“Don’t remember that I was here, and don’t remember what you arranged for him to do!”

The short-haired woman spoke softly, her voice gentle. Then she put on her sunglasses and turned to leave.

The Director fell into a moment of confusion. A few seconds later, he snapped out of it, as if nothing had happened, and continued with his work.

……

……

Brian Carter was in the carriage of the ring-city high-speed rail, holding onto the handrail, feeling drowsy. He had boarded near the starting station, so there were still seats available, but when he saw a pregnant woman get on, he gave up his seat to her and stood for half an hour.

The lights in the carriage flickered slightly. Sophie Carter crawled along the ceiling of the carriage, clutching her patched-up teddy bear.

She dangled upside down in front of Brian Carter, swinging back and forth like she was on a swing.

Brian Carter stared straight ahead, pretending to be intently admiring the beautiful legs of a delicate girl in tight shorts nearby.

Sophie Carter was having even more fun by herself, swinging more and more vigorously, causing a faint creaking sound in the carriage.

Fortunately, the train was moving fast and swaying, so the slight creaking was masked.

“Brother, brother, look, that fat guy is so silly…”

Sophie Carter was playing wildly, suddenly pointing at a fat man not far away who was sleeping standing up and drooling, and grinned at Brian Carter.

“Don’t talk to me…”

Brian Carter forced himself to keep his eyes on the pretty girl’s legs, squeezing out a barely audible reply through his teeth.

“I can’t look at you outside, let alone talk to you, or people will think I’m crazy…”

“Pfft, boring!”

Sophie Carter deliberately tried to provoke Brian Carter, but seeing he wouldn’t take the bait, she started to feel bored.

“Then be careful yourself. The place you’re going this time is dangerous!”

As she spoke, before Brian Carter could ask more, she giggled, then suddenly ran forward along the carriage. As she passed the fat man who was sleeping standing up, she pinched his face, then crawled away and disappeared.

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

People around looked at the fat man, who had no one within a meter of him, with strange expressions.

Brian Carter also joined the crowd, giving the fat man a look as if he were mentally ill.

……

……

When he got off the train, Brian Carter found that he was already near the outer wall.

The buildings here had become somewhat dilapidated, and you could see the city wall, more than ten meters high, casting a deep shadow over the buildings. Although thirty years had passed and most of the madmen wandering outside the city had been cleared, people living inside the city still didn’t dare to let their guard down. Every year, a key focus of municipal work was to continue reinforcing and repairing these towering city walls.

When he arrived at the corner café, he found the environment here very gloomy.

The old buildings and bungalows nearby seemed to be empty, not a single shadow in sight.

There was quite a bit of trash in front of the door, as if blown there by the wind, and it was unclear how long it had been since anyone cleaned up.

Getting close to this place, for some reason, gave him a feeling of oppression.

Brian Carter instinctively disliked it here, but since he had already promised The Director, he still took the file folder and went inside.

……

……

“Subject No. 13 has entered the target area!”

Not far from here, on top of a tall building, more than a dozen observers had already set up various instruments. Around the building, some heavily armed soldiers with loaded guns were hidden, nervously watching everything around them.

The short-haired woman was also among the staff. She was holding a file in her hand, with black typewritten letters on it:

“Target Codename: Corner Café.”

“Mission Objective: Assess the potential and specific abilities of Subject No. 13 to become a psychic.”

“Potential Risk: The café has been confirmed as a Level 1 psychic contamination zone.

Specific manifestations:

People approaching the café will be involuntarily drawn inside.

Those who have entered the café will die within three to five days, most often by suicide.

Analysis suggests that contamination inside the café leads to severe depressive emotions.”

“……”

She put down the file and asked the person beside her, “Is the backup support ready?”

The staff member nodded and pointed to the next room.

Through the glass partition between the two rooms, one could see a delicate girl in a dress, sitting there like a puppet.

……

……

When Brian Carter entered the café, he immediately felt a warm and lively atmosphere.

The street outside and the houses were empty and desolate.

But inside the café, every seat was taken, to the point of being overcrowded.

Everyone wore a smile. Some people were engaged in intimate conversation, some sat alone by the window, sipping coffee and reading a book, some squinted their eyes, savoring a delicious sandwich. A soothing, old song drifted through the shop, and sunlight streamed in through the windows, making it feel, for a moment, as if he had returned to the world before the Red Moon Catastrophe…