Another Frequency

One slice, two slices, three slices...

The growth rate of the "rotting flesh" on the Tai Sui's surface gradually couldn't keep up with the speed at which it was being stripped away by the Aberrant Long Blade. Sun Hang, like a chef preparing ingredients, skillfully cut off the inedible parts, separated the bones and flesh, removed the tendons and membranes, and scooped out the rotten and spoiled sections...

The Tai Sui began to emit sharp wails... Although Sun Hang wasn't sure if the sound, like glass shards grinding on a blackboard, was its wail, it no longer mattered.

More and more limbs broke through the soil, but these limbs, emerging later, bore no resemblance to humans. They were more like randomly growing tumors... Their purpose, no longer to attack, was solely to block the constantly swinging Aberrant Long Blade.

After Sun Hang severed the fourteenth newly grown limb, the main body of the "Tai Sui" finally appeared before him in its entirety—a massive mass of flesh over fifteen meters in diameter, its surface covered in tumor-like growths. Countless deformed limbs were encased in semi-transparent vesicles, resembling a creature in its embryonic stage... The immature limbs that had broken through the soil to block the attacks were the products of these parts being "forcibly matured."

Supported by these limbs, the Tai Sui began to move away from Sun Hang... It had realized it was incapable of killing him, and its only option was to flee.

But in the next second, that terrifying "humanoid monster" had already caught up. The fifteen-meter-long Aberrant Long Blade severed all the limbs the Tai Sui used to support its body, then pierced its main body from top to bottom, pinning it firmly to the ground.

By the time the Investigation Bureau's convoy arrived at the scene, the "Tai Sui" was already nothing more than an empty shell of "rotting flesh" and "dead skin." The deformed white shell lay shattered on the ground. The ten-meter-deep pit in the ruins was filled with foul-smelling blood. A pale, giant arm stretched straight towards the sky. The dozen or so "fingers" extending from the end of its palm had been mostly chopped off, while the remaining ones were curled up like the jointed legs of a dead spider.

Several investigators, escorted by fully armed Peacekeepers, rushed into the scene. However, they only found a scruffy young man, looking like a beggar, squatting at the base of a broken wall, calmly picking his teeth with his little finger.

"Zero Four Two Zero? What are you doing here?!" a familiar voice rang out from the group of investigators.

Sun Hang turned his head. A beautiful woman with a stern face waved her hand.

Yang Lian walked forward quickly, frowning. She sized up Sun Hang for a moment, and just as she was about to speak, Sun Hang beat her to it.

"I remember you said you weren't an Investigator. Why are even the administrative staff being sent to the front lines?" Sun Hang teased.

"Nearly half of the Investigation Bureau's management personnel went missing in the incident at the South City Cemetery, and almost all the remaining investigators have been dispatched to participate in search and rescue operations. The bureau is short-handed right now," Yang Lian explained with a straight face. "As for you, why weren't you at the South City Cemetery, and why are you here? What exactly happened here?"

"Your sister applied for special leave for me. Got a problem with that?" Sun Hang shrugged. "Just had a little accident."

"Accident?"

"On my way during my leave, I took care of a cult organization that worshipped and raised an anomaly for you guys, and happened to deal with the big one they were keeping... By the way, does this count as overtime? Am I getting paid for it?" Sun Hang gestured to the chaotic ruins behind him.

"Cult organization? Raising an anomaly?" A flicker of astonishment flashed in Yang Lian's eyes. "What in the world is going on?"

"Your tone is like a Peacekeeper interrogating a suspect," Sun Hang commented. "Do you know the two biggest differences between you and your sister?"

"What?" Yang Lian instinctively asked.

"First, your sister's attitude when talking to people is more like a normal person's, while you always act like everyone owes you a huge sum of money... Don't look at me like that. Even if I did owe a large sum of money before, my creditor was the Xiazhou Federation, not you."

"Then... what's the other one?" Yang Lian gritted her teeth and squeezed out the words from between them.

"Your chest isn't as big as your sister's."

"..." Yang Lian glared at Sun Hang, her chest heaving several times before she spoke, "Can I consider this sexual harassment?"

"Say whatever you want. Anyway, my work is done. The rest of the cleanup is up to you."

Having had his fill of verbal sparring, Sun Hang yawned with satisfaction, got up, and prepared to leave.

But at that moment, a voice from behind stopped him in his tracks.

Accompanying the investigators to the scene were several researchers from the Anomaly Research Institute. While Sun Hang and Yang Lian were talking, they had already entered the ruins in protective gear, carrying professional equipment, and began examining the remains of the "Tai Sui" left at the scene—just as Sun Hang was about to leave, a researcher holding a device that looked like a Geiger counter suddenly exclaimed, "Special anomaly reaction detected! There's a living anomaly here! Everyone, be alert!"

"A living anomaly?" Sun Hang was slightly taken aback and quickly returned. "The special reaction you detected, it couldn't be me, could it?"

Sun Hang remembered very clearly that the main body of the "Tai Sui" had been completely devoured by him. Not a single "edible" part was left... And after finishing his meal, he hadn't sensed any "food" aura. Logically, there shouldn't be any living anomaly at the scene.

"No, it's not you," the researcher shook his head. "All officially registered Anomaly Hunters have their relevant data recorded. Besides you, I've detected another frequency of special reaction!"

As soon as he said this, the investigators and Peacekeepers became tense.

Detecting the special reaction of an unknown anomaly in a densely populated urban area... this was no laughing matter.

"Are you sure this machine isn't malfunctioning?" Sun Hang asked again. "Uh... could what you detected be something left behind by that anomaly I just dealt with?"

"No... this device is actually used to detect the 'meme frequency' of anomalies... Although the 'meme' within you has also undergone some changes, the main frequency still matches the recorded data. As for the anomaly that was eliminated, its 'meme' cannot be detected."

"Could it be that the anomaly wasn't completely dead?" Sun Hang looked at the large pit not far away. "Could a part of this guy still be hidden underground?"

"Not exactly... That anomaly was indeed eliminated by you. This can be proven by examining the remaining shell carcass," another researcher said. "The other frequency detected should be a completely new type of anomaly."

Besides the "Tai Sui," was there a second anomaly hidden in this residential area?

"It's very close..." the researcher holding the detection device murmured. "Less than twenty meters away from us..."