Seeing the updated entry in the Anomalous Item Compendium, Luo Shu couldn't help but smile.
The risk had been worth it.
There was a fine line between adventure and suicidal recklessness—just like the difference between a king and a corpse.
Success was called boldness; failure was called stupidity.
Without the courage to flirt with death, one would never seize the rewards of true daring.
Of course, Luo Shu wasn't advocating recklessness. If he weren't desperate to grow stronger, he'd have chosen a safer path.
But today, his gamble had paid off.
By annihilating Anomalous Item-2737's mental realm, he'd absorbed its power.
His consciousness had visibly expanded, gaining nearly 10% more density.
Beyond the Psychic Devouring ability, the dead lamprey had also become the sixth entry in his Anomaly Slayer Milestone.
Luo Shu was tempted to hunt down another anomaly and feast again—but a glance at his watch froze him.
8:00 AM.
The battle in the mental realm had taken far longer than perceived.
If he didn't leave now, Site-33's day shift would arrive.
Since Sublevel 3 only housed four Safe-class memes, his next targets would be the Euclid-class anomalies deeper down.
Time for a tactical retreat.
Before leaving, though, he had one concern: the lamprey's skeletal remains.
Solution? A quick detour to Site-33's server room.
With a smirk, he ordered his system lackey to bug the records, temporarily elevating Anomalous Item-2737's access clearance to Level 5.
Now, only the O5 Council could authorize entry—buying him at least a few days before anyone noticed the corpse.
Given the English obsession with bureaucracy, that was all the time he needed.
Nightfall: Euclid-Class Memes
By midnight, Luo Shu returned, this time targeting Euclid-class threats.
Unlike other facilities, which clustered Euclid anomalies together, Site-33 isolated each in independent sectors—no shared corridors, no overlapping research teams.
A smart precaution against cross-memetic contamination.
But for Luo Shu, it was a logistical nightmare.
After documenting one anomaly, he'd have to return to Sublevel 1, then take a new passage down to the next.
First target: Anomalous Item-3755, "Come Quick and Count!"
A meme that spread mathematical anxiety, highly infectious but relatively low-risk.
Among the infected:
83% developed Anomalous Item-3755-1:
Could instantly, unerringly count exactly 755 objects—even amid skepticism.
17% became Anomalous Item-3755-2:
Pre-infection: Chronic self-doubt, compulsive recounting.
Post-exposure: Total refusal to estimate quantities, even under amnestics.
The real threat?
The 17% were carriers.
Unlike the lamprey, this meme didn't seek strength—it sought spread.
Its physical form: A jar of 755 chocolate jelly beans.
Merely seeing it caused infection.
Luo Shu didn't care which percentage he'd fall into. His goal was suppression.
After infecting himself, he plunged into his mental realm.
There, floating ominously, was the jelly bean jar's consciousness—glowing faintly as it mirrored the real-world container.
A glance at a nearby sack of soybeans made the psychic jar light up, instantly revealing:
"755 beans."
So he was in the 83%.
Irrelevant.
His consciousness stomped the jar into fragments, then waited.
No counterattack came.
Unlike the lamprey, Anomalous Item-3755 didn't fight.
It was a coward, a parasite—content to hide in the minds of the 17%, unkillable as long as even one carrier existed.
Luo Shu growled in frustration.
"Fight back, you spineless leech!"
Silence.
No mental realm to invade. No glorious devouring.
Just a stubborn, metastasizing idea.
The worst kind of meme.
Defeated, Luo Shu exited the mental realm and left the unit.
[Page: 161]
[Item No.: Anomalous Item-3755]
[Item Name: "Come Quick and Count!"]
[Class: Euclid]
[Image: …]
[Description: …]
[Special Containment Procedures: …]
[Abilities: Math Anxiety. "Under the bridge, ducks swim by—come count! Two, four, six, eight! So many ducks, I can't keep track! So many ducks!~"]
[Status: Suppressed]
[Interaction Log: Click to Play]
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