Chapter Nineteen: The Cake Shop on West Street

Chen Ye quickened his pace, his stride long and purposeful. Though his movement did not appear hurried, he moved with a ghostly swiftness, soon arriving at the entrance of Xining Alley. Following the sidewalk along Longhua Avenue, he headed west, crossing a pedestrian street and a road to reach the West River.

It was early morning, and foot traffic was sparse, with only a few local residents out for a stroll. Chen Ye activated his Eyes of Fortune. Most of the residents were shrouded in a faint white mist, symbolizing their mundane existence. A few, however, carried different auras—some black, others blood-red. Encountering such auras was a sign to keep one's distance. He noticed that the residents with white, black, or blood-red auras mostly had vacant gazes and moved with the stiff, puppet-like rigidity of entities devoid of life, as if merely reenacting the behaviors of normal people. Yet, the old man playing the erhu and the old woman selling chestnuts had displayed qualities indistinguishable from living humans.

Chen Ye frowned. These anomalies suggested that the city’s design was far from simple; it was likely a high-difficulty instance. Consequently, some of the rules he had gathered during the closed beta might not apply here. "I need to acquire more intelligence," he thought.

He kept his Eyes of Fortune active, maintaining a safe distance from residents whose auras were black or blood-red. Although he no longer drew aggro through his gaze—having swapped that for the suona’s provocation—he knew better than to invite trouble. Still, he remained vigilant. If he were to encounter another chestnut-selling grandmother, he might not be able to handle it.

Before long, Chen Ye reached West Street. The main thoroughfare of this pedestrian zone was paved with marble, and the shops on either side were decorated with high-end, opulent materials. Before the blood-red countdown began, this had been the busiest street in Linjiang City. Even now, during the quiet of early morning, a few scattered figures could be seen.

Suddenly, Chen Ye spotted several figures slinking stealthily along the green belt on the left side of the street. Squinting, he saw that their auras were pitch black. At the center of these auras lay a void, a collapsing, downward-spiraling vortex that seemed to be plummeting into an endless abyss, from which there was no escape. He watched closely as they crawled toward a cake shop about a hundred meters away.

The shop, located at a street corner, featured glass display windows on two sides. Exquisite, mouth-watering cakes were arranged inside, looking incredibly tempting. Yet, the shop appeared completely empty of staff, bathed in warm, inviting light—seemingly unguarded.

The figures reached the entrance, exchanged glances, and pushed their way in. They were trained and nimble; their hands darted toward the cakes nearest the door. One stood guard while the others grabbed the pastries, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

Suddenly, the lights inside the shop went out, and the glass windows were instantly shrouded in thick black mist. Despite the morning hour, the interior plunged into total darkness, obscuring everything from view. The young man at the door froze, his face contorting in a mask of extreme terror and madness. His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the floor. The next second, he scrambled to crawl out, his mouth agape as he emitted a shrill, panicked cry.

Before the sound could fully escape, a tentacle formed of black mist surged from the shop, enveloping him. Weird black veins crawled across his face, and his terrified eyes reflected pure despair. He struggled to scream for help, but his voice was choked off. The tentacle dragged him back into the shop like a carcass.

*Bang!* The door slammed shut, and a faint, gruesome chewing sound echoed from within. *Crunch! Crunch!*

A minute later, the black mist on the windows faded, and the warm lights returned. The shop was no longer empty. Three young men with stiff expressions and hollow eyes stood at the entrance. They were the ones who had attempted the theft, but they were now dressed in uniform white shirts and black ties. Their auras no longer had color; they were voids. Then, a pitch-black, ink-like darkness slowly replaced the void. In the center, a blood-red, monstrous eye bulged out, pulsing with life, as if a new creature were gestating within.

"This cake shop must be a game instance," Chen Ye mused. Observing it with his Eyes of Fortune, he saw the shop was swathed in dense, blood-red light. While other shops on the street were similar, only this one was saturated with such malevolence.

It was clear: the three who had entered were likely novice players. They had probably met on a forum, coordinated offline, and formed a small team to survive. Seeing the shop unattended, they had assumed that if they were fast enough, they could steal the cakes. But these shops were the most dangerous places of all. Only powerful anomalies could own property; it was their domain.

In the "Era of Anomalies," residents who owned property could write their own rules within their domains. The more powerful the entity, the more complex the rules. Violating them meant certain doom, even for those with higher anomaly values—let alone these three helpless novices.

Chen Ye shook his head, keeping his Eyes of Fortune active to watch for danger and maintaining his distance from the black and blood-red auras. Moving along the path shrouded in faint white mist, he encountered no further dangers. Though he lacked the ability to draw aggro with his gaze, he kept his head low, limiting his field of vision to avoid seeing things he shouldn't. Sometimes, even without the "Gaze of Poverty," catching a glimpse of the wrong existence was enough to trigger a catastrophe.

Checking his blood-red phone periodically for information from forums and public channels, he soon found the West River before him. At the entrance to West River Park, two men in security uniforms stood guard. They had strange, fish-like scales on their faces and golden slit pupils, their expressions solemn and stern. As Chen Ye approached, one of the men turned and slowly extended a finger.

"Pass..."

"One coin!"