Chapter 88: Prologue 2 - Self-Analysis |
As he left the phone booth, Shi Rang walked briskly. He could feel someone nearby watching him. It might be a thief or a mugger—or more likely, someone from the Alliance.
The faint, lingering sense of being watched only diminished slightly when he hopped onto the bus across the street.
The last bus "punctually" departed at six o'clock with a delay of just over a minute, which perfectly matched his calculations. During his transfer, he retrieved the backpack containing the reward mentioned by the Alliance. Finally, he arrived at the passenger terminal and picked up a torn cigarette box from a secluded corner—Leader Jack poked his head over the edge of the box, waving at him from afar.
"Are we running away now?" the child asked.
"The negotiations went smoothly, but we really should head back." Shi Rang checked his watch, walked into the ticketing hall, and bought a ticket for the final coach back to Yunling City.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
The fact that the Alliance had not arrested him immediately meant he had successfully taken the first step.
The inefficient intelligence submission channel initially provided by the Alliance gave him the opportunity to exploit the time difference.
Taking advantage of the conclusion of the Green Island City incident, he placed the outdated clues at the drop-off point before the intelligence personnel arrived.
—that Deer Hunter had submitted vital information at the earliest opportunity, but due to the lack of an instant communication line, the intelligence had expired and become useless.
This would be enough to pique the Alliance's interest in him.
The only things Shi Rang had brought to Green Island City were a handbag full of clothes to change into—as well as a punctured tin biscuit box used as a hiding place for the Mini-Humans. He had already temporarily stored the bag in a coin locker beforehand, which made traveling convenient and ensured he would not feel too bad if it were lost.
It was already the early hours of the morning when the coach arrived in Yunling City. Shi Rang did not dare to wander the streets at this hour, so he simply stayed at a nearby motel, managing to power through the night with half-open eyes.
It was not until the dawn of April thirteenth that he finally returned to his familiar, comforting home.
The Mini-Humans were overjoyed at successfully returning to their little town. The Sheriff assured him that he would maintain order before being the last one to jump out of the biscuit box. Shi Rang offered a soft smile to the Tiny Ones waving at him, then collapsed onto his bed.
His body completely relaxed, but his mind raced straight into Dump Truck's personal space.
After submitting the intelligence, the Alliance would absolutely keep a close eye on him. As a result, the attic and all of Green Island City had become unsafe. He did not dare to connect to the Terminal Station for extended periods anymore.
At home, he could at least draw the curtains and enjoy some privacy. If there were any signs of intrusion, the Mini-Humans would be the first to notice.
His home was his safe house.
On the way back, Shi Rang had written up his own set of Records within Dump Truck's personal space. He had already confirmed that this was a secure data zone completely isolated from the outside world. He could safely stash his secrets here without fear of being pried upon.
He used a humanoid Hazard Item template for himself, filled in his real-world address and personal characteristics, and finally listed all of his currently apparent abilities.
The prompt the Terminal Station gave him at the time was that the Locking was successful, but it would take time to complete the Analysis.
Now, he could finally unwrap this present.
[Shi Rang]
[Human, Male, Biological Age: 27]
[Subject Rating: D]
[Anomalous Effect: Consciousness Connection (limited to Management Bureau Terminal Station, related Special Communicators, and directly connected intranet ports), Sensing (limited to Management Bureau Special Communicators and Anomaly Fluctuations), Tampering (only available for Anomalies Locked by the Terminal Station), Rapid Regeneration (cannot repair fatal injuries that cause immediate death)]
'Am I only D-Class...?'
'Even the Midnight Visitor is C-Class.'
Thinking about how the Mini-Humans were also C-Class, he felt a strange sense of jealousy. However, this wasn't some kind of leveling system in an RPG, so there was no need to dwell on it.
The Terminal Station's grade classification for Anomaly Projects took many factors into consideration, including hazard level, containment difficulty, and certain "other criteria." A high grade did not necessarily mean a high level of danger, and vice versa. The Terminal Station could automatically assign grades to Subjects, but most would still undergo manual adjustments.
According to the file documentation, if a "nuclear bomb" were an Anomaly, it would be classified as D-Class by the Management Bureau, and its containment procedures would simply involve not launching it.
But Shi Rang was somewhat curious about the criteria the website used for its automatic grading.
In terms of hazard level, he could covertly sell out the entire Management Bureau without anyone noticing, and he could even modify Anomalies. It sounded impressive, but apart from being relatively durable, Shi Rang himself had absolutely no combat capabilities.
He did not know how to fight. If attacked, he would just scramble around with his head in his hands. Put a bullet in his head, and he would still die.
Facing his own personal Records, he once again began to contemplate his relationship with the Terminal Station.
Anomalous Effects were incredibly bizarre and varied, so why was his ability anchored directly to the Terminal Station? Why did altering reality also require going through the Terminal Station?
He could be certain that his abilities were entirely unique within the Management Bureau, as he had neither met anyone else nor discovered any traces of others Tampering with reality. Thinking about it from another angle, if someone in the Management Bureau possessed the same abilities, why would they let the soldiers of the Field Department risk their lives through hell and high water? And why hadn't they established targeted defenses against it?
As for the Terminal Station, it bore obvious traces of having been designed. All of its programs and modules operated according to human logic. To claim it was naturally such an Anomaly felt too deliberate. It was highly likely that the Management Bureau had modified it, treating it as a mysterious Anomaly functioning as a website that "could be connected to with a device from anywhere."
It made sense. An organization as vigilant toward Anomalies as the Management Bureau would never allow a dangerous Entity to take over their communications and information databases.
Shi Rang pondered before the data space for a moment, then sent a message to the Terminal Station that was not a command.
[Hello?]
The message landed in a command window, and the feedback it returned was: [Unrecognized Command].
Ah well, it was just a tool after all, so it was bound to be a bit dense. It would have been great if he could chat with it, so they could cooperate and strategize their next moves together.
Shi Rang slightly adjusted the wording in his personal Records, transforming them into a character sheet.
[Shi Rang]
[Grade: D]
[Active Abilities: Consciousness Connection (Mounting 2/3), Anomaly Sensing, Tampering]
[Passive Abilities: Rapid Regeneration]
This looked much more pleasing to the eye.
Since he had not actually modified any core information, it shouldn't end up Tampering with himself.
He clicked save, only to receive a new prompt:
[One Ability Entry Remains Unnamed]
In the data on the "back" of the Records, Shi Rang found the entry that had not been brought to the forefront. His Records hadn't reserved a suitable spot for it, so it was just piled up here.
[(Unnamed): By killing an Anomalous Entity at close range, Plunder its Anomalous Effect]
There was no concept of a physical body within the consciousness space, but Shi Rang could still picture his mouth hanging wide open.
'Where did this ability come from?'
So, had he really Plundered its regeneration when he burned the Stitched Walker to death with light?
But if that was the case, had he awakened two Anomalous Effects during that life-or-death moment? Counting the initially manifested Tampering and Consciousness Connection, did that make four in total???
He felt somewhat overwhelmed, but no matter how he looked at it, his current status panel was extraordinary.
'Aren't there way too many Anomalous Effects?!'
Shi Rang never considered himself a chosen one. Now, he truly began to doubt whether his experiences were natural occurrences.
He had learned to accept happiness while by Ying Shang's side, but he had never truly cured his instinctive fear of good luck and fortunate events.
'How could such a wonderful thing possibly fall into my lap?'
Since it wasn't a good thing, it would inevitably bring misfortune and bitter consequences. His greatest worry was that he had already fallen into someone's conspiracy. Just like how Director Bjorn appeared to have fooled everyone in Facility 031, yet was merely a pawn himself—not only utilized and controlled, but ultimately infected and devoured by the Stitched Walker.
But why would the mastermind behind the scenes choose him? And at what point, through what means, and for what purpose had he been selected? Which of his bizarre encounters were authentic, and which had been orchestrated by someone else?
Was this also how they made Ying Shang disappear? Was it really an accident that she ran into Startled Magpie while pursuing Grey Dog? Had she also been exploited in some way?
Once the conspiracy theories started, they could not be stopped. They only brought endless suspicion and torment.
Shi Rang tossed and turned in reality. The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. Finally, he wished he could just pass out on the spot and escape it all.
A sudden metallic clattering startled Shi Rang into opening his eyes. He initially thought someone was prying the door open, but it was just Leader Jack at the bedside, shaking two bells almost the size of his head, desperately trying to catch Shi Rang's attention—those two bells were decorations from some plush toy that had fallen under the bed a long time ago.
"What is it?" Shi Rang sat up, still shaken.
"The Tiny Ones found something!"
Shi Rang placed the tiny boy on his shoulder and found a scouting squad composed of Tiny Ones by the bedroom window. They were clinging to the curtains, taking shifts to monitor the movements on the street, and had even made flags out of colorful shredded paper to signal each other.
"Someone is watching you, Shi Rang!" A Tiny One climbed up to Shi Rang's ear. "There are two sketchy guys across the street who keep staring at this building. They were there the day we first arrived, and they have appeared intermittently since then. Now they are back again today!"
'What?'
Shi Rang pulled the tightly drawn curtains open just a crack and peered in the direction the scout had indicated.
Indeed, there were two men dressed as street thugs smoking at the Alley Entrance, bragging and joking around.
Their jiggling legs and impatient expressions prompted passersby to keep a wide berth. They looked like drug dealers or gang hooligans killing time. But upon closer inspection, their clothes were too new. Although there were many stains and tears, the natural fading and wear that came from years of washing and sun exposure on fabric were very difficult to forge—Shi Rang had never seen such semi-homeless drifters wearing clothes of this quality.
At that moment, one of the "thugs" at the Alley Entrance raised his head. He glanced upward seemingly casually, almost as if making eye contact with Shi Rang from a distance. The sudden gaze startled Shi Rang into shrinking back slightly, his heart pounding wildly.
These two were surveilling his home.
'Who are they?'
He hadn't Sensed any communication signals from the Management Bureau, nor had he found any operation plans in the Terminal Station. Meanwhile, the people from the Alliance wouldn't bother using such sleazy, conspicuous methods...
A thought flashed through Shi Rang's mind: the third party that had helped him clean up his tracks in the Yunling New District.
They had finally come looking for him.