Chapter 3: The Spatial Ring

97 Fengming Road, Linjiang Market. A street usually bustling with entertainment now lay eerily silent. Lin Yi strode heavily through the empty street, each step feeling like a pivot point of fate.

He stopped before an unremarkable shop, determination flashing in his eyes. "Bang!" His sturdy boot slammed against the rolling shutter, the metallic clash echoing jarringly through the quiet street. After a few kicks, the symbolic metal door yielded to this brute force, splitting open a gap half a man's height.

This place was a gambler's paradise after nightfall, but seemed particularly desolate during the day. As a gathering spot for dark forces, no one dared to tread lightly here, let alone break in in broad daylight.

"Who the fuck is kicking the door? Got a death wish?" A roar came from inside, accompanied by the slapping sound of slippers. A middle-aged man with tattoos covering his arms, cigarette dangling from his mouth, came running, cursing all the way.

Lin Yi bent to enter the shop, his gaze piercing as if searching for something. He took out his phone, comparing the location marker on the screen. "This should be it," he muttered, completely ignoring the tattooed man swinging a fist at him.

The rich combat experience from his past life manifested instantly. Lin Yi easily dodged the incoming punch, his form ghosting behind the attacker. "Thud!" His elbow, like a precision-guided missile, struck hard at the vital point of the tattooed man's spine.

Just as a scream was about to escape, Lin Yi coldly commanded, "Shut up." Immediately after, his right fist thundered out, instantly flooring his opponent.

The tattooed man, sprawled on the ground, still managed to curse, blood flowing from his impacted chin, looking utterly wretched. "You're asking for death!" he roared, struggling to prop himself up, his right hand reaching towards his waist.

Lin Yi's eyes suddenly turned ice-cold, his foot stomping down hard. The solid sole instantly struck the temple, leaving the tattooed man no chance to resist before he passed out. The short knife he had just grasped fell to the ground with a "clang".

Kicking the obstructing body aside, Lin Yi began to carefully survey the interior of the teahouse. In his memory, an extremely rare piece of equipment would appear here - a ring fused with spatial fragments!

In the impending apocalypse, such spatial rings were more precious than any weapon. They could not only awaken the owner's talent but also establish safe zones through their storage capabilities. It was the ultimate tool for survival in the end times!

Lin Yi began searching everywhere with inexplicable anticipation. However, half an hour later, he found nothing to his disappointment. With no other choice, he picked up a bucket of ice water and unceremoniously poured it over the unconscious tattooed man.

"Splash!" The icy water instantly woke the tattooed man, who instinctively opened his mouth to curse. However, before the profanity could escape his lips, Lin Yi kicked out, shattering his teeth. Blood mixed with broken teeth scattered on the ground, creating a chilling scene.

"I ask, you answer. Keep your mouth clean or die." Lin Yi said coldly, his foot pressing on the other's neck, his gaze sharp as a knife.

The tattooed man finally realized the terrifying nature of the man before him. He swallowed hard, his voice filled with fear: "Don't... don't kill me!"

"Where's the ring? Or any kind of jewelry?" Lin Yi asked straightforwardly.

The tattooed man was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood. So he wasn't here to cause trouble, but to steal... no, to rob something? Why didn't you say so earlier! He thought resentfully, if he had known it was for taking something, he definitely wouldn't have attacked first.

"I... I don't know, I'm not the boss here," the tattooed man answered cautiously, though his speech was a bit unclear. Seeing Lin Yi's ominous expression, he hurriedly added, "There seem to be a lot of things in the office upstairs, but it's locked!"

Having got his answer, Lin Yi kicked the tattooed man unconscious again without another word. Lockpicking? That was no problem for a former special forces soldier.

However, half an hour later, Lin Yi stood before the office door holding a fire axe. On the expensive wooden door, the anti-theft lock remained intact, but the door panel was full of marks of violent destruction.

"Click." The light came on, and Lin Yi carefully examined the interior of the room. Suddenly, an anomaly caught his attention.

"Is this... a spatial fluctuation?"

In the corner of the room, a fist-sized, bizarre blackness floated in mid-air, as if it had swallowed a piece of nothingness. Lin Yi held his breath, staring intently at the faint silver-white glimmer within the blackness - that was the legendary spatial ring!

Without hesitation, Lin Yi reached out to grab it. However, his fingertips met nothing but emptiness. His expression hardened, and he unhesitatingly thrust half his palm in, snatching out the ring.

"Buzz! Buzz!" Continuous waves of energy instantly erupted, and a heart-palpitating aura gushed out from the black hole.

"Roar!!!" A heaven-shaking roar suddenly came from the black hole, and thick death energy spread outward like a tidal wave.

Run! Lin Yi clutched the ring tightly and sprinted away without looking back. Although he didn't know what had happened, his instincts told him he seemed to have provoked something formidable.

"Beep. Apocalypse game player detected." "Beep. Detection failed, no digitized body found." "Warning! Warning!"

Jarring alarm sounds echoed in his mind, giving rise to an ominous feeling. The death energy behind him, like tendrils from the abyss, frantically extended towards him.

No escape! Lin Yi gritted his teeth, suddenly smashed through the window, and leaped down from the second floor.

However, the moment his feet touched the ground, an extreme sense of weakness swept through his entire body. His consciousness ebbed away like the tide, and darkness engulfed his vision.

Lin Yi collapsed heavily on the ground, losing consciousness. And that spatial ring that had triggered everything silently disappeared, merging with his body...