Interrogation

Glock's expression shifted as he took in Kraus's condition, but it was clear he already knew some of what had happened.

“Lu Yuan, is the Vice Director alright? The logistics doctors are on their way.”

“He's fine,” Lu Yuan replied.

While he was carrying Kraus and fleeing, the grey-white text had already surfaced.

No suffixes appeared at the time, which meant that this time, aside from extreme exhaustion, Kraus only had minor superficial injuries.

“That's good, that's good.” Glock showed a rare look of lingering fear.

“The Grey Covenant is truly audacious!! They must be made to pay for this!!”

While Glock was venting his fury, Kraus sat on a chair on the first floor. He leaned against the backrest and took a few breaths, his expression gradually filling with weariness.

“Explain the situation with the pipe network. The members of the Grey Covenant are all in the inner city, so who was the rank 4 encountered in the pipes?”

Glock immediately stepped forward and flipped through the records in his hand.

“Lake encountered a suspected rank 4 member of the Grey Covenant at the time, but they vanished quickly. Afterward, two rank 3 members of the Grey Covenant arrived carrying a box of items taken from the Sea of Knowledge. Lake intercepted the items.”

He turned a page, his expression solemn.

“So, there's still someone in the shadows who is at least rank 4 and poses a threat to Lake. The good news is that those two rank 3 members were captured alive by Lake and are available for interrogation.”

Kraus closed his eyes and leaned against the backrest without speaking, signaling for Glock to handle the arrangements himself.

Glock glanced at him, picked up the communication crystal, and went outside.

Shortly after, personnel from the logistics department rushed in, and Kraus was taken to the branch medical room.

Kraus's afterimages could wind back physical injuries, but the depletion of his Sanity and the loss of three afterimages were not things the reversal could fix.

He needed time to recover.

Lu Yuan stood in the corridor outside the medical room, his expression grave. Everything seemed to have circled back to the starting point.

Furthermore, the Grey Covenant had their own trump cards. Not only did they have many rank 4 members, but more importantly, after J left, Bronze City's defenses seemed to have been triggered to the maximum extent. The last time that happened was during the ghoul attack and the Guardian's intervention.

Could it be that the Grey Covenant also possesses silver plates similar to those left by Bolen? Could they manipulate Bronze City to some degree? If that's the case, I'm doomed. They already aren't suppressed by the city, and if they can even control it...

Lu Yuan felt a headache coming on.

The oil lamps in the corridor were dimmed to the lowest setting, the flames shrinking to the size of a fingernail, barely casting a small circle of dim yellow light on the wall. There were many more people in the branch than usual. Many unfamiliar faces hurried past in the corridor, likely temporary reinforcements.

Several questions had been weighing on his mind since the battle ended, and he hadn't been able to figure out a single one.

What is the Grey Covenant's ultimate goal?

According to previous hints, the purpose of that group was clear: Glazed Water and power. So, which of these were they looking for in Bronze City?

As for Glazed Water, that was practically a fantasy; Bronze City didn't produce the stuff. That left only power. Where would they seek it? For rank 4 mutation transcendents and rank 4 eerie transcendents to take a step further, they would have to rely on Him, wouldn't they?

There was something else that felt even more off.

The Grey Covenant knew Kraus's injuries inside out. Everyone present knew the injuries Kraus sustained while helping handle the Sea of Knowledge leak in the Polymath Tower, but who would want Kraus dead?

Whether it was the Polymath Tower, the Ascension Society, or someone at the level of the Church's Archbishop, it was impossible for them to want anything to happen to Kraus. Even the people in the Polymath Tower absolutely wouldn't want Kraus dead. Because Bronze City needed him; the cost of Kraus's death was too high to bear and completely contrary to the empire's interests.

The Grey Covenant couldn't have been present at the time, could they? Lu Yuan believed that even less, unless everyone there had been blind.

Finally, and most importantly: why were they so hell-bent on killing Kraus?

Lu Yuan didn't know if the empire would send someone if Kraus died, but the Nightwatchers headquarters would definitely send people, perhaps even a rank 5. No matter what plans the Grey Covenant had, once a rank 5 arrived, they would absolutely be crushed.

Two rank 5s in Bronze City would be enough to overturn everything and search every nook and cranny.

Unless they were planning to do something during the few days following Kraus's death...

A sense of foreboding rose in Lu Yuan's heart.

The sound of a carriage stopping came from outside.

Lu Yuan snapped back to reality and turned to walk toward the first-floor hall.

A middle-aged man wearing the uniform of an Count's mansion attendant entered the branch. His expression was solemn and his pace was quick. Glock went to meet him, and Lu Yuan also came down the stairs.

The messenger bowed slightly upon seeing Glock.

“The Count has sent me to inquire about Vice Director Kraus's condition.”

Glock's expression relaxed slightly.

“The Vice Director is fine. He has simply exhausted himself and needs to rest.”

The messenger nodded, though his expression remained grave.

“The Grey Covenant's attack in the inner city was absolutely lawless. The Count is deeply infuriated by this.”

He paused and took a dark wooden box from his coat.

“The Main Hall Mutation Incident has already resulted in over a dozen deaths, and the subsequent mess still needs to be cleaned up. Based on the clues, the Count has identified the source of the deep green potion and is currently investigating more details.”

The messenger handed the wooden box to Glock.

“These are several bottles of special potions the Count specifically prepared to help Vice Director Kraus recover faster.”

Glock took the wooden box; it was heavy.

“Give the Count our thanks.”

Lu Yuan, listening from the side, asked a question.

“Is there any plan to deal with the Grey Covenant?”

The messenger was silent for two seconds before shaking his head.

“For now... there is no good way.”

His tone carried a hint of helplessness.

“The members of the Grey Covenant come and go like ghosts. If the Guardian hadn't intervened last night, the consequences would have been unthinkable.”

After saying this, the messenger gave a few more instructions regarding the Count's mansion's follow-up arrangements and turned to leave.

The sound of the carriage gradually faded into the distance.

Glock placed the potion box on the table and started cursing.

“A city as big as Bronze City, and we can't even do anything about the Grey Covenant!”

His voice was low, but his anger was palpable.

“They'll only start taking it seriously once the Grey Covenant starts killing people like crazy!”

Lu Yuan agreed in his heart.

Given the number of rank 4s the Grey Covenant currently had—Jie, Nine, and J—they could intercept and kill almost any non-transcendent. Unless you had rank 4 strength or were exceptionally fast, you wouldn't be able to escape if the Grey Covenant wanted you dead.

Glock continued, his tone mocking.

“But I hope the Count is smart. If this matter is handled well, the empire won't just refrain from blaming him; they might even mobilize more transcendent powerhouses to come here.”

He looked at Lu Yuan with a trace of sarcasm.

“Because of the Polymath Tower.”

Lu Yuan understood what Glock was mocking.

The empire needed Bronze City to be stable and for the Sea of Knowledge harvesting mission to continue. No one was allowed to obstruct it; all obstacles had to be leveled.

That was the Count's bargaining chip.

Glock wiped the sarcasm from his face and turned to Lu Yuan.

“We're going to interrogate the Grey Covenant members immediately. Lu Yuan, you go with Lake. When the time comes, see if you can notice anything.”

He paused.

“If they don't talk, Lake will get the information we need anyway.”

Lu Yuan nodded, understanding. At the same time, he wanted to see how this so-called digging information from a mind was actually done.

The two of them walked down the stairs. The detention room was on the lowest level of the branch.

The corridor was dim, with only the inscriptions embedded in the walls glowing faintly. Lu Yuan's footsteps echoed on the stone slabs. Glock walked ahead in silence.

Those questions were still spinning in Lu Yuan's mind.

The fact that the Grey Covenant knew Kraus's injuries so well suggested there was an internal mole. But who was it? Not many people knew about Kraus's condition; the scope should be narrow.

As Lu Yuan thought about this, his unease grew. If the Ascension Society and the Grey Covenant were truly collaborating, it would be catastrophic.

At the end of the corridor, the iron door of the detention room appeared. Glock pushed it open. The light inside was dim, and Lake was standing in a corner, expressionless.

Two rank 3 members of the Grey Covenant were locked in separate iron cages. Their hands and feet were bound by specially made shackles engraved with faintly glowing inscriptions.

Lu Yuan walked in, and the grey-white text jumped into his field of vision.

【Target Detected: Grey Covenant member (believer transcendent) (Contaminated)】

【A contaminated human whose Glazed Water foundation has been eroded; a failure with no hope for further progress.】

Lu Yuan's brow furrowed slightly as he read this. What?

Believer transcendents?

He looked at the person in the other cage.

【Target Detected: Grey Covenant member (believer transcendent) (Contaminated)】

【A contaminated human whose Glazed Water foundation has been eroded; a failure with no hope for further progress.】

Both were believer transcendents, and both were contaminated.

Lu Yuan stood before the cages in silence. He was wondering why members of the Grey Covenant would be contaminated.

Glock walked up to the cages, his voice cold.

“It's better to tell us what you know. It'll save you some suffering.”

The person in the cage didn't answer. He simply looked up at Glock with a gaze that held neither fear nor anger, only a kind of calm.

That calm made Lu Yuan feel that something was wrong.

Glock asked a few more questions, but the prisoners remained silent.

Lake stepped out from the corner, his voice low.

“They won't talk. I've already asked everything that could be asked.”

Lake looked at the two men, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

“I'll read their memories directly.”

Glock nodded immediately.

“As long as you get the information, I don't care if they live or die.”

Lake walked to the cage and raised his right hand. A slit opened in his palm, and a long, slender worm crawled out. The worm's body shimmered with a dark red light.

The man in the cage finally reacted when he saw the worm, his face changing as he tried to shrink back.

But the shackles were tight; he couldn't move far.

The worm crawled onto his forehead and burrowed into his skin.

The prisoner's body suddenly stiffened. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. A few seconds later, the worm burrowed out of his forehead and crawled back into Lake's palm.

Lake closed his eyes and remained silent for several seconds.

Then he opened them and looked at Lu Yuan and Glock.

“They have seen a giant head.”

Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Does He really exist?

“What kind of head?”

Lake's voice held a hint of confusion.

“It's unclear. There is only one image in the memory: a giant head suspended in mid-air, surrounded by darkness. The head was speaking, but the content is unintelligible.”