Night Watcher's Pledge

The Night Watcher's Pledge: 800 points

Note: The holder may designate one person to receive protection from the Night Watcher. Subject to Imperial laws, the Night Watcher will provide personal protection to the protected person until the threat is eliminated or the protection period expires. Valid for one year. For use only by non-wanted individuals.

Lu Yuan stared at that line of text for a long time.

800 points.

An astronomical sum.

Lu Yuan fell silent.

The Tower of Erudition is currently putting pressure on them.

The Night Watcher's attitude was ambiguous.

What if one day, the Night Watcher really couldn't withstand the pressure?

What can I do then?

Lu Yuan stared at the words before him, his thoughts drifting away for a moment.

Laurina is Alchemy Department first in the Tower of Erudition.

Her pharmaceutical expertise is something I cannot reach in a short period of time.

With her around, my Pharmacology experience grew several times faster, and perfect quality medicines were no longer a pipe dream.

More importantly...

In this bizarre world, Sanity Potion are life itself.

With Laurina around, we have a stable source of medicine.

This is an investment.

Lu Yuan tried to convince himself.

Exchanging 800 points for an alchemist who can reliably produce perfect-quality potions is a good deal.

Lu Yuan snapped out of his thoughts.

"This Night Watcher's Pledge," he pointed to the line of text, "How is it used?"

The middle-aged man peeked out and his expression changed slightly.

"You want to redeem this?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"This is..."

"Let me find out more."

The middle-aged man nodded and explained, "The Night Watcher's Pledge is a special asylum certificate issued by Imperial Headquarters. The holder can designate one person for the Night Watcher to provide protection."

"During the period of protection, whether it's nobles, Merchants' Guild, or..." He paused, "... some unique entities, the Night Watcher will protect them to the very end."

He glanced at Lu Yuan: "In most cases, it's enough to save your life."

Lu Yuan remained silent.

800 points, plus 25 points for the gold-plating equipment, for a total of 825.

After redeeming, I have 112 left.

Not many.

But if you don't exchange it...

If something really happens one day, it will be too late to regret it.

"I want two things," Lu Yuan decided.

"Professional Alchemical Equipment Set, one set."

"The Night Watcher's Pledge, one copy."

The middle-aged man paused for a moment.

825 points, without even blinking.

"Are you sure? The Night Watcher's Pledge price is very high..."

"Confirmed." Lu Yuan interrupted him.

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay, please wait a moment."

He got up and went into the back room.

Less than five minutes later, he came out carrying a brand new wooden box and a sealed black leather envelope in his hand.

"Professional Alchemical Equipment Set." He placed the wooden crate on the counter and offered to open the lid. "This is the best-preserved set in our inventory."

Lu Yuan opened the box.

The instruments inside were neatly arranged, each wrapped in soft cloth, gleaming with a metallic sheen in the dim light.

The equipment is complete, including refining crucibles, fine Mortar, precision measuring tools, and sealed distillation apparatus, all of excellent workmanship.

"No problem."

The middle-aged man then handed over the black leather envelope with both hands.

"The Night Watcher's Pledge," his tone became solemn, "That it contains a token and a contract. To use it, give the token to any Night Watcher Branch, present the contract, and the protection will take effect immediately."

"The name of the person seeking asylum can be filled in now or later. However, once filled in, it cannot be changed."

Lu Yuan took the envelope and weighed it in his hand.

[Detection Target: Oath (an extremely rare occurrence)]

"Fill it in later."

"Understood." The middle-aged man nodded. "Then I'll register your address, and the equipment will be delivered this afternoon."

Lu Yuan nodded and put the badge away.

The points changed from 937 to 112.

112 points remaining.

The middle-aged man watched him leave until his figure disappeared at the end of the corridor before sitting back down in his chair.

He stared at the metal tray; the numbers on it had disappeared, but the shock he had just felt remained.

Nine hundred and thirty-seven points.

How many life-or-death missions would it take to accumulate that much?

He had worked here for thirteen years, and the highest score he had ever seen was only a little over four hundred, and that was from a retired team leader.

And this young man in front of me...

The middle-aged man shook his head, stopped thinking about it, picked up the booklet again, and turned back to the first page.

It was almost noon when we returned to the Alchemy Workshop.

Laurina was still busy at her workbench, with several bottles of freshly made potions in front of her. They were of excellent quality and had a clear color.

Hearing the door open, she turned around.

His gaze fell on the wooden box in Lu Yuan's hand, and he paused slightly in surprise.

"This is...?"

Lu Yuan placed the wooden box on the table and opened the lid.

Laurina walked over and looked down at the contents of the box.

Her eyes gradually brightened.

She reached out and took out the refining crucible, examined it carefully, and gently ran her fingertips along the inner wall.

Next came the Mortar, where she checked the fineness of the ground powder.

Next came the measuring tools; she held them up to the light to check the accuracy of the markings.

Finally, she checked the still for leaks.

The more she looked, the more satisfied she became.

"This equipment..." She looked up at Lu Yuan, "Although it can't compare to the equipment in the Tower of Erudition Laboratory, it should be sufficient for producing perfect quality equipment."

Where did you get this?

"I exchanged it with the Night Watcher," Lu Yuan replied simply.

Laurina didn't ask how many points it cost. Her attention was completely drawn to the new equipment, and she began to enthusiastically take them out one by one and place them in their proper positions on the workbench.

"With this set, we can make perfect quality potions." She turned to look at Lu Yuan, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Perfect timing, I can teach you some more advanced alchemy techniques. The operation of specialized equipment is a bit different from that of ordinary equipment."

Lu Yuan nodded slightly, without saying anything more.

"Don't worry, I guarantee you'll learn it." Laurina rarely showed a relaxed smile. "After all, I'm the number one Alchemy Department the Tower of Erudition."

In that instant, the gloom on her face seemed to dissipate somewhat.

After a simple lunch, the two began to try refining using the new equipment.

Laurina demonstrated and explained simultaneously, her movements more composed than before.

Lu Yuan observed and learned from the sidelines, occasionally helping to process materials.

[Pharmacognosy: +0.3...]

[Pharmacology: +0.5...]

The experience bar is ticking up much faster than before.

Professional equipment combined with professional guidance definitely makes a difference in results.

The afternoon passed quickly.

As the sun gradually sets in the west, the light outside the window begins to turn a dim, yellowish hue.

On the workbench, several bottles of perfect-quality Sanity Potion were neatly arranged. They were translucent and shimmered with a faint blue light in the sunlight, even purer than those of superior quality.

Laurina looked at the potions, a hint of satisfaction flashing in her eyes.

It's done.

She carefully put the bottles of perfect-quality potions into her bag.

This was her trump card.

I hope I'll never need to use it.

Night fell.

There was a knock on the door.

Lu Yuan walked to the door, confirmed the identity of the person through the crack, and then opened the door.

A Night Watcher stood outside the door; his face was somewhat unfamiliar, and he was a bit older than the one from yesterday, with a few strands of gray hair at his temples.

He was carrying a wooden box containing supplementary materials.

But Lu Yuan noticed that this box was lighter than the last one.

"Materials," the Night Watcher said curtly, handing over the wooden crate.

Lu Yuan took the box, weighed it in his hand, and frowned.

"A little too little."

"That's all we can get," the Night Watcher said with a hint of helplessness. "There's been a lot going on lately..."

He paused, then lowered his voice.

"The Tower of Erudition has officially sent the letter."

Lu Yuan's gaze darkened slightly.

"They demanded that we hand over three students who 'left the tower without permission' and cooperate with their internal investigation. The wording was very harsh."

Three students. Laurina is definitely among them.

"What's the attitude from above?" Lu Yuan asked.

"It's hard to say," the Night Watcher shook his head. "The Tower of Erudition has put some regulations in place, and we're under a lot of pressure."

He paused, as if considering his words.

"There's one more thing."

He lowered his voice even further, so that only Lu Yuan could hear it.

We cannot escort you out of the city.

Lu Yuan frowned slightly.

"Once we leave the Bronze City, the Night Watcher will have no excuse to interfere," the Night Watcher explained. "The Tower of Erudition can act directly, while we can only watch from the sidelines."

"So..."

"So, inside the city, we can use the pretext of 'assisting in the investigation' to stall for time," the Night Watcher sighed. "Outside the city, it's nothing."

Lu Yuan remained silent for a while.

What about over at the Tower of Erudition?

"They're purging themselves too." The Night Watcher's expression turned complicated. "The Night Watcher stationed inside... has been largely cleared out."

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered slightly.

"Now, only a few captains-level Night Watcher are still patrolling inside the Tower of Erudition," the Night Watcher continued. "The rest have all been driven out."

"The Imperial Headquarters' intention is to avoid a direct confrontation with the Tower of Erudition as much as possible. Therefore..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was already clear.

The Night Watcher's influence at the Tower of Erudition is being rapidly eroded.

"If you have any ideas..." The Night Watcher glanced towards the stairwell, "You'd better prepare as soon as possible."

Lu Yuan remained silent.

The Night Watcher packed the potions and prepared to leave.

As he reached the door, he glanced back.

Laurina stood at the top of the stairs, her expression calm.

But Lu Yuan noticed that her fingers tightened slightly, gripping the hem of her clothes.

The Night Watcher sighed and turned to walk into the night.

The footsteps faded into the distance, disappearing at the end of the street.

Lu Yuan closed the door and turned around.

Laurina remained standing there, without saying a word.

"Did you hear that?" Lu Yuan asked.

"Um."

Her voice was soft, but steady.

"... I know."

Footsteps echoed a few times on the stairs, then disappeared.

Lu Yuan stood still, his gaze fixed on the night outside the window.

His hand reached into his pocket and touched the edge of the black leather envelope.

Fine.

After all, no matter what, he now had an extra card to play.