The Man on the Wall

The four of them stood up one after another.

Bolen packed away the rubbing paper and notes, wrapping the copper plate in another layer of cloth.

Glock was the first to leave the room, his pace brisk.

As Lu Yuan reached the door, he looked back.

Klaus was still standing by the table, looking out the window.

His back betrayed no emotion.

Lu Yuan returned to his residence.

He didn't rush to do anything.

He boiled a pot of water, drank half a cup, and sat on the edge of the bed to process the information from the meeting in his mind.

Various matters were piling up.

But for now, there wasn't much he could do.

Klaus was making arrangements, Hoguer was investigating, and Bolen was continuing to cross-reference data.

His own turn to work hadn't come yet.

Lu Yuan placed the empty cup on the table and glanced out the window.

The sun was already sinking in the west.

It was time to tend to his own business.

Evening.

Lu Yuan sat before the experimental table on the second floor.

The light from the march lamp fell upon the surface. His toolbox was pushed to the side, and the bone fragment lay before him.

Thirty-six basic eerie inscription symbols.

He had previously identified up to the fifth one.

Lu Yuan started from the sixth.

The lines were twisted, the flow irregular.

He stared at it for about a minute until his eyes felt slightly sore.

He moved to the seventh.

Lu Yuan stopped.

The linear structure of this symbol was different from the other six.

It wasn't because it was more complex or more distorted.

It was because a specific part of its local structure shared similarities with a certain pattern from the copper pillar inscriptions.

They weren't identical, but their structural logic overlapped.

It was like two different expressions derived from the same thing.

Greyish-white text flickered at the edge of his vision.

【Inscription (Advanced · Eerie Inscription): +0.3... 3.1/50】

【Forbidden Lore: Knowledge Seeker: +0.2... 37.6/100】

Lu Yuan stared at the symbol for a while.

If the copper pillar inscription system itself contained elements of eerie inscriptions, then did those ghouls in the 'Abyss' also have some connection to eerie inscriptions?

If that were the case, could he gain experience in Eerie Inscription by coming into contact with those things?

This thought piqued Lu Yuan's interest. If it were true, it meant the inscriptions used on the bronze pillars contained undiscovered eerie inscriptions.

For him, this could lead to a significant breakthrough.

Suppressing the thoughts in his mind, Lu Yuan continued to identify the eighth symbol.

After finishing, Lu Yuan set the bone fragment aside.

He took a ghoul brain core from his toolbox.

It was about the size of a fingernail, greyish-white, and quite hard.

It was one of the cheap materials from the batch he had exchanged for recently.

Then, he prepared for his first engraving.

Duo Hawke had said the sequence was "first identify, then write, and finally engrave."

But he had only identified eight symbols, far from the stage of "identifying them all."

Nevertheless, Lu Yuan intended to try. Because of his experience bar, if he succeeded, his learning progress would increase drastically.

Of course, if there were any real danger, he would be able to see it in the greyish-white text.

With this in mind, Lu Yuan took out a fine copper needle. The tip had been sharpened, but its strength was lacking; however, it was barely sufficient for dealing with a brain core.

He held the brain core in his left hand and the needle in his right.

Each symbol in Eerie Inscription roughly corresponded to an ability.

Among the eight symbols he currently remembered, they could generally be divided into two types: Expansion and Dissipation.

Among them, 'Expansion' referred to magnifying the effects of a material, while 'Dissipation' referred to clearing the eerie aura from a material, which could be understood as a form of purification.

Combined with different materials and different symbols, an eerie rune symbol basically corresponded to a specific way of processing material.

This made Lu Yuan realize why so few people studied Eerie Inscription.

If he didn't try to innovate, he wouldn't finish learning it in this lifetime.

However, there was another reason Lu Yuan was trying: the seventh rune might be related to the bronze pillars, and the material in his hand was related to ghouls.

Therefore, he wouldn't feel bad even if he wasted it.

With this thought, Lu Yuan compared the flow of the symbol in his mind and began to lower the needle.

He made the first stroke.

His strength was a bit heavy, and the engraving went slightly off-course.

The luster on the surface of the ghoul brain core visibly dimmed.

Clearly, the item was ruined.

Lu Yuan set the brain core aside and took out a second one.

He started again.

This time, his touch was lighter.

When he was halfway through, a very faint feedback suddenly came through the symbiotic link.

It was like an intuition.

This caused Lu Yuan's pressure to shift slightly.

Lu Yuan followed this feeling and micro-adjusted the angle of his wrist. The engraving depth of the copper needle became shallower by less than half a millimeter.

The depth was now perfect.

The lines in the latter half became much smoother.

With every stroke, the Knowledge Worm provided subtle feedback through the symbiotic link. It didn't directly tell him how to engrave, but gave him a slight nudge the moment he strayed.

He finished the final stroke.

A complete eerie inscription symbol was on the surface of the brain core.

The lines were rough, and the transitions weren't smooth enough, but it was essentially established.

A faint, dark red glow flickered on the surface of the brain core.

It dimmed after two seconds.

Greyish-white text flickered at the edge of his vision.

【Inscription (Advanced · Eerie Inscription): +0.3... 3.4/50】

【Sanity: -1... 83/120】

【Basic Eerie Inscription: Ghoul Brain Core (Rough)】

【A piece of junk that is useless when used alone. Perhaps it would have some minor effect if three were strung together.】

Lu Yuan looked at the prompt and fell silent for a moment.

He looked at the brain core.

Rough. Barely functional.

But it worked.

The Knowledge Worm had provided perceptual assistance during the engraving process. There was a synergistic effect between Eerie Inscription and the symbiotic link.

This was a very important discovery.

It meant that on this path, he had an advantage over other eerie inscriptionists that no one else possessed.

Lu Yuan put the copper needle and the brain core into his toolbox. He stood up to stretch his fingers.

After engraving two brain cores, his right index finger and thumb felt a bit stiff.

He looked down out the window.

Inside the branch courtyard, the evening lights had already been lit.

In a corner, a figure was walking out from the direction of the main branch building.

A greyish-white robe.

A Church nun.

She kept her head down, her pace neither fast nor slow, as she walked along the edge of the inner courtyard toward the side gate.

Lu Yuan took a closer look.

After walking a few steps, the nun suddenly stopped.

She looked up toward the second floor.

It was as if she had sensed something.

Through the window, Lu Yuan couldn't see her face clearly.

He could only see the silhouette of the greyish-white robe under the lights.

A second or two later, the nun lowered her head and quickly departed.

It matched what Margaret had said.

Church nuns were appearing frequently at the branch.

Wandering around. Looking for something or wanting something.

Lu Yuan drew the curtains.

Early the next morning.

【Sanity: +12... 95/120】

Lu Yuan pushed open the door of his residence and almost bumped into someone.

A young clerical Nightwatcher stood at the bottom of the steps, clutching a slip of paper, his expression a mix of respect and nervousness.

“Captain Lu, Vice Director Klaus wants you to come to his office. He says there’s a mission to give you.”

Lu Yuan nodded.

The morning light filtered through the corridor windows.

Several windows in the side wing of the main branch building weren't fully open yet, and a trace of nighttime chill remained in the hallway.

Lu Yuan walked to the end of the corridor.

Klaus’s office was at the very end of the first floor.

The door was closed.

He knocked twice.

“Enter.”

Lu Yuan pushed the door open.

The office wasn't large.

A solid wood desk, two chairs, a bookshelf, and a rare sight—green plants.

In the outer city of the Bronze City, aside from a very few trees, vegetation was only planted along the streets of the inner city.

The curtains were drawn halfway, and light cut diagonally through the gap, falling onto the desk.

Klaus sat behind the desk.

The moment Lu Yuan entered, he noticed a detail.

Klaus’s right hand was resting on the tabletop, and a flash of cyan occasionally pulsed across the back of it, like something was coursing beneath the skin.

It vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Klaus didn't hide it.

A folded map and several pages of paper were spread out on the desk.

Klaus didn't ask him to sit.

He pushed the pages over directly.

“These are the results of Blake's memory extraction. It concerns your next mission. See for yourself.”

Lu Yuan took them.

On the paper were handwritten summaries. The handwriting was neat but not particularly beautiful, likely the notes of an interrogator.

The title read: “Grey Covenant Captive · Memory Extraction Report Summary.”

Lu Yuan looked down.

Organization: Three rank 4s and ten rank 3s were deployed for this operation.

Leader code-named 'Q'. The rank 4 code-named '8' has been killed. Another rank 4 code-named '9' is currently missing. All other rank 3s have been dealt with.

Operational Objective: Locate a certain position beneath the Bronze City.

The captive himself does not know more specifics.

Contact Method: Instructions are conveyed through the dreams of 'The Man on the Wall'.

The captive has never seen this person; all orders were received in dreams.

Note: Grey Covenant personnel have been lurking in the Bronze City for several months.

The precise location of the copper pillars and the existence of the seeds are relatively new instructions.

Lu Yuan read through them line by line.

Klaus added a couple of points from the side.

“'9' is still missing. There may still be a rank 4 hiding in the city.”

Klaus’s tone deepened slightly.

“The location and the seeds were new instructions sent recently. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come into conflict with us over the seeds; they could have stayed hidden even longer.”

The new instructions had disrupted their original rhythm of infiltration.

Lu Yuan placed the papers back on the desk.

Klaus took the pages away and then turned the map on the desk toward Lu Yuan.

“This is the structural map of the Bronze City sent back by the headquarters.”

Lu Yuan took a look.

It was largely similar to the city structure map currently held by the branch.

The pipe network layer marked the main passages and nodes. The positions of the copper pillars were marked but not precise enough.

“The headquarters' archives don't explicitly state what else is hidden below, but there is a complete structural map.” Klaus’s finger tapped lightly on the edge of the map.

“Comparing this map with the information we currently have, they are almost identical.”

He paused.

“Either the Bronze City experienced something before that caused information loss, or someone used deceptive means to burn all the complete archival blueprints.”

Lu Yuan didn't respond.

Both possibilities pointed to the same thing.

Someone didn't want those who came later to know the truth about the underground of the Bronze City.

“However, a discovery was still made.”

Klaus’s finger pointed to a route marked in red ink on the map.

Starting from a node in the pipe network layer, it extended toward the inner city along an unlabeled branch road.

“This path is highly consistent with Bolen's calculations.”

Klaus leaned back in his chair.

“This afternoon, you will take Bolen and Lake into the pipe network layer along this line to confirm if the route Bolen hypothesized is correct.”

“That section of the pipe network has basically been cleared, so there shouldn't be much danger. As long as 'Q' doesn't make a move, Lake will be enough to protect you both.”

Lu Yuan nodded.

Without another word.

He turned and left the office.

Returning to his residence.