Travel through time, and then establish an anomaly management bureau!

Page 26

Zhang Su will no longer hide his ultimate goal!

In an unexpected situation, facing the "attention" of a powerful force, he will formally announce the existence of the "Abnormal Management Bureau" and appoint himself as its director!

This declaration is more than just a slogan; it will gain the approval of that mysterious structure—the "Foundation"! Enter it to unlock more and newer abilities!

All the answers will be revealed in tomorrow's update! This will be a significant milestone as the story enters a new phase!

So, dear readers, the update time will be the same tomorrow. See you then!

Please continue to support us and subscribe to tomorrow's VIP chapter. Let's witness Zhang Su taking this crucial step and witness the official launch of the "Anomaly Management Bureau"!

Your subscriptions are the greatest affirmation of this story and the strongest motivation for me to continue weaving this dream of a world of time travel, anomalies, and the extraordinary.

Thank you again! Let us continue our journey together through the mists and radiance of this extraordinary world!

see you tomorrow!

Volume 1: Chapter 24: The Final Battle Against the Black Tai Sui

A cold, viscous darkness enveloped Zhang Su's consciousness, as if he had sunk into a trench ten thousand meters deep in the ocean.

His body, the shell that should have been under his control, was now like a puppet, stiffly walking step by step toward the lake in front of him, where strange black water was churning.

The sensation underfoot was ethereal, yet it carried a repulsive stickiness, as if stepping on rotting entrails.

The air was filled with a putrid stench.

[Warning! Mental intrusion detected! The subject's consciousness has been forcibly dragged into a subrealm (illusion)! The user's control over their body has been stripped away by an unknown force!]

Yuan Shu's icy voice, like an alarm bell, resounded directly in Zhang Su's mind, dispelling the chaotic feeling brought by the viscous darkness.

"What's going on, Yuan Shu! Don't I have the ability to resist pollution? How could I be controlled?" Zhang Su asked in shock.

He can clearly "see" his surroundings and "feel" the movement of his body, but he can't even turn his little finger.

This experience of being manipulated while fully conscious is chilling.

[Analysis confirms: The current state is not due to 'contamination' (mental/physical aberration induction), but rather to 'manipulation' (forced mental link and overwriting of bodily commands). The source of the invasion is 'Black Tai Sui - Mature Form (Dongyuan - Autumn Parasite Source).' It enhanced itself at the cost of burning psionic energy and its life, forcibly suppressing the power of the containment protocol and invading your body.]

"Then, Yuan Shu, can you take back control of my body?" Zhang Su asked quickly.

Yuan Shu replied: [No. The target (Black Tai Sui)'s current peak energy level is estimated to be close to Sequence 7 psionic energy. Given the user's (your) current power level and Yuan Shu's available computing power, it is impossible to directly confront this level of mental intrusion. Therefore, there is no solution.]

"It actually unleashed the power of Sequence 7! The thing inside Elder Dongyuan's body is really too fierce in its dying counterattack!"

Zhang Su felt a chill and said that a parasite that should have been contained had unleashed power that exceeded his ability to cope with it on the verge of death!

"What do we do now? Just watch it control my body and lead me to that dark lake? What if it makes me drown when I get to the lake, or a monster jumps out of the lake and tears me apart!"

Yuan Shudao: [Strategy suggestion: Observe the situation and wait. I will do my best to analyze the ability rules of the intrusion source and find a solution for you as soon as possible.]

In the current illusionary environment, no 'instant lethal' hostile projections targeting the subject have been detected. The core threat is the inability to freely control the body. Please strive to remain conscious, highly vigilant against environmental anomalies, and avoid mental collapse; this will significantly increase your chances of survival.

"Just wait and see, you make it sound so easy," Zhang Su retorted helplessly.

But since it is the optimal solution given by Yuan Shu based on cold data, he will inevitably choose to abide by it.

Throughout the journey, he still trusted Yuan Shu's abilities and did whatever the other party told him to do.

"Inhale...exhale...exhale..." Zhang Su tried to simulate the scene of deep breathing in his mind, imagining the cold air filling his lungs and then slowly exhaling, trying to use this empty thought to suppress the panic that was about to burst out of his chest.

He forced himself to look away from his uncontrollable body.

His eyes were the only organs he could still move on his own at this moment. He desperately moved his eyeballs, his vision struggling to scan his surroundings in the thick darkness.

Darkness is not pure.

It is more like a thick, constantly wriggling substance that occasionally emits a morbid, indescribable phosphorescence, outlining a distorted and grotesque shape before quickly disappearing.

It can "see" even without a light source.

In the distance came faint, inhuman hissing and whispering, the direction of which was uncertain, as if coming from all directions, or perhaps from the depths of his own skull.

On the sticky "ground" beneath their feet, there were some indistinguishable "things" scattered around—like fragments of weathered bones from a giant creature, or the rusted remains of some kind of metal fused with flesh and blood, their surfaces covered with a constantly secreting and evaporating black slime.

He prayed that nothing would leap out of the shadows or send tentacles down from the breathing darkness overhead.

Time stretched on endlessly in the extreme tension. Every second felt like an eternity.

Guided by invisible threads, his body moved with steady, stiff steps, resolutely heading towards the approaching, ominous black lake.

The surging of the lake water became more violent, and the strange cries mixed with sharp howls and eerie laughter became clearer, like countless drowned vengeful spirits singing in unison at the bottom of the lake, assaulting his eardrums and his sanity.

Finally, my stiff feet came to a stop on the black lake shore.

The moment he stopped, as if a pause button had been pressed, the churning black lake suddenly froze.

All the noisy screams, the laughter of babies, and the wails of drowning people stopped abruptly at the same moment.

An absolute, deathly stillness enveloped the lake, its black surface smooth as a mirror, reflecting the twisting, writhing dark sky above, creating a suffocating, symmetrical nightmare scene.

This eerie calm lasted for less than three seconds.

boom--! ! !

The still "mirror" suddenly shattered! Instead of splashing water, the entire Black Lake seemed to possess a life of its own, violently surging upwards! The viscous, pitch-black liquid, shimmering with an oily sheen, gathered, swirled, and twisted... It rapidly shaped itself in a way that defied the laws of physics!

A colossal object, difficult to describe precisely in words, rose from the boiling black water!

It has no fixed shape; it is more like a living, dark polymer that is constantly wriggling, expanding, and collapsing.

Its "main body" could barely be seen as a bloated, humanoid outline flowing with black mucus, but the edges of this outline were constantly dissolving and reorganizing. Countless slippery, thick, pitch-black tentacles were frantically growing, waving, and slapping the viscous air from various parts of its torso (if it could be called a torso), making a chilling "slapping" sound.

The surface of the tentacles was covered with suckers that opened and closed constantly, dripping with pus. In the center of each sucker was a pale, lifeless eyeball, with inhuman, pure malice throbbing deep within its pupil.

At its ever-shifting "head"—if that churning darkness can be called a head—there were no facial features, only a constantly rotating, collapsing vortex of darkness. At the center of this vortex, embedded, was a single, disproportionately large compound eye!

This compound eye is composed of countless tiny eyes, each one like a broken mirror, reflecting the face of Dongyuan Qiu at different ages and with different expressions—from a dying old man to a resolute middle-aged man, to a confused boy, and even… the innocence of an infant!

These faces screamed, cried, grinned, and stared blankly in the compound eye... condensing the century-long life of Dongyuan Qiu, who was parasitized, devoured, and distorted by it, into this terrifying eyeball!

An indescribable, immense mental pressure, like a tangible tsunami, mixed with primal fear, madness, and despair, slammed violently onto Zhang Su's consciousness!

Simply "gazing" at this "Black Tai Sui: End Form," which is the embodiment of the Black Lake and burns with the life and soul of Dong Yuan Qiu, is enough to completely shatter any rational being!

The enormous compound eye, composed of countless faces from the cavern, slowly rotated. Finally, all the billions of gazes in the shattered mirrors focused on the shore—on Zhang Su, who was being controlled by it and unable to move.

A deathly silence returned, carrying a terrifying sense of oppression!

In this suffocating silence, a grand, muffled sound, a mixture of countless dying breaths and the grinding of rocks, resounded directly deep within Zhang Su's consciousness:

"Who...who are you from? Why...are you disrupting my cultivation?!"

Zhang Su was jolted awake! This thing... can actually talk?! And its accent and vocabulary... are quite like classical Chinese!

This creature, known as Qun Yilin (7)(8) Si (4), is completely different from the parasites he knew who acted purely on instinct and malice.

He forcefully suppressed his surging horror, gathered his will in his mind, and transmitted his thoughts to the other person, his voice cold: "My sect or faction is none of your business. You only need to know that I am here today to stop you from continuing to harm the Qiu family!"

"Me? What harm could I possibly cause?" The grand, eerie voice carried a hint of anger and bewilderment. "I bestow upon their family immense power, helping their descendants ascend to the realm of 'Outcasts'! I guarantee that every member of their family will enjoy a long and healthy life! This is a divine grace! What harm could I possibly cause?!"

"Heavenly grace? Heh!" Zhang Su let out a silent, cold laugh in his mind. "And the price? The price is that their bodies will gradually decay because of you, plagued by illness, and living a life worse than death! The price is that even after they die, their souls will not find peace, but will be transformed into the 'Battle Kings' you control, continuing to wreak havoc on the world! If this is not harming people, what is?!"

"Hmph! Though there are minor flaws, the benefits are ultimately immense!" Black Tai Sui's voice rolled like muffled thunder, his tone domineering. "Without my power, how could their family have established themselves in this foreign land? How could they have branched out and thrived to this day? Not to mention reaching old age! In this world, how many mortals seek great power but fail to obtain it, and yearn for longevity but grow old in vain! They were born with this fortune, which is a blessing, not a calamity! You, for your own selfish reasons, forcibly exterminate us and sever our foundation; that is a monstrous disaster!"

Zhang Su listened to this twisted logic and found it utterly absurd: "Whether it's a blessing or a curse, you know best in your heart. Why argue with me here! Today, you will inevitably leave Dongyuan Qiu's body! This is destiny!"

"Arrogant brat!" Tai Sui's voice rose, revealing violence and killing intent. The viscous feeling in the entire dark space suddenly intensified, as if it would crush him completely in the next second!

"Your life hangs in my hands, you cannot move, yet you dare to whine and bark?! I originally thought you had some 'potential' and wanted to guide you to my path to protect my Dharma. Since you are so stubborn and unyielding... you cannot be kept alive! Die—!"

The last word "death" was like the shriek of millions of vengeful spirits, carrying the power to tear apart souls!

Boom!

The giant black giant succubus, suspended in mid-air, grew a huge, pitch-black tentacle thicker than Zhang Su's waist, covered with pale white eyes and suckers dripping with pus. Like a giant siege spear shot from the abyss of hell, it tore through the viscous air and stabbed fiercely at Zhang Su, who was unable to move on the shore, with terrifying power!

Wherever the tentacles passed, black ripples spread through the space!

The scent of death instantly gripped Zhang Su's throat; he could even "smell" the nauseating stench emanating from the tentacles!

At that moment, he shouted in his mind, "Yuan Shu! Have you finished analyzing it yet?! If you don't get a result soon, I'm going to die!"

Analysis complete! Several unstable nodes have been discovered within this illusionary realm, and a temporary link has been established! The mutated energy of the 'Greedy Treasure Chest' can be used to perform localized bodily mutations.

Mutation Direction: Aggressive Limbs. Mutation also allows you to regain control of your body. Please select the mutation site. It is strongly recommended to choose one of the four limbs for easier manipulation.

Yuan Shu's voice, like heavenly music, rang out in the last moment before destruction descended!

"Anything will do, just transform!" Zhang Su practically roared, not caring about the specific parts at all!

[Command confirmed! Mutation and energy injection successfully performed using the dominant hand (right hand).]

"Ugh!!!"

An indescribable, eerie energy was instantly and violently injected into his body!

Excruciating pain! Tearing! Burning! Reconstruction!

Zhang Su felt as if his right arm bone was being scraped and smashed by countless red-hot steel knives at the same time, and then forcibly melted and recast by some kind of cold and hard metal in an instant!

His skin, muscles, and tendons twisted, multiplied, and mutated wildly in extreme pain! He clearly "heard" the teeth-grinding "crack" sound of his own bones rubbing and deforming!

Just as the tentacle of death was about to pierce his chest!

puff!

Zhang Su's right sleeve was instantly torn and ripped apart!

A limb that was completely different from human form replaced his right hand!

That was no longer a human hand, but a ferocious, long, and coldly metallic-looking exoskeleton scimitar!

The blade appears to be a perfect fusion of the black horny bones of some creature and a cold, alien metal, with smooth yet deadly lines and a curved arc like the grim smile of death.

The blade was extremely thin, with an ominous glint flowing along its edges, exuding a sharp aura. The hilt was fused directly to his wrist bones, enveloped in a layer of tough, dark purple biological tissue covered with fine scales, pulsating slightly like a living thing.

Most importantly—control of the body is back!

"Drink--!!!"

The moment he regained control of his body, Zhang Su didn't even have time to feel the excruciating pain and strangeness in his right arm. His survival instinct and the fighting spirit that had just been instilled in him drove him to let out a roar!

He suddenly turned to the side, and at the same time, his right arm—that hideous mutated scimitar—with speed and power exceeding his own limits, instinctively swung upwards to meet the terrifying tentacle that was stabbing in front of him!

A dark, piercing glint of light, accompanied by a shrill cry that seemed to tear through space, flashed by in an instant!

Click!

A crisp snapping sound rang out!

Like a hot knife cutting through solidified grease!

The tip of the enormous tentacle, covered with eyeballs and suckers and radiating the terrifying pressure of the peak of Sequence 7, was cleanly and neatly severed by that dark blade of light!

The broken edge is as smooth as a mirror!

A thick, dark green liquid, emitting a strong, fishy stench, gushed out like a fountain!

The severed tentacle tip, still propelled by inertia, slammed onto the sticky "ground" not far from Zhang Su's feet, writhing and twitching wildly, its eyes darting around in terror!

"Ow...!"

A piercing, inhuman scream, a mixture of pain, shock, and raging fury, erupted from the depths of the Black Tai Sui's enormous compound eye, shaking the entire dark illusion to its core!

The giant eye, composed of countless cave-element faces, stared intently at Zhang Su's mutated right arm, which was now radiating a dark red light, its gaze filled with extreme rage!

It clearly hadn't expected that this ant, which it had such a firm grip on, would suddenly pull such a stunt at the last moment and even cut off one of its hands!

"Roar—!!! How...how did you manage to break free from my restraints?!" The Black Tai Sui's enormous compound eyes, composed of hundreds of faces, trembled violently as it roared in fury.

Zhang Su landed steadily, his mutated right hand wielding a curved blade that pointed diagonally at the ground, with faint energy flowing along its edge, breathing like a living thing.

He flicked the black liquid clinging to his blade, making a sickening hissing sound, and mocked, "Dead men... no, you dead monsters, don't need to know too much. Just know that the next cut will be on your disgusting eyeball!"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Su suddenly exerted force with both legs!

The sticky "ground" beneath his feet instantly exploded, creating an invisible ripple! His body shot upwards like a cannonball, defying the laws of physics, aiming directly at the Black Tai Sui's head, which was suspended in mid-air like a nightmare incarnate!

Whether his ability to leap into the air was due to the explosive power brought about by the mutation, or the fact that in this illusion dominated by the spirit of Tai Sui, the will itself could distort some of the rules, Zhang Su himself couldn't tell. At this moment, he only had one thought—to slay Tai Sui!

"Arrogant ant!!" Black Tai Sui roared in fury, and countless thick tentacles, like pythons emerging from their caves, lashed out at Zhang Su from all directions with a shrill sound!

At the same time, an invisible mental shockwave, like a tangible hammer, slammed into his sea of ​​consciousness!

Several runes with a dark, distorted structure appeared around it, shooting out corrosive energy rays!