"The Foundation determined that the anomaly might be image-triggered, so the next two teams of D-Class personnel were not allowed to wear any recording devices. These two teams of D-Class personnel did not touch the armed personnel's equipment, yet they were still completely annihilated. Before their annihilation, the following information was transmitted through their earpieces."
After finishing her explanation, Nao handed an audio file and its transcribed text to Haruto. Upon playing the audio file, heavy breathing and voices could be heard inside.
"Reporting to the Foundation, we've found a humanoid lifeform. He... looks really strange."
"The lifeform is male, completely unclothed, with oddly proportioned features. His height might be over two meters."
"Since the target is crouching, I can't determine exactly. His arms and legs have almost no muscle, extremely thin."
"He... seems to be crying? I don't understand. Hey, can you hear me?"
"Attempting communication was ineffective. No, wait, he's turning around—"
The sound abruptly stopped.
What followed was an ear-piercing shriek loud enough to rupture eardrums. And a massive explosion.
The earpiece was likely destroyed at that moment as well.
The D-Class personnel were killed instantly, not even able to scream, suggesting immediate death. Closing the audio file, Haruto took a deep breath.
This was a serious problem.
"I'll go handle the containment," Haruto said.
Hearing this, Nao nodded with concern.
Afterward, she went to prepare a vehicle to head to Kisomori Town.
Although Haruto could fly there much faster...
On Earth, where surveillance cameras were everywhere and satellites conducted aerial photography...
It was best not to reveal anomalous abilities unless necessary.
Otherwise, they'd have to deal with online information suppression and offline memory erasures.
A huge hassle.
Instead of heading directly to Kisomori Town, Haruto first went to the containment room for 'Root: Grotesque Bug.'
He needed to assess the gains from containing the Attack on Titan world. Using the rewards to strengthen himself as much as possible.
After all, the next containment operation was quite dangerous.
Currently, Haruto's Blacklight Virus had already consumed Titans and Ghouls, granting him terrifying vitality. Though untested, he estimated that even if his head was cut off or his heart exploded, he could easily regenerate.
As for whether he could regenerate from a single drop of blood...
That was untested, so he couldn't say.
Inside the containment room, there was only a giant cocoon wrapped in black feathers. Upon entering, Haruto extended his hand, pressing his fingers against the cocoon.
These black feathers were, in fact, all Haruto's cells.
The moment he made contact, he could effortlessly control these detached cells.
Manipulating the feathers inside, he pierced the grotesque bug's body, extracting a single drop of fluid.
The grotesque bug struggled within the feathers, but to no avail. The drop of liquid was passed along by the feathers and, ultimately, transferred into Haruto's body through his fingers.
The Blacklight Virus immediately devoured it and began feeding back into Haruto, evolving him on the spot.
His body suddenly became somewhat translucent, with his skin turning semi-transparent.
Just like the grotesque bug.
But soon, he returned to normal.
Opening his eyes, Haruto sensed the changes in his body and the information that appeared like an instinct.
"A huge gain," Haruto murmured.
From the grotesque bug, he obtained only one trait.
That was propagation.
Now, Haruto could use his blood to induce an inferior assimilation in others.
Essentially, he could infect others with his blood, granting them Titan-like abilities. More importantly, Haruto could modify the infected individuals' physical structure, thoughts, and memories.
Just like how the Founding Titan controlled the Eldians.
"Besides the D-Class memory wipe method, now I also have an A-Class memory wipe method."
Haruto marveled.
Compared to amnestics, his assimilation-based memory control was much more refined.
Far more advanced!
After absorbing the grotesque bug's genes, Haruto pulled up his system interface.
Previously, after continuously containing various anomalies and harvesting rewards from the Attack on Titan world...
He had accumulated enough for a ten-pull level-three lottery and a single level-four lottery. Additionally, the containment of the Attack on Titan world granted him a reward: 'World Energy.'
He had been too busy recently to properly study this 'World Energy.'
[World Energy: A reward given when containing Root Anomalies. Extremely valuable, can be used to upgrade the Multiverse Containment System.]
Reading the system's description, Haruto raised an eyebrow.
So it was for upgrading the system.
Without hesitation, Haruto clicked the upgrade button.
The system interface flickered briefly, then returned to normal.
Haruto: ?
Was that it?
Wasn't that a bit too simple?
Although it felt sketchy, Haruto still checked the upgraded system.
The system interface hadn't changed much, except for two new options.
One was the Anomaly Monitoring Program.
The other was Anomaly Trait Viewing.
[Anomaly Monitoring Program: Can monitor anomalies within a 6,371-kilometer spherical radius.]
Brilliant.
Previously, the system could detect and mark anomalies...
But the range was severely lacking. Now, the monitoring radius was exactly Earth's radius. For the Foundation, this monitoring program was immensely significant.
[Anomaly Trait Viewing: Can view all traits of anomalies within a 10-meter radius.]
Even better.
Being able to see an anomaly's traits would make containment operations and subsequent experiments much easier.
Fewer D-Class personnel would die!
Although the 10-meter range was a bit short, this function was nearly god-tier. After reviewing the system's upgrades, Haruto turned his attention to the lottery.
Time to test his luck!
Rubbing his hands expectantly, Haruto clicked on the ten-pull level-three lottery.
Ten streaks of light flashed across the screen.
"Damn! Just clouds and blue sky!"
No one could stay lucky forever—this time, Haruto's luck was finally punished.
[White-tier rewards: 30,000 yen, a very straight wooden stick, red-and-blue wallpaper, a girl's original white stockings, a 'good' manga doujin.]
[Blue-tier rewards: An unextinguishable glow stick, dazzling orange paint.]
[Purple-tier rewards: SCP-500 (Panacea), the legendary sword 'Dojigiri Yasutsuna,' and an Arc Reactor.]
Looking at the rewards list, Haruto sighed.
No gold-tier items. After staying lucky for so long, it was time for a downturn.
Still, three purple-tier rewards weren't bad.
SCP-500 was a small bottle of red pills—one pill could effectively cure all diseases. This included anomalies classified as diseases.
As for so-called terminal illnesses like cancer or leukemia, one pill and they'd be cured instantly.
Dojigiri Yasutsuna was a legendary sword said to have slain the demon Shuten-doji, carrying a grievous injury effect that inhibited regeneration.
The Arc Reactor was a high-tech cold fusion energy source.
It wasn't useful for Haruto himself, but for the Foundation's technological development, it was invaluable. If their researchers could crack its secrets, the Foundation's energy tech would advance significantly.
"Still got one level-four lottery. No one stays unlucky forever!"
Haruto took out his phone and played Good Luck Comes.
Then, he clicked the level-four lottery. A golden streak flashed across the interface.
Haruto was relieved.
No red-tier, but at least gold-tier.
At least this lottery session wasn't a total loss.
[Gold-tier reward: The World (Za Warudo).]
"Woohoo! Brilliant!"
Haruto cheered.
The World!
Not the Stand, but the power itself.
With this power, Haruto could pause the entire world's time for nine seconds.
This was the power of The World!
"ZA WARUDO!"
As Haruto let out a light breath, the entire world suddenly fell into stillness, turning slightly gray.
Haruto looked around.
Whether it was the Foundation personnel outside the room or the dust in the air, everything had been paused.