Lu Yuan closed the door.
Kraus didn't waste time with pleasantries. He set his pen down and looked up at him.
“How do we do this?”
Lu Yuan stood before the desk for a couple of seconds, weighing his words.
“There is a symbiote within my pathway that can consume both types of damage you’ve sustained.”
Kraus didn't respond, his gaze fixed on Lu Yuan’s face, waiting for him to finish.
“During the process, you’ll feel something moving inside your body. Don’t resist it.”
“If the eerie power in your body reacts, just suppress it.”
When Kraus heard the word “symbiote,” his eyes flickered slightly.
He didn't ask further questions.
He pulled his right hand from beneath the desk and placed it on the surface. He began to unwrap the bandages, which were wound tightly in several layers. As they came undone, a faint friction sound of cloth separating from skin could be heard.
As the final layer was removed...
The cyan patterns on his wrist were clearly visible under the lamp. They spread from the wrist along the forearm, flowing slowly beneath the skin, even showing a tendency to spread deeper.
Then, Kraus frowned slightly.
The bone-colored ring on his left ring finger flashed with a faint, dark green light.
The dark green light receded along his forearm, and the protective layer that had been covering the wound surface was actively withdrawn.
Then, Lu Yuan saw it.
That layer of light had been enveloping the wound. The cyan patterns he had seen in this office before were clearly Kraus’s own protective measures.
Now that the protection was gone...
The patterns on the wrist changed. Within seconds, the cyan turned into a blackish-red, seeping into the texture of the skin.
The edges of the patterns began to spread deeper into the forearm at a rate visible to the naked eye. The things that had been suppressed for so long had found a gap and were expanding outward.
From the wrist to the middle of the forearm, the original skin was now covered in a dense, blackish-red mesh. At several points where the lines intersected, the skin bulged slightly, and something was pulsing underneath.
Lu Yuan stared at the arm.
With this kind of thing weighing on him, Kraus could still sit here writing reports, planning operations, and setting traps for the Grey Covenant.
Kraus laid his hand flat on the desk. The blackish-red patterns were still spreading, but the speed was slowing down. The initial burst after losing protection was passing.
“Begin.”
Lu Yuan said nothing more.
He closed his eyes. The symbiotic link transmitted the command.
Deep within his left eye, the Knowledge Worm received the signal and swam out from the space within the inner wall of the eyeball.
A tiny insect body slid out from Lu Yuan’s left eye. Its surface shimmered with a faint tri-colored shimmer, and it looked significantly sturdier than when Lu Yuan had first seen it.
It swam along Lu Yuan’s cheek to his fingertip and stopped, the tri-colored shimmer flickering under the lamp.
Kraus clearly saw it.
His entire body tensed instinctively, though he suppressed the reaction almost immediately. His pupils constricted only slightly, but Lu Yuan was close enough to see it clearly.
His gaze was nailed to the insect’s body, the tri-colored shimmer reflecting in his pupils.
Silence lasted for about two seconds.
“A colored knowledge-derived insect?”
Kraus’s tone was certain, his voice kept very low.
Kraus knew all too well what a knowledge-derived insect signified—a forbidden product of the Polymath Tower, for which the Nightwatchers headquarters held a complete file. For a rank 2 Knowledge transcendent to have a knowledge-derived insect in symbiosis was a matter of immense weight.
But in Lu Yuan’s eyes, Kraus was making the same error in judgment that ‘9’ had made.
Both men had misidentified the Knowledge Worm. One was a rank 4 eerie transcendent and a Nightwatchers Vice Director.
The other was a core figure in the Grey Covenant who controlled the Glazed Water. Two completely different factions, different levels, yet their first reaction upon seeing the Knowledge Worm was identical.
They both misidentified it as a knowledge-derived insect.
No one even considered the possibility of a “Knowledge Worm.” Clearly, this entity did not exist in any known files, literature, or even rumors.
It was so rare that no one could even correct the fact that it was being misidentified.
Lu Yuan did not correct him, while also making a mental note of this fact.
“I’m starting now,” Lu Yuan said as the insect body transitioned from his fingertip to the skin of Kraus’s wrist.
The moment they touched, the Knowledge Worm burrowed in instantly.
The symbiotic link immediately transmitted intense excitement. The worm’s state changed completely after entering Kraus’s body; emotions surged through the link, like something that had been starving for a long time entering a kitchen.
Lu Yuan immediately tightened the symbiotic link.
He hadn't forgotten a single word of the notes from his research: “Entering the body of the human before you is no different from entering a kitchen.” Kraus was a rank 4 eerie transcendent; everything inside him was potential ingredients for the worm.
If he let it eat freely, it might consume things essential to keeping Kraus alive.
The Knowledge Worm was restrained. The symbiotic link transmitted a reluctant vibration, but it obeyed the command.
Following Lu Yuan’s instructions, it swam toward the target.
The symbiotic link transmitted images; the Knowledge Worm encountered the Glazed fragments of the old wound beneath the skin of the wrist.
They were crystalline damages embedded between the flesh, like solidified shards of Glazed Water.
Seeing this, the Knowledge Worm didn't hesitate and began to gnaw.
Residue that was a hazard to Kraus was merely food to it.
The Knowledge Worm, its range restricted, became even more focused. It gnawed rapidly, swallowing the crystalline fragments piece by piece.
Kraus felt a faint sensation of heat moving through his wrist.
But he didn't move. Only his right index finger twitched slightly, and his tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
Clearly, the Knowledge Worm’s efficacy exceeded his expectations. Not only did it not eat randomly inside his body, but it also precisely devoured the Glazed Water that had invaded him and was extremely difficult to purge.
During the battle in the pipe network, that rank 4 Grey Covenant member who blew himself up had left Kraus with a very troublesome injury. After so many days, only a small portion had been repaired.
And now, it was actually being eaten away??
While Kraus was feeling a surge of shock...
The Knowledge Worm had already moved deeper. Its target was the residual mark of the Sea of Knowledge that had invaded Kraus’s body.
In the vision provided by the symbiotic link, this thing was blue-green.
Its texture was completely different from the old wound because the mark from the Sea of Knowledge was alive. It was like a blood-sucking worm, clinging to the edge of Kraus’s Sanity barrier, writhing silently.
Seeing this, the Knowledge Worm became visibly excited, and a joyous vibration pulsed through the symbiotic link.
To it, this thing was clearly an incredibly rare delicacy.
The Knowledge Worm swam over instantly, its colored body covering the blue-green mark. Then, the mark was devoured section by section, much faster than the old wound. The things attached to the Sanity barrier were torn off one by one and swallowed.
Kraus’s right hand jerked violently.
He could feel something moving deep within his body. An indescribable sense of a foreign object came from his mind. He didn't make a sound, but a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.
When the blue-green mark was half-cleared, the happily eating Knowledge Worm suddenly froze.
Because a dangerous aura had locked onto it.
The Knowledge Worm turned in a stiff circle, finally realizing the source of the gaze was deep within Kraus’s Sanity.
But the aura of that thing had nothing to do with the injury.
It was something ancient, profound, and carrying a certain oppressive weight.
When Lu Yuan felt this, he could more or less guess what it was. That thing was very likely Kraus’s ‘Essence’. He still remembered the Amber Preservation Method Kraus had taught him.
Through the symbiotic link, Lu Yuan soothed the Knowledge Worm, and it gradually settled down.
At the same time, the bone-colored ring on Kraus’s left ring finger vibrated for less than half a second at the moment the Knowledge Worm felt fear, then fell silent.
Kraus’s left hand clenched beneath the desk.
He was clearly suppressing something.
In this manner, the Knowledge Worm finished eating both types of residual damage and returned the way it came, burrowing out from the wrist and swimming back into Lu Yuan’s left eye.
The symbiotic link became clear again, the worm transmitting feelings of satisfaction.
Two lines of grey-white text jumped at the edge of his vision.
【Forbidden Lore: Knowledge Seeker: +0.3... 73.1/100】
【Bronze City Status: +0.2... 18.2/50】
A portion of what was consumed was fed back to him. Although the values were tiny, they were definitely there.
Lu Yuan opened his eyes.
The blackish-red patterns on Kraus’s wrist faded visibly within seconds, the color shifting from dark to light until only the faintest traces remained. The greyish-white pallor of his face also regained a layer of color.
Kraus moved his wrist in disbelief, clenching and unclenching his fist. He found that his strength was completely different from before.
After a brief few seconds of silence...
“How long until a full recovery?”
“With the restorative potions from the pharmacy, two or three days.”
Another two seconds of silence. Kraus looked at Lu Yuan.
“Lu Yuan, the things you carry far exceed my imagination.”
Lu Yuan didn't respond, and Kraus didn't press for the source. His level and experience dictated that he shouldn't ask at a time like this.
Kraus spoke up again.
“Franz... you’ve seen his condition. Can your symbiote... treat him?”
Lu Yuan paused for a moment.
“He is different from you. The residual marks of the Sea of Knowledge are too deep, and his Sanity foundation is on the verge of collapse. If my symbiote enters, it might very well shatter his final shreds of consciousness.”
“I judge the success rate to be about ten percent. There are no good solutions.”
Kraus’s fingers tapped the desk and then stopped.
“Ten percent.”
Kraus didn't ask Lu Yuan to take the risk. After a long, soft sigh, he spoke.
“Bolen will take him away first thing in the morning. Headquarters has better facilities than we do.”
Both men understood Franz’s fate. He would likely be transferred from his original post; with this level of Sanity trauma, he would very likely never recover.
Kraus took a file from a drawer—the workflow for the Overturn Operation.
“The day after tomorrow, in the morning, at the main hall of the Count's Mansion. All inner city nobles are summoned. For those who don't show up, the Iron Guard will pay them a visit personally.”
He pushed the file toward Lu Yuan.
“Headquarters sent someone over specifically for this task. You’ll know when you see them.”
“Your mission: observe in secret. If you find anything abnormal, just notify me. You are not the main force this time; you don't need to be on the front lines.”
Lu Yuan nodded.
“Go get some sleep. I need you clear-headed the day after tomorrow.”
Lu Yuan left the office. The oil lamps in the corridor were still burning, the flames even smaller than when he had arrived.
He returned to his room.
The sky was not yet bright.
Lu Yuan didn't plan to go back to sleep.
He picked up a pen and the letter paper he had prepared, but for a moment, he didn't know what to write.
Rate on N.U.
