Under the gloomy sky, on the fog-shrouded streets, a three-to-five-meter-tall “hand” ran rampant. Even Shen Ge found this somewhat absurd.
Even though they were now in an era where anomalies ran wild, and the foundation of anomalies lay in “non-human” creatures, the hand ahead was clearly a human hand.
Just as Shen Ge was mentally complaining the hand, he received an even more ridiculous prompt from the System.
[Host is currently in close proximity to a 5th-stage anomaly, located at the anomaly energy convergence center of multiple overlapping anomaly spaces. Detection indicates the host’s current strength is no match for these 5th-stage anomalies. Reckless engagement will inevitably lead to imminent death, beyond rescue, certain doom, inescapable peril, and a slim chance of survival. Please cherish your life and flee immediately!]
“…”
The long-lost literary nonsense from the System, capped off with “a slim chance of survival.” For a moment, Shen Ge didn’t know where to even begin complaint.
One thing was certain: after leaving the hotel, Shen Ge and Fang Mingyue were still trapped within multiple overlapping anomaly spaces. The good news was they were temporarily free from the influence of the “Misfortune” anomaly domain. The bad news was… according to the System’s prompt, there should be quite a few “4-years-later 5th-stage” anomalies present here.
It was like the screen was filled with small fry, with plenty of 2nd and 3rd-stage elites mixed in. Shen Ge and Fang Mingyue’s plan to reach Tokyo Tower quickly had fallen through.
“System, perform an anomaly energy scan.”
[Initiating scan of multiple overlapping anomaly spaces.][Scanning——]
[Current number of overlapping anomaly space layers: 7]
Shen Ge glanced at the [Map]. It was a dense sea of red, making it impossible to distinguish the parasitized individuals from the actual anomalies.
“Can you filter out the parasitized individuals and low-stage anomalies?” Shen Ge asked.
[Now marking high-stage anomalies in the current area——]
After the System rescanned the multiple anomaly spaces, within the area covering the entire block centered on Shen Ge, the densely packed small red dots disappeared, leaving only some larger red dots and red markers the size of fingernails.
“So you can filter out parasitized individuals and low-stage anomalies.” Shen Ge had been complaining the System inside the hotel for not being as practical as Little Seven, thinking the inability to filter low-stage anomalies made the [Map] function a useless sea of red.
He never expected the System had a filtering function; it just needed Shen Ge to request it actively.
“Tch, no update announcement after an upgrade. Negative review.” Yet, the System still held no high status in Shen Ge’s eyes; he could easily find ten or eight flaws to pick on.
However, with the [Map] System’s markings, Shen Ge could now roughly see the locations of the high-stage anomalies. The “five-fingered maiden” running under the setting sun was one of the seven fingernail-sized markers.
“Seven layers of anomaly spaces, and this is just the initial stage of the outbreak. No wonder it became a critical node in the [Logs], and even the latest [Logs] couldn’t find an effective solution.” Shen Ge zoomed in on the [Map]. Besides the anomalous hand, another high-stage anomaly was located behind the collapsed hotel.
Fang Mingyue, seeing Shen Ge observing the collapsed hotel, instinctively looked over as well and immediately spotted a massive shape moving towards them through the heavy fog.
“Investigator Shen, look in the fog! Something seems to be coming this way!” Fang Mingyue exclaimed in surprise.
Shen Ge had also noticed the colossal figure in the fog. From a distance, the monster appeared at least twenty meters tall, somewhat similar to the 3rd-stage anomalies from the Capital Anomaly Disaster.
As the giant anomaly approached, the ground shook with heavy “thuds.”
“Let’s go.” Shen Ge judged a safe position based on the giant anomaly’s path and directed Fang Mingyue to hide with him inside a shop.
Two minutes later, the giant anomaly strode past, its massive legs stepping over the shop.
Looking up from beneath the giant anomaly, its limbs alone were over ten meters long. But their length and thickness relative to its body size made it seem like an emaciated person.
From its huge torso extended countless tentacles, which continuously scooped up parasitized individuals and low-stage anomalies along its path, stuffing them into its mouth.
“Judging by its size, it should be at least a 3rd-stage anomaly… At this rate of consumption, it will probably mutate to the 4th stage before long,” Shen Ge said gravely.
“Should we stop it from eating more? What do you need me to do?” Fang Mingyue asked, her tone suggesting she wouldn’t hesitate even if Shen Ge asked her to climb a mountain of blades or plunge into a sea of fire.
Just as Shen Ge was contemplating how to deal with this giant anomaly, it confronted the running anomalous hand.
Anomalies consuming their own kind could rapidly digest the other’s anomaly energy, the fastest way to cause mutation. Therefore, for anomalies, the allure of their own kind far exceeded that of ordinary life forms.
Both the giant anomaly and the anomalous hand were 5th-stage anomalies from four years in the future, so it was no surprise they focused on each other.
“They…” Fang Mingyue was surprised that two high-stage anomalies had confronted each other so easily.
“Perfect. We’ll wait for them to weaken each other, then reap the rewards.” In situations like this, the utility of Shen Ge’s System’s Devour ability became apparent.
Fang Mingyue noticed the fog around the fighting anomalies was growing thicker. “Investigator Shen, the fog in the air seems denser.”
“I suspect one of these two is the anomaly creating this heavy fog. Hiding in thick fog is a common tactic for anomalies. It’s probably… the big one. Look, the giant anomaly came from the direction of the hotel ruins. As it moves this way, the heavy fog ‘moves’ with it,” Shen Ge pointed out.
Reminded by Shen Ge, Fang Mingyue noticed the mass of heavy fog seemed to envelop the giant anomaly, moving forward with it. Thinking about it, it made sense; only a large target like this giant anomaly would need thick fog for concealment.
“Investigator Shen, over there, another one!” As the distant fog thinned slightly, Fang Mingyue immediately spotted another colossal figure emerging from behind a distant building.
The anomaly’s crimson eyes were particularly conspicuous. Seemingly attracted by the battle between the giant anomaly and the hand, it began striding towards them with massive steps.
“Well, well, is this a family reunion for Cthulhu?” Shen Ge looked at the large anomaly covered in tentacles and felt a strong urge to complaint that it was like a family gathering.
“What should we do now?” Fang Mingyue asked.
Shen Ge glanced at the [Map]. Influenced by the battle between the giant anomaly and the hand, more and more anomalies were gathering in this direction.
It was now clear the fog and the figures were problematic. But Shen Ge’s skill made him bold. Faced with such an eerie scene, instead of thinking about how to extricate himself, he actually pursued the figures.
He even deactivated both “Invisible + Silent,” waiting for the figures to catch up.
Initially, the distance between Shen Ge and the figures was about seven or eight meters. But after walking for a full five minutes, the distance remained four or five meters.
“Did I accidentally enter a distorted space again?” Shen Ge frowned slightly, recalling that spatial distortion seemed to be the anomaly domain ability of the three-headed, six-armed artificial anomaly like “Liu Zongrui.” Could it be… someone from the Twelve Branches was hiding in the shadows, using the anomalous fog to activate this ability?
Just then, Shen Ge noticed the silhouette of the figure directly ahead was becoming clearer. As it clarified, the surrounding figures gradually dissipated.
The “freak” before him was continuously approaching Shen Ge. With each approach, Shen Ge felt the surrounding temperature drop.
This freak was far more powerful than those in the hotel!
Shen Ge stood his ground, already covering himself with the full-body Rotten Flesh Armor. The butcher’s cleaver was simultaneously delivered into his hand by a tentacle extended by Little Seven.
Although Shen Ge had stopped moving, the tentacles extended by Little Seven continued to stretch forward, attempting to locate the freak’s true position.
Half a minute later, having extended the rotten flesh tentacles to their maximum range of 20 meters, Little Seven successfully made contact with the freak’s location.
Through “scanning,” Little Seven quickly transmitted the freak’s image back.
The freak was similar to the three-meter-tall one Fang Mingyue encountered in the “intestinal” corridor, covered in black hide armor covered with barbs, crimson eyes, and a mouth taking up half its face, making it look ferocious and terrifying.
Even more terrifying was that this freak possessed the “Three Heads, Six Arms” Trait characteristic of the Twelve Branches squad leaders. It had three heads and six arms!
Shen Ge continued standing guard but had already activated the “Crimson Mist Form” of the Rotten Flesh Armor. Gripping the butcher’s cleaver, he slowly retracted the extended rotten flesh tentacles to gauge the freak’s position.
The freak was closing in, and the System kept warning Shen Ge to retreat.
But Shen Ge waited quietly.
Waiting for the right moment to strike!
Ten seconds later, judging through the rotten flesh tentacles that the freak had entered the optimal attack range, Shen Ge chose to strike from this distance to ensure success.
Domain of Stillness!
Entering “bullet time,” everything around Shen Ge slowed down. The anomaly energy generated by the expanding anomaly domain clashed with the heavy fog, causing the space near the affected area of the Stillness Domain to twist and distort violently, as if torn by two powerful hands from different sources!
At that moment, Shen Ge appeared behind the freak, his butcher’s cleaver slashing down hard at its neck!
Thwack—
The sharp cleaver cut through the black hide armor covered in anomaly energy, as if severing the freak’s blood vessels. In the next instant, black blood sprayed out!
“Gurgle!”
“Gurgle!”
The freak’s remaining two heads simultaneously emitted deafening swallowing sounds. But Shen Ge had long been prepared for an all-out attack.
He wouldn’t strike unless he was sure not to let the freak escape!
While the cleaver severed one head, the Anomaly Stomach devoured another. Little Seven mobilized all its tentacles, tightly coiling around the freak’s remaining head and six arms, buying time for Shen Ge.
After Shen Ge cut off one head, he immediately cooperated with Xiao Qi to deal with the other head. The monster broke free from the restraints of the rotten tentacles and hugged Shen Ge with six arms at the same time.
But the next moment, the arms were blocked by an invisible barrier. Unable to trap the opponent with his anomaly domain, Shen Ge immediately changed position.
“Collapse!”
Shen Ge seamlessly switched anomaly domains. The moment the Invisible Domain unfolded, the freak was already plummeting downward. After this set of “combos,” the three heads and six arms were reduced to just two heads.
For the final one, Shen Ge controlled the Anomaly Stomach to give a powerful tug and slash, resolving it smoothly.
[Host has eliminated a 5th-stage anomaly. Rewarding System Points x1000, F-grade Supplies x3. The anomaly corpse can be sold for System Points to draw various equipment and items.]
[Selling 5th-stage anomaly – Value 3000 System Points.]
Another 3000 System Points entered his account. Shen Ge’s gaze immediately swept towards the faintly visible figures in the distance, clearly intending to take this opportunity to farm a good amount of points!
…
…
While Shen Ge was “trapped” in the heavy fog zone of the multiple anomaly spaces, several international anti-anomaly organization rescue teams that had set off by sea also entered the inland sea area of the Kawashina Ward.
Due to the storm influenced by “Misfortune” not yet subsiding, only four of the six rescue vessels successfully entered the designated area; the remaining two had to turn back.
However, soon, Japan’s big brother, the United States, demonstrated its due capability by deploying a submarine patrolling nearby. At this point, Japan had no time to question why their big brother had quietly stationed a submarine near the inland sea; they just wanted to get the international anti-anomaly organization personnel into Tōkō City as soon as possible to jointly resolve the anomaly disaster.
The rescue agents sent by these two international anti-anomaly organizations initially thought taking the submarine would allow them to smoothly bypass the storm zone and reach the designated landing point.
Little did they know that not only did they fail to pass through the storm zone, but the submarine also got trapped in the inland sea area next to Kawashina Ward due to the influence of an anomaly space.
With storms above and anomaly spaces below, the American soldiers were on the verge of tears.
The only solution was to find the anomaly hidden in the sea and use anomaly energy equipment to create a spatial distortion, allowing the submarine to escape safely.
After the Capital Special Response Department developed the latest “Anomaly Energy Detector,” the international anti-anomaly organization purchased a few at a high price.
One of the two teams on this submarine was essentially the “private army” of the international anti-anomaly organization, so the team leader was equipped with an anomaly energy detector.
Guided by the detector, the submarine quickly pinpointed the location of the deep-sea anomaly creating the anomaly space.
The good news was the detector indicated this deep-sea anomaly’s energy level was between 2nd and 3rd-stage, not yet mutated to the 3rd stage.
The bad news was…
This anomaly was a bit large. So large that, looking through the submarine’s forward detection periscope, they couldn’t see its end at first glance. It resembled a terrifying giant fish, with six round eyes on its head. The sharp teeth in its enormous mouth were each dozens of meters long.
One bite from it could swallow more than half the submarine.
The submarine commander and deputy commander exchanged glances, both swallowing hard subconsciously. An opponent of this size… wouldn’t they need Japan’s national treasure, Godzilla, to handle it?
Now that the anomaly creating the anomaly space was found, only two choices remained. First, be trapped to death in the anomaly space, or hope this giant deep-sea anomaly gets bored and leaves on its own, allowing the submarine to escape the anomaly space.
Second, fight it!
However, not to mention the international anti-anomaly organization, even looking across all the world’s anti-anomaly departments, only the Great Celestial Empire had experience fighting deep-sea anomalies.
And during the defense of the Haiya Research Institute back then, the Celestial Empire’s Special Response Department also suffered countless casualties just to barely drive the deep-sea anomaly away.
Yes, that’s right – “drive away,” not “kill”!
Although the giant deep-sea anomaly before them was only hovering on the edge of 3rd-stage mutation, essentially still at 2nd-stage strength, having the anti-anomaly agents in the submarine fight it in diving suits wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth, let alone defeat it.
For a moment, the anti-anomaly agents in the submarine couldn’t reach a decision. The submarine commander also didn’t dare to launch torpedoes recklessly.
And so, a submarine and a giant fish found themselves in a stalemate dozens of meters apart in the deep sea.
For everyone in the submarine, the only consolation was that the submarine had ample resources, enough to sustain them for several months.
Just as everyone thought they would have to wait it out with the deep-sea anomaly, one anti-anomaly agent suddenly subdued the submarine commander, threatening him to order a torpedo attack on the anomaly.
The commander, faced with immediate death versus potential death, chose the latter and ordered the launch of torpedoes. Instantly, all the missiles stored on the submarine were fired.
The explosions and the resulting waves immediately attracted the attention of the other anti-anomaly agents. When they rushed to the control room, they found all the American soldiers there, including the two commanders, killed by that agent.
“Amir, have you gone mad?” a teammate from the same international organization shouted angrily at the blood-soaked agent.
The agent named Amir licked the blood off his face, revealing a ferocious grin. Then he twisted his neck. Fist-sized red pustules bulged on both sides of his neck, growing slowly, rupturing, and sprouting two new heads.
One of these heads would be unmistakably familiar to any anti-anomaly agent from the Great Celestial Empire’s Rong City branch – it was the chief culprit behind the previous attack on the branch:
Twelve Branches, Yin Tiger!
This time, the head in the middle, the Caucasian “Amir’s” head, seemed demonically transformed, emitting a dense black mist, its features becoming twisted and grotesque.
That head looked like a mutated anomaly’s head, with a protruding part on the forehead, like bulging bone, forming the character “王” (Wáng – King).
Amidst a series of bone-cracking sounds, four new arms, thick as thighs, sprouted from his body. His entire form swelled up like the Hulk transforming, resembling a muscular monster.
At that moment, the deep-sea anomaly in front of the submarine, thoroughly enraged by the torpedoes, emitted a terrifying swallowing sound, opened its massive maw, and bit down towards the submarine!