Afternoon.
Sunlight was still present.
Lu Yuan sat on the windowsill of the second floor of the Alchemy Workshop, organizing his equipment.
He recounted the silver-plated bullets on his bandolier.
His descent into the hole had consumed four revolver rounds and one copper powder canister.
He had used two copper-cased incendiary rounds, leaving ten.
He had to use them sparingly.
He placed the copper-cased rounds separately into the stiff leather holster of his inner pocket.
Eerie-Bane Potion, Stealth Potion, and high-efficiency healing potion.
All three bottles remained untouched.
That was good news.
He still had three bottles of Sanity potion of perfect quality, which would last him for a while.
As he was pressing bullets into his bandolier, light footsteps echoed from the end of the hallway.
They were very soft.
Lu Yuan's hands did not stop.
"Lu Yuan."
Agnes's voice came from the doorway.
Lu Yuan looked up.
The nun stood by the doorframe, having changed into a clean white robe.
Her complexion was slightly better than when she had returned from underground, but the fatigue deep in her eyes remained.
"Is something the matter?"
"I am here to confirm your mental state," Agnes walked in and sat on the chair opposite him. "The Church has an independent assessment process for personnel involved in joint operations."
Lu Yuan glanced at her.
The Nightwatchers' check had just finished.
Did the Church need to do another one?
"I thought the nuns had already left."
"The other two went back first, but I still have some matters to handle," Agnes's tone was calm. "The check won't take long."
Lu Yuan pressed the last bullet into the bandolier and set it down.
"Is this mandatory?"
"You may refuse."
Lu Yuan looked at the Agnes before him, already having a general idea of why she had really come.
"Go ahead and check."
Agnes extended her right hand, palm upward.
"Place your hand on mine."
Lu Yuan rested his left hand on hers.
A very faint warmth emanated from Agnes's palm.
A golden light slowly emerged.
【Target detected: Church nun Agnes (believer transcendent)】
【An individual who believes in an entity named 'Angel' by humans, though her faith does not seem pure.】
Lu Yuan's eyebrows twitched slightly when he saw this prompt.
'Interesting.'
Agnes closed her eyes.
It lasted for about ten seconds.
Then she opened them.
"Sanity status is stable," she withdrew her hand.
"It is better than I expected."
"Then that is that," Lu Yuan prepared to stand up.
"Please, stay seated."
Agnes's voice was not heavy, but Lu Yuan paused.
"When we were underground," Agnes looked at him.
"The moment you looked at the copper pillars, I sensed a reaction from you."
Lu Yuan said nothing.
"Resonance," Agnes uttered the word.
"Your spirit and those bronze creations produced a synchronous vibration. It was very short and weak, but it definitely happened."
She paused for a moment.
"Do you know what that means?"
"I don't," Lu Yuan told the truth.
"Bronze resonance," Agnes's gaze did not leave his face.
"In the Church's records, there have been fewer than twenty people in three hundred years who could produce a spiritual-level synchronous frequency with bronze inscription artifacts."
Lu Yuan's expression did not change.
But he noted that number.
"If this constitution is not guided, it will produce uncontrollable spiritual resonance when coming into contact with high-level inscription artifacts."
Agnes's speaking speed slowed down slightly, as if she were weighing her words.
"At best, your Sanity will fluctuate wildly; at worst, your cognition will be reverse-eroded by the content of the inscriptions."
Lu Yuan thought of the moment at the edge of the abyss when the greyish-white text had indeed flickered violently.
However, his Sanity had not changed at all.
But at that time, his attention had been entirely on the experience points and the prompt for 'resonance reaction', so he hadn't felt any change in his Sanity.
If what Agnes said was true...
Then those copper pillars didn't just give him experience points.
They could also devour his Sanity.
This was indeed something to be cautious about.
"The Church has a corresponding training system," Agnes continued.
"By training the resonance frequency between your spirit and bronze and establishing stable channels instead of out-of-control resonance, you might be able to reach the fifth rank."
"A fifth-rank Knowledge transcendent... such an unreachable existence."
Agnes's look toward Lu Yuan carried envy and even a trace of jealousy...
Lu Yuan did not state his position.
Because if it were only this, Agnes would have no need to seek him out personally.
After all, he was one of the Nightwatchers. Once he told them about this, if his 'value' was truly sufficient, the Nightwatchers would never let him leave.
"There is one more thing," Agnes's tone took on a bit of emotion. "I am very interested in the aura you carry."
Lu Yuan understood clearly in his heart.
'The Bronze Sin is the last bronze inscription artifact, so I have this so-called resonance. Walking this path won't be easy.'
'Moreover, the Church isn't exactly good either, so her purpose is likely...'
Agnes continued to speak to herself.
"I sensed an abnormality while on the surface, but I wasn't sure," Agnes looked at Lu Yuan. "After spending time in close proximity underground, I can now confirm it."
"You carry the aura of the Sea of Knowledge."
Lu Yuan's expression remained unchanged.
But a question rose in his heart.
The Sea of Knowledge.
That ocean composed of countless colors and text, where fewer than one in a hundred who step foot in it survive.
That was the taboo among taboos, a place that even high-level transcendents of the Knowledge Pathway might not be able to touch the edges of.
How could a low-level believer transcendent distinguish the aura of the Sea of Knowledge?
"You have entered that place," Agnes looked at Lu Yuan.
"No," Lu Yuan said calmly.
This was the truth, yet not the truth.
He had been dragged in by the shell, but strictly speaking, that didn't count as "entering."
He had been spat out before he could even stand firmly on the edge.
"But I have indeed been involved with it."
Agnes's gaze narrowed slightly.
Lu Yuan looked at her and continued.
"Furthermore, I know who can enter the Sea of Knowledge."
When he said this, Agnes's breath hitched for a moment.
But Lu Yuan caught it.
"However, I have a question," Lu Yuan's tone carried a hint of confusion. "Why are you asking this?"
Agnes did not respond.
"You are a believer transcendent," Lu Yuan continued. "The Sea of Knowledge has nothing to do with the Believer Pathway. If you enter that place, there is no possibility other than death, right?"
Agnes fell silent.
Lu Yuan did not press further.
"You don't have to tell me," he shifted his gaze back out the window. "I cannot help you."
Silence followed for a few more seconds.
Agnes sighed.
"If you wish to join the Church, you can contact me," she stood up, her tone returning to its previous calmness. "I did not write these things in the report."
Lu Yuan did not respond.
Agnes walked to the door and did not stop again.
The hem of her white robe disappeared at the end of the hallway.
Lu Yuan sat on the windowsill, still clutching a bullet he hadn't pressed into the bandolier.
He glanced down at his shadow.
That layer of stuff had returned to its original state.
But when the golden light had swept over it earlier, it had clearly shrunk slightly.
Agnes hadn't noticed.
But that didn't mean she wouldn't notice next time.
Lu Yuan began to think.
Agnes wanted to enter the Sea of Knowledge.
A believer transcendent wanted to set foot in that taboo realm.
The system said her faith was "not pure."
Now those words had a concrete meaning.
She hadn't written about the Sea of Knowledge in her report.
After all, if a nun showed this level of interest in a forbidden domain and it reached the Church, she would have to undergo an investigation herself.
'But things are getting more and more chaotic here...'
Lu Yuan thought to himself before finding a place to get some good rest.
When Night 4 arrived, Lu Yuan woke up naturally.
【Sanity: +12... 101/120】
Looking at his nearly full Sanity bar, Lu Yuan felt much more relaxed.
At this moment, the city wall runes were gradually lighting up, and Lu Yuan noticed the brightness had dropped a bit more.
The light had become thin by the time it covered the edge of the position.
Clearly, the recovery speed could not keep up with the consumption.
He arrived at the North Ward position.
The nuns were still there.
The nun who had stayed on the surface stood alone on the high ground.
Agnes had not returned.
The three white figures had become one.
"Only one nun tonight?" Bo Er's voice carried a bit of unease.
Lu Yuan looked up at the high ground.
Indeed, there was only one white figure.
No one had notified him.
Agnes hadn't mentioned this when she left either.
"I don't know," Lu Yuan said.
Bo Er's expression was not good.
But he didn't ask further.
Everyone entered a state of alert.
Gun barrels were pointed toward the hole.
They waited for ten minutes.
There was no movement.
Twenty minutes.
No movement.
At the edge of his vision, the greyish-white text was quiet.
【Environmental Perception: Minimal pollution sources detected...】
It was the same as during the day.
Lu Yuan's brow furrowed slightly.
In the silence of last night, he could feel something brewing beneath the hole.
Tonight, there was nothing.
Half an hour passed.
Not even a hiss came from the hole.
Bo Er's short-shotgun barrel had already drooped slightly.
"Haven't we received any notice?" he asked in a low voice.
Lu Yuan did not answer.
He walked to within three meters of the edge of the hole and crouched down.
There was no sound at all.
Last night, in the same position, he could hear faint tremors and the remnants of shrieks from far away.
Tonight, even those remnants had vanished.
It was as if everything underground had withdrawn at the same time.
Lu Yuan stood up.
'Why?'
The dive during the day had disturbed the nest; by all logic, tonight should have been even more fierce than the first three nights.
But they hadn't come.
He couldn't figure it out.
Glock had arranged a rotation at the rear of the position.
Since there was no movement in the first half of the night, the first batch of Nightwatchers began to withdraw to the rear to rest.
Lu Yuan was also rotated out.
He didn't return to the Alchemy Workshop, instead finding a fairly intact wall in the ruins behind the position and sitting down against it.
While he was at it, he organized all his experience panels.
【Sanity: 101/120】
【Sanity IV (Exp): 1/120】
【Sanity Barrier: 0/3 (Damaged)】
The Sanity Barrier could only be slowly repaired when his Sanity was full.
And ever since it had shattered last time, his Sanity had almost never been full.
【Pharmacology: 32.4/50】
【Medicinal Herbology: 19.2/50】
After Laurina left, these two experience values had also stagnated.
He had intended to grind experience points while serving as logistics.
【Imperial Language: 251/1000】
As for Imperial Language...
Lu Yuan hadn't paid much attention to this experience.
However, after reaching 250 points, the Reading suffix had completely disappeared.
But now it wasn't growing much either, as if it had hit some kind of plateau.
【Ancient Music Theory: 1.4/10】
【Basic Medicine: 2.8/20】
【Forbidden Lore: Knowledge Seeker: 13.5/100】
【Guard I: 4.3/10】
Lu Yuan would 'cultivate' Guard seriously every day, but he only gained 0.3 per day.
He still hadn't found a way to break through, so he could only endure through time.
【Bronze City Status: 3/50】
【Auris Imperial Status: 2/100】
After confirming all his experience points, Lu Yuan also did a simple check of the items on him.
【Sanity potion (Excellent) ×3】
【Eerie-Bane Potion ×1】
【Stealth Potion ×1】
【high-efficiency healing potion ×1】
【copper-cased incendiary rounds ×10】
【silver-plated bullets ×47】
After categorizing the items one by one, Lu Yuan glanced at the greyish-white prompts; there was still no sign of ghouls.
Leaning against the wall, he began to work on Guard again.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Bo Er patted him on the shoulder.
"Captain, look over there."
Lu Yuan opened his eyes and turned his head in the direction he pointed.
To the south.
In the direction of the inner city.
The sky looked wrong.
At first, it was just a blurry orange-red glow clinging to the edges of the buildings, as if there were a large fire in the distance.
Then the light gradually grew stronger.
That was holy light!
Several beams of white holy light shot up into the sky from the direction of the inner city, then intersected to form a piercing light curtain in the night sky.
Immediately following that, muffled explosions came from the distance.
One.
Two.
Then they merged into a continuous roar.
Everyone on the position stood up.
"It's in the direction of the Old Council Square," Glock said, having walked onto the position at some point.
"The holy light arrays are fully active."
There was something in his voice that Lu Yuan rarely heard.
Unease.
The orange-red glow in the sky lasted for nearly an hour.
Twice during that time, the white holy light beams suddenly surged, their brightness so intense that a trace of warmth could be felt even at the North Ward position.
That was the Church putting out full power.
Then the beams began to fade.
The orange-red firelight became even brighter for a while after the holy light faded.
Muffled sounds of collapsing buildings could be heard faintly in the distance, one after another.
It wasn't until around four in the morning that the inner city finally quieted down.
The fire had not been completely extinguished, but it was no longer spreading.
From beginning to end, not a single ghoul had emerged from the hole in the North Ward.
Dawn broke.
Night 4 was over.
News trickled into the North Ward throughout the morning.
The first was the internal Nightwatchers bulletin received by Glock.
"A massive outbreak occurred at the collapse point of the Old Council Square in the inner city. The number of ghouls was more than ten times the peak at the North Ward, and more than one giant individuals appeared."
Glock's voice was heavy as he read the bulletin.
Especially when he read the words "giant individuals."
"You didn't receive any news?" Lu Yuan asked with a frown.
"None," Glock folded the bulletin. "I didn't receive any news from the branch."
Then came news from the logistics line.
"There was a problem with the copper pipelines at the Water Conservancy Hub. Ghouls chewed through the main lines from underground, and the water supply system for half the inner city has been cut off."
The person delivering the news was a logistics soldier who had withdrawn from the inner city, his left arm in a sling and smoke stains on his face.
"The inner city is currently using the Church's water purification technique as an emergency measure, but it can't cover all areas."
Finally, there was a letter from Laurina.
Rate on N.U.
