Arthur did not respond.
He stared at the copper door for a while.
To be precise, he was staring at the spot where the Guardian had last stood.
“Yes,” he murmured to himself. “Quite a formidable presence.”
He paused for two seconds.
“Unfortunately, he’s a bit of an obstacle.”
Calvin finally spoke up.
“Inspector, if they actually make a move...”
“They won’t,” Arthur interrupted him, his tone flat. “At least not for now. The empire’s greater cause still keeps that Kraus fellow in line. But it won’t hold for much longer.”
He turned and walked back behind the round table, sitting down once more.
“Accelerate the progress. The final step on the Dean’s side must be completed within three days.”
Kame nodded.
The female mentor remained where she was, having not said a word the entire time.
However, a strange look flashed in her eyes when Arthur mentioned accelerating the plan.
...
Outside the Polymath Tower.
The square was empty. The river of light continued to flow overhead.
Kraus walked at the front.
His pace was neither fast nor slow, hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable.
As he reached the edge of the square, he spoke.
“Lord Guardian, did you notice it?”
The Guardian walked to his right.
“Yes.”
The voice was low and raspy.
“There is something in the main tower. Very dangerous.”
The Guardian’s words were brief.
“He wasn’t telling the truth. They used a forbidden object to open a forbidden land.”
Kraus’s footsteps faltered for an instant.
Then he continued walking.
“I know.”
A voice came from behind.
“What do we do now? Should we just wipe out the Polymath Tower in one go?”
The voice came from beneath one of the Nightwatchers' robes.
It was a woman’s voice.
Crisp, sharp, and carrying an unabashed intent to kill.
Kraus didn’t look back, but his lips moved.
“Not for now.”
He shut her down almost the instant she finished speaking.
Kraus knew this person’s temper all too well.
If he had been even half a second slower, she might already be crouching outside Arthur’s doorstep, considering how to send the Inspector on his way.
“The pressure from headquarters is immense.”
Kraus’s voice grew heavy as he stopped hiding his emotions.
“Headquarters was even excluded from this experimental plan. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had to force our way into the Polymath Tower... The last incident ended very unpleasantly; otherwise, this so-called Arthur wouldn’t have been sent here.”
He rubbed his temples vigorously.
“If we actually make a move, we’ll be playing right into those guys' hands. They’re itching for the Nightwatchers to strike first so they have an excuse to kick us out of Bronze City’s affairs entirely.”
Another voice, gruff and deep, rang out from under the other robe.
“Then what do you suggest?”
The owner of the voice sounded equally irritable.
Kraus stopped walking.
He turned around to face everyone behind him.
The night wind tugged at the hem of his deep grey shirt. A faint green light flickered on the back of his hand.
“Lake.”
“Sir.”
“Write an urgent secret letter. Demand reinforcements from headquarters, demand an explanation. If they don’t give us either, we’ll prepare for evacuation and let them handle the mess themselves.”
His voice grew deeper and deeper.
“Things have barely started and those diplomats at headquarters are already playing dead! Fucking useless.”
Lake didn’t reply; his short brown hair swayed slightly in the night wind as he nodded in acknowledgment.
Kraus then looked toward the gruff voice.
“Arrange for people to set those items up. Speed up the negotiations with the nobles... We can’t let the people at the Polymath Tower unite everyone. City Hall, the inner city council, the major families—pull in everyone we can. At the very least, we can’t have them all standing on the tower’s side.”
The gruff-voiced man nodded.
His face was obscured by the hood, but his voice was decisive.
“Understood. I’m on it.”
With a flick of his robe, his figure vanished into the night.
He was so fast that there wasn’t even the sound of a footstep.
Kraus watched the vanishing figure and frowned slightly. He then turned to the Guardian.
“Lord Guardian.”
His voice suddenly quieted down.
It was a stark contrast to his cursing just a moment ago.
“How much longer can you hold on?”
His tone carried a hint of complexity.
The Guardian’s pitch-black aura flowed slowly in the night wind.
The black eyeballs on his body had all sunk deep into the aura, making it impossible to see the old man’s face.
“Long enough for this experiment to conclude.”
The raspy voice emerged from the black mist.
He paused.
“Trust your own judgment.”
Kraus gave a heavy nod.
The Guardian’s figure gradually blurred into the night.
The pitch-black aura wrapped around the aged body as it drifted silently toward the clock tower.
Kraus stood there for a long time, watching the fading figure.
“And me?” the woman’s voice asked again.
She sounded much calmer than before, though still a bit reluctant.
“Go back for now. Wait for my instructions.”
“Fine.”
Clean and decisive.
She left as soon as she spoke.
With a swish of her robe, the second figure also vanished. Only two people remained in the square.
Kraus and Lake.
The two of them stood in the distance, not leaving immediately.
The river of light overhead continued to flow.
Fragments of glowing text occasionally fell from the river, drifting down and dissipating about a dozen meters from the ground.
The light from the gas lamps seemed dull in comparison to the river of light.
Kraus let out a long, heavy sigh.
It was a sigh so heavy that even Lake, standing beside him, turned his head slightly.
“Handle the inventory and preparations.”
Kraus didn’t look at Lake.
He watched the river of light in the sky.
“Transfer a portion of the supplies. Prepare a list of personnel for evacuation.”
He paused.
“The Nightwatchers cannot keep suffering losses generation after generation like this.”
Lake looked at Kraus’s profile.
The warm glow of the gas lamps interlaced with the light from the river, casting complex shadows across Kraus’s face.
“Understood,” Lake replied softly.
The two of them stood there for a while longer.
Then they turned and walked toward the branch office.
Their footsteps echoed in the empty square.
Overhead, the river of light flowed silently, soaking the entire inner city in a dreamlike radiance.
...
The next morning.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, falling onto the floor.
Lu Yuan opened his eyes.
His body felt light.
The exhaustion from inscribing three brain cores last night had been mostly recovered after a night’s sleep.
Lu Yuan sat up.
At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text emerged quietly.
【Sanity: +12… 81/120】
Heading to the second floor, he turned his gaze to the experimental table.
The three ghoul brain cores were still lined up on the surface.
After being linked last night, the inscriptions on the surface of the three brain cores seemed to have adjusted themselves slightly.
The engravings were smoother than they had been last night, and the connections between the lines were more fluid.
The faint red glow had long since faded.
The three small greyish-white stones lay there quietly.
Lu Yuan pocketed the three brain cores, performed a quick wash-up, and headed out.
The morning air was a bit colder than it had been the previous few days.
As he walked down the street, Lu Yuan glanced toward the inner city.
The river of light was still there.
The dreamlike colors from last night weren’t visible in the daylight, but the rift in the sky was still faintly discernible.
It was a very shallow mark on the firmament, visible only from certain angles.
Occasionally, one or two transparent specks of light drifted from the rift, nearly invisible under the sun.
A few passing pedestrians would occasionally look up, then shrink their necks and quicken their pace.
...
The branch office.
Main building, first floor.
At the end of the hall.
The door to Kraus’s office was open.
Lu Yuan knocked twice on the doorframe.
“Enter.”
Kraus sat behind the desk, which was strewn with several documents. A cup of tea sat by his hand, still steaming.
However, the man looked significantly more haggard than the last time they met.
Kraus glanced at Lu Yuan.
“Have a seat.”
He actually offered a seat this time.
Lu Yuan pulled up a chair and sat across the desk.
He didn’t beat around the bush.
“I have some intelligence to report to you.”
Kraus’s fingers paused.
“Speak.”
“Regarding the seed,” Lu Yuan said, choosing his words carefully. “I’ve obtained some information through certain channels. The source is reliable, but it’s not convenient to say who it is.”
Kraus didn’t press him on the source.
He simply tilted his chin slightly, signaling him to continue.
“First, the seed might be related to ‘Wish’. The exact nature of the relationship is unclear.”
Kraus’s fingers stopped moving on the desk.
His expression changed.
“I see,” he whispered.
“I was wondering why this thing carried a somewhat familiar aura... So it’s related to ‘Wish’.”
Lu Yuan watched Kraus’s expression; it was obvious Kraus knew something.
Lu Yuan didn’t ask for details.
He continued.
“Second, the Church has its eyes on the seed, and their stance is very clear.”
Kraus’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“The Ascension Society is also interested. A few days ago, they apparently had a conflict with the remnants of the Grey Covenant.”
“The Ascension Society...” Kraus’s tone grew half a degree colder.
“And the last member of the Grey Covenant... very likely ‘Nine’... has been spotted, though they haven’t been caught.”
Kraus was silent for several seconds.
Then he leaned back in his chair.
“In other words, the Church, the Ascension Society, and the Grey Covenant are all targeting the seed simultaneously.”
“Yes.”
“And we Nightwatchers are the ones holding it.”
Lu Yuan nodded.
Kraus sighed.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, changing his tone. “Leave it in the logistics department. If they have the guts, they can try to take it...”
He picked up his tea and took a sip.
“Someone will deal with them.”
He set the cup down.
“Besides, ‘Wish’ isn’t that simple a thing. No need to pay it too much mind.”
Hearing this, Lu Yuan also felt a sense of relief.
“What’s the situation with the Polymath Tower?” Lu Yuan asked in return.
Kraus didn’t hide anything.
“Their experimental plan succeeded. That river in the sky is what they created... there will be more movements following this.”
He didn’t elaborate further.
After a few seconds of silence, Kraus suddenly changed the subject.
“By the way.”
He looked at Lu Yuan.
“Would you be interested in going to Twilight Town to help me transfer a portion of our supplies there?”
Lu Yuan was taken aback.
Transferring supplies.
Lu Yuan immediately caught the subtext.
“Is Bronze City in danger?”
Kraus was silent for a moment.
“For now, it’s still under control.”
His fingers tapped slowly on the desk.
“But it’s safest to leave as early as possible.”
He looked at Lu Yuan.
“Besides, I imagine you have your own things to do, right?”
He picked up his teacup and set it back down.
“Bronze City can’t hold you back...”
Rate on N.U.
