The room was small, packed with various instruments and cabinets.
The middle-aged man walked to the center of the room, where a silver-white disc sat.
The disc was about half a meter in diameter, its surface covered in intricate runes, with a moon-shaped indentation in the center.
The Moon Disc.
A specialized identity verification device for the Nightwatchers.
The middle-aged man placed the badge into the indentation.
The runes pulsed with a faint silver light.
The disc began to rotate slowly, emitting a soft humming sound.
After about a dozen seconds, a small slot on the edge of the disc spat out a roll of paper.
The middle-aged man picked it up and unfurled it.
The top few lines were clear:
Name: Lu Yuan
Number: West-02137
Employment Date: Imperial Year 1127
Professional Skills: Basic Medicine, Pharmacology, Forbidden Lore
But further down...
The "Stationed Base" column was blank.
The "Mission Records" were also blank.
The middle-aged man frowned, placed the badge back into the disc, and verified it once more.
The result was the same.
"How can this be?" The middle-aged man muttered, staring at the file before him. "This won't do. I'll go and ask."
He removed the badge and turned to leave the room.
"Your badge."
The middle-aged man handed the badge back to Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan took it and pinned it back onto his chest.
"I have a few questions for you." The middle-aged man looked at him.
"Which base did you come from?"
Lu Yuan opened his mouth, but as thoughts of Gelimu Port surfaced in his mind, his throat felt as if it were blocked by something.
"..."
After several seconds of silence, Lu Yuan was unable to utter a single word.
The middle-aged man watched Lu Yuan’s struggle, a trace of suspicion appearing on his face.
"What missions have you performed before?"
Lu Yuan remained unable to speak.
The middle-aged man’s frown deepened.
"Follow me."
He turned and walked deeper into the corridor.
Lu Yuan followed him.
A small room.
A table, several chairs, and an oil lamp hanging on the wall.
"Wait here."
The door closed.
Lu Yuan sat down in a chair with a sense of helplessness.
It was somewhat expected.
He could only wait for now.
At the end of the corridor, the middle-aged man knocked on a door.
"Come in."
In the office, a man in his thirties sat by the window. He was tall, with a gold badge pinned to his chest.
Hoguer.
Captain of the Nightwatchers Third Team in Bronze City.
"What is it?"
The middle-aged man walked to the desk and handed over the paper.
"Someone just arrived to report in. The badge is legitimate, but the file is incomplete."
Hoguer took the paper and scanned it.
Name, number, skills—everything was there.
Stationed Base: blank.
Mission Records: blank.
"Hmm? Is it because a new recruit's file hasn't been integrated yet? Go retrieve the paper records."
"Understood."
The archives were on the first basement level.
After the middle-aged man placed his badge into the lion’s mouth mechanism, the heavy bronze doors slowly opened with a series of mechanical clicks.
Rows upon rows of cabinets greeted him, categorized by letter and number.
He found the West section cabinet and pulled open a drawer.
His fingers slid over a line of file folders.
West-02110... West-02115... all there.
West-02118... empty.
The middle-aged man’s brows furrowed.
He quickened his pace, flipping through the records.
Massive gaps.
Occasionally, a few files lay there in isolation.
West-02123, Valentine.
West-02128, Alice.
West-02137, Lu Yuan.
The middle-aged man pulled out the three files and flipped further back.
All the way to West-02150, everything was empty.
The middle-aged man stood in the archive room, staring at those rows of empty spaces.
A chilling sensation crept up his spine.
Imperial numbers were assigned in the order of recruitment.
Every number corresponded to a Nightwatcher.
It was impossible for such a massive range of vacancies to exist.
Had something happened?
Listening to the middle-aged man’s explanation, Hoguer looked at the three files on his desk and remained silent for a long time.
"Are you certain?"
"Certain," the middle-aged man nodded. "In the range from West-02118 to West-02150, out of more than thirty numbers, only these three files remain."
He paused.
"The rest are completely empty. And there are no records of file transfers here."
Hoguer flipped open the three files.
Valentine.
Name, number, skills: clear.
Stationed Base: blank.
Mission Records: blank.
Alice.
The same.
Name, number, and skills were there, but everything else was blank.
Lu Yuan.
Exactly the same.
Three files, all with the same issue.
"What is the connection between these three?" Hoguer asked.
"I don't know," the middle-aged man shook his head. "There are no records of their relationship in the files. But since their numbers are in the same range, they should be from the same base."
"The same base..." Hoguer murmured the repetition.
He looked at the blank "Stationed Base" column on the three files.
The same base.
But what was that base called? Where was it?
Why was there no record of it in the files?
"Unless there is a problem with the Imperial archive management," the middle-aged man said tentatively.
"Impossible," Hoguer shook his head decisively. "Files have multiple backups. It’s impossible for them to fail simultaneously."
"Then someone tampered with them?"
"Who would have that kind of ability?" Hoguer countered. "Over thirty files, vanished into thin air without leaving a single trace. Even we don't know who those numbers belonged to."
He paused for a moment.
"Think carefully. Do you have any memory of the range from West-02118 to West-02150?"
The middle-aged man froze.
He tried to recall.
Those numbers... those people...
His mind was a complete blank.
"No," he shook his head slowly. "I don't remember those numbers ever belonging to anyone."
"I don't remember either," Hoguer’s voice was low. "But the numbers truly exist. They were assigned by the Empire."
"What does this mean?"
"It means those people did indeed exist." Hoguer stared at the three files. "But now, except for these three, all the others... have vanished."
"Even the memories have vanished."
Silence fell over the room.
This wasn't just a problem with the archive system.
It wasn't as simple as someone tampering with it.
"What did he say?" Hoguer asked, breaking the silence.
"I asked him two questions, and he couldn't answer either one," the middle-aged man said.
Hoguer stood up.
"Come, let's go see him."
Following the sound of footsteps, the door was pushed open.
Lu Yuan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them.
Hoguer walked in, followed by the middle-aged man from before.
A captain-level officer.
Lu Yuan noticed the gold badge on his chest.
Hoguer sat down across the table.
"My name is Hoguer, Captain of the Third Team."
He placed the three files on the table.
"There is a problem with your file."
Lu Yuan looked down.
Three files.
His own, and two others.
At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text quietly emerged:
【Passive Skill: Hidden Witness is resisting external interference】
The content he saw was very clear.
In his own file:
Stationed Base: Gelimu Port.
Mission Records: Water Plant Pollution Incident, Slaying of Baron Thorn, Deep Sea Church Raid...
In the other two:
Valentine. Gelimu Port.
Alice. Gelimu Port.
Entry by entry, it was all perfectly clear.
But he knew that what Hoguer saw was a blank.
"The Stationed Base is empty, and the Mission Records are also empty." Hoguer stared at him, his gaze stern. "All three files are the same."
He pushed the stack of files forward.
"There’s one more thing. The files for the thirty-odd numbers adjacent to yours have all vanished. Only you three remain."
Lu Yuan’s expression didn’t change, but his fingers gripping the chair tightened slightly.
He understood.
Those missing numbers corresponded to the Nightwatchers of Gelimu Port.
Old Morgan, Hans, Mary...
Their files, along with their very existence, had been erased.
Only three people's files remained.
Valentine, Alice, and himself.
Because they had survived.
"So I need you to tell me," Hoguer’s voice dropped low. "Where did you come from? Which base were you at? Do you know these two people? What happened to those missing files?"
Lu Yuan opened his mouth.
He wanted to say it.
That port.
That sea.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make a sound.
Lu Yuan tried a different way.
Not the name of the place, just the direction.
To the east.
The coast.
But still, he couldn't utter a single word.
Lu Yuan tried to use his hands to gesture.
As soon as his fingers lifted, they stiffened in mid-air.
The silence stretched for a long time.
"You don't know?" Hoguer asked, looking at the man before him who seemed somewhat defeated.
Lu Yuan remained silent for a moment before finally nodding.
Hoguer stared at him for a while.
Scrutiny, doubt, vigilance.
Eventually, he withdrew his gaze.
"The base's array had no reaction to you, which means you aren't contaminated." He leaned back into his chair. "But your file is missing critical information, and you can't even explain your own origins... plus, there's the large-scale disappearance of files."
He tapped the desk.
"This matter must be reported."
He flipped through the files.
"Basic Medicine, Pharmacology... perfect. There’s been some trouble in the city lately, and logistics is short-staffed."
He closed the file.
"You go to logistics to help out first. Your living quarters will be in the dormitory area behind the base."
He stood up and walked to the door.
"If you remember anything, come find me at any time."
Lu Yuan nodded.
"Understood."
...
Deep within the base, in a room without windows.
Hoguer pushed the door open.
A grey-haired elder was already inside, wearing a dark grey uniform with a gold-patterned badge.
Klaus, Vice Chief of the Bronze City Nightwatchers branch.
"What’s the situation?"
"The person is fine," Hoguer sat down. "The badge is normal, his spirit is stable, and there are no signs of contamination."
"And the file?"
"Incomplete. Name, number, and skills are all there, but the base and mission records are entirely blank."
Hoguer placed the three files on the table.
"And it's not just him."
Klaus picked up the files and looked through them one by one.
Valentine.
Alice.
Lu Yuan.
Same problem.
"Anything else?"
"The range from West-02118 to West-02150." Hoguer’s tone grew heavy. "Thirty-odd consecutive numbers, and only these three files remain. All the others have vanished."
Klaus’s hand stopped, and he looked up.
"Vanished?"
"Completely vanished," Hoguer continued with a grim expression. "Unless we can confirm those numbers were never issued, but as you know, that’s almost impossible."
He paused.
"But after all, none of us can remember what those people were named."
Klaus fell silent for a long time.
"This cannot be a problem with the archive system."
"I know."
"Who has the power to reach into the archive room and perform a large-scale replacement?"
"Not many."
"Then go investigate," Klaus continued.
"Besides that, what else do you think?"
Hoguer shook his head.
"I don't know," he said. "But these three people having numbers in the same range means they came from the same base. The disappearance of over thirty numbers means the people from that base were almost entirely wiped out, or their records were replaced."
He looked at the three files.
"Yet three were missed."
"And where is that base? What is it called? What happened there?"
Hoguer spread his hands.
"There are no records. Not even in our memories."
Klaus closed his eyes, falling into deep thought.
After a long while.
"Report this matter," he opened his eyes, his tone heavy. "The three files, the range of vanished numbers, and all the anomalies—report them all to headquarters."
He stood up.
"Let headquarters handle the investigation."
"What about the three individuals?"
"Let them proceed as normal for now," the elder said.
He then stood up and walked toward the door.
"Where are the other two?"
"We aren't sure. The mission data is completely blurred; we can't even lock down a search range," Hoguer added.
"If we want to find them, we'll have to involve the Pathfinders."
"Very well. Report it. Let headquarters investigate it all together."
Klaus stopped at the door.
He did not look back.
"One more thing."
"Keep an eye out for any connection to the disappearances in the city lately."
"People from a mysterious base appearing out of nowhere just as disappearances start in the city."
"The timing is too coincidental."
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