Chapter 39: The Containment Anomaly Electronic Map
Chapter 39: The Containment Anomaly Electronic Map
If the Extinction Document could exterminate Kangaroos, it could also exterminate Humans.
This was the meaning conveyed by the Foundation.
The Foundation covertly expressed its intentions to various nations, informing them which animal it intended to exterminate.
It then proceeded with the extermination, showcasing its power on a grand scale.
Such matters resembled a scenario where a certain nation announced where it would attack and then delivered an unstoppable, devastating strike on the target.
The Kangaroo was that target.
If Bai Ge’s thoughts were correct, the Extinction Document was a deterrent force even more potent than nuclear weapons.
‘Casually exterminating an entire species of animals… how does this Foundation seem so unreliable?’
‘And what exactly is the content of this Extinction Document?’
‘If any species can be exterminated, what colossal energy must be required to achieve such a feat?’
The mysterious energy that escaped Bai Ge’s Brain Hole fluctuated; sometimes large, sometimes small.
Small amounts were still sufficient to flatten land across thousands of kilometers in diameter.
Large amounts could even blast apart the Sun.
The terrifying potential of the manifested traits would inevitably differ according to the level of this mysterious energy.
The Foundation’s actions left Bai Ge feeling profoundly insecure.
‘This is probably the strongest containment agency I know of. Just possessing that one Extinction Document likely makes it unassailable.’
‘Not only that, but also the Network Guard, which directly fried my computer… that must be the work of this containment anomaly, right?’
‘Even such an organization only has six Containment Anomalies. Where are the remaining twenty-one?’
‘If a containment anomaly were ever to be misused one day, countless innocent people would surely fall victim and die.’
‘And I could very well be among those casualties.’
Bai Ge felt a sense of urgency. The unknown Containment Anomalies were like swords hanging over his head, ready to emerge unexpectedly. When that happened, it could very likely lead to a major disaster.
‘I must find a way to locate the other Containment Anomalies as soon as possible. Besides those held by nations and the Foundation, there are definitely stragglers that escaped capture.’
‘At the very least, I cannot remain completely in the dark.’
‘Ling Dang, how much Energy do I have now?’
‘Six hundred and fifty thousand kilowatt-hours. You haven’t replenished the diesel fuel for a long time; this is entirely obtained from the Magma Pool,’ Ling Dang stated.
‘That should be enough. Help me refine the details. Imbue my phone with a sensing trait; on the electronic map, there will be Red Dots marking things possessing Anomalous Traits…’
Bai Ge absolutely had to create a containment anomaly detector.
To this end, he experimented repeatedly, striving to find Containment Anomalies directly.
Of the twenty-seven Containment Anomalies, nine were known to date, leaving eighteen unknown.
Finding them across the entire Earth was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Relying purely on luck, it would be difficult for Bai Ge to encounter them.
He failed several times in succession, but finally succeeded in implementing one method.
He endowed his phone with a completely fictional trait: the inexplicable ability to automatically mark supernatural occurrences.
To reduce consumption, he placed this trait within the phone itself, not on his body. This ensured it would only mark anomalies on the electronic map, a map encompassing every location on Earth visible to Satellites.
Places invisible to satellites, or beyond Earth, would render the trait ineffective.
As for the standard defining what was supernatural, he set it as unnatural characteristics forcibly imposed upon Reality.
‘Twenty-seven… no, twenty-eight!’
Bai Ge looked at his phone; Red Dots appeared all over the world.
Australia had seven, North America four, South America two, Asia ten, Europe one, Africa three.
And in the Pacific Ocean, one had just abruptly appeared…
Several Red Dots clustered together in Australia, North America, and the country’s Capital.
The ones abroad were out of his reach for the moment. Bai Ge immediately excluded the Capital’s Red Dot as well.
Several Red Dots converging there very likely indicated a state institution; Bai Ge certainly wouldn’t go there.
He should head for the isolated Red Dots.
Those where a city had just one single Red Dot were absolutely Bai Ge’s best option.
‘The Red Dot closest to me is in Shanghai…’
…
The next day, Bai Ge took a bus to Shanghai. Upon arrival, he could see roiling dark clouds.
Rain poured down heavily, occasionally punctuated by thunder.
‘The news said Shanghai has been raining for over thirty days?’
Shanghai had seen continuous rainfall for over a month, occasionally interspersed with thunderstorm weather.
All international flights had ceased. Parts of the city faced drainage difficulties, and transformers had short-circuited and exploded, injuring six people…
Life and work there suffered significant disruption.
A light drizzle would have been manageable.
But this was a downpour, with an average daily precipitation of 100 millimeters. Sustained for over a month, the total rainfall had already exceeded the cumulative amount of several previous years, causing immense economic losses.
‘It is indeed bizarre. Even though it’s the rainy season, it shouldn’t be this bad.’
Bai Ge immediately hacked into the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, obtaining far more detailed information than news reports could offer.
This prolonged deluge had already caused some roads to crack and even collapse.
Commuting and travel became difficult for people, and much vegetation died due to the intense rainfall.
The authorities had conducted artificial rain dispersal operations twice, but both proved largely ineffective.
The thunderstorm cloud covering two-thirds of Shanghai stubbornly refused to dissipate; even strong winds couldn’t budge it.
This was highly unnatural. As everyone knew, clouds moved with the wind.
Especially in a place like Shanghai, where the sea breeze would typically carry clouds away after just a few hours of rain.
It was nothing like now, where it stayed put as if it had taken up residence in Shanghai!
However, the meteorological bureau hadn’t disclosed these anomalies; Bai Ge only learned of them after hacking.
‘Huh? Can’t access the satellite weather map?’
‘Unaffected even by the wind… Is this Thunderstorm Cloud just going to permanently park over Shanghai? Won’t that ruin the city?’
Carrying 20 kilograms of weight, Bai Ge walked the streets holding an umbrella.
There were virtually no pedestrians. Under the roiling clouds, the day was as dim as night; residents of Shanghai hadn’t seen the Sun in a long time.
Cars drove by, splashing water everywhere.
A dazzling white flash cut through the sky, clearly revealing the jagged crack left by lightning, holding its fractured shape like glass.
Though the sight lasted mere moments.
‘Boom-crash!’
Bai Ge watched the torrential rain forming continuous lines in the air and remarked, ‘What devilish weather.’
‘So, a Containment Anomaly… can be a cloud?’
Bai Ge thought inwardly, pondering how he could contain this thing.
‘Contain it using the Brain Hole? That would require me to fly up first…’
This was actually a decent idea, as lightning strikes were insignificant to Bai Ge.
Thunderstorms didn’t concern him; getting struck a few times could even recharge him.
Of course, the charging effect wasn’t as substantial as it might appear.
A typical lightning strike only released energy equivalent to a few hundred kilowatt-hours of electricity. Unless it was a rare super thunderstorm, getting hit by one or two bolts yielded less energy than soaking his cecum in magma for an hour.
If lightning could strike Bai Ge continuously for hours, that would undoubtedly represent enormous energy.
But lightning discharges lasted barely a hundredth, or even a thousandth, of a second.
The instantaneous release caused extremely high voltage and current, creating the illusion of great power, but that wasn’t actually the case.
For power generation, that electricity was less effective than a standard generator.
Normally, Bai Ge wouldn’t actively seek out lightning to absorb. But since he’d discovered an anomalous Thunderstorm Cloud, grabbing some ‘extra credit’ seemed worthwhile.
‘Try if achieving permanent flight is possible. If not… I’ll just build a flying vehicle myself.’
He wouldn’t create another Containment Anomaly just to deal with one, unless it was a Temporary Trait.
Temporary Traits were for emergencies; Bai Ge’s ability to fly with a permanent trait didn’t succeed… he would just build a flying device.
He wouldn’t create another Containment Anomaly just to acquire one, unless it was achieved through a Temporary Trait.
Temporary Traits were for emergencies; Bai Ge wouldn’t trigger them lightly.
After creating the detection trait, Bai Ge now had less than a hundred thousand kilowatt-hours of energy left. He tested it and found that levitating flight wasn’t feasible at all.
‘Levitation flight completely violates Newton’s laws of mechanics. I’d better design a trait that adheres to the principle of equal and opposite reaction…’
‘At the very least… flight achieved through reaction force, such as magnetic force…’
Bai Ge’s eyes lit up. Magnetic force seemed most suitable for him due to his electric charge.
As a Human endowed with supercapacitor-like traits, possessing a strong electromagnetic field wasn’t implausible.
By generating a strong electric field within his body, a strong Magnetic Field would naturally form around him. Bai Ge only needed the ability to control and adjust the direction of this magnetic field to achieve a unique form of flight.
Or even… manipulate magnetized objects.
‘The key point lies in controlling the release of my own electric field. Humans can’t naturally control an electric field, so I simply need to manifest that ability.’
‘However, if done this way, it would involve utilizing the electrical energy stored within my own cells. This energy would deplete over time with use.’
Bai Ge considered that having energy consumption might actually make manifestation easier.
This trait was highly necessary because of its immense utility.
It could allow Bai Ge to control objects almost like the legendary Magneto.