Undercurrent

Lu Yuan had barely stepped out of the Library's Metal Gate when he ran straight into Mary.

She leaned against the corridor wall, the lighter in her hand flipping nimbly between her fingers with crisp clicks.

When she saw Lu Yuan emerge, she raised her wrist and checked the time.

"Exactly four hours."

A flicker of surprise passed through Mary's languid green eyes. "I thought you'd be like those newcomers who had just encountered knowledge—cling to the place until the Book Spirit kicked you out, or burn out your brain and get carried out."

"Knowledge is alluring, but life matters more." Lu Yuan straightened his slightly wrinkled collar. Though his face was weary, his gaze remained clear.

"Very rational." Mary nodded and pushed herself upright. "It seems you really are suited for this path. But don't celebrate too soon. You haven't encountered the truly dangerous knowledge yet."

She put away her lighter and led Lu Yuan upstairs.

"Now for business. We looked into what you mentioned before—the matter of someone targeting doctors."

Mary's voice echoed through the empty Spiral Staircase. "Your instincts were right. A force has indeed been secretly cleaning out the doctors of Grim Port lately, especially those who have handled 'abnormal' cases."

"Though we haven't caught their tail yet, I can guarantee they won't dare lay a hand on you in the short term. After all, you're one of us now."

"In the short term?" Lu Yuan keenly caught the key phrase.

"The Night Watchers can't provide round-the-clock personal protection for an external consultant." Mary shrugged, her tone realistic. "We'll increase the frequency of nighttime patrols passing by your clinic. Of course, if you can step onto the Transcendence Path soon and prove your worth, we can consider moving your clinic to the inner city. It's far safer there than the Harbor District."

Lu Yuan neither agreed nor disagreed.

Moving to the inner city would certainly be safer, but it would also mean leaving behind his source of Intelligence and his current pool of "experience packs."

"That's all for later." Lu Yuan stopped and looked at Mary. "As I am now, I might not live to see that day. Since we signed a contract, the Night Watchers can't just watch their consultant get killed barehanded, can they?"

He spread his hands. "So I need a weapon. A weapon that can deal with those people."

Mary stared at him for a while, then smiled helplessly.

"You certainly don't stand on ceremony."

She drew a compact single-shot pistol from the holster at her waist and casually tossed it to Lu Yuan.

It was a silver-plated, engraved pistol, its body covered in intricate runes. Its grip was made from some kind of black wood, heavy and cold in his hand.

"This is an Alchemy Weapon, though it's an obsolete old model," Mary explained. "It can only load one bullet at a time, reloads extremely slowly, and unless you're very close, it's almost impossible for it to deal a fatal blow to a person."

"But it has one excellent trait: the silver-plated bullet and the runes on the gun can inflict tangible damage on Ghosts and low-level Eerie entities."

Lu Yuan accepted the pistol and examined it, a trace of delight rising in his heart.

[Faint xxx, new knowledge unlocked: Engraver xx]

"This is enough."

After asking Mary for a holster as well, Lu Yuan finally returned to his clinic.

By the time he got back, dusk had already fallen.

Lu Yuan took a few bites of cold bread, then threw himself back into the tedious work of studying and brewing medicine.

With the foundation laid during those four hours in the Library, his understanding of [Occultism] had deepened considerably. Though he had yet to pierce that layer of window paper, the feeling of drawing inferences from one instance to another made handling medicinal ingredients much smoother.

The Silverlight Grass mixture in the crucible was boiling, giving off a faint silver glow.

"It's still lacking a little heat."

Lu Yuan stared at the color of the medicine, his brow slightly furrowed.

Although the success rate had improved compared to before, the final condensation step always fell just short.

"Looks like I need to raise [Basic Herbology] to Level 2 first."

Just as he was about to put out the fire and start over, the clinic's front door was violently slammed open.

Bang!

A cold wind, mixed with the heavy stench of blood, rushed inside.

"Doctor! Quick! Save him!"

Two drenched dockworkers reeking of fish carried a door plank as they rushed in.

A man lay on the plank, covered in blood, his face pale as paper.

Lu Yuan put down the test tube in his hand and hurried over.

The man lying on the door plank was unexpectedly someone he knew—Thomas.

The dockworker who had injured his leg before, and Lu Yuan's first customer.

He was in far worse shape than last time.

The clothing over his abdomen had been torn apart, revealing a savage wound. Flesh curled outward, and the writhing of his intestines could even be faintly seen inside.

"Get him onto the bed."

Lu Yuan directed the two men to move Thomas onto the examination bed, quickly cut away his clothes, and cleaned the wound.

The edges of the wound bore jagged tearing marks, as if they had been ripped apart by some huge mouth packed with dense, sharp teeth.

Moreover, the skin around it had blackened slightly, giving off a stench like rotting seaweed.

[Observe injury: severe laceration, accompanied by mild infection from an unknown toxin. Recommended treatment: stop bleeding, suture, detoxify.]

[Basic Medical: +0.8]

Lu Yuan's hands did not stop. With the Raven-Beak Forceps and the aid of the injury analysis, he clamped the bleeding point.

"What happened?" Lu Yuan asked as he attempted to stitch the wound.

A fellow worker beside him wiped the sweat from his face and said with lingering fear, "We were patrolling the sea. Because of Thomas's leg injury, the foreman had him do something easier—watching out for cargo falling into the water."

"Then today, a crate fell overboard. Thomas jumped in to retrieve it, but not long after he went down, a huge patch of blood bloomed across the water..."

The worker swallowed. "By the time we pulled him out, he was like this. If a ship hadn't happened to pass by, he'd have lost his life."

Lu Yuan's stitching hand paused slightly.

Had the waters near the port become this dangerous already?

That was not a good omen.

He had previously heard Brent say that those "fish," though strange, had at least never attacked anyone after being caught.

For them to actively attack in shallow waters like this showed that the situation at sea was worsening. And Lu Yuan thought again of Brent's uncle, who had completely mutated.

It really isn't peaceful.

With the gray text guiding him, Lu Yuan's hands kept turning without pause.

"Done."

Lu Yuan tied the final knot and applied a layer of specially prepared Anti-inflammatory Herb to the wound.

"The wound looks frightening, but the internal organs weren't injured. His life is saved. But this toxin is troublesome—he'll need the dressing changed every day."

Thomas slowly came to just then, baring his teeth in pain.

"Doctor Lu... am I going to die?"

"You won't die." Lu Yuan tossed his bloodstained gloves into a basin. "But your luck really is something else."