An explosion occurred while inspectors were examining the Tier-2 “Two Heads, Four Arms” corpse, followed by the body igniting in eerie black aberration flames.

Fortunately, the three inspectors suffered only minor injuries and were sent to the medical department. Director Deng Yuqi immediately ordered the inspection area sealed off.

By the time Shen Ge and the others returned to the Special Response Division (SRD) with the remains of Xu, Li Xiang and the tech team were already petitioning Deng for access to the inspection area.

“Investigator Shen!”

“Investigator Shen!”

Several technicians noticed Shen Ge approaching with a large, fleshy blood sack and called out to him.

Deng Yuqi and Li Xiang also turned their attention toward him, their eyes locking onto the grotesque sack in his hand.

“Old Shen, is that… an aberration?” Li Xiang asked, eyeing the sack.

Shen Ge tossed it onto the ground. “This sack is made from the blood-red arms those people grow. Inside are the remains of a core member of their organization. The danger level isn’t much lower than the previous corpse, and I suspect he might not even be fully dead yet.”

“Oh? Then we definitely need to study this!” Far from being alarmed, Li Xiang’s excitement spiked, instantly forgetting about the corpse in the inspection room.

Deng Yuqi immediately raised a hand to stop Li Xiang from grabbing the sack. “Hold on! Have you already forgotten what just happened in inspection? Shen Ge, contain this thing at Tier-3 aberration standards first. The tech team can take over only after confirming it’s safe.”

“Director, this is a golden research opportunity. If we miss it—” Li Xiang tried to argue, but Shen Ge cut in.

“Tier-3 containment might not be enough. I recommend using the highest containment level our branch currently has.”

Deng Yuqi frowned. Theoretically, the Rong City branch could handle Tier-4 or even Tier-5 aberrations—but only theoretically, since they’d never actually contained a live Tier-4 for testing.

Each escalation in containment level demanded exponentially more energy and resources. A Tier-4’s consumption could match the combined daily expenditure of all lower-tier aberrations in the entire branch.

“Is it really that troublesome?” Deng asked.

Though Xu hadn’t displayed the destructive power typical of a Tier-5—or even a Tier-4 like “Unyielding”—Shen Ge wasn’t taking any chances, especially since the system had labeled him as such.

“Yes,” Shen Ge replied seriously.

Trusting his judgment, Deng nodded after a brief pause. “Deploy technicians for quasi-Tier-5 containment. Officially classify it as Tier-4, but prepare for Tier-5. Monitor it 24/7, and if data fluctuates, immediately upgrade the containment measures.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The containment team sprang into action, assisting Shen Ge with the procedure.

By the time Shen Ge finished, Li Xiang had already “moved in” to the underground containment room. If not for the reinforced blast-proof glass, he might’ve locked himself inside with Xu.

“Was I right? Are these guys—like the one upstairs—mutated using parasitic aberrations similar to the Ghost Car?” Li Xiang grabbed Shen Ge before he could leave, eyes gleaming.

Shen Ge nodded. “According to them, they’re part of an organization called the Twelve Branches, whose members are artificial aberrations created through human experimentation. From what I’ve seen so far, they can all grow arms from their clothes. Not sure if it’s an aberration gear effect or their own ability.”

“Tsk, shame the director won’t let me research yet. A few experiments would’ve confirmed whether it’s gear or biology,” Li Xiang lamented.

Shen Ge warned, “Be careful. When I confronted them today, they seemed to know about you. And they’re very interested.”

“If they let me dissect them, I’d join in a heartbeat,” Li Xiang said, practically salivating.

“You might wanna keep that to yourself unless you want Director Deng to confine you to the tech department forever. Oh, and assign a few teams to watch you.”

“Whatever. I practically live here anyway.”

“…”

Usually, Shen Ge was the one who killed conversations. The only person who could leave him speechless was probably Li Xiang.

While Li Xiang stayed underground observing Xu, Shen Ge returned to the inspection area. After suiting up in full-body armor, he entered the building to assist Lin Yin with cleanup.

Inside the inspection room, he found a giant white “bear” crouched beside a workbench, using oversized tweezers to collect aberration-marked flesh chunks and unidentified objects.

“Investigator Shen, you’re here.” Lin Yin, clad in a white hazmat suit, turned at the sound of footsteps. The sight of her holding a containment bag in one hand, giant tweezers in the other, and a mini aberration detector around her neck was… bizarre.

Shen Ge asked, “Has anyone ever told you… your hazmat suit looks like the Hulkbuster armor?”

“Pretty cool, right?” Lin Yin flexed.

“Very cool.”

Cool as a polar bear.

With Shen Ge’s ability to detect faint aberration energy, the “recovery” work became much smoother.

After collecting all remains of the Tier-2 aberration, Deng Yuqi—playing it safe—ordered Tier-3 containment first. Only after confirming safety would the tech team take over.

By the time they finished, it was past midnight. But given the emergence of a shadowy organization dabbling in human experimentation and artificial aberrations, an emergency meeting was unavoidable.

Even Shen Ge, who loathed meetings, couldn’t skip this one as the head of the operations department.

Once all Rong City branch higher-ups, four aberration investigators, and department leads had gathered, Deng’s assistants Xiao Zhang and Cheng Shengnan distributed reports on the night’s events and current intel.

Normally, Xiao Zhang would present first, followed by discussion. But whether due to Cheng Shengnan’s exceptional competence or other reasons, she took the lead this time.

“First, these are images from three hidden cameras at Investigator Shen’s doorstep. The intruder located all three in under a minute.”

“These shots show him finding the cameras and covering the lenses with gum. Clearly, he didn’t care about being seen.”

“This is reconstructed audio from a Bluetooth earpiece found in the corpse’s remains. Only partial recovery was possible.”

“Inside Investigator Shen’s home, only the smart lock captured brief footage. But audio from the door device, once restored, revealed some dialogue.”

“—The intruder encountered multiple traps inside.”

Here, Cheng Shengnan paused, and the entire room turned to stare at Shen Ge with mixed expressions.

Shen Ge maintained a straight face. “As a seasoned investigator in a special department, setting up minor traps at home to deter spies is… perfectly reasonable, no?”

Reasonable my ass!

Everyone internally screamed. What kind of investigator plants bombs at home? If not for your status, YOU’D be the spy!

Deng Yuqi sighed. “Bear with him. Investigator Shen has severe persecution delusions. I knew this before he joined. Assistant Cheng, proceed.”

Cheng Shengnan moved on, detailing the night’s operation until Shen Ge’s confrontation with Xu in the parking garage, where their conversation was relayed to Deng via comms.

“Currently, this Twelve Branches organization is directly linked to the Welcome Society attack in Korea and the corpse theft at Nanhu Community.”

“Members wear identical black hoodies with red embroidery corresponding to the Twelve Earthly Branches.”

“The deceased was Xu, the rescuer was Hai, and based on Investigator Shen’s recollection, the Korea and Nanhu attacks occurred between 10-11 AM—likely the work of Si.”

“The intruder killed at Investigator Shen’s home had the character ‘Ke’ embroidered. As a subdivision of the Earthly Branches, this suggests either a low-ranking member or a recruit.”

“Thus, the Twelve Branches likely has more than twelve members.”

Deng added gravely, “This group is highly covert. We had zero prior intel. From the dialogue, they’re intensely interested in recruiting Investigator Shen and Director Li. Additionally, they may possess knowledge about aberrations’ origins.”

Cheng Shengnan switched slides to display Xu’s remains alongside a question:

“Why can all Earth’s lifeforms mutate—except humans?”

Deng continued, “This question, posed during Xu’s recruitment attempt, has haunted SRD researchers for a decade. It may hold the key to aberrations’ origins. The Twelve Branches seem to have answered it, enabling human-aberration fusion.”

“Wait, Director.” Tech Department Head Zhang stood. “From Investigator Shen’s report, their blood/black arms emerge from their clothes, not sleeves. How do we know it’s not aberration gear?”

“Right. If the clothing itself is gear, that’d explain it,” Section Chief Chen agreed.

As a survivor of HQ’s past experiment disaster, he’d witnessed volunteers devoured by berserk aberrations, morphing into flesh monsters.

Deng nodded to Cheng Shengnan. “Pull up Director Li’s latest report. Director Li, address their concerns.”

The screen shifted to Li Xiang’s research on the Ghost Car and parasitic aberrations.

Grudgingly, Li Xiang stood. He’d rather be researching the corpses than wasting time in meetings, but orders were orders.

He reiterated his earlier discussion with Shen Ge about the red tumors in parasitic aberrations and the Twelve Branches members, speculating that HQ’s old project might’ve continued covertly.

Chen slammed the table, furious. “Bastards! Absolute bastards! Wasn’t the lesson bloody enough? How many soldiers and researchers died in that disaster? And they kept going?”

Deng intervened, “Chen, calm down. This is just preliminary suspicion. Per Shen Ge’s suggestion, I’ve escalated this to HQ leadership. Their response—and these operatives’ actions—suggest they’re likely unaware.”

“Unaware or not, letting this data leak to criminals is their fault!” Chen fumed.

But the meeting wasn’t about HQ’s incompetence. After venting, Chen proposed a multi-branch investigation into the Twelve Branches.

Then, a Rong City officer asked, “Since they want Shen Ge and Director Li, why not have Shen Ge fake defection? Plant a tracker, then wipe them out.”

The idea sparked debate. Shen Ge himself seemed intrigued.

Cheng Shengnan adjusted her glasses, pulling up footage of Shen Ge’s hidden cameras.

“These three military-grade cameras—from top global manufacturers, one supplying the U.S. military—are typically used in stealth drones. Their anti-detection tech is cutting-edge, unbuyable at any price.”

“Yet a low-ranking Twelve Branches member found all three in under a minute. For this plan to work, we’d need tracking tech beyond this level.”

Officer Zhao, who’d proposed the plan, flushed. As head of tracking tech, he recognized one camera as China’s most advanced model.

If a grunt saw through these, infiltrating their base undetected seemed impossible.

Deng massaged her temples. She’d opposed the plan from the start, but hearing “unbuyable” made her wonder where Shen Ge had gotten them.

“Uh… That second model—the one tied to the U.S. military supplier—isn’t that their last-year prototype? We had tech exchanges; it’s not for sale. Investigator Shen, how’d you get it?” a deputy tech director asked.

“I have a friend…” Shen Ge began, only to be met with skeptical stares.

He sighed. “This time, it’s true. An orphanage buddy, He Dongli, works there.”

“Really?” The deputy’s eyes lit up. “Can you get us one to study?”

“I’ll try.”

Deng cut in, “It’s late. Back on topic. Chen, coordinate with other branches for the investigation. Tech and inspection teams, monitor the two corpses—no research until safety is confirmed. Shen Ge and Lin Yin, intensify city patrols. Stay vigilant—we cannot let these aberration-wielding criminals disrupt our city!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The meeting adjourned near 2 AM.

Returning to their dorm, Shen Ge draped an arm around Cheng Shengnan.

“If the Twelve Clowns found my info and home, they’re competent. They might’ve already dug up our connection and sent people to your place. If you need to go back for anything, take me or an ops team. Don’t go alone.”

Cheng Shengnan nodded. “Understood. Don’t worry—I won’t risk putting you in a tough spot.”

“Good awareness. By the way, you were stellar today. Fitting for ‘Boss Cheng.’” Shen Ge teased.

She smiled. “All thanks to your leadership. So, boss, would you like to shower before bed, or…?”

“Ah, right. I’m the boss now. Well, rookie, need a shower?”

Cheng Shengnan sniffed her sleeve. “We had hotpot. No lingering smell, but a shower’s nicer. I take long, so you go first?”

“Ah—!”

Before she could finish, Shen Ge scooped her up and headed for the bathroom. “Let’s save time. As your boss, isn’t workplace harassment perfectly reasonable?”

“Get lost!“

Resistance was futile. What was already a lengthy shower became much longer.

And far more exhausting.

[Congratulations on surviving another day in an aberration-riddled world. Reward: 1% free attribute points, 10 system points.]

[April 8, 2028: While forming an elite team, the SRD requested HQ backup. Recognizing Rong City’s crisis, HQ dispatched two veteran investigators with five aberration gear pieces.]

[Meanwhile, the “Sakura” faction sought solutions for Takaguchi City’s disasters. Losing the Tier-6 at Quanlong Mountain stripped their leverage against the Tier-8, forcing them to seek high-tier corpses elsewhere.]

[With only a few nations (e.g., the U.S.) holding such corpses, Sakura agents in Rong City were gradually withdrawn.]

[After your intel, the SRD decided to apprehend a few for interrogation.]

Reading the latest [Log], Shen Ge wondered—could the Twelve Branches be behind the global aberration crisis in three years?

In the original timeline, without the system or SRD involvement, they might’ve gone unnoticed.

But now, with his actions drawing their attention…

Does the Twelve Branches even exist in the future?

He sighed. Though “paywalled spoilers” were annoying, he really wanted to peek at the next few days’ logs.

Can this “elite team” really handle “Unyielding”?

Cheng Shengnan, asleep, nestled closer, disrupting his thoughts. Giving up, Shen Ge hugged her and drifted off.

The next day, Cheng Shengnan delivered a compiled Twelve Branches dossier to Deng Yuqi.

As Deng reviewed it, Cheng Shengnan stifled a yawn. Though unseen, Deng’s sharp senses caught her breath.

“SRD used to be low-key, but recent months’ surge in incidents has multiplied workloads. Now this ‘Twelve Branches’… Well, this is just the beginning. As a newcomer, don’t push yourself. Rest when needed.”

“Thank you, Director. I just wanted the report ready for Section Chief Chen’s cross-branch investigation. Old design-review habits die hard—I lost track of time.”

She couldn’t exactly say the report was easy but dealing with an insatiable beast at home wasn’t.

Deng closed the file. “Excellent work. You’re overqualified as Xiao Zhang’s assistant. Once you’re acclimated, I’ll assign you as deputy director of logistics.”

“Thank you, Director.” Cheng Shengnan rose to leave.

Deng stopped her. “By the way, where’s Investigator Shen today?”

“East District patrol, I believe.”

“After yesterday’s meeting, you know he’s a Twelve Branches target—and you might be collateral. Minimize outings, and if necessary, request ops team escorts. Extreme times demand extreme measures.”

“Understood.”

Deng added, “Though if you’re with Shen Ge, no need to report. If he can’t handle it, the ops team won’t either.”

Just as they spoke of Shen Ge, Xiao Zhang rushed in.

“Director! Emergency at HQ!”