Shrouded Seascape

The young woman remained unmoving. It was only when the military doctor persuaded her several times that she extended her shaky hands and built something using the lego blocks.

Ilov was aware of what the military doctor was doing. This was sandtray therapy, and it was an internationally famous therapy method widely used in psychotherapy and psychoeducation.

Since verbal communication was unnecessary, it allowed the patients, who often couldn't express their feelings and thoughts in words, to project their subconscious by creating something in the sand tray.

It was particularly useful for communicating with nonverbal patients.

While the freckled young woman was busy connecting the blocks, Ilov noticed the expensive camera on the bedside table. He walked over to it and the memory card slot only to find it empty. Ilov thoughtfully put the camera down.

"Mr. Ilov, please take a look," the military doctor remarked.

Ilov turned around and found that the freckled young woman had assembled a long column using dark red and red blocks. However, she wasn't done yet and was still adding more blocks on top of the ones underneath.

When branches appeared on top of the column, Ilov instantly recognized what she was building—she was constructing that towering flesh tree from his dream!

Agitated, Ilov rushed forward and grabbed the freckled young woman by the shoulders. He then started shaking her as he asked, "You saw that tree?! Where did you see it?! When?!"

Olivia grabbed her head in pain, and blood dripped down her nostrils.

Ilov saw that and released her. She saw that tree? That tree actually exists?

Ilov trembled upon recalling the overwhelming power of the flesh tree in his dream. The blood vessels on his temples pounded against his head like giant hammers, and his breathing became irregular to the point of making him feel suffocated.

Ilov used all his strength to pull his phone out of his pocket. Then, he dialed the first number in his contacts list.

"Hello? Jackal, what is it?" A tired feminine voice echoed from the other end of the line.

With veins bulging on his forehead, Ilov shouted, "Incident 422 is absolutely not as simple as a war between Level B Anomalies! Tell HQ that the threat level of his incident has reached the maximum level!

"This is capable of ending the world itself! Tell the higher-ups, NOW! The safety of mankind is at stake here!"

Ilov's desperate voice had frightened not only the woman on the other end of the line but everyone else nearby as well. A deafening silence instantly descended.

After exactly three seconds, the woman replied, "Do you even know what you're saying, Jackal? Do you understand the ramifications of your words?"

"I'm your senior in the IMF! Of course, I know the ramifications! NOW! Tell them now!" Ilov roared. Then, his face became extremely pale as he ended the call and turned to his subordinate. "Raj, tell everyone at the scene that they have to leave as quickly as possible!

"Everyone within fifty kilometers of ground zero is to evacuate!"

"Leader, why—"

"Go!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

The silence of daybreak at 5 a.m. was shattered by the panicked footsteps of the IMF staffers and the roaring of the car engines as they rushed out of the mountain to evacuate.

They had no idea why they had to evacuate, but it was an order from a superior, so they wasted no time and immediately obeyed.

Standing outside the cordon, Ilov bit his fingernails hard, and his eyes weren't blinking as he stared at the devastated mountain in the distance. The immense mental pressure made him feel like he was going crazy.

If the flesh tree from his dream existed and was truly that powerful, then humanity was about to face a trial that would decide its existence.

At this moment, Ilov felt like the distant mountain had become the stump of that towering flesh tree. He felt like if it wanted to do so, it could tear the earth apart and emerge from the stump.

"No, I can't take this anymore. I have to do something here. Raj, I'm going in for a look. I'll keep in touch by phone."

Ilov got into an off-road vehicle and shifted to top gear. He was like a firefighter charging into an inferno without any hesitation as he made a beeline for Incident 422's ground zero in the distance.

The devastated cave remained devastated. There were no changes at all, and there wasn't anything inside except for the equipment and items that the IMF had brought in with them.

However, in Ilov's eyes, the placid and serene cave was dangerous. The towering flesh tree could emerge from anywhere within it. Ilov remained extremely wary as he searched every inch of the cave for any traces of that flesh tree.

The freckled young woman saw the towering flesh tree as well, and it was enough proof that it existed. It wasn't just a product of Ilov's nightmare.

The sun rose slowly on the horizon, and the sunlight shooting down from above illuminated the cave, pervading it with its warmth, but Ilov felt no warmth at all.

In fact, he felt like the world around him had become even darker.

Ilov crawled on the ground, scouring every inch of land. For humanity's sake, he had to disregard even his own safety. Ilov spent the next two days searching for any clues. He dared not let the staffers get involved. Those newcomers had no experience dealing with something as dangerous as this.

The sun rose once more, signaling the third day of Ilov's search. He had thoroughly checked every inch of land in the cave except for the lake.

With a splash, Ilov jumped into the lake that had truly become a rotting meat soup.

This time, he finally discovered something.

He inadvertently pushed aside the meat paste that had rotted into a green flocculent clump of rot, and the sun rays landed just right, allowing Ilov to see something floating in the waters.

It looked like a tree branch—it was a branch made of flesh and blood. For some reason, Ilov knew at first glance that this tree branch was from that towering flesh tree.

Ilov's heart was beating wildly against his chest. Many days of hard work had finally paid off in spades; his hard work was all for the sake of this moment. HQ could probably find a way to face that towering flesh tree by examining its branch.

Regardless of its strength, any Anomaly could be defeated as long as it was observable! Ilov truly believed in that. He took off his coat and lifted the branch from underneath in an effort to lift it out of the water.

However, something unexpected happened just then. The tree branch—which was actually a tentacle—phased through the coat and remained in place.

The water dripping from the coat made the "tree branch" sway. It seemed that the "tree branch" wasn't a physical object but a reflection in the water.

Ilov anxiously looked left and right. Then, he found a one-meter-square clear plastic box. Ilov carried the box and jumped back into the lake. He then submerged it and carefully lifted it to contain the reflection in the water.

Ilov had no idea if it was going to work, but he had no other choice.

"Jackal! What are you doing?!" someone shouted anxiously.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ilov looked up to find someone standing by the lake. He had no idea when she got here, but he was relieved to see the face of his long-time colleague.

"Why did you come here by yourself? Quick, call in some people from the Anomaly Containment Team! This thing is probably going to be difficult to contain."

"There's an Anomaly? Where?"

"Are you blind? It's right here! It's inside this box, and it looks like a tree branch that is made out of flesh and blood!"

The woman by the lake cast a complex gaze at her colleague.

Ilov's bloodshot gaze was filled with this bizarre obsession, and his face was extremely haggard. His upper body was exposed, and it seemed like he had been soaking in the rotting meat soup for quite a while now because he looked more like a ravenous monster than a human being.

"But there's nothing in the box, Jackal… Are you... really okay?"