"Whoosh!"
Lu Yuan woke up with a start from the bed, gasping for air, the image of that rust-covered massive wreckage still lingering before his eyes.
As the Strange Dreams ended, a string of gray text flickered wildly before finally settling.
【Sanity III: 0/73】
【You seem to have broken the upper limit of human Sanity? Congratulations, fellow; you can now walk further on the path of seeking the origin of the world.】
Lu Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Looking at the prompt, there wasn't much joy in his heart.
Why would the Iron Whale appear in the dream, and in such a manner?
Did the source of the Strange Dreams truly originate from the ores he had brought back? And did none of the Nightwatchers ever suffer from these Strange Dreams?
No, he had to go to the base to see if he could find any relevant files.
Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the window.
Immediately following that, a violent explosion echoed throughout Gelimu Port.
Lu Yuan walked to the window and looked toward the slums.
Black smoke billowed there, and flames shot into the sky, turning the dawn sky a bright, fiery red.
He didn't even need to ask to know.
The Nightwatchers' purge operation had failed.
Last night in the office, Old Morgan's bold words about "fishing" seemed to still echo in his ears.
The Nightwatchers wanted to use the tainted fish meat as bait to draw out the rats hiding in the shadows and wipe them out in one go.
But now it seemed that what was hiding in the dark weren't rats, but fierce beasts.
Lu Yuan prepared to go to the base to see if he could offer any help, though more importantly, he wanted to find the archives on the Iron Whale.
...
Underground base, medical area.
"Hold him down! Don't let him scratch his own wounds!"
Desperate shouts rang out continuously.
On the innermost hospital bed, a young Nightwatcher was struggling in agony.
At his neck, the wound wrapped in gauze was currently writhing frantically. Dark red flesh sprouts were growing wildly like uncontrolled weeds, pushing through the gauze and emerging in the blink of an eye.
The two doctors nearby were drenched in sweat, their fingers holding crow-beak forceps as they instinctively clamped down on the slimy, newborn tissue.
"Where's the potion?! Bring a bottle quickly!" the doctor roared, turning his head without stopping his hands for a second.
"They're all used up! The last bottle was given to Captain Hans ten minutes ago!" a man responsible for fetching medicine returned in a panic.
"It'll take time for the warehouse to send more over!"
"Time? By the time the medicine arrives, the man will be ready for burial! What is your logistics department even doing?! Well?"
The doctor's eyes were filled with fury as he roared.
In this critical moment, a hand reached over, handing him a bottle of black liquid.
"Use this."
Lu Yuan's calm voice rang out amidst the chaos.
"A mixture of wormwood ash and concentrated holy water, with a bit of red phosphorus powder added. It won't be enough to cure him, but it can at least buy some time."
The doctor froze for a moment, looking at the unfamiliar man before him and then at the nearly mutated patient. He bit his teeth, grabbed the bottle, and poured it directly onto the wound.
Sizzle—!
A tooth-aching sound of corrosion rang out, followed by rising white smoke.
The casualty on the bed suddenly straightened his body, let out a scream, and then fell heavily back onto the bed, fainting.
But the frantically growing flesh sprouts on his neck actually stopped writhing, turning into a patch of charred, dead skin.
"He... he survived."
The doctor let out a long breath, wiped the sweat from his face, and looked at Lu Yuan with gratitude.
"Thank you. That's a bold formula, though. By the way, brother, you look a bit unfamiliar? What's your name?"
"It was just an emergency measure. I'm Lu Yuan."
Lu Yuan took off his gloves and tossed them into a nearby waste bin.
"If you really want to heal him, you'll still have to wait for the potion. I only bought you some time. There's extra over there; it can be used for symptoms of this severity."
Lu Yuan looked at the gray-white text appearing before him.
【Plan Generated: Pollution Inhibitor (Basic)】
【Principle: Uses high-strength concentrated holy water to cause temporary suppression of contamination, paired with wormwood ash and red phosphorus powder to reduce damage to other areas.】
【Estimated Success Rate: 85%】
【Note: The inhibitor can only suppress contamination for a few hours, after which it will significantly weaken the effects of similar drugs.】
【Pharmacology: +3, 11/50】
Lu Yuan didn't take credit or linger. He turned and walked toward other areas; his help wasn't needed here for the time being.
On a bench outside the medical area, Mary was leaning back, holding a flat cigarette, looking quite disheveled.
Her exquisite wine-red gown had several holes torn in it, and the hem was covered in mud and black blood.
Seeing Lu Yuan walk over, she pointed to the empty seat beside her and blew out a puff of smoke.
"Sit. That move just now was quite good."
"How's the situation?" Lu Yuan sat down, getting straight to the point.
"Terrible."
Mary gave a bitter smile, her gaze somewhat empty. "Those lunatics sacrificed quite a few people in the slums to summon a big fellow."
"Although we eventually blew it back into the sewers... the cost was high."
"We're too short-handed."
Mary took a deep drag, seemingly suppressing her anger. "If those main squads were here, if today's defensive lines hadn't been stretched so thin because of 'other tasks'... sigh."
"Other tasks?" Lu Yuan keenly caught the keyword.
"Yeah. Gelimu Port hasn't been peaceful lately; everywhere needs manpower."
Mary was clearly unwilling to talk much more. She waved her hand and stubbed out the cigarette. "Forget it, let's not mention that. Old Morgan is in a meeting in the core area. He told me to tell you that as a consultant, your authority has been activated."
"Now you can basically go anywhere in the base. Be careful these next few days; try not to wander too far from the base."
"I will."
Lu Yuan nodded and stood up to walk toward the archives.
The archives were located on the lowest level of the base, even deeper than the library, with several figures guarding the exterior.
Lu Yuan produced his emblem, and the guards nodded before letting him through.
After passing through another long corridor and pushing open a metal door, Lu Yuan finally arrived at the archives.
The archives were silent, save for the faint hissing of the gas lamps.
Rows of towering black wooden bookshelves were neatly arranged in the shadows, making the place feel exceptionally oppressive.
Lu Yuan didn't waste any time.
Following the signs, he came to the area labeled 【Maritime Events】, his fingertips quickly gliding over those rough parchment file bags.
"September - Coastal Fishing Abnormalities", "October - Lighthouse Strange Tales"...
Until his finger stopped on a file with a red seal.
【Code: K-07 (Iron Whale) Special Voyage Record】
"Found it."
Lu Yuan pulled out the file and untied the wound cotton thread, revealing several thin pages of documents.
Rate on N.U.
