J2796

Sun Hang did not think he was speaking up for those investigators and Peacekeepers. He was merely stating the facts.

The organ used for thinking belonged above one's neck, not on the seat of a chair.

After all this nonsense, Sun Hang could not be bothered to return "home." He simply stepped through the doors of the Anomaly Research Institute. He wanted to see how the people there would deal with the Aberrant Long Blade, and while he was at it, he could visit Wang Xiyi, who had been carried away in an "iron coffin" last night.

After all, this woman could be said to be Sun Hang's only "kind" in this city.

He glanced at the directory in the Institute lobby. According to its directions, the Anomaly Hunters' dedicated office was on the third floor. Sun Hang was just about to take the elevator up when the doors opened, and a familiar face happened to enter his view.

"The moment I received word that you'd returned to the Institute, I rushed right over!" the one-eyed female researcher said rapidly. "Honestly, even if you hadn't come back, I was planning to contact you myself!"

By then, she had taken off her tactical field uniform and changed into the white lab coat nearly everyone at the Institute wore. However, plenty of lime dust still clung to her long silver-white hair. Clearly, the girl had plunged straight into the laboratory after returning from the scene, as anxious as a virgin groom on his wedding night.

A standard identification badge hung from her chest, bearing her ID photo. Beside it were her title and name.

"Level Two Researcher, Adele Song Yarong."

"Uh? Should I call you Adele or Song Yarong?" Sun Hang asked.

"Either is fine. My mother is of British descent, while my father is of Yanhuang descent. They argued over naming me for a long time, and in the end, they had no choice but to each compromise a little." She shrugged helplessly. "But people at the Institute are more used to calling me by my Chinese name."

"Alright... so, what did you need me for?"

"Come with me!" Song Yarong grabbed Sun Hang and pulled him into the elevator, pressing the button for the third underground level.

Third underground level, temporary containment room.

Through the thick safety glass, Sun Hang could see the Aberrant Long Blade "lying" flat above a long, narrow platform, completely suspended in midair. Other than the blade and the platform of unknown material, there was nothing else in the containment room.

"Floating?" Sun Hang froze slightly. Thinking back to when he had wielded the Aberrant Long Blade against the Taisui, he truly had not felt its weight... Could its "ability" have something to do with gravity?

Song Yarong took out a round artificial eyeball from the pocket of her lab coat, lifted the hem of her coat to wipe it clean, then popped it into her empty eye socket.

The artificial eye spun twice in its socket before focusing through the glass on the Aberrant Long Blade. The next second, a ghostly blue beam shot from its pupil, passed through the glass, and landed on the blade's surface.

A dashed outline appeared on the glass. From Sun Hang's angle, the outline happened to enclose the Aberrant Long Blade within it.

"This outline you're seeing is the range of J2796's abnormal gravitational field," Song Yarong said. "The reason you were able to lift it and fight the Taisui was largely because that anomaly offset its own weight."

"You're telling me this thing was already an anomaly before it came into contact with the Taisui?" Sun Hang asked with a slight frown.

It seemed his earlier deliberate misdirection had been completely pointless.

Fortunately, Taotie's ability was too versatile, while the Aberrant Long Blade's "ability" was not so outrageously absurd that a "reasonable explanation" could not be made...

"Yes. In my personal judgment, the source of J2796's anomalization infection was most likely you," Song Yarong said. "You not only created its physical form, but also endowed it with the meme of the Anomalization Virus... So you are, in every sense, the creator of the anomaly J2796."

Her words were full of barely suppressed excitement and exhilaration. Her intact eye stared fixedly at Sun Hang as though she had discovered some priceless treasure.

"Since this thing can affect gravity, can I fly while holding it?" Sun Hang asked.

"Theoretically, yes. But only theoretically," Song Yarong said.

"Theoretically... what does that mean?"

"J2796's abnormal gravitational field can only extend roughly two centimeters beyond its body. If you wanted it to completely offset the gravity acting on a human body..." Song Yarong paused for half a second, then continued, "you would have to mash the body into pulp and spread it evenly over J2796's surface..."

"Are all researchers this morbid?" Sun Hang imagined that absurd scene and instinctively thought of the minced-meat skewers sold at roadside barbecue stands.

They were made by mincing beef and pork, mixing it evenly with various spices and seasonings, then wrapping it around a steel skewer and grilling it. To be fair, if the Aberrant Long Blade could be shrunk down proportionately, it really would look rather like one of those barbecue skewers.

"Unless you have a way to alter the range of its abnormal gravitational field..." Song Yarong suddenly turned her head, her eyes gleaming as she stared at Sun Hang. "You can do that... right?"

"Uh... actually, I don't know how I... 'created' it either." Sun Hang scratched the back of his head.

He was telling the truth.

He knew many secrets were hidden within him, yet he could not remember any of them. Whenever he tried to recall them, his brain immediately answered that attempt with unbearable pain.

"I actually have a suggestion." A white male researcher suddenly pushed open the door and walked in, looking at Sun Hang. "Since you were able to gather the steel bars from the ruins into this weapon, then presumably you can alter its shape as well... You only need to turn it into a suit of armor that covers your entire body. Perhaps then it could offset the gravity affecting your whole body."

"Ment, can't you knock before coming in?" Song Yarong shot the male researcher an unfriendly glance and complained.

"The temporary containment room is a public area within the Institute, not your private residence." The researcher named Ment smiled and shrugged. "Adele, you should not monopolize this research subject for your own selfish desires."

"But I won't let an idiot like you participate either. Leaving aside whether J2796 would retain its original properties after its form was reshaped... even if the abnormal gravitational field remained, it could only affect an area two centimeters beneath the surface of the body at most. By your logic, if you really wanted to offset human gravity this way, you should melt J2796 into liquid and inject it into the body's blood vessels... I truly don't know how you passed the researcher entrance examination. You didn't pull strings, did you?"

"Adele... we're colleagues. We see each other every day, so it's best not to make your words so unpleasant." A flash of embarrassment and anger passed through Ment's eyes as he said gravely, "The Institute is short-handed right now. We should use our limited research resources where they are most needed. The J2796 project should naturally be handed over to me, an expert in materials science... Your primary field is biology. You should be at South City Public Cemetery dissecting those beasts mutated by the Blood Moon's effects."

"Ahem, you two, stop arguing for now." Sun Hang deliberately coughed twice, interrupting the dispute. Then he looked at Ment and asked in an exceptionally sincere tone, "This... uh, Researcher Ment, if you took over this project, you wouldn't really melt this thing into molten iron and inject it into my blood vessels, would you?"

"...Of course not!" Ment's expression stiffened. He shot Song Yarong a vicious glare. "I just think I could provide you with more and more valuable advice..."