Enter Kosaka City

"Quite normal..."

Bai Li had her right cheek lying on the desk, starting to feel numb. She lifted her head slightly to switch to resting her left cheek instead.

"From the perspective of ordinary people, as long as there are no deaths or disappearances, it's enough that it's not a monster incident."

"The one committing the anomalous crime is that anomaly wielder, not them."

"They only need to enjoy the pleasure of standing on the moral high ground, pointing fingers and passing judgment, adding some seasoning to their otherwise uneventful daily lives."

"The whole affair has no downside, only benefits for them. Does it really matter whether it's an anomaly incident or not?"

"Later, they can make excuses like 'Oh, I really didn't know it was like this,' and just apologize to end it."

"They might even outnumber and threaten others, saying 'I've apologized already, why can't you forgive me?'"

Bai Li kept muttering away, as if trying to vent all her frustrations.

Her explanations and reasoning were very clear, and she hadn't given up thinking despite her grief.

But as Hong Feiheng heard this familiar tone, he felt a twinge of pain somewhere inside.

He still remembered the day he challenged for the Nine Seats position, Bai Li was similarly muttering away while pummeling him with her power.

"Can I quit this job...

Why do the Nine Seats have to accept challenges...

Why is sitting down to fight disrespectful to others, I can manipulate energy without standing up..."

Hong Feiheng admitted he might have been a bit too loud in telling Bai Li to stand up and fight him that day, but did she really have to beat him to a pulp with full force...?

He may be a bit aloof, but he's not stubborn.

He made a note of those he couldn't beat, waiting until he could before talking smack.

He let Bai Li vent without interrupting.

After she finished, the logistics staff brought the topic back on track: "Today's meeting decided to have Sakura Island send someone to scout ahead first, and we technical staff will follow up."

"The support teams from other countries will arrive on site tomorrow to assess the situation. According to Deputy Director Yu, the information from the other four countries is that they plan to temporarily follow our lead."

There was another reason for Bai Li's exhaustion besides her personal state.

Today was supposedly a meeting, but in reality it was just a performance.

Whenever an issue came up, the five major countries would first kick the ball around, bickering endlessly.

At first, Sakura Island was rather smug watching them argue, planning out the entire lottery ceremony to ensure fair competition.

But as soon as Sakura Island's leadership stepped forward, they were immediately dazed by the barrage of balls kicked their way by the five countries.

You Sakura Island folks have this situation, you'd better send someone out, right?

Under the collective fire, no matter how reluctant Sakura Island was, they had no choice but to send someone.

"Captain Qi, what's your take on this?"

After the logistics staff finished reporting, they inquired with Qi Yuan.

This time, Qi Yuan was leading the team, so at major decision points they needed his confirmation to proceed.

Qi Yuan wasn't clear on the details, but his logistics staff had to follow protocol.

"Proceed. If anything else comes up, report to me immediately."

As long as it wasn't an SSS-level threat, there was no need to back down.

Qi Yuan had calculated this clearly.

Limited by his perspective and information, it would be difficult for him to pretend at two levels above his current power. But one level was still manageable.

This wasn't because he didn't try to study; the entire human race was in the dark as well.

If he could grasp how to overwhelm SS-level monsters, perhaps he could find inspiration for how to act like an SSS-level anomaly wielder.

"Got it, I'll notify all departments immediately."

...

The next day.

Dragon Country, Bit Buddha, and the other five major countries, along with Sakura Island, gathered in an area surrounding Xiaosaka City.

In the hastily constructed site, technical staff from each country were bustling about - some monitoring and testing energy levels, some operating high-tech devices to explore within Xiaosaka City, some constantly recording data...

Although the researchers from each country had arrived at similar conclusions by comparing the incidents in Shen City and Sanzhu, unverified information wasn't rigorous enough.

Qi Yuan couldn't possibly tell them that he could sense the monster's thoughts, confirming its claimed anomaly.

So the busywork had to continue.

Not only that, these technical personnel also had to further divide the process into stages, determining at what point they could initially control the area of reality, what percentage would allow them to level up, and so on.

The S-rank anomaly wielder sent by Sakura Island had already set out with equipment.

As for the unfortunate soul chosen...

When there's an idiot in a group, who else would it be besides Airplane Head?

There was no other candidate.

The silver lining was that Sakura Island's leadership didn't seem to want to lose this useful idiot either.

They swiftly gathered spatial anomaly artifacts, trying to protect Airplane Head.

Perhaps through the idiot's dumb luck, Airplane Head not only managed to gather sufficient intelligence as expected, but also successfully returned using the anomaly artifacts.

The most crucial piece of information was his confirmation of the monster's anomaly.

Consistent with everyone's guesses, it was a curse-type anomaly.

Although curse-type anomalies are convoluted and dreadful, they don't come without a price.

Whether a curse succeeds or fails, the anomaly wielder casting it must pay a cost.

Once the monster's anomaly was confirmed, its method of infection became clear as well.

Through the website, it lent its cursing power to ordinary people who inputted names, allowing those people to borrow its power to curse whoever they inputted.

In this way, the cost of the curse would be borne by the person inputting the name.

And by lending its power to ordinary people, it established a connection, allowing it to naturally infect and warp the will of those who inputted names.

Previously, Qi Yuan had wondered if enclosing the infected ordinary people within an anomaly domain might cause the monster's level-up to fail.

But he quickly dismissed that idea - it was more likely for the anomaly domain itself to be infected by the monster's power instead of preventing its level-up.

As soon as the intelligence was presented, the S-rank and SS-rank anomaly wielders from each country quickly convened and made a judgment that they could attempt an entry.

They had gathered enough intelligence, so rather than hesitating further, they simply canceled their plans for a clearance operation.

Time was pressing, so each country went to mobilize personnel, entering Xiaosaka City from different entry points.

With the engines roaring to life, the vehicles carrying their team sped towards the interior of Xiaosaka City.

The chaotic scenes within Xiaosaka City gradually unfolded before them.

Xiaosaka City has consistently ranked among the top few most prosperous cities in Sakura Island, with a considerable scale and well-developed urban construction.

The once congested streets were now exceptionally wide open, with only their vehicles speeding along the roads.

On the streets, there were quite a few people wandering about with eerie smiles on their faces.

After observing the deserted city for a while, a sense of oppression gradually set in.

The tightly drawn curtains and closed doors were evidence that there were still living inhabitants in Xiaosaka City.