Mithril

The escape from the sewer was a desperate scramble, but it wasn't as hopeless as it might have been.

The swarm of mutated creatures behind them seemed to be blocked by some invisible boundary as they approached the entrance to the water plant's basement.

After a period of frenzied snarling, they retreated unwillingly into the depths of the darkness.

"Huff... huff..."

The team sat slumped in the security room at the water plant's main gate, panting heavily.

Lu Yuan leaned against the wall, wiping cold sweat from his forehead.

The feeling of exhaustion after a narrow escape made him tremble slightly.

But Lu Yuan's attention was currently focused entirely on the prompts flickering at the edge of his vision.

【Witnessed and survived: deep sea hounds, corpse moss, mutated rat swarm】

【Forbidden Lore: Seeker: +3, 3/50】

【Sanity II: +3, 23/47】

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered.

It added 3 points of experience?

One had to know that being tortured by that damn Strange Dreams for an entire night only added 5 points of experience.

Yet, that brief ten-minute life-and-death escape had provided gains that almost rivaled an entire night's work.

Moreover, his Sanity had also increased.

"Do risks and rewards coexist..."

Lu Yuan lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the grip of his silver-plated pistol.

If his previous attitude toward these mutated creatures had been to avoid them at all costs, the scales were now beginning to tip.

Leveling up through Strange Dreams was too slow; by comparison, this "visible" danger was actually more cost-effective.

"It seems I'll have to 'court death' appropriately in the future,"

Lu Yuan calculated silently in his heart.

Of course, the prerequisite was having a powerful pillar like Hans standing in front to take the brunt of it.

...

During the rest period, the atmosphere in the security room softened considerably.

"Hey, Doc."

The Nightwatchers member named Ed approached, handing Lu Yuan a somewhat squashed cigarette.

"Thanks for earlier. If you hadn't warned me, I probably would've lost this leg."

Lu Yuan waved his hand in refusal.

"It was nothing."

The taciturn giant next to them, Gray, also spoke up in a muffled voice. "You've got a good head on your shoulders. You're much better than those doctors at the base."

Only the cold Nightwatchers member who had been leading the way merely gave Lu Yuan a distant nod without speaking.

"To be honest, when I first saw the base send a temporarily conscripted doctor as the vice-captain, I was pretty unconvinced," Ed said bluntly, exhaling a smoke ring. "I get it now. Sometimes a brain is indeed more useful than a blade."

Lu Yuan smiled but didn't take the bait.

He took the opportunity to point at the empty metal rack in Gray's pack.

"That last thing... what was it? It was very powerful."

"That was mithril."

Ed lowered his voice, his tone carrying a hint of awe. "That's good stuff, but it's also deadly stuff."

"Those lunatics in the research department refined it using alchemy and some... uh, materials I can't talk about."

"Against polluted creatures, or even eeries, it has devastating lethality. That silver fire isn't ordinary fire; it burns 'spirituality'."

"But this stuff is extremely unstable. It might explode if you shake it too hard." Ed shrugged. "So every time we go on a mission, each team can only carry two bottles at most. Any more and you're a walking powder keg."

Lu Yuan nodded thoughtfully.

As expected, the Nightwatchers' ability to stand firm in this world where eeries ran rampant was due to a deep and inscrutable foundation.

"By the way, Doc," Ed leaned in a bit closer. "I heard you opened a clinic behind Old John's Tavern?"

"Yes, Laisen Clinic."

"Can I come find you if I have some problems in the future?" Ed thought of something, his face full of disgust. "The doctors at the base are too fierce. They'll pour a bottle of potent magic potion down your throat just to treat a cold. I don't want to be crippled by their treatment."

"You're welcome anytime," Lu Yuan laughed. "Just remember to bring enough money."

Just then, the neighing of horses came from outside.

Hans pushed the door open and entered. His expression was still serious, but there was a hint of relief in his eyes.

"Get up and get to work! The reinforcements have arrived."

The reinforcements this time were of a high standard.

In addition to Toby, the young messenger, there was a black carriage filled with wooden crates and a man dressed in a sophisticated tailcoat.

The man looked to be about thirty years old, holding a gold-inlaid cane, with an elegant smile always playing on his lips.

The most striking thing about him was his emerald-green eyes, which were as deep as a pool of stagnant water.

The Second Team Captain of the Nightwatchers, Valentine.

"Hans, I heard you were driven out by a pack of rats?"

Valentine stepped off the carriage, his tone flippant, even using a handkerchief to cover his nose. "How embarrassing."

"Cut the crap." Hans gave him an annoyed look. "The situation below is more serious than expected. It's not just a pack of rats; there's also a flesh mountain that's currently hatching."

"A flesh mountain?"

A bloodthirsty glint flashed in Valentine's green eyes, and he licked his lips. "Sounds like... perhaps a new flavor."

Standing to the side, Lu Yuan keenly sensed the dangerous aura emanating from this man.

It wasn't an aura a human should have; it was more like a beast wearing human skin.

"A transcendent of the Eerie Pathway..." Lu Yuan made a judgment in his heart.

After a brief tactical arrangement, the new offensive began.

This time, with sufficient supplies, the Nightwatchers were no longer hesitant.

Several crates of molotov cocktails were unloaded from the carriage, along with a special holy water that emitted a faint golden light.

Most crucially, Valentine had brought three whole bottles of mithril.

"We have only one goal this time—the flesh mountain blocking the drainage outlet."

Hans pointed at the map. "Valentine will lead the attack, and I will assist. Everyone else is responsible for clearing out the minions and providing cover."

Considering the threat of the underwater tentacles, Lu Yuan was also assigned a large-caliber copper shotgun and two bottles of the special holy water glowing with a faint golden light.

When Lu Yuan reached out to take the two bottles of holy water, the moment his fingertips touched the glass bottles, a warm sensation traveled up his fingers, and the familiar gray-white text at the edge of his vision jumped abruptly.

【You have come into contact with new knowledge: Water tainted with a faint "Light"】

Looking at the gray text appearing at the corner of his eye, Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He could actually gain new knowledge by touching these things? Although it didn't directly increase 【Forbidden Lore】, it would surely be useful when accumulated.

Lu Yuan turned his gaze toward the mithril, but he wasn't in a hurry. Now that he had joined the Nightwatchers, coming into contact with these things was only a matter of time.

They entered the sewer once again.

This time, the group was no longer stingy with ammunition, pushing forward while throwing molotov cocktails along the way.

The corpse moss that had originally occupied the walls let out "sizzling" screams in the flames, turning into charred ash.

"Squeak squeak squeak—"

Swarms of mutated rats tried to counterattack, but in the face of the dense fire net and the wall of fire built by the molotov cocktails.

They could only turn into individual fireballs and die in despair.

"Put on your gas masks! Watch out for toxic smoke!"

Hans roared, his greatsword swinging so fast it was air-tight, splitting several deep sea hounds that had slipped through the net in half.

Meanwhile, Valentine, the Second Team Captain, demonstrated terrifying combat power at this moment.

He shed his tailcoat, revealing a lean and powerful upper body. He pulled a potion as red as blood from his breast pocket and tilted his head back to swallow it.