“Gulp.”
“Gulp.”
Shen Ge had never experienced such an intense hunger before. It gradually woke his groggy mind, and he sat up in bed with a start. His thoughts felt like mush; he could no longer tell if he was in reality or still in the dream world.
He wanted to raise a hand to rub his throbbing forehead, but realized he was still wearing the Red Mist Battle Armor. This immediately sharpened his senses a bit.
“Am I… back in reality?” Shen Ge took a deep breath. He vaguely remembered that after reaching the stairwell and seeing that disgusting, terrifying man-eating flower aberrant, his intense reaction to the anomalous energy had made him incredibly hungry. Step by step, he had walked towards that aberrant.
The closer he got, the fuzzier his consciousness became, until he was completely consumed by the maddening hunger inside him.
“So, in the end, did I eat that aberrant, or did that aberrant eat me?” Just swapping the subject and object made a huge difference in severity.
“Master, you’re awake?” At that moment, Xiao Qi(Little Seven)’s voice sounded in Shen Ge’s ear.
Shen Ge dismissed the Red Mist Battle Armor, leaned back against the headboard, and raised a hand to rub his head, which felt like it was splitting with pain. He asked casually, “How long did I sleep?”
“Reporting to Master, you slept for two days and seven hours. During that time, your Shifu’s wife came many times to ask about your condition. I made excuses, saying you were unwell. The food they brought, I also handled for you…” Xiao Qi briefly recounted what had happened over the past two days.
Besides Shifu’s wife frequently checking on him, Rong City had also called many times. Xiao Qi had chosen the most appropriate ways to handle everything.
“Did my body have any changes while I was unconscious for these two days?” Shen Ge asked.
Xiao Qi replied, “Reporting to Master, for the first two days, your body showed no particular changes. But four hours ago, I detected some anomalous energy reactions within you, and heard your stomach growling with hunger, like someone who hadn’t eaten for days. Just as I was considering whether to find a chance to get some nutrients to inject you with, you woke up.”
“Phew.” Shen Ge let out a long breath. He quickly ran through the experiences of this dream journey in his mind and indeed noticed many unusual things.
The most critical among them was the “hunger” he felt towards anomalous energy.
Thinking of this, Shen Ge suddenly asked, “By the way, did anything appear out of nowhere next to me while I was asleep? Like anomalous corpses or insect samples?”
Xiao Qi extended a blood-stained tentacle from her wristwatch, reached towards the bedside, picked up a dusty bag, and said, “Reporting, Master, at the moment you awoke, a ‘white light’ appeared beside you, and after it disappeared, only this bag and a body bag remained. I scanned it and found that it contained a large number of bizarre corpses and strange human samples.”
Shen Ge wasn’t surprised by the ability to bring things from the dream world into reality; this had already been verified in the Sakurajima “future.” However, there was a significant difference between the two.
When bringing things back from the Sakurajima “future,” Shen Ge’s physical body had also entered the anomalous space. The things he brought back were either carried on him or stored in his Blood Skin Backpack.
But this dream journey was different. Only Shen Ge’s “consciousness” had entered the dream world. This was like bringing something from a dream into reality upon waking—far more “absurd”!
Of course, if you view the dream world as a twisted world formed by the intermingling of countless outcomes from Earth 2, the “origin” of anomalous spaces, then everything made sense.
“Put them in the Blood Skin Backpack and monitor them along with the anomalous sleeping bag,” Shen Ge instructed.
Xiao Qi used her blood-stained tentacles to roll up the backpack and body bag: “Yes, Master.”
With the research materials brought back from the dream world dealt with, Shen Ge’s immediate task wasn’t to study them, but to handle the backlog of matters from the past two days.
First was Cheng Shengnan. Initially, her calls were to confirm Shen Ge’s safety and chat privately. But after Xiao Qi, pretending to be Shen Ge, replied that he was investigating the Ping An Hotel incident and was busy, Cheng Shengnan stopped calling proactively and switched to texting instead.
Second was Deng Yuqi. The fundamental purpose of Shen Ge’s trip was to investigate the Aberrant Association. Even Deng Yuqi wasn’t fully aware of this. She only knew Shen Ge had uncovered some issues related to aberrant organizations and traced the problem to the headquarters, so she came early to “scope things out” under the pretext of attending the Asia Anomaly Research Conference.
Therefore, Deng Yuqi’s calls had several purposes: first, to see how Shen Ge’s investigation was progressing and if he needed help; second, with the Asia Anomaly Research Conference approaching, she called to ask about personnel arrangements from Rong City—they couldn’t abandon their home base for this conference.
Of course, the most important was to confirm Shen Ge’s safety.
Besides Cheng Shengnan and Deng Yuqi, another relatively important contact over the past two days was Fang Mingyue. As Shen Ge’s biggest “support” in the capital, Fang Mingyue’s calls mainly updated him on the investigation progress at the Ping An Hotel and the movements of Sakura after they abducted Maple Blossom with Offerings.
The anomalous incident at the Ping An Hotel was very strange. The headquarters were also baffled. Firstly, the anomalous energy detectors in the hotel and surrounding area hadn’t detected any fluctuations or aberrant intrusion at the time of the incident. It was as if the whole anomalous event had appeared out of thin air.
Secondly, as the venue for the Asia Anomaly Research Conference, the importance and the level of attention from headquarters went without saying.
The previous capital anomaly disaster had essentially slapped the Special Policy Department twice, embarrassing the headquarters. They were determined not to let a similar situation happen again.
Therefore, they placed great importance on this research conference. Even if aberrant infiltration forces truly attempted to manipulate things secretly, the higher-ups wouldn’t easily let them succeed.
In short, the possibility of the Ping An Hotel incident being a “self-directed” act by the headquarters was very low. At least Fang Mingyue’s anomaly team, combined with Fang Lao’s investigation team, had worked overtime for two days without finding any clues linking it to the headquarters.
Honestly, Shen Ge wasn’t surprised by this outcome. Because once he confirmed that the anomalous space connected to the Ping An Hotel incident was linked to the dream world, he suspected it probably had nothing to do with the headquarters. He must have inadvertently triggered the “key” connecting to the dream world, causing the incident.
Knock knock.
Just as Shen Ge was replying to messages from several people, someone knocked on the door.
Shen Ge hadn’t shown his face for two days. Xiao Qi had not only refused the servants’ food deliveries but also rejected the doctor arranged by Shifu’s wife. This was inherently unusual.
However, Shifu’s wife knew what Shen Ge did for a living and vaguely guessed he might be “sneaking out” to handle anomalous incidents, making it inconvenient to show his face. So she had the servants guard the floor to keep people away.
But knowing this didn’t stop her from worrying about Shen Ge.
She and Chen Ke had no children. Deng Yuqi was like a daughter to them. Later, when Shen Ge joined the family, they also came to see him as a son.
“Shifu’s wife?” Shen Ge opened the door, and indeed, it was her standing outside.
Shifu’s wife instinctively glanced past him into the room, then looked at Shen Ge and asked tentatively, “You… haven’t had any problems these past two days, have you?”
Shen Ge knew she was worried. After a moment’s thought, he replied, “There’s nothing wrong with me physically, it’s just… the day before yesterday I received an encrypted message from the Rong City branch, asking me to…”
“Wait, you don’t need to tell me about work matters. As long as you’re okay. If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask.” Shifu’s wife said.
Shen Ge nodded: “I understand, thank you, Shifu’s wife.”
“Then you get some good rest.”
As Shifu’s wife was about to leave, Shen Ge called her back.
“Shifu’s wife, is the old lady… available to talk right now?”
Mentioning the old lady, Shifu’s wife’s expression darkened. She shook her head sadly: “Not good. Her health had more issues last night, her condition is unstable. We rushed her to the hospital. She’s in the intensive care unit now. If you…”
“My matter isn’t urgent. Let the old lady rest first. Once she’s better, I’ll visit her.” Shen Ge said.
Shifu’s wife nodded: “That’s good too. I need to get to the hospital now. Make yourself at home here, don’t be shy. I’ve instructed the servants; just tell them directly if you need anything.”
“Thank you, Shifu’s wife.”
Shifu’s wife said a few more things, then headed to the hospital.
Shen Ge’s original accommodation plan for this trip to the capital was the Ping An Hotel. After the incident, he stayed temporarily at Fang Mingyue’s branch, so he technically didn’t have a fixed place. He ended up staying at Shifu’s wife’s home.
That evening, Fang Mingyue called again. However, neither the investigation into the Ping An Hotel incident, nor the situation with Sakura abducting Maple Blossom with Offerings, nor even the hidden Aberrant Association, was progressing smoothly.
Shen Ge instead comforted Fang Mingyue, telling her not to worry too much. If the aberrant organization was behind this, their target would naturally be this year’s Asia Anomaly Research Conference. Unless the headquarters announced its cancellation, the aberrant organization would definitely strike again.
And as Shen Ge said, the headquarters hadn’t given up on holding the conference. It signified the Great Celestial Dynasty’s position as the core of Asian anomaly-fighting organizations.
With the Ping An Hotel incident, they simply moved the venue. They temporarily arranged an office building from the First Department as the new venue and reorganized everything, announcing that the conference would proceed as scheduled.
Which was… two weeks later.
Shen Ge hung up the phone, leaned back against the headboard, and rubbed his forehead. He felt there was something off about this Asia Anomaly Research Conference, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint the problem.
Since the exposure of anomalies, anomaly-fighting departments in every country had risen in prominence, leaping to become the top national departments. Concurrently, a nation’s anomaly-fighting capability had become a reflection of its “national power.”
Leaving aside the standardized eight-piece anomalous energy gear of the Rong City branch, even the headquarters’ development to a standardized five-piece set placed their anomaly-fighting power among the world’s best.
Therefore, holding the Asia Anomaly Research Conference served two purposes: first, to solidify their position as the top dog in Asia; second, genuinely wanting to contribute to global anomaly-fighting efforts by “sharing” some experiences.
Arguably, after this conference, even international anomaly-fighting organizations wouldn’t have a say in Asian anomaly affairs. The Great Celestial Dynasty would have complete control.
“Gulp.”
“Gulp.”
Just as Shen Ge was deep in thought, his stomach growled with hunger again. He casually took two emergency rations from the Blood Skin Backpack, intending to tide himself over.
Strangely, looking at the compressed biscuits and canned rations, he felt no appetite at all.
Since becoming an anomaly agent and being constantly on the front lines, Shen Ge, except when eating with Cheng Shengnan, usually prioritized saving time, eating whatever was convenient.
So, when busy, emergency rations became his “staple food.” That’s why his Blood Skin Backpack was always stocked with many emergency food items and instant noodles.
But the strange thing was, why, despite being clearly hungry, even to the point of his stomach growling, did he have no appetite for the food in his hand?
“Gulp.”
“Gulp.”
The hunger sounds from his stomach seemed to be getting louder, and in a daze, they even sounded somewhat similar to the characteristic swallowing sounds of anomalies.
Shen Ge tore open a pack of compressed biscuits and brought it to his mouth. Before taking a bite, he felt a vague sense of “nausea,” as if what he held wasn’t a biscuit, but something disgusting.
Shen Ge frowned. After a brief thought, he put down the biscuit. Then, he took an anomalous energy canister from the Blood Skin Backpack and took a sudden, deep inhale.
“Ah—”
Shen Ge let out a long breath. As the anomalous energy entered his body, he felt refreshed and clear-headed. It was like someone suffocating suddenly breathing fresh air, someone thirsty for days in the desert suddenly finding a bottle of water, or someone starving for days getting a life-saving bun.
Yes, a bun.
Shen Ge inhaled a large amount of anomalous energy. Although it vaguely had a “filling” effect, the feeling was like a person in extreme hunger suddenly eating a delicious bun.
But as delicious as a bun might be, it was still just a bun.
It could fill the stomach, but only just fill the stomach.
“Xiao Qi, check my physical data…” Shen Ge put down the canister and said.
Xiao Qi immediately controlled the Red Mist Battle Armor to attach, then used the enhanced physical condition monitoring system upgraded by Li Xiang to perform a scan.
Originally, this system was meant to monitor Shen Ge’s injuries during combat, but Shen Ge had always used it for self-scans.
“Reporting to Master, your body shows no abnormalities,” Xiao Qi replied.
“No abnormalities?” Shen Ge frowned. Although inhaling from the canister had somewhat alleviated his hunger, this strange way of satiating himself also weighed heavily on his mind.
Anomalies and aberrants experiencing prolonged “hunger states” isn’t about their need for food, but their body’s response to the instinct to feed after alienation.
Secondly, anomalous energy influences the alienation of anomalies and aberrants; it’s a requirement for their “evolution.” That’s why anomalies often make “gulp gulp” swallowing sounds when they spot a target.
The system originated from a progenitor anomalous cell. Its fusion with Shen Ge turned him into a half-human, half-anomaly state. So, it wouldn’t be surprising if anomalous traits appeared one day.
And now, Shen Ge was gradually showing signs of a “need” for anomalous energy. This also meant the progenitor anomalous cell was gradually becoming dominant within his body!
In other words, his physical “aberrantization” was worsening.
“Phew. This joke’s gone too far.”
Thinking this, Shen Ge’s heart sank further. Verifying his suspicion was simple.
He took a bottle containing a living parasitic-type anomaly from the Blood Skin Backpack, opened the lid, and picked out a plump, fleshy “silkworm-like creature,” bringing it before his eyes—
“Gulp.”
“Gulp.”
The characteristic swallowing sound of an anomaly echoed from Shen Ge’s abdomen.
