Package

He patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder.

Be extremely careful.

After saying that, he turned and left without saying anything more.

Only the sound of footsteps remained in the corridor.

Raymond waited at the bottom of the stairs for a moment.

After the others had gone far away, he whispered to Lu Yuan:

"Meet at the branch office at 8:00 AM tomorrow. Bring anything you can, and we're going to check it out in person."

"Where to?" Lu Yuan asked.

"Three locations where they went missing," Raymond said with a hint of helplessness, "Now we can only go and check them again..."

Lu Yuan thought for a moment.

I have a request.

Raymond looked at him.

"Access to the Archive Room," Lu Yuan said. "I want to check something."

Raymond didn't ask him what he wanted to investigate.

I'll let the person in charge know.

Thanks.

Raymond patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave.

Lu Yuan stood in the corridor, not leaving immediately.

The people from Imperial Headquarters arrived and went straight to the Tower of Erudition, without looking for the Night Watcher.

They even brought members of the Ascension Society to openly set up camp there.

This shows that they are not concerned about the missing persons case.

What they cared about was what the Tower of Erudition had accomplished.

The involvement of the Ascension Society suggests that the experiments at the Tower of Erudition may have intersected with the Ascension Society in some way.

Lu Yuan kept this deduction in mind, and then walked down the corridor.

As he passed the front desk, the young Night Watcher on duty called out to him.

"Mr. Lu Yuan?"

Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks.

"Your things are here. They just arrived this afternoon; they're for transporting supplies."

The young man pointed behind the counter.

Four wooden crates, of varying sizes, were stacked in the corner, the largest reaching waist height. They were all bound together with thick rope, and uniform transfer slips were affixed to the lids; the paper was somewhat yellowed.

Lu Yuan walked over and glanced at the shipping information on the transit slip.

Sandworm Town.

He paused for a moment, stunned.

He then reached out and picked up the smallest box, giving it a shake.

The contents inside were wrapped in cloth, so there was no clattering sound.

The other three boxes were noticeably heavier.

One person can't move it all.

"Please sign for this." The young man handed over a pen and a register.

Lu Yuan signed his name, put the small box back, and glanced at the remaining three.

"Please arrange for someone to deliver this to the Alchemy Workshop," Lu Yuan said to the young man. "That should be done today."

"No problem." The young man made a note in the register, "I'll have them deliver it when the shift change arrives."

Thanks.

Lu Yuan walked out of the branch office.

The sunlight outside was already setting in the west.

Lu Yuan walked back to the Alchemy Workshop along the stone path.

At this moment, Laurina was at her workbench, with a row of utensils in front of her.

"A few boxes will be delivered later," Lu Yuan said. "Could you help me receive them then?"

"Hmm? What did you buy?"

"A town mayor I met before promised to give me some small gifts."

Laurina nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Lu Yuan sat down on the other side of the workbench.

They didn't actually do any work.

My mind is filled with too many things, all jumbled together, and I can't sort them out in a short time.

However, Lu Yuan didn't plan to think about it anymore for the time being; he wanted to gain some experience first.

His gaze then fell on the unprocessed Silverleaf Grass on the table.

Pinch the leaf stalk with your fingers and gently pull; the whole leaf will fall off.

At the edge of my field of vision, grayish-white text occasionally flashed by.

[Pharmacognosy: +0.1...19.2/50]

The light outside the window gradually dimmed.

After processing the Silverleaf Grass, Lu Yuan ground another batch of Mineralized Salt.

[Pharmacology: +0.1...32.4/50]

Laurina peeked over while he was grinding salt.

"Apply a gentler pressure. If the Mineralized Salt particles are too fine, it will slow down the dissolution process."

"Too much detail?" Lu Yuan slowed down his movements.

She reached out and twisted it in the Mortar.

"That's perfect now. Stop dawdling."

Lu Yuan stopped.

After it got completely dark, Lu Yuan tidied up his workbench and went upstairs.

Laurina remained downstairs and did not follow.

Turn off the lights, leaving only a small oil lamp on.

Lu Yuan continued his defensive cultivation.

Close your eyes and regulate your breathing.

My consciousness sank deep into my mind, searching for the direction of that river.

Reason is not Immobilization; it is always in motion.

Since his time at the Viscount's Residence, he had for the first time found out where reason flowed from and where it went.

But that feeling is still very faint.

Tonight, it was clearer than last time.

The direction of that slowly rotating thing deep in my mind became clearer.

It's not that it's much faster, but the outline of the "river channel" is slightly clearer than before.

[Defense I:+0.1...+0.1...1/10]

[Rationality: -1...-1...79/120]

As his sanity level continued to drop, it eventually stopped, and no matter how much Lu Yuan tried to sense it, there was no reaction whatsoever.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes, knowing that he had reached his limit.

Somewhat helpless.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

The view outside the window right now is of the Bronze City at night.

There was no moon tonight, but the runes on the city walls emitted a faint, eerie glow.

The streets outside were quiet.

Lu Yuan took out his Notebook from his pocket, turned to a blank page, and began to write under the oil lamp.

He paused when he wrote the name Morris.

The surname reminded him of another person, the Pathfinder Captain Morris.

I interacted with him in Sandworm Town and gave him Sanity Ring and a map.

Coincide?

He drew a question mark next to the name.

Then continue writing.

When writing about the disappearance of three noblemen, the pen hovered over the paper, not falling.

He recalled the scene he had witnessed using his abilities inside the Baron's Residence.

The man in black robes handed over a fragment of a seashell. Philip took it, and fine lines crawled beneath his skin as his body began to contort.

The seal suppressed the reaction; Philip's eyes were vacant as he walked out on his own.

Three invitations, three people – it's highly likely they followed the same procedure.

What Morris did to himself in the bookstore was essentially the same, only more gentle.

But it's also a selection process.

The pen stopped again.

He recalled the test results provided by the system in the bookstore.

[Detection Target:? (Knowledge Transcendent)]

There are at least five factions entangled in Bronze City, one of which is even unknown by name.

Lu Yuan closed his Notebook and set it aside.

He got up and walked to the window.

The moonlight was gone, and the light from the oil lamp shone from behind, casting his reflection in the windowpane.

He glanced at it.

Then his gaze stopped.

The edge of the reflection...

It's a little thicker than yesterday.

It's not an illusion.

He noticed it last night too, but thought it was just a hallucination caused by low rationality.

But right now, I'm 79% rational, as clear-headed as I could possibly be.

That layer of thickness is still there.

It was as if something extremely thin was wrapped around the outline of a shadow.

Lu Yuan stared at it for a few seconds.

Then that feeling disappeared, and the reflection returned to normal.

It was as if nothing had happened.

He remained silent for a moment.

The Gray-White Text did not appear.

Then it's safe for now.

Some things are better left unseen until the right time.

He extinguished the oil lamp.

The bronze light from outside the window reflected on the ceiling.

I just hope this incident won't be too "intense," giving me enough time to improve myself.