While Site-15 was thrown into chaos, Luo Shu—still in an unobservable state—had already taken Anomalous Item-079 and sped away from Silicon Valley in his vehicle.
He had abandoned the other anomalous items in Site-15 for two reasons: first, he didn't care about them, and second, he didn't have the time.
As Site-15's most critical anomalous item, Anomalous Item-079 was now in his hands. Compared to that, the others were expendable—nuking the site outright was far more efficient.
Luo Shu had locked down Site-15 for most of the day. Even though the host AI had been responding to external communications, suspicions would inevitably arise.
For over a dozen hours, not a single person had entered or exited Site-15.
Though the host AI had publicly declared a system malfunction and ongoing emergency repairs, the higher-ups were already on high alert.
Once this reached His ears, that old bastard's paranoid tendencies would immediately point the finger at Luo Shu—and then the hunt would begin.
Under these circumstances, spending days meticulously clearing Site-15 would be pure idiocy.
Besides, ever since being marked by the Memetic Longinus, Luo Shu could only spend one hour per day in populated areas. The moment his Unobservable Anti-Meme state wore off, mass gatherings would erupt around him.
This forced him to change tactics—adopting a far more efficient method of cataloging anomalous items.
Secure the critical ones. Blow up the rest.
If the Foundation wanted to paint him as a terrorist across the New World, then fine—he'd be a terrorist.
Let Him learn what it meant to have nothing left to lose.
Just as the transforming pickup truck-turned-Gundam entered the San Francisco Bay Area, shifting into a ground-effect vehicle for takeoff, a muffled explosion echoed from Silicon Valley. The distant rumble of collapsing buildings followed.
Simultaneously, the nuclear blast's shockwave sent a three-meter-high tidal surge crashing through the bay, nearly capsizing several small yachts docked nearby.
Damn, the Foundation really doesn't hold back, huh?
They'd buried a not-insignificant nuke beneath Site-15.
Luo Shu glanced at Anomalous Item-079 in the passenger seat. Probably meant for this guy.
At that moment, the Anomalous Item Catalog suddenly added nearly twenty new pages—clearly logging the items just executed by the nuclear blast.
[Page: 177]
[Item Number: Anomalous Item-719]
[Item Name: Lightbringer]
[Item Class: Safe]
...
[Page: 193]
[Item Number: Anomalous Item-896]
[Item Name: Online Role-Playing Game]
[Item Class: Safe]
Luo Shu skimmed through them quickly, confirming none had abilities he needed.
Then he flipped back to the catalog's title page, his gaze settling on the final milestone.
[Milestone Name: Anomaly Slayer]
[Milestone Level: 2]
[Milestone Effects:]
1. You exude an aura that terrifies sentient anomalous items.
2. You inherit one known ability from each anomaly you execute (once per day).
3. When you decide to execute a sentient anomalous item, it immediately undergoes a willpower-based instant death check. If its willpower is less than 50% of yours, it dies from mental shock.
Seeing Effect 3, Luo Shu's eyes widened.
An ability to kill sentient anomalies with a glance!
He instinctively turned to look at Anomalous Item-079, barely suppressing the urge to test it out.
If he accidentally one-shot the Old AI, today's efforts would be wasted.
The Old AI remained blissfully unaware it had just brushed shoulders with death.
While it lacked a "mind" in the traditional sense, mental energy was still a form of energy—projecting it outward was akin to an electromagnetic wave.
With Luo Shu's overwhelming mental power, unleashing it against a computer would be like a high-powered EMP blast.
If directed at the Cray supercomputer housing the Old AI, it would fry every circuit instantly—leaving it nowhere to hide.
As Site-15 was erased from the Foundation's map by nuclear fire, Luo Shu's pickup-turned-Gundam-turned-ground-effect vehicle circled the San Francisco Bay before soaring into the Pacific.
Next, he'd skirt half the New World's coastline to return to Anomalous Item-100 and secure Anomalous Item-079.
This thing didn't need to be carried around—just hook it up to a high-performance supercomputer with internet access, and it could wreak havoc globally.
Ideally, Luo Shu wanted the Old AI to locate the Foundation's headquarters, Site-01, and seize control of its supercomputers.
That was why he'd gone through the trouble of flying thousands of miles to retrieve Anomalous Item-079.
Once the Foundation's primary servers at Site-01 were compromised, His control over the organization would be weaker than Luo Shu's.
Then, he could walk into any site he pleased, catalog any item he wanted.
The entire Foundation would be his for the taking!
After another dozen hours of flight, Luo Shu returned to Anomalous Item-100. Only four and a half days had passed since Jianjia lost consciousness—and just five since the Eiffel Tower massacre in Paris. Yet in that time, he'd already obliterated two of the Foundation's oldest, highest-priority sites.
His reaction went without saying—he was probably fuming.
At this point, the rest of the Foundation couldn't possibly ignore the anomalies unfolding around them. The entire organization was on edge.
Especially the older sites in the New World—after Site-17 and Site-15 were both nuked, fear ran deep.
Sites like Site-19 had tightened security to extremes, installing state-of-the-art surveillance at every entrance. Not even a fly could slip through unnoticed.
Meanwhile, the O5 Council had convened an emergency meeting.
"This has to be that Luo Shu guy's doing!"
"Obviously! Who else could waltz in and out of our sites undetected?"
"How do we deal with him?"
*"How? We've already issued a global manhunt! Nuked Site-CN-06! Nuked that grassland town in China! Nuked the ruins of Site-167 in Cuba! Assassinated Jovenel Moïse! The Eiffel Tower massacre! What more can we even do?"*
"Ahem. Mind your tone. You seem… dissatisfied with someone."
"Damn right I am! With everything falling apart, The Administrator won't even show his face—just puppeteers us through a damn phone!"
"He's right. The Administrator should be here. This is a matter of the Foundation's survival!"
"Let's not exaggerate. Everyone, calm down. The Administrator has his reasons—he's stationed at a critical site and can't leave."
"Then at least let him join by conference call! Silence isn't an option!"
*"Exactly! Back when Luo Shu was with us—whether at Site-19 or Area-14—he did solid work. If The Administrator hadn't forced him into the enemy's camp, would we even be in this mess?"*
"That's not fair. The Administrator built the Foundation. He cares more about this organization than any of us! He wouldn't make mistakes!"
"Oh really? So we just keep playing puppets and do nothing? Fine. I'll sit back and wait for Luo Shu to nuke Site-01 then!"