The Crossroads, East District, in a dark alley on Old Street.
The murky dusk hung over the alley. The alienated streets were especially cold and gloomy, while eerie lights glowed from the shops lining the street. The light spilling from the display windows had an almost viscous, bizarre quality, trembling and writhing in the air as if it were about to flow onto the ground. Tangled electrical wires and ropes hung with colorful flags crisscrossed overhead, while the strings of lights on the wires crackled and flashed with psychedelic colors.
Heavy footsteps shattered the alley's silence. Several tall figures in Power Armor slowly walked through the alley before stopping outside the Old Bookstore and beginning to inspect the nearby traces.
Xu Jiali opened the visor of his Power Armor and stared at several dents in the ground with a deep frown.
A slender figure stood beside him in light Power Armor, with a pair of sharp cat ears rising from her helmet. The psychic attendant Bell watched her surroundings warily. In the dim ambient light, her vertical pupils widened, reflecting the thin mist that filled the alley.
"Boss, my spiritual intuition is warning me, meow..." Gypsy Girl's fur stood on end beneath her Power Armor, and her voice sounded especially tense. "This place is a little unsafe."
"Of course it's unsafe. The Danger Level here is already Level 3, and there are two plus signs after it." Xu Jiali's voice was muffled. "Look at these traces—they shouldn't be here in an alley. They look like something heavy was dragged through here. It seems someone transported heavy objects through this place... Maybe they were left by those 'knights.'"
"The last report didn't mention these," another deep diver said beside him. "These traces may have been left a few hours ago."
Xu