Chapter 12: Unforeseen Anomaly
Chapter 12: Unforeseen Anomaly
Unparalleled in the world, peerless under heaven.
“That’s just too much self-praise. Can I take a look?” Chen Song grew somewhat skeptical after hearing Bai Ge’s extravagant boasting, yet his curiosity was piqued, compelling him to see just what kind of flower it was.
Bai Ge picked up his backpack and said, “Allow me a trip to the bathroom first.”
After speaking, he entered the bathroom with familiar ease, leaving Chen Song baffled.
A while later, Bai Ge emerged, his face deathly pale and looking utterly weak.
Chen Song was startled. Bai Ge had visibly shrunk, his once muscular, large frame seeming like it had shrunk, easily shedding dozens of pounds.
“Woah! What’s going on with you?”
Bai Ge was equally bewildered. He hadn’t expected manifesting this single flower to cost him a staggering forty pounds!
Originally solid and muscular at around one hundred and fifty pounds, he now likely weighed just over one hundred. A single trip to the bathroom had wrought a dramatic transformation.
“I… I’m fine.”
Ravenous with hunger, Bai Ge still pretended to be perfectly normal.
He had miscalculated. It was only shaping a flower; he couldn’t grasp why the cost was so immense. Compared to his last modification of the Vicious Dog corpse, the price this time was vastly, overwhelmingly greater.
This left him unable to explain his condition and forced him to brush it off vaguely.
“Maybe it was bad food. A bit of exhaustion.”
Chen Song was speechless. A ‘bit of exhaustion’? His pal had lost dozens of pounds directly!
Unable to make sense of it, Chen Song’s attention was soon captured by the flower in Bai Ge’s hand. It was breathtakingly beautiful—vibrant and dazzling, sporting red fruits and golden branches. Even its roots were exposed, appearing rugged and strange.
“Oh dear!” Chen Song exclaimed, leaning in close. “Why haven’t you planted it? What if it dies?”
He immediately ordered someone to fetch a pot and plant the flower.
Chen Song stared at this flower, utterly transfixed. He examined it repeatedly, his expression growing increasingly excited.
“It’s too pretty!”
“I’ve never seen such a flower… somewhat orchid-like, yet completely different, and these fruits… wow…”
“What on earth could be its species?”
Bai Ge, recovering slightly, stated, “Round leaves and red stems, yellow flowers and red fruits. Its flavor is sweet as malt sugar, eating it banishes hunger, and it can ward off fire.”
Chen Song’s eyes widened. “Danmu?”
The fame of the Classic of Mountains and Seas was immense. Chen Song had read it, but he hadn’t immediately connected this flower before him to a mythical species from its pages. Upon hearing Bai Ge’s description, he understood instantly. The more he looked, the more it resembled the legendary Danmu!
“Does such a plant truly exist? How? Wasn’t it fictional?” Chen Song’s hands trembled.
He knew exactly how precious this discovery was—not just a new flower variety, but one recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It wasn’t merely a new variant; it was a whole new species!
“The records in the Classic of Mountains and Seas are real! This is an ancient plant! It wasn’t found in modern times because it went extinct… Good heavens, where did you find it? Is there more?” Chen Song spoke excitedly.
Bai Ge remained impassive. He knew this Danmu was the only one in the entire world, and he couldn’t explain its origin.
Seeing his silence, Chen Song didn’t press further. Instead, he declared, “I’ll contact Young Master Luo right now!”
Saying this, he walked aside, made a call, spoke humbly for a few moments, then excitedly pointed at the flower while describing it.
Phrases like “unparalleled miracle flower” and “ancient divine artifact” came pouring out, making Bai Ge inwardly sigh. Just earlier Chen Song had mocked Bai Ge for exaggerating, and now Chen Song was outdoing him in hyperbole!
Soon, Chen Song switched to a video call, directing the camera onto the Danmu.
Bai Ge glanced over and saw Luo Wendi on the screen. His complexion was fair, his aura sharp and proud—barely two years older than Bai Ge himself.
Luo Wendi ignored Bai Ge completely, his gaze fixed intensely on the Danmu. Doubt crept into his voice as he demanded, “Get closer.”
Chen Song hastily held his phone closer to the Danmu. Clearly, Luo Wendi wanted to confirm the flower wasn’t fake or created with special effects.
After a long pause, Luo Wendi finally spoke, “Where are you?”
Once Chen Song answered, Luo Wendi declared decisively, “I’m coming immediately.”
After hanging up, Chen Song was so excited his flesh seemed to tremble.
He slapped Bai Ge’s shoulder enthusiastically. “Bai Ge, you were right! Young Master Luo truly values such rare flowers supremely! This time, I’m sharing in your good fortune!”
To his surprise, Bai Ge didn’t seem particularly thrilled.
After offering a few polite responses, Bai Ge walked to the window, looking intently towards one specific direction outside the residential area.
“Ling Dang, what just happened? That burst of Energy couldn’t be…”
Ling Dang responded, “Just now, a tiny portion of Reality Energy from the ‘non-existent’ domain leaked out from the back of your head.”
“Huh? Exactly what happened?” Bai Ge asked.
The moment he took out the Danmu, he had distinctly felt an immense surge of Energy erupt forth. The direction he was currently observing was precisely where he sensed that Energy had escaped towards.
Ling Dang explained, “At the very instant you removed the Danmu, that Energy escaped through the back of your head. I don’t know the reason why.”
Bai Ge frowned.
The Energy that leaked from his Brain Hole was just a minuscule fraction—far, far less than one billionth or trillionth—of the Energy within the Brain Hole.
Yet, even this unimaginably tiny fraction represented a colossal amount of Reality Energy. It was so huge Bai Ge still couldn’t measure it precisely… He could only describe it vaguely.
“What happens when this kind of Energy rushes into Reality?” Bai Ge was puzzled because he saw nothing happen.
Ling Dang said, “Theoretically, even if it didn’t destroy Earth, it should have turned everything within thousands of kilometers into scorched earth.”
“Hiss…” Bai Ge inhaled sharply in surprise and doubt. Thousands of kilometers? Earth’s diameter was only just over twelve thousand kilometers. An Energy capable of annihilating nations would absolutely cause massive global consequences.
Bai Ge gazed out the window. The sun was setting in the west; night was about to fall.
Everything was perfectly normal. None of the disastrous consequences had materialized.
“Strange…”
Such a terrifyingly immense burst of Energy had been released from the back of his head… and not the slightest thing had happened?
He was one hundred percent certain it was Reality Energy. So, he couldn’t understand how this was possible.
“It was sitting peacefully outside the Multiverse within the Brain Hole. Why did such a tiny bit suddenly escape?” Bai Ge pressed.
“It can only be attributed to the special nature of the Danmu you extracted this time,” Ling Dang replied.
Bai Ge questioned further, “But I’ve taken other things out before, including plenty of real materials. Why didn’t this happen then?”
Ling Dang stated, “This item you extracted differs fundamentally from all previous extractions.”
Bai Ge paused and thought it over carefully; it really did feel different this time.
This time, the consumption was tremendous. If altering physical reality required him to supply reality energy from his body, this was simply too much.
He had only broken apart some real flowers and rearranged and reassembled them, yet somehow, he had lost forty pounds.
Moreover, the timing of the expenditure was off. If it were merely shaping, the energy should have been consumed within the Brain Hole.
But this time, it happened suddenly as he extracted it, an extra wave of consumption out of nowhere. It was very strange.
“What do you think is the reason, Ling Dang?” Bai Ge asked.
Ling Dang replied from the depths of his mind, “Perhaps… it’s because certain characteristics you assigned to the Danmu were acknowledged by Reality. As a cost, you needed to provide the corresponding energy.”
“Characteristics? You mean supernatural attributes like ‘consuming it grants mastery over fire’? Weren’t the settings I made in the Brain Hole World not supposed to be recognized by Reality?” Bai Ge said.
“Initially, I thought so too, but this time there was clearly additional consumption. Perhaps your settings actually can be brought into Reality; it’s just that the required cost is overwhelmingly huge. This time, maybe the Danmu contained some characteristic with a smaller price tag that you were just able to pay, so you paid the corresponding cost.” Ling Dang explained.
Bai Ge reflected and thought it was indeed possible.
Based on his prior understanding, nothing originating from the Brain Hole could gain acknowledgment from Reality.
So he had specifically purchased many plants and herbs, using real-world substances as the foundation to shape the Danmu.
Only then would the Danmu not shatter at a touch or die upon contact.
He had even casually set numerous characteristics for the Danmu. In the Brain Hole World, Danmu was a truly wondrous flower; consuming it granted the ability to control fire.
However, when brought into Reality, these characteristics should not have manifested.
Yet, such massive consumption occurred now—could it mean one of those characteristics had been realized?
Thinking this, he suddenly didn’t want to sell the flower anymore. He wanted to take it back home for careful study.
Watching Chen Song excitedly admire the flower, Bai Ge frowned, wrestling with whether he should force himself to take the flower away.
Forcefully taking it back would be equivalent to standing him up, something he was unwilling to do. Moreover, he dared not create another, weaker version of Danmu for Luo Wendi, afraid he might accidentally realize another characteristic.
After all, he was already very weak; another attempt would likely cause him to go into shock…
After weighing his options repeatedly, he still decided to sell it.
“The flower isn’t important; I’ll have plenty of chances to study my own Brain Hole back home.”
“Instead, this mysterious energy… if it just stayed quietly within the Brain Hole, I wouldn’t mind. But it occasionally leaks out…”
“I still can’t figure it out. I extracted the Danmu using my own energy—how is that related to this mysterious energy escaping?”
Only Bai Ge could feel how immense that energy truly was—immense beyond description.
A portion of it had now dispersed, making its presence felt, filling Bai Ge with deep concern.
The less happened now, the more he felt that something bad was coming.
……
Finally, at eight o’clock, Luo Wendi arrived.
Bai Ge actually didn’t know much about him, only that he was the son of the richest man in the city.
His family’s businesses encompassed Xiangfan City and surrounding counties and cities.
Luo Corporation spanned industries from retail, hotels, and restaurants to real estate, and enjoyed cordial relations with the government. It was a key local brand protected and supported by Xiangfan City.
Moreover, Luo Wendi wasn’t some spoiled playboy; he was quite capable himself, running an investment company and managing funds for many enterprises.
People who knew Luo Wendi basically knew these things.
As for deeper information, Bai Ge wasn’t well-informed; their social circles were simply too far apart.
“President Luo, we’ve finally waited for you. Please, have a seat.”
Chen Song ushered Luo Wendi in with various pleasantries.
Bai Ge stood to the side, neglected but wisely silent.
Clearly, having finally secured an opportunity to host Luo Wendi, Chen Song was determined to seize this chance to get familiar, aiming for potential business cooperation in the future.
Luo Wendi didn’t cut him short, conversing seriously with Chen Song, but his eyes kept drifting towards the Danmu.
The Danmu was placed right in the middle of the living room, so extraordinarily beautiful it was impossible to ignore.
After listening to a long string of chit-chat from Chen Song, Luo Wendi finally said somewhat impatiently, “Is this really Danmu?”
Chen Song rushed to explain, “It matches the description in the Classic of Mountains and Seas very well… he brought it…”
As he spoke, he immediately introduced Bai Ge.
Luo Wendi glanced at Bai Ge and asked, “So you’re the one selling the flower? It is indeed unique, the only one in the world… Could it be man-made?”
Bai Ge was taken aback. Seeing Luo Wendi’s suspicion, he really wanted to say: I don’t even want to sell this flower anymore.
But what he ended up saying was: “I picked it from Shennongjia… whether it’s real or not, you can judge for yourself. If you doubt it, you don’t have to buy it.”
Hearing this, both Chen Song and Luo Wendi were stunned.
Chen Song was frantic inside, thinking: Don’t get so temperamental at this moment!
He looked nervously at Luo Wendi, only to find that Luo Wendi wasn’t angry.
On the contrary, Luo Wendi laughed and said, “Seems you’re very confident. Well, to be honest, even if this flower was forced to grow through some artificial method, it would still be an extremely precious variety…”
“And if… it was naturally grown, then it would be a priceless treasure!”
“The Classic of Mountains and Seas does describe such flowers. If it is a natural species, the additional value it carries would be enormous… far beyond just being attractive.”
“Let me put it this way: if it’s artificially cultivated, I’d be willing to offer ten million!”
Hearing this price, Bai Ge was instantly dumbfounded.
But Luo Wendi followed up by saying, “But if it’s natural… to be honest, I wouldn’t dare buy it…”
“Wouldn’t dare buy it?” Bai Ge was perplexed.
Luo Wendi said meaningfully, “It should be turned over to the country.”
…