After dealing with the annoying rum bottle, the rest of the work became much easier.
In the undisturbed depths of Level -3, Luo Shu soon detected another anomaly in the final unit—one that had narrowly escaped the bottle's destruction.
The door bore a cork-sized hole, the result of relentless bombardment. Luo Shu widened it with a push, his fingers piercing the rusted metal like old paper windows, but the opening was still too small.
Enter the Pickup Truck Transformer.
With its brake-disc saw blades, it carved through the door, revealing yet another Foundation-standard safe—this one remarkably intact, its interior still dry despite decades underwater.
Inside pulsed a cognitohazard.
Luo Shu smirked.
Cognitohazards were his specialty.
Weakened by Anomaly Resistance (Tier 2) and his own mental fortitude, such anomalies posed little threat.
Take the Vellum of Eternal Life—so fragile, he'd ripped it apart without a second thought.
What's a "7-second heart-stop curse" to someone who's already destroyed you?
Try "instant death" like SCP-053's touch. Now that's a threat.
Records indicated this unit once held a Voodoo doll—another relic of the weaker, niche Voodoo tradition, far eclipsed by the Abrahamic might of "The God."
To prevent seawater damage, Luo Shu decided to haul the safe to Level -2 before opening it.
Weight?
Negligible underwater.
With the truck's bed as his pack mule, he ascended.
Rest & Revelation
At Level -2's stairwell, Luo Shu shed his ice-cold wetsuit, devouring rations while the truck grinded open the safe.
Meanwhile, he checked the Anomaly Compendium's title page.
The Namer Milestone had leveled up.
Finally.
(Author's Note: Let's pretend I didn't forget this earlier. Blame the "higher narrative.")
[Milestone: The Namer]
Level: 2
Effects:
Anomaly Nullification: Named anomalies cannot activate in your presence.
Ability Activation: Once daily, you may trigger a named anomaly's ability.
In the Name of the Father: Named anomalies become your consciousness vessels.
Consciousness vessels?
Now we're talking.
Testing it, Luo Shu linked his mind to "The Stubborn Six"—his first named anomaly—viewing Area-14's containment through the die's perspective.
Inside its gyro-stabilized case, the die lay dormant amid the clatter of automated rollers churning out backup copies.
Then—it moved.
A single, deliberate roll.
Chaos erupted.
This... this was power.
Plant enough "named" anomalies across Foundation sites, and he'd have eyes everywhere.
A grin spread. "In the Name of the Father."
The Voodoo Doll
Returning to reality, Luo Shu found the truck holding the doll, frozen mid-motion.
Cognitohazard?
Meet your worst matchup: silicon-based life.
The doll's presence was slimy, invasive—a black shadow slithering into his mind.
Luo Shu focused inward.
There, in his mental space, coiled a serpentine darkness, hissing with malice.