Outside the Polymath Tower.
The square was empty.
The gaslight was turned deathly pale by the river of light overhead, casting distorted shadows onto the bluestone pavement.
Five figures stood before the bronze gate of the Polymath Tower.
Klaus stood at the very front.
He wore a deep grey shirt, and flashes of cyan occasionally flickered across the backs of his hands.
He made no attempt to hide his aura.
Behind him, Lake had already returned to human form.
He had short brown hair, a thin face, and a dark uniform.
He was quite a bit shorter now, only reaching about Klaus’s chest; the injuries he sustained in the pipe network had not yet fully healed.
But he simply stood there quietly, expressionless.
Further back were two more figures.
They wore Nightwatcher robes, their hoods pulled low to hide most of their faces.
Neither their age nor their features could be discerned.
One could only see dried blood on their boots whenever the night wind occasionally lifted the hems of their robes.
Their auras were extremely restrained.
So restrained that one might almost overlook their presence if not intentionally sensing for them.
The final figure stood to the far right of the group.
He was elderly.
His hair was entirely white.
A black mist enveloped his entire body.
It was the Guardian.
The five of them stood before the bronze gate.
At this moment, the Polymath Tower was completely sealed.
The bronze gate was tightly shut, and every inscription on its surface was lit.
The light of the inscriptions flowed across the gate’s surface at incredible speed.
Behind the gate, one could vaguely sense some massive power in operation.
The entire Polymath Tower was humming.
Klaus looked at the gate.
His expression was icy.
“I’ll give you ten seconds.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried far across the empty square.
“Either you open the door.”
“Or I’m breaking in.”
Silence.
There was no response from behind the gate.
Klaus did not wait.
“Ten.”
He began the countdown.
The bone-colored ring on his right ring finger began to change.
Dark grey bone spread from the ring’s surface, rapidly coalescing along the back of his hand.
It wasn’t the bone blade from last time.
What formed this time was a massive spiked bone hammer.
The hammerhead was as large as a human skull, with a spiraling bone spike at its tip. Its surface was covered in fine cracks, with a faint dark red glow seeping from the gaps.
“Nine!”
Klaus gripped the spiked bone hammer in his right hand, and the cyan light on his arm surged.
The Guardian and the others said nothing.
No one stopped him.
Clearly, everyone agreed with Klaus’s approach.
“Eight!”
At that exact moment, the Bronze City reacted.
The inscription lines on the city walls, which had gradually stabilized, lit up once again.
Eerie blue light converged from the walls and surged toward the Polymath Tower square along the conduction pathways of the copper ground.
The light flickered in the gaps between the stone slabs beneath the five men’s feet, forming a vaguely visible inscription array.
It was the Bronze City’s suppression array.
Its target was Klaus and his party.
Evidently, while suppressing eerie auras, it also suppressed Klaus, an eerie transcendent.
But Klaus showed no intention of restraining himself.
“Seven!”
The dark red glow on the spiked bone hammer grew brighter and brighter, and the air around the hammerhead began to distort.
The suppression inscriptions beneath his feet hissed sharply upon touching his aura, like hot oil hitting ice.
“Six!”
Right then.
A sound came from inside the Polymath Tower.
The sound of mechanisms turning.
The sound of gears interlocking.
The sound of heavy metal components shifting.
Creak... Creak...
The light of the inscriptions on the bronze gate suddenly retracted, dropping from a blinding eerie blue to a dim glimmer.
The gate began to move.
The massive bronze gate slowly pushed open to both sides, emitting a low rumble.
The light leaking from the gap was a warm yellow, forming a sharp contrast with the night outside.
Three figures walked out from behind the gate.
Leading them was a man in his fifties or sixties.
He had a majestic bearing, radiating an air of natural authority.
Kame, the Vice Dean of the Polymath Tower.
He was the same one who had fled in panic after being frightened by the Guardian at the entrance of the Alchemy Workshop.
Two people followed behind him.
On the left was Calvin Morton.
In his forties, he had a gloomy face and deep-set eyes, his monocle reflecting cold light under the illumination from within the doorway.
The Alchemy Department Supervisor.
The mentor who had once made things difficult for Laurina.
On the right was a woman.
In her early thirties, she had a cold expression, and a badge was pinned to the collar of her deep blue robes.
Judging by her attire, she was likely also a mentor from one of the departments.
The moment Kame stepped out, his gaze swept over the five people outside.
First, he saw Klaus.
Icy-faced, holding a spiked bone hammer, his aura radiating so strongly that even the Bronze City’s suppression inscriptions couldn't block it.
Then he saw Lake, a new face.
Further back.
Two hooded Nightwatchers.
Their faces were hidden.
But Kame could sense that the auras of those two were like two bottomless ancient wells.
Quiet, without the slightest ripple.
The more they were like this, the more terrifying they were.
Finally.
The Guardian.
White hair, pitch-black aura.
Kame’s eyelid couldn't help but twitch.
Especially when he recalled the scene of the Guardian taking action above the inner city, clearing the entire sky of ghouls as if wiping away dust.
If that kind of power were turned toward the Polymath Tower...
A chill ran down Kame’s spine.
‘The Nightwatchers’ trump cards... are actually this numerous?’
He instinctively swallowed, then quickly adjusted his expression, forcing a smile.
“Haha, Vice Director Klaus, it’s been a long time.”
Kame’s voice carried a hint of warmth, but the tension in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
“What brings you to our Polymath Tower so late at night?”
Klaus didn't smile.
His gaze was like a knife carving into Kame’s face.
“Aren’t you going to explain what exactly that is in the sky?”
Kame’s smile stiffened for a moment.
“Don’t you know how dangerous that Forbidden Land is?” Klaus’s tone turned cold, every word sounding as if it were dug out of an ice cellar. “The aura of the Sea of Knowledge fell from the sky, and more than half of Bronze City saw it.”
“What exactly are you doing?”
Kame struggled to maintain his smile.
Behind him, Calvin’s lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he was suppressed by a single look from Kame.
The female mentor remained expressionless and silent.
The silence lasted for several seconds.
Kame smiled, not answering directly.
Instead, he stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation.
“Words are useless. Vice Director Klaus, please, come inside.”
His tone suddenly became a bit more candid, as if he had dropped some pretense.
“Now that the experiment is essentially a success, I suppose there’s no need to keep hiding it.”
“We all serve the empire. Working together is certainly better than mutual suspicion.”
Klaus didn't move.
He turned his head and looked behind him.
The Guardian stood to the far right, his white hair drifting slightly in the night wind, the pitch-black aura like a thin mist shrouding his aged body.
The old man didn't speak.
He only nodded.
Klaus withdrew his gaze.
He loosened his right hand.
The dark red glow of the spiked bone hammer rapidly retracted, the bone material receding from his fingertips and along his wrist and hand, coalescing back into the shape of the ring.
The entire process took less than two seconds.
“Lead the way.”
Seeing the Guardian nod, Kame let out a long sigh of relief.
The moment he relaxed, his back was already soaked with cold sweat.
‘If we really fought...’
The image of the Guardian striking above the inner city flashed through his mind again.
He could have killed everyone in minutes.
Kame didn't dare think further and turned to walk into the bronze gate.
Klaus followed.
Lake followed.
The two hooded Nightwatchers followed silently.
The Guardian walked last.
When the elderly figure stepped over the threshold, the remaining inscription light on the bronze gate trembled violently.
Like some kind of instinctive dread.
The group entered the Polymath Tower.
The gate slowly closed behind them.
Inside the Polymath Tower, there was a deathly silence.
The corridors were spacious, the night reflected in the stained-glass windows, with only the alchemical patterns on the walls emitting a faint light, barely illuminating the path beneath their feet.
The few students that could occasionally be seen were nowhere to be found now.
The entire tower seemed to have been drained of all life.
Only the footsteps of the eight people echoed in the empty corridor.
Kame led the way, his back straight, but the muscles in the back of his neck were pulled taut.
Klaus’s gaze swept across both sides, missing no detail.
“Where are the students?” he asked.
“Tonight’s experiment was on a large scale, so they were evacuated in advance,” Kame said without turning his head. “They’ve all been moved to the outer dormitory area.”
Klaus didn't press further.
The group advanced toward the main tower along the corridor.
While passing through a connecting bridge, Calvin finally couldn't help himself and whispered to Kame.
“Vice Dean, are we really letting them all in?”
“Shut up.” Kame’s voice was soft, but it was enough to make Calvin swallow the rest of his words.
The bronze gate to the main tower was already open.
Kame stopped at the entrance and turned to face Klaus.
“Certain areas inside the main tower involve core experiments. I need to clarify something before we enter.”
His tone regained some of the composure befitting a Vice Dean.
“This project is authorized by a handwritten decree from the imperial headquarters and is under the full supervision of a Special Inspector.”
He paused.
“The Inspector is inside.”
Klaus’s expression didn't change.
“Lead the way.”
He said only those three words.
Kame nodded and turned to walk into the main tower.
The group ascended the spiral staircase.
Kame’s footsteps stopped on the third floor.
In front of a heavy copper door stood two mentors in deep blue robes. Their faces were tense, and when they saw the lineup behind Kame, their complexions instantly turned pale.
“Open the door,” Kame said.
The two mentors glanced at each other and, without hesitation, pushed the copper door open together.
Behind the door was a massive circular room.
The vault was high, and the walls were embedded with a large number of alchemical patterns, all of which were currently lit and emitting complex, multi-colored light.
In the center of the room sat a giant round table.
The table was covered with blueprints, notebooks, and various instruments.
Behind the round table sat a person.
His hair was greyish-white, his face stern, and he wore a finely tailored deep grey robe. A golden badge was pinned to his collar.
The badge was cast with a soaring eagle, its talons clutching an unfurled scroll.
The mark of the Polymath Tower at the imperial headquarters.
Seeing Kame walk in with a group of people, the man slowly stood up.
His gaze swept over Klaus and lingered on the Guardian for a moment.
Then he spoke.
His voice wasn't high, but it carried an innate authority.
“Vice Director Klaus, Lord Guardian.”
He bowed slightly, his manner neither humble nor arrogant.
“I am the Special Inspector from the imperial headquarters, Arthur Heinz.”
“I believe we indeed need to talk about the Polymath Tower’s experiment.”
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