Yuqi to secure him a minigun for operations wouldn’t be an issue.

There was no telling whether spending thousands of points would yield Trait gear. Worse, the system lacked storage—any resources drawn would just go to waste.

So when the prompt appeared, Shen Ge chose to devour the anomaly without hesitation. A sixth-stage anomaly meant another “Anomaly Zone” ability.

[Devouring successful. Trait “No Exit” extracted. The Trait will be adapted into a more suitable form for fusion. Host’s attribute panel has been updated.]

When this notification appeared, the massive turtle’s body collapsed. Its fusion with the anomalous energy building unraveled, reducing the entire structure to rubble.

At the last second, Shen Ge devoured one final “Mental Apple” and used the “Formless Anomaly Zone’s” collapse effect to escape.

…..

[No Exit]
The user can expend mental energy to lock any door, window, or enclosed space. Unless the user dispels the effect or the energy depletes, conventional methods cannot open the sealed area. Living beings will be trapped inside.

Note: The user can allocate 1% to ?% of their mental energy. Higher allocations decrease the chance of forced entry and prolong the effect’s duration.

[No Exit Anomaly Zone (Type I)]
When activated, the Anomaly Zone creates a signal-blocking space that traps living beings. If the user centers the zone on themselves, it will move with them.

Cost: 50% mental energy per second.

Additional Effect: Terrain within the Anomaly Zone can be altered.

Note: Upgrading the Trait can expand the zone’s range, reduce energy costs, and unlock Type II.

…..

Shen Ge had expected the system’s version of the Trait to differ from the original, but he was still disappointed.

This feels even lamer than “Formless.” At least Formless had invisibility. This? Just breaking locks?

What’s the point?

Still, he had to test it. The “Formless” description had also seemed underwhelming, yet its terrain-altering “Collapse” ability had been invaluable. Without it, he wouldn’t have escaped the anomalous spaces, located the turtle’s core, or survived the building’s collapse.

Maybe “No Exit” had hidden uses?

With that thought, Shen Ge turned to the nurse scrolling on her phone by the door.

“Excuse me, I’m a bit hungry. Could you get me some congee?”

“Of course, Mr. Shen. I’ll be right back.” The nurse stood, heading for the door—unaware that Shen Ge had raised a hand toward it.

He had allocated his recent daily reward points to mental energy, bringing his max to 261%. When he activated “No Exit,” the room’s layout subtly shifted.

Doors, windows, and walls gained faint outlines. He could target any of them—or the entire room—with mental energy.

For this test, he allocated just 11% to the door. A “11%” appeared over its outline.

“Huh? Why won’t it open?” The nurse jiggled the handle, hearing metallic clicks, but the door stayed shut.

“Broken lock?” Shen Ge asked innocently.

The nurse nodded. “Seems like it. Don’t worry, I’ll call the front desk.”

She phoned for assistance. Soon, voices came from outside.

“We can’t open it from here either. Tried the keys—must be jammed. Xiao Lin, keep the patient calm. We’ll call a locksmith.”

“Got it.” The nurse returned to Shen Ge, gently reassuring him while seizing the chance to chat.

Shen Ge half-listened, watching the door’s “11%” tick down by 1% per minute. Every attempt to force it—whether from inside or outside—sped up the drain.

Soon, a locksmith arrived. The rate accelerated further, yet the lock remained intact, leaving the man baffled.

“Where’d you get this lock? It’s insane.”

As the counter neared zero, Shen Ge added another 10%. The locksmith, pride wounded, asked to break the lock.

Even after hammering, the door held firm—only the counter dropped faster.