The Anti-Physics Sword

Around 7 PM on the evening of the college entrance exam's conclusion, Bai Ge was feeling worried and confused.

A temporary dispatch was issued to a community police station in Xiangfan City.

They had received a call from a resident claiming there was a ghost possessing his House-Guarding Treasure Sword.

Initially, they wouldn't have responded to such a nonsensical report.

However, the resident and some of his neighbors then came directly to the police station, speaking with great conviction.

As beat cops, they were familiar with these neighbors and had no choice but to go and see for themselves.

"Xiao Zhang, no one dares to enter my house now. Here, look at this photo."

The man pulled up a photo on his phone. The beat cop saw nothing unusual.

"What are you showing me? What's wrong with it?"

The photo showed a living room with all its furnishings in place, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"There's no sword! Look, there's no sword in the photo!" the man exclaimed excitedly.

The beat cop was speechless. No sword? So what if there's no sword?

Seeing the beat cop's lack of reaction, the man and his neighbors started talking all at once: "There's a House-Guarding Treasure Sword hanging on the living room wall, but it's not in the photo!"

"Our phones can't see it either when we take pictures!"

"Mine neither, and even professional cameras can't capture it!"

The three beat cops were confused and exchanged glances, deciding to go to the scene.

According to the neighbors, this was a haunting.

But in this day and age, hauntings this absurd were unheard of. A sword was on the wall, yet it couldn't be captured in a photo – wasn't that ridiculous?

The three beat cops entered the house. The living room was right by the entrance, and a finely crafted sword was hanging on the wall, visible as soon as they looked up.

The sword was merely a decorative item, probably worth a few hundred yuan, meant for display and not sharpened.

"Isn't it right here?" beat cop Xiao Zhang pointed at the sword.

"But it can't be captured!"

The homeowner quickly took out his phone and showed the police in camera mode.

Xiao Zhang glanced at it and was stunned.

It really wasn't there. The camera had captured everything else on that wall, but the sword was conspicuously absent.

"How can this be?"

The three beat cops were also bewildered. They looked around; residents from the entire building had been alerted, and many who heard about the incident rushed over to try taking photos.

Without a doubt, whether it was a mobile phone, a camera, or a Polaroid.

None of them could display the sword.

But it wasn't that the devices were broken, because other things were captured clearly, only the sword was missing.

"This is spooky, it really can't be photographed."

"Is there really a ghost? Is there something invisible blocking the sword?"

"Something invisible? Stop talking, I'm getting chills."

"That's a House-Guarding Treasure Sword... maybe such swords shouldn't be displayed carelessly? Otherwise, what might it be blocking..."

A flurry of speculation ensued, but everyone only dared to speak from outside the door, afraid to enter.

The hallway was completely blocked, and the three beat cops started sweating.

They also took out their own phones and tried taking pictures. Undoubtedly, the sword was still not visible.

It was as if it was a sword that only the naked eye could see, and nothing else!

"I refuse to believe this is real!"

Beat cop Xiao Zhang was a bold one. He never believed in superstitions, only thinking it was some kind of scientific phenomenon.

He strode forward and snatched the sword from the wall!

"Look everyone! There's nothing spooky! Where's the ghost?"

Xiao Zhang said, then swung the sword a couple of times. He hadn't removed the scabbard.

Seeing that nothing happened, everyone felt relieved.

However, the fact that cameras couldn't capture it was a genuinely strange occurrence. The sword's owner didn't want it anymore and immediately offered to hand it over to the police.

Xiao Zhang took the sword back to the police station and sent it directly to the city bureau.

Because the matter was too bizarre, and not a rumor, anyone who took a picture of it could clearly see how strange the sword was.

It was truly uncanny!

In comparison, this incident wasn't spreading widely online. Although it was discussed on various forums, the number of replies was actually quite small.

After all, the pictures posted showed nothing suspicious.

Only those who had personally seen this sword would know its sinister nature.

The poster of the thread couldn't provide any evidence that the sword should have been in the photos, leading many netizens to mock it as the "Emperor's New Clothes, Sword Edition."

The media spreading this story was also frustrated. They could only use their words to the fullest to describe the matter, but couldn't provide detailed evidence.

Without seeing the sword in person, what could a photo without the sword possibly convey?

Everything that could reflect light, except for the human eye, could not detect it. This was the strange part.

But as long as the sword was not exhibited, this strangeness could not be spread through videos or photos; it would gradually fade into obscurity.

However, this online obscurity was exactly what the authorities desired.

Because the sword's strangeness didn't end there; some of its subtle anomalies made one's skin crawl.

"How is this possible? The microscope can't see it... the magnifying glass can't see it either... infrared imaging doesn't work..."

"We don't even know what material it's composed of!"

Several senior researchers scratched their heads as they looked at the experimental reports.

Initially, they thought the sword was merely undetectable by imaging. Later, they discovered that even its temperature couldn't be measured.

This sword neither absorbed nor radiated heat; it simply didn't conduct heat!

This severely violated the laws of thermodynamics, because any molecular structure would have heat; there was no heatless substance in the universe.

Of course, this could be attributed to it being unmeasurable rather than non-existent, which was still somewhat acceptable.

After all, they had studied it for a whole day and couldn't measure any parameters.

"Did you test the blade? Is it the same as the scabbard?"

"Yes, they both have the 'unmeasurable effect,' and..."

"And what?"

"We just drew the sword out and tested the sharpness of the blade."

"What about the sharpness? Little Wang, tell us!"

The researcher looked strange, sweat beading on his forehead, as if something incredible was difficult to articulate.

This made the others very anxious, and they hurried to the testing site to see for themselves.

They saw that the steel plate used to test the sharpness was gone, leaving only a thin layer of unknown ash on the ground.

"Academician Tang, the test plate has been disintegrated..."

"What?"

Academician Tang was shocked. "Analyze this layer of ash, and test it again! Use titanium alloy!"

They quickly tested again. As the sword struck a test alloy plate, the entire plate instantly deformed, leaving only a lump of twisted alloy on the ground.

At this point, Little Wang wiped his sweat and said, "We've already analyzed it. That layer of ash contains all the elements of the steel plate except for iron..."

"The iron elements in whatever the sword's edge strikes disappear. The second test with the alloy plate became like this because the iron elements disappeared."

Academician Tang and the other researchers were stunned. The experimental results were too bizarre and unbelievable.

"All the iron elements in the struck object disappear? This sword can absorb the iron elements from objects? How is that possible? It's truly..."

As Academician Tang was expressing his astonishment and confusion, Little Wang spoke again.

"Academician Tang, I'm sorry, I need to correct myself... I said disappear, not absorb."

"..."

The others fell silent for a moment. Gradually, some of their faces turned pale. Academician Tang could barely stand.

Little Wang quickly supported Academician Tang, who said, "Don't talk nonsense... How can matter disappear out of thin air? If the sword's molecular composition had an affinity for iron elements, it could still be explained..."

"I'm sorry, I don't want to believe it either, but the gravimeter data tells me without any chance of error... the sword's mass hasn't changed. And the total mass in the sealed test chamber has decreased," Little Wang said blankly.

"Absurd!" Academician Tang shouted, unwilling to believe such experimental results.

"Try again!"

In a certain laboratory, the treasure sword with the 'unmeasurable light and heat effect' was repeatedly used to slash various steel plates, alloy plates, and even animals.

Without exception, any substance struck by it had its iron elements disappear.

The disappeared iron elements were not in the sword, nor in the laboratory; no one knew where they went.

This sword was also effective on animals. The lab mice that were struck exhibited symptoms such as respiratory arrest, upturned eyes, and purplish tongues. Their bodies curled up for several minutes before they died directly.

The cause of death was undoubtedly the complete absence of a single iron atom in their bodies.

Faced with these repeated, ironclad experimental results, the researchers present fell into silence.

They all knew what this meant.

There were only two possibilities: the disappeared iron elements were sent to an unknown location by an unknown effect, or... this sword could make matter disappear out of thin air.

The former could be barely accepted; perhaps in the future, there might be some conjectures to try and explain it.

But the latter was too unacceptable, because it meant this sword could reduce the total amount of matter in the universe.

Regardless of which possibility was true, humanity's current physics could not accommodate this sword.

"Who manufactured this sword..." Academician Tang suddenly murmured.

At this point, if someone told him aliens did it, he would believe them.

At least it would still be considered scientific.

However, Xiao Wang said, "According to the investigation by the Xiangfan police, this sword was crafted by a master from the Hundred Weapons sword shop. It's a handicraft. A resident of Xiangfan City, identified as Yang, ordered it online for three hundred and sixty yuan... with free shipping."

"..." Everyone stared at Xiao Wang, speechless.

Xiao Wang said bitterly, "Yang bought this sword three years ago. The local municipal bureau said all the relevant procedures were complete, and that person bought the sword for collection. The sword had no problems initially... until three days ago, after the college entrance examination ended. When Yang was picking up his daughter at home, he was video calling his wife in the living room and discovered the sword was invisible through the camera. Yang video calls every day in the living room, and the sword is always present in the videos, so the sword suddenly changed on the day the college entrance examination ended..."

Academician Tang and the others listened, completely bewildered.

Sudden mutation?

If a creature suddenly mutated, they could speculate from many angles.

But a sword... a handicraft that cost three hundred and sixty yuan with free shipping, why would it mutate!

There was no way to research its cause.

"Has it been reported?"

"Yes, Academician Hu wants to discuss it with you."

"Okay, have him brought here."