Anomaly Node

"This isn't a big problem. I have my channels," Yang Lian said. "The quality of the beacons rushed into production may vary somewhat, but as long as the failure rate doesn't exceed thirty percent, it won't affect the final test results."

"Alright, then I'll leave this task to you... Oh, right. Did you get any valuable information out of those who returned?" Sun Hang copied Wang Xiyi's posture and propped both feet up on the table in front of him.

Watching these two roguish hunters, the vein at the corner of Yang Lian's eye twitched twice, but she ultimately said nothing more. "The Federation Council representatives and those bigshots from the Management Committee were taken away directly. The Investigation Bureau could only get in touch with the lower-ranking attendants... but the difference wasn't significant. According to them, time flowed differently within the displaced area than in normal spacetime. From the onset of the anomaly until everything returned to normal, only five hours had passed from their perspective."

"Only five hours?" Sun Hang frowned. He had the feeling that something was off, but he could not put his finger on what it was.

"Mm. They discovered the anomaly because the livestream signal for the flower-laying ceremony was cut off. Then they found that all network signals and radio communications had been interrupted. The accompanying security personnel immediately activated their emergency plan and dispatched a team to seek outside assistance, while ensuring the officials' safety," Yang Lian said.

"That team was the twenty-seven people who didn't make it back?" Sun Hang asked.

Yang Lian nodded and continued, "The people who remained in South City Public Cemetery did not wait for that team to return. Instead, they waited for a second group of rescue personnel from normal spacetime."

"Given the current situation, the useful information they can provide us is practically zero." Wang Xiyi sighed helplessly. "To put it bluntly, it's just another group of people who went missing."

"Wait... I suddenly realized what's wrong!" Sun Hang abruptly stood up. "This anomaly wasn't merely a simple displacement between two spacetime regions... Otherwise, time in South City Public Cemetery should have flowed at the same rate as in the real world!"

"What are you trying to say...?" Yang Lian looked at Sun Hang, utterly confused.

"The first Spacetime Displacement occurred at seven in the evening, while these missing people returned at ten the following morning—a full fifteen hours apart... This isn't a matter of time flowing faster or slower. The South City Public Cemetery that returned to our spacetime isn't the South City Public Cemetery that originally belonged to our spacetime."

"What are you talking about? Why am I having trouble understanding?" The confusion on Yang Lian's face deepened, while Wang Xiyi beside her suddenly turned grave and lowered her long legs from the table.

"Suppose we take the real spacetime we occupied at the moment of the first Spacetime Displacement as the baseline, 'zero o'clock.' Then, in the real world, they should have returned at 'fifteen o'clock.' But for South City Public Cemetery and those missing people, the time they occupied was 'five o'clock'... In other words, they don't belong to our current spacetime. Nothing has returned to normal!" Sun Hang spoke faster and faster. "South City Public Cemetery still belongs to the anomalous area, and every one of those missing people can be considered an Anomaly Node! Hurry! Notify the Investigation Bureau and the Public Security Bureau! Gather all those missing people together! Now!!"

"But every one of those missing people underwent detailed examinations. None of them tested positive for Anomalization Virus memes. Logically speaking..."

Before Yang Lian could finish, Sun Hang cut her off. "They weren't infected by anomalous entities, so how could an examination detect the Anomalization Virus? But as long as they remain in this spacetime, each of them is effectively an anomalous spacetime node. If the anomalous entity that caused the Spacetime Displacement wants to attack our spacetime again, every one of these missing people will become a fuse!"

"You... What basis do you have for saying that?" Yang Lian's breath caught. "I've worked at the Investigation Bureau for seven years and read countless case files related to anomalous entities, but I've never heard of anything like this..."

"I told you, all that reading went straight up your ass, didn't it? Let me ask you one question: has the Investigation Bureau ever encountered an anomalous entity capable of Spacetime Displacement before?" Sun Hang snapped impatiently.

"But..."

"Enough with the buts. Verifying Sun Hang's theory is simple." Wang Xiyi picked up the telephone mounted on the meeting room wall. "Hello, Security? Bring the missing people who just returned to the institute to Combat Conference Room One on the seventh floor. Immediately! Right now!... Don't tell me their questioning is already over. If you refuse to bring them here, I'll do it myself!"

Before long, two men and a woman were brought into the conference room. The woman was an administrative employee of the institute, while the other two men were field operatives responsible for outside assignments.

"Uh... Didn't you just question us?" The exhausted-looking female administrator yawned. "We've already told you everything we know. There really isn't anything we left out."

"I can vouch for that." The person who brought the three of them was a supervisor from Security. "The interrogators asked every question at least three times. Their answers were detailed, and there were basically no major discrepancies."

"That isn't what I'm asking." Wang Xiyi waved a hand and walked over to the three of them. "You three seem very sleepy?"

"They just went through something like this. It's normal to feel tired after finally returning to the normal world, isn't it?" Yang Lian said quietly.

"No. They feel tired because of their biological clocks." Sun Hang shook his head, walked to the side, pushed open the window, and looked at the three of them. "Tell me, is it dark outside?"

"Of course?" The lead female administrator nodded naturally. "It's already the middle of the night... Can you let us go rest first?"

Outside the window, the sun hung high in the sky. Not a cloud could be seen for miles, and the sky was a clear blue under the Tyndall effect. A gray starling flapped across the high sky, flying toward the commercial district.

The expressions on Yang Lian's and the Security supervisor's faces froze.

Though it was broad daylight, Yang Lian felt a bone-chilling terror, as though something were crawling up her spine. She could not help shuddering.

"What time is it now?" Sun Hang asked again, pointing at the electronic clock on the wall.

The electronic clock displayed 1:30 p.m.

"Three thirty in the morning," the female administrator said.

The conference room fell so silent that a pin drop could be heard.