Shang Jianyao had just taken a few steps towards the brightly lit cafe in the mist when he stopped again.

"What's wrong?" Genava stopped as quickly as he started.

Shang Jianyao stared at the two figures reflected in the cafe window and lowered his voice:

"I can't sense their human consciousness."

"I can already see them, but I still can't sense their human consciousness."

"Therefore, eliminating all the impossibilities, the remaining one, no matter how absurd, is the truth."

"They are ghosts..."

Genava replied objectively:

"In this environment, if it's just ghosts, it's not too dangerous."

"Do you look down on ghosts?" Shang Jianyao retorted, "Don't think Xiao Hong is always tough, she's actually very scared inside!"

"I mean, compared to other situations, ghosts are relatively less dangerous. At least, they are definitely weaker than the corporeal body of a slumbering Ruling God." Genava fully expressed his opinion.

Shang Jianyao skipped this topic and looked at the only light in the dimness:

"Whether they are ghosts or not, we have to ask to be sure."

"I'll go say hello and make friends as planned."

Genava wanted to say that we didn't have such a plan, but Shang Jianyao had already started walking, going into the depths of the light mist with a clatter.

And the yellowish light from the roadside cafe was like a lighthouse guiding pedestrians in the dim environment.

Genava prepared for battle and advanced towards the cafe in a pincer formation with Shang Jianyao.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, without even the sound of wind.

Soon, Shang Jianyao, wearing a military exoskeleton, arrived at his destination.

The cafe's decoration had a classical Old World flavor, with thick frosted glass above the heavy brown wooden door.

Having restrained the impulsive one, Shang Jianyao didn't rush to push the door open. Instead, he walked to the window and waved to the man and woman inside:

"Hello!"

He greeted them enthusiastically in Red River language.

Neither the lady with long golden hair and a white dress nor the male old man in a suit with hazel eyes paid any attention to his performance. They continued chatting about their own topics and drinking coffee that emitted a faint heat.

They seemed to have neither seen Shang Jianyao's wave nor heard his greeting.

"Is the soundproofing that good?" Shang Jianyao tilted his body and put his ear to the glass window, trying to hear what the two inside were talking about.

But he heard nothing.

He widened his eyes and looked at the scene inside, only to find that only the part near the window was illuminated by the light, and the further inside, the darker it became until there was no light at all.

And in the illuminated area, there were four or five tables, with only these two customers.

"A bit strange." It was Genava who made the comment.

Shang Jianyao nodded solemnly:

"It seems we can only find out the problem by going inside."

"Do you sense any nodes of the 'New World'?" Genava sought confirmation.

"No." Shang Jianyao shook his head and walked to the heavy brown wooden door, reaching out his right hand.

Assisted by the military exoskeleton, he easily pushed open the door.

Then, with a strong desire to perform, he shouted inside:

"Checking the water and electricity meters!

"And a coffee for me, by the way."

No one responded to him.

Shang Jianyao entered the cafe, immediately turning his gaze to the area not covered by the light.

It was almost completely dark, piled with all sorts of杂物, as if a group of monsters were being kept in the darkness.

"Doesn't look like a cafe..." Shang Jianyao, aided by night vision devices, didn't hide his opinion.

"Indeed." Genava agreed.

He felt that the place not illuminated by the light was more like an abandoned store.

Valuable items and usable cabinets had been moved away, leaving only a pile of messily arranged things.

"Is the problem in the illuminated part?" Shang Jianyao, with one arm paralyzed and the other holding the "Berserker" assault rifle, couldn't stroke his chin.

He and Genava simultaneously turned their attention to the window.

The man and woman were still chatting, but no sound came out.

Moreover, they had no reaction to the entry of Shang Jianyao and Genava.

"Hello!" Shang Jianyao called out, his attitude quite friendly.

No one paid attention to him.

He walked step by step towards the table by the window.

As the distance closed and the angle changed, he clearly saw what the lady who had previously been facing away from him and Genava looked like:

She had delicate features, a slightly thin face, and ocean-blue eyes. There were already a few crow's feet at the corners of her eyes. Her outward appearance was around forty years old.

At this time, she was sitting there, her whole state very relaxed, occasionally taking a sip of coffee, seeming to be fully enjoying her leisure time.

It could be seen that she often did this, carrying a certain intellectual elegance.

And the male old man opposite her had a left hand that was constantly trembling uncontrollably, which caused his left arm, left side of his body, and left leg to be obviously abnormal. Even with support, he looked shaky.

Shang Jianyao greeted them again in Ashlands language, but still received no response.

He was not discouraged and persistently used the several dialects he knew, moving a few more steps closer to the coffee table.

"Can't smell the aroma of coffee." He turned his head and said to Genava, who was guarding the door to prevent accidents.

"A phantom?" Genava analyzed this possibility, then asked confirmingly, "Have you turned on the military exoskeleton's 'Anti-Poison Filtration System'?"

"Of course I have! If I didn't turn it on in a place like this, what would I do if I got poisoned?" Shang Jianyao replied righteously.

"Is there a possibility that the 'Anti-Poison Filtration System' intercepted the coffee aroma?" Genava reminded him.

Shang Jianyao suddenly realized:

"That's right!"

Because one hand was paralyzed, he couldn't perform the action of clenching his right fist and hitting his left palm.

"Pay attention to my condition and be ready to inject me with a biological antidote at any time." Shang Jianyao shouted, and before Genava could respond, he terminated the operation of the "Anti-Poison Filtration System."

Then, he said excitedly:

"There's a little bit of coffee aroma, but it's very faint, which is not normal. I'm almost next to them!

"What's wrong with these two? We've been whispering for so long, and they still haven't reacted."

As he spoke, Shang Jianyao gave up holding the "Berserker" assault rifle, letting it hang down, suspended on his body.

Then, he reached out his right palm towards the old man whose body seemed to be a little out of control.

No, it was the coffee cup in front of the old man.

Seeing this, Genava gave up trying to dissuade him. After all, Shang Jianyao didn't rashly touch the two strange figures directly.

"I've always respected the old and loved the young. Old man, I see that your hands and feet are not very convenient. I'll help you hold the cup and feed you." Shang Jianyao chattered a lot of nonsense while reaching out his hand.

The two still ignored him.

The next second, his fingers passed through the coffee cup without touching anything.

After moving his fingers in place for a few moments, Shang Jianyao said with a hint of disappointment:

"A phantom."

"It is indeed a phantom." Genava moved his metal neck up and down.

Shang Jianyao stretched his hand towards the old man in a suit and tie, and unsurprisingly saw his palm pass through the other person's body.

And the old man was still talking to the lady opposite him, without any abnormality.

Of course, no sound came out.

"Just a phantom." Shang Jianyao sighed again.

At the same time, he tried to push the blonde lady in accordance with his own defined, non-standard procedure.

His hand passed through the other person's arm again.

"In this situation, what would Dabai do if she knew?" Shang Jianyao retracted his hand covered in metal bones.

Genava's first reaction was to contact Jiang Baimian, but the electromagnetic interference here was more severe, preventing him from succeeding.

At this time, Shang Jianyao was already stroking his chin and saying:

"One is to find the source of the phantom, and the other is to record the lip movements of the two phantoms and analyze what they are saying later."

"I'm already recording and analyzing at the same time." Genava responded immediately.

Shang Jianyao took two steps to the side, using the power of the "Life Angel" necklace to sense the situation inside the cafe more carefully.

"There's nothing wrong..." he muttered to himself, "Let's take a look around. Maybe it's outside the sensing range."

As he spoke, he walked towards the entrance of the cafe, where Genava was.

Suddenly, the two phantoms drinking coffee and chatting simultaneously turned their heads and looked at him!

The lady in the white dress with wavy golden hair frowned slightly, her eyes half-closed, as if listening to something.

"Someone is calling her? The source of the phantom, someone is calling her?" Shang Jianyao excitedly made a guess.

Genava said in a slightly synthesized voice:

"If that's the case, we can stay for a few more minutes and see what changes."

He believed that there were many possibilities for the source of the phantom, and no hasty conclusions should be drawn.

Even in what he thought was the most likely situation, there were several possibilities:

First, electromagnetic environment disorder caused natural recording function, constantly reproducing some of the things that happened in Corningmis in the past.

Second, this is currently happening in another part of Corningmis, projecting here due to the disorder of the electromagnetic environment.

Third, an old movie that is continuously playing in a loop in this strange environment.

The next second, the blonde lady opened her eyes, looked at the location where Shang Jianyao was, and said something.

Genava quickly analyzed the lip movements, but at the same time, Shang Jianyao called out:

"She, she's talking to me!

"I heard her voice!"

He was extremely excited.

Before Shang Jianyao could finish speaking, Genava had already analyzed the complete content of the lip movements just now:

"A favored one of 'Fate'?"

Immediately afterward, Shang Jianyao shouted loudly:

"She, she's asking if I'm a favored one of 'Fate'!"