The atmosphere in the water plant's control room was tense to the extreme.
Beside the kicked-aside floor drain cover, a black aura—visible only to Lu Yuan—continued to swirl.
"Confirmed."
Hans retracted his gaze, his face grim. "This is likely the source. Those bastards used some kind of ritual to open a node here."
"They then used the pipes to invade the water plant, turning this place into their stronghold."
He turned around, his gaze scanning everyone present as he quickly issued orders.
"Toby."
Hans looked at the youngest and fastest Nightwatcher in the group.
"Head back immediately and report the situation here to the base."
"Tell Mary that the water plant has fallen, the underground waterway is deeply contaminated, and we've found traces of an organized ritual."
"Tell her she must send at least one more captain-level backup. I'm worried the few of us won't be enough to handle this."
"Yes, sir."
The young man named Toby didn't waste any words. He slung his greatsword across his back and dashed out of the control room.
Hans looked at the remaining three and continued:
"Ed, Gray, the usual rules. One for advance scouting, one for the rear guard. Who's taking which?"
A thin man with two pure silver curved blades tucked into his belt stepped forward. He pulled down his mask, revealing only a pair of sharp eyes. "I'll handle scouting."
This was Ed, who specialized in reconnaissance.
The quiet, burly man—built like a bear—grunted in response. "I'll take the rear."
His name was Gray, the team's heavy-arms specialist. He carried a heavy tower shield and an alchemical musket on his back.
"Ron." Hans looked at the last member, a vigilant middle-aged man.
"You're responsible for protecting Lu Yuan. He is the vice-captain and our only doctor and scholar. I don't want to see him lose a single hair."
"Understood." Ron nodded and moved half a step to Lu Yuan's side, his hand already resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Having arranged everything, Hans turned to Lu Yuan, his tone softening slightly.
"Doctor Lu, do you have any suggestions regarding these combat assignments?"
Lu Yuan shook his head.
"Let the professionals do their jobs." Lu Yuan checked the cylinder of his pistol. "I'm only responsible for providing you with knowledge from books. As for how to cut things down, that's your specialty."
Hans grinned, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
"Then let's move."
...
The entrance to the sewers was in the water plant's basement.
The group first cleared a few scattered mutated creatures at the entrance. After ensuring their retreat was safe and leaving two specialized climbing ropes, they entered one by one.
Gelimu Port's underground drainage system was exceptionally vast.
It not only handled the city's sewage but also connected to old smuggling tunnels.
The main tunnels were wide enough for three adults to walk side-by-side, with maintenance walkways raised above the water level on both sides.
But now, the place was completely transformed.
The walls, which should have been damp and dark, were now covered in a thick layer of dark green moss.
They looked like a layer of living skin, wriggling slightly under the light of the flashlights and even secreting a viscous liquid.
The air was thick with a pungent fishy stench mixed with the smell of rot, making everyone frown instinctively.
"Stop."
Ed, walking at the front, suddenly raised his fist—the signal to stop advancing.
He crouched down, cautiously touching the moss on the wall with the edge of his silver curved blade.
Sizzle—
A tooth-aching sound of corrosion rang out, and a wisp of blue smoke rose from the edge of the blade.
"This stuff is corrosive, and..." Ed looked back. "It seems like it's trying to entangle my blade."
Everyone's heart tightened.
Hans looked at Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan remained silent. He took a pair of long forceps from his medical kit, pinched a small sample of the moss, and placed it into a pre-prepared test tube.
Under the gray-white prompts, the true nature of this plant-like mass was immediately revealed.
【Witnessed mutated creature: corpse moss (low-level swarm)】
【Characteristics: Possesses weak activity and predatory instincts; prefers to attach to carrion or living bodies to extract nutrients. Its secreted mucus has both paralytic and digestive effects.】
【Weakness: Strong acid, fire.】
"Corpse moss."
Lu Yuan shook the test tube, watching the green substance inside frantically battering against the glass walls. His tone was calm.
"This isn't a plant; it's alive."
"They like eating meat. If you dare to press yourself against the wall, you'll become their fertilizer within ten minutes."
"Furthermore, its mucus has a paralytic effect. If it accidentally touches your skin, it must be cleaned off immediately. By the way, they fear fire."
Hearing this, Ed subconsciously moved a bit further away from the wall.
The Nightwatchers, who had initially felt some slight disdain for this "parachuted vice-captain," now looked at him differently.
To be able to provide such a precise analysis instantly in this environment, this doctor definitely had some skill.
"Continue forward. Don't touch the walls," Hans ordered.
The team continued their advance.
The deeper they went, the stronger Ed's sense of unease became.
Lu Yuan observed the surroundings as they walked.
He had noticed an extremely jarring phenomenon.
"Something is wrong," Lu Yuan said suddenly.
"What is it?" Hans immediately stopped and looked around vigilantly.
"It's too clean."
Lu Yuan pointed to the walkway beneath their feet. "This is a sewer, the filthiest place imaginable."
"Logically, this place should be crawling with rats and cockroaches."
"But we've walked for so long, and aside from this corpse moss, we haven't seen so much as a single cockroach."
The group was stunned for a moment before the realization hit them.
Indeed, this was too abnormal.
"Where did the rats go?" Ed whispered.
"Perhaps they were all eaten."
Lu Yuan looked at the plump, wriggling corpse moss on the walls, his voice turning cold. "Corpse moss only survives by eating carrion. To grow this lushly, they must have a massive source of meat."
"All the rats and bugs have become nutrients for these things."
At this point, a flicker of unease crossed Lu Yuan's eyes.
"But rats alone aren't enough to sustain such a massive colony of corpse moss. They are still spreading deeper, and they grow better the further in they go."
"What does that indicate?" Hans gripped his silver greatsword.
"It indicates that further in, there is an even larger 'meat source'," Lu Yuan said slowly.
"A cafeteria... large enough to feed the entire sewer system."
This hypothesis sent a chill down everyone's spine.
What was kept in that "cafeteria"?
Everyone could guess without being told—the missing workers.
Rate on N.U.
