Chapter 178 | Transmigrated with a Sanity Gauge

Lu Yuan woke up.

It wasn't a sound that startled him, but a sensation.

At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text flickered.

【Target Detected: ? (Knowledge Transcendent)】

【Status: Beyond comprehension...】

His consciousness switched from blurred to clear in an instant.

His right hand found the revolver under the pillow, his thumb resting on the hammer.

Beyond comprehension.

The last time he had seen those words was in the bookstore.

Lu Yuan didn't pull the hammer back.

He opened his eyes.

The room was very dark, the curtains drawn tight, with only the faint light from the city wall's bronze runes seeping through the fabric, casting blurred shadows on the ceiling.

A person was sitting in the chair by the window.

Even in the dim light, that silhouette was unmistakable.

Andre Morris.

Lu Yuan's finger paused on the grip for a moment, then released it.

Faced with such a gap, a gun was meaningless—a fact confirmed three days ago.

He sat up, leaning against the headboard.

"How did you get in? Aren't there Nightwatchers stationed around here?"

Morris didn't answer directly.

His gaze swept around the room before landing back on Lu Yuan's face.

"Rest assured, this Alchemy Workshop might have some barriers for others."

"But for me, the surroundings are... virtually nonexistent. Currently, those in this city who can detect my presence can be counted on one hand."

Lu Yuan didn't respond, merely shifting his gaze away from Morris.

By now, Lu Yuan had probably guessed why Morris had come.

"Of course," Morris added, "the promise is not on you. So I have even less to worry about."

The Nightwatchers Promise had been used on Laurina.

Morris mentioning this didn't mean "I know."

'He doesn't care about the promise. At least not a promise that isn't directed at him.'

Lu Yuan made a mental note.

"So? You came in the middle of the night just to tell me this?"

"The invitation from last time." Morris tilted his head slightly. "How have you considered it?"

"I haven't."

"Then consider it tonight."

Lu Yuan noticed something.

Three days ago in the bookstore, Morris had said, "You don't need to answer today."

Calm, patient.

Now he was appearing in his room at midnight.

Clearly, the invisible situation had changed.

"You saw Allen Victor as well," Morris said indifferently.

"What do you mean by bringing him up?"

Lu Yuan countered, the Timekeeper at his chest ready.

If Morris showed even a hint of a threat, he would attempt to flee, combined with the defense he had never used; as long as he could survive one hit...

As if sensing nothing, Morris continued.

"Though it has some connection to us, it's not much."

Morris's gaze became a bit more serious.

"Do you want to become like that?"

Lu Yuan remained silent.

"Make your decision early while you can still choose for yourself."

Morris's change of tone left the room quiet for a few seconds.

The faint light of the bronze runes on the city wall pulsed slowly, like a distant heart beating.

Lu Yuan understood; what happened to Allen didn't seem to be something Morris wanted to see either.

He hadn't agreed three days ago because there wasn't enough information.

He didn't know what was behind Morris or what joining meant.

The information was still insufficient now.

But the situation had changed.

Allen was dead. People from the imperial headquarters had arrived, bypassing the Nightwatchers to go directly to the Polymath Tower. The Ascension Society had set up three monitoring points in the outer city. Things from the Sea of Knowledge were permeating Bronze City.

He was also accumulating more things on himself.

The abnormality of his shadow, the experience of being spat out of the Viscount's manor by the Sea of Knowledge.

And of course, simply being near that corpse allowed his Forbidden Lore experience to grow continuously.

Lu Yuan admitted he was somewhat tempted.

And those things wouldn't stop just because he ignored them.

He thought of Gelimu Port.

When that city sank beneath the water, he had stood at the end of the broken road, unable to do anything.

From the first day he stepped into Gelimu Port, everything had already been moving toward that conclusion.

He had never truly "chosen."

Back then, he had no choice.

But at least this time, the person in front of him was asking.

"Why the rush?" Lu Yuan didn't answer directly, instead looking into Morris's eyes.

Morris's finger tapped lightly on his knee.

"Time is running out."

"For Bronze City?"

"For everyone."

He didn't elaborate.

But Lu Yuan heard something in his wording.

It wasn't "your time is running out," but "everyone's."

Including Morris himself.

Including the people behind Morris.

Lu Yuan made his decision.

"I agree."

Morris's eyebrow quirked slightly.

"But you have to answer a few questions for me."

"Fair enough." Morris leaned back in the chair. "I'll tell you what I can."

"But you have to join first."

"Alright."

Morris looked at Lu Yuan.

"That was quick. Take out the badge."

Lu Yuan didn't explain.

He took the shell badge from his coat and placed it on his knee.

Morris glanced at it and nodded.

"Hold it. Repeat after me."

As the first word was spoken, Morris's voice changed.

It took on an indescribable majesty, his tone laced with an ineffable strangeness.

It wasn't the Imperial Language.

The air in the room grew heavy.

Lu Yuan felt as if something invisible had swept over his body as the voice rang out.

"In the name of seeking knowledge, I embark upon an endless journey."

Lu Yuan followed.

"In the name of seeking knowledge, I embark upon an endless journey."

The badge in his palm began to heat up, going from cold to slightly warm—just enough to be noticed.

"The weight of knowledge I shall bear; the price of knowledge I shall repay."

The warmth spread from his palm to his wrist, crawling up his arm with increasing speed.

At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text appeared:

【Warning! You are taking an oath in an unknown language... You will be restricted by ■■■■...】

【Imperial Language: +5...231/1000】

Lu Yuan saw it, but he had no intention of interrupting the ritual.

"I shall not reach toward the abyss, nor shall the abyss consume me."

The temperature continued to spread. No, it was more like something alive was crawling out of the badge and burrowing into his body along his arm.

Lu Yuan's fingers tightened slightly.

'This thing is writing itself in.'

But the ritual had reached a point where it could no longer be interrupted. The warmth in his body felt like it had taken root, entwined with every word he spoke; he could feel himself being wrapped layer by layer by some kind of rule.

Suppressing the discomfort in his body, he continued to follow Morris's chant.

"The lantern of a fellow traveler must not be extinguished; the secrets of a fellow traveler must not be revealed."

'...Another promise.'

Lu Yuan sighed inwardly.

'One more debt won't kill me.'

"The lantern of a fellow traveler must not be extinguished; the secrets of a fellow traveler must not be revealed."

The layer of resonance in Morris's voice became clearer and clearer.

The moment this sentence fell, Lu Yuan faintly heard something else in the depths of his ears.

The extremely distant, low sound of ocean waves.

At the edge of his vision, the greyish-white text began to flicker slightly, but it didn't form a complete prompt, as if waiting for something.

The next line.

Morris's voice slowed by half a beat.

"What is forgotten, I shall remember; what is erased, I shall witness."

Lu Yuan's mouth opened.

But the sound didn't come out immediately.

What is forgotten, I shall remember.

What is erased, I shall witness.

These two sentences struck something.

Gelimu Port.

That city dragged to the bottom of the sea, those people singing as they sank.

That night standing at the end of the broken road, watching an entire city vanish from the world.

But he remembered.

【Hidden Witness】.

Memories would never be influenced or erased by external forces.

This ability had preserved everything in his mind.

It also made him the only one in the entire Empire.

The Omitted.

The Witness.

And these two lines of the oath...

Lu Yuan no longer hesitated.

"What is forgotten, I shall remember; what is erased, I shall witness."

The moment the words left his mouth, a change occurred.

The warmth spreading from his arm suddenly accelerated, wantonly occupying his entire body.

The sound of waves in the depths of his ears suddenly grew loud, then retracted in an instant, becoming so distant it was almost inaudible.

Lu Yuan subconsciously sat up straight, but his mouth didn't stop.

"Using oneself as an anchor, accept the inscription."

The words fell.

Something attempted to write itself into his body from the outside.

But at the moment it was about to leave its mark, that force struck something.

It wasn't resistance, nor was it dissolution.

It was more like something else was already in that position.

The seal hung in mid-air, pausing for a moment.

Then it dissipated.

At the edge of his vision, the greyish-white text flickered violently:

【Prompt: Your promise will be remembered by an unknown existence...】

【...Inscription failed... Your promise cannot be written...】

Lu Yuan remained expressionless.

But a surging tide of emotions rose in his heart.

It was something he had long sensed but had been unwilling to face directly, now placed before his eyes once more.

Not only was he being watched by certain existences, but they wouldn't even allow other existences to leave even a trace of a mark on him.

'...Don't think about it. At least for tonight, it didn't let the ritual succeed, which isn't a bad thing for me.'

Lu Yuan suppressed his breath.

Morris sat opposite him.

Silence lasted for a few seconds.

"Done."

Morris's voice returned to normal, that layer of resonance vanished, and the air in the room lightened.

When he said "Done," his tone was casual; clearly, he hadn't truly noticed anything.

"From now on, you're one of us." Morris's tone returned to its usual unhurried pace. "Keep the badge; you'll need it when it's time to communicate. We'll discuss the details later."

Lu Yuan tucked the badge back into his coat.

The metal had returned to its original state, no different from before.

In any case, he was now "one of them" in Morris's eyes and could access more information.

As for what was truly hidden within him, he would deal with that later.

Lu Yuan pulled his thoughts back.

"My turn to ask."

Morris raised a hand in a casual gesture.

"First question." Lu Yuan's gaze landed on Morris's face. "Are you with the Empire?"

Morris's expression didn't change.

"Yes."

A single word.

Lu Yuan waited.

As expected, Morris added more.

"But not the kind you're familiar with."

He looked at Lu Yuan, as if weighing how much to say.

"The Empire is vast. There are some departments you won't find on any roster."

He paused.

"Because even their own people don't know why they are there."

Lu Yuan's brow twitched slightly.

Morris didn't explain that sentence, instead continuing.

"West District, serial numbers 02118 to 02150. Over thirty consecutive numbers, all records vanished. All memories vanished as well."

He didn't speak fast, but every word was clear.

"Not a single person in the entire Empire remembers who those numbers correspond to. Including the people in charge of the records themselves."

Silence.

"Only three still have residual traces. One of them is yours."

Lu Yuan's expression remained unchanged.

Clearly, someone in the Empire had discovered these "voids."

They didn't know who those numbers corresponded to, they didn't know what content originally filled those blanks, and they didn't even know why they were investigating a bunch of empty IDs.

But they investigated anyway.

Because "blanks that shouldn't exist" were clues in themselves.

Morris's department had likely come about this way.

A group of people affected by forbidden existences, following the edges of the voids, groping to piece together the truth.

And he... was one of those few residual traces.

'So from the very beginning, I was his target.'

The "chance encounter" at the bookstore, the shell badge left behind. The intentionally opened Northern Sea Voyage Records.

It wasn't a random contact driven by curiosity.

It was a planned approach centered around these distorted records.

"To achieve this level of erasure..." Morris looked at Lu Yuan, his gaze changing; it was no longer an evaluation, but a confirmation, "it's not something any human or transcendent is capable of."

He stopped for a moment.

"You should know better than I do."

Lu Yuan opened his mouth.

Gelimu Port.

The three words surged to his throat.

Then they blurred.

They weren't blocked; rather, the moment those words were about to leave his mouth, they became like reflections in water—he could see the outline, but he couldn't grasp the shape.

His lips moved, but what came out was a muddled breath.

It wasn't that he didn't want to speak.

It was that the power of that erasure wouldn't even allow the name of that city to be transmitted.

Silence lasted for several seconds.

Seeing his state, Morris wasn't surprised.

"It seems you can't say it either..."

"Yeah." Lu Yuan nodded.

Morris didn't press further.

His reaction was calm, as if he had long expected it.

'We've seen this situation before.'

Lu Yuan's heart sank slightly.

It wasn't a surprise at the Empire's preparation, but something deeper.