Bronze City, Nightwatchers headquarters.
Raymond pushed open the door to the duty room.
A middle-aged man sat inside, flipping through documents. Seeing Raymond enter, he set down his pen, his brow furrowing slightly.
"It's so late, what is it?"
"There is an emergency to report," Raymond said. "Regarding the missing persons case in the inner city."
The middle-aged man leaned back in his chair, his expression turning serious.
"Speak."
Raymond gave a brief report on today's investigation, the findings at the three scenes, the methodology matching the missing persons case from the Polymath Tower, the skirmish at the house in the outer city, the people from the Ascension Society, and the unidentified man in black robes.
As he reached the end, he paused.
"There is one more thing. In that house, we found traces of Eerie activity."
The middle-aged man's movements froze.
"What did you say?"
"An Eerie," Raymond’s voice was calm. "Inside the Bronze City."
The room fell silent for several seconds.
The middle-aged man lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
"Are you certain?"
"I saw it with my own eyes."
The night outside the window was heavy and dark, revealing nothing.
After a long silence, the middle-aged man spoke, his voice kept very low.
"Since the founding of the Bronze City, such a situation has never occurred. It is common knowledge that an Eerie is almost unable to function within this city."
He turned around, staring into Raymond's eyes.
"Keep this matter confidential for now; we absolutely cannot cause a panic. File the Eerie incident separately, with a higher priority than the missing persons case."
He paused.
"Three days. If there is no substantial progress within three days, jurisdiction will be transferred. In the meantime, I will dispatch other teams to join the investigation, but they will operate independently."
"I will also submit a separate report from my end."
Raymond nodded.
"Understood."
Stepping out of the duty room, the only sound in the corridor was the echo of his footsteps.
"The missing persons case and the Eerie incident are very likely connected," Helen said.
"I know," Raymond’s voice sounded tired. "But nothing is certain yet."
"That man took that Eerie away..." Helen frowned. "What exactly are they trying to do?"
Raymond didn't answer.
He stopped walking and looked toward the darkness at the end of the corridor.
"Go back and rest first. We'll have plenty to do tomorrow."
...
The light in the Alchemy Workshop remained lit.
When Lu Yuan pushed open the door, Laurina was sitting at the table with several pages of recipe notes spread out before her, next to a row of neatly arranged potion bottles.
Hearing the door, she looked up, her gaze lingering on Lu Yuan’s face for a moment.
She didn't ask anything.
She simply stood up, walked to a cabinet, took out a clear potion, and placed it on the table.
"Drink it."
Lu Yuan didn't hesitate; he uncorked the bottle and downed it in one go.
A familiar cool sensation spread from his throat, like a ladle of ice water being poured into his brain, and the blurred, heavy fatigue began to recede.
At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text emerged:
【Sanity: +10...58/120】
Laurina’s perfect quality potion was as effective as ever.
"Thanks."
Laurina nodded, her gaze sweeping over Lu Yuan’s coat.
"What did you burn?"
Her voice was flat, but Lu Yuan knew she had noticed something. The lingering smell of charred material on his coat was obvious, left over from when the abandoned house was consumed by the blue-white flames.
He didn't answer.
Laurina didn't press him either, turning back to continue organizing her recipe notes.
Lu Yuan returned to his room, took out two items, and sat down in a chair.
A broken seashell.
A thin, yellowed booklet.
The seashell was cold and smooth to the touch, showing no reaction.
After being forcefully activated in the Viscount's collection room, it had fallen into a deep slumber, as if it had completely exhausted some kind of energy.
Lu Yuan tucked the shell back into his shirt and picked up the thin booklet.
"Knowledge Pathway Guide."
This was what Ink had given him before leaving. Previously in Gelimu Port, he had only managed to learn the first stage, "Guard," and hadn't had time to examine the subsequent content closely.
Tonight's experience had made him realize a problem: he didn't have enough Sanity.
Especially after reaching Sanity IV, even when seeing new Eeries, his experience didn't budge an inch.
Now, he had somehow supplemented knowledge that was not recorded in the Sea of Knowledge and obtained the key to it, yet he wasn't qualified to enter again.
Furthermore, regarding the enemies encountered in the Bronze City, if a conflict were to occur, his current Sanity reserves wouldn't be able to hold out at all.
He had to find a more efficient way to recover Sanity.
The book in front of him was currently the best choice.
Lu Yuan flipped through the book, skipping the basic meditation method he had already read, and continued further.
The Ancient Imperial Language in the book remained obscure, but it was much smoother to read than the first time.
Regarding the second stage of Guard, the book wrote:
"Sanity is not a static pool, but a flowing river. Only when you have truly endured the impact of knowledge can you find the direction of this river."
"Only by finding the flow and widening the channel will you have the opportunity to take a step further."
Lu Yuan's finger stopped on this passage.
He thought of the Sea of Knowledge.
That ocean composed of countless colors and words, where knowledge surged and flowed. The moment he was dragged into it, his Sanity plummeted from 120 to 67; he probably wouldn't forget that sensation for the rest of his life.
It wasn't pain, but a loss of control.
Like standing at the edge of a cliff, the ground beneath your feet crumbling bit by bit while you could only watch yourself fall.
This was the "weight of knowledge."
Lu Yuan closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing according to the book's description.
He didn't intentionally recall that fear, but instead tried to feel that "flow."
Where was the Sanity flowing from? Where was it flowing to?
At first, he felt nothing.
But after about ten minutes, Lu Yuan vaguely sensed a slight change.
It was very faint, as if something was slowly turning deep in his mind, and the direction was slightly clearer than before.
At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text flickered:
【Guard I: +0.1…+0.1..0.5/10】
Guard ticked upward five times before gradually stopping.
Lu Yuan opened his eyes and did not continue.
Forcibly practicing Guard when his Sanity was below sixty already caused a sense of discomfort deep within his mind.
He closed the book.
Since he could find a direction, it meant there was one more possibility for increasing his Sanity.
Standing up, Lu Yuan looked out the window.
Stars of silver and blue gathered into a galaxy, with a bright moon hanging beside them.
Moonlight shone on the floor, casting his shadow.
The shadow looked normal.
But Lu Yuan always felt... the edge of the shadow seemed slightly "thicker" than usual.
He took another look.
The feeling vanished.
It might have been a hallucination caused by his low Sanity.
Lu Yuan didn't think much of it; he closed the door and lay down.
Fatigue soon dragged his consciousness into the darkness.
....
The following morning.
When Lu Yuan arrived at the agreed-upon location, the others were already there.
Raymond sat at the head of the long table, with several documents spread before him.
Helen was on his right, her notebook open and covered in dense writing.
Karl leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Ryan and Amy sat opposite them, both sporting obvious dark circles under their eyes.
"Everyone is here," Raymond’s voice was flat. "Give your status."
Helen spoke first.
"Last night's report has been submitted. The verdict is: the Eerie activity incident will be filed separately and handled with confidentiality, with a higher priority than the missing persons case."
She flipped a page in her notebook.
"The deadline is three days. If there is no substantial progress, jurisdiction will be transferred."
Karl frowned but said nothing.
Raymond didn't offer more explanation either, declaring directly: "Consolidate the clues."
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