The history of Anomalous Item-2737 traced back to 100 AD, preserved in an ancient Roman vessel that had inexplicably resisted decay for nearly two millennia.
At Site-33, all personnel with potential exposure to the anomaly underwent weekly anti-meme training and were required to use anti-meme catalysts before and after contact.
Infected individuals were subjected to amnestic treatment and long-term monitoring to prevent relapse.
The so-called "anti-meme catalyst" was, in Site-33's terms, a series of nonsensical mathematical formulas:
Let R = {x | x ∉ x}, then R ∈ R ⟺ R ∉ R
∃y∀x(x ∈ y ⟺ P(x))
y ∈ y ⟺ y ∉ y
To Luo Shu—a representative of the Anti-Meme faction—these formulas had zero actual connection to memetic suppression. They were just self-contradictory logic puzzles, useless against true memetic hazards.
Which was why he ignored the protocols and handled Anomalous Item-2737 directly.
Now, the effects of infection were setting in.
An inescapable dread of death gripped Luo Shu's mind, a crushing despair that made him want to abandon the war against memes entirely—to flee, hide, and never fight again.
But his mental fortitude, bolstered by the Anomaly Buster Milestone's 10% suppression, kept him from total collapse.
Besides, Anomalous Item-2737 wasn't powerful enough to break someone in a single exposure. Even if it did, psychological intervention could reverse the damage.
Gritting his teeth against the suffocating depression, Luo Shu forced himself into his mental realm, searching for the meme's imprint.
And what he saw disgusted him.
A lamprey-like consciousness, leech-like and grotesque, had latched onto his psychic form, gnawing at his mind.
Unacceptable.
Luo Shu grabbed the parasitic entity, ripped it off, and stomped it into the ground.
After a few brutal kicks, the lamprey shattered into psychic fragments, dissolving into nothingness.
But it wasn't over.
Anomalous Item-2737 had existed for 2,000 years—this was the first time it had faced real resistance.
Until now, Site-33's "treatment" had been laughably primitive: sedatives for symptoms, amnestics to forget the trauma.
A coward's approach.
It didn't purge the infection—just made the victims ignore it.
The lamprey's psychic imprint remained, slowly devouring their minds until they withered into husks.
Luo Shu was the first to erase it at the root.
And the anomaly did not take kindly to that.
For centuries, it had treated infected minds as its personal buffet.
Now, denied its meal, it raged.
Hundreds of lamprey consciousnesses surged from the depths of the mental void, swarming Luo Shu's psychic form.
From their approach vectors, he could sense other victims' crumbling mental worlds—their minds already eaten hollow.
These parasites thought they could overwhelm him?
Fine. He'd do humanity a favor and exterminate them all.
Luo Shu's consciousness lashed out, fists and feet striking with brutal efficiency, shattering lampreys one after another.
But Site-33's accumulated infections numbered in the hundreds.
Soon, his psychic form was covered in writhing lampreys, their maws buried deep, draining his willpower.
Fatigue set in. His mind weakened.
Time for the big guns.
He flipped to Page 40 of the Anomalous Item Compendium:
Anomalous Item-165: Greedy Quicksand.
Paralytic Toxin.
The moment the ability activated, every lamprey went rigid, their jaws slackening as they dropped like stones.
What followed was cathartic annihilation.
Luo Shu's consciousness stomped, crushed, and grinded until not a single lamprey remained.
But Anomalous Item-2737 wasn't done.
Like a cornered gambler, it doubled down.
The psychic fragments of the destroyed lampreys had nourished Luo Shu's mind, making him stronger.
If the anomaly could kill him now, it would reclaim those losses—and feast on his enriched psyche.
So it pushed its final bet.
A massive mental realm—rivaling Luo Shu's own—lurched closer.
From its depths emerged a colossal lamprey, its maw as vast as the sandworms of sci-fi legend.
Two thousand years of gorging on human minds had birthed this abomination.
Yet shockingly…
It was only as strong as Luo Shu.
Because psychic devouring wasn't 100% efficient.
Just like the Anomaly Namer Milestone's conversion rate, only 10% of consumed minds became true strength.
So 2,000 years of feasting equaled six months of Luo Shu's growth.
Pathetic.
The two titans clashed.
The lamprey's nightmare maw snapped wildly, but its attacks were predictable—just bite, bite, bite.
Luo Shu dodged, grabbed, and tore chunks from its form, absorbing its essence.
Slowly, the lamprey shrunk.
By the time it realized its mistake, it was half Luo Shu's size.
It tried to flee.
Too late.
Luo Shu dragged it back, and the battle resumed in his domain.
Time lost meaning in the mental realm.
When the dust settled, only one consciousness remained.
The lamprey's form shattered completely, its stolen mental world collapsing into ruin.
Back in reality, the 2,000-year-old corpse of Anomalous Item-2737 suddenly rotted away, crumbling into bones and dust.
Site-33's decades of "containment"—feeding it hundreds of minds—had been undone in minutes.
[Page: 160]
[Item No.: Anomalous Item-2737]
[Item Name: The Dead Lamprey]
[Class: Safe]
[Image: …]
[Description: …]
[Special Containment Procedures: …]
[Abilities: Psychic Devouring. A brutally simple power—it eats. 10% of consumed minds become its own. Now be a good meal and step into my bowl!]
[Status: Terminated]
[Interaction Log: Click to Play]
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