Chapter 647

In the anomalous space where the black-robed people gathered before, the kerosene lamp lit up again.

But unlike in the past, this time there were only two.

The dim yellow flame flickered in the glass shade, and the light circle illuminated was much smaller than usual, with most areas sinking into thick darkness. Two black-robed people, one tall and one short, stood face to face under the light.

Because both sides were very familiar with each other, they did not wear hoods, and their two faces were flickering in the firelight.

"Confirmed." The tall one spoke, their voice lower than usual, carrying a trace of suppressed anger that was hard to detect, "The one on the sea surface is the Shadow Thief and the Rift Walker."

The short one's eyelids twitched.

Before, when feeling that terrifying power, they had long been mentally prepared, but hearing the confirmation with their own ears still made their breathing stop for half a beat. "The power produced after the fusion of those two anomalies far exceeded expectations." The tall one continued, their speaking speed not fast, but every word seemed to have been bitten by teeth before being released, "Originally thought it was an ordinary Disaster Level, but didn't expect it to be Catastrophe Level... a real Catastrophe Level."

"We don't have deployment at that level." The short one said.

"We don't have anything at that level." The tall one corrected them, "Those were the two most core anomalies in our hands. Now they are gone. No, they were 'snatched' by someone else!"

Both fell into silence.

After all, that was a Catastrophe Level anomaly, and it was previously in their hands.

Basically, among common conventional combat effectiveness, Disaster Level spirit mediums were already absolute high-level, and Disaster Level spirit mediums would not take action in daily life at all.

Not only because the price of every action was very serious, but also because the destructive power was too high once they took action.

It was no exaggeration to say that Disaster Level spirit mediums were the cornerstone of a city's existence.

And if their organization really mastered a Catastrophe Level anomaly, even the Spirit Medium Association would recognize their legal status, and even be willing to assist them in founding a country!

And now, such an opportunity just slipped away from their hands!

The kerosene lamp's flame flickered, and the two people's shadows swayed on the wall.

"This incident exposed two problems."

The tall one calmed down, raised two fingers, and the firelight flickered on their fingertips.

"First, the location of the fusion outbreak was the sea surface, not on land, not any possible location we expected. This shows that the other party had expected it long ago, and started preparing after the Shadow Thief was stolen, and even might have laid out the battlefield in advance, waiting for the Rift Walker to deliver itself to the door." The short one's brows frowned even tighter.

"Second, after the Catastrophe Level power broke out, that fusion body disappeared without causing any damage. Up to now, the Spirit Medium Association has not found any secondary spread of anomalies... what does this mean?"

"It means it was sealed." The short one's voice was very low, their tone unusually certain, "Or it was subdued. After the outbreak of that level of power, being able to do this, it couldn't have been a temporary idea."

"So this time's matter, including from the beginning of the Shadow Thief being captured, was not a coincidence, it was premeditated!" The tall one's fingers closed, clenching into a fist.

The two looked at each other.

They both saw the same thought in each other's eyes: internal ghost.

Someone leaked their most core secret to a third party.

The location of the Shadow Thief, the characteristics of the Rift Walker, and even the relationship between the two anomalies being twin births, were all revealed by that person.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for someone to complete the whole set of operations from capture to fusion to sealing in such a short time.

"So only the two of us are meeting this time." The short one looked around at the empty darkness, "From today on, all offline contact is suspended. Except between you and me, no one's information is credible anymore."

The tall one nodded, not saying much.

Their expression appeared even more gloomy in the firelight.

"How long can the life force reserve last?" the short one asked.

The tall one's face became even uglier.

They did not answer immediately, but took out a palm-sized stone slab from the inside of their black robe.

The stone slab was engraved with dense runes, and a thumb-sized dark red crystal was embedded in the center.

There was liquid-like luster slowly flowing inside the crystal, but the liquid level had already dropped to one-third of the position.

"Less than a month." They said, "According to the current consumption speed, it can last at most three weeks."

The short one's lips pressed into a line.

"Can only start the backup plan." The tall one's voice was as calm as talking about what to eat for dinner tonight, but there was not a trace of temperature in those deep-set eyes.

The short one heard this, and their body stiffened slightly.

They raised their head, their gaze staring straight at the tall one's face, as if confirming whether they were joking.

"Are you sure?" Their voice was pressed very low, "The technology side hasn't been completed yet, right? I read the report from last month, the stability is still not good. The gap between human individual will and anomalies is too big, even if more layers of protection are added, the final host will still lose control. What is your latest progress?"

The tall one did not avoid their gaze.

They took out a black leather notebook from the inside of their black robe, with no text on the cover, but the corners had already been worn white.

They flipped to one of the pages, and the firelight illuminated the dense handwritten handwriting clearly.

Formulas, data, experimental records, failure cause analysis... every page was filled with relevant information, and some places were even pasted with supplementary paper strips. "The technology is indeed not completed." The tall one admitted, "But we don't have much time left. The Spirit Medium Association has already started applying for support. I received internal news that they are asking for help from the headquarters above, and the headquarters has already approved it."

The short one's pupils contracted slightly, and there was an ominous premonition in their heart.

"Who are they sending?" they asked.

The tall one closed the notebook and put it back into the inside of the black robe.

They raised their head, looked at the short one, their lips moved, and spat out a word.

"A... Prophet."

The short one's face turned pale in that instant.

Prophet.

That was not a nickname, but the official title of the Spirit Medium Association headquarters for those spirit mediums who possessed destiny-type anomalous abilities.

Destiny-type anomalies in this plane were extremely rare, and those who could tame and seal them were even rarer.

But everyone crowned with the title of "Prophet" had near-terrifying foresight abilities.

These were not the babbling wizards in those fairy tales, but genuine "future sight" that could be clearly expressed and verified. "Wait for that person to come." The tall one's voice was lower, "I will also be exposed."

Neither doubted that the Prophet had this ability.

As a senior researcher within the Association, the tall one's destiny line was too closely connected to the Association.

Any inspection unfavorable to them would produce fluctuations at the destiny level, and it was only a matter of time before the Prophet captured it.

"Before that." The tall one raised their head, and there was something near-crazy in their gaze, "Must start the final plan. At all costs."

The short one was silent for a long time.

Finally, they nodded and turned to leave.

Their figure merged into the darkness the moment they walked out of the kerosene lamp's light circle, like a drop of water falling into an ink pool, leaving no trace. Only the tall one remained standing between the two kerosene lamps.

However, they did not leave this space immediately.

Their body stayed in place for a few seconds, and then the space folded beneath their feet.

The light of the two kerosene lamps seemed to be kneaded into a ball by an invisible hand, and the light became distorted.

When they unfolded again, the tall one was no longer in the empty hall just now.

The surrounding environment looked like a research lab.

The space was not large, about fifty or sixty square meters, and the four walls and ceiling were gray-white metal plates, with dense sealing runes engraved on the plates. In the center of the ground was a circular array with a diameter of about three meters, and the lines of the array looked like they were drawn with some kind of glowing liquid. That kind of liquid emitted a pale blue fluorescent light in the darkness, illuminating the entire array like a moon lying on the ground.

And in the center of the array, stood a monster.

Its size was similar to the shark monster before, but its form was completely different.

It was an existence spliced together from various anomalous fragments without a fixed form.

Its "body" was constantly changing; this second it looked like a huge, hairless dog, the next second it turned into a twisted, multi-limbed insect-like creature, and the next second it collapsed into a mass of wriggling flesh covered with eyes on the surface.

Every change it made was accompanied by a sound like bone cracking, those sounds dense and continuous, as if ten thousand dry woods were exploding in the same fire at the same time.

The tall one stood at the edge of the array, looking at it expressionlessly.

The blue light of the sealing array extended beneath their feet, connecting with the central array, forming a closed energy loop.

They found the control node in the loop, moved their fingers in the void, and called up the real-time monitoring data of this monster.

Stability: 17%.

Will synchronization rate: 8%.

Out-of-control risk level: Extremely high.

Estimated remaining survival time: Within 2 hours.

Their brows frowned, their fingers swept through the void, and they called up a more detailed analysis report.

The report showed that the core structure of this fusion anomaly had already shown an irreversible collapse trend.

The host's will in the human body declined rapidly after experiencing the initial strong period, and was swallowed by the collective consciousness of the anomaly.

The host itself did not even realize that they were losing their self, but their way of thinking would become more and more like an anomaly.

When their way of thinking completely transformed, the anomaly would completely occupy their body.

Then once the balance between the two sides was broken, the body would collapse rapidly.

Because the essence of an anomaly needed human intelligence as soil, losing the restraint of the host's will, those different anomalous fragments forcibly spliced together would repel and attack each other, ultimately tearing the entire body from the inside.

The tall one looked at those jumping data, their expression without any fluctuation.

Suddenly, the monster in the center of the array let out a wail.

It was a sound wave mixed with more than a dozen different frequencies, meaningless, purely driven by pain.

The sound wave hit the metal plate wall, and was absorbed by the sealing runes.

But even after being attenuated by the vast majority, the residual sound wave still made the air in the research lab produce visible vibration.

To this, the tall one expressionlessly manipulated the array and began to conduct further experiments on it.

An hour and a half passed quickly, and the monster corpse in front of them began to rot.

The skin cracked and fell off, revealing the bloodless gray-white muscles underneath.

The muscles lost their elasticity within a few seconds, turning into a pile of loose fibrous substances.

Then the bones began to break, snapping one by one like dead branches.

The entire process lasted for half an hour.

A fusion anomaly that took countless resources and painstaking efforts to manufacture collapsed completely in endless pain.

The tall one looked at all this, their face calm.

They walked to the corner of the wall and pressed a red button hidden behind the metal plate.

The light of the array immediately turned from blue to incandescent white, and the temperature soared to several thousand degrees in an instant, evaporating the rotten meat and broken bones along with a layer of metal on the surface of the array into gas.

The ventilation system started automatically, sucking those toxic gases into the purification device underground.

The sealing array also began to play a role, re-sealing the anomalous power that tried to dissipate.

A moment later, the array restored its blue light. The research lab was clean, as if nothing had ever existed.

The tall one reached out their hand, swept through the void, called up the log of the destruction program, confirmed that all harmful substances had been processed, and then closed the control panel.

They sighed.

Regretting that they had consumed another batch of precious experimental materials without getting the expected results.

"Experimental subjects are not enough again." They muttered to themselves, their voice echoing in the empty research lab, "Can only go find some more." They took off the black robe and hung it on a hook in the corner of the wall.

The attire under the black robe was very simple: dark gray suit pants, white shirt, the buttons on the cuffs fastened meticulously.

They took out a pair of silver-rimmed glasses from their pocket and put them on.

That face with prominent cheekbones actually had a few points of scholarly elegance under the lining of the lenses.

They closed their eyes, their heart moved.

The space folded beneath their feet again.

When they opened their eyes again, they were already standing in a bright and warm lounge.

The walls were warm beige, there were soft ceiling lights on the ceiling, and a pot of green plants was placed on the coffee table in the corner.

A full-length mirror leaned against the wall, the frame was wooden, and it was wiped very clean.

They stood in front of the mirror, looking at themselves inside.

Vido Lei En.

Special lecturer of the Spirit Medium Association, keynote speaker of the public lecture on anomalous protection common sense.

Special consultant of the Fog City Spirit Medium Association, senior expert in the field of anomalous research.

In front of the public, they were a gentle and knowledgeable, good person who cared about the safety of ordinary people.

Their lecture tickets were always sold out quickly, their books were placed in conspicuous positions in bookstores, and their reputation within the Association was also very good: pragmatic, efficient, and never shirked responsibility.

That face in the mirror carried a smile, looking quite gentle, making people trust them at a glance, completely different from the coldness in that anomalous space earlier.

Vido adjusted their collar in front of the mirror, turned around, and pushed open the door of the lounge.

The corridor outside the door was very long, and there was a wall lamp every few meters on the walls on both sides, the light was soft and even, illuminating the corridor without a trace of shadow. Light gray anti-slip floor tiles were laid on the ground, clean enough to reflect light.

The air was filled with a faint smell of disinfectant, mixed with some floral-type air freshener.

At the end of the corridor was a double-opening glass door, with metal characters pasted on the door: "Fog City Psychiatric Hospital Diagnosis and Treatment Center."

A young woman dressed as a nurse walked quickly from the other end of the corridor, holding a stack of folders in her hand.

Seeing Vido, she bowed slightly, with a just-right smile on her face.

"Professor, thank you for your hard work." The nurse's voice was crisp and polite, "A few new patients came today. The materials are all here, please take a look." "Thank you for your trouble."

Vido thanked her casually and took the folder, opening it.

Their fingers were slender, and the action of turning pages was very light and slow, as if reading a precious ancient book.

First page, a middle-aged man, alcoholism, violent tendencies, sent in by his family.

Second page, a young woman, auditory hallucinations, claiming that she could hear people talking in the wall. After the Spirit Medium Association confirmed it was not an anomaly, she was sent over.

Third page, an elderly male, dementia, not recognizing the way, lost many times.

Fourth page...

Vido's fingers stopped for a moment.

On the photo was a face with distinct angles, hair gray but neatly trimmed, eyes not big but very spirited.

Even in the medical record photo, which was the easiest occasion to take ugly pictures of people, there was still a firm light in those eyes.

"This one is..." Vido asked in a casual tone.

The nurse leaned over to take a look and immediately replied: "Oh, this one is a retired personnel of the Spirit Medium Association. Surname Collins, worked in the Association for more than twenty years as a field worker, just retired last year. Because of too much contact with anomalies, some mental problems appeared... mainly insomnia and intermittent consciousness blurring. However, his willpower is very strong, so currently, the problem is not very big."

"Retired personnel of the Spirit Medium Association." Vido repeated, his tone carrying just-right respect, "Dedicated to this city for more than twenty years, not easy."

"Yes." The nurse echoed.

Vido closed the folder, held it against his chest, raised his head, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Then let's conduct a consultation for him first." His voice was not loud, but every word was clear and steady, carrying a power that made people feel at ease, "Such a hero deserves our best efforts to save."

"Understood, I will arrange it immediately."

The nurse bowed and turned to arrange it.

Vido stood in place, watching the nurse's back disappear at the end of the corridor.

His mouth still maintained that gentle smile, but the eyes behind the lenses had changed.

"Luck is not bad, actually able to find a good material so quickly."

Retired personnel of the Spirit Medium Association.

More than twenty years of field experience.

Strong willpower.

Mental problems are not heavy.

These were all advantages.

Strong will meant he could withstand longer anomalous fusion, and would not collapse like ordinary people during the first contact. More than twenty years of field experience meant his body and spirit had been severely tempered, and his adaptability far exceeded ordinary people.

And "mental problems are not heavy" meant that although his self-consciousness was complete, it had been eroded by anomalies for a part.

This was actually a good phenomenon, because according to historical experimental records, a self that was too complete would reduce the vigilance of the fusion person, and would be more easily swallowed by the anomaly during the fusion process instead.

And a person with a strong will after fusing with an anomaly, even if they finally lost control, the experimental data they could provide during the period before losing control was more than ten ordinary people added together.

As for how much pain he would endure...

That was not a problem.

"These... are the necessary sacrifices for human evolution!"

Vido pushed the silver-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and stepped toward the consultation room.

(Something happened, just this chapter today)