Mission objectives and arrival
Once they were completely out of sight of the Academy's surroundings and arrived at a quiet and deserted intersection, the senior student leading the group paused, turned around, and looked at Lu Yuan and another reserved-looking young man in the group.
"Alright, we've shaken off the spies watching the base. You two each have your own missions to complete, so don't waste time here. Get going."
The trainee in charge lowered his voice and gave a brief instruction. Without waiting for the two to exchange pleasantries, he nodded slightly to them and then led the remaining team members into another street to continue his patrol mission.
After this swift and decisive second separation, Lu Yuan and the lone youth beside him exchanged glances and nodded to each other before walking away in completely different directions, silently merging into the streets and alleys of Watch City in the blink of an eye.
After walking away alone, Lu Yuan did not rush towards the Outer City. Instead, he turned into a quiet, deserted dead-end alleyway by the sheltered side of the street.
He stopped and scanned the high walls and eaves on both sides of the alley with a wary look. After confirming that there were no Hidden Sentry or passersby spying on him, he reached into his robes and took out the Parchment Scroll that the Rock Grand Knight Commander had personally given him before he set off.
Lu Yuan gently twisted his fingers, crushing the dark red sealing wax seal at the opening, and then unrolled the thick Parchment Scroll.
The inner pages of the scroll were written in extremely detailed and clear handwriting using encrypted Academy developing Mo Shui, clearly explaining Lu Yuan's destination, specific mission, identification, and the origin of his recommendation.
The first thing that catches the eye is the destination of this operation: the true secret base of the Academy's advance team in Watch City, located in a forging workshop at the end of Iron Furnace Street in the southwest of the Outer City. After entering the city, Lu Yuan needs to go to this workshop as soon as possible to meet up with the advance team.
Following closely behind are two core tasks that Lu Yuan needs to complete.
The first task is to investigate what the unknown medicinal ingredients used in the strange potion circulating in the city are, and to trace the source of these ever-growing medicinal ingredients.
It should be noted that the entire Watch City is currently under complete lockdown and martial law. The city, its surrounding areas, and all major roads are being thoroughly searched day and night by the Church, the Night Watcher, and personnel dispatched by the Empire. Yet, no one has discovered the source of the medicinal herbs. Lu Yuan must find out where these Heretic hiding in the shadows have obtained so many medicinal herbs.
Of course, Lu Yuan already roughly knew where these medicinal herbs came from, but he hadn't seen any growing there when he entered the Land of the Dead Silence last time. After all, even if they did grow there, how would he extract them?
That world is entirely composed of reason, and the initial conjecture that medicinal herbs grow in Land of the Dead Silence can be basically determined to be wrong.
But one thing is certain: the medicinal herbs are definitely related to the Land of the Dead Silence.
The second task was to investigate a suspicious source that the advance team had encountered during their investigation. According to the intelligence sent back by the advance team, any investigator who entered that place would inexplicably suffer from amnesia and forget everything they saw inside.
Therefore, Lu Yuan needs to find a practical and effective way to counter this abnormal mechanism that triggers amnesia.
The last section of the scroll clearly states Lu Yuan's official identity as a special advisor to the North Campus's Watch City.
It was noted that he was a core technical personnel personally recommended and directly appointed by the Rock Grand Knight Commander, and the signature was heavily marked with the Rock Grand Knight Commander's exclusive mark, which carried a special aura.
Lu Yuan carefully memorized every line of text on the scroll, then rolled up the sheepskin scroll again and stuffed it back into his pocket. He turned and walked out of the quiet dead-end alley, following the street route marked on the scroll, heading towards Iron Furnace Street in the southwest of the outer city of Watchtower.
Because heavy troops and layers of Isolation and screening had been deployed outside the city gates, those migrants and patients from other places who were obviously Contamination were firmly kept outside the city walls.
Therefore, Lu Yuan traveled from the edge of the inner city to the Outer City districts without seeing any obvious signs of madness or amnesia. The city as a whole maintained its basic operational order.
However, the deeper one ventures into the southwestern workshop district of the Outer City, the stronger the pungent smell of coal smoke and rust becomes, and the atmosphere on the streets is noticeably more somber and tense than in the inner city.
Thick icicles hung from the eaves of houses on both sides of the street. Squads of fully armed city defense soldiers walked briskly through the center of the street with expressionless faces, while the local residents of Watch City and the craftsmen in the shops on both sides of the street lived.
Although they were still working and making fires as usual, everyone pursed their lips, hurriedly went about their business, and no one was willing to linger on the street or talk to others.
Lu Yuan adjusted his collar and walked calmly through the tense Outer City streets. Before long, he followed Iron Furnace Street to the workshop indicated on the scroll.
From the outside, it looks like an ordinary blacksmith's workshop.
In the open front yard facing the street, two red-hot charcoal stoves were set up, and the rolling heat melted the snow in the yard into a black muddy mess. Three or four blacksmiths, their strong upper bodies bare and covered in coal dust, were swinging large iron hammers and clanging as they hammered the red-hot rough iron bars on the anvil.
Lu Yuan stopped in front of the workshop and looked around. He stepped forward and, taking advantage of the moment when the burly blacksmith standing on the outermost side stopped hammering and wiping his sweat, he subtly flipped his right hand under his clothes and showed him the badge that represented his identity as a member of the North Campus of the Knight Academy.
The blacksmith, who was wiping his sweat, glanced at the Academy badge in Lu Yuan's palm. His rugged face showed a slight change in expression, but he didn't ask a single unnecessary question.
He immediately placed the hammer against the anvil, turned around and gestured for Lu Yuan to follow, leading him through the sweltering heat of the front yard blacksmith shop, and pushed open a thick iron-clad wooden door at the back to go inside.
As the iron-clad wooden door closed behind him, the clanging of blacksmithing outside instantly subsided, revealing a closed space resembling a small warehouse to Lu Yuan.
This area is clearly a buffer zone Isolation the blacksmith workshop facing the street in the front yard from the Core District in the back. The spacious room is filled with boxes of pig Ore, sacks of coke, and various semi-finished metal components. Between the shelves and wooden crates, two Academy members wearing thick work clothes are sorting through the supplies.