Collapse of Sanity

The second one stopped abruptly in front of the wall of light.

It crouched at the crack, its grayish-white eyes fixed on the light, emitting a low hiss.

I dare not cross.

The brightness of the light wall visibly decreased.

But Agnes did not increase her efforts to maintain the position.

She withdrew her hand, turned around and continued walking, her face even paler than before.

"Hurry up." Her voice carried a hint of impatience.

Two other nuns followed behind, and as one of them passed through the rift, the orb of light on her shoulder flew in that direction.

A thin film of Holy Light covered the crack, as if sealing a door.

It won't last long.

The group continued uphill.

But the sounds that followed did not disappear.

At least four approached at full speed along the passage.

One of them was larger.

When I ran, my shoulders almost brushed against the walls of the tunnel.

The keratinous nails covered most of the torso.

Its mouth was split open to its limit, and its three layers of teeth kept biting as it chased each other, splattering mucus onto the walls of the passage.

This is an enormous Great Ghoul.

"Grenade!" Boer shouted at Lu Yuan.

"No!" Lu Yuan decisively rejected the idea. "The passage is too narrow; the shockwave will throw us off balance."

He took two Copper-Shell Incendiary Bomb from the ammunition belt and loaded them into the magazine.

Turn around.

Raise your gun.

Aim for the biggest one.

The first shot hit its knee joint.

The copper shell shattered, igniting the Alchemical Fire Powder.

Blue and white Flame exploded on the wound, burning through the keratin layer at the knee, and the left foreleg instantly went limp.

The speed dropped sharply.

It continued charging on three legs.

His mouth was split open to its limit, and his three layers of teeth reflected a wet, glistening light in the firelight.

Second shot.

Lu Yuan was aiming for the mouth.

The copper-cased bullet entered through the open mouth and exploded inside the cranial cavity.

Blue and white Flame shot out from his eye sockets and ear canals.

The entire head exploded from the inside.

Its body lunged forward two steps before crashing to the ground, blocking most of the passage.

The Ghoul behind them had their path mostly blocked by the corpses.

"Sealed." Agnes uttered only one word.

The two nuns behind him raised their hands simultaneously.

Two beams of Holy Light crossed and shot out from above the Great Ghoul's corpse, forming an X-shaped light curtain in the passage.

The lower half was blocked by the corpse, and the upper half was sealed off by the light curtain.

The Ghoul behind crashed into the light barrier, their membranes hissing and screeching as they staggered back half a step.

The light screen began to dim after three seconds.

But three seconds is enough for the team to create a distance of more than ten meters.

The team charged through the last uphill section.

The Carrion Fungus were already very thin here, and the hissing sound from the soles of the boots had almost disappeared.

Ahead, a beam of white light shone down from above.

Cave entrance.

Sunlight.

Lu Yuan was almost the last to grab the rope and climb up to the cave entrance.

Boer stood in front of him, one hand gripping the rope, the other holding a bronze sword.

The blade was covered in black blood.

The moment he was lifted out of the ground, Lu Yuan looked down at it.

About five or six meters below the cave entrance, a dozen or so Ghoul clung to the cave wall.

They did not continue climbing.

The sunlight blocked them.

Its greedy, greyish-white eyes were fixed intently on the cave entrance.

Lu Yuan turned around.

The sunlight shone on his face, and he glanced down at his boots.

The soles of the boots were corroded and pitted, and the heel of the left shoe was broken in one section.

Several small holes from acid corrosion appeared at the hem of Boer's leather armor. Black blood splattered on the bronze sword scabbard.

A large section of the hem of Bolen's robe was torn.

The nuns' white robes, however, were completely undamaged.

"No one's injured?" Lu Yuan looked around.

No one answered that they were injured.

But everyone looked unwell.

It's not because of Ghoul.

It's because of what they see.

That the Abyss.

Those Copper Pillar.

The relationship with the city beneath my feet.

Bolen leaned against the edge of the cave entrance, using his cane, his chest heaving violently.

But his eyes were still shining.

"I have to go back." Bolen's eyes were still shining, but his voice trembled. "I must go back. Those Inscription... I only looked at them for less than two minutes... far from enough..."

"There will be opportunities in the future." Lu Yuan didn't look at him.

"The fastest guy..."

Bolen glanced at him, his lips moved, but he ultimately did not refute him.

Lu Yuan ignored him.

Time is running out for today.

And those eyes that were watching him from below the cave entrance would reappear after dark.

This time, however, they knew someone had been there.

They knew someone had seen their nest.

Lu Yuan surveyed the entire position.

The person has changed.

The two Night Watcher were left on the ground to keep watch before going down into the cave have disappeared.

Three unfamiliar faces appeared instead, and the numbers on their shoulders were not those of the Ninth Squad.

One of them saw them and took two steps to meet them.

"Commander Glock wants you to return to the Alchemy Workshop first."

"How long have you been changing them?" Lu Yuan brushed the bacterial residue off his gloves.

"More than an hour." The Night Watcher glanced at the people who were gradually emerging from the cave behind Lu Yuan, his gaze lingering on the nuns for a moment longer.

"There's been a slight problem at the position; Commander Glock is handling it at the Alchemy Workshop."

Lu Yuan did not press further.

He led his men toward the Alchemy Workshop.

The sun is shining brightly.

But when they reached the entrance of the Alchemy Workshop, the atmosphere changed.

It was unusual to see so many Night Watcher here, but they all looked rather grim.

There was also a handcart parked at the entrance.

A Night Watcher was lying on top of it.

Not from the Ninth Squad.

They were from the Eleventh Squad on the west side of the position; Lu Yuan had seen them a few times.

A taciturn gunner with an old scar on his left cheek.

His eyes were open, his pupils were dilated, and his lips were moving incessantly.

No sound was made.

But the mouth shape is repeating the same action.

It's as if they're saying something.

Lu Yuan took two steps closer.

Two Night Watcher stood beside the cart, one of them trying to hold him down; his body was trembling slightly.

[Target: Bronze City Night Watcher (Rationality Collapses)]

"How long has it been?" Lu Yuan asked, looking at the man in front of him.

"It started at noon," the Night Watcher by the cart said in a low voice.

"At first, he said there were sounds coming from the cave entrance, but then it turned into this—his mouth keeps moving, and he won't answer any questions."

"We all listened, and there was nothing there. It might have been Contamination."

Lu Yuan glanced into his eyes.

His pupils reacted to light, but his gaze was unfocused, as if he were looking at something only he could see.

A precursor to a breakdown of reason.

It hasn't reached the worst point yet, but if it's not dealt with, we won't be able to hold on tonight.

"Give him a bottle of Sanity Potion, who else?"

The Night Watcher beside the cart hesitated for a moment, then gestured with his chin toward the Alchemy Workshop.

Lu Yuan went inside.

In a corner on the first floor, another Night Watcher sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.

He was clutching a Short Shotgun gun in his hand.

His knuckles turned white from gripping the fist so tightly.

But the gun barrel was shaking.

The difference is small; it's almost invisible unless you look closely.

But for a gunner who needs to fire accurately within thirty meters, this range is deadly enough.

Glock stood in front of him, saying something.

Glock paused when he saw Lu Yuan enter.

You're back?

"You're back."

Glock glanced at the people who followed Lu Yuan in one after another: Boer, three Night Watcher, Bolen, Kael, and three nuns.

The group was covered in dust and dirt, and even the soles of their boots were worn out.

Its body was covered with the remains of Carrion Fungus and black bloodstains.

But all ten people were present.

"No injuries?"

"No one is injured."

Glock nodded, without asking any further questions.

He dealt with the matters at hand first.

"You all should be checked too," Glock said to Lu Yuan, his tone calm.

"The personnel at the position have been on duty for three consecutive nights, and according to regulations, they need to undergo a mental state assessment. You've arrived just in time, so you'll have it done at the same time."

Lu Yuan had no objection.

"OK."

Glock turned to the trembling Night Watcher in the corner and said:

"Put down the gun, and together with the one outside, send them to the rear."

The Night Watcher's mouth opened slightly.

"Captain, I can still..."

"Put the gun down."

Glock repeated himself, his voice rising slightly, leaving no room for argument.

The Night Watcher paused for two seconds, then placed the Short Shotgun on the ground.

When my fingers loosened their grip on the butt of the rifle, the trembling intensified.

The inspection process is very simple.

The second floor of the Alchemy Workshop was temporarily requisitioned as an assessment site.

A Night Watcher watchman was in charge of operating the device. On the table was a testing apparatus with a copper disc base and a light blue spherical Ore embedded in the center, its surface engraved with fine Inscription.

"Put your hand on it, don't move."

Lu Yuan placed his right palm on the Ore.

The Inscription on the surface of the Ore lit up, and several rings of light radiated outward from the center.

Light waves condense on the surface of the Ore to form a thin layer of color.

Pale green.

The office worker glanced down at the chromatogram comparison card, then wrote a word in the notebook.

"Good."

He looked up at Lu Yuan, then looked down at the color of the Ore, as if to confirm that he wasn't seeing things.

"Exaggerated rationality, you're in good condition and can continue your duty."

Lu Yuan took a second look at the instruments on the table with great interest.

At the edge of my field of vision, grayish-white text had already jumped out.

[Sanity: 89/120]

"It seems we can only detect a rough estimate."

Withdraw your hand.

When I came out, Boer was leaning against the wall in the corridor, waiting.

What color?

"Slightly yellow." Boer rubbed his face. "It's a bit low, but it hasn't reached the lower limit."

Three nights of fierce fighting plus a trip to the nest, slightly yellow.

Boer's result is actually within the normal range.

Of the two Night Watcher who were sent away from the position, one was deep orange, and the other was bright red.

Red, the threshold of rationality.

If we don't retreat now, it won't just be a matter of fatigue.

"Stay with the team," Lu Yuan said.

"Of course." Boer's tone was no different from Peace.

The three Night Watcher also finished their checks; the colors were all between yellow-green and slightly yellow, above the safety line.

Glock leaned against the doorframe and flipped through the notebook handed to him by the clerk.

His gaze lingered briefly on Lu Yuan's entry.

Pale green.

After three days of fierce fighting and a trip to the Ghoul's lair, my sanity is even better than that of the administrative staff in the rear.

Glock closed the notebook without saying anything.

But there was something indescribable in the way he looked at Lu Yuan.

The nuns did not participate in the testing.

The church has its own evaluation system.

Agnes, accompanied by two nuns, left the Alchemy Workshop directly. Before leaving, she only nodded to Glock as a handover.

Bolen was the last to come out.

Lu Yuan didn't see the old man's test results, but he could tell from the way the old man walked out.

His eyes were even brighter than before he went in, and he muttered to himself, his fingers constantly gesturing in the air as if he were tracing a line of Inscription that only he could see.

Glock stood at the doorway on the first floor, watching Bolen come down the stairs.

I took a second look.

"Is the old man alright?" he asked Lu Yuan, tilting his head.

"That's how Inscriptionist," Lu Yuan said casually. "They get excited when they see something good."

Glock's gaze lingered on Bolen for another second before shifting away.

Kael, supporting Bolen's arm, walked out, whispering "thank you" as she passed Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan did not respond.

Glock called Lu Yuan to the map table on the first floor.

"Tell me. What's going on next?"

Lu Yuan began his story from the beginning.

He speaks at a slow pace and uses concise language.

The bottom space is twelve meters deep.

The density of Carrion Fungus is extremely high.

Five branching paths.

The main passage extends downwards, with the slope gradually increasing.

"At the deepest point is a vertical cavity," Lu Yuan pointed to it on the map.

"The depth is unknown, and the Holy Light cannot reach the bottom. The walls of the hollow are covered with Hive- like caves, numerous in number, layered from top to bottom, each one a passage leading to a deeper lair."

"How many Ghouls are there?"

"Some of them were alerted during the retreat." Lu Yuan paused for a moment.

"Judging from the speed and density of the water gushing out from each opening, the total amount underground is likely dozens of times greater than what has been seen on the surface."

"Preliminary estimates suggest there are at least tens of thousands inside..."

Glock's expression didn't change much.

It's as if they were already mentally prepared.

Or perhaps I've simply become numb.

"Anything else?"

"A ground-level copper conductive structure has been discovered. It is very large, with broken Conduction Network on the surface, and the root cause is deeper inside."

Lu Yuan stopped there.

Inscription artifacts were not mentioned.

There was no mention of the Copper Pillar pointing towards the inner city.

Glock didn't press the matter further.

He was a tactical commander, not Scholar.

What he needed to know was "whether we could go down further" and "how dangerous it was down there."

"The conditions for a second dive are not available in the short term," Lu Yuan concluded.

"The nest was far larger than expected; we were outnumbered and outgunned, and we were only able to get down there thanks to the nun."

"So for now, all we can do is defend," Glock finished for him.

"Right."

Glock remained silent for a few seconds.

"I will submit the report."

Boer then added details about the battle.

The number, types, and attack methods of Ghoul encountered in the passage, and the ammunition consumed during the retreat.

It aligns with Lu Yuan's version of events.

Bolen submitted a technical report on Inscription.

Lu Yuan glanced at it; it was full of technical jargon.

The text discusses various topics, including "the characteristics of fracture sections in the Conduction Network," "the stylistic differences between foundation Inscription and Inscription at the ends of the city walls," and "the estimated age of corrosion in deep copper structures."

Even if Glock read it word for word, he would only be able to understand no more than 20%.

But everything that needed to be said has been said.

At least the Night Watcher's side of the story is complete.

The nuns can't do anything about it.

Agnes will definitely report it to the church, but she'll get the information from a different angle.

What she perceived was not "scale".

It means "there is something below".

On the same underground journey, each party took away different fragments.

As for what pattern those fragments eventually form.

It's not something Lu Yuan can control right now.