The department store was located near the skinned people's nest. Now that the skinned people were all dead, the road was eerily quiet.

Karan led the way in front as they followed the street into the block where the department store stood.

It wasn't until they got close to the center of the ruins that Lin Ye understood why reaching the center of the ruins absolutely required passing through the department store. Very severe spatial anomalies had already appeared here. If they walked around randomly, they were very likely to be teleported to extremely dangerous places.

Lin Ye carefully sensed the surrounding environment, trying to find a safe route into the center of the ruins, but unfortunately, he found nothing.

"The department store is just ahead. We need to jump from the fourth floor of the department store to the rooftop of the abandoned building opposite. There are many mannequins inside the department store. It's said there's no problem as long as you don't get close to them."

Karan hadn't been to the department store either, but he had collected information about it.

The four of them approached the department store entrance. Some mannequins watched them from inside the display windows. The eyes of these mannequins were just like those of living people.

Karan felt his hair stand on end under the gaze of those mannequins. If Lin Ye hadn't been behind him, he definitely wouldn't have gone in.

"The stares from these mannequins make me a bit uncomfortable. Are they really not going to attack us?"

Xiya asked with a frown.

"It's said they won't, as long as we don't make contact with them."

Karan replied.

"Then can we attack them?"

Xiya followed up.

"Probably not. I haven't collected any information on what happens if you attack the mannequins. Probably, those who attacked them never came out alive."

That's exactly why Karan didn't want to take this route.

"...How about we still go to that tunnel instead? After getting close to this place, I feel a bit unwell."

Ferrando felt like he had forgotten something very important.

"Don't worry. If any problems arise, I'll handle them."

Lin Ye felt that tunnel was far worse than this place.

Ferrando didn't answer, just walked in the center of the group with vacant eyes.

The four entered the department store. The interior was a complete mess. After the disaster, many survivors had come here to scavenge for supplies.

The main entrance directly faced two large escalators. The escalators led to the second floor, with some mannequins standing on them.

"I thought these mannequins would charge at us and attack the moment we entered. I didn't expect them to be so 'well-behaved'."

Xiya remarked with a sigh.

"...My stomach suddenly feels upset. I need to go to the toilet."

Karan said, clutching his stomach.

"Go ahead. Come back as soon as possible."

Xiya said naturally.

"You're a fourth-tier spiritual energy user. How can your stomach still get upset?"

Lin Ye looked at Karan as if he were an idiot.

"Something's wrong here! I suddenly wanted to go to the toilet just now, and I didn't even realize there was a problem with that!"

Karan nervously scanned his surroundings, trying to find the enemy attacking him, but there were only motionless mannequins around.

"Something is indeed wrong. I didn't sense any problem with that either!"

Xiya also began to be on guard. She hadn't expected this place to be so dangerous.

"Hurry upstairs. Don't touch those mannequins."

Lin Ye used his mental energy to sense inside the toilet. There was nothing inside.

"Alright."

The four went upstairs along the escalator. Karan walked at the front. As he approached a mannequin standing on one side of the escalator, Karan deliberately stayed away from it, holding onto the side handrail and climbing upward, his entire body hanging outside the escalator.

As a fourth-tier spiritual energy user, this level of climbing wasn't even a warm-up. But Karan suddenly lost focus and let go of the handrail.

Before Karan could fall, Lin Ye used his spiritual energy driving technique to forcibly slam him onto the second floor.

The others didn't have any accidents and all reached the second floor smoothly.

"Damn it! Why is it only targeting me!"

Karan got up from the ground, looking around in confusion.

But no matter how he observed, he couldn't find any trace of the enemy.

"Maybe it's because of the order we entered the building. Maybe it's because you're walking at the front. Maybe it's because you stepped with your left foot first when entering the building. There are many possibilities, but that's not important, because I'll handle any problems from behind."

Lin Ye comforted Karan. He needed these people to maintain stable mental states.

"I'll walk at the front next. Karan, you guide the way for me."

Xiya walked to the front of the group and said.

"Big Sis Xiya, let me do it. In case we need to move quickly later, it's safer if I lead."

Karan didn't back down and returned to his position.

The second floor of the building was littered with overturned shelves everywhere. Many mannequins stood between the shelves. They had to bypass the paths crowded with mannequins.

Lin Ye sensed the position of every mannequin around them. He needed to ensure these mannequins wouldn't suddenly move and approach them.

Right at that moment, Lin Ye suddenly detected a trace of abnormality. It was a subtle discrepancy between different senses, but no matter how tiny the anomaly, he wouldn't ignore it.

In his perception, there was nothing behind him. The nearest mannequin was a full seven meters away. But his five senses told him that something was slowly moving behind his back.

Lin Ye whipped his head around. A mannequin stood behind him, reaching its right hand out toward him. The plastic fingers were less than ten centimeters from his shoulder.

Under Lin Ye's gaze, the mannequin froze there, not moving any further.

"Watch your surroundings! Each person watch one direction! These mannequins can affect perception, but they don't seem to be able to move while being watched!"

Lin Ye said loudly.

The four stood back-to-back, each responsible for observing one direction. They moved forward like this. The mannequins would move in their blind spots, but as soon as they were watched, they would freeze in place like real mannequins.

"Good thing there are many of us. If someone came here alone, wouldn't they only be able to move along the walls or spin in place?"

Thinking about a group of mannequins approaching from all kinds of unseen places made Xiya feel a chill run down her spine.

"That's why they want to separate us. It's hard for one person to survive here."

Lin Ye didn't know what would happen after being touched by these mannequins, but it definitely wasn't anything good.

The four quickly passed through the shelf area and found the escalator leading to the third floor in a corner.

The emergency stairwell had been destroyed. They could only reach the fourth floor via the escalator.

The third floor was the clothing section. Mannequins wearing various outfits were everywhere here.

The four watched every nearby mannequin. Under their gaze, each mannequin obediently stayed in place.

Lin Ye would use his mental energy to monitor the condition of his three teammates, preventing them from suffering the previous kind of mental influence.

The four smoothly passed through the third floor and went up to the fourth floor via the escalator.

The fourth floor was the food court. Some mannequins sat at plastic tables, holding cutlery in their hands.

The emergency stairwell was at the northwest corner of the fourth floor. There was a window there leading to the rooftop of another abandoned building.

"...Ferrando, why does that mannequin look exactly like you?"

Karan, walking at the front, suddenly spoke up.