Polluted Waterways

Lu Yuan's gaze sharpened.

"I'm just a consultant." His tone was cold. "This kind of suicidal job isn't covered by my contract."

"Besides, why is my name on the Viscount's desk? I remember you said you would keep my identity confidential."

"Because this is too big. That idiot Viscount wanted to shirk responsibility, so he stuffed every 'professional' he could mobilize onto the list."

"Including an unaffiliated person like you who answered the conscription."

Mary rubbed her brow helplessly. "We didn't expect him to do this either. The list has already been announced. If you refuse, it'll count as defying the wartime conscription order. Your identity will be exposed immediately, and you might even be wanted."

Lu Yuan fell silent.

Refuse? His identity would be exposed. The forces secretly hunting Doctors would target him, and he would lose the Night Watchers' protection at the same time.

Accept? Go to that water source that had already gone silent and face unknown dangers.

But looking at the pool of red stagnant water in the sink, Lu Yuan knew he had no choice.

If he didn't solve the water problem, even if no one beat him to death, he would either die of thirst or be forced to drink this corpse water and mutate.

"I have two conditions."

Lu Yuan raised two fingers and regained his usual composure. "First, I have to act with someone at captain level for this mission, like Hans."

"No problem. Hans is leading this operation." Mary nodded. "And you'll be the vice-captain, responsible for technical analysis and medical support."

"Second." Lu Yuan pointed at his eyes. "This counts as overtime. I want the Library to unlock higher-level permissions for me."

Mary froze for a moment, then smiled.

"You really are a... madman. But deal. After all, you've already stepped onto the path of Transcendence. Most knowledge can no longer corrupt you."

Half an hour later, the team had assembled.

Besides Hans and Lu Yuan, there were four fully armed veteran Night Watchers.

Lu Yuan tucked the remaining bottle of Intermediate Holy Water into his coat, then carefully wiped down the Silver-Plated Pistol and loaded it.

Its power was limited, but holding it still felt safer than holding a scalpel.

The group left the city by carriage.

Grim Port had two water sources.

One was the Purification Tower in the inner city, while the other was the Black Pine Forest Water Plant, built deep within a remote forest.

The latter was where the incident had occurred.

The carriage stopped at the edge of the forest.

The fog here was so thick it was almost impossible to disperse. The trees were twisted and grotesque, and the air was filled with that familiar, nauseating salty stench.

"Get out. We proceed on foot."

Hans drew the greatsword from his back, his expression grim. "It's too quiet ahead."

It really was too quiet.

Guards and workers should have been stationed here, but now there was nothing except deathly silence.

The group advanced in tactical formation.

Lu Yuan was protected in the middle, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding trees.

[Environmental Perception: Plant root systems have been contaminated. The soil contains a high concentration of decaying matter.]

"Watch your footing," Lu Yuan warned in a low voice. "There's something wrong with the soil here."

"Slow down, all of you! Listen to the vice-captain!" Hans roared in agreement with Lu Yuan, and the entire team immediately slowed.

Lu Yuan did not care whether anyone listened to him. He only needed to fulfill his duties as vice-captain.

After walking for about ten minutes, the water plant's gates came into view.

It was a fortress-like structure with towering outer walls.

But now, the iron gates stood wide open. Inside was utterly silent, and not even a single light was on.

"Prepare for battle."

Hans made a hand signal. His entire aura changed, like a blade leaving its sheath, and he was the first to approach.

The fierce battle they had expected never came.

Because there were no living people left here.

More than a dozen bodies lay scattered across the water plant's courtyard. No, more accurately, they were "cocoons."

They were wrapped in translucent slime, their bodily fluids drained away until only shriveled sheets of human skin remained.

Several enormous monsters prowled beside the massive Water Reservoir.

Their bodies were covered in pustules. They crawled on all fours, their backs bristling with spikes, their long tongues hanging from their mouths as they greedily lapped up the black water overflowing from the reservoir.

[Mutated Creature sighted: Rotten Water Toad (currently evolving)]

[A contaminated creature. Its entire body is highly poisonous, and it possesses considerable vitality. Weakness: abdominal air sacs. It fears Flame.]

Lu Yuan reported the information rapidly. "Poisonous. Its abdomen is vulnerable, and fire can restrain it."

"Understood!"

Hans roared, his greatsword sweeping out with crushing wind pressure.

The other Night Watchers threw Molotov Cocktails as well.

"Boom!"

Flames surged upward.

The monsters let out shrill screams in the blazing fire. The air sacs on their bellies burst one after another, spraying foul poisonous mist.

But thanks to Lu Yuan's warning, everyone had put on Gas Masks in advance, and there were no casualties.

The battle ended quickly.

A few minutes later, Hans shook the slime from his sword and walked over to Lu Yuan.

"How is it?"

Lu Yuan crouched beside the Water Reservoir and used a test tube to collect a small sample.

It was black and viscous, writhing against the glass like it was alive.

[Highly contaminated Source of Pollution: Diluted from a highly active contaminating substance.]

"It's completely contaminated." Lu Yuan stood and tossed the test tube into the fire. "And the water is full of eggs and excrement."

"The waterways here will probably need a complete cleansing."

"Damn it!" Hans punched the railing, shaking loose cascades of rust. "Where are the guards? A Half-Step Transcendent on the Alienation Path was stationed here! How could this place have fallen without even a hint of commotion?"

Though furious, his eyes remained sharp.

Hans strode to the door of the water plant's Main Control Room and inspected the lock and the surrounding Defense Runes.

"The doors and windows are intact. The runes are still operating."

Hans narrowed his eyes, his voice turning cold. "There are no signs of a forced assault, nor were there any fluctuations from large-scale Psionic Energy clashes."

"A Half-Step Transcendent and more than a dozen fully armed guards, relying on these fortifications, could have held out for half an hour even against a small Beast Tide."

"But they died too quietly. They didn't even have time to sound the alarm."

Hans turned to Lu Yuan, his tone certain.

"This place wasn't breached. It collapsed from within. Someone—or something—appeared directly inside their defensive perimeter."

Lu Yuan nodded, agreeing with Hans's judgment.

"More than that."

Lu Yuan pushed open the Main Control Room door and walked straight toward a trash bin in the corner.

There were no bloodstains in the room. Everything appeared normal.

But the pile of ash that looked like nothing more than ordinary burned paper scraps to most people was giving off a visible black aura in Lu Yuan's eyes.

The aura twisted and coiled like tentacles before finally pointing directly at a floor drain in the corner of the room.

The effects brought by [Forbidden Studies—Deep Study] had quietly activated.

"Here."

Lu Yuan pointed at the inconspicuous floor drain.

"Someone held a ritual here, or dumped something into it. This connects to the sewers, which means it connects to Grim Port's entire underground network."

Hans strode over and stared at the drain, his expression dark enough to drip water.

"The sewers..."

He kicked the drain cover open, and an intense fishy gust instantly rushed out.

"Those rats crawled in through the pipes?"

"No. They did more than crawl in."

Lu Yuan stared into the bottomless pipe, feeling the nauseating aura of the Deep Sea within it. His gaze darkened.

"They... opened a door here."