Mystery: Gray Walker

Chapter 25 The Price of Power

Time has lost its meaning.

It could be a minute, or it could be an hour. When Green opened his eyes again, the underground warehouse was still the same underground warehouse, but everything seemed different.

He felt a strange sense of direction.

Even with my eyes closed, I can clearly sense the location of the warehouse door and how many steps away it is. It's like an intuition, as natural as my own hand being beside my body.

He closed his eyes, tried to follow his instincts as he walked up the stairs to the heavy oak door, and placed his hand on the cold door panel.

Concentrate and feel the dual nature of this door as both a 'barrier' and a 'passage'.

The next second, a strange feeling of weightlessness came over me.

Green opened his eyes and found that half of his arm had disappeared. No, his arm was still there, and he could feel the reality of clenching his fist.

He took a step forward, and the next second, he was standing outside the door. There was no sound, no light or shadow, as if he had always been standing there.

"Penetrating...obstacles?" Green muttered to himself.

He placed his hand on the door again, concentrating on feeling the door.

This time, the physical details of the wooden planks and iron rivets began to blur in his perception, replaced by an abstract concept—

This is a 'door,' a 'gap' through which one is allowed to pass.

As he confirmed the concept and had the intention to pass through, that strange feeling of weightlessness returned.

The field of vision remained unchanged, but the body seemed to instantly lose its 'contact' with the door panel; with one step, it was already inside the door.

"It's not that my body passed through matter, but rather that the concept of the 'door' as an 'obstacle' became 'ineffective' for me the moment I passed through it."

Green seemed to understand. This was what Lillian meant by "opening the door," but it was more idealistic and more direct than he had imagined.

Green couldn't hide his excitement. With this ability, he might not be very strong in combat, but he would definitely be a first-rate fighter.

After the initial excitement, I calmed down.

"Does it have to be a door?" The thought flashed through his mind.

With this in mind, he decided to test it out and systematically understand the boundaries of this ability.

He walked to a stone wall, stepped forward, and his upper body instantly appeared above the stairs. As expected, he fell down, but fortunately, it wasn't too high.

"A wall can also achieve the effect of 'opening a door'..." Green muttered, rubbing his sore bottom.

He went to the basement, looked at the moldy walls, and took another step, but he bumped into them.

Green rubbed his forehead, slid down against the wall, and said, "Failed?"

After a moment's thought, he came to a simple conclusion.

"It seems that to get past the obstacles, there must be two accessible spatial interfaces. Doors would work, some walls would work, but the solid walls of this basement wouldn't..."

"This ability isn't very useful in direct combat, but it's great for movement, infiltration, and escaping the battlefield. Does that mean no one can catch me? I can just walk right through, while the enemy has to take a detour to find my exact location."

After the test, Green felt exhausted, both mentally and physically. A full day of intense work, coupled with the promotion and testing, had pushed him to his physical limits.

Before leaving, he glanced at the west corner one last time. A sense of curiosity lingered within him.

"Don't rush, curiosity killed the cat..."

After packing his things and locking the door, Green walked out of the port authority. It was already dark, and the streetlights cast a dim yellow glow. A cool breeze invigorated Green.

The way home is still quite a distance, about a 20-minute walk.

Along the way, Green kept replaying the feeling of opening the door in his mind. His gaze began to sweep across the doors on the street, all kinds of doors, and the walls, some newly painted, some mottled.

The feeling was like seeing a series of the latest toys, constantly stimulating his senses.

Finally, he could no longer restrain himself and walked into the shadows of an alleyway.

He focused his mind and took a step forward. When he felt weightlessness, he was already standing in the backyard, which was full of clutter.

The novelty made his heart race.

Put it back on, then put it back on.

The simple repetition brings a sense of unconventional, secret pleasure.

This pleasure quickly intensifies.

He began to lose interest in simple tests, and the idea of ​​going home was forgotten.

Green's steps followed his gaze as he searched for his next 'target'.

Beyond the side wall of that closed bakery lay a kitchen that reeked of yeast and icing sugar. A low fence led to someone else's quiet little garden, startling a dog into barking.

He got more and more into it, and his movements became bolder and more fluid. What started as cautious experimentation turned into almost instinctive maneuvering.

Upon seeing the wall, he stepped inside. The world before him seemed to transform into a three-dimensional maze composed of countless rooms, alleyways, and courtyards, and he was the only explorer with the master key.

This kind of travel that disregards physical barriers allowed him to glimpse many unknown corners of the city under the night sky and encounter many unexpected "scenery".

He passed through a wall, where a well-dressed gentleman was leaning against the wall, vomiting violently and reeking of alcohol. When he looked up and saw Green, he mumbled something like, "Another drink, please."

Green ignored him and quickly passed through a broken wooden wall, entering a narrow, sheltered corner.

A homeless man, wrapped in a tattered blanket, was huddled there. He was startled by Green's sudden appearance and his eyes were filled with wariness and confusion.

The most embarrassing incident happened deep in a dark alley.

He had just crawled out of the wall and hadn't even gotten his footing when he heard suppressed breathing and the rustling of clothes.

Immediately afterwards, a piercing scream that almost shattered eardrums rang out!

A disheveled woman was pointing at him in a terrified manner, while her male companion behind her looked both shocked and angry, frantically pulling up his trousers.

"A ghost! There's a ghost!" The woman's scream echoed through the alley.

Green felt a chill run down his spine. As if by reflex, he leaned back sharply, his body instantly shrinking into the wall. All he could hear were the screams and curses of men and women.

Leaning against the cold bricks, Green's heart pounded. Once he calmed down, he felt a pang of guilt... He wondered if the man had been frightened, and whether he would be able to do it again...

Green looked around, somewhat bewildered. He tried to recall the path he had taken, silently calculating how many walls he had passed through... but the series of erratic passages had already disrupted his sense of direction.

He... got lost.

I'm completely lost.

Green gave a wry smile. The new ability brought unprecedented freedom, but it also came with equally huge risks, not only the risk of encountering embarrassing or dangerous situations, but also the risk of getting lost due to this excessive indulgence.

He straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.

However, just as he was about to leave the alley, he suddenly felt a sense of being watched from afar. He turned his head and stood there, stunned.

A dark figure stood motionless in the distance, seemingly... watching him...

There's someone there.

Green looked at the other person. "Did you suddenly realize that I'm still... being followed?"

He thought about it carefully and realized that the probability of being followed was too low. He didn't even know where he was right now, unless the other party was flying right next to him.

"Could it be... someone extraordinary? Or... someone from the Crimson Order?"