Bolen Awakens

A faint, deep blue light flickered in Bolen's eyes from time to time.

Lu Yuan composed himself.

Greyish-white text surfaced before him.

【Target Detected: Bolen (Knowledge Transcendent) (Large-scale Inscription) (Believer)】

【A human who has stepped into the transcendent realm. He has his own insights into Inscription, though he seems to believe in something.】

The smile on Lu Yuan's face froze.

His heart sank instantly.

But he forced himself to stay calm for a few seconds.

This distinction was vital.

A Believer Transcendent meant being contaminated and transformed; the person's entire nature would change.

But a "Believer" was merely a brand on the level of faith.

There was no contamination.

Lu Yuan's anxiety eased halfway.

Controlling his expression, he spoke.

"Bolen, tell me. How did you advance?"

Bolen watched Kail leave, then smiled when he heard Lu Yuan's question.

"What, do you want to pass out and wake up as a higher rank too? You're dreaming."

The old man gave Lu Yuan a huffy look. Nevertheless, he leaned against the edge of the bed and began to speak slowly.

"At the time, I used my perception to probe that wall. In truth, I didn't feel anything."

Bolen looked a bit embarrassed at this point.

"Logically, the reason I couldn't feel anything was because my knowledge gap was too large. The level of those inscriptions on the copper wall was too high. Theoretically, unless I had a much deeper understanding, I would never be able to see through them in my entire life."

He paused.

"But when I withdrew my perception, I saw some images."

Bolen's tone changed. The pride from earlier vanished, replaced by a touch of inexplicable confusion.

"There was a giant sun in the sky. It was rotating. Below it, countless people were kowtowing to it."

"I was in a daze, and I was pulled along to kowtow a few times too."

He rubbed the back of his head.

"After that, I don't remember anything. When I woke up, I had advanced."

Silence followed for a few seconds.

"To be honest, I'm a little worried that I might have accidentally worshipped something."

The old man's voice carried a hint of unease.

"But I haven't lost anything. My Sanity is normal, and there are no signs of contamination. Nothing has changed, except that I inexplicably reached rank 3."

After listening, Lu Yuan's heart was completely at ease.

Everything made sense now.

Back then, when the entity behind the copper wall noticed him, Bolen had been caught in the crossfire.

However, the Hidden Witness had intervened. While it noticed Bolen, it had also protected him in passing.

Thus, Bolen was neither contaminated nor transformed.

But because of that moment of contact, he had been branded as a "Believer," and in the process, he had crossed the threshold of advancement.

A blessing in disguise.

"Maybe it was just a residual image on the inscriptions?" Lu Yuan suggested with a smile.

"Your luck is truly something else."

Bolen couldn't figure it out either. He laughed twice and stopped dwelling on it.

Lu Yuan pulled nine brain cores from his pocket.

Ghoul brain cores.

Each one was engraved with dense, eerie inscription patterns.

The dark red glimmer had faded, but the carvings were sharp and the inscription structures were complete.

"By the way, I came to see you today because I wanted you to take a look at these."

Lu Yuan arranged the brain cores on the shelf by the bed.

"Have you seen anything like this before?"

Bolen leaned in.

When he saw the patterns on the brain cores, his eyes lit up.

"I didn't expect you to memorize all the inscriptions in just a few days."

The old man picked one up from the shelf, spun it between his fingertips, and held it close to the lamp to examine it carefully.

"Let's see what you've done."

Bolen turned it over for a dozen seconds.

Then, he froze.

He picked up the second one. Then the third.

The more he looked, the more his expression shifted.

"Lu Yuan."

Bolen looked up, the light in his eyes even brighter than when he had been drawing inscriptions in thin air.

"How did you think of this?"

He lined up the nine brain cores in a row and slid his finger along the connecting patterns between them.

"You made subtle modifications to this inscription. Every single one is different, yet they all perfectly fit the internal structure of a ghoul brain core."

His speech grew faster.

"Furthermore, you've linked them together. Nine brain cores, their inscription pathways connected end-to-end, forming a complete circuit."

Bolen stared at Lu Yuan, his gaze flickering with changing emotions.

"A genius. An absolute genius."

After saying this, the old man seemed to think of something and sighed.

"That you chose Eerie Inscription for your talent... it's a complete waste."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"It's not a waste. my pathway suits me better, and Inscription is just something I'm doing on the side."

He paused.

"Besides, being able to carve these is related to the eerie things I've encountered. If I had specialized in Inscription, I might not have been able to carve them at all."

Bolen rolled his eyes.

"You certainly know how to comfort someone."

The old man pulled his attention back to the brain cores, his tone becoming serious.

"But your idea is indeed ingenious. You've harnessed the residual aura within the ghoul brain cores and solidified it."

He tapped his fingertip on the patterns of one of the brain cores.

"The most critical part is linking them. When all nine are activated simultaneously, the inscription resonance is triggered, releasing the ghoul aura within the cores to the maximum extent. You've made them truly functional."

Bolen placed the brain cores back on the shelf one by one.

"I've never seen anything like this. You've really opened my eyes."

The old man shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"Though Eerie Inscription does suit you. This method of matching one specific inscription to one material... just thinking about it gives me a headache. I couldn't memorize it."

He pushed the nine brain cores back toward Lu Yuan.

"Give me a few individual ones later; I want to study them."

His tone suddenly grew a degree heavier.

"But as for this nine-linked inscription, you must be extremely careful. I can feel the eerie aura inside. If this thing ever leaks, it will be contamination."

Lu Yuan tucked the brain cores back into his pocket.

He nodded.

Bolen remained silent for a moment, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Right. When you have time, let's go down there again."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

"My understanding of inscriptions is deeper now. I want to look at the inscriptions in front of that wall again."

Bolen's tone became solemn.

"I suspect that the Bronze City might be alive."

Lu Yuan was startled.

"What do you mean?"

Bolen sat back on the edge of the bed, resting his hands on his knees. He lowered his head and thought for a few seconds before speaking.

"I've been puzzled for a long time. How do the inscriptions of the Bronze City remain strong after thousands of years?"

"When we went down into the sinkhole last time, I thought it was the copper pillars. I thought the entire city used the underground copper pillars to draw some kind of power, which, combined with the inscriptions and materials, was transmitted throughout the city."

He paused.

"But there's a problem. Bronze is the bane of ghouls. When these two things meet, they only repel each other. Forget drawing power; putting them together is practically explosive."

"So the copper pillars can't be the power source. They are more like a transmission device."

Bolen looked up at Lu Yuan.

"The true power source is the thing behind that wall."

"The reason the entire city has been able to function for thousands of years is most likely because of that existence. The copper pillars extract power from it, the inscriptions handle the distribution and guidance, and the materials serve as the vessels. Every part is essential."

Lu Yuan said nothing.

Bolen continued.

"If the Grey Covenant's goal from the start was that thing..."

He trailed off.

The two men exchanged a look.

There was no need to finish the sentence.

If the entity behind the copper wall were released, the Bronze City would lose its power source and the inscription system would collapse. And that existence, which had been sealed for who knows how many years, would make this city—the place that had imprisoned it for so long—its first target for revenge.

Lu Yuan pondered.

But would it really be that simple?

The prompt from the greyish-white text indicated that the entity's level was extremely high. Could such a thing really be held back by just a city?

There had to be some unknown fail-safe.

"Alright," Lu Yuan nodded. "If we're going down, we should prepare in advance. We can even bring Kraus along."

Bolen nodded. "No problem. But not today. I still need to get used to my rank 3 abilities."

Lu Yuan chatted with Bolen for a few more minutes before rising to take his leave.

Leaving the medical area, he walked back along the corridor.

As he passed the logistics department, Lu Yuan noticed many more people in the corridor.

They were all Nightwatchers. Their faces were unfamiliar; they had likely been transferred from other teams.

One of them saw Lu Yuan and quickly stepped forward.

"Captain Lu."

The young Nightwatcher stood straight and gave a salute.

"On the orders of Vice Director Kraus, we will be temporarily taking over the patrols for the previous brothers for the next few days. If anything happens, you can notify us through this."

He handed over a copper whistle that looked quite small and delicate.

Lu Yuan took it and glanced at it.

"Understood. Good work."

The Nightwatcher nodded and stepped aside.

Lu Yuan put the copper whistle in his pocket and continued on.

Afterward, Lu Yuan returned to the second floor, intending to continue experimenting with what would happen if two sets of nine cores were linked together.

However, the result was completely unexpected.

When the two sets of nine were merged, one set exploded on the spot.

It was as if the structure couldn't withstand the strain.

It turned into fine dust.

Lu Yuan looked at the grey-covered workbench and realized that the quality of the brain cores he had engraved was still too low.

Once the count reached 'Nine', they could no longer bear any further pressure.

If he wanted to connect more inscriptions, he would likely have to wait until he had higher-quality materials.

Giving up on the idea of linking more brain cores, Lu Yuan continued engraving until evening.

The sun had almost set.

【Sanity: 55/120】

【Inscription (Advanced · Eerie Inscription): +0.1... 19.5/50】

There was also a pile of ghoul brain cores on the desk.

Lu Yuan stood up and stretched, planning to rest early, as there might be matters waiting to be handled tonight.

Sure enough.

That night.

The branch patrol had a brief encounter with an unidentified individual in the outer city's peripheral area.

The other party didn't strike.

They simply stood on the roof of an abandoned building, their gaze directed toward the wing of the logistics department.

Once the patrol discovered them, the person turned and fled.

Their speed was incredible.

The patrol chased them for two streets but failed to catch up.