After leaving Anomalous Item-013's containment unit, Luo Shu's next stop was a cell holding a victim of the French Language Meme.
The unit housed a Black man infected by the meme.
The man himself wasn't anomalous—just a normal person—so Luo Shu couldn't use his Charlatan Ability to contain the meme. Nor was it worth wasting his limited power on a civilian.
Instead, he opted for the simplest documentation method. He opened the cell door and announced, "Come out. You're free."
The moment the man eagerly scrambled out, Luo Shu backtracked with a smirk. "Oops, my mistake. Not you."
Enraged, the man snarled in flawless French, "You're messing with me! I'll cut off your ██ and shove it up your ass!"
Luo Shu responded with a swift kick to the groin, sending the man crashing back into the cell.
As he slammed the door shut, Luo Shu fluttered his eyelashes and huffed, "I'm a girl, silly! I don't even have a ██!"
Despite the agony, the man managed a contemptuous glare. "Tellement gay!" (Note: French for "So gay!"—colloquially implying "What a sissy!")
Luo Shu paused.
Though he firmly believed he was a woman, he also knew the prisoner had no reason to lie.
Something's off.
He reopened the Anomalous Item Compendium, scrutinizing Anomalous Item-013's entry. The more he read, the more uneasy he grew.
…Am I actually a man?
He patted his pockets and soon found a handwritten note:
"I AM A MAN! I AM A MAN! I AM A MAN! (Important things x3!)"
"If, after reading this, I still insist I'm a woman, turn to Page 42 of the Compendium, activate the ability, and shout 'I am a man' three times."
Luo Shu trusted his past self wouldn't deceive him. He followed the instructions.
Instantly, Anomalous Item-013's status in the Compendium updated to [Neutralized], and its name appeared under his Anomaly Buster Milestone.
Turns out, Luo Shu had anticipated this scenario before even arriving at Site-33. His countermeasure?
Anomalous Item-082 (Fernand the Cannibal)'s ability—Self-Delusion!
If Anomalous Item-013 could warp his gender perception, he could warp it back. The process didn't matter—only the result.
The Compendium accepted this logic. Luo Shu no longer "felt" like a woman.
And now that Anomalous Item-013 was marked as "Neutralized," its effects couldn't touch him. No lingering side effects.
With that crisis averted, the remaining language memes were trivial.
Like the French meme earlier, as long as Luo Shu didn't do anything reckless, his mental resilience made him immune. Even if infected, it wouldn't be catastrophic—he could switch language memes at will.
The critical weakness of language memes? They can't spread to those who already speak the language.
By placing carriers in environments where their meme-language was dominant, the risk of contagion dropped to zero.
In other words, Luo Shu could cycle memes harmlessly as needed.
After documenting a dozen major language memes, he'd essentially become a linguistic chameleon.
By flipping to the corresponding Compendium page, he could instantly "speak" any language—no translator needed. A priceless skill for his upcoming European mission.
Over the next 90 minutes, Luo Shu cleared Sublevel 2, logging 19 new anomalies. The Compendium swelled to 156 pages.
With Sublevel 2 exhausted, he descended to Sublevel 3—another floor of Safe-class memes. Far more than he'd expected.
His first target here was Anomalous Item-782 (The New You), a self-help book titled "Three Simple Steps to a Brand New You!"
Readers would gradually lose sensation in their bodies over 7–14 months, culminating in total loss of motor control.
The numbness wasn't permanent—it faded, but the body would keep moving… under a new consciousness.
Victims became prisoners in their own flesh, helpless as a foreign will puppeteered them.
A slow-acting, insidious meme. More annoying than dangerous.
Luo Shu doubted even "The Gods" would fear this. And he lacked the patience to read the entire book to "counter" it.
So he deployed the nuclear option: Anti-Meme Seal!
Since the ability was useless to him, sealing it was the simplest solution.
[Page: 157]
[Item No.: Anomalous Item-782]
[Item Name: The New You]
[Class: Safe]
[Image: …]
[Description: …]
[Containment: …]
[Abilities: Personality Override. Want to change? Congrats—this meme generates a new you! Now you can laze around while your "upgraded" self handles everything. No refunds!]
[Status: Neutralized]
[Log: ███████]
[X] (Sealed—ability locked.)
With midnight approaching, Luo Shu rushed to the next unit, determined to use his second daily Anti-Meme Seal.
The target: Anomalous Item-2830-3, a booklet titled "The Knowledge: London Taxi Driver's Road Guide."**
A component of Anomalous Item-2830 ("The Knowledge"), reading it granted instant mastery of London's streets and optimal routes between any two points.
The other half—Anomalous Item-2830-1 (15 vintage cabs)—wasn't stored here.
Those infected by Anomalous Item-2830-3 ("Knowledge-Positive" individuals) could pilot these cabs into a anomalous spatial layer.
Useless to Luo Shu. So he sealed it without hesitation.
[Page: 158]
[Item No.: Anomalous Item-2830-3]
[Item Name: The Knowledge: London Taxi Driver's Road Guide]
[Class: Safe]
[Image: …]
[Description: …]
[Containment: …]
[Abilities: London's Best Driver. Tired of traffic? The Knowledge solves it! —Penrose (Creator/Operator of Anomalous Item-2830)]
[Status: Neutralized]
[Log: ███████]
[X] (Sealed—ability locked.)