The Qingcheng Bureau of Anomalous Investigations received news of the Dimensional Rift within a minute of its appearance and immediately mobilized.
Bureau personnel in black uniforms streamed out of the building, heading straight for the rift's location. However, upon arriving and seeing the impenetrable black veil hanging in the air, nearly all of them wore grave expressions.
"Is this another one like last time?"
"..."
The perspective shifted back to Robin, who had now mapped the extent of the black veil's coverage. It stretched half a city block, roughly two hundred meters from end to end.
This was an ordinary commercial street lined with various shops, mostly one or two stories tall. The hotpot restaurant Robin had been in was among them.
Sideways, the veil was only about a hundred meters away. Its shape wasn't circular but resembled an elongated oval, almost rectangular.
"So, our movement is confined to this half of the street and all the shops along it, right?" Robin muttered to herself, staring at the pitch-black veil looming before her. It looked like a smooth, dark cloth, but she wasn't brave enough to touch it directly.
Instead, she scanned her surroundings and picked up a discarded mineral water bottle. Cautiously, she poked the veil with it.
Nothing happened. The bottle remained intact, and the veil didn't budge. Robin felt as if she were jabbing a reinforced concrete wall.
Only then did she dare to reach out and touch the veil. It was icy cold to the touch. She knocked on it, but it made no sound.
Though she still didn't understand the true nature of the veil, one thing was certain: they were trapped. Even if it were just a plain concrete wall, they had no heavy weapons to break through it.
Forget about concrete—they couldn't even pry open a rusted guardrail!
Robin looked up. While the veil appeared rectangular at first glance, it was actually an ellipse with a gentle curve. Only a corner of the building before her was enveloped by it.
A bald middle-aged man clung to the second-floor window, his face a mask of helplessness as he stared down at Robin.
The bald man had truly terrible luck. He had come to the outdoor food stall with his wife and children, reserving the innermost private room. They were chatting and waiting for their meal when a black veil suddenly descended from the sky, splitting their table in two.
The bald uncle was seated by the window, completely enveloped by the veil, while his wife and children were on the other side. Only half of the private room, where the bald uncle sat, and a small section of the first floor of the food stall were enclosed by the veil.
With the room's door outside the veil and the second-floor windows barred, the bald uncle was effectively trapped in a cramped space of less than ten square meters, with no way out.
"Little miss from the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations, please think of something! What am I supposed to do?" the bald uncle pleaded in an unusually pitiful, almost tearful voice, making Robin shudder involuntarily, goosebumps rising all over her skin.
In truth, the uncle had been on the verge of a mental breakdown before Robin arrived. It was only her ability that had managed to pull him back from the brink.
Activating Robin's ability required virtually no energy. In fact, if she wished, she could maintain its "calming emotions and bolstering courage" effect indefinitely, treating it like a permanent aura buff.
"Don't panic, everything will be alright," Robin said, though she herself had no idea what to do.
After temporarily calming the balding middle-aged man, she left the edge of the veil and headed back toward the hotpot restaurant where she had first arrived.
So far, no monsters or dangers had appeared within the veil. Robin surveyed the surrounding shops, which offered food, drinks, and clothing. With these supplies, mere survival shouldn't be a problem.
But she knew it wouldn't be that simple. Cheng Hui had told her that the last Dimensional Rift in Qingcheng had also been enclosed by a veil. It lasted four days, claimed nearly a thousand lives, and left only one survivor.
Based on this information, Robin deduced two possibilities: either the veil would vanish after four days of survival in the area, or it would disappear only when a single survivor remained.
Robin returned to the hotpot restaurant's entrance to find a dense crowd gathered there. The restaurant couldn't accommodate them all, so people stood outside, their voices rising and falling in waves, creating a scene of utter chaos.
However, the moment Robin appeared, the entire scene fell silent. All eyes turned to her, and the weight of their collective gaze pressed down on her.
"Everyone," Robin said, glancing at the two shops beside the hotpot restaurant and then across the street at the clothing store, "let's take shelter in the hotpot restaurant, these two shops next door, and the clothing store across the street. For now, we'll stick to these three locations. Let's try to stay together and avoid wandering off alone."
As she spoke, she glanced at her phone. It was 7:50 PM, and naturally, there was no signal. She had already tried calling and texting, but nothing worked. At this point, the phone's only useful functions were as an oversized wristwatch and a flashlight.
Hearing Robin's instructions, the crowd slowly began to disperse toward the shops. Cheng Hui, who had been among them, approached Robin. "I just counted," she said. "Including the children and us, there are exactly 184 people."
This was the task Robin had asked Cheng Hui to do before venturing to examine the edge of the veil. Recalling the bald middle-aged man from earlier, Robin corrected, "Actually, there are 185 people."
Cheng Hui asked, "What should we do next?"
Robin replied honestly, "I have no idea. I'm starving..."
She had just returned from her trip and was looking forward to a relaxing dinner before resting. Who could have predicted this? Robin continued, "At least there's no immediate danger. Being safe and sound is good enough for now. We've taken all the precautions we can. Now, all we can do is wait."
Robin slipped her hand under her shirt and rubbed her stomach. "I can't take it anymore. I need to find something to eat."
The hotpot restaurant was already packed, definitely not a good place to grab a meal. She glanced around and spotted a bakery nearby.