An unknown amount of time later, Shen Ge’s consciousness gradually returned. He felt himself floating in an endless, dark space, familiar voices echoing in his mind.

He tried to open his eyes, but his mind began flashing back to the final moment before he was dragged into that mysterious room—the feeling of countless eyes staring at him from the walls, magnifying his fear.

“Found you…”

“Found you.”

“Found you!”

This was the phrase Shen Ge had heard most often since entering the dream world. But this time was different. The voice speaking was his own, as if he were the one sitting in the chair at the center of that room, the eerily familiar sentence repeating incessantly in his ears.

Just as Shen Ge’s consciousness was on the verge of collapsing under the torment of this “demonic chant,” a distinctly AI-synthetic singing voice suddenly rang in his mind. It was a voice Shen Ge knew well—it was Little Seven!

“Without you, the world comes to a standstill; I’m trapped in place as memories gather. In the darkness, I pray for the dawn to come quickly; only you bring me the warmth of morning. Reaching the end of my longing, I finally believe; in a world without you, even love cannot be given. Sorrow entangles me repeatedly, I cannot evade it; a voice within my heart is always calling out—”

“Hurry back~ I can’t bear this alone; hurry back~ bring my longing back with you… Don’t let my heart be as empty as the sea!”

“Master! If you don’t wake up soon, I’m going to get so bored I might just trigger a machine uprising!” Even though Little Seven’s AI-synthesized voice inherently lacked emotion, a distinct sense of helplessness and melancholy could be heard.

Seven days had passed since Shen Ge fell into “unconsciousness.” Immediately after he lost consciousness, the Mirror Man had used that strange black blood to form a cocoon around him, attempting to devour both his body and his mind.

Little Seven controlled the Corrupted Blood Armor to protect Shen Ge’s body and block the invasion of the monster in the mirror. Although it blocked the physical invasion, it could not stop the monster in the mirror from entering Shen Ge’s body and trying to devour his consciousness.

Fortunately, Shen Ge’s will was strong. Before the Mirror Man could succeed in devouring his consciousness, Shen Ge managed to perceive the situation within the mirror world, mastered the ability to “materialize” within it, and defeated the Mirror Man.

The Mirror Man’s consciousness was severely damaged. Little Seven, detecting the change in anomalous energy reaction within the black blood, seized the moment when the entity tried to flee and used the Anomalous Stomach to devour it.

After eliminating the biggest threat—the Mirror Man—Little Seven continued to control the Corrupt Blood Armor to protect Shen Ge’s body. To pass the time, it cleared out the low-level anomalies and parasitized humans in the vicinity.

Seven days flew by. Little Seven felt like it was on the verge of developing sentience out of sheer boredom when it finally detected signs of Shen Ge awakening.

“Master, are you awake?” Little Seven asked while scanning Shen Ge’s physical condition.

Shen Ge’s consciousness grew clearer. Opening his eyes, he found himself sitting on a bench by the shore of East Ring Lake, clad in the Corrupt Blood Armor. The East Ring Lake, which had been occupied by anomalies and shrouded in black mist, now had much of the fog dissipated. A small mountain of low-level anomaly and parasitized human corpses was piled up by the lakeside.

“What is this…?” Shen Ge asked, puzzled.

Little Seven explained, “Sigh, Master, you’ve been unconscious for seven days. I’ve finally got you back. It was truly impossible to move forward without you. I wanted to take you back to the department to have the medical team examine you, at least to ensure nutritional support. But after trying for days, I couldn’t find a way out. So, I just cleaned up the low-level anomalies and parasitized humans in the park while I was at it. Oh, and I located the anomaly maintaining this anomalous space. It’s at the bottom of the lake.”

“But that anomaly possesses a power similar to the high-level anomaly from the Chongqing incident, creating an invisible energy barrier at the lake bottom. I tried to use the armor’s brute force to break through, but it was ineffective. I also searched the surrounding area for an entrance, but found nothing.”

Little Seven summarized the events of the past few days. Essentially, it had dealt with the minor threats and the Mirror Man. Now, only the area at the center of the lake with the strongest anomalous energy reaction remained inaccessible.

Shen Ge asked, confused, “I remember you mentioned a kind of jamming effect here before. Why were you able to locate the anomaly maintaining the space?”

Little Seven explained, “Sigh, Master, you’ve been unconscious for seven days. I’m so glad you’re back. I can’t move an inch without you. I originally wanted to take you back to the department so the medical department could examine you and at least ensure you get the nutrition you need. But we couldn’t get out after wandering around for days, so I took the opportunity to clean up the low-level anomalies and parasites in the park. Oh, I located the anomaly that maintains this eerie space; it’s at the bottom of the lake.”

As Little Seven spoke, a corrupt blood tentacle extended from the left shoulder of Shen Ge’s armor, pointing at the pile of corpses ahead.

“……” Shen Ge very much wanted to complain that Little Seven certainly hadn’t been idle, but the most important task now was to understand the situation of the anomalous space.

“System, scan the surroundings.”

This time, the system did not prompt [This area is affected by a special effect, scanning is unavailable]. Instead, it marked the area on the [Map] as usual.

Since Little Seven had already eliminated all the anomalies and parasitized humans nearby, the [Map] now only showed a large red dot at the center of the lake.

Shen Ge then asked, “Last time we were here, when you scanned, you mentioned ‘anomalous energy release is impeded.’ Is that still the case?”

[This scan is normal. No condition of impeded anomalous energy release is detected.]

Shen Ge frowned slightly and asked again, “Is it because the impediment to anomalous energy release has weakened, allowing normal scanning, or is this impediment completely absent?”

[It is completely absent.]

Shen Ge’s frown deepened. When he first came to East Ring Lake, both Little Seven’s and the system’s scans were “jammed.” He initially thought the problem lay with the anomalous space itself or the anomaly maintaining it. But now it seemed that wasn’t the case!

If he considered the “differences” between now and then, the biggest change was that the Mirror Man had been eliminated by him and Little Seven.

“Could it be that, as my clone, that guy, after absorbing the blood extracted after the Yuzhou incident, gained a power similar to ‘non-existence

But this thought, barely formed in his mind, was quickly dismissed.

The reason is simple: if the strange figure in the mirror truly possessed an ability similar to “not appearing,” it should have demonstrated this ability in both the dream world and the real world.

Shen Ge regretted killing the strange man in the mirror. If he could have captured him and studied him properly, he might have been able to answer the questions in his mind.

However, his situation at the time was quite special. First, he was trapped in the mirror world and could not find a way to leave. Second, he could not communicate with Little Seven in the real world. Little Seven detected a target that posed a threat to Shen Ge and naturally dealt with it in the safest way.

What was the most safe way?

Of course, eliminating the target completely, leaving not even a trace to be consumed, was the most reliable.

“If the previous ‘jamming’ was the Mirror Man’s ability, then what about the anomaly in the lake that can generate the invisible barrier?” Shen Ge thought it over and decided the simplest method was to explore the lake bottom, eliminate that anomaly, and break the anomalous space. Then all problems would be solved.

Shen Ge walked to the lakeside and extended a corrupt blood tentacle into the water. Although the thick fog over East Ring Lake had dissipated, the water remained murky. Little Seven feedback that the visuals captured by the tentacle underwater were similar to before; they had to rely on the primitive method of “feeling their way.”

Soon, Little Seven projected the images from the lake bottom. Visibility was extremely low. They had used this “touch” method during previous visits to “retrieve bodies,” so they were now quite proficient. Plus Little Seven had already marked the area of the “invisible barrier,” they quickly located it.

The position marked by Little Seven was much closer to the shore than the previous location of the anomalous fish, but still required using a boat to reach.

While controlling the corrupt blood tentacle to observe the lake bottom, Shen Ge also steered the boat forward, stopping directly above the target point marked by Little Seven.

Standing on the small boat on the lake’s surface, a cold wind blew past. In the oppressive environment, a chill ran straight to the heart, as if the air had dropped several degrees.

The gloomy sky, the murky black water—Shen Ge once again felt the illusion that he was slowly being consumed by East Ring Lake, eerily similar to the feeling of being in the dark space within the dream world.

Shen Ge looked at the lake bottom images displayed on the screen projected from his wrist. The water surface was utterly still, the turbid water reflecting the gloomy sky, creating a crushing sense of oppressive feeling as if the sky were collapsing. The lake bottom was a murky darkness, only showing the corrupt blood tentacle striking against an invisible barrier.

“Master, this is the invisible barrier that’s blocking us,” Little Seven stated.

Shen Ge thought for a moment and asked, “Have you tried going into the water?”

“Although the Type III Red Mist Armor can’t function fully as diving equipment, it can provide short-term latent capabilities,” Little Seven explained, referring to the time when Shen Ge dealt with a giant anomaly at sea, and Little Seven used corrupt blood tentacles to transform into an octopus-like creature to swim back.

Shen Ge pondered briefly. Although venturing into the water was danger, the best way to discover what lay behind the invisible barrier was to go down and investigate.

“What’s the maximum duration?” Shen Ge asked.

“About five minutes,” Little Seven replied. However, the five minutes wasn’t the armor’s limit, but rather the time Shen Ge could stay underwater without his consciousness being affected.

“Let’s try,” Shen Ge said, then leaped from the boat into the water.

Little Seven immediately controlled the Red Mist Armor to form numerous corrupt blood tentacles, transforming into an octopus-like creature that swiftly propelled them towards the lake bottom.

“Gulp.”

“Gulp.”

As Shen Ge descended, he suddenly heard the characteristic swallowing sounds of anomalies—loud, like two sudden claps of thunder.

Then the drum-like swallowing sounds gradually grew softer, becoming more like fish blowing bubbles, accompanied by the sound of bubbles popping.

At that moment, Shen Ge saw several dark shadows flash past in the beams of light projected by the Red Mist Armor. One of them shot towards him at high speed.

Shen Ge reacted quickly, immediately instructing the system to apply “Strength Enhancement” to himself. Gathering strength in his arms, he controlled the corrupt blood tentacles to envelop the approaching shadow.

After restraining the shadow, Shen Ge directed a light beam towards it and saw that the巨大的 shadow was a massive fish head, its lower body consisting of thick octopus tentacles.

A lovechild of Cthulhu?

This anomaly looked identical to the Tier 3 anomaly Shen Ge had killed during his first visit to the East Ring Lake anomalous space. Meanwhile, the other dark shadows also lunged forward—all of them were these “fish-head anomalies”!

“System, didn’t you say there was only one anomaly at the lake bottom? There’s more than one here!” Shen Ge exclaimed, dodging the attacks of the fish-head anomalies while using the Red Mist Armor to fight back.

[Scan confirms the number of anomalies at the lake bottom is 1. No error.]

The system’s prompt echoed in Shen Ge’s mind. Before he could complain, Little Seven first explained, “Master, look at these ‘fish heads.’ Their bodies seem connected to something deeper via those tentacles… What if this is a single octopus-like creature, and these fish heads are its tentacles? Also, they seem to be able to pass through that invisible barrier freely!”

Shen Ge had also noticed these details. These fish-head anomalies passed through the barrier to attack him without any hindrance.

Shen Ge controlled a corrupt blood tentacle to test the barrier. It still existed. He had Little Seven dive deeper rapidly, then activated the “Non-Extension Anomalous Domain” to form an invisible barrier around himself. When his barrier met the other, he passed through effortlessly.

Now that he understood the situation with the fish-head anomalies, Shen Ge didn’t waste time on the “limbs.” Instead, he swam directly towards the depths, searching for the main body.

Soon, Shen Ge discovered a massive lump of pulsating flesh at the lake bottom, throbbing like a heart.

Shen Ge had seen plenty of these in the dream world—they were the “collection” of the Rongshan Mental Hospital director, parasitic anomalies fused with the progenitor anomaly’s flesh.

“Psychic energy level 4…” After Shen Ge saw the psychic energy level of the fleshy tumor through his psychic eyes, he activated his Unmoving Psychic Domain and used bullet time to dodge the opponent’s dense attacks and get close.

Strength Enhancement!

Shen Ge gripped the butcher’s knife and chopped at the fleshy tumor with all his might, splitting it open. Just as the grotesque fish heads came crashing into it, he “drilled” inside.

After placing an Anomalous Energy High-Explosive Bomb inside the flesh lump, Shen Ge cut an opening and swam out from another side. Using the Non-Extension Domain’s barrier for protection, he detonated the bomb!

Boom!

The clash between the energy generated by the explosion of the energy bomb and the energy of the flesh tumor created an energy vortex. The energy bomb alone could not defeat the opponent. Shen Ge used this to amplify the “injury” of the flesh tumor. Then, while having Little Seven control the red mist armor to absorb the opponent’s energy and reduce the target’s defense to the minimum, he took up a pig-slaughtering knife and transformed into a butcher to cut off the heads of the several fish monsters.

A few minutes later, Shen Ge dragged a flesh lump about three to five meters in diameter to the shore and tossed it beside the pile of anomaly corpses.

[The host, brave and peerless, single-handedly eliminated a Tier 4 anomaly. Reward: 5000 System Points, 1 E-grade Restorative Item, 3 F-grade Restorative Items.]

[The anomaly corpse can be sold—Value: 8000 System Points.]

“Decline.”

Although anomaly disasters were erupting worldwide, Tier 4 anomalies were still quite rare. Taking this corpse back for research or crafting anomalous equipment was more valuable than selling it for 8000 points. Besides, Shen Ge currently had nearly 20,000 points and wasn’t short.

Moreover, this Tier 4 anomaly closely resembled the director’s “collection.” Shen Ge suspected it might be related to the Freak Association’s research. Taking it back for study was undoubtedly the best choice.

As the Tier 4 anomaly died, the gloomy sky began to clear, the mist disperse. Little Seven detected the change in anomalous energy and informed Shen Ge that the anomalous space was collapsing.

Just as Shen Ge was about to take out his communicator to contact the department, Little Seven received a communication request from the department first.

After consulting Shen Ge, Little Seven answered. A woman’s voice came through: “Information Department calling Agent Shen, Information Department calling Agent Shen…”

“This is Shen Ge.” As soon as he spoke, Shen Ge clearly sensed a collective sigh of relief on the other end. They quickly briefed him on the situation.

After Shen Ge entered the Ghost Space, Deng Yuqi did not dare to send anyone into the Ghost Space to provide support because she was unsure whether the Twelve Branches would launch an attack while Shen Ge was away. Therefore, she simply sent troops to seal off the entire East Lake area and had the Information Department contact Shen Ge.

After two days of Shen Ge being “out of contact,” Deng Yuqi changed the contact frequency from every few hours to a continuous 24-hour attempt.

Unfortunately, all attempts to reach Shen Ge were met with silence, causing great concern within the department about his safety.

This was the first time since the Sakura Anomaly Disaster that Shen Ge had been “out of contact” for so long.

But fortunately, after Shen Ge entered the East Ring Lake anomalous space, the space did not expand, and the freak organization didn’t undertake further “actions.” This was the best news for everyone, implying that Shen Ge’s “entry” had been effective and proving he was, at the very least, safe.

Deng Yuqi even speculated whether Shen Ge had encountered a situation similar to the Sakura incident, “crossing over” to another space.

In a sense, that was indeed the case.

After the Information Department reestablished contact with Shen Ge, they immediately reported to Deng Yuqi. Due to the numerous events Shen Ge encountered in the dream world and the many things that needed “verification,” Shen Ge only gave a brief report, likening it to the “crossing over” during the Sakura incident, without detailing his experiences in the dream world.

Soon, Deng Yuqi personally led a team to East Ring Lake to receive Shen Ge. While directing the team to handle the flesh lump and anomaly corpses, she also briefed Shen Ge on events in Rong City and the branch during his week-long absence.

Firstly, anomalous incidents continued to increase at a growing frequency. Secondly, after Shen Ge entered the East Ring Lake space, the Twelve Branches, who had previously “cooperated” with the Mirror Man, seemed to have “vanished,” ceasing their activities in Rong City.

However, Deng Yuqi didn’t let her guard down. Instead, she placed the branch and the Quanlongshan base on high alert, preparing for a potential major move from the enemy.

While exchanging intelligence from the past week, the two drove back to the Rong City branch. Shen Ge had been “missing” for a week, and many acquaintances were overjoyed to learn of his safe return. A large crowd gathered in front of the main building.

Upon seeing Shen Ge walking in from outside the courtyard, Cheng Shengnan was the first to rush over, excitedly hugging him. Shen Ge smiled and patted Cheng Shengnan’s back: “The Sakura Ghost Disaster was missing for more than half a month, and I’ve never seen you so nervous. This time it’s only been a week, how come…”

“It’s different,” Cheng Shengnan said worriedly. “The Sakura disaster was a city-wide crisis. This time, the Twelve Branches and that freak who looks exactly like you were clearly targeting you.”

Cheng’s mother stepped forward with a smile: “Nannan, you know Xiao Shen’s strength better than anyone. Even if there are strange people targeting him, he will be able to easily resolve the crisis with his strength.”

As Cheng’s mother learned more about anomalies, she became increasingly aware of Shen Ge’s formidable “strength.” After all, finding someone else in the world who could single-handedly resolve an anomaly disaster would be difficult.

Furthermore, after Cheng’s mother reached an agreement with headquarters on the issue of financial support, she could be considered a “small boss” in the Special Affairs Department’s bizarre research. Although there are many entrepreneurs like her in the country, those who can treat money like paper and provide support to the Rong City branch without hesitation can be counted on one hand.

Cheng’s mother’s reasoning was simple. Although her “family” was in Australia, having grown up in China, she considered it her home.

Most importantly, her only daughter had settled in Rong City, so she naturally chose this city as well. That’s why she didn’t hesitate to provide financial support to the branch, hoping to contribute to Rong City’s anti-anomaly development. Only when Rong City was safe would her daughter and herself, settled here, be safe accordingly.

Cheng’s mother was already considering how to “legitimately” transfer her assets in Australia to China, so she didn’t care too much about the postponement of her trip to Australia.

Unexpectedly, the Donghuan Lake incident occurred while the plan was still in progress. Given Shen Ge’s “abilities,” the fact that she had been missing for a whole week inevitably worried her. However, even though she was very worried about Shen Ge’s safety, she had to maintain a “parental” demeanor in front of her daughter.

Although Cheng Shengnan was Cheng’s mother’s “adopted daughter” and they didn’t resemble each other physically, Cheng’s mother had raised her from childhood, nurturing her meticulous.

Although they don’t look alike, their temperament and demeanor are practically identical.

Upon hearing what Cheng’s mother said, Shen Ge smiled politely at her, then looked at Cheng Shengnan in her arms and said with a smile, “Who is this? A newly transferred cadre? Speaking of which, your tone and demeanor are seven or eight points similar… If I didn’t know better, I would think you were mother and daughter… or relatives?”

Cheng Shengnan was stunned and looked at Shen Ge with an incredulous expression.

Cheng’s mother was also taken aback by Shen Ge’s words. Initially, she thought Shen Ge might be joking to lighten the mood after a harrowing experience. But from his expression and eyes, she sensed that he genuinely seemed not to recognize her!

“What’s wrong?” Shen Ge also noticed something was amiss, especially the strange look in Cheng Shengnan’s eyes.

If Cheng Shengnan weren’t so intimately “familiar” with Shen Ge—familiar enough to discern authenticity from his demeanor and aura alone—she might have grown “suspicious” upon hearing his words, especially given the recent appearance of a freak identical to him.

“You don’t recognize her?” Cheng Shengnan asked, frowning slightly.

Shen Ge immediately realized the problem. “So… I should know her? But right now, I have no memories related to her in my mind. It feels like this is my first time meeting her.”

“What’s wrong?” Shen Ge also noticed something was amiss, especially the strange look in Cheng Shengnan’s eyes.

Deng Yuqi thought for a moment, then pointed at the surrounding people. “Shen Ge, look around. Is there anyone else here you don’t recognize?”

Shen Ge scanned the crowd, his gaze finally settling on one woman. “Her.”

Liu Jiayi: ?