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[Item Number: Anomalous Item-CN-1887]
[Item Name: Wear This for Yang Chaoyue]
[Object Class: Safe]
[Abilities: Overdraft Distortion. By borrowing Hume levels from your future self, you gain temporary power. But debts must be repaid—whatever you take now will be doubled later! Choose luck now, and misfortune will follow. Choose 30 minutes of stamina now, and you'll be a "three-second man" later. Transform into Abel now, and you'll become a yandere in the future…]
[Status: Contained]
[Interaction Log: Click to Play]
[O]
Abel: Author, do you have a death wish? I'm watching you!
Author: Heh!
(The above exchange actually occurred at the narrative layer—this is not filler.)
(Author's Note: Abel threatened me from 7,081.62 meters away—the straight-line distance from the ruins of Eden to a coastal city in China, as measured by Baidu Maps. His voice somehow reached my ears.)
Luoshu closed the Compendium with a sigh.
This item could be a last resort, but the cost was hard to swallow—like drinking poison to quench thirst.
The Fortune-Granting Cat stole others' Hume levels, but this ability borrowed from his own future.
The difference was obvious.
Still, if pushed to the brink, even poison would be worth swallowing.
Back at the stairwell of the Safe-class containment zone, Luoshu glanced downward, then checked the time.
Unobservable had about ten minutes left.
That wasn't enough to secure another Euclid-class item.
Pointless.
He chose to turn back.
He'd only get a few hours of sleep before his early-morning flight.
His ticket to the New World departed from Beijing Capital International Airport—meaning he had to return to Beijing first.
This would be his third round trip between Beijing and Tianjin in a short span.
By the time Luoshu's taxi reached Beijing, it was only 10 AM. His flight wouldn't leave for another three and a half hours.
The itinerary—CA1517 and UA858—would depart at 1:30 PM, arriving at 8 AM two days later.
Accounting for time zones, the total travel time was 30 hours and 42 minutes, with layovers in Shanghai, Seoul, and San Francisco before finally reaching the New World's capital.
This was the fastest route he could find, but he was still worried the thief might be long gone from Site-19 by the time he arrived.
As he brooded, a thought struck him.
A person—or rather, a half-human, half-ghost child laborer: Anomalous Item-CN-772-5.
He quickly redirected the taxi to that supermarket.
Ducking into the alley, he found the spatial tunnel and revisited her "bedroom."
The moment she saw him, Anomalous Item-CN-772-5 lit up. "Friend! You came back!"
Luoshu smiled awkwardly. "Actually… I need your help."
He couldn't bring himself to lie to her.
But she didn't mind. "Helping a friend is my duty!"
"Right. Can you… open a spatial tunnel to the New World? It's urgent."
She thought for a moment, then hesitantly said, "I can't, but 'God' can. Once, he opened a huge tunnel—it led to his 'Temple.'"
"Temple?" Luoshu frowned. What's that?
She stood up, grabbing his hand. "Come, I'll show you!"
Fine. A look wouldn't hurt.
She opened a tunnel, and on the other side stood a massive traditional Chinese building.
Stepping through, Luoshu found himself on the roof of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven.
Anomalous Item-CN-772-5 waved her hand, opening another tunnel—but didn't enter.
"See? This is the path 'God' made."
Luoshu peered inside. The other end was a British-style castle hall, complete with an ornate throne—currently unoccupied.
He rubbed his chin. The aesthetic was very "God," but the location was unclear.
Still, this architecture was unlikely to be in Asia—probably the New World or Europe.
If so, this castle could serve as a shortcut, saving him over half a day.
After thanking Anomalous Item-CN-772-5, he activated Spatial Tunnel and stepped through.
The moment he arrived, he used Thousand-Mile Tracking to locate "God."
The sense confirmed: "God" was currently in Site-17—not here.
A quick phone GPS check revealed his location:
A private estate on the shores of Lake Erie, near Detroit, Michigan—just a few hours' drive (or a short flight) from the New World's capital.
Jackpot.
He'd returned to the New World!
With this tunnel, traveling between China and the New World would be effortless.
As he prepared to leave for Site-19, a thought struck him.
He approached the throne at the far end of the hall, crouching to inspect it.
Soon, he found a few gray-white hairs—clearly "God's."
Picking them up, he activated his newest ability:
Death Prediction!
The hairs vanished, replaced by a thermal-printed slip of paper—the death report.
Luoshu eagerly scanned it.
[Deceased Name: "God"]
[Gender: Male]
[Age at Death: ???]
[Time of Death: ???]
[Location of Death: ???]
[Cause of Death: ???]
Cross-referencing past records of Anomalous Item-CN-1065, Luoshu found no precedent.
Every previous Anomalous Item-CN-1065-a had detailed the subject's death.
"God" was the first exception.
Disappointing, but not surprising.
The string of "???" meant one thing:
This causality weapon was useless against "God."
After all, Anomalous Item-CN-1065 was just a Safe-class, Green-DARK-level anomaly.
It could bully ordinary people, but powerful anomalies were beyond its reach.
If it could kill SCP-682, the Foundation would've used it already.
Abandoning this futile hope, Luoshu left the castle—heading straight for Site-19.