Chapter 13

With a time limit looming, everyone temporarily put aside their grudges and focused wholeheartedly on searching for candy.

But plans never keep up with changes.

Just as we were engrossed in our search, the cafe welcomed some unexpected guests.

I was crawling on the floor, searching every corner and crack, when I suddenly felt a faint vibration from the ground, the sound growing closer and closer.

Ye Tiancheng and Bai Cancan heard it too.

We hurried to the front hall, where Liu Yating and the others were standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking outside.

We saw a player who had previously split off from our group sprinting madly toward the cafe, chased by a two-meter-tall Nutcracker and his Wooden Soldiers. Beside them was the Mouse King, with a mouse head and human body, leading his Mouse Soldiers.

That player spotted us as well. He dashed to the cafe door, yanked open the handle, and rushed inside.

“Holy crap!” You Zile jumped in fright. “Liu Zheng! Why did you come in here? Are you trying to get us all killed?!”

Before Liu Zheng could reply, the Nutcracker opened his sharp jaws, bit through the glass in a few chomps, and barged in.

“Ah! How dare you destroy my cafe!”

The Sugar Plum Fairy flew out, glaring at the shattered fragments on the floor. Furious, she hurled syrup at the Nutcracker, and the candies on the table transformed into tiny animated figures, leaping down to attack the Wooden Soldiers and Mouse Soldiers.

A three-way battle broke out, the cafe door wide open, and no one cared to close it.

I quietly tugged at Ye Tiancheng’s sleeve and whispered, “Time to bail!”

Ye Tiancheng nodded, and the three of us slowly edged toward the door.

The sharp-eyed Mouse King spotted me, stretched out his stubby arms, and lunged, “Oh beautiful princess, I need your kiss!”

“No way!”

I ducked under his embrace, and he missed.

The Mouse King’s heavy body crashed to the floor, crushing several candy figures.

The candy crumbs turned into sticky poisonous syrup, blistering the Mouse King’s skin. He howled and rolled on the ground in pain.

We seized the chance to dash outside, with Liu Yating close behind.

You Zile was being chased by two Wooden Soldiers. Seeing us escape, he tried to follow, but Li Tong’s Brother grabbed him by the waist and snarled, “Don’t even think about running. You have to die here today!”

“Let go!” You Zile struggled, pulling out his Pendant to try and transfer the danger, but a large hand clamped over his mouth.

Liu Zheng held his mouth tightly, eyes burning with hatred. “You transferred disaster and got my friend killed in the jam jar. This time, you can taste the consequences yourself!”

You Zile gripped his item but couldn’t use it, staring in despair as the Nutcracker opened its jaws and bit through his neck.