Chapter 1 The Kick

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Thump.

Li Cheng颐 kicked open the door of the KTV room and called out to Xindela, who was smoking outside.

"Boss, I've brought the person you wanted. See if it's her?"

He grabbed Zhong Ying by the hair, dragging her all the way to Xindela and Song Ran.

The two men looked stunned. They had been chatting idly, but they were instantly dumbfounded by the sudden scene.

It wasn't just them. The surrounding passersby couldn't help but stop to watch the commotion. Some people took out their phones, planning to film a short video for entertainment.

"I knew it, hahaha!" Si Magui walked out of the KTV room behind them, laughing loudly when he saw what was happening.

"You're all going to die anyway, why think so much? Hurry up and get straight to the point! Don't waste everyone's time!"

He walked over to Zhong Ying and slapped her hard across the face.

"Damn it, I went inside looking everywhere, and only after asking did I find out that they are a legitimate company. No one was trying to scam her with a contract. She made it all up herself."

Zhong Ying was on the verge of tears, her face swollen from the slap, but she didn't dare to say a word.

She had been greedy. She hadn't expected the new boss's subordinates to be so direct and outrageous, resorting to violence upon meeting her.

"...Get in the car first..." Xindela looked at the two of them, suddenly feeling a headache coming on.

He had thought Li Cheng颐 was a docile and obedient guy, but it seemed Si Magui had corrupted him.

Seeing people gathering to watch the spectacle, he quickly opened the car door and gestured for them to get in.

Inside the KTV room, an employee was already on the phone, calling the police.

Just as Si Magui had said, they were a legitimate business with no shady connections. The whole story about the contract violation and not being allowed to leave was a fabrication by Zhong Ying.

Thump.

The car door slammed shut.

Li Cheng颐 sat in his seat with a calm expression, side-by-side with Si Magui. The two of them exchanged a smile.

Zhong Ying sat with Xindela in the back row. Seeing the two men in front, she felt a shiver run down her spine.

"The electromagnetic interference is on, so don't worry. All the surveillance footage around here will automatically be scrambled. But it won't last forever," Song Ran said.

"Where are we going now?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"Ms. Zhong Ying, can you tell us where you first encountered the Mist Street Dead Angle?" Xindela comforted Zhong Ying for a while, calming her down considerably.

"It... it was at a clear bar called Candy..." When she saw Li Cheng颐 looking at her, she trembled.

"Don't mess around! I'm not lying! Absolutely! I guarantee it!" she quickly explained.

"If you lie to me, I'll beat you," Li Cheng颐 said bluntly.

"Me too," Si Magui echoed.

"Settle down, you two," Xindela said with a headache.

"Alright, alright, everyone calm down, calm down," Song Ran said, trying to smooth things over.

Li Cheng颐 smiled and stopped talking.

From Si Magui, he had learned a lesson. If you're caught up in a Dead Angle, you might kick the bucket at any time. So why not let loose and live a little more comfortably?

As long as he didn't expose the Evil Flower and attract too much trouble, he could do whatever he wanted.

The car started and began to navigate towards the Candy Bar.

The bar wasn't far, only about three or four kilometers away.

After arriving, Song Ran found a parking spot and the occupants discussed their next move.

"Let's split up. Memory Flashes are easier to trigger when you're separated. Si Ma, Xiao Yi, you two form a team and investigate the area around the bar separately. The three of us will drive around and see if there are any other Dead Angle Holders."

Xindela said solemnly.

"Since there's the Mist Street Dead Angle here, it's likely that Zhong Ying isn't the only Dead Angle Holder." He was very interested in what kind of rewards the slot machine could produce.

"Okay, Boss," Si Magui nodded. "But I'm a little curious. What kind of reward did Zhong Ying get when she played the slot machine before? Could we take a look at it?"

Swish.

Everyone in the car was interested in this and turned to look at Zhong Ying in the back.

Zhong Ying shrank back, and a look of hesitation appeared on her face, half of which was swollen like a steamed bun.

"It's just a dagger and a bottle of pills of unknown use."

She didn't dare to waste time, and slowly took out a silver-gray dagger from her small bag.

The entire dagger was different from traditional short daggers.

The hilt was shaped like a teardrop, with golden vine patterns. The blade was a long, narrow rhombus, with a very sharp tip. It was more like an enlarged flat awl than a dagger.

"I call it Teardrop. Other than being very sharp, I haven't found anything else special about it," Zhong Ying said softly.

"Can I see it?" Xindela asked.

"Of course." Zhong Ying handed him the dagger.

He took it and examined it closely, turning it over in his hands.

"It weighs less than two hundred grams, very light, like it's hollow. It feels cold in your hand."

He passed the dagger to Song Ran, Si Magui, and Li Cheng颐, who all took turns looking at it, but none of them found anything special about it.

But strangely, even though they didn't find any function, everyone had a feeling that the dagger was special, but they just couldn't figure out why.

"This feeling is strange," Li Cheng颐 said. "I feel like it's extraordinary, but I just don't know where it's extraordinary."

"Me too."

"Same here."

Song Ran and Xindela both nodded.

"What about the pills?" Xindela looked at Zhong Ying.

She immediately took out a transparent plastic bottle from her small bag, about half a finger long, filled with at least a dozen or so flattened oval red pills.

"I've tried these. I tried them on my pet hamster. It got very excited after eating them," Zhong Ying said softly.

"Stimulants?" Si Magui's eyes lit up.

"Take them back and try them out. Can I buy them?" Xindela looked at Zhong Ying.

"Well... yes, you can, but I need to make it clear first. These things should only last for four days. After four days, they will automatically disappear. This is the information that popped into my head after I got them," Zhong Ying said. "Also, they won't work for anyone except me."

"So restrictive?" Xindela frowned. He had originally wanted to take them back and study them, but it seemed like he was being blocked at every turn.

He suddenly understood why the authorities didn't bother with Dead Angles. Something with such little value and benefit wasn't worth investing too much in.

He returned the dagger and pills to Zhong Ying, and then agreed on contact information and meeting times with Si Magui and Li Cheng颐.

Li Cheng颐 and the other man got out of the car together.

"Zhong Ying said that she encountered Mist Street the moment she left the bar, that is, the moment she pushed the door open. So should we go into the bar first, or..." Si Magui asked.

"I'll wander around nearby," Li Cheng颐 said. He had experienced a memory flash at the Grieus parking lot last time and knew that it could appear as long as he got close enough.

"Alright."

Si Magui chose to go in alone.

He pushed the door open and entered the bar in a few steps, leaving Li Cheng頤 standing at the entrance.

Li Cheng颐 looked left and right, put his hands in his pockets, and walked to the left of the bar.

The entrance of the Candy Bar had a bright red wall, and a round arch of red balloons. Several girls wearing red tops and black shorts were standing by the door, waving balloons to attract customers.

The girls seemed unprofessional, though they were dressed quite seductively, they were chatting amongst themselves.

Li Cheng颐 stood at the door without going in, which didn't attract their attention.

To the left of the door was an arcade, filled with a cacophony of music that was noisy and uncomfortable.

Li Cheng颐 glanced into the arcade. It was empty, with no one inside. The machines were consuming electricity in vain, their screens flashing and repeatedly playing animated advertisements and game footage.

"How did the Memory Flash get triggered again?" He frowned slightly, turned his gaze away, and continued to move left.

'That's right, Zhong Ying switched over by pushing the door, so... maybe I can try pushing the door in and out later.'

With this thought in mind, Li Cheng颐 walked forward and stopped in front of another shop next to the arcade.

The shop's roller shutter was down, and a rental advertisement with a contact number was posted on the side wall.

Li Cheng颐 walked to the front of the shop and looked further ahead.

Beyond that was a gray-white wall, with no more shops. A bus stop was located a hundred meters away.

Looking from afar, there was no one at the bus stop.

'I should go look at the other side. I haven't looked at the right side of the Candy Bar yet.'

Thinking this, Li Cheng颐 turned around to go back.

Huh?

When he turned around, he didn't see the street he had just walked through.

Instead, he saw a strange street hidden in a gray mist.

Old, dilapidated shops stood side by side, all of them closed, with rental and transfer advertisements posted on the walls.

Plastic bags, advertising paper, rags, and empty cans littered the ground.

Old-fashioned concrete streetlights, like hunched-over old men, stood every few meters, without any lights, as if they had been broken for a long time.

A gust of cold wind blew in his face, causing Li Cheng颐 to shiver.

'This is Mist Street?' He thought grimly, knowing he had found it.

He clearly remembered that he had passed an arcade, but now the arcade had been replaced by a closed wonton shop.

He lifted his foot and took a step forward, walking slowly.

At the same time, he scanned the surroundings.

A particular advertisement suddenly caught his attention.

It was a flyer posted on a telephone pole.

'Resist... Unite and build our great home together! Contact number: 1338...'

Many parts of the flyer were blurred, but the words still conveyed a sense of passion.

Resist what?

Li Cheng颐 didn't know. The crucial words were blurred and illegible.

He tried to record it with his AR glasses, but the glasses were unresponsive.

Helpless, he continued forward, walking towards the depths of the gray mist.

Faintly, he heard a strange electronic music coming from the distance.

'Wuwuwu~~~ Tick-tock tick-tock~~'

The strange music sounded like some kind of bizarre laughter, sharp, piercing, and filled with cheap static noise.

Li Cheng颐 quickened his pace, heading towards the source of the sound.

Soon, he saw a brightly colored cartoon slot machine in front of a shop on the side of the street.

The body of the slot machine was painted with green mountains, bouncing rabbits, sheep, and deer.

The interface facing the player had two rows of yellow buttons at the bottom, each button representing a type of fruit.

Above were fruit squares that were spinning with flashing lights. Whichever fruit the light stopped on was the winning fruit.

Most absurdly, in the center of the game interface was a large red character for "Good Fortune".