The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile - Chapter 98

Shen Ge’s eyes lit up. If “No Exit” could use mental energy to alter an object’s durability, then continuously infusing energy into a door would make it bulletproof—even artillery-proof!

This isn’t “No Exit”—it’s an impenetrable fortress!

Thanks to Shen Ge’s constant energy infusion, the locksmith outside—despite thirty years of experience—couldn’t crack the lock. Frustrated, he grabbed a fire axe and hacked at the door.

BANG!

The axe struck the wooden door beside the lock, instantly draining “1%” of the mental energy. Yet the door remained unscathed—not even a dent.

The locksmith was stunned.

Hearing the commotion outside, Shen Ge confirmed his suspicions. With a flick of his wrist, he dispersed the mental energy reinforcing the door.

BANG!

The locksmith swung again—this time, the axe cleaved straight through.

This proved that “No Exit,” when fueled by mental energy, could significantly bolster an object’s defenses.

It reminded Shen Ge of the anomalous energy building, where even breaching the floors and ceilings required high-explosive bombs.

He had long suspected that mental energy and anomalous energy were one and the same. Now, seeing his abilities replicate the effects of the “No Exit” anomaly’s domain, he wasn’t surprised.

So what if the system was an anomaly?

Stop using it?

Anomalous gear was crafted from anomaly corpses anyway. For all he knew, the system itself might be derived from one.

Besides, without the system and its Traits, resolving this fourth-stage anomaly event would’ve been exponentially harder—if not outright impossible.

According to the [Logs], in a timeline where he never awakened the system, Deng Yuqi and a team of investigators had to sacrifice themselves just to contain “No Exit.”

As Shen Ge pondered this, the locksmith finally succeeded—not through skill, but brute force. Examining the mangled lock, the man frowned.

“Strange… this lock works fine. Look, it locks and unlocks. So why…?” The locksmith was baffled.

No one dwelled on it, chalking it up to a jammed mechanism. The locksmith was asked to repair and replace the lock.

When the nurse returned with the congee, she found Shen Ge gone—only to spot him at the front desk, inquiring about discharge procedures.

“Mr. Shen, you still need several tests. I strongly advise—”

Shen Ge cut her off. “Rongxi Hospital’s beds are in high demand. I’m fine now, so I won’t hog one. Since my department handled my admission, just bill them. Someone from my unit will settle the paperwork later.”

“Uh…” The receptionist blinked. That’s allowed?

The nurse hurried over. “M-Mr. Shen, you’re discharging yourself? But your injuries… Shouldn’t you get checked again?”

“No need. Is this my congee? Thanks. I don’t have my phone, but someone from my department will pay you back.” Shen Ge took the congee with a smile and strode toward the exit.

“Wait, Mr. Shen—”

“Mr. Shen!”

Seeing they couldn’t stop him, the two rushed to report to the head nurse, who then contacted the hospital director and the Special Investigations Department.

Both women were stunned by the urgency. Who was this patient?

The receptionist whispered, “You were off last week, so you missed it. It was insane.”

“Huh?”

“You know how hard it is to get a bed here, right? Even general wards require appointments, let alone VIP suites. But at 11 PM, the head nurse got a call—from the director—saying a patient was being transferred from Yuzhou. Then the deputy director personally negotiated with Mr. Zhao—can you believe it?—to vacate a VIP suite. They deep-cleaned, sterilized, replaced everything… I thought a head of state was checking in.”

“And then?” The nurse gasped.

“At 1 AM, I heard cars pulling up. Every specialist—even those on leave—showed up, along with the director and deputies, all waiting in the lobby. Half an hour later, a squad of armed soldiers marched in, escorting an unconscious patient straight to the VIP ward. Every expert in the hospital collaborated on his treatment. Seriously, what kind of person gets that kind of treatment at his age?”

“How would I know? I thought you had the scoop!”

“You’ve been his nurse for a week! Didn’t you ask?”

“I—I chickened out. He makes me nervous. But I did sneak some photos—with his permission!” The nurse proudly showed off her phone, displaying a selfie with Shen Ge, who had flashed a peace sign.

“He seems down-to-earth. Doesn’t act like some big shot.”

“Since when do officials have to act high and mighty?”

Their chatter meandered from Shen Ge to the armed soldiers, the hospital brass, and finally to weekend plans.

To them, Shen Ge belonged to a different world.

Yet this “otherworldly” figure was now squatting roadside, slurping congee and pondering how to get home.

His phone had been left at the department when he’d strapped on an extra anomalous canister. With no ride-hailing app, he had to flag a cab.

Tossing the empty congee cup, Shen Ge spotted a taxi and waved it down.

“Tianchuan Plaza, Special Cases Investigation Division,” he said, giving the department’s public alias.

“Got it.” The driver launched into small talk—Shen Ge’s hospitalization, Rongxi Hospital’s reputation, satellite launches…

Do all cabbies have this gift of gab? Shen Ge mused.

At the department, Shen Ge said, “Wait here a minute. I forgot my phone—need to grab cash.”

“Sure thing. You work here? Not like you’d skip out on the fare.” The driver chuckled.

Shen Ge approached the guard booth, recognizing the sentry. “Hey, lend me fifty. Phone’s in the dorm.”

“Investigator Shen!” The guard snapped a salute. “Hold on, I’ll get my phone.”

He paid the fare, then asked, “Weren’t you still hospitalized? How…?”

“Felt better, so I left. I’ll pay you back.” Shen Ge waved and headed inside.

“Don’t sweat it. Honored to cover a hero’s ride! Hey, grab a drink sometime—tell me how you solo’d a fourth-stage anomaly. Legendary stuff!”

Shen Ge nearly tripped. How exaggerated are these rumors? Next they’ll say I ate the damn thing.

Inside, colleagues greeted him with surprise and concern—especially the “Trio,” who practically clung to him, insisting he return to the hospital if he wasn’t fully healed.

After much cajoling—even offering to do backflips—Shen Ge escaped to Deng Yuqi’s office.

Knock knock.

“Come in.” Deng Yuqi looked up, startled. “You discharged yourself? Yesterday’s report said you needed ten more tests!”

Ten tests? Thank god I bolted. That’d drain anyone’s blood supply.

“I’m fine. No point hogging medical resources. Is everything in Yuzhou wrapped up? Did HQ honor the deal—hand over the anomalies for us to handle?”

Deng Yuqi studied him for a long moment. “Get checked at Medical first. If you’re cleared, fine. Otherwise, back to the hospital. Leave the rest to us.”

“I’m good. Want me to do ten backflips to prove it?”

“…”

Are you a monkey? Since when do backflips certify health?

Deng Yuqi, now numb to his antics, sighed. “After Dongyu Village, I had the military and police assist in securing the area. We found two surviving mercenaries—now detained.”

“As for anomalies, the ruins yielded nothing. But several low-stage ones were found on Dongyu Mountain. While our team escorted you back, the Yunnan and Guizhou branches handled them. The third-stage ‘Anomalous Chicken’ corpse was relocated to Rong City’s containment. As for the fourth-stage…”

Shen Ge braced for questions about the missing anomaly—why no body was found, how he’d killed it.

Instead, Deng Yuqi continued, “Per Old He and Fang Mingyue’s accounts, the fourth-stage anomaly was the building, right? Shouldn’t its remains be massive? Why did you bring back three small fragments?”

“Huh?” Shen Ge realized—she’d mistaken the turtle shells from the hatched anomalies for “No Exit’s” remains.

Deng Yuqi added, “Fang Mingyue said you jumped into the turtle’s mouth. Please tell me you didn’t go full ‘demolitionist’ and blow it to bits. Regardless, Li Xiang’s already studying the shells. We might craft defensive gear from them. And the other anomaly parts you brought back… Shen Ge.”

Her tone turned solemn. “You’ve done something monumental. These remains will catapult our branch from the bottom ranks to the top. But to avoid drawing HQ’s—or foreign agencies’—attention, we’re crediting this operation to a joint task force with Yunnan and Guizhou, assisted by Old He’s team.”

“I’ve also spoken to Old He and Fang Mingyue. They’ll keep your involvement quiet.”

“Rong City’s rise owes everything to you. Name your reward—within reason, I’ll make it happen. A hero deserves no less!”

“That brain in the basement…” Shen Ge’s mind was still on the “Unforgetting” Trait.

Though this operation had veered off-script, the misunderstanding spared him awkward explanations.

If Deng Yuqi was offering rewards, he wasn’t about to refuse.

She sighed, as if expecting this. “R&D is studying the ‘Anomalous Brain.’ Propose your ideas—any gear made from it will go to you. Same for the other remains.”

Clearly, she thought he wanted more gear, not realizing he planned to feed the brain to the system.

“I don’t need that much gear…” Shen Ge muttered.

Deng Yuqi slammed the desk. “Don’t even think about cooking it! And no teaming up with Li Xiang for insane experiments. I won’t have a repeat of HQ’s ‘incident’ here!”

“Sure, sure.”

“Safety first! Do you two even have common sense?”

“Right, right.”

“…”

Infuriating.

“Go. Get. Checked. Now. Or I’ll have Feng Chengxiu drag you back to the hospital!” she barked.

Shen Ge bolted. As the door shut, it reopened—his head poking through. “So… any bonuses for this ‘monumental’ achievement?”

Deng Yuqi arched a brow. “How much?”

“Five million?” Shen Ge tossed out a figure.

“I’ll wire it.” She returned to her paperwork.

As the door closed, she heard him grumble, “Damn, I lowballed.”

Truthfully, HQ’s standard reward was a few hundred thousand, plus medals and certificates. But if Shen Ge needed funds—and the amount was reasonable—she’d make it happen.

After his Medical check-up, Shen Ge swung by Operations, where Chief Chen and Feng Chengxiu mobbed him.

Once confirming his recovery, Chief Chen—eyes glistening—clasped his hand, rambling about “hope for the department” and “a prodigy among us.”

Feng Chengxiu urged him to rest, assigning Zhang Hu, Zhao Long, Wang Han, and Ma Chao as his errand boys until he fully healed.

Others challenged him to sparring matches (“Bet you’ve leveled up after this!”) or drinks (“Can’t beat you in anomaly fights, but we’ll outdrink you!”).

Their boisterous concern warmed Shen Ge. Many genuinely cared about his well-being.

As for “leveling up”—his stats had inched up post-mission. Adversity truly bred growth.

Two hours later, Shen Ge retreated to his dorm. His phone—left on the bed—showed 999+ missed calls and messages.

Most were from Tang Jinze and Cheng Shengnan, followed by Deng Yuqi, Feng Chengxiu, and spam.

He called Tang Jinze back, blaming poor signal during a “business trip” for the radio silence.

Hanging up, he summoned the system interface, ready to test “No Exit Anomaly Zone’s” full capabilities—