They say I'm a world-destroying anomaly.

Chapter 5 The one who tied the knot must untie it.

Let's go back to last night.

After Cheng Xu made a preliminary deduction about the nature of the fungal tide, a new problem arose before him.

With the principles largely established, how can we transform them into a breakthrough point to resolve the threat posed by the fungal tide?

After much deliberation, a name came to mind.

Yu Kai.

Dean of the School of Life Sciences at Chengxing University, a renowned academic figure in the interstellar world, and a kind and approachable old scholar.

Cheng Xu had met this old man once at his graduation ceremony more than six months ago.

To Cheng Xu's surprise, when he checked Dean Yu Kai's information through the Administration Bureau's system, he discovered that the latter had a considerable connection with the Administration Bureau.

Internal documents show that the Administration had collaborated with the dean on several occasions due to his scientific achievements and academic standing in areas such as biological variation.

For example, after subduing the "Rampaging Ape-Man," the Management Bureau invited many renowned scholars to participate in the research project in order to study the cause of its mutation and the method of containment. Yu Kai was one of them.

In addition, the elderly man's name can be seen in many reports related to abnormal mutations in organisms.

With this connection established, Cheng Xu felt relieved. If Director Yu had already been in contact with the Management Bureau multiple times before, asking him for help this time would have saved a lot of trouble.

He immediately contacted the other party through the system's contact information and received an affirmative reply.

After a brief exchange with Yu Kai, Cheng Xu learned that Yu Kai was currently on a business trip in a neighboring galaxy attending an important academic conference.

After the outbreak of the fungal epidemic, the dean did not rush back to Chengxing University immediately. Instead, he remotely directed several vice deans to work with the Administration Bureau to complete tasks such as evacuating people.

Cheng Xu couldn't help but admire Dean Yu's composure; with such a major incident occurring at his headquarters, he could still calmly hold a meeting outside. No wonder he was a veteran who had dealt with anomalies many times.

Upon receiving Cheng Xu's message, Yu Kai quickly responded positively to his request, saying that he would take a private plane back to Chengming Star overnight.

"Judging by the time, we should be arriving soon."

Cheng Xu took a sip of hot tea and glanced out the bright sunlight.

Before long, the deep, rumbling sound of a spaceship engine could be heard outside the window as it landed in the Jiangyue Campus helipad from afar.

Ten minutes later, the staff led a sprightly, silver-haired elderly man into the conference room.

"Dean Yu!"

Cheng Xu greeted the elderly man with a broad smile, helped him to the head seat, and then introduced him to Fu Chen and the others:

"This is the helper I found, Dean Yu Kai of the School of Life Sciences at Chengxing University."

Fu Chen, Sun Yin, and others warmly stepped forward to greet them.

In fact, they had already detected Cheng Xu's contact with Yu Kai last night and had anticipated this.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Yu Kai took the initiative to steer the conversation to the main topic.

"You said you need my help, what exactly do you need me to do?"

During the waiting time, Cheng Xu had already made arrangements.

Let me first give you an overview of the current situation.

Cheng Xu took the initiative to walk in front of the holographic projection and explained the ins and outs of the fungal tide to Yu Kai in detail, concluding with:

"Given the current situation, we need your cooperation in conducting an experiment. Rest assured, it only requires you to show your face; there will be absolutely no danger."

Yu Kai's mind wasn't on this. He sighed and lowered his head, "Alas... I never imagined the cause of this anomaly would be like this. I'm ashamed; I haven't devoted enough energy to the children, which is why this happened."

Cheng Xu recalled the information he had found last night. The old man in front of him had stopped worrying about academic affairs many years ago. He was just holding the title of dean, and his work was mainly focused on scientific research.

A moment later, Yu Kai looked up at Cheng Xu: "How am I supposed to cooperate with the experiment you just mentioned?"

"The venue is ready, please follow me. We've temporarily borrowed a few empty rooms here as a laboratory."

As they walked out, Cheng Xu explained, "Yesterday we ventured deep into the anomalous field and brought back quite a few fungal samples."

As he spoke, he opened a door with a temporary sign that read "Observation Room".

The wall directly opposite the main entrance has been completely transformed into a single sheet of transparent glass, and on the other side of the glass, a number of staff members are busy around various bottles and jars.

"Although they are no longer in the anomalous field, the effects on these fungi have not completely subsided."

The fungi in the incubator were growing vigorously, densely covering all the culture media, and even showing a tendency to force open the incubator door.

"We consulted with professors in the School of Life Sciences about relevant precautions, preserved these fungi, and conducted preliminary cultivation."

Yu Kai's eyes were somewhat fixed:

"Is this Spirulina rotundi? The entire incubator is full of it?"

"Huh? That's a pulsar mushroom over there? It's so big!"

The rare space fungus species, which was originally extremely difficult to cultivate, was now growing like cabbages in the field, which was quite beyond Yu Kai's comprehension.

Cheng Xu's words interrupted Yu Kai's somewhat enthusiastic mutterings: "Dean Yu, we are preparing to conduct a control experiment, and we need your help."

Yu Kai snapped out of his reverie, a different meaning appearing in his eyes as he stared intently at Cheng Xu: "Control experiment? How do you plan to set up the variables?"

He looked into Cheng Xu's eyes, only to find the latter staring straight at him, and quickly realized what was going on.

"The variable is...me?"

Cheng Xu nodded.

Yu Kai paused for a few seconds, his trembling gaze gradually transforming into understanding and appreciation. He patted Cheng Xu on the shoulder and burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha...Good, good, as expected of students from Chengxing University, you have such broad thinking, you actually came up with such a method."

"You flatter me. Please follow my colleague next door to change into your protective suit."

Not long after, Yu Kai appeared in the room through the glass, with Fu Chen and Sun Yin guarding him on either side.

"Attention everyone, record the data!" Cheng Xu shouted.

In the other room, Kai saw a wide corridor with incubators neatly arranged on both sides.

As he stepped forward, a strange phenomenon occurred.

The fungi on both sides began to tremble violently, as if they had been drained of their energy, and the plump hyphae began to wither.

It was as if a special domain existed around Yu Kai's body, causing the originally vigorous mycelium to become sluggish. Every part of the mycelium seemed to be hollowed out, quickly dried up, broke off segment by segment, and turned into grayish-white dust on the culture medium.

Everyone watching in the observation room stared wide-eyed, except for Cheng Xu, who waved his arm.

"really!"

For the vast majority of rule-based anomalies, the Administration has summarized a pattern: "Rule-based anomalies need to be addressed by targeting the internal causes of the rule formation."

This experiment is a tentative exploration of the abnormal internal factors of fungi.

If the fungal abnormality is indeed caused by the accumulation of resentment among students over the generations, then from a legal perspective, its essence is a collection of unconscious emotions within the context of a student identity.

Who has a natural ability to suppress students? Teachers. As the dean of the college, Yu Kai is a high-ranking member of the "teacher" group.

As various fungi inside the glass room withered and died one after another, Cheng Xu finally fully verified his conjecture.

"The next step is to start from this breakthrough and completely dismantle the rules corresponding to fungal anomalies."

Cheng Xu's gaze was fixed on the old man inside the glass room. To completely crack the rules, he still had to rely on this old dean.

"Everyone, please continue monitoring the experimental data. After Dean Yu and Team Leaders Fu and Sun come out, please ask them to come to the conference room across the hall."

Cheng Xu left instructions and got up to leave.

-----------------

"Won't anything happen if he goes in alone?"

Inside the command center, Sun Yin paced back and forth, his gaze never leaving the holographic projection.

The projected image shows the main gate of the School of Life Sciences, where a fully armed man is preparing to enter the anomalous field.

"What's meant to be will be. From the perspective of resolving anomalies, his solution is still feasible. Don't worry."

Fu Chen glanced at his deputy and casually offered a word of comfort.

Only the members of the Blazing Fire team who were relatively close could see that their captain's forehead and the back of his neck were covered with fine beads of sweat.

The entire command center seemed to be shrouded in dark clouds, and the heavy air almost solidified.

There's only one reason why the entire Blazing Fire team is so anxious—the target they need to monitor and guard against is currently going to deal with the abnormal fungal tide all by himself.

Isn't this ridiculous?! What if it gets out of control?

Cheng Xu was unaware of his colleagues' complex and conflicted thoughts; he was currently in a state of tension and excitement.

Based on the detection data from the previous entry into the abnormal field and Cheng Xu's requirements, the logistics personnel made significant adjustments to the equipment, including but not limited to enhancing firepower and making targeted modifications.

The power of the arm-mounted flamethrower has been more than doubled, and the surging flames repelled the entangled mycelium.

The Type III standard protective suit is equipped with miniature devices throughout, which can release high-heat airflow to prevent mycelium from adhering to blind spots and affecting movement.

With the aid of upgraded equipment, Cheng Xu made his way to the fifth floor without any obstacles. He threw a few light stun grenades, easily clearing a path.

A moment later, Cheng Xu opened the silver-white metal door and saw the abnormal entity again, namely the BIO-470 standard incubator.

Seemingly sensing the arrival of the intruder, the environmental data such as temperature and humidity displayed on the virtual control panel in front of Cheng Xu began to change, and at the same time, a notification sound came to his ears: "Fungal life activity is beginning to increase."

Without delay, Cheng Xu immediately activated the pre-set device.

A beam of light shot out from his chest, expanding to his height in the blink of an eye. It was a miniature holographic projection device.

The pre-recorded projection screen appeared in the laboratory. The background of the screen was a conference room, with the leadership of the School of Life Sciences sitting around the conference table, with Dean Yu Kai at the head of the table.

On the projection, the old dean sat upright, holding documents, and read them aloud in standard interstellar language with a slight accent:

To all faculty and students of the School of Life Sciences, Chengxing University:

"The departmental system was revised as decided at the Fifth Major Conference of the New Star Calendar 6539."

"Starting today, students who are unable to complete their graduation thesis due to damage to experimental materials may apply for a maximum of three thesis extensions, with a maximum extension period of two years. During this period, they may reapply for experimental materials and research funding subsidies..."

"Any student experiencing difficulties with the practical aspects of academic writing can contact their advisor, and the college will arrange for one-on-one tutoring..."

"The department will establish a special research fund to publicly procure rare biological living materials from the outside world. Researchers who have research intentions and meet the requirements can submit project applications..."

"The college will be replacing the old experimental equipment soon..."

Cheng Xu noticed that from the moment Dean Yu Kai uttered the first word, a peculiar change occurred in the surrounding environment.

This change is not a fluctuation in conventional indicators such as temperature and humidity, nor is it a change in the abnormality itself that is visible to the naked eye; rather, it is a feeling that is hard to describe.

Immediately afterwards, the world in Cheng Xu's vision began to tremble violently, and invisible black energy swirled around the incubator of the abnormal entity, with one end of each black energy extending out of the laboratory.

As he looked at the black mist, countless images uncontrollably flashed through his mind—

[Upon opening the incubator door, I discovered that the bacteria I had painstakingly cultivated had simply died.]

[I can't write the paper because I lack material, and the research group meeting is the next day.]

[During the group meeting, I kept babbling "abba aba" while speaking, and I felt anxious because of the speed and completeness of others' presentations.]

The mentor, lacking understanding of details, only asks for results and constantly tells you to "try more" without offering any constructive advice or suggestions.

[After painstakingly piecing together data and writing a barely passable paper, it was rejected instantly, leaving me with no choice but to keep submitting to lower-ranked journals.]

Finally, a reviewer approved the manuscript but requested additional experiments, but the bacterial strain used in the experiments had all died.

Completely overwhelmed but helpless, unable to graduate due to not meeting the department's strict requirements, and the job I had secured was now gone.

"It's so miserable..."

Cheng Xu sighed inwardly. He knew that these images surfacing in his mind were the "resentment" that caused the abnormality.

Yu Kai's voice continued, and as the revised regulations were read out one by one, the black gas around the incubator began to twist and contract rapidly, forming a deep, rifting vortex centered on the abnormal entity.

As the old dean finished speaking, the projected light and shadow froze, condensing into the shape of a chip on Cheng Xu's chest.

Cheng Xu reached out and removed the chip, then quickly walked to the silver-white door and inserted it into the interface of the electronic bulletin board next to the door.

The next moment, a line of text appeared on the bulletin board: Notice on the release of the "Management Measures for Scientific Research Projects of the School of Life Sciences (Revised Edition)".

A bright red electronic seal appeared above the text, proving that the notice was effective immediately.

The moment the seal appeared, Cheng Xu heard a tearing, low hum in his ears, and the black energy that filled his vision disintegrated inch by inch, shrinking back into his body.

He seemed to have a clear understanding.

The black aura we see now represents the extended influence of the anomaly. Once its rules and mechanisms are broken, the anomaly's influence on the outside world will be difficult to maintain.

"Fungal activity drops sharply! Repeatedly, fungal activity drops sharply!"

An excited voice came through the headset. In the global monitoring view, the restless fungus that had been crawling all over the building was rapidly subsiding.

Cheng Xu took out the temporary containment device and walked towards the incubator.