The Terrifying Jigsaw Anomaly, [Memorial Ritual]! Anomaly Vaccine!

The Terrifying Jigsaw Anomaly, [Memorial Ritual]! Anomaly Vaccine!

Chen Yu smiled faintly, speaking like an older brother. Then he hailed a taxi and took Tong Jian out to eat.

While they waited for the car,

the group chat erupted again.

Li Kun, who had been acting so smug before, now sounded awkward and restrained.

Faced with his classmates' eager hopes that he could pull strings and get them good spots,

he hesitantly replied: [This...]

[I can't make it happen.]

[My dad personally stepped in and spoke to the Director... but...]

[They said this school consolidation and reassignment was being overseen directly by the highest level. A mysterious department with extremely high authority was handling everything. It's already become a provincial S-class secret. Forget the Education Bureau...]

[Even Linjiang City's top two officials have no room to interfere.]

The group chat instantly exploded.

[Holy shit? Even the top two officials can't interfere?]

[A provincial S-class secret?! What did our school ever do to deserve this? My god... what the hell is going on?!]

[What mysterious department is this? That background is way too terrifying. School transfers were originally decided independently by the city, right? The moment that department took control, it became a provincial secret? Holy shit!! I can't even imagine it!]

[My mind is blown. I never thought I'd get the chance in my life to participate in a lottery for a provincial secret incident!]

After everyone was dumbfounded,

their concern immediately narrowed down to a single question—

[Brother Kun, what is this mysterious department called?!]

Pairs of incomparably curious, reverent eyes waited through their phones for Li Kun's answer.

Li Kun drew a cold breath before cautiously typing three words into the chat:

[The Investigation Bureau!]

[Remember Luo Mu from last time? He's from the Investigation Bureau!]

[My dad asked around everywhere. The Investigation Bureau is already the highest-authority department in all of Linjiang City. Every other department has to step aside. Whoever they need to cooperate must cooperate fully. They have the authority to interfere in anything...]

[In short, it's the department every big shot in Linjiang City is desperately trying to suck up to now, but they can't even get them to spare a glance.]

The people in the group chat were even more stunned.

[My god... the Investigation Bureau is so badass...]

[Top-level authority, controlling Linjiang City with one hand—what exactly does the Investigation Bureau do?]

[That's insane. If I ever got the chance to know someone from the Investigation Bureau, wouldn't I be able to swagger around everywhere?]

[Stop dreaming. Brother Kun already said even Linjiang City's upper class can't curry favor with them. Who the hell are you?]

Chen Yu smiled. He had not expected the Investigation Bureau to hold such high authority.

But it made sense. With chaos approaching, they were the most important people.

As he was thinking,

a message from Han Ningning arrived as well. It contained the locations of every school after the consolidation, class arrangements, teaching resources, schedules, and more. It was incredibly detailed.

The meaning was that he could choose anything he wanted.

It would be arranged unconditionally.

Chen Yu casually picked one.

Then he left Han Ningning to handle it.

When the taxi arrived,

the driver rolled down the window. "Buddy, where are you headed... Wait, it's you?"

Chen Yu frowned as well. "We meet again. What a coincidence."

By sheer coincidence, the driver was the very same one who had taken Chen Yu to Linjiang Central Hotel last time.

"Where are you going this time?"

the driver asked with a smile.

"Find us a restaurant."

Chen Yu and Tong Jian got into the car. "Take us wherever the food is good."

"Got it."

The driver started the car and drove away.

During the ride, since he had met Chen Yu before, the driver started chatting with him.

"Young man, did you know? Linjiang City has been pretty chaotic lately."

"Chaotic? What do you mean?"

"I don't know why, but there are tons of news stories every day. At first, I thought they were pranks, but later I realized they weren't. It's bizarre as hell."

"You need to be careful."

The driver sighed and said, "Mind if I smoke?"

Chen Yu glanced at Tong Jian, then opened all the windows. "Open the windows before you smoke."

After opening the windows, the driver lit a cigarette.

"You said it was bizarre. What happened?"

Chen Yu asked.

"For example, my family... My wife and kid were perfectly fine before, but I don't know what happened. Now they sunbathe like crazy every day and don't eat anything... They only drink water..."

"If this keeps up, sigh..."

The driver scratched his head, his face full of a middle-aged man's misery.

It felt as though the entire world was maliciously targeting him.

Yet Chen Yu could see faint traces of anomalous medium on him.

The anomalous medium was not obvious.

But it meant he had already come into contact with an anomaly without realizing it.

Perhaps his family had become strange because of anomalous infection.

"It'll get better."

Chen Yu had nothing much to say. Was he supposed to directly tell the driver that anomalies were reviving?

Chen Yu figured the man would just take him for an idiot.

About half an hour later,

Chen Yu used the Butcher Knife Ghost Domain to take another look.

There was no dashcam in the taxi.

However, the camera on the driver's phone, which he used for navigation, was giving off faint scarlet glimmers despite the camera not being turned on.

Ghost Camera's connection to his third gray medium was becoming increasingly solid. In another hour or so, the third Jigsaw Anomaly related to Ghost Camera would probably lock onto him.

Just thinking about it was exciting.

A meaningful smile curled across Chen Yu's lips.

A sumptuous feast was right before him.

After arriving at a restaurant, the driver hit the brakes and stopped. Then he said, "Get out, little brother. This should be my last time driving a taxi. I won't charge you this time."

After getting out, Chen Yu looked back at the driver and said with a smile, "Thanks, brother. Since something like this has happened, you should find a way to solve it."

"Isn't that the truth?"

The driver gave a bitter smile. "But there's no solution."

"There is."

Since the man was not charging him and they seemed fated to meet, Chen Yu led Tong Jian toward the restaurant and casually left him with a sentence: "You have plants at home, right?"

"Go home and burn them. Things will get better."

Chen Yu turned and left.

Leaving the driver standing uncertainly in the wind.

Plants... burn them?

Why had he suddenly said something so nonsensical?

He did have that hobby. He liked growing flowers and plants on his balcony. They looked quite pleasing to the eye.

Because he lacked planting experience, every flower and plant he grew eventually withered and died.

Even so, he had never stopped planting.

But not long ago,

the plants on his balcony had finally all survived.

Not only had they survived, but they were growing incredibly vigorously. Everything was lush and green, looking very beautiful.

The driver suddenly shuddered in terror...

Right...

That was when his wife and child had started acting strangely!

"Burn them! I have to burn them!"

"Is he... a god?"

"We're here. What do you want to eat?"

Chen Yu looked at Tong Jian. There was a snack street near this restaurant, and Tong Jian could choose whatever she wanted.

Tong Jian looked at Chen Yu without speaking, her face expressionless.

Only the nearly imperceptible curve at the corner of her lips showed that the little girl was in a good mood after coming here.

Mm...

And there was also the subtle sniff she took with her little nose.

"Big brother, big sister says she wants KFC!"

The Ghost Doll spoke the words Tong Jian wanted to say for her.

Chen Yu smiled.

Was KFC the only thing in this little girl's mind?

In the end, Chen Yu brought Tong Jian into KFC. Just like before, he ordered one of everything on the menu.

This time, Tong Jian did not hesitate. She immediately began eating voraciously.

The Ghost Doll copied her and began eating as well.

Chen Yu tore off half a piece of fried chicken. As he ate, he scrolled through his phone.

[ Ding! ]

[Your anonymous card has received: 1,200 kilograms of gold! 50 million Huaxia yuan!]

"Why is there so much extra gold?"

Chen Yu could not help but freeze. Completing this mission should have earned him five hundred Investigation Bureau merit points and five hundred kilograms of gold.

Since Chen Yu was not a member of the Investigation Bureau, merit points were useless to him.

But the gold should have only been five hundred kilograms.

He called Han Ningning.

At the moment, Han Ningning apparently had not yet reached the school. The sound of rushing wind came through the phone, so she was probably in a car.

"Why is there an extra seven hundred kilograms of gold in my account?"

Chen Yu asked in confusion.

"Chen... Brother Chen Yu. It's like this. I didn't help much during the trip to the zoo, so I don't deserve that gold. That's why I gave you my share too."

"But what about the other two hundred kilograms of gold?"

"The Investigation Bureau... wants to curry favor with you."

Han Ningning promptly sold out Director Zhang Ping's little scheme.

Chen Yu did not think she had been useless.

Although Han Ningning had seemed like dead weight the entire time,

she had attracted countless anomalies!

A vending machine, a humanoid anomalous buffet—it was nothing more than that.

Chen Yu even hoped there would be a next time.

"It's fine, Brother Chen Yu. I don't deserve it."

Han Ningning's attitude was resolute. She had always felt that she had held Chen Yu back last time, and she practically wanted to give him all her merit points too.

After saying that, afraid that Chen Yu would refuse, she continued, "Brother Chen Yu, you saved me several times, and I haven't even thanked you yet. Besides, I got Investigation Bureau merit points because of you. You can't buy those with money."

Han Ningning's tone carried a hint of playfulness.

"Mm, alright then."

Chen Yu did not continue arguing. If he kept declining, it would just seem pretentious.

After saying that, Chen Yu was about to hang up.

But Han Ningning's tone turned solemn and grave, filled with concern. "Oh, right, Brother Chen Yu. Director Zhang Ping sent me information saying that an Apocalypse squad has already arrived in Riverside. Their target may be you!

"This squad is codenamed [Memorial]. They are infamous and powerful. Even their weakest members are level-seven Ghost Controllers. And... the anomalies they control are not only individually terrifying. The scariest thing is... they are Jigsaw Anomalies that can combine together!

"Director Zhang Ping said that if you need it, the Investigation Bureau will mobilize every resource to protect you."

Han Ningning's tone made it clear that she hoped Chen Yu would agree.

She was actually the most worried one.

"Protect me?"

Chen Yu smiled faintly to himself.

His guess had been correct.

Ghost Camera was indeed controlled by an Apocalypse Ghost Controller, and behind it was also a Jigsaw Anomaly team.

At the very least, they were level seven. It really was an unprecedented feast of luxury.

Chen Yu was so tempted that he couldn't help eating two more drumsticks.

"You don't need to help me. I was bored anyway. Someone wants to deliver some entertainment right to my door—I couldn't be happier."

Chen Yu said something that made Han Ningning's heart skip a beat in the calmest possible tone.

"But... that isn't all. We found out that the most troublesome part this time is that they have a special member—Anomaly Vaccine."

After Anomaly Vaccine is injected into a human body, it can block reverse infection through any anomaly medium.

Brother Chen Yu, I know your anomalies are powerful, but they won't confront you directly. Most likely, they'll use Jigsaw Anomaly's [Memorial Ritual] to mourn you, forcibly stripping away one of the anomalies on your body... If you want to retaliate...

With Anomaly Vaccine there, your anomaly mediums won't be able to come into contact with anyone on their team... which means you won't be able to resist at all...

Gritting her teeth, she revealed the most terrifying fact. "When they joined forces, they even used this method to kill a powerful lv9 Ghost Controller!"

Chen Yu was somewhat surprised.

This Anomaly Vaccine thing sounded pretty absurd.

So this was how Jigsaw Anomaly worked.

Now he understood why it had kept taking pictures of him.

It was probably using photographs to establish a medium connection with him, allowing Jigsaw Anomaly's other anomalies to establish medium links with him as well.

Then that [Memorial Ritual] was the Anomaly Ability of Jigsaw Anomaly, including Ghost Camera.

If they stripped away one anomaly, then even the anomalies on his body would probably find it difficult to deal with an entire team of anomalies.

It was like... under normal circumstances, the anomalies on both sides should be fighting in a brawl. But they had a way to snatch away one of his anomalies individually, then shut the door so his other anomaly methods couldn't provide support.

"This Apocalypse is actually pretty interesting." Chen Yu's smile deepened. "They've got some tricks."

"I hope their team has more Jigsaw Anomalies."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Yu had already come up with a way to break the situation.

Han Ningning was silent for a while. "Take care of yourself."

She hung up.

[Buzz!]

[You really are a hardheaded idiot!]

[More than three Jigsaw Anomalies—how could you possibly handle that?]

[You might not know just how strong they are!]

[What? You devoured the Time Ghost Eye, devoured the Ghost Butcher Knife, devoured...]

[Oh my god, now this is going to be fun!]

[It seems the identities of hunter and prey are about to reverse!]

[...]

Tong Jian seemed to have overheard the conversation between Chen Yu and Han Ningning.

While she was busy eating with her head lowered, she unexpectedly raised her small head. Food crumbs still clung to the corner of her mouth as she spoke for the first time. "Very dangerous?"

Her tone was still completely flat.

Chen Yu froze mid-bite when he heard that. He looked at Tong Jian in surprise. She could actually talk?

Then he gave a meaningful smile. "Maybe."

Tong Jian gave an oh and lowered her head to continue eating. As if making casual conversation, she said blandly, "Then eat me."

Every time Chen Yu ate an anomaly, he became stronger.

Having stayed by Chen Yu's side for so long, Tong Jian had naturally noticed that.

As long as Chen Yu ate her, he could become stronger.

If he became stronger, he could survive.

Tong Jian's logic was simple.

So simple that there was no need to consider anything else.

Chen Yu didn't speak for a long time after hearing that, but warmth rose in his heart.

She was afraid that Chen Yu would face danger. Even if it meant giving up her own life, she wanted to ensure his safety.

She spoke the fiercest words in the calmest expression and tone.

Chen Yu couldn't help rubbing her head twice.

Everything was left unspoken.

"What... is going on?"

A commotion suddenly broke out in the restaurant.

The KFC employees suddenly discovered in horror...

"Is the security camera broken?"

"Why does it keep taking pictures of that gentleman?"

"We can't control it at all."

Chen Yu glanced over again.

At last, the third gray medium thread extending from the camera had fully formed!