Chapter 32: Celestial Anomalies

The car pulled out of the underground garage and turned onto the main road.

By the roadside, many onlookers had already stopped to watch.

"What are they looking at?" Red Lotus asked.

"Damn it... just focus on driving for now..." Wang Baihu climbed out through the sunroof, crouching on the roof of the car, staring in disbelief at the direction everyone was pointing.

A blood-red wilderness was reflected in the sky.

Compared to the wispy white clouds and blue sky surrounding it, it was striking, like a long, thin scroll unfurled across the heavens. Many people had witnessed this strange phenomenon; they pulled out their phones to take pictures, their expressions filled with frantic excitement.

This was completely different from any previous incursions... He could already imagine the despair of the logistics team as they scrambled to clean up the mess.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Red Lotus soon noticed the anomaly in the firmament through the gaps between the high-rises. "What the hell is that!?"

"I'm not sure, but it looks like it's raining over there... and that rain is blood-red..." Wang Baihu murmured, squinting. His eyesight was the best in the team; he could read the denomination of a coin from five hundred meters away with the naked eye. "What do we do now? I'm afraid the whole city is going to see this!"

"Not just the city," Red Lotus replied, rolling her eyes. "Within minutes, this will spread to the entire world."

In the past, pollution incursions were usually limited to a door, a building, or a space of finite volume, and most of these spaces left behind traces. For example, the last one, Incursion No. 98, had a background set in medieval France, so the connection point appeared in a shop on a replica of the Champs-Élysées.

That was why they had spent a fortune building a massive "Window of the World" park on the outskirts of the city—to centralize these incursions. As overseas travel had become easier, theme parks imitating world-famous landmarks had become somewhat obsolete. Red Lotus remembered how many newspapers had "criticized" the park's construction at the time, little knowing that its purpose had nothing to do with attracting tourists.

But the sky was supposed to be empty. Why would an incursion anomaly suddenly occur there?

Wang Baihu crawled back into the car and turned on the radio. Every channel was broadcasting the same voice.

"...A rare atmospheric phenomenon has appeared over our city. Experts state that this is a special mirage caused by light refraction when a northern cold front is partially blocked by the Lushan Mountains. Please remain calm and view the spectacle in an orderly manner. Here are the viewing spots recommended by our reporters..."

"A mirage? That's a decent idea," he remarked. "The logistics team is quick on their feet."

"It'll only fool them for a while," Red Lotus said dismissively. "An incursion brings not just sights, but mutations. If we don't handle this well, the secret that this world has long been riddled with holes won't stay covered."

With that, she took a police light from the glove box and slapped it onto the roof.

The siren wailed, and the sluggish cars ahead began to pull over to make way.

"Hey, that's against the rules, we aren't—"

"We don't have time for details! If we keep going like this, the road will be completely blocked. Do you expect us to walk the rest of the way?"

Wang Baihu had to admit she had a point. It wasn't just the pedestrians who were distracted; the drivers were, too. Traffic was slowing significantly, and many were simply pulling over to get out and watch this rare "mirage." It was predictable that gridlock would soon paralyze every major artery in the city.

"Don't worry, the traffic police are too overwhelmed to check up on us right now," Red Lotus gripped the steering wheel and floored the accelerator. "Hold on, I'm speeding up!"

In less than fifteen minutes, the two of them arrived at Peace Avenue in the Tianlu District.

The anomaly was centered directly above a small green park.

It wasn't quite time for people to get off work yet, so the park was relatively empty, with only a few dozen people wandering about. They were directly beneath the "mirage," and all they had to do was look up to see the sight of the sky being torn apart.

Wang Baihu felt his breath hitch.

He had to admit that watching the anomaly from afar was entirely different from standing directly beneath it. First, there was the scale: when it loomed overhead, it occupied more than half of his field of vision, exerting an immense, suffocating pressure. Secondly, at the edges of the anomaly, he could clearly see clouds being sliced in half, their white wisps falling into the rift as if that crimson land were devouring everything in this world. It hung in the sky like a bottomless abyss.

"Take this and go clear the people out," Red Lotus tossed something at him.

Wang Baihu caught it and found it was a police badge, with his own photo on it.

"Where did you buy this?"

"Pinduoduo."

"You're breaking the rules again—"

"Hm?" Red Lotus tilted her head. "Then I'll go."

"No, I'll do it." Wang Baihu hurriedly stopped her and hopped out of the car. While dispersing the onlookers was for their own good, his colleague's disregard for protocol was notorious, not to mention she had recently suffered a major setback and was looking for an outlet for her frustration.

"Hey, it's not safe here, you need to leave!" He held up the badge and ran toward a young couple who were holding up their phones.

"Isn't it just a mirage?"

"Yeah, what's dangerous about that?"

"Do you think I'm lying to you?" Wang Baihu shook the badge for emphasis. "They're about to put up caution tape in this park, get out of here!"

Perhaps it was the authority of the police badge, but the two complied with his warning, leaving while glancing back repeatedly.

He immediately ran toward the next group.

But just then, a piercing scream rang out!

Everyone heard it and looked toward the sound. A young woman in her twenties had fallen to the ground, frantically twisting her body as if trying to crawl away, but she was too terrified to move. She clutched her right wrist tightly with her left hand, and blood was spraying from her fingertips.

Wang Baihu's heart skipped a beat, and he dashed to her side.

In front of the woman was only a leashed pet dog.

The dog was busy licking a pool of strange, glowing golden blood, ignoring the woman's screams. At its feet lay a severed hand, still wearing a glove.

He could tell at a glance that it was the woman's hand.

The dog then looked at him—not by lifting its head, but by shifting both eyes to one side, staring at him with one eye above the other! Its mouth stretched wider, splitting from the tip of its nose all the way to its neck.

Wang Baihu felt a chill run down his spine.

Mutation... it happened to the dog?

He didn't hesitate, drawing the gun hidden at his waist and firing at the pet dog!

With a soft *thwip*, the bullet struck the center of the dog's forehead with precision.

This wasn't a standard firearm, but a specialized weapon issued by the organization. It looked like a toy, and the projectile was a high-powered tranquilizer. Its advantage was that even if seen by the public, it wouldn't raise alarm... The downside, as it turned out, was that the dog showed no signs of being sedated. It merely paused for a moment before snapping its jaws at the ground!

Snapping at the ground?

Wang Baihu suddenly noticed the grass beneath his feet writhing.

In the blink of an eye, a dog's maw burst from the earth and bit down hard on his calf! Bizarrely, the physical dog hadn't moved; it seemed to have buried its head into the soil, while its body remained three or four meters away!

The woman, witnessing this horrific sight, let out a whimper and fainted.

However, the dog's jaws couldn't sever his leg. They even cracked several of its sharp teeth, and sparks flew where the teeth met his skin.

Wang Baihu easily pulled his leg free, leaped backward to create distance, and scooped up the unconscious woman to run toward the car. "Red Lotus, use a No. MZ3 round!"

"Counting down: one second," his colleague's calm voice came through the earpiece. "Run faster."

"Couldn't you have delayed it for a few more seconds—" Before he could finish, the roar of the explosion drowned out everything.

*BOOM!*

Wang Baihu stumbled from the force of the blast. Looking back, he saw nothing but scorched earth and the mangled rear half of the dog.

Now, nobody dared to linger in the park, and within moments, it was completely deserted.

"Well, that makes things easier," he muttered. "Though I wonder what the logistics team will say."

"What else would they say? A gas line explosion," Red Lotus said, walking over. "What was that you shot?"

"A dog."

"What?" She frowned.

Wang Baihu still couldn't quite believe it. "That dog... it gained an ability."