Chapter 3: Your Coffee Hasn't Been Drunk Yet
"Go... Gone?"
From the distant building, all the observers were staring at their monitors in confusion.
The intense conflict they had rehearsed earlier didn't happen, and none of the three plans they'd prepared were put into action.
This was supposed to be a standard Class A psychic contamination zone, and they were dealing with a potential psychic mutation. The encounter between the two should have been an excellent opportunity for mutual stimulation and testing. Through this encounter, they could have pinpointed the exact source of contamination in the café and eliminated it precisely. They could also have assessed the potential of Subject No. 13, deciding whether to recruit or eliminate him.
But instead, they saw Subject No. 13 enter the contamination zone and then walk out without incident. There was no sign of abnormality…
The staff, all instinctively, looked towards the short-haired woman in charge. She hesitated for a moment, then made a firm decision: "Continue testing. Immediately prepare the fourth response plan!"
---
Lu Xin quickly ran away from the café, heading toward the subway station, eager to get back. He had no idea what he had seen inside the café.
However, he had finally confirmed what his sister had come to warn him about.
There were monsters!
Even though the world had been drastically changed after the Red Moon event, with countless lunatics wandering the wilderness, those lunatics were still human. But what he had seen inside the café was definitely not "human"!
He didn't want to get involved with that; he just wanted to run.
The subway station was empty, with only an old security guard napping in the duty room. Lu Xin sat on a bench, letting out a slight sigh of relief.
He looked around. His sister wasn't nearby, so he couldn't ask her what exactly it was that he saw. He'd have to wait until he got home to ask her later.
Lu Xin had always known that his "family" knew something.
---
"Scratch... scratch..."
Suddenly, the sound of shoes scraping the floor echoed through the station. Lu Xin looked up and saw people entering the subway station.
Just moments ago, it had been empty, but now more and more people were entering, wearing different clothes and walking briskly. They didn't seem to be heading toward the platform but instead quickly spread out across the station.
Lu Xin immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked up sharply and recognized them from the café. They were the same people.
His body tensed up, and he stood up abruptly, only to see someone step forward from the crowd. It was the café worker, still smiling benignly, though the smile looked a little eerie under the lights.
The worker held a cup in his hand, the very same cup of coffee Lu Xin had left untouched.
Slowly, the worker's smile widened as he spoke in a soft, slow voice, "Your coffee hasn't been drunk yet."
---
Lu Xin felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly stood up, intending to leave, but as he moved, the people around him shifted forward as well, blocking his way.
These people, who had seemed so warm and happy in the café, now appeared strange, as if sleepwalking. They made no extraneous movements, and when Lu Xin looked into their eyes, he couldn't see his reflection. They simply moved forward, and the space around him shrank, gradually cornering him in what felt like a human-made cage.
The café worker's smile grew wider, and he raised the cup slightly, indicating it to Lu Xin.
Lu Xin, now both embarrassed and frightened, said, "I... I don't have money. I can't afford it…"
The café worker's smile turned even more eerie, and suddenly, the eyeball—or egg—previously soaked in the coffee leapt out of the cup. It shot toward Lu Xin's mouth in a swift, dark line.
Lu Xin jumped in shock and struggled to push through the crowd.
He was young and strong, and he managed to knock down two or three people, trying to escape. But the other café patrons also moved toward him, extending stiff arms to grab him.
These arms, like chains, blocked every escape route. Lu Xin struggled, but the more he fought, the less room he had to move. He was pinned down, and there were even people coming to pry his mouth open.
---
"What's going on?"
Back in the observation office, the short-haired woman furrowed her brows. "He seems like an ordinary person!"
"Perhaps he still can't control his abilities," a staff member suggested. "Should we send support to end this test?"
As Lu Xin seemed on the verge of being overwhelmed by the contamination, the short-haired woman nodded slowly, then looked toward a doll-like girl next to her. The girl silently picked up her umbrella.
"Wait…"
Just then, one of the staff members suddenly shouted in surprise.
Everyone turned to look at the monitoring equipment, which was showing intense fluctuations in the data.
---
At the same moment, as Lu Xin was being forcibly restrained, his mouth pried open, he heard a soft chuckle.
"Hee hee!"
Looking over, he saw his sister hanging upside down on the signpost, clutching a teddy bear, swaying back and forth.
"Save me..."
Lu Xin, with his mouth tightly held, made a muffled plea.
"Brother ignores me, pretends not to see me outside, and never talks to me..."
His sister swayed in the air, speaking in a sorrowful tone.
"Save me... please..."
Lu Xin looked at the eye that was jumping toward his mouth, his desperation rising.
"Sigh, then you must promise to buy me the best toys..."
His sister giggled, and her eyes, now completely lacking sclera, gleamed with mischievousness.
---
"Let go!" Lu Xin roared, his body suddenly surging with force.
---