Shen Ge thought there were two possibilities for the current situation. One was that this was an “ending” where humans and aberrations had annihilated each other, leaving the world devoid of any humans or aberrations, with even the aberrant energy detected in the air being extremely faint.
The second possibility, referencing the “future” of Sakurajima Island four years later, was that lower-level aberrations had been completely devoured by higher-level ones, or were being “farmed” as nutrients.
Comparing the two, Shen Ge felt the first possibility was more likely.
“Captain Shen, this is too strange. This is supposed to be the city center, but my phone has absolutely no signal.” Fang Yaori originally wanted to call his sister, Fang Mingyue, but his phone had no signal at all.
Fang Yaori wasn’t a formal member of the Special Strategy Department, so he hadn’t even undergone the most basic aberration training. He clearly didn’t know that most aberration spaces were in a “blocked” state.
“Stay here.” Shen Ge told Fang Yaori to stay put, planning to search the office area to see if he could find any clues.
“Huh?” Fang Yaori didn’t dare stay in this gloomy place, even though he had been here many times before.
Shen Ge said, “I’ve checked here; there’s no aberrant reaction. It should be safe. It’s more dangerous for you to follow me around.”
“But I…” Fang Yaori glanced at the bodies in the cabinet and subconsciously swallowed. Being in the same room as these things…
Shen Ge clearly didn’t give him much time to think. He directly left Fang Mingyue’s office and headed towards the Minister’s office to search.
Shen Ge had stayed here overnight before and had “conveniently” let Little Seven scout the way through blood spiders, so he was familiar with the place.
In less than half an hour, he had searched the lobby, office area, storage room, and other places. Apart from finding many bodies identical to those in Fang Mingyue’s office cabinet, hidden in cabinets and boxes, he found no living people or aberrations.
Shen Ge made his way deep into the “weapons depot.” Using corrupted blood tendrils, he pried open the locked iron door. As soon as it opened, with a loud “bang,” like opening an overstuffed closet, dried corpses with terrifying death throes tumbled out into the hallway.
Combined with other clues, it seemed like an aberration disaster had broken out. Some unarmed staff had sought shelter and crammed themselves into the most secure weapons depot.
Those who couldn’t make it in time hid in the office cabinets, only to be parasitized and have their organs and brains eaten alive.
“Master, I detect very faint aberrant energy fluctuations from these corpses.” Just as Shen Ge was about to leave, Little Seven suddenly reminded him.
Then, Little Seven controlled the corrupted blood tendrils to dig through the pile of corpses, pulling out two mangled bodies from the depths. Tearing them open, several fist-sized parasitic aberrations fell to the ground.
“Parasitic aberrations?” This was the first monster Shen Ge had encountered since entering the dream world. Curious, he squatted down to study them.
The bugs weren’t big, only fist-sized. They were similar to parasitic aberrations like spiders, scorpions, or facehuggers, but seemed smaller and weaker.
Little Seven extended its corrupted blood tendrils, wrapped them up, and crushed them into pulp. However, this “juicing” wasn’t just a morbid taste; it was a way to extract blood and tissue data for analysis.
“Reporting, Master. These parasitic aberrations haven’t existed for long. They don’t seem to have been here all along. They look more like newly born parasites, or bugs that crawled in through pipes, which absorbed the faint aberrant energy in the air and newly evolved into low-tier aberrations.” Little Seven reported after extracting and comparing data.
Shen Ge mused, “It seems that, for some reason, the aberrations that attacked this place either left or were eaten by larger aberrations, leaving only these newly born low-tier ones.”
Wait!
Shen Ge suddenly realized that new parasitic aberrations could potentially be born from all these corpses. Couldn’t new aberrations also appear from the ones in the previous rooms?
If we think about the timeline, changes shouldn’t have only started after we arrived. Perhaps new aberrations were born days, months, or even years ago. So where did they all go?
“Master, detecting a strong aberrant energy fluctuation approaching!” Just then, Little Seven suddenly detected aberrant energy fluctuations on the periphery of the office area, as if a high-tier aberration was approaching.
“Let’s go check it out!” Shen Ge immediately opened the office window, climbed out, and activated “Intangible,” following the direction Little Seven indicated.
……
……
Meanwhile, Fang Yaori, waiting for Shen Ge to return in Fang Mingyue’s office, was so scared he huddled behind the door, trying to stay as far away from the cabinet with the bodies as possible.
His nerves were frayed, terrified the bodies might suddenly “come back to life.” Although he had undergone freak modification and was now considered a “half-freak,” aside from having endless energy and slightly increased strength, he had never used his freak powers in a real fight. He was absolutely terrified.
“…”
“…”
Just then, Fang Yaori faintly heard a whispering sound from deep within the dark office corridor. It sounded somewhat like Shen Ge.
But the voice was very faint; he couldn’t make out what it was saying.
Fang Yaori cautiously approached the doorway, shining his flashlight into the dark corridor, but saw nothing.
“Captain Shen?”
“Is that you?”
There was no response from the depths of the corridor. After a while, a sound came, seemingly calling for Fang Yaori to come over.
Fang Yaori was about to step out of the office when he suddenly remembered Shen Ge’s instruction to stay inside. He quickly pulled his foot back.
Then something strange happened. The voice calling him from the corridor changed from a whispering male voice to a woman’s voice.
Even stranger, the calling voice gradually began to resemble his sister Fang Mingyue’s, becoming clearer and clearer from a faint whisper.
Although Fang Yaori was foolish, he wasn’t completely stupid. He realized something was wrong. After all, he hadn’t been able to contact his sister since arriving here, so how could he possibly hear her calling him?
Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump.
Just then, a faint knocking sound came from deep within the corridor, getting closer and closer, scaring Fang Yaori into backing away from the door.
But as he backed away from the door, moving further from it, he got closer to the cabinet with the bodies. He accidentally bumped into it, and a body fell out, landing right on top of him.
“Ah——”
Fang Yaori screamed in terror. Just then, a dark figure darted into the room and made a shushing gesture at him.
“Shen!”
Seeing it was Shen Ge, Fang Yaori’s heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled. He swallowed the word “Captain” and quietly retreated to the side.
Shen Ge leaned against the door, listening intently to the sounds from the corridor. Then he took a flashbang from his bloodskin backpack and tossed it down the hall.
But there was only a muffled thud. The flashbang was swallowed by the endless darkness without even emitting a spark.
“Reporting, Master. Detecting a very strong aberrant energy reaction in the office building. Aberrant energy intensity is still rising… Tier 3… Tier 4… Tier 5… Target’s aberrant energy intensity exceeds Tier 5!” Little Seven warned.
“Tsk. Looks like it really is similar to the ‘future’ situation in Sakurajima Island four years later. These high-tier aberrations, to avoid becoming food for top-tier aberrations, mostly lurk in the shadows or enter a dormant state, only waking up when ‘food’ enters their territory.”
Shen Ge guessed the reason Little Seven couldn’t detect this aberration’s energy fluctuation earlier was that it was dormant, its energy undetectable. And because it was “sleeping,” even the system, which was lower-tier, couldn’t scan a Tier 5 aberration in hibernation.
To verify his theory, Shen Ge immediately ordered the system to perform a “scan.” Sure enough, a huge red dot appeared on the [Map], and he was right in the middle of it.
Not only that, but several smaller red dots surrounded the huge one, rated around Tier 2-3. It was likely the approach of these smaller dots that had awakened this dormant “building aberration.”
Shen Ge finally understood why there were no slightly powerful aberrations nearby. This building aberration had devoured them all. Even the newly born parasitic aberrations inside its “belly” would probably be “digested” by it soon enough.
Just then, as the strange noises from the dark corridor grew closer, Shen Ge’s flashlight swept across the wall, faintly revealing a human face. The next second, this face opened a terrifying maw filled with rows upon rows of teeth, extending from the “lengthened” wall, lunging towards Shen Ge at the door.
Shen Ge stood calmly at the entrance, watching the giant mouth emerging from the wall bite towards him. Then he raised his hand and sprayed a stream of black aberrant flame.
“Whoosh!”
The aberrant flame exploded into a wave of fire inside the strange mouth, illuminating its interior. Those concentric rings of teeth were both disgusting and terrifying, like something from a deep-sea leviathan.
But hidden within the aberrant flame was a high-explosive aberrant energy bomb. Triggered by the flame, it detonated with a loud “Boom!”
Little Seven thoughtfully condensed a blood-colored shield from the red mist battle armor in front of Shen Ge, blocking him from the blast.
The freak merged with the building seemed enraged by Shen Ge. In the dark corridor, countless gaping maws kept extending. Even the floor of the office they were in began to undulate like a stomach lining.
Shen Ge backstepped to avoid a maw opening in the floor, then reached out, grabbing Fang Yaori by the shoulder. With his other hand, he extended it’s corrupted blood tendrils, smashed through the office glass, and leaped out of the building.
As they landed in the courtyard, a deafening “Rumble, rumble” echoed. The massive office building rose from the ground, transforming into a colossal “freak.”
“Damn! A mountain giant?” Fang Yaori was dumbfounded by the sight. If Shen Ge weren’t holding him up, he probably wouldn’t have been able to stand.
Shen Ge teased, “Not bad, kid. Still able to crack jokes at a time like this?”
Fang Yaori’s face crumpled. “Captain Shen, I wouldn’t dare! It’s just that this thing looks way too much like a mountain giant. The difference is, a mountain giant is a whole mountain buried underground; this thing is a whole building buried underground. Why does such a monster exist?”
Shen Ge explained, “Because freaks can wield aberrant abilities by absorbing the ‘fusion’ trait of aberrations. You received the freak cell transplant. If you increase your aberrant energy intensity, you could also fuse with non-living things, like houses, cars, etc.”
“No way! First mountain giants, and now there’s stuff like Transformers?” Fang Yaori felt his worldview crumbling after today.
“Wait!”
Fang Yaori suddenly realized a key point… What did Shen Ge just say? After his aberrant energy intensity increased, he could also fuse with non-living things?
“I… I’ll turn into a monster like that too?” Fang Yaori panicked.
Shen Ge’s mind flashed to the freak “Demon Car,” which fused with a vehicle. Compared to some peacekeeping Transformers, that thing was several grades lower. He believed Fang Yaori would rather turn into a “house” than something like that.
“Theoretically, yes. And as of now, accepting a freak cell transplant is irreversible.” Shen Ge said calmly.
Fang Yaori felt like crying. He finally understood why, when he first met Shen Ge and learned about his identity and the freak cell transplant, Shen Ge had called him stupid.
He had foolishly hoped to join the Special Strategy Department this way, to gain some face and return to the Fang family. But now, that hope seemed even more distant.
“Captain Shen, is there really no way?” Fang Yaori asked.
Shen Ge thought for a moment. “I don’t know the specifics of freak research at headquarters. But our Rong City branch has established a Freak Research Division. They’re trying to crack freak cells to develop an antibody that can turn freaks back into humans. If you’re willing, you can come back to the Rong City branch with me after this incident.”
“Ah, well… Okay, I’ll go with you!” Fang Yaori hesitated at first, but remembering his interactions with Shen Ge, gradually uncovering Director Chen’s group’s schemes, and his sister’s usual high regard for Shen Ge, he decided. Although he didn’t fully trust Shen Ge yet, he trusted his sister’s judgment.
Besides, he was going to be “studied” anyway. Being studied by someone “trustworthy” was better than being with people who had ill intentions from the start!
Shen Ge had actually recognized Fang Yaori’s “value” long ago. Although, through dealing with the Twelve Branches, he had sent back quite a few experimental subjects fused with artificial aberrant cells like “many heads, many arms,” those experimental subjects were, without exception, dead.
Having a “live experimental subject” like Fang Yaori, combined with the freak samples from Yun’er, might actually lead to developing an antibody agent to suppress freak aberration.
This was also why, even though Fang Yaori was a burden, Shen Ge was willing not only to bring him along but also to come back and save him when he was in danger. It’s worth noting that when Shen Ge first cooperated with Fang Mingyue, even she didn’t get such treatment.
The reason was simple: Fang Yaori’s greatest value was being studied as a “freak sample”!
