Shrouded Seascape

Anna's eyes were open, and she was staring without blinking at the bright white LED lights on the ceiling. She stared at the lights for a long time. A tiny speck of dust slowly drifted onto her cornea, but she remained moving.

Just then, a pair of cold, rubber-gloved hands reached out, gently cradling Anna's head. They detached her from her body and soaked it in formalin.

The pair of cold hands emerged from the pungent liquid and carefully picked up the scalpel next to them. "Assistant, start recording."

The other person in the morgue rapidly tapped on a tablet and said, "The time is 16:21:29. The dissection of 315 begins now."

The medical examiners wearing masks and clad in white coats bowed deeply to the headless corpse before them.

"Name: Anna; ID number: 315; Age: 17; Sex: Female; Cause of Death: Acute massive hemorrhage caused by a rupture in the heart's left ventricle."

"First task: Observe and analyze the subject's trunk muscles through systematic dissection—no abnormal lesions, no infections, and no abnormal proliferative tissues were found."

"Second task: Observe and analyze the subject's bones and joints—no abnormal lesions, no infections, and no abnormal proliferative tissues were found."

"Third task: Observe and analyze the subject's limb muscles through systematic dissection—no abnormal lesions, no infections, and no abnormal proliferative tissues were found.."

Anna's body was slowly unwrapped like a delicate gift amidst the medical examiners' technical jargon. Every part of her body was thoroughly dissected and analyzed.

The dissection was live-streamed, and the IMF's top brass were all watching. It was clear that the IMF had placed tremendous importance on 315. One could even say that everything related to 315 was a top-priority matter.

When 315 had just appeared, they thought that she was just an Anomaly possessing Anna's body with a special ability to manipulate people's minds.

Even when it was revealed that 315 had a way to fuse an Anomaly with a human being, they merely raised her threat level to B+. After all, they had to deal with many Anomalies all over the world.

Among those Anomalies, 315 was not particularly outstanding, even bordering on mediocre, but they were wrong, utterly wrong.

315's threat far exceeded their imaginations. She could actually summon an entity capable of destroying the Earth.

Through the accounts of both the Shattered God and the severely mentally contaminated "Jackal," they came to learn about that entity; it was an entity that could easily wipe out all life on Earth.

Upon hearing of it, the IMF immediately raised 315's threat level to the highest level. A state of emergency was declared, and every single department worked together for just one objective—eliminate 315.

Fortunately, there were no twists and turns. 315 was killed during their first wave of attacks. Of course, this wasn't beyond their expectations. 315 was powerful, but she was just one individual; she couldn't possibly stand against an organization that had been ensuring mankind's safety from behind the scenes for a long time.

315 was dead, but the matter was far from over. In fact, they were left with more questions.

A man in a gray-striped suit was sipping his coffee while listening to the report of a mobile task force's captain.

Once the report was done, he gently placed the coffee cup on the table with a somewhat dissatisfied look. "You do know how important your mission is, don't you? Despite that, you actually let that boy escape? He's just an ordinary eight-year-old boy."

The soldier wearing black sunglasses was standing at attention as he impassively replied, "Dr. Nightwatch, my men didn't find any traces of that boy in the target's residence. The only thing we saw was that clown mask, and it fled frantically upon seeing us.

"Of course, we contained it quite easily despite its formidable might."

"Hmph! Captain Cannan, you really know how to make yourself look good. You're Alpha-4's captain, so I really don't know why you're even bragging about capturing an Anomaly that has already been contained once," Doctor Nightwatch said with a tinge of sarcasm.

"I'm telling you this—that boy is the key. He's close to 315, and he might become the next 315!" Doctor Nightwatch exclaimed.

Cannan remained unyielding as he retorted, "I understand the importance of your concern, but I must request a re-examination of the gathered intelligence.

"We've inspected everything in the city—every car, every train, and even the flights leading up to the mission have all been scrutinized with no results so far. I have reasonable grounds to doubt if that boy even exists."

Nightwatch revealed a frosty smile and took out a phone from his pocket. He tossed it over to Cannan and said, "You tell them yourself, then. See if they'll believe your nonsense."

Upon hearing the voice on the phone, Canaan immediately stood at attention and listened without a word. In the end, he looked a bit disgruntled as he lobbed the phone back at Nightwatch and walked away.

"Hmph, the grunts must take care of the grunt work," Nightwatch remarked. He downed his coffee and walked toward the door on the left.

A massive prison with pitifully little natural light was just outside the door on the left, and the cells used to hold prisoners were so small that they were more like glorified coffins.

The military barracks next door could be seen through the windows. The patrolling soldiers with guns in hand proved the threat level of the figures imprisoned here.

Instead of heading for the prison, Nightwatch made a beeline for the interrogation room. Standing before the one-way glass, Nightwatch crossed his arms and looked at the person inside—Li Lu.

Li Lu was once part of the IMF, but unfortunately, she betrayed the organization.

"I've already told you everything I know. Now, where is my baby? I want to see him," the haggard Li Lu dressed in red prison garb said to the person interrogating her.

A woman glanced at the lie detector device with a faint smile and spoke into the microphone. "Don't worry. As long as you cooperate with us, you'll eventually see your child. I'm sure you know the rules as a former IMF agent."

"I've already told you everything that I know! What more do you want me to say? What exactly do you want me to say? I just want to see Tobba once! Just once!" Li Lu exclaimed. The consecutive interrogations over the past few days had left her feeling quite irritated and fed up.

Li Lu hadn't seen Tobba again since their excursion to that rainforest. She knew that the IMF had definitely interrogated her fellow passengers on that plane, and they had to have learned of Tobba's special qualities.

Li Lu didn't even dare to imagine what kind of torture her child was going through at the moment.

Nightwatch walked up to the control panel and spoke into the microphone. "Tell her that the more information she provides about that little boy named Gao Zhiming, the easier everything will become for her. That boy is the only one on the run, after all.

The man sitting across from Li Lu adjusted his earpiece and asked, "How much do you know about that little boy called Gao Zhiming?"

At that, the hysterical Li Lu calmed down and sat back down. "I know very little about him. All I know is that that Anna brought him back home one day."