noveldepot Chapter 40 B-274 [The Scars of Peeling]
Chapter 40 B-274 [The Scars of Peeling]
Cheng Xu held the caramel fruit in his hand, examining it several times over.
He swung his knife again, slicing it into eight pieces. This time, the cara fruit closed up in his hand like flower petals.
The shattered fruit pieces and pulp mended themselves, and the splashed juice was absorbed back to the edge of the cut, restoring the Kara fruit to its original state.
With a thought, gray spots first appeared on the edges of the dark golden scales of the Karago, and its hard outer skin gradually softened and wrinkled.
The blood-red crystalline granules inside lose their luster and congeal into dark brown lumps; the lower layer of solidified pulp oozes sour, rotten mucus and grows blue-green mycelium.
Ultimately, the entire fruit shrank, deformed, rotted, and oozed juice.
"Tsk..."
Cheng Xu looked away. He felt a little disgusted by what he saw.
He clenched his palm, and the rotten cherries became plump and full again, as fresh as if they had just been picked from the tree.
In his previous conversation with Hu Zhou, he told him that the miracle he created on Golun Star was unrepeatable and that obtaining such power required a demanding opportunity.
But what Cheng Xu didn't tell Hu Zhou was that although it was impossible to recreate time travel on a planetary scale, this trait and ability hadn't completely disappeared from him...
Take this caramel fruit, for example.
When the target is locked onto the carago, Cheng Xu can manipulate its spatial and temporal properties with little effort.
If he so desires, he could even trace its existence back to the state of pollen and stamens.
If it weren't for the testing, he wouldn't have even needed the laser knife; he could have chopped the karala fruit with just his mind.
This was also another goal of Cheng Xu's arrival on Fenglin Star—to relax and try to research and develop this brand-new ability.
He walked to the edge of the small lake, and with a gentle flick of his index finger, a stream of clear water rose from the rippling surface of the lake and stopped at his fingertip.
He molded the water balloons into various shapes, like clay.
The next second, frost crystals appeared on the surface of the water sphere, quickly freezing into ice blocks, and the cold air dissipated.
"The state of matter is also within the scope of manipulation."
Cheng Xu wanted to further test the scope of his abilities, but he immediately lowered his outstretched hand as soon as he raised it.
He heard faint voices and footsteps behind him. Someone was walking towards him.
The ice puck in his hand instantly boiled and evaporated, turning into invisible water vapor that dissolved into the air.
Cheng Xu turned around to look.
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As Cheng Xu completed his leave procedures and left Chengming Star for Yuanguang Star System, the entire worker bee team also concluded a general meeting.
During the meeting, team leader Hu Zhou conveyed the instructions from the General Administration, deployed the tasks for the next stage, and emphasized the need to carry forward the pragmatic work style to ensure that all tasks are implemented effectively and achieve tangible results.
In short, it means that the relationship between the Anomaly Management Bureau and Cheng Xu has entered a new phase, but the Worker Bee Squad still has to continue working diligently at the Chengming Star Branch...
After all, Cheng Xu clearly stated in that conversation that "workplace relationships are relaxed," which shows that he quite approves of these colleagues, so they can't be transferred away easily.
After the meeting, Xiang Sicun caught up with Hu Zhou and mysteriously peeked out from over his shoulder:
"Captain, you didn't send Cheng Xu to Fenglin Star for some other reason, did you?"
"How could that be? Why do you say that?"
Hu Zhou looked at Xiang Sicun with "surprise".
"Don't try to fool me."
Xiang Sicun sneered: "We've known each other for so long, don't I know you? You usually spend your free time playing mecha combat at the training base, how could you possibly give such a detailed introduction to the sights of Fenglin Star?"
Hu Zhou grinned awkwardly. His carefully cultivated composure, honed through numerous training sessions, ultimately failed to hold up.
"So something happened on Fenglin Star?"
Xiang Sicun immediately guessed the crux of the matter.
Hu Zhou thought for a moment and lowered his voice: "It's still under investigation, but it's okay to tell you now."
"Another incident has occurred at the branch office, and Chief Kober is worried about it."
Xiang Sicun seemed to realize the nature of the problem: "Let's talk about it back in the office."
The two returned to the office, closed the door, and Hu Zhou got straight to the point, stating the information he had recently heard from Kober.
"The critical anomaly [Crack], numbered B-274, has gone missing. It is almost certain that it was taken by the Purge Bureau cadre 'The Arbiter'."
"ah?!"
Xiang Sicun gasped in shock.
The loss of a critical anomaly is a very serious incident within the Anomaly Management Bureau.
According to the Bureau's criteria for assessing anomalies, a safety-level (Level D) anomaly is defined as one with "small impact range, minor harm, or low containment difficulty".
The next level of alert (Level C) is "an anomaly that may cause significant harm or impact within a certain range of the planet".
As for the critical level (B-level) anomaly, the description becomes "anomaly that may cause large-scale irreversible disaster to the entire planet".
In other words, the loss of a critical-level anomaly could result in the annihilation of a planet.
If we consider that the person who stole the "Stripped Scar" was the "Adjudicator" of the Purification Bureau, then the consequences of this loss may be even more serious than expected.
Hu Zhou continued:
"Three days before the incident, the [Cracked Scar] containment facility, which was originally housed at the Farlight Star Branch, was unexpectedly damaged."
"To prevent any accidents, after consulting with us, the Yuanguangxing Branch decided that the Chengmingxing Branch would contain it in a [Solid Metal Box]."
"However, because the majority of the branch's manpower had been mobilized to the planet Golun, the transport fleet was attacked by the 'Arbiter' while it was warping across the interstellar boundary back to the Chengyu system. No one in the fleet survived, and the [Crack] was lost."
Xiang Sicun frowned, opened the internal system of the Administration Bureau, and retrieved the data on the Cracks.
【Cracks】(Critical Level Anomaly)
Number: B-274
Description:
When the flaking marks were first discovered, they appeared outwardly as biological claw marks etched onto some kind of metal. Essentially, they are a combination of the concepts of "peeling" and "cutting," and are generally attached to high-strength metals, appearing as claw marks to the naked eye.
The cleavage marks will cut through any object near the center claw mark until the volume after cutting is smaller than the gap between the claw marks. High-strength metal materials can resist the cutting effect to some extent and consume abnormal activity.
On the cut surface created by the peeling marks, different substances in the material will slowly peel off and separate, creating a corrosion-like effect.
When the activity of the peeling mark is fully activated, it can create a cleavage in space.
Containment measures:
The spalling marks should be contained in a sealed, high-purity stainless steel container (container wall thickness ≥ 5 meters), and a space activity suppression device should be placed outside the container. If the cutting marks are ≤ 2 meters from the outer wall, the spalling marks must be transferred to a new container.
The known safety anomaly A-87764 [Firm-walled Metal Box] has the property of significantly suppressing peeling marks.
Appendix 1: Observation Records - Stripping
Subject of observation: B-274
Observer: Quentin Farrell (Researcher, Farlight Branch, Anomaly Management Bureau)
Observation Report:
After placing the tungsten carbide alloy into the cracked container for 3 hours, it was removed; the tungsten carbide alloy had been torn apart. (Note: The crack did not adhere to the alloy fragments.)
Instrumental observation and analysis revealed that the cross-section of the laceration contained alloy components such as titanium carbide, tantalum carbide, niobium carbide, cobalt, and nickel.
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