So, during the peak tourist season, Siren Town was inexplicably desolate, with many inns and hotels closing down due to poor business.

Siren Town was indeed quite rundown, with tattered fences and fishing nets everywhere, dried shells and seaweed scattered on the ground along with mud and sand. Only a few hotels and inns had decent decor. By the time Liam White and the others arrived, it was already late at night, yet there were still many pedestrians on the streets.

These pedestrians had originally been walking in unison toward the seaside, but as soon as Liam White and the others drove in, the townspeople who had been heading to the shore all stopped simultaneously, tilted their heads, and stared intently at Liam White's car.

Being stared at by so many people in the middle of the night sent chills down Lucy Carter's spine. She let out a soft scream and shrank into Liam White's arms.

But she was much taller than Liam White, so her head still stuck out above Liam White's shoulder, making it look as if Liam White was the one hiding in her arms.

Liam White: "......"

Liam White turned to the driver and asked, "It's already midnight, what are these people doing at the seaside?"

The driver shook his head. "Not many tourists have come lately, and with the economy in a slump, they have to go back to fishing. If you haven't fished before, you wouldn't know—many valuable fish are afraid of strong light and only come out at night, so that's why they go out to sea at night."

The townspeople stared at Liam White with strange looks, their eyes reflecting a cat-like green glow in the night, their faces bearing a bizarre expression, as if they were smiling, but their lips didn't fully curl up—instead, they twitched stiffly at the corners.

They held fishing nets and hooks in their hands, some carrying oil lamps with milky light. They stared unblinkingly at the car carrying Liam White, their eyes following the car as it moved, as if they might rush up at any moment and attack the car with their fishing gear.

"You'd better be careful around these folks," the driver warned. "They're really short on money lately, and you guys are loaded."

Because Liam White was a wealthy second-generation who spent lavishly, the driver found the best hotel in town for their group.

This hotel was so luxurious that it clashed with the entire town's style—a very modern, trendy five-star hotel, with even a fountain at the entrance.

In the fountain was a stone statue of a mermaid, carved so vividly that the lustrous marble skin shimmered with a human-like glow under the dim moonlight. Her long hair cascaded down, covering her ample breasts, her fish tail stood upright in the pool, her eyes cast down with a look of compassion, holding a jug in her hands. Some fake mica pearls were scattered in the jug, and the fountain water poured out from it, falling into the pool below and making a sound like ocean waves.

The driver circled the fountain at the hotel entrance and drove the car right up to the front door.

Suddenly, Jeffrey Howard cried out, pointing at the mermaid fountain statue at the hotel entrance: "She was just looking at me! She just moved!"

Chapter 3 Siren Town

Liam White followed Jeffrey Howard's gaze, but the mermaid statue still had her eyes downcast, looking at the water, motionless.

Andrew Carter was startled by Jeffrey Howard's outburst and punched him hard. "Damn it! Where did it move? It didn't move at all! If you keep freaking out like this, I'll rip out your vocal cords and see if you can still scream!"

Jeffrey Howard clutched his head where he'd been punched, glanced fearfully at Andrew Carter, curled himself up, and muttered softly, "She moved, she really did move..."

Lucy Carter was also creeped out by Jeffrey Howard. She forced a smile and said, "Jeffrey Howard, how can you be so sure it wasn't just your eyes playing tricks on you, and that the mermaid statue really moved? The statue doesn't even have pupils—how do you know she was looking at you?"

It was a milky-white marble mermaid statue. Although the eyes were sculpted, there were no black pupils; the entire eye was pure white, standing at the hotel entrance like some lifeless creature with empty eyes.

"Didn't you guys notice?" Jeffrey Howard's voice grew lower and trembled a bit. "No matter where our car went, the statue was always staring straight at us. Her eyes must be moving..."

"Oh, that's all? I thought it was something serious..." Lucy Carter clearly relaxed and finally laughed, "Isn't it just like that painting 'Mona Lisa's Smile'? No matter what angle you look from, it feels like the person in the painting is looking at you."

"No, that effect—where the person in the painting seems to look at you from any angle—can only happen on a two-dimensional surface. It's impossible in three dimensions, so a statue can't do that," Liam White calmly refuted Lucy Carter. "Jeffrey Howard is right, the statue's gaze really has been following us."

Just like those townspeople, who started staring at them the moment they arrived, as if watching prey that had entered their hunting grounds.

This thing must be some kind of monster.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the coin on Liam White's chest suddenly vibrated, and a brand new panel popped up. The game interface turned into a thick, ancient book like something from the Middle Ages, slowly opening in front of Liam White.