GRMFBS CH11

“How is it?” In the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, a group of people gathered around Nie Yu’s computer.

Among them was someone from the Foreign Affairs Department, specifically responsible for external communications.

“The clues he provided seem to be arranged chronologically,” one person said, staring at the line “don’t need that many.” He continued, “If he’s not lying, either he’s been tracking this anomaly for a long time, or he has a very powerful detection ability.”

Nie Yu was still typing on the keyboard, blowing a bubblegum bubble as she said, “Well… so far, everything I’ve tracked matches what he said.”

Nie Ling knocked her on the head. “Be serious.”

Nie Yu rolled her eyes at him and popped the bubble. “Give me two more days, and I should be able to trace it to its source.”

She disliked working with a crowd of analysts hovering around her, which made even casual conversation feel stifling. Anyway, this “Approaching Science” guy seemed pretty skilled. Whatever his motives, they’d reveal themselves eventually. For now, analyzing those ten lines of text wouldn’t yield much.

At that moment, “Approaching Science” sent another message:

[I’ve discovered a very peculiar anomaly.]

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau perked up. Another growth-type anomaly?

But after reading the subsequent message from “Approaching Science,” they realized it wasn’t.

An anomaly that could influence the consciousness of other beings, gradually making them more aggressive? That was fairly common. Many anomalies had similar effects.

Administrator Lingyu: [Why do you think it’s special?]

Approaching Science: [Because after discovering it, I lost its trail.]

Administrator Lingyu: [Are you saying that, aside from this one, you can track the whereabouts of every anomaly you’ve discovered?]

Approaching Science: [More or less.]

Zhan Yan had one window open to the forum and another to the gossip system, monitoring the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s reaction to this conversation.

They had recorded this unknown anomaly but didn’t seem to take it too seriously. That wouldn’t do.

After some thought, he replied: [If you want more evidence—]

[This anomaly has no name.]

When Zhan Yan first started using the gossip system, he hadn’t thought much about the significance of anomaly names. After all, names like “Evil God•Beginner” and “Youth’s Grudge” didn’t seem particularly serious. But then came the garbled anomaly.

Whether it was the Wan Yao Alliance or the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, their naming of anomalies always matched what appeared in the gossip system. But this didn’t necessarily mean the gossip system simply adopted their names. For instance, “Youth’s Grudge” was an anomaly previously undiscovered, and the name first appeared in the gossip system.

This meant the anomaly’s name was either assigned by the gossip system or inherently belonged to it.

Zhan Yan leaned toward the latter. If the names were merely code names assigned based on characteristics, the garbled anomaly could have been given a similar label. Yet it was displayed only as garbled text.

Thus, he speculated that anomaly names must hold some special significance.

And the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau should understand this better than he did.

Nie Yu stared blankly at the reply from “Approaching Science.”

No name? What did that mean?

Before she could ask further, Ji Yueming, standing beside her, suddenly became serious:

“Go notify Ning Xi and have him come over.”

Ning Xi, the Deputy Director of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, technically held a “deputy” title but managed more affairs than the director.

Nie Yu was surprised. Why was the lack of a name so significant that it warranted pulling in the deputy director?

Nie Ling glanced at Ji Yueming. Seeing her nod, he lightly patted Nie Yu and explained in a low voice, “All anomalies have names. Their names aren’t given by us; they’re bestowed by the world they originate from. Twenty-six years ago, no new anomalies should have been able to appear in this world.”

Due to her abilities, Nie Yu was privy to many hidden truths, but she was only nineteen years old now and hadn’t been born back then.

An anomaly without a name. The implications were enormous.

Ning Xi arrived quickly.

He appeared to be a man in his early thirties—tall and thin, with shoulder-length white hair tied at the back.

Without saying a word, he reviewed the chat logs from the beginning.

He read quickly, pausing for only a second on each screen before scrolling to the next.

He finally stopped at the part where “Approaching Science” mentioned tracking anomalies.

“Ask him if he can prove it,” Ning Xi said, pointing to that reply.

Nie Yu relayed the question.

Approaching Science:

[I can.]

[But I don’t plan to demonstrate.]

[You’ve already started taking this anomaly seriously, haven’t you?]

Zhan Yan watched the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s activity on the gossip system. Satisfied, he closed the private chat window.

“He’s offline,” Nie Yu said.

Ning Xi: …

“Do you think he’s credible?” he asked Ji Yueming.

“Well, I believe his information-gathering abilities are strong,” Ji Yueming joked. “At least he knows about your control-freak tendencies.”

Although it wasn’t explicitly stated, “Approaching Science’s” evasive attitude and confidence that they’d handle the anomaly made it clear.

Ning Xi snorted lightly and returned to the message about the nameless anomaly.

Its last known location yesterday was in Yunjin City.

“All your other tasks are suspended for now. Focus entirely on this,” he instructed Ji Yueming.

Ji Yueming nodded without surprise. Her family lived in Yunjin City, and she wouldn’t trust anyone else with the task.

“Put ‘Approaching Science’ under close observation and monitor his mental state at all times,” Ning Xi added.

Information-based superhumans are exposed to anomalous information more than others and are more susceptible to its contamination. From this perspective, the stronger an information-based superhuman is, the more likely they are to experience mental instability.

Ning Xi tapped his finger on a line of text. “He called it the ‘Garbled Anomaly.’ That’s an interesting term. Most people wouldn’t think of that. Either the form of this nameless anomaly is related to ‘garbled text,’ or the manifestation of ‘Approaching Science’s’ ability takes on a ‘garbled’ form.”

Nie Yu, organizing records on the side, marveled, “He even thought of that? Good thing Approaching Science ran off quickly.”

Zhan Yan exited the private chat with “Administrator Lingyu” and began sifting through other private messages, most of which were useless. The “Approaching Science” account had only made one appearance on the forum, so anyone serious about collaborating wouldn’t approach him yet. They were waiting for his next actions to prove he was someone worth working with.

But there was no rush. The main reason Zhan Yan had engaged with the supernatural forum had already been handed off to the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau. Now, he could take his time planning.

Zhan Yan fiddled with the backend settings and enabled a feature allowing unconnected users to send only one private message, preventing his inbox from overflowing again. Then, he headed to the forum’s general discussion area to browse quality posts.

His “gossip” ability was too limited in critical situations. He planned to learn some supernatural techniques—just in case he encountered another “Hungry Ghost” situation, he wouldn’t be left with no option but to run.

Besides demons and ghosts, human superpowers were generally divided into two categories: abilities and cultivation. The former was innate, like the administrator’s “Network Ghost,” something you were born with and others couldn’t replicate. The latter, though also reliant on talent, could be learned by anyone. How far one could progress depended on individual aptitude—while Tianshi’s thunder magic could summon storms, others might only manage to generate a bit of static electricity.

Zhan Yan collected several tutorial posts on things like opening the Yin-Yang Eye, spirit-writing, and consulting spirits—methods ordinary people could follow step-by-step. As for techniques requiring spiritual energy, he bookmarked those for later.

He memorized the processes but had no test subjects, so he didn’t know if what he learned would work.

After logging off the forum, Zhan Yan checked the time. It was almost bedtime.

He opened his phone and, as expected, Gu Jiancheng’s message was already there, urging him for the second clue and sending a goodnight kiss.

[I get off work very early now.] Zhan Yan replied.

The next morning, the class group chat buzzed with activity as Zhan Yan was heating up steamed buns.

Duan Hong: [Image] [Image]

It was two English workbooks, already completed—but they were middle school-level exercises.

Kaifeng Has a Bao Qingtian: [Boss Duan, why have you regressed again?]

This was Bao Qingshan, their dormmate and a chatty little guy.

Duan Hong: 

[Cut it out.
These belong to a guy I know. He’s a tutor and brought his student’s homework to grade.
At first, he was praising how hardworking the kid suddenly became, completing so many exercises.
Then he started worrying about why the kid’s accuracy suddenly dropped.
After asking the student, it turned out, the kid didn’t even do the exercises.]

The group chat exploded:
[No way.]

[Just like with your English papers—someone else snuck in to do them?]

Duan Hong:
[Exactly.
That guy and I both left our backpacks in the study room overnight.
This morning, we found out.
Stealing my papers was one thing, but why steal middle school exercises? What’s the point?
Addicted to exams?”
Maybe not. Judging by the accuracy, middle school exercises might match their level. Sarcasm]

[LOL.]

Zhan Yan found the situation odd and asked:
[@Duan Hong, what time did you leave the study room that night?]

Duan Hong: [I stayed until nine. Everything was fine when I left.
The other guy did the same.
We’re determined to catch this fool!]

Zhan Yan checked the time: 7:43 a.m. Duan Hong had posted at about the same time that morning. The study room opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 9 p.m. Since Duan Hong left right before closing, the person sneaking in to do the papers could only have arrived early in the morning.

Kaifeng Has a Bao Qingtian: [Finishing two full papers in forty minutes? Impressive.
Too bad the accuracy is a disaster.]

Zhan Yan opened the gossip system and searched:

[Ghost Tian Youcheng studied English diligently in the library of Northern Agricultural University and completed two of Duan Hong’s papers to test his level.]

[Ghost Tian Youcheng was devastated by his scores and sulked for a day.]

[Ghost Tian Youcheng resolved to improve and completed Yu Kai’s student’s English exercises the following night.]

Zhan Yan: ???

Even ghosts were this competitive these days?

What he had learned last night was unexpectedly useful so soon. Zhan Yan opened Taobao and started searching for cinnabar.

Zhan Suiyu came downstairs yawning and casually took a xiaolongbao from Zhan Yan’s plate. “What are you looking at?”

She thought Zhan Yan was reading some gossip again.

Zhan Yan lied smoothly, “Some classmates want to play spirit-writing, so I’m helping them buy cinnabar for protection.”

Zhan Suiyu clicked her tongue. “Kids these days are so bold. Don’t you play along.”

Zhan Yan: “I know. I’m not interested—just helping them out.”

Zhan Jinli passed by, taking a few buns. His dark eyes peeked from under his bangs at the screen, unconcerned.

Zhan Yan carried the Ghost King’s Mark, so if he joined in, no spirit would dare show up.