The Subway

Now it was Ren Yi's turn to be unable to keep up with this train of thought.

"Wait a second, why would a trading market be built inside a casino?"

How did those two things even get lumped together?

"Because entry is prohibited for anyone under eighteen," Dr. Lin said cryptically.

Ren Yi was struck by a sudden realization.

So that was it. It was to avoid ordinary "children" who hadn't awakened yet and had no contact with Anomalies.

This line of thinking was truly a bit peculiar.

"Anyway, I'm taking you two out to see the world," Dr. Lin said with a wide wave of his hand. "You'll understand once we get there."

After Ren Yi packed a backpack full of crystals and tucked Wang Zhixin into his pocket, Ren Man suddenly asked to see Ren Yi's Anomaly Web account.

Ren Yi was slightly taken-back. He recalled that back in the Three Cities World, his account indeed seemed to have been briefly interfered with by Azure using the world's rules.

But once his brother arrived, everything returned to normal.

Did this count as a problem on the Alliance's side?

Just after returning, he had tried to look up online whether he could file a complaint about such a situation. Unfortunately, after scouring various social forums, he found no relevant information.

Moreover, since Ren Man hadn't reacted, he thought the matter had already passed and that he had satisfied the requirement of "waiting for rescue."

Dr. Lin leaned in seemingly casually, stealing a quick glance at Ren Yi's interface. A mysterious, indefinable curve hooked at the corner of his mouth.

His expression seemed somewhat... schadenfreude?

"Did you go look for Them?" he asked in a low voice, leaning close to Ren Man.

Ren Man ignored him and simply handed the phone back to Ren Yi. Instead, it was Ren Yi whose curiosity was piqued.

"Look for who?"

"【The Anomaly Web】 and 【The Mirror】."

What did that mean? To find the "Anomaly Web" and the "Mirror," wouldn't he just use his phone...

Ren Yi thought for a second out of habit before his eyes suddenly widened.

Wait, who?

He suddenly realized that Dr. Lin was referring to an Anomaly Web that wasn't the app, and a Mirror that wasn't a piece of glass.

Wait a minute, so 【The Anomaly Web】 and 【The Mirror】 were actually Anomalies?

He had previously thought the Alliance's technology tree was just a bit lopsided.

But looking at it now, did the Alliance actually have such a thing as "technology"?

And this naming convention... were they Calamities?

However, when Auntie Lu Qing was explaining things to him and Lu Zihan earlier, she hadn't mentioned these two names.

No, what Auntie Lu Qing said back then was: "Currently within the Alliance, and capable of being deployed, there are only those few."

That meant there were also those "within the Alliance but incapable of being deployed" and those "not currently within the Alliance."

Indeed, just from their names, these two sounded like they were in charge of Instance infrastructure. It made sense that they "couldn't be deployed."

But what would their rules be? 【Do not go online】?

That would truly be hellish.

Ren Yi's heart skipped a beat as he suddenly remembered that just a few days ago, he had used the Anomaly Web to search for "how to complain about Anomaly Web account abnormalities."

He silently shrunk toward Ren Man's side, not daring to let his thoughts wander further.

The group of three Anomalies and one crystal soon headed out. Led by Dr. Lin, they quickly arrived at the subway station.

There was no other choice; his brother's electric scooter really couldn't fit three people.

The moment they stepped into the underground passage, a cool blast of air-conditioned wind hit them, completely sealing out the summer heat from outside.

Many elderly people and children were sitting on the platform to escape the heat, a scene of peaceful daily life.

Ren Yi gripped Wang Zhixin in his pocket.

He had shown Wang Zhixin the public conduct rules before. Obviously, things like "flying crystals" that "don't quite fit human cognition" could not appear directly in public places.

The PA system played the "Wenning City Subway Traffic Regulations" on a loop. Ren Yi listened for a while and confirmed it was no different from before his awakening.

So, did the subway have no special rules?

Still, Wenning City—the name of the city he lived in.

Ren Yi hadn't paid much attention to it before, simply thinking it sounded nice.

But now.

Wenning City.

Wen-ning... Wen-shi... Greenhouse?

Ren Yi dazed for a moment.

It wasn't until he retrieved his backpack from the security guard—whose head was like a giant eye that kept blinking—and took the elevator down to the waiting area that Ren Yi saw a board covered in dense, red prohibition symbols.

【Subway Line 13 Passenger Guidelines】

This line's regular operating hours are 6:30-22:30, with trains every 5 minutes. If you must ride outside of operational hours, please ignore the following regulations and pay attention to the passenger guidelines inside the train.

The route map above the platform screen doors only displays the section from Kangheng East Road to Pingjiang Road.

The train consists of 6 carriages, with a white body and a blue-patterned belt.

Eating and drinking are prohibited inside the carriages. Selling food is prohibited.

Harassing other passengers inside the carriages is prohibited.

Prolonged eye contact with strangers inside the carriages is prohibited.

Talking, communicating, gesturing, or using electronic devices to communicate with people outside the train windows is prohibited.

...

After Ren Yi seriously read a few lines, Ren Man suddenly reached out and lightly pressed Ren Yi's head down, making him look directly at the last two blood-red rules.

All abnormal behaviors, including harming, eroding, contaminating, possessing, transforming, parasitizing, tampering with cognition, stripping souls, forced assimilation, rule overriding, consciousness implantation, existence erasure, form replacement, and aura tainting of any passengers, crew members, or unclaimed items are strictly prohibited!

It is forbidden to damage, distort, interfere with, or replace the stable order within the current carriage or the normal state of existence of the passengers in any way!

Ren Yi's mouth twitched as he read.

What was with this sense of breakdown, this desperate vibe that was practically screaming "you guys are not allowed to cause trouble"?

Ren Yi did his best to process it.

First, the subway might be an Instance, but the Instance only opened during non-operational hours at night.

Once the Instance opened, the following rules wouldn't be very applicable; instead, one would have to follow the rules provided inside the subway carriages.

However, he probably didn't need to worry about that part.

Second, what was with this dense list of prohibited items?

Since the Instance was at night, these rules weren't actually for the Participants.

From the first few lines that still tried to maintain a facade, writing ambiguous things that could be for either Participants or Anomalies, it gradually descended into madness until it was practically saying "you are not allowed to eat people."

However, Anomalies shouldn't enter another Anomaly's Instance without permission, and there shouldn't be any Participants here during normal hours.

So what exactly was going on?

Just then, a white train with blue patterns slowly entered the station.

Ren Yi checked the time: 11:45 AM.

As the PA system announced "Please let passengers off first..." the various crowds of "people" also began to move slowly.

Ren Yi was about to follow when he realized Ren Man and Dr. Lin were both standing still.

"Not this one," Dr. Lin explained.

Soon, the warning lights flashed, the doors slid shut, and the train quickly pulled away.

Ren Yi looked around. A few scattered Anomalies remained on the platform, but as he scanned the area, he realized he had seemingly become the youngest one left.

The "children," who weren't many to begin with, had all boarded the previous train and left.

The next second, the platform lights began to flicker wildly without warning.

A low rumble of wheels on tracks approached from the distance as a train painted with dark red stripes slowly glided into the station.

The destination "Kangheng East Road" displayed on the screen doors flickered like garbled code a few times before finally turning into: Xinglong Entertainment City.

After a few beeps, the screen doors in front of them slowly opened.

"This is the one. Let's go," Dr. Lin called out, taking the first step.

Ren Yi checked the time again: 11:47.

Line 13 sent a train every five minutes; the standard model was white with blue patterns, and the route went from Pingjiang Road to Kangheng East Road.

This was going to violate all of the first three rules at once?

No, the first three rules were just statements about Line 13 itself; they didn't say that one wasn't allowed to board a train that "didn't belong to Line 13."

So, was this actually a hint that this was a "special shift"?