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nChapter 3

nEven in the daytime, the office was lit with a miserable white light.

nPartition after partition divided most of the office into small boxes. In the middle of each box, there was an unconnected desktop computer and a telephone. Everyone was busy and walking around. Some were typing, some were on the phone, and some were exchanging documents. Lu Xin’s workstation was in the very middle, with a “Best Employee” reward banner hanging on the partition.

nThe morning’s busy work had been dealt with. Lu Xin straightened up and pinched his temples.

nStaying in this environment for a long time, one would always feel depressed and stuffy. Not to mention there were always so many tedious things to deal with.

n“Are you busy now, Brother Lu?”

nA voice sounded beside Lu Xin. He looked up and found that it was the new young man in the office, Lv Cheng. He was well dressed, had short hair, and a sunny temperament. But at this time, he frowned as he said, “The director arranged for me to organize this batch of documents. I’ve sorted it out, but I can’t seem to get it right. The time is almost up. Brother Lu, can you… can you teach me?”

n“Sure.”

nLu Xin smiled and agreed to help. “I happen to have nothing to do now.”

n“Thank you, Brother Lu. You’re really nice!”

nThe energetic chap’s expression was grateful as he rushed beside Lu Xin’s desk. One taught while the other learned.

nMany discontented gazes were cast at them from the surrounding partitions, and a few extremely soft whispers were heard.

n“His own work is already tiring enough, yet he still has to teach others.”

n“We all have the same job. There’s no need to be afraid of getting kicked out after we’ve taught others how to do things properly.”

n“…”

nUnder many people’s unhappy gazes, Lu Xin helped Lv Cheng arrange the documents and waved as he thanked him.

nAlthough everyone was nervous in this oppressive office atmosphere, Lu Xin had always had his own principles of doing things. When he was able to give others a hand, he would do so. The Red Moon incident had made a change in the world, but one still had to have the character of a human being.

n“Lu Xin, come here for a moment, the director called you!”

nSomeone called out from afar.

n“Coming!”

nLu Xin put down his coffee, got up, and walked towards the director’s office. There, he saw the director, who was so fat that his cheeks were hanging down on both sides. On the sofa opposite sat a short-haired woman wearing sunglasses and a decent suit.

n“Little Lu, here’s a document. Help me deliver it to the corner cafe on Qingjiang Road now!”

nThe director was concise and pointed to the file bag on the table.

nDelivering documents was the administration team or miscellaneous affairs team’s job. It wasn’t part of his job scope.

nBut Lu Xin didn’t refuse. “Ok.”

nThen, he picked up the documents, nodded to the director and the short-haired woman on the sofa, and walked out.

nAs soon as he left the room, the director immediately smiled and attentively said to the short-haired woman, “Team Leader Chen, it’s done. Don’t worry, I won’t ask or think much about it. But that project you just told me about…”

n“Please rest assured, this project won’t be given to you!”

nThe short-haired woman stood up, pulled down her sunglasses, and spoke gently.

nThe director froze for a moment, thinking he had heard wrong. Just then, he saw the woman’s pupils.

nHer pupils looked like they were spinning, faintly glowing red, and seemed to turn into two red moons.

n“Forget about me. Also, forget about arranging for him to do anything!”

nThe short-haired woman whispered softly. Then, she put on her sunglasses and turned to leave.

nThe director fell into a moment of confusion. Then, after a few seconds, he sobered up as if nothing had happened and went on with his business.

n…

nLu Xin grabbed a handrail in a carriage of the high-speed rail while feeling drowsy. The place he boarded the high-speed rail was near the starting station, and there were still seats available. But he saw a pregnant lady board and gave his seat up to her. He then remained standing for thirty minutes.

nThe lights in the carriage flickered slightly, and Sister, holding a patched-up bear in her arms, crawled over along the roof.

nShe hung upside down in front of Lu Xin, swaying like she was on a swing.

nLu Xin stared fixedly, pretending to be admiring the beautiful legs of a girl in hot pants at the side.

nSister played by herself even more happily. She swayed more and more violently, and a faint sound of distortion appeared in the carriage.

nFortunately, the train was moving very fast and swaying, so the distortion sound was masked.

n“Brother, Brother, look, that fat man is so silly…”

nSister suddenly pointed at a fat man standing and sleeping not far away drooling and smiled at Lu Xin.

n“Don’t talk to me…”

nForcing himself to concentrate on looking at the legs of the beautiful woman, Lu Xin squeezed between his teeth.

n“I can’t look at you outside, let alone talk to you. I’ll be treated like a psycho…”

n“Tsk, no fun!”

nSister deliberately provoked Lu Xin. But, seeing he didn’t fall for it, she felt a little bored.

n“Then, take care of yourself. There’s something wrong with the place you’re going to!”

nAs she spoke, not waiting for Lu Xin to ask further, she “giggled” and fiercely ran forward along the carriage. Passing by the fat man sleeping while standing, she suddenly pinched the fat man’s face and then disappeared into the distance.

nThe fat man woke up with a start and shouted, “Who touched me?”

nPeople around him looked at him oddly as there was no one around him in a one-meter radius.

nLu Xin joined the crowd of onlookers, looking at the fat man as though he was nuts.

n…

nWhen he got out of the train, Lu Xin found that the place was close to the outer wall.

nThe buildings here had become somewhat dilapidated. One could see that the walls were more than ten meters high, casting a deep shadow on the buildings. Although thirty years had passed and those wandering lunatics outside the city had been mostly cleaned up, the people living in the city still didn’t dare to be careless. The focus of municipal work every year was to continue to strengthen and repair these tall walls.

nWhen he arrived at the corner cafe, he found that the environment here was dark.

nThe old buildings and bungalows around it seemed empty, and no one could be seen.

nThere was a lot of garbage in front of the door like it was blown there by the wind, and he didn’t know for how long it hadn’t been cleaned.

nAs he approached the place, he felt depressed for some reason.

nLu Xin subconsciously didn’t like this place, but he had promised the director, so he still walked in.

n…

n“The thirteenth observed has entered the target area!”

nOn a high building not far from there, more than a dozen observers were present. A variety of instruments had been set up. Around the high building, loaded guns and heavily armed warriors were hidden in the shadows nervously guarding against everything in the surroundings.

nThe short-haired woman was also among the office staff, holding a document with the following black lettering:

n“Target codename: Corner Cafe.

n“Purpose of the operation: detect the potential and specific abilities of the thirteenth observed to become a Psyche Master.

n“Potential risk: The cafe has been confirmed as a Level 1 Psyche Corruption Zone.

n“Specific manifestations are:

n“People who are close to the cafe will be involuntarily drawn into it.

n“People who have entered the cafe will die within three to five days, and the cause of death is mostly suicide.

n“According to analysis, they were probably corrupted in the cafe to the point of developing a severe depression.”

n“…”

nShe put down the documents in her hands and asked the person beside her, “Is the preparatory support ready?”

nThe staff member nodded and gestured toward the next room.

nThrough the glass partition between the two rooms, a delicate girl in a western dress, who looked like a puppet, could be seen sitting there.

n…

nAs Lu Xin entered the cafe, he felt warm and lively.

nOutside the street, as well as inside the house, it was empty and cold.

nBut this cafe was full of people and even felt overcrowded.

nEveryone was smiling. Some talked intimately with their head down, some sat alone by the window, drinking coffee while looking at a book. Some squinted and concentrated on a delicious sandwich. Soothing and ancient music floated in the store as sunlight poured in through the window, making people seem to be in a trance, as though they were back in that world before the Red Moon disaster…

nLu Xin passed through the crowd and came to the bar, nodding to the waiter behind the counter.

n“I was asked to send this document over.”

nThe director didn’t say exactly who to send it to, so it should be fine if it was delivered to the waiter.

n“Thanks.”

nThe waiter didn’t care about anything. He just smiled and thanked, then poured a cup of coffee and pushed it in front of Lu Xin.

n“Um…”

nLu Xin wanted to say that he had no intention of staying for coffee.

nHowever, the coffee smelled quite fragrant, completely different from the cheap coffee in the company.

n“Thanks for coming all the way here. This cup is on the house.”

nThe waiter smiled kindly, making one feel comfortable.

nLu Xin’s heart eased a little, and he couldn’t refuse at that moment.

nThen, just at that moment, his eyes faintly shifted.

nBehind the waiter’s delicate apron, a thick and ugly tentacle suddenly stretched out and slowly reached for Lu Xin. At the top of the tentacle, the flesh slowly cracked. Suddenly, a coin-sized black rheid slipped into the coffee. Lu Xin looked down. The rheid looked like an egg, but also like an eye. Black pupils looked at him.

nThe coffee instantly became more fragrant. Every wisp had amazing seductive power.

nThe waiter also smiled more cordially and gently pushed the coffee toward Lu Xin, gesturing for him to enjoy it.

n“No, thanks.”

nLu Xin politely refused as if he hadn’t noticed anything and turned around to walk out.

nWhen he reached the door, he looked back.

nThen, he saw that everyone in the cafe had stopped what they were doing and were staring at him in a daze.

nHe turned around stiffly and walked faster.

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