Chapter 501: Disaster Magnet? (1)

Chapter 499

Walking towards the door, Ray could see a security figure standing beside it, welcoming customers into the café.

Adjusting his hood properly, Ray stepped forward, and the security guard smiled while politely opening the door for him.

"Welcome to Lizzy’s Café, dear Vanguard member."

Giving the man a curt nod, Ray walked into the establishment.

Inside, the café was a warm and inviting space filled with the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee and baked pastries.

A long counter stretched along one side of the room, displaying an assortment of cakes, sandwiches, pastries, and other light snacks beneath glass cases.

Behind the counter, shelves held rows of coffee beans, tea leaves, cups, and various ingredients, while a large coffee machine hummed quietly as drinks were prepared.

Several small tables were scattered throughout the café, each surrounded by comfortable chairs. Some customers sat quietly enjoying their drinks, while others chatted amongst themselves.

Soft lighting illuminated the interior, reflecting gently off the polished wooden tables and giving the café a relaxed atmosphere.

Large windows along the walls allowed natural light to spill inside, while the occasional clinking of cups and quiet conversations filled the room.

The moment he stepped foot inside, a waiter rushed towards him.

"Come in, sir. Come, let me show you to your seat."

Ray glanced at the waiter for a second before giving him a nod.

"Please, come," the waiter said as he began walking towards an empty spot.

The spot had just a metallic chair and a glass table covered by a beautiful patterned material, with a small flower vase placed on top.

Walking towards the chair, Ray calmly sat down, and the waiter immediately offered him the menu.

Ray’s eyes darted across the menu, his mind racing as he spotted several amazingly sounding snacks and pastries.

’Okay, first off....’

"I will have a cup of coffee."

The waiter nodded while jotting it down on his notepad.

"With cream or without?"

Ray thought for a few seconds, trying to recall if he had properly seen Captain Raze’s coffee.

"Uh... without cream would be fine."

The waiter nodded while writing that down.

"Anything else?"

Ray glanced at the menu before surfing through the list of snacks and pastries.

’Okay, these look delicious...’

"I will take this, this, this, uh... this strawberry shortcake, these chips, fries, uh... egg roll? Yeah, I will take this too. And this Pringles."

The waiter glanced at him as the boy kept pointing to more and more snacks—pastries and foods that didn’t have any business being combined together.

He kept pointing at them until, eventually, he was done.

"And that will be all, thank you."

"Sure. I will be back in five minutes with your orders."

"Great. I will be waiting."

Ray smiled as he leaned back into his chair while the waiter left to go get his order ready.

Looking around him for a moment to see if anybody was watching, Ray was about to pull his novel out of his inventory when he received a notification on his phone.

Turning it on, he saw that it was a message from Van.

{Dumbass, where are you now? I hope you aren’t causing any trouble?}

Ray looked around him at the dozens of people trooping in and settling down to get their orders.

He took in the quiet interior of the café before listening to the sounds of cars passing by outside.

Then, he looked at the message again.

’I just came to get a coffee, and he thinks I’m causing trouble? Tsk.’

Tapping on his keyboard, Ray typed out a reply.

"I just stepped out to get some coffee. I will be back in a few minutes."

After sending it, he dropped his phone down because the waiter had finally returned with a tray filled with all his orders.

In fact, he had two trays because a single tray couldn’t contain everything the Tribrid wanted.

It took a certain level of skill for the waiter to balance all of them as he approached.

Ray rubbed his hands greedily as he watched his pastries arrive.

Soon, the waiter gently set the trays on the table before bowing slightly.

"Enjoy your meal."

And then, he left.

"First of all..."

Grabbing the coffee, Ray’s heart pumped with excitement as he slowly brought the cup to his mouth.

Then,

He took a mouthful sip.

And then,

His eyes bulged in shock, the coffee refusing to move down his throat as he stared at the liquid in disbelief.

"Blergh..."

He spat the drink back into the cup with a disgusted look on his face.

Spitting to the side to get rid of any residual taste lingering on his tongue, he pushed the cup of coffee away.

’The fuck? What is this?! How can the Captain enjoy this? It tastes bitter, roasted, and kind of earthy. What the hell? Man.... I should have just stuck with my tea. Mehn... imma throw up. I need to cleanse my mouth.’

Looking around his table, he grabbed the strawberry cake and immediately began munching on it with a satisfied look on his face.

’... Ugh... much better. This should clean the taste of that repulsive drink. Tsk.’

His phone chimed softly with a new notification.

Glancing at it as he calmly ate his cake, he saw that it was a reply from Van.

{Hurry and return back. I don’t trust you to be alone. You are prone to attracting all sorts of troubles and danger to yourself, so hurry back.}

Ray’s brows drew closer as he typed out a reply.

"The hell? Are you calling me a trouble magnet? There are millions of people in this world, and you’re saying that because of me, disasters happen?"

With an irritated look on his face, he sent the text and dropped his phone.

The moment he dropped his phone, the sounds of crashing could suddenly be heard outside the café.

It sounded increasingly loud and disturbing, causing all eyes to turn towards the glass doors that revealed what was going on outside.

"...."

Cars were crashing into each other as if they were suddenly losing control.

The cause?

One car had abruptly halted, causing another to crash into it from behind, then another, and finally another until more than a dozen cars collided with each other, with some vehicles going up in flames.

All the people inside the café slowly rose from their seats with confused looks on their faces as they wondered what was going on.

Only Ray remained seated, seemingly uncaring about the accident outside until—

BLAM!

A massive blast of wind burst outside, pushing the crashed cars backward—a few inches away from their original positions.

— Wh-What is that?!

Someone shouted as they peeked through the window to see something tearing through space.

It was like a vortex ripping open through reality itself.

Blue electrical energy crackled wildly across it, striking the ground inches beneath the vortex.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Ray’s eyes glanced downward to see his phone reacting.

The danger icon on the screen was blaring with a furious red glow.

— A-A-It’s a gate!