Tony Stark: That's not necessarily a relief. If Torment Sloth shows up somewhere without internet or media, does that mean it can't spread?
Bruce Banner: I asked Cain about it—he doesn't know how to cure victims of Torment Sloth, but he did say that without the internet or video media, the entity would have to rely on printed books or photographs to spread.
Bruce Wayne: That was already mentioned in the video.
Daigo: There was so much info, I kinda forgot...
Natasha: That would definitely weaken its transmission and impact. Fewer victims.
Bruce Wayne: Still, we can't let our guard down. If it shows up in a highly populated region with no early warning, it could still be a disaster.
Jiraiya: If it appeared in a world like ours—with no internet or TV—wouldn't that mean we'd have to manually inspect every book and photograph to stop it?
Garp: That'd take a ridiculous number of people! Way too troublesome!
Dorami: Yeah! If it were on the internet, we could just scan using software. But offline? That's way harder!
Tony Stark: Damn, I was focused on digital surveillance and completely forgot about physical media. Offline surveillance is ten times more difficult!
Nick Fury: Even if I mobilized every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, it wouldn't be enough. We'd need worldwide cooperation—every government.
Feng Yuan: Wouldn't that trigger mass panic?
Dan Moroboshi: Very likely.
Seiji: That would put our world at a huge disadvantage. Even if the twelve Gold Saints patrolled at the speed of light, we wouldn't be able to keep up.
Manigold: At that point, we'd have to forget about doing anything else!
[Now predicting where Torment Sloth will appear next.]
As the screen made the announcement, everyone held their breath.
Torment Sloth wasn't a physical entity.
It was an unpredictable memetic information stream. No one knew how it picked its medium or location.
Unlike other SCPs, it couldn't be fought physically—it had to be intercepted through its means of spread.
Online tracking was one thing. But offline? That would require a massive, global-scale operation.
Way harder than dealing with previous anomalies.
Beings like the Weeping Mask, Shy Guy, Carnivorous Ivy, Kayako, and Sadako were terrifying—but at least they could be countered with direct force or specialized tactics.
Torment Sloth's strength wasn't in combat—it was in how nearly impossible it was to contain.
Now, they finally understood why the Foundation resorted to executing victims.
With the global population in the billions, even a small percentage infected would be overwhelming. And with no cure... how do you manage that?
So everyone stared at the screen, dreading the possibility that this mess might fall on them.
[Next location: Dragon Ball Universe.]
The moment that line dropped, most sighed in relief.
Nick Fury: Thank God, it's not ours.
Dan Moroboshi: Yeah, that's a relief.
Yamcha: The hell it is! Why our universe?! Please tell me it's not Earth!
Right after Yamcha shouted, the screen displayed an image—Earth from the Dragon Ball universe.
Yamcha: AAAHHH!! WHY IS IT REALLY US!?
Goku: Calm down, Yamcha! That Torment Sloth thing didn't seem that strong, right?
Yamcha: Goku, were you even paying attention?! The issue isn't its power—it tortures people nonstop! It's like being stuck in a never-ending nightmare! You can't punch your way out of that!
Yamcha: And worst of all, how do we stop it from spreading? How do we keep it from hurting more people!?
Goku: Huh… I guess you're right. That does sound tricky. I don't know anything about this stuff…
Goku scratched his head awkwardly.
He had no problem fighting powerful foes, but an invisible memetic entity that spreads through images and doesn't even have a body? That was way out of his league.
Piccolo: Not even Shenron could fix the last few anomalies. I doubt he could help now. If things get worse, we might have no choice but to kill the infected and revive them later.
Gohan: That's not a real solution! We can't just keep killing and reviving people!
Piccolo: True. Besides, the Dragon Balls can only be used once a year.
Bruce Wayne: Do you have any tech experts in your world? Someone who can develop a program to scan all media for images of Torment Sloth? Start by monitoring digital exposure first—then work on tackling physical media.
Yamcha: We do! Bulma! I'll go get her right now.
Yamcha and Chiaotzu immediately flew off to find Bulma and briefed her on the situation.
After hearing the explanation, Bulma was stunned.
"A memetic… info-entity? What the heck is this? What kind of creature even is this?! Is this another one of those SCPs you mentioned before?!"
Yamcha nodded. "Exactly. That's why we need your help. Can you make something to monitor all online platforms—any site or app—and instantly delete any image of Torment Sloth?"
"That would take tons of access. We're talking about hacking, Yamcha. If I get caught, things could get ugly."
Bulma sighed… but then flashed a mischievous grin.
"But it does sound kinda fun. Alright, I'll give it a shot. Do you at least have a reference image for this Torment Sloth thing?"
"Of course! I drew one!" Yamcha said proudly, pulling out his sketch.
It was… unrecognizable. A bizarre doodle that looked nothing like the image shown on the screen.
Bulma stared in disbelief.
"This… is supposed to be a sloth?"
"…Better use mine," Chiaotzu said with a sigh, handing over his drawing.
Chiaotzu's image was nearly identical to the one shown on the broadcast.
"Now that's useful," Bulma said, shooting Yamcha a glare before taking Chiaotzu's image.
"So this is Torment Sloth, huh? Gross."
She immediately got to work on her computer.
"I'll try to develop the detection software in a day and hack into all major networks and platforms. You guys figure out what to do about offline materials."
With that, Bulma entered her full-focus work mode.
Yamcha and Chiaotzu left her lab without further interruption—they had to start thinking about how to stop offline spread.
(End of Chapter)
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