The System Arrived Four Years Early, but the Anomaly Is Still a Juvenile
Chapter 63

Shen Ge first opened the [Logs] to see how his future self had dealt with the Invisible.

[January 11, 2028: You entered the anomalous domain of the aberration “Invisible.” With the system’s guidance, you discovered that the surroundings of Tom’s Shopping Mall had been rendered transparent due to the Invisible’s unique properties. Everything—objects and living beings—that entered this area was affected.]

[Relying on memory, you found the entrance to Tom’s Supermarket. The moment you stepped inside, the 7th-tier anomalous energy instantly turned your foot transparent. Once fully inside, you felt your entire body merge with the now-transparent supermarket.]

[The transparent mall made movement nearly impossible. Just as you were about to retreat, a deafening noise erupted, and you felt yourself being lifted by what seemed like a massive, transparent python. Struggling against its grip, you managed to pull a grenade from your belt, yanked the pin, and hurled it forward.]

[The grenade stopped mid-air three meters away, as if caught by an unseen hand. With a thunderous explosion, the invisible hand was blown apart. The shockwave sent you flying backward into the door, but thanks to the “python” absorbing some of the impact, you survived.]

[As the invisible hand shattered into chunks, blue blood splattered everywhere, staining unseen objects. Through the haze, you glimpsed what looked like an endless “python” coiled in the mall’s lobby, its massive form filling the entire space.]

[Seeing more objects drenched in blue blood surging toward you, you wasted no time escaping Tom’s Shopping Mall.]

Reading this, Shen Ge’s expression darkened. There was no doubt—the invisible “python” was the Invisible’s tentacles. He just hadn’t expected it to grow so powerful in just four years.

Four years ago, a single grenade had been enough to deal with it. Now, a grenade only blew off one tentacle—and that was just in the lobby.

Tom’s Shopping Mall covered over 20,000 square meters. Aside from the underground parking and supermarket, there were three more floors above. If the lobby was already packed with tentacles, the rest must be just as infested.

Still, if grenades were useless against something this massive, what about missiles? Nukes? Hydrogen bombs? Evacuate the civilians and turn the place into a wasteland—surely that would work?

Blowing up a chunk of land had to be better than letting it reach 8th-tier and swallow entire cities whole.

What about future weapons?

Shen Ge rubbed his temples in frustration. Every mystery only led to bigger mysteries. Aside from waiting for the logs to update, there didn’t seem to be any better options.

Would my future self report the Invisible to the organization? If the organization is government-backed, they should have access to high-yield weapons.

He tried putting himself in his future self’s shoes. Though his first collaboration with the Special Countermeasures Department (SCD) hadn’t gone smoothly, it was just a “difference in ideology.” Under Deng Yuqi’s leadership, the SCD’s resolve to fight aberrations was unquestionable.

“The boat will straighten itself when it reaches the bridge.”

Too tired to overthink, Shen Ge decided to sleep. Tomorrow, he’d head to the SCD and test whether the anomalous energy canisters could restore his mental energy.

But in the middle of the night, he suddenly sat bolt upright.

“Wait!”

“Did I not encounter a single aberration today?”

Not only had he not run into any, but from his home to the private hospital, then to Tang Jinze’s place—even the pet market nearby—nothing had triggered a single “special event.”

Something’s wrong!

“System!”

…Right, this wasn’t some AI assistant that would respond.

“System, initiate tier evaluation.”

[Evaluating host’s current status—]

[Result: Tier 1]

The system responded, so it wasn’t malfunctioning.

Was it just a coincidence that I didn’t run into anything?

Shen Ge wasn’t buying it. Even taking out the trash usually led to a tussle with a Tier 1 aberration like that demonic Chihuahua. There was no way he’d go a whole day without a single encounter!

Since he was already awake, he might as well take a walk and see whether the system had glitched or if the local aberrations had truly vanished.

…..

The next morning, 8:30 AM.

SCD Headquarters, Main Entrance.

Shen Ge stood at the gate, brows furrowed. After five hours of patrolling the streets—even running into stray dogs and cats—not a single special event had triggered.

[In this apocalyptic world, aberrations run rampant! Despite the dangers lurking in the city, the host remains diligent in training—commendable courage! Strength +1%, Agility +1%, Constitution +1%. System Points +50.]

“……” Shen Ge had no words.

Not a single ghost in sight. So where exactly is this “apocalyptic world” you’re talking about?

He had planned to report directly to the Operations Division but decided to check in with Deng Yuqi first. However, when he arrived at her office—

“Agent Shen, looking for the Director? She’s not here—she was called to the Tech Division by Director Li just after arriving,” Assistant Zhang informed him.

“Director Li? Li Xiang?” Shen Ge asked.

Zhang nodded. “Yes. After his breakthroughs in researching the Rat and Cat aberrations, he was promoted to Deputy Director.”

“Any idea why he called her so early?”

“I heard it’s about a new discovery related to the Rat aberration you captured.”

The Rat aberration?

Curious about what Li Xiang was up to now, Shen Ge headed to the Tech Division. An assistant led him into the lab, where Deng Yuqi, Li Xiang, and a group of researchers stood before a reinforced containment chamber, staring intently through the bulletproof glass. They didn’t even notice Shen Ge approaching.

Peering inside, Shen Ge saw nothing.

“Are you all gathered here to admire your reflections?”

“Reflections? You— Oh, it’s you. Perfect timing. Can you see anything in there?” Li Xiang’s tone did a complete 180 upon recognizing Shen Ge.

Shen Ge: …You were totally about to call me a “country bumpkin” again, weren’t you?

At first, Shen Ge had assumed Li Xiang was just arrogant, but he soon realized “country bumpkin” was just the man’s default way of addressing people.

“The Rat aberration?”

“You can see it?”

“No, but your assistant mentioned you made a new discovery with it.”

Even so, Shen Ge had a hunch about what Li Xiang had found. Sure enough, moments later, a Rat aberration—now the size of a black panther—materialized in the corner of the chamber.

It got this big in just two days?

Feigning surprise, Shen Ge asked, “Wait, what’s going on? Did you feed it the remains of that transparent aberration from yesterday?”

Li Xiang grinned. “Sharp! I spent last night studying the blue blood and found it could temporarily render objects invisible. So I had a sudden idea—what if I mixed it with the octopus corpse and fed it to the Rat aberration? Turns out, my hunch was right! The Rat’s regenerative abilities fused perfectly with the invisibility. Just 10ml of diluted blue blood kept it invisible for two minutes.”

He sighed dramatically. “Too bad we only scraped together a few hundred milliliters from that floor.”

“What a shame,” Shen Ge said dryly.

He had to admit, Li Xiang’s ingenuity was impressive. In just one night, a “sudden idea” had unlocked a way to utilize the Invisible’s blood.

But then—

“Wait a second.”

A chilling thought struck him.

Earlier, the system hinted that the SCD might be the aberration headquarters. Could it be because of Li Xiang’s reckless experiments? What if his “sudden ideas” eventually lead to catastrophe?

“Oh, and there’s one more major discovery!” Li Xiang exclaimed excitedly.