Agatha walked on the deserted streets. The familiar city scenery of the past now seemed to be filled with a quiet and eerie atmosphere. Between the shadows of the surrounding buildings and behind the closed doors and windows, there seemed to be pairs of prying eyes hidden.

She is looking for the exit of this "foreign land" or the culprit that caused her to be trapped here.

Every place that seems out of place may be a crack that intersects with the real world, but so far she has not found such a crack in this strange "Frost City-State".

The only thing she was sure of was that she had touched the shadow that had always shrouded the city-state - whether it was by accident or intentional by the mastermind behind the scenes, she had successfully crossed the "barrier" that had been blocking her sight.

This place that resembles frost must be the source of the frequent strange situations that have occurred in the city-state during this period.

The sound of wheels rolling over the cobblestone road came from a distance, and the faint sounds of car bells and doors opening and closing floated into my ears.

Agatha looked up in the direction where the sound came from, but could only see empty streets - but farther away, she could indeed see some shadows that looked like carriages and horses flashing past the intersections, and saw figures that looked like pedestrians hurriedly walking through those intersections.

There are "people" in this city, but most of the time all you can see are distant phantoms. You can hear the voices of the residents here, but it is often impossible to accurately locate the source of the sound.

It's like a bizarre, chaotic and distorted dream.

Agatha's figure crossed another intersection and then stopped between the shadows of the buildings.

Blind exploration would only waste her energy and time. She needed to carefully judge the surrounding situation.

She closed her eyes and let her senses spread out, carefully distinguishing various information in the environment - sounds, smells, wind direction, and... the temperature of living people.

After a moment, Agatha looked up in a certain direction and took a step towards that direction - she still had her eyes closed, but she seemed to be able to see clearly around her and accurately avoided all obstacles on the road. She walked through the alleys, passed through intersections and paths, and walked for an unknown amount of time before she stopped in front of a building on the corner of the street.

Agatha opened her eyes and saw a small restaurant in front of her. The lights were on and there were lively voices coming from inside.

The voice was very real, and it contained the breath of a living person.

Agatha calmed herself down, walked forward and pushed open the door of the restaurant.

A crisp bell rang, the door opened, and the scene inside the restaurant came into view and caught Agatha's eyes - at this moment, she was a little dazed, and even suspected that she had left that strange "foreign land" and returned to the normal real world.

The restaurant was brightly lit, and guests could be seen dining everywhere, as well as waiters busying around between tables and counters. The receptionist was busy behind the counter, and what could be heard were the crisp sounds of knives and forks colliding with cups and plates, as well as the sound of people talking about the weather, work and prices. The dead and cold atmosphere that had accumulated on the street outside seemed to have been swept away by this lively "worldly scenery".

However, the next second, Agatha noticed something obviously wrong here - although the diners were eating at the table, the cups and plates in front of them were empty, and although the waiter was busy behind the counter, he was just walking back and forth, wiping the same cup in his hand over and over again.

Everyone was like a programmed puppet, just repeating the daily movements that a normal person would have, except... their imitation was very lifelike.

Agatha frowned. After realizing the truth, the atmosphere here seemed even more eerie than the deserted streets outside. However, she did not turn around and leave. Instead, she stepped into the store.

The more bizarre the place is, the more it proves that you have found the right direction.

As Agatha took her first step, the lively conversation in the restaurant suddenly stopped.

All the diners who were talking closed their mouths at the same time, but their faces still showed various expressions from the chat, and their hands were still eating - in the huge space, after the voices disappeared, only the monotonous sound of cups and plates hitting knives and forks remained.

Agatha took the second step, and the sounds of all cups, plates, knives and forks colliding also disappeared - everyone in the restaurant stopped moving, as if the power was suddenly cut off, and they stood still beside the square tables.

Agatha took the third step forward, and everyone in the restaurant put down their knives and forks. They stood up like zombies, turned their heads expressionlessly, and dozens of empty gazes fell on her.

Agatha looked at the counter in front of her. The waiter who had been wiping the same cup finally stopped. However, unlike the "diners" around him who were as empty and stiff as zombies, this waiter slowly raised his head and looked at Agatha with a faint smile on his face.

The smile was even friendly.

"Hello, Miss Gatekeeper," the clerk spoke. He was a good-looking young man with short blond hair, wearing a white shirt and a black jacket. He spoke politely, as if he was really entertaining a guest. "I'm glad you're here. What do you think of this delightful city?"

"It seems that you are the culprit of all this," Agatha calmly looked at the blonde "shop assistant" in front of her: "It is easier to find you than I thought."

"It may not be as easy as you think," the blond young man laughed, "Would you like something? Dirty water contaminated with poison? Bread made of mud? Or... an empty bowl? We have plenty of them here."

Agatha made no attempt to answer, but simply raised her cane and waved it in the air.

The blond young man behind the counter was instantly wrapped in layers of pale flames that appeared out of nowhere. His skin was burned to ashes within a few breaths by the gatekeeper's "cremation" ability, leaving only gray ashes that drifted in the wind and fell on the counter.

However, Agatha's expression did not change at all, because before the flames ignited, she sensed that there was no breath of life in the young man's body.

A strange sound of sticky substance squirming came from the side. Agatha turned her head and saw a "diner" who was standing stiffly at a table not far away suddenly trembled all over. The next second, the man's body melted like wax, and black mud surged and deformed on his body surface. Within a few breaths, the diner changed into a blond young man in a white shirt and black jacket.

"What an unfriendly way to greet someone," the blond young man flicked the dust off his clothes and looked at Agatha helplessly. "Miss Gatekeeper, you don't think this can solve my problem, do you? Do you think I would rashly expose my true self to such a dangerous place?"

"I know you're not here," Agatha deadpanned, "but this will at least stop you from talking for a while."

"Okay, okay, it seems that you are not in the mood to chat - you are a boring woman. In comparison, Professor Myerson's performance at the last moment is much more interesting," the blond young man shrugged. "But it doesn't matter. As long as I can keep you here honestly for a while, I don't mind you being a boring prisoner."

The moment she heard the words "Professor Myerson", Agatha's expression changed slightly. She thought of the disappeared Dagger Island and the series of explosions that occurred on the island just before it disappeared as mentioned in the report - and then, she noticed the information revealed in the other party's last few words.

"What do you mean by your last few words?" She stared at the blond young man in front of her and said in a cold tone.

"Nothing, I just want you to stay here for a while," the blond young man laughed happily, "You don't have to worry about the situation 'up there' - soon, another you will return there, and she will gather the guards like you, and then compile a report based on the actual situation of the sewage treatment center...

"Don't worry, she will report the truth, including the pollution suffered by the treatment center and the replacement of personnel. Then, she will return to the cathedral to report on her duties and talk with Bishop Ivan as you usually do. After that, she will tour the city-state and continue to deal with various problems facing the city and continue the investigations that you failed to complete... Nothing will be delayed."

Agatha's expression finally turned completely cold. She stared at the blond young man in front of her: "You even made a 'fake' gatekeeper?!"

"Is this difficult?" The blond young man slowly retracted the smile on his face, looked at Agatha with a hint of sarcasm and said, "Of course, she doesn't have your power, but other than that, she has no flaws, even more perfect than any previous copy - do you know how perfect she is? She... doesn't even know she's fake."

Agatha's face was as pale as ice, and the knuckles of her tightly gripped cane turned slightly white. "A fake cannot be hidden from the cathedral - there are countless pairs of sharp eyes there."

"Countless pairs of sharp eyes - mortal eyes, you overestimate your colleagues," the blond young man calmly met Agatha's cold gaze and said slowly, "and speaking of fakes... do you really think there is any difference between you and others and the 'fakes' you mentioned?"

He laughed again and slowly raised his hands, like a saint preaching and revealing the truth of the world: "Miss Gatekeeper, there has never been any fake from the beginning, or rather... we are all fakes, this is the truth."