Brian Carter walked through the crowd and came to the bar, nodding to the bartender behind the counter, who was wearing a delicate apron.

"Someone asked me to deliver this document."

The director hadn’t specified who to deliver it to, so handing it to the bar should be fine.

"Thank you."

The bartender didn’t care at all, just smiled in thanks, then poured a cup of coffee and pushed it in front of Brian Carter.

"This..."

Brian Carter wanted to say that he hadn’t planned to stay and drink coffee.

However, the coffee smelled quite fragrant, completely different from the cheap coffee he drank at the office.

"You’ve had a hard run, this one’s on me."

The bartender smiled, his face radiating a kind of kindness that made people feel very comfortable.

Brian Carter felt a bit more at ease, and for a moment couldn’t find words to refuse.

And just then, his gaze froze slightly.

From behind the bartender’s delicate apron, a thick and ugly tentacle suddenly stretched out, slowly reaching toward Brian Carter. At the tip of the tentacle, the flesh slowly split open, and suddenly a black, coin-sized soft mass slid into the coffee. Brian Carter looked down and saw that the soft mass looked like an egg, or perhaps an eye, its black pupil staring at him from inside the cup.

The coffee instantly became even more aromatic, every wisp carrying an astonishing allure.

The bartender’s smile grew even warmer, gently pushing the coffee closer to Brian Carter, signaling for him to enjoy it.

"No, thank you."

Brian Carter politely declined, acting as if he hadn’t noticed anything, and turned to leave.

When he reached the door, he looked back.

He saw that everyone in the shop had stopped what they were doing, all of them staring at him in unison, wooden and dazed.

He quickly turned away, his body stiffening, and walked faster and faster.

Chapter Three: You Haven’t Had Your Coffee Yet

"He... he left?"

In the distant building, all the observation personnel stared blankly at the monitors.

The intense conflict they had rehearsed in advance didn’t happen, and none of the three contingency plans they’d prepared were used.

That was clearly a standard level-one psychic contamination zone, and clearly a psychic mutant with limitless potential. Their encounter was supposed to be a great opportunity for mutual stimulation and testing. With this opportunity, they could locate the source of contamination in the café and eliminate it precisely, and also truly assess the potential of Observer No. 13, deciding whether to recruit or eliminate him together.

But in the end, all they saw was Observer No. 13 enter the contamination zone, and then walk back out.

Not a single anomaly...

The staff in the room all instinctively looked toward the short-haired woman in charge.

She, too, showed a moment of confusion, then resolutely ordered, "Continue monitoring, and immediately develop a fourth contingency plan!"

...

...

Brian Carter, who had jogged away from the café, quickly arrived at the subway station, eager to get home.

He didn’t know what exactly he had seen in the café.

But at least he was sure now what his sister had come to warn him about.

There was a monster!

Although after the Red Moon Event, the world had changed dramatically, and countless lunatics now roamed the wilderness day and night, those lunatics were still human. But what he had just seen was definitely not "human"!

He had no desire to get involved—he just wanted to run.

The subway station was empty, with only an old security guard dozing in the duty room.

Brian Carter sat down on a bench and finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

He looked around, but his sister’s figure was nowhere to be seen, so he couldn’t ask her what that thing really was.

He’d have to wait until he got home tonight to ask.

Brian Carter had always known that his "family" knew something.

"Scrape, scrape..."

Suddenly, the sound of shoes scraping the floor came from nearby. Brian Carter looked up and saw people entering the subway station.

Just moments ago, the station had been empty, but now more and more people were coming in, all dressed differently and walking briskly. They entered the station quickly, but none of them headed to the platform to wait for a train. Instead, they spread out rapidly around the area. Brian Carter sensed something was wrong, looked up sharply, and recognized them from the old man in the worn sweater nearby.

They were all people from the café just now.

A chill ran through Brian Carter, and he stood up abruptly, then saw a figure appear behind these people.

It was the bartender from the café, still wearing that kind smile, but under the light, it looked a bit eerie.

He was holding a cup—the very cup of coffee Brian Carter hadn’t drunk earlier.

Then he looked at Brian Carter, the corners of his mouth slowly stretching to both sides, his voice extremely soft and slow: "You haven’t had your coffee yet."

...

...

Brian Carter felt a chill in his heart, hurriedly got up, and tried to leave.

But as he moved, the people around him also stepped forward, blocking his way.

These people, who had seemed so warm and happy in the café just moments ago, now suddenly appeared extremely strange, as if they were sleepwalking.