Early morning.
The sky had yet to brighten.
Lu Yuan went downstairs and laid out the contents of his toolbox one by one on a table on the first floor of the Alchemy Workshop.
The Enchanted Revolver, "Flame."
A box of Copper-Shell Incendiary Bombs.
The Copper Sword, potions, and the necessary oil lamp.
He casually slipped the stone slab into his coat's inner pocket.
The Copper Pillar was down below. This was a good chance to see whether the stone slab would react.
His fingers touched the sealed glass bottle at the corner of the table.
Consciousness Crystal.
Inside the sample bottle, the fragment broken off from the Fungal Hyphae Core rested quietly.
It had no luster and no pulse. Its dull surface, streaked with gray-green and dark gold, looked like an ordinary stone.
"Take it."
He could not leave it here.
Especially after learning that the Worm of Knowledge could devour this thing, Lu Yuan wished he could keep it on him at all times. Unfortunately, after its previous meal, the Worm of Knowledge seemed to have no desire to feed again anytime soon.
With no one watching it while he was away, he could not rest easy.
He put the Consciousness Crystal into a newly replaced bottle, tucked it into the deepest part of his toolbox, and wrapped it in cloth twice.
His equipment was ready.
Lu Yuan stood and looked around the first floor.
The workbench had been pushed against the wall, with a thin layer of dust settling over it.
Laurina had taken the alchemy equipment case when she left, but no one had touched the remaining items.
Several crates of ammunition still sat in the corner.
The camp bed was folded up.
The map was still pinned to the wall, though the red circles had