Laurina Leaves

The Water Collection Chamber is just ahead.

Lu Yuan paused for a moment as he rushed in.

The small passageway on the right.

When I arrived, the dark green vines were quietly spreading along the edge of the passageway, hidden by the copper frame.

Things are different now.

Vines sprouted out.

They bypassed the gaps in the copper frame and spread outwards along the stone brick walls of the Water Collection Chamber.

It wasn't moving fast, but you could see it wriggling.

The gray-green eyeballs at the tips of each one opened.

They were all facing them.

They were still inside the passageway when we arrived.

Less than half an hour had passed.

Was it the commotion that startled them? Or were they already expanding all along? There was no time to think about it.

"Go through! Don't touch the wall!"

Six people plus two dragging Ghoul rushed through the center of the Water Collection Chamber.

A vine tip emerged from a crack in the stone paving stones, right at Boer's feet.

Boer stomped on it and broke it.

A grayish-green liquid oozed from the broken surface.

It rushed out of the Water Collection Chamber.

The area for Crawler.

The gray-white figures on the wall all became restless, their limbs rapidly shifting positions on the wall, creating a rustling sound.

But the lights are still on.

The light from two Sandworm Oil Lamp illuminated the procession.

The Crawler dared not dismount.

They were stuck to the ceiling, their grayish-white mouths opening and closing, their teeth gleaming under the light.

Lu Yuan was running at the back, looking back as he ran.

Deep within the passage behind us, darkness writhed.

This is not a metaphor.

It is indeed wriggling.

The vines had already extended from the direction of the Water Collection Chamber, slowly creeping along the walls and ceiling.

Behind the vines, in the darkness further away, the sounds of claws and roars grew closer.

The two Great Ghoul being dragged were still bleeding, leaving long trails of black blood on the bronze surface.

Lu Yuan took out Mithril from his waist.

The bottle has a faint, silvery-white sheen.

Without hesitation, he tossed the Mithril high into the passage behind him.

The glass bottle tumbled in the air, landed in the puddle, and shattered.

Boom.

The silvery-white Flame exploded instantly.

That was no ordinary fire; it was Alchemical Flame burned with "Spirituality."

Silver flames engulfed the passageway several meters behind them, burning from the ground to the ceiling, covering every corner.

The vines clinging to the wall withered and curled instantly in the silver flames, and the gray-green eyeballs exploded.

Several of the fastest-charming Face Hound rushed into the silver flames' range, but before they could even bark, their bodies disintegrated and turned to ash in three seconds.

The two Crawler on the ceiling were not spared either.

However, Mithril's effect lasts only a short time.

After about a minute, the silver flames began to fade.

But this period of time is enough to create distance.

Light appeared ahead.

Sunlight filtering through the shaft opening.

White, warm sunlight.

The six people accelerated almost simultaneously.

"Hang the thing up first!" Lu Yuan shouted.

Boer threw one end of the rope up to the shaft opening, where the young Night Watcher caught it and pulled it up with all his might.

The first Great Ghoul, its torso bound by a rope, stumbled and scrambled upwards through the shaft, its severed limbs scraping against the shaft walls with a grating sound.

The veteran supported it from below, while two people pulled it from above.

It crashed to the ground with a thud.

The second one, too, was faster.

Then there are people.

Boer goes first.

Bolen and Kael followed closely behind.

The veteran missing his little finger was second to last.

Lu Yuan was the last.

He looked back from the bottom of the shaft.

The silver flames of Mithril have completely extinguished.

In the darkness at the end of the passage, something is gathering again.

Many things.

Several new vines are spreading back along the charred walls.

The gray-green eyeball at the top slowly opened in the darkness.

Lu Yuan turned around and grabbed the escalator with his left hand.

The moment his right hand gripped the iron ladder, the cut on his thumb and forefinger split open, causing Lu Yuan to wince in pain.

The moment the sunlight hit his face, Lu Yuan flipped onto the ground, turned around, and smashed the cast iron cover plate back onto the ground.

Bang!

Boer picked up the Copper Powder can and sprinkled a thick layer of Copper Powder around the edge of the lid.

"That's enough," Lu Yuan said.

He leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

The sun is shining brightly.

Although the air on the ground isn't exactly good, it's like a completely different world compared to the air in the Pipe Network.

Two Great Ghoul were thrown onto the bronze surface.

It had no limbs, no jaw, only a grayish-red torso wriggling on the ground.

Blood was still seeping from the broken surface, and black liquid hissed and emitted wisps of smoke on the copper surface, as the copper scorched their bodies.

But they are still alive.

Its thick, stratum corneum-covered core remains intact, demonstrating an absurdly strong vitality.

Boer lay panting beside him, glancing at the two creatures and then at the empty scabbard at his waist.

"Damn it," he muttered.

The old soldier, missing his little finger, dragged the Ghoul to a place where there was no copper, while the young Night Watcher went to a corner and dry heaved for a while.

Bolen was still the fastest runner, his eyes shining.

But the first thing he did after he came up was to doodle on a piece of paper.

Then scrape off the fungal layer stuck to the cane.

The movements were very careful.

Lu Yuan sat against the wall, looking down at his right hand.

The veins on the back of my hand were still throbbing.

My right hand is temporarily unable to exert force.

Lu Yuan's gaze fell on the two still writhing Great Ghoul torsos.

"Move them behind the Alchemy Workshop," he told Boer. "Find a place to lock them up, and sprinkle Copper Powder around them."

"Don't let anyone else touch it."

Boer glanced at him.

"You want...?"

"Dissection."

Lu Yuan's tone was very calm.

"I want to know what's in their brains."

Inner city.

The Night Watcher Branch.

Glock stood at the door of Klaus's office, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open to go inside.

The office is small.

The window was half-open, and outside were the streets of the inner city. Occasionally, the sound of hammering could be heard from afar, as Inscriptionist rushed to repair runes.

Klaus sat behind the table.

A map of Bronze City lay before them, marked with more than a dozen locations in red Mo Shui: Collapse Point, blockade lines, supply routes, and position distribution.

He didn't look up.

"Explain."

Glock recounted the events.

The Copper Plate has been touched.

Several months to half a year ago.

But the people at the City Hall didn't have any corresponding repair records.

Moreover, corrosion is more severe on the inner wall of the pipeline than on the outer wall.

Contamination originates from within the pipe.

Throughout the entire process, Glock spoke at a slow pace and with clear organization.

After he finished speaking, the office was silent for a few seconds.

Klaus's hand stopped on the map.

Then he looked up.

His expression was cold.

"Some people want to die."

He muttered a curse under his breath.

Glock stood there, saying nothing.

Klaus removed his hand from the map and leaned back in his chair.

There was a few seconds of silence.

His gaze fell on a certain spot on the map, paused for a moment, and then looked away.

"You go back first."

"... What instructions did the branch give?"

"The instruction is to go back first," Klaus said in a low voice. "I'll arrange for someone to handle this."

Glock's lips moved slightly.

But in the end, he didn't say anything.

Sometimes knowing too much is definitely not good news.

"What's the situation in the inner city?" Glock changed the subject.

Klaus tapped his fingers twice on the table.

"The crowds are still surging in the Old Council Square. The number has decreased somewhat compared to the previous two days, but it hasn't stopped. The Church's Holy Light Blockade is being heavily depleted, and the nuns' shifts have been reduced to once every three hours. The water supply has not yet been restored."

He paused for a moment.

"The Collapse Point areas in the Outer City can only be repaired by ourselves for now. I've already instructed the Inscriptionist to speed up the process, repairing as much as possible. There are no reinforcements in the short term."

Glock nodded.

"Knew."

He turned and walked towards the door.

As I reached the door, Klaus's voice came from behind me.

Glock.

"Um?"

"If you encounter any similar situations, remember to let me know first."

"Clear."

Glock opened the door and went out.

The door closed behind him.

In the office, Klaus lowered his head again, looking at the map.

His gaze lingered on a spot within the inner city.

I tapped that spot twice with my finger.

Then I folded the map.

Afternoon.

Glock's carriage came from the direction of the inner city.

His expression was complicated when he jumped out of the car.

Lu Yuan went to meet him.

The two went up to the second floor.

Glock closed the door.

He briefly recounted Klaus's words.

Lu Yuan nodded.

He wasn't surprised.

After all, this city is in a terrible state.

It wouldn't be surprising if something strange happened.

A few other things happened after you left.

Lu Yuan briefly recounted the Gray-Green Backflow and the Pipe Network tracing from this morning.

Then there are the things encountered in the Pipe Network.

"The Great Ghoul is deliberately creating an eerie atmosphere."

Glock turned around, a rare expression on his face.

"Um?"

"They use their own secretions to catalyze the Mutation of humans, creating four-legged hunting dogs. These Face Hound and Great Ghoul act in concert, with a clear hierarchical relationship."

Lu Yuan's tone was very flat.

"Those Great Ghoul on the ground don't act like that; they only know how to charge and bite. These two in the Pipe Network are different; they have strategy and a division of labor."

Glock was silent for a few seconds.

You mean "these two"?

"We brought it back, alive. It's being kept behind the Alchemy Workshop."

Glock glanced at Lu Yuan.

My gaze fell on his right hand.

He didn't ask how the two creatures were caught.

What are your plans to do?

"Dissection," Lu Yuan continued.

"Compare the pollutants on the ground to see the difference between brain tissue and the Contamination residue in the body."

Glock did not object.

But his expression became more complicated.

After listening, Glock stood by the window with his back to Lu Yuan.

There was a moment of silence.

"No wonder." His voice was somewhat hoarse. "How did Bronze City become like this?"

Lu Yuan did not respond.

Glock turned around.

"There's one more thing." Lu Yuan picked up a letter from the table. "The one you brought back."

Laurina's letter.

The letter was the last one Laurina wrote before she was escorted to Headquarters.

It was folded twice and stuffed into an unsealed kraft paper envelope.

Lu Yuan walked to the window and opened it in the afternoon sunlight.

Laurina's handwriting remains unchanged.

The first half contains the intelligence that Lu Yuan wanted.

The church's cordon, centered on the Old Council Square, covered an area of approximately 400 meters.

Outside the blockade line, they are basically ignored at night, and although there are patrols during the day, they are too numerous to manage.

The supplies were stored in the western warehouse of the city. There was only one transport line, escorted by Night Watcher, and the supplies only ran twice a day during the day.

The city gates remained closed, and there was no external supply.

She estimated the warehouse would last two to three weeks.

The nuns' shifts have been shortened to three hours.

The Archbishop did not appear.

But she overheard rumors at the branch that new reinforcements might be arriving soon.

It's unclear who exactly they are.

The writing paused here.

Something's not right at the Tower of Erudition.

"The recent allocation of alchemical materials has surged, with several batches of rare, high-grade materials being urgently transferred in, all through the Tower of Erudition's own internal channels, bypassing the branch approval process."

"I discovered this while setting up the branch's potion storage archive. The consumption rates of several materials didn't match the branch's usage records; the excess materials were all going to the Tower of Erudition."

Then comes the most crucial sentence.

"The Tower of Erudition has been sealed off."

Lu Yuan's gaze lingered on those four words for two seconds.

"I'm not sure exactly when it was sealed off. But these past two days, people who went to deliver materials to the Tower of Erudition area were stopped outside, told it was for 'internal research needs,' and that no one other than Tower of Erudition personnel was allowed to enter, not even branch staff."

Seal the tower.

At a time when Bronze City was facing its worst Ghoul crisis in history.

As the Wall Runes weakened and strange things began to emerge from the Collapse Pit.

While everyone was desperately defending the city.

The Tower of Erudition chose to lock itself away.

Lu Yuan turned the letter over to the other side.

The handwriting in the latter half is even more hurried.

"The escort team departs tomorrow; this is the last letter."

"Regarding what I told you before, the things from the Third Tower Laboratory are still there. It's not convenient to write them down here; you'll need to go there in person."

No one else can take it.

The last line of text was written very small, almost touching the bottom of the paper.

"Don't die."

Lu Yuan stared at those two words for a long time.

Then he folded the letter and put it in his inner pocket.

Evening.

The sun began to set in the west.

Lu Yuan stood at the window on the second floor of the Alchemy Workshop, looking out at the street.

My right hand rested on the window frame, and the crack in the web between my thumb and forefinger throbbed with pain.

Tower of Erudition.

What is the Tower of Erudition doing?

Lu Yuan's gaze swept across the street and toward the inner city.

In the distance, the spire of the Tower of Erudition gleamed with a dark, bronze luster under the setting sun.

Outside the window, the last ray of sunlight fell on the runes on the city wall.

The runes glowed faintly.

Then it went dark.

The seventh night has begun.

Lu Yuan closed the window.

I went back to sit in the corner.

The Revolver rests on my knee.

Keep watching tonight.

Tomorrow, we'll dissect those two things.

Then--

Now let's see what to do about the Tower of Erudition.