Chapter 3

97 Phoenix Road, Linden City.

Andy walked steadily through the empty road. Then, he suddenly sped up and landed a violent kick on the door of the corner shop.

Bang!

His hard leather boot crashed into the roll-up door, producing a sharp, jarring sound.

As the entertainment district of Linden City, the place had almost no foot traffic during the day.

But at night, when the bars and karaoke lounges opened, it would become extremely lively.

Andy repeatedly kicked the door without any restraint.

The flimsy door, more symbolic than practical, was forced open after a few kicks, creating a gap half a person high.

As a "restaurant" for gambling activities at night, the guard hadn't even bothered to lock the inner door.

After all, it was a gathering place for many underworld factions, so no one would dare to steal from the place.

"Who's kicking the door? Do you wanna die?"

Inside the restaurant, a middle-aged man covered in tattoos, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, cursed as he jogged over, his slippers slapping loudly against the floor.

The interior was dimly lit but nicely decorated.

Andy remained expressionless. After bending down to enter the restaurant, he checked the location on his phone.

It overlapped with the red dot marked on the map.

"Hey, I'm talking to you. Are you deaf?"

"This should be the place."

Andy mumbled to himself, completely ignoring the tattooed man who was approaching with a clenched fist.

Andy casually put away his phone and moved slightly to the side, effortlessly dodging the incoming punch.

Side step, downward elbow!

As if he predicted the move, Andy, with rich combat experiences from his previous life, turned and moved behind the tattooed man.

Bang!

His elbow struck fiercely against the tattooed man's spine.

The man let out a miserable scream.

"Shut up."

Andy's right fist swooped forth with a whoosh.

The tattooed man was knocked to the ground with a single punch.

The man yelled and cursed, blood streaming from his chin after it hit the ground. He was in a terrible state.

"Now you've done it!"

His voice was full of resentment and anger.

As he struggled to prop himself up, his right hand reached towards his waist.

Fool.

Andy's gaze turned icy as he kicked downwards.

The hard sole of his shoe crashed against the man's temple, making sure he had no chance to fight back. The man instantly passed out, the short knife he just pulled out falling to the ground.

Kicking the guy out of the way, Andy casually surveyed the interior of the restaurant.

In his previous life, there were already some signs before the apocalypse arrived.

Some nodes where reality and the alternate dimension overlapped had appeared before the apocalypse.

According to his memory, a particularly rare piece of equipment would show up here.

The equipment was a ring infused with spatial fragments!

A spatial ring was a must-have item in films and novels, but it was exceptionally rare in the apocalypse.

Even normal equipment was scarce.

Unlike regular games where seemingly every monster dropped equipment, in the apocalypse game, most Awakened, who had powers far beyond ordinary people, would not be able to acquire even a single piece of equipment until their death, let alone a spatial ring.

In Andy's previous life, this precious spatial ring fell into the hands of a random thug.

He not only awakened his Talent through the equipment but also used the ring's storage function to establish a safe zone.

Spatial rings could store supplies, keeping them fresh and warm.

It was an unbelievably useful piece of equipment!

Andy eagerly searched around.

Splash!

Half an hour later, he poured a bucket of ice water over the tattooed man's head with a helpless look on his face.

He couldn't find the ring.

The man shivered from the cold water. He immediately started swearing.

"F..."

Before the tattooed man could finish speaking, Andy kicked him in the mouth and broke his teeth.

Blood and broken teeth scattered to the floor.

"I'll ask questions and you'll answer me. Mind your language or I'll kill you."

The guy swore too much.

Andy kept one foot on his neck, his gaze icy.

If the man tried anything funny, he would rather kill the man and then slowly search for the ring himself.

Gulp.

"Don't kill me!"

The tattooed man finally realized what kind of situation he was in. He looked at Andy with fear in his eyes.

He usually acted high and mighty because of his gang ties, but the moment he met a real tough guy, he immediately revealed his cowardly nature.

"Where's the ring? What about other jewelry?"

The tattooed man seemed stunned.

He thought Andy was there to cause trouble, but he was actually there to steal stuff?

No.

It wasn't theft. It was a robbery.

Well, he should have just said so earlier!

The tattooed man was upset that he got beaten up for no reason.

He was only there because he played cards until really late yesterday, so he slept in the restaurant.

If he had known that Andy was only there to take something, he definitely wouldn’t have acted aggressively.

"I don't know, I'm not the boss here."

The tattooed man hesitated and drew back slightly before carefully replying, his speech somewhat slurred.

Seeing a dangerous glint in Andy's eyes, as if Andy was prepared to kill him, he quickly added:

"There are a lot of things in the office on the second floor, but it's locked!"

Bang!

After getting the answer he wanted, Andy kicked the man hard on the head.

With such a heavy blow, the tattooed man immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

It was locked?

Not a problem.

Andy had practiced lock-picking skills before.

Half an hour later, Andy violently hacked at the door with a fire axe.

The door lock was still intact on the expensive wooden door, but the center of the wooden door was smashed open.

Advanced lockpicking methods were often simple and straightforward.

Click.

Entering the office, he switched on the light by the wall.

He carefully surveyed the office interior. Something unusual caught his attention.

“Is this a… spatial fluctuation?”

It seemed that no one had been in there for a while. A faint musty smell lingered in the air.

In the corner of the office, a fist-sized, mysterious blackness floated in midair.

The blackness seemed to have consumed an empty space.

Andy took a deep breath, his eyes locked onto a glimmer of silver within the black.

He was overjoyed!

It was the spatial ring!

In his previous life, this ring had caused quite a stir.

Everyone in Linden knew that the thug made his fortune in this place.

He had transformed from an ordinary person to a very powerful Awakened.

After that, he even established a safe zone outside the city.

That legendary equipment was now right before Andy!

Andy resolutely reached out for the ring, only to find his fingertips losing sensation.

His expression hardened. Ignoring the abnormality, he swiftly plunged his hand into the blackness and pulled out the ring.

Buzz! Buzz!

Ripples instantly radiated, and a chilling aura emanated from the black hole.

Roar!!!

A sudden roar came from the black hole, and a dense miasma of death erupted outwards.

Andy grabbed the ring and bolted.

He had no idea what that was, but he might have provoked something extremely terrifying.

How come he never heard about this in his previous life?

He wondered if it was because he took the ring early.

Andy couldn't stop to think; he dashed out the door.

The silvery ring was tightly clenched in his palm.

Ding!

[Apocalypse game player detected. Check failed. Digitalized body not found.

Warning!]

The loud warning noises echoed in his mind, making him feel very uneasy.

The dense miasma of death frantically stretched out like vines of the abyss, as if it was alive.

There was nowhere to run!

Andy steeled himself. He smashed through the window, jumping from the second floor.

As soon as he hit the ground, an overwhelming sense of weakness washed over him, and darkness engulfed his entire vision.

His consciousness faded, and he passed out.

The ring in his palm slowly vanished, merging into him.