"Students are the best candidates," Raymond continued. "Young, with strong spirituality, they find it easier to step into that place... and they have no background, so no one investigates even if they die."
He paused, his tone turning cold.
"The cost is death."
"Of those who set foot in the Sea of Knowledge, less than one in a hundred returns alive."
"Those missing students from the Polymath Tower ultimately ended up as empty shells, eroded by knowledge."
Lu Yuan remained silent for a moment.
The Polymath Tower's experiments used students with no background.
But now, it was the children of nobles who were disappearing.
And it happened right after Laurina became a contractor. It seemed the people of the Polymath Tower had completely given up on targeting her.
"Why the Bronze City?" Lu Yuan asked.
Raymond looked out the window.
The carriage was traveling through the streets of the outer city, flanked by low buildings and sparse pedestrians.
"The Bronze City is the foremost frontline city in the western part of the Empire," he said. "So, it naturally became the site for this experiment."
He let out a cold laugh.
"Because it doesn't matter if something goes wrong here."
"The patterns of the Bronze City can suppress most Eerie things."
"Isn't it ridiculous?"
"Sending students into the Sea of Knowledge, using human lives to fish for those ethereal, illusory things..."
"Some people are hollowed out to the core."
Lu Yuan did not respond.
He could hear the anger and helplessness in Raymond's voice.
But such matters were not something he could change at his current level.
"What is the team composition?" Lu Yuan asked.
"I am the captain," Raymond said. "There are also four official members."
"You are the outside consultant for the team, with combat authority."
He glanced at Lu Yuan.
"The mission objective is simple. Investigate the disappearances and find the mastermind. If possible, rescue the missing persons."
He paused, his tone carrying a hint of meaningfulness.
"Besides, there are many good things in noble houses. For someone like you on the Knowledge Pathway, it is a rare opportunity."
"Books, manuscripts, collectibles... some of these things simply cannot be found elsewhere."
Lu Yuan's heart stirred.
Collections within noble households.
If there were items related to eerie knowledge, they would be very helpful for his advancement in Forbidden Lore.
After all, it had indeed been a while since he had gained any experience in Forbidden Lore.
The scenery outside the window gradually changed.
Low buildings were replaced by high courtyard walls, and the streets became wide and clean.
The inner city.
Sunlight shone on white stone walls, and neatly trimmed greenery lined the streets. Occasionally, a carriage would pass by, its body decorated with a magnificent family crest.
Everything appeared peaceful and affluent.
"We're here."
Raymond's voice sounded.
The carriage slowly came to a halt.
Lu Yuan pushed open the door and jumped down.
Before him stood a magnificent mansion.
A three-story main building with white exterior walls, exquisite reliefs, and two carved stone pillars standing at the entrance.
Several servants stood at the door with anxious expressions. Seeing the carriage stop, they immediately hurried over.
"Lord Nightwatchers, you have finally arrived!"
Leading them was an elderly butler with white hair and red-rimmed eyes, looking as if he had not slept well for several days.
Raymond stepped out of the carriage and nodded.
"Lead the way."
The butler quickly turned and led them toward the mansion's main entrance.
Lu Yuan followed behind, his gaze sweeping over the family crest above the lintel.
A silver eagle with wings spread, clutching an olive branch in its beak.
The crest of the Sophia family.
The Viscount Manor.
The investigation began here.
The main doors of the Viscount Manor slowly closed behind them.
Lu Yuan followed the butler through the front hall and into the main residence.
Unlike the streets of the outer city, every inch of the floor here was paved with marble, oil paintings with gold-leaf frames hung on the walls, and a life-sized knight statue stood at the end of the corridor.
The air was filled with the faint scent of some kind of incense.
The butler walked ahead with a quick pace, appearing eager to bring them to their destination.
A young maid stepped out from a side corridor, carrying a tea tray.
The moment she saw Lu Yuan and Raymond, her footsteps faltered noticeably, and a flash of unease crossed her face.
However, she quickly lowered her head and hurried past them.
Lu Yuan noticed her reaction but said nothing.
"The young lady's room is on the second floor. It hasn't been touched since the day she disappeared," the butler's voice was somewhat raspy. "The master ordered that no one is allowed to enter."
"Until the Nightwatchers arrived."
Raymond followed behind, his tone flat: "Lead the way."
The butler nodded and led them up the stairs.
Just as they reached the corner of the second floor, a figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
It was a man in his fifties, stout and wearing a sophisticated velvet coat, leaning on a silver-inlaid cane.
His gaze passed over the butler and fell on Lu Yuan and Raymond, his brow furrowing.
"Just the two of you?"
His tone carried obvious dissatisfaction.
"I submitted a formal request to the Nightwatchers branch, and they only sent two people?"
Raymond stopped walking, his expression calm.
"Lord Viscount." He gave a slight nod as a greeting. "The others are investigating the other two scenes. We are responsible for this one."
"The other two scenes?" The viscount snorted coldly. "My daughter's case is being handled alongside others?"
"Three disappearances occurred on the same day; there is a possibility of a connection," Raymond's tone did not change. "A joint investigation is standard procedure."
The viscount's face darkened.
"I don't care about standard procedures."
He took a few steps forward, his cane making a dull thudding sound on the floor.
"My daughter has been missing for three days. Three days! What have you Nightwatchers been doing?"
Raymond did not respond, simply looking at him quietly.
The viscount was provoked by that gaze.
"I remind you, I have many friends in the Imperial Council. If this matter is not handled well..."
"Lord Viscount."
Raymond interrupted him, his voice still calm but laced with a trace of coldness.
"You sought out the Nightwatchers because you cannot solve this matter yourself."
He paused.
"So, either let us do our work, or we leave right now."
"You can go ask your friends in the Imperial Council for help."
The air froze for a moment.
The viscount's face turned ashen, and his lips trembled as if he wanted to say something.
But in the end, he said nothing.
He simply shot Raymond a fierce glare and turned toward the other end of the corridor.
The sound of his footsteps gradually faded away.
The butler stood to the side, his expression strained, but he remained silent.
Raymond withdrew his gaze and looked at him.
"Lead the way."
The butler was silent for a moment before lowering his head.
"Please follow me."
Elena's room was at the far end of the second floor.
The door was locked.
The butler took out a key, opened the door, and then stepped aside.
"The master said to inform him once the investigation is complete."
Raymond nodded and was the first to enter the room.
Lu Yuan followed behind him.
The room was large and exquisitely decorated.
A soft carpet, a carved bed frame, and a desk by the window with a few books and an extinguished oil lamp.
The wardrobe door was half-open, with clothes neatly arranged inside.
The bed was smooth, with no signs of disorder.
Everything was normal.
Too normal.
Lu Yuan stood in the center of the room, his gaze slowly sweeping across every corner.
And then he saw it.
At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text quietly emerged:
【Environmental detection: knowledge aura residue (faint)】
Lu Yuan's eyes darkened slightly.
He did not speak, only observing the room more closely.
Then he saw the 'colors.'
Colors that ordinary people could not see.
On the carpet by the bed, there was a faint cluster of traces.
The color was strange—not a single hue, but a mixture of pale white, light yellow, and a trace of ethereal blue.
It looked like a colored mist, or perhaps the trail of slime left behind by some creature crawling past.
Those colors were slowly flowing.
They were not static but had a direction.
They started from the bedside, spread across the carpet, passed the desk, went through the door, and drifted toward the main entrance.
During the movement, those colors gradually faded and thinned, as if being diluted by something.
By the time they reached the end of the corridor, they were almost invisible.
【Forbidden Lore - Seeker: +0.2... 49.7/50】
Lu Yuan stared at the flowing traces for a few seconds in silence.
"She walked out on her own."
Raymond turned his head to look at him.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." Lu Yuan pointed toward the area by the bed. "There are residual traces here, similar to the things on those students from the Polymath Tower."
Lu Yuan paused, then continued.
"She got out of bed, walked to the door, and went out. There was no struggle, no fight."
Raymond's brow furrowed.
"You can see these traces?"
"Yes, the transcendent pathway I chose is a bit unusual; I can see these things."
"I see. So, was she being controlled?"
"Hard to say." Lu Yuan shook his head. "She could have been guided, or perhaps... she wanted to go herself."
Raymond was silent for a while.
"This matches our previous intelligence," he whispered. "Some things can now be confirmed."
He looked around the room, his gaze lingering on the desk for a moment.
"Any other discoveries?"
Lu Yuan walked to the desk and flipped through the books.
They were all ordinary reading materials with nothing unusual.
But he noticed a card in the desk drawer.
It was an invitation.
Written on it were the date and location of a banquet, signed with an unfamiliar name.
Lu Yuan handed the invitation to Raymond.
"This."
Raymond took the invitation and scanned it.
"A banquet from three days ago..." His eyes narrowed slightly. "The timing is the very night she disappeared."
He tucked the invitation away.
"We'll ask the butler later to see who came by that night."
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