At half-past one in the afternoon, Lu Yuan headed out.
He walked along the stone-paved road of the inner city toward the branch.
When he arrived, only a young nightwatcher was on duty at the front desk.
Most of the personnel were out.
"Mr. Lu Yuan," the young man recognized him, "do you need something?"
"Two things," Lu Yuan said quickly. "The hemlock extract from the medicinal storehouse, and the archives."
"I'll get the medicinal storehouse item for you. As for the archives..." The young man flipped through the logbook. "Mr. Raymond already gave the word. You can go straight down. Basement level one, all the way to the end."
"Thanks."
The young man went to the storehouse, while Lu Yuan walked down the stairs at the end of the corridor.
The passage on the first basement level wasn't long, and the lights were dim. The archives were at the end.
A heavy bronze door stood there, with a stone lion's head carving embedded in the wall beside it. The open mouth was exactly the size of a badge-shaped indentation.
Lu Yuan took out his Nightwatchers badge and placed it in the lion's mouth.
The sound of machinery whirred, and the bronze door slowly opened with a dull hum.
Walking inside, the space was larger than expected.
Rows of ceiling-high filing cabinets were neatly arranged, categorized by letters and numbers. At the end of the cabinets were several rows of bookshelves, packed with bound reports, ancient manuscripts, and various historical documents.
The air was thick with the smell of paper and ink, carrying a hint of dry mustiness.
Lu Yuan didn't search aimlessly.
He had a clear goal.
The Northern Sea Voyage Records.
Yesterday in the bookstore, that copy of Northern Sea Voyage Records on Morris's desk had been deliberately opened to page seventy-three. The sea area near the abyssal rift.
It was the same origin as the one on the shell nameplate from the Viscount's manor.
This wasn't a coincidence; it was a hint.
Morris wanted him to see that page.
Then he would investigate.
Lu Yuan approached the bookshelf labeled "Historical Archives" and ran his finger along the rows of yellowed spines.
Soon, he found it.
Northern Sea Voyage Records · Bronze City Volume.
It was a hardcover book about two fingers thick, its cover faded and corners heavily worn.
Lu Yuan pulled it out and flipped it open.
The first part mostly consisted of records of maritime activities Bronze City had participated in over the years.
Trade routes, fishing ground distributions, maritime surveys... trivial and tedious.
He flipped through them quickly, his eyes scanning the year markings.
About two-thirds of the way through, he stopped.
Imperial Calendar 1107.
Exactly twenty years ago.
The title of that page was:
"Northern Sea Joint Expedition—Seventh Voyage Record."
Lu Yuan began to read carefully.
"In the spring of Imperial Calendar 1107, the Imperial Navy Department took the lead in forming the Northern Sea Joint Expedition."
"Personnel composition: 12 naval officers, 6 Nightwatchers, 8 Polymath Tower scholars, 4 pathfinders, and several logistics personnel and sailors. Total: 63 people."
"Objective: Survey the unmarked sea areas in the depths of the Northern Sea, search for the legendary 'Evernight Archipelago', and assess resources and threats."
He turned to the next page.
The source of the records here was clearly marked:
"The following content is compiled from the original voyage logs recovered by the search and rescue team from the expedition's surface camp on the target island."
Lu Yuan noticed this small line of text.
The search and rescue team found the island and the log.
But they didn't find any people.
He continued reading.
"Set sail on April 17th. The first three weeks were smooth."
"May 9th, entered unmarked sea area. Blank area on the nautical chart."
"May 14th, discovered a nameless island. Traces of man-made structures found on the island, abandoned. The team landed to investigate and discovered an underground cave system."
Turning another page, the handwriting became noticeably scribbled.
"May 16th, abnormal minerals discovered on the third level of the underground cave. Polymath Tower scholars identified them as high-purity alchemical base materials of extremely high value. Sample collection began."
"May 18th..."
The ink on this line had bled slightly, as if the hand writing it was trembling.
"—Some personnel are showing mental abnormalities. Insomnia, auditory hallucinations, erratic behavior. Polymath Tower scholars suggest immediate evacuation, but the Navy refuses on the grounds that the 'mission is incomplete'."
The subsequent entries became shorter and the handwriting harder to discern.
"May 21st, three sailors missing. Search yielded no results."
"May 23rd, encountered abnormal sea mist during retreat, communication lost."
"May 25th... last entry."
The last line of words was almost carved into the paper.
"The beacon has been destroyed. Something is moving in the sea mist. 63 people, 11 confirmed survivors currently. The log is left at the camp; we are heading north. If someone finds this log, do not enter the cave."
After that, there was only a blank space.
Lu Yuan stared at the void for a few seconds before turning to the appendix at the back.
The appendix contained the search and rescue team's follow-up investigation records.
"The search and rescue team reached the target sea area in July 1107. They found the expedition's voyage logs and some personal belongings at the surface camp on the nameless island, but no survivors were found. The entrance to the underground cave had collapsed and was inaccessible."
"In September 1107, the Imperial Navy Department listed all 63 members of the Northern Sea Joint Expedition as missing. The case was archived and sealed."
Lu Yuan didn't close the book.
He flipped to the last page of the appendix.
There was a list of names.
The names, positions, and affiliations of the 63 people were arranged in dense rows on the yellowed paper.
Lu Yuan's gaze scanned line by line.
After reaching the middle section, the condition of the paper deteriorated sharply.
The lower half had been soaked by water, and the ink had bled into a single mass, making most of the writing illegible.
Only the first thirty or so names could be seen clearly.
Naval officers, Nightwatchers, logistics...
The names of the Polymath Tower scholars were not among them.
According to the list's arrangement, sorted by institution, the eight people from the Polymath Tower were likely in the latter half.
Right in the area with the worst water damage.
Lu Yuan's gaze moved slowly over the blurred ink.
Most of it was completely illegible.
But at the edge of the water stain, the remnants of two names were barely discernible.
"...en, Polymath Tower College of Materials, Alchemy..."
"...t, Polymath Tower College of Materials, Alchemy..."
Beyond that, it was completely impossible to read.
Specialized fields, detailed positions—all swallowed by the water stain.
Lu Yuan's finger slowly moved away from the list.
Alchemists from the College of Materials. At least two.
The list didn't show their specific research directions.
But the timing matched the year 1107 of the Imperial Calendar.
Laurina had said "many years ago", and that they "went on a long journey and never returned".
Although there were still doubts, it was enough for Lu Yuan to keep digging.
Lu Yuan closed the book and put it back on the shelf.
Then he stood there, motionless.
He was thinking about Morris.
The copy of Northern Sea Voyage Records in the bookstore was opened to page seventy-three—the abyssal rift.
Following that clue, he had found the expedition and the College of Materials.
Everything was going smoothly.
Too smoothly.
It was as if someone had paved a path in front of him, and he only needed to walk along it.
But the person paving the path couldn't be without a purpose.
Morris wanted him to know these things.
The question was, why?
Why would an existence at a level "beyond comprehension" feed information to someone who had just reached rank 2?
Was he helping him?
Or was he leading him by the nose?
When a prey thinks it is tracking another, it is often walking right along the path laid out by the hunter.
Rate on N.U.
