Distribution of Forces

"Doctor Lu, I'm not asking you to support us for nothing."

Seeing Lu Yuan remain silent, Brent assumed he was hesitating and eagerly tried to prove his worth.

He spoke rapidly:

"I can work outside! I've spent years around the docks and the slums. I know a little about information from all over the place."

"Whether it's the church now, or... or that Ascension Society! As long as I hear anything unusual, I can tell you."

Lu Yuan's hand, which had been wiping a bottle, suddenly froze in midair.

He lowered his head and, for the first time, examined the boy before him with a scrutinizing gaze.

"You know about the Ascension Society?"

Lu Yuan's voice became lower.

After all, although the Ascension Society was despised by many, it was still an organization under the Empire. The common people at the bottom did not even know about Transcendence, much less know its name.

Frightened by Lu Yuan's gaze, Brent shrank his neck, but he still forced himself to say:

"I know... a little."

"Back when I was shining shoes, I accidentally heard a few drunk old gentlemen cursing. They said, 'What experiment are those Ascension Society lunatics, the ones who turned their bodies into lumps of iron, doing again...'"

Brent swallowed and cautiously watched Lu Yuan's expression.

"So I remembered the name. Doctor Lu, those gentlemen never avoided talking in front of people like us. They think we can't understand, but I remember it all!"

"My life isn't worth much, but these eyes and ears of mine will definitely be useful to you!"

Lu Yuan had no intention of making things difficult for Brent. As a fine young man of the new century, he could not bring himself to be a juice extractor.

Besides, he had already intended to do this when he took Mina in.

It disgusted the church while helping himself. Why not?

Most importantly, Brent seemed to know far more than Lu Yuan had imagined. This was a good chance to raise his Grim Port Status.

"I don't lack ears."

Lu Yuan spoke calmly.

Brent shuddered all over, his face instantly turning pale. Thinking he had still been rejected, the light in his eyes immediately dimmed.

"However, I am indeed short on an apprentice to do the cleaning."

Lu Yuan looked at Brent's bewildered face and smiled faintly.

"Mina can stay, but I don't need you to risk your life. Just keep doing what you normally do, then pass along any information you think is useful."

"Like the accident at the docks earlier."

Hearing this, Brent instantly went from despair to joy and slammed his head against the floor with loud thuds.

"Understood! I understand! Thank you, Doctor Lu! Thank you!"

"All right, stop bowing. There are a few things I want to ask you."

"Sit down."

Lu Yuan casually pulled over a chair and poured Brent a cup of warm black tea.

The steam rising from the cup eased Brent's tightly wound nerves slightly.

He held the cup and took a small sip. His tense body visibly relaxed.

That allowed Lu Yuan to take a closer look at the boy before him.

His once shrewd and cheerful face was now filled only with exhaustion. A large bump had formed on his forehead; he had truly hit it hard just now.

"All right, Brent. Tell me about every force in Grim Port that you know of, including the Ascension Society you overheard about."

Holding his teacup, Brent thought for a moment before beginning.

"Doctor Lu, there actually aren't that many forces in Grim Port, but I only overheard about several of them by accident. I don't know the specific details very well."

Lu Yuan leaned against the counter, lightly tapping his fingers on the tabletop. "That's fine. Just tell me everything."

With Grim Port Status as a safeguard, he would know as soon as he heard it whether the information was useful.

"First, the Inner City."

Brent pointed at the mist-shrouded highlands outside the window. "That's the territory of the Viscount's Residence and the Merchant Council."

"The Viscount is an Imperial noble and the nominal ruler of this city, but he rarely shows himself. The Merchant Council is the one truly in charge."

"The members of the Merchant Council are all gentlemen, along with some Barons. They control coal, grain, and shipping."

Brent shrank his neck. "The council people are the blackest of them all. They may not kill people directly, but if they raise the price of coal even a little, hundreds of people in the Lower District will freeze to death in winter."

Lu Yuan nodded. A monopoly, as expected.

Given this world's level of productivity, it would have been stranger if capital had not emerged.

That usually meant wealth and resources were concentrated, making them potential customers for the custom Potions he would sell in the future.

"Then there's the port."

"That place is the most chaotic. It's the territory of all the major gangs, but lately, I've heard that some strange things have slipped in. Even the largest Blood Anchor Gang doesn't dare go out at night."

"Then there are the Night Watchers."

Brent glanced at Lu Yuan, reverence in his eyes. "That is, this neighborhood where you are. There may not be many Night Watchers, but no one in Grim Port dares provoke them. This is the only safe zone in the Outer City."

Lu Yuan neither agreed nor disagreed.

Safety was built on the deterrence of force. Whether it was the other Night Watchers or Old Morgan's gun burst last night, either was enough to crush the vast majority of petty troublemakers.

"As for the church..."

Brent clenched his teeth, hatred flashing through his eyes. "Those people occupy the Cathedral District in the north of the city. On the surface, they care about us, but behind the scenes, there's nothing they won't do. They're more terrifying than gangs because they always say it's 'God's will.'"

"And then there's the Ascension Society."

Brent lowered his voice even further. "They aren't in the city. They're in that Black Forest to the west."

"I heard smoke of all colors rises from there all day long. Mangled corpses often drift down the river, and anyone who enters without permission disappears too."

Lu Yuan swiftly sketched out a map in his mind.

The Inner City, far from the port, belonged to the powerful and wealthy. Gangs filled the port. The church, that Colossus, occupied the north. The Ascension Society hid in the western forest, along with the Night Watchers where he was.

These five forces occupied Grim Port and controlled nearly all its resources.

"Is there anything else?" Lu Yuan pressed.

He needed to know about more hidden forces.

"Yes."

Brent hesitated before continuing.

"There are two more places, Doctor Lu. You'd best not go there, but you should know about them, because many shady things are found there."

"One is the Dock Black Market."

"It isn't aboveground. It's deep in the sewers beneath the slums, built by a group of criminals and smugglers."

"As long as you have money, I hear you can buy anything there."

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up.

A source of materials.

What he lacked most now were high-level materials. Mutated Creatures or Eerie items, either would do.

But the Night Watchers would never permit such things to circulate privately. Even as a consultant, the share he received was pitifully small.

Of course, there was nothing to be done about that. After all, no normal person's sanity could reach his level.

Once they came into contact with such things, their sanity would plummet. When that happened, they would mutate directly, and that would be quite a spectacle.

This black market might be the key to his advancement in Forbidden Studies.

"What about the other one?"

"The other is called the Ferryman."

Brent showed little expression when he mentioned the name.

"They aren't a gang, and they don't do business either."

"They're a group of strange people dressed in blue, active year-round in Dead Man's Cove, the most remote part of the docks."

"In Grim Port, if someone dies and doesn't want the church to drag them away for cremation, nor wants to rot in the streets, they go to them. Not only can they handle it, they also give the family a sum of Imperial Shields."

"They place the corpses into specially made iron coffins and sink them into the sea."

Brent swallowed.

"I once secretly watched them... When they sank the bodies, they muttered words no one could understand toward the sea. And... I swear I saw a huge shadow rise beneath the water and take the coffins away."

"Still, nobody really dislikes them. After all, as long as you contact them in advance, they'll come collect your body after you die."

Lu Yuan became interested instead.

Corpses, sea burials, and shadows? It sounded very much like some kind of cult.

However, Lu Yuan felt this group's problems were relatively minor.

First, Brent had secretly watched them without losing sanity or being discovered. If it had been a sacrifice, their target would have been far too weak.

Second, the Night Watchers had not deliberately targeted this group.

Still, he would need to learn more about them when he had the chance.

As Brent finished speaking.

[Grim Port Status: +9, 41/50]

Looking at the gray-white text before him, Lu Yuan knew Brent's information was accurate, or at least all of it was true.

But there were still nine points left. It seemed Grim Port was hiding something unknown.

"You did very well, Brent."

Lu Yuan stood, patted his shoulder, and took out a Key.

"This is the Key to my Clinic. Your sister Mina will still need you to take care of her."

"Of course, the room next door is temporarily lent to you as well. From now on, you and your sister will live next door."

"I need to go out for something now, so I'll leave Mina in your care for the time being."

After speaking, Lu Yuan took the hat hanging on the wall, straightened his clothes, and headed for the tavern.

The tavern had already regained its usual bustle.

Quite a few people had already begun drinking.

Passing through the crowd and entering the concealed door, Lu Yuan arrived at the base.

His goal this time was simple: he needed to quickly master Basic Structure of the Sanity Barrier, then construct his own Sanity Barrier.

After the failure at dawn, there were noticeably more guards in the Night Watcher Base.

Especially on the way to the Library and near the area where Mutated Creatures were held.

Lu Yuan noticed at least four guards hiding in the shadows.

As the Lion-Head Gate slowly opened, the white light remained as before.

He looked up at the lamps overhead.

A pitch-black shadow hung upside down from one like a bat, swaying lightly as it slept soundly.

"Mo Shui, stop sleeping."

Lu Yuan knocked on the table, his voice echoing through the empty Library.

"Spit out those two books from last time. I want to keep reading."

The shadow stiffened, then began to squirm with great reluctance.

"Yaaawn—"

Mo Shui let out a long yawn. Its beady eyes suddenly opened as it looked down at Lu Yuan from its upside-down position.

"What do you take this place for? Who comes to the Library to read so early in the morning?"

"I don't recall the Night Watchers having a rule that says I can't come to the Library at this hour." Lu Yuan remained calm.

Mo Shui curled its lips. Though it looked deeply displeased, it still opened its mouth.

"Blegh—"

With a dry heave, two thick books wrapped in black mucus fell from its mouth.

Plop.

It heavily dropped the books onto the table.

One was Basic Structure of the Sanity Barrier, while the other was Deep Sea Creature Illustrated Guide: From Fish Eggs to Adult Fish.