Chapter 284: Anantashesha and the City in the Mist

After undergoing the AA-class memory-cleansing procedure...

Megumi's condition significantly improved, and due to her unique physique, she soon showed signs of waking up.

Just as Megumi was about to open her eyes—

"Don't open your eyes. Take a W-class memory aid and wait here for me."

Haruto's voice pierced through the ocean and entered Megumi's ears.

Hearing this, Megumi didn't hesitate and stopped her attempt to open her eyes.

She had absolute trust in Haruto.

Even though the AA-class memory cleansing had wiped her memory of what happened, leaving her confused and unaware of the situation—

Since it was Haruto who spoke, Megumi would follow without question.

Inside her exoskeletal diving suit, she slipped out a hand, and while keeping her eyes shut, retrieved a W-class memory aid and swallowed it.

Seeing her take the aid, Haruto felt slightly more at ease.

Although Megumi hadn't directly looked at Anantashesha (SCP-3000)...

The cognitohazard emitted by Anantashesha still affected those nearby. While the extent of the contamination was unclear—

It was best to play it safe.

Releasing Megumi, Haruto moved closer toward Anantashesha.

The monstrous, almost incomprehensibly massive eel floated with patches of gray liquid drifting around its body.

Haruto extended a hand and initiated cellular differentiation to form a storage container.

He collected the gray liquid—

Planning to bring it back to the Foundation for analysis.

Once he finished collecting, he looked again at Anantashesha.

Its eerie color hadn't faded.

Under the gaze of the Root: Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Haruto saw a few death points scattered along the colossal eel's body.

There were no death lines—which said a lot.

The system rated Anantashesha at 5.9, meaning its conceptual existence was incredibly close to a supreme divine entity, making death lines difficult to manifest.

However, the presence of death points meant that it could still be killed.

But striking those points might also impact the main world.

In the end, Haruto chose not to attack.

Disengaging the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—

He placed his hand on the massive eel's body.

Soon, black feathers spread over it, encircling the creature's enormous form. The feathers began to transform, absorbing seawater and growing heavier.

The mass of black feathers rapidly increased in weight.

Eventually, the creature began to sink.

Haruto nodded.

Good. As long as it reacts.

His plan was to sink this thing to the ocean floor.

So long as Earth's underwater exploration tech didn't drastically evolve in the near future—

No one would find the eel.

Of course, this was only a test.

To truly submerge it, Haruto would need to install immense weights every kilometer along the eel's length.

It would take him a long time alone.

Once the method was figured out, the Foundation could handle the task, sending D-class personnel to execute it.

Haruto prepared to leave and bring Megumi back.

Just then, Anantashesha opened its eyes.

They were murky gray and pupil-less—completely clouded.

Just as Haruto had guessed, the moment Anantashesha opened its eyes, the surrounding waters—spanning several nautical miles—were flooded with the same grayish-white light.

The creature stared directly at Haruto, but after a few seconds, it closed its eyes again.

It didn't resist its own descent.

Seeing this, Haruto frowned.

It wasn't surprising that Anantashesha was alive.

What puzzled him was why it opened its eyes—and why it closed them again.

Shaking his head, he took the collected gray liquid and Megumi back to the submarine.

He then documented the anomaly and uploaded the information—

And sent out a mission labeled "Sinking Anantashesha" to the Pacific regional Foundation sites.

The mission was designated for D-class execution only, with permission to use W-class memory aids.

Later, the gray liquid was handed over to the Foundation researchers.

Megumi finally opened her eyes aboard the submarine.

Haruto asked her a few questions to confirm her cognitive state.

Thankfully, after the AA memory cleansing and the W-class aid, her cognition was intact and unaffected.

Haruto didn't rush back immediately—

Instead, he ordered extra personnel to search for lost ships in the area, carefully avoiding Anantashesha.

Although public attention had been diverted elsewhere—

If any ships or survivors could be found, it would still be worthwhile.

Soon, reports came back.

First, regarding the gray liquid collected near Anantashesha—

Research found it to be a completely new chemical compound, almost impossible to synthesize artificially.

It acted as a powerful hallucinogenic anesthetic.

Inhalation or skin contact caused confusion, panic, and memory alterations.

The Foundation found records of a similar substance—

From within the O Death (SCP-2935).

In that world, where Haruto didn't exist, the Foundation used derivatives of this substance extensively.

Specifically—

In memory-cleansing procedures.

The compound was labeled Y-909.

It was an indispensable ingredient in chemical memory deletion, especially for the Foundation's Memory Type 357.

And—Y-909 could not be artificially synthesized.

This left Haruto in silent contemplation.

If Y-909 couldn't be manufactured, then it might only be harvested from Anantashesha.

Memory-cleansing was vital to the Foundation.

However...

After collecting the surrounding Y-909, Haruto noticed that no new substance was being produced.

Did Anantashesha secrete Y-909 periodically?

Or did some specific condition need to be met?

The answer came soon.

A team of D-class operatives assigned to the "Sinking Anantashesha" mission wore X-ray scanners for experimentation.

As they approached Anantashesha—before losing their minds—

They X-rayed its body.

What they saw destroyed their cognition.

Anantashesha's body was filled entirely with human corpses. Near its head were the remains of lost ship crews.

As the D-class approached the head—

Anantashesha opened its eyes and looked at them.

Then—

It opened its mouth.

It ate the D-class personnel, swallowing them whole.

The D-class died instantly.

And then—

One thing happened. Another did not.

What happened was:

While consuming the human, Anantashesha secreted Y-909.

What didn't happen:

The D-class personnel were not digested.

Instead, like trash, they joined the mass of human remains in its belly.

Thus, some things became clear:

Anantashesha only secretes Y-909 when feeding.

Y-909 is essential for the Foundation's memory-deletion experiments.

If no alternative memory-cleansing method is available, the Foundation will need a stable source of Y-909—

Which means feeding humans—D-class—to Anantashesha.

Yet, those humans are never digested.

Something else happens:

Their consciousness is broken down.

What we believe to be the soul is shredded—

Until only the core remains:

Fleeting electronic signals, destined to vanish one day.

Additionally, multiple cognitively compromised D-class insisted the eel was the end of the world—

The harbinger of death.

This belief had some merit.

After all, despite a hundred kinds of faith, athousand ideals, and ten thousand divine hopes—

The truth is, our end is to be forgotten.

But not today.

The affected D-class were sacrificed to Anantashesha.

Y-909 was harvested.

However, the Foundation would not intentionally feed D-class to the creature.

Other memory-cleansing methods existed.

The "Sinking Anantashesha" project was efficiently and stably executed.

And for a long time to come—

We will not see the eel that symbolizes the end.

At the same time, during the search for missing ships and crew—

The Foundation discovered a massive island shrouded in mist in the middle of the Pacific. Upon it stood a city of unknown origin.

Some lost ships appeared to have drifted there—

Or perhaps—

Been rescued there.