Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 456 - 73: Containment Object 549
... ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ต.๐ฌ๐ธ๐
Dubhe Tower, Containment Area One.
Sun Hang and Yuri were about to head to the containment chamber of B423 when a researcher, looking flustered, rushed over and whispered something into Yuri's ear.
Yuri immediately furrowed his brow, his expression turning quite grim, and he asked in a deep voice, "Really no traces at all?"
The researcher nodded: "No signs of the containment equipment being opened, all seals, locks, and sealing fluids are intact."
"What's going on?" Sun Hang interjected, "What happened? Why do you all look so tense?"
"Item 549 in Containment Area Two vanished into thin air," Yuri said without intending to hide anything from Sun Hang.
"Breach containment?" Sun Hang asked.
This term was one he often heard, yet he had never truly encountered a breach containment event before.
Oh, no... Perhaps there was one time, the incident at Nameless Island Research Institute... Back then, Sun Hang thought "Anna" had died, but unexpectedly, she had actually broken free from the shackles of the containment equipment and regained freedom.
Or rather, that withered flesh was meant to imprison her body.
"It's not yet certain if it is a breach," Yuri shook his head, "because neither the containment equipment nor the containment chamber shows any signs of being opened, and the surveillance footage didn't capture the containment item escaping..."
Yuri paused briefly here, perhaps recalling the "TV incident," making even him doubt the credibility of surveillance footage, but after half a second, he continued: "The surveillance footage from channels throughout the containment area shows everything as normal, and except for the incident at Containment Room 549, no other alarm devices were triggered... Most crucially, the item 549 does not possess special abilities like concealment or traversing through solid matter... From all the available information, it's as if it self-degraded within the containment equipment..."
"Did the camera capture the process of this mysterious creature disappearing?" Sun Hang asked.
The researcher who brought the news shook his head: "The signal from the camera monitoring the target inside the containment equipment was interrupted for 0.5 seconds, and after the signal was restored, the target was gone... At the same time, all instruments monitoring the target's readings also fell to zero..."
"Well, it clearly escaped..." Sun Hang said, "Unless it knew I was coming to pick ingredients, fearing I'd choose it, and decided to flee this place โ we can't rule out that some mysterious creatures are tired of the outside world's conflicts and want to spend their twilight years in the Dubhe Tower containment area. But now you're telling them, this isn't a retirement home; it's a storage warehouse for some guy named Sun Hang's ingredients... No wonder they'd run away!"
"But, but... except for the monitoring camera inside the containment equipment, all other surveillance cameras did not malfunction..."
Seemingly feeling that mere words were insufficient, the researcher directly pulled a platform from the big pocket of his lab coat and played the internal surveillance footage of Containment Room 549 at the moment of the "mysterious disappearance."
It was a five-meter-square room, inside which sat a one-meter-square black metal box... One second it was silent, the next, a red warning light on one corner of the box suddenly started flashing, and the shrill alarm began to reverberate through the room.
"By the time the alarm sounded, Item 549 had already disappeared." The researcher stated.
"Why use a black box? If you used a transparent box, wouldn't you be able to see the entire process of its disappearance?" Sun Hang asked.
"Item 549 is extremely sensitive to light, becoming highly agitated upon seeing any light source, so it's imperative to maintain an absolutely dark containment environment," Yuri explained, "Also, considering the malfunction of the camera inside the containment equipment, even if we used transparent containment equipment, the surveillance camera inside the containment room would probably 'malfunction' too."
"Tsk, your brain is working quite fast this time..." Sun Hang praised, "Speaking of which, what is Item 549? A monster?"
"It's a completely anomalized female infected," Yuri said.
"A Mysterious Creature Hunter?"
"No... not a hunter." Yuri shook his head, "Although this infected individual had a stable infection process and was quite lucid initially, she refused to become a hunter after communication and chose to live a 'normal' life within a designated living area by the local Mysterious Creature Research Institute under strict surveillance."
"Then how did she become completely anomalized? Without using abilities, the progression of the infection should be very slow, right?"
"Not necessarily, the progression of the infection is entirely irregular and varies from person to personโฆ Using abilities, secondary infection, bodily trauma, medication use, a woman's menstrual cycle, lifestyle and dietโฆ even mood swings can be triggers for changes in the infection progression," Yuri explained, "Item 549's infection process suddenly accelerated in the sixteenth month after being confirmed as infected while reading a classical novel at her residence. By the time the field agents and investigators arrived, she had already lost self-awareness... The accompanying researchers immediately assessed her as non-salvageable and, after a simple procedure, she was sent here."
