A ridiculous and unbelievable guess suddenly popped into Lu Jingshan’s mind.
Though he was very reluctant to believe it, the patterns on that bug were clearly shoe prints!
And they looked like the kind from everyday slippers.
He twitched the corner of his mouth.
“Is this anomaly really that strong?”
The newly discovered “Shadow Bug” hadn’t been officially rated yet, but it had at least S-level abilities. Yet it had been so casually stepped to death by the other side, just like squashing an ant.
Was that reasonable?
It was completely unreasonable!
Even the highest known SSS-Level Anomaly wouldn’t go down that easily, right?
Lu Jingshan took a deep breath and painfully closed his eyes.
“Forward this photo to the group chat.”
He couldn’t be the only one whose worldview got overturned—they all needed to experience it together. Besides, the photo would come up at the meeting anyway.
Better early than late.
In the Resurgence Management Office Ability User group chat:
The inexplicable photo had just been sent when it jolted a bunch of people awake during their midday nap.
Xue Hengfu from the Sixth Esper Squad was lazily lounging on his bed. He casually picked up his phone and got shocked by the content.
First glance.
“What the hell is this?”
Second glance.
“Wait, this isn’t scientific at all, is it?”
Xue Hengfu shot up in bed and watched as the group filled with voice messages—one after another, all voicing the same doubts as his.
Even He Chengfeng, who rarely checked the group, popped up with a single “?”.
Lu Jingshan stared at the chat as it balanced out, knowing everyone would be freaked out.
But as the question marks piled up in the chat box, Lu Jingshan had to explain:
“It’s from the email we just received.”
“You could call it—the latest on-site action from [Taiping Luxury Garden].”
One sentence, and the group went silent for a moment before exploding.
As the strangest and most bizarre anomalous neighborhood the Resurgence Management Office had encountered so far, [Taiping Luxury Garden] hadn’t left the Ability Users’ minds this whole time.
Now, seeing the photo from Lu Jingshan, who was handling the case, everyone immediately took it seriously.
Lu Jingshan had been feeling pretty down, but when he saw Old He from the Second Esper Squad pop up, he couldn’t resist typing mischievously.
“So, Old He, still daring to go on-site to investigate the neighborhood?”
He Chengfeng: …
He looked at the “Shadow Bug” in the photo, then at himself, and felt a subtle choke. He even started feeling a bit scared in hindsight.
Good thing he’d been stopped back then.
If they’d gone in…
Tsk.
A chilling sensation spread from the photo.
He Chengfeng coughed. “Alright, enough joking.”
“Is this thing really that terrifying?”
Lu Jingshan nodded and sighed.
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t expect it either.”
From their deductions, there was more than one anomaly in [Taiping Luxury Garden]. The Resurgence Management Office already knew of at least one Bone Dog.
But the neighborhood was completely isolated from the world. The only anomaly currently in contact with the outside was this “helpful citizen,” so they’d subconsciously assumed he was just one of the anomalies in [Taiping Luxury Garden]’s crew.
Now, though…
Their previous judgment seemed off.
Even if this guy was just one in the group, he’d definitely rank in the top three.
Lu Jingshan rubbed his arms, and when he recalled their previous chat logs, his feelings toward it instantly changed.
…
Bo Ting had sent the report email, but after a long wait with no reply, he wasn’t sure if they’d even seen it.
He hesitated for a bit, deciding to wait a little longer. After all, this wasn’t a small matter.
He had no idea what Mengjia City’s ecosystem was like. Before transmigrating, Bo Ting had never seen such bizarre anomalous bugs.
First there were those wriggling worms with human faces on their bellies, and now these glowing roundworms that could shatter hearts.
The bugs here seemed to have collected every horror trope imaginable.
If he hadn’t accidentally stepped on it, who knew what terrible things might have happened? Just thinking about it gave him chills.
Growing a bit more serious, Bo Ting decided to tell Mr. Xu about it too.
After all, Mr. Xu was still running around outside every day. If he ran into one of these bugs outdoors by accident, it’d be game over!
A few minutes later.
Xu Qinglai had just finished a meeting when he saw the voice message from Bo Ting.
“Hey.”
“Mr. Xu, you busy?”
The clear, slightly cool-toned voice came through the message notification, drawing attention from quite a few people in the hallway after the meeting.
The department manager froze for a second and instinctively looked ahead.
He saw the boss of the company seriously listening to the voice message once, then lowering his head to reply.
Department manager: ???
“Who was that in the message just now?”
He turned to his secretary, puzzled. Had the boss started dating?
Secretary: …
“How would I know about Mr. Xu’s business?” Though he was curious too.
But who dared to ask?
Mr. Xu seemed amiable, but at work, he was a bona fide smiling tiger!
Employees passed by one after another, politely nodding greetings.
After typing a few words, Xu Qinglai waited quietly.
“Just finished the meeting. What’s up?”
As long as he wasn’t disturbing Mr. Xu, it was fine.
Bo Ting let out a slight sigh of relief and instinctively forwarded the bathroom bug photo to Mr. Xu.
“Mr. Xu, you have to be really careful with these bugs outside lately.”
“Carry some insecticide with you, or maybe get an electric fly swatter.”
This bug had terrifying killing power, but its combat strength was weak—easily squashed with a foot.
Insecticide should work fine too, right?
Bo Ting racked his brains listing common items and even sent a link to save Mr. Xu time.
Xu Qinglai paused slightly, not expecting Bo Ting to be reminding him about this.
He recognized at a glance that it was the Shadow Bug from the stage the other day.
Xu Qinglai’s expression turned odd. Did he think he’d be afraid of these things?
But then he remembered that in front of Bo Ting, he hadn’t shown any special abilities.
Xu Qinglai, who had been about to say no need, paused and suddenly stopped typing. He looked thoughtfully at Bo Ting’s message, then lowered his eyes and typed:
“Really?”
“Then I’ll have my secretary buy some later and keep them in the car.”
He acted just like a normal human, going along perfectly with Bo Ting’s words.
But a glint of amusement flashed in his eyes, a bit eager for Bo Ting to realize he wasn’t what he seemed.
Bo Ting had no idea what Mr. Xu was thinking. Seeing that Mr. Xu was taking it seriously, he relaxed completely and sent an emoji to comfort him:
“But Mr. Xu, no need to be too scared. These things die pretty easily.”
“Just pay attention in daily life.”
“Oh, right.”
Bo Ting suddenly remembered something else as he got to that point.
“Mr. Xu, bugs like the one in that photo I sent before—are they common in Mengjia City?”
As an outsider, Bo Ting still needed to get a clear picture.
He’d originally planned to ask on the Citizens Exchange Platform, but it seemed too busy today with no reply.
So he asked Mr. Xu instead.
Mr. Xu was a local, so he should know better, right?
Were the “bugs” common?
Looking at the S-level anomaly in front of him, Xu Qinglai raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Not many.”
“I don’t see them often myself.”
These “bugs” only showed up once every few years, and this time Bo Ting had just happened to encounter one.
He couldn’t help but find it amusing.
If anomalies like this appeared in swarms, Mengjia City wouldn’t have lasted till now.
Bo Ting nodded, a bit of a smile appearing on his face.
Not many was good. He was afraid that once he left Mengjia City, these weird things would be everywhere.
Oh, right.
There were also the eyes…
Bo Ting turned to look out the window and blinked hard.
Ever since transmigrating, he’d seen things floating in the air outside the window like misty shadows.
At first, he’d thought it was a hallucination, but he’d seen them every day since.
Bo Ting was certain it wasn’t his imagination.
After all, he’d used his eyes to spot “Boss Zhu” and “Aunt Qian” in the crowd.
So, maybe… that was just how Mengjia City’s sky looked?
Every city had its own unique ecosystem. As an outsider—and a transmigrated one at that—Bo Ting felt he couldn’t judge this world by his old one’s standards.
Those floating misty shadows in the sky? Maybe the locals were used to them.
When he went out, he’d have to act more nonchalant and natural, so no one thought he was a bumpkin.
Thinking this, Bo Ting quickly grabbed his notebook from the table and added a note under point 2.
Seeing the other side go quiet, Xu Qinglai suddenly grew curious.
“What are you doing?”
Bo Ting snapped back and felt a bit embarrassed.
“Oh, I was just jotting down some notes midway.”
“Go on, Mr. Xu.”
The air suddenly went quiet.
Xu Qinglai, who suddenly remembered this guy had been observing him: …
The good mood on his face stiffened slightly. He rubbed his temple, really wanting to ask Bo Ting how he was supposed to continue now?
But the anomaly opposite clearly lacked that emotional intelligence.
