Lingering Aura
Approaching the entrance to the maintenance area, which had been charred black by the fire, a pungent smell of burning still lingered in the air. Standing before the charred bricks and stones, everyone was at a loss for what to do.
Judging from the scorching marks at the entrance, everyone present was deeply skeptical that there might still be any clues left inside. After that strange fire, it was almost impossible for anything of value to remain.
A young guard standing next to Lin En looked at the dark entrance of the cave and couldn't help but turn his head and ask in a low voice:
"So what do we do now?"
Lin En stared at the charred entrance in front of him and fell silent for a moment.
Because he also didn't know where to start, and faced with this situation where the clues had been cut off in advance, it seemed that he could only bite the bullet and send someone in to explore and see if there was any trace left deep in the pipe.
Just as Lin En and the others were at a loss about the entrance, Lu Yuan, who was standing at the front, focused his gaze on the faint gray-black aura at the edge of the entrance. He didn't need to figure out how he saw this thing; he just needed to follow the aura.
Staring at the faint, grayish-black aura in the air, Lu Yuan suddenly realized that he hadn't triggered this skill in a long time. His [Forbidden Studies - Deep Study] skill itself had the ability to see residual eerie auras.
The environment and location I was in at the Academy and on the way meant that this ability was hardly ever triggered before, so I didn't expect it to be triggered again here.
Lu Yuan pondered for a moment the reason why this ability was suddenly triggered, guessing that it was probably because his rationality had crossed the threshold and reached level V.
The moment this thought crossed his mind, Lu Yuan didn't hesitate for a moment. He immediately turned around and addressed the crowd behind him:
"I think I can see some clues. Follow me."
Lin En, Baron Hawke, and the others were all taken aback by these words. They instinctively wanted to ask Lu Yuan what he had discovered, but Lu Yuan stopped them by raising his hand, indicating that they didn't need to ask any more questions and just follow him.
Seeing Lu Yuan's Lu Yuan expression, Lin En and the others didn't ask any more questions and immediately followed him quickly.
Lu Yuan, who was walking at the front, had a strange glint in his eyes. In his vision, the entire world around him had been divided into a world composed entirely of various auras.
In this world of interwoven black and white atmosphere, a particularly conspicuous gray-black aura flows forward along the ground and into the air, gradually dissipating.
Lu Yuan strode quickly past the outside of the maintenance gate, his gaze sweeping over the direction from which the aura extended. He discovered that the gray-black aura did not extend along the maintenance gate into the depths of the underground passage. In other words, the person who left this aura did not use the underground Pipe Network after setting the fire, but instead turned around and walked straight into the streets and alleys of the western district of Watch City.
Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly upon seeing this.
Oden, who had been nestled inside Lu Yuan's left leg shell, also emerged. He didn't ask Lu Yuan what clue he had seen, but instead carefully sensed the subtle changes in Lu Yuan's body and eyes, muttering to himself in the corner of his consciousness:
"What kind of ability is this? Isn't he only at the Third Order, with only two abilities in total? One is related to the Sea of Knowledge, and the other can only see other people's status, right? What is this?"
While Oden was pondering this in his mind, Lu Yuan had already led Lin En and his group forward, following the ever-flowing gray-black aura.
The grayish-black aura meandered along the streets of Watch City, and the group passed several shops, coal mines, and ironworks along the way. The aura merely passed by the doors, and the buildings along the way did not show any unusual reactions.
The group walked briskly along the streets and alleys of the West District for a long time. The gray-black aura flowing in the air finally stopped in front of a rather large building. Lu Yuan looked up and saw that it was one of the furnace factories in Watch City that were specifically used to heat the underground steam heating pipes.
Inside the furnace, several tall chimneys were continuously belching black smoke into the sky. Piles of coal and fuel were stacked in the open yard, and vehicles transporting coal were coming and going. Coal miners were taking turns adding Flame to the fire throughout the yard.
It's currently the dead of winter in the Northern Territory, and with Watch City under martial law, not everyone living there is Transcendence.
Even for Transcendence individuals, those with Knowledge Transcendent are not particularly resistant to the cold. Third Order Knowledge Transcendent's physical attributes are only slightly stronger than those of an ordinary person, but they are far from being able to ignore the cold. Therefore, the city's heating cannot be stopped for even a moment.
Lu Yuan stopped in front of the furnace factory, and the people following behind him were also stunned, especially Lin En, who was quite surprised because he never expected that the person who set the fire would be related to this furnace factory.
You know, aren't those spores supposed to be unable to adapt to high temperatures? How could they possibly be here? Besides, the workers at the furnace factory have all been tested.
However, a few points actually explain why these spores entered Watch City without being detected.
Because the furnace fires burn continuously year-round, these spores are trapped by the high temperatures and may not be active normally. Naturally, people entering the factory would not experience any symptoms, and the furnace factory was thus unknowingly let go of the problem.
Lin En's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew that it was possible that the City Hall and the local Night Watcher had been secretly infiltrated and were helping them, or that the patrol list might have been tampered with.
Lin En quickly sorted through these things and planned to have someone investigate later, inwardly cursing these people for their audacity.
Standing in front of the furnace factory, Lu Yuan looked up into the depths of the courtyard and gestured to Lin En that this was the place; the aura was still extending inwards, and the target was inside.
Lin En immediately signaled to the other guards accompanying him to secure the surroundings, preparing to enter directly.
This time, besides Lin En and Lu Yuan, only the young guard who asked the question earlier and the Dwarf Baron Hawke were brought in, a total of four people. Everyone else stayed around to prevent any changes and to be ready to provide support and notify the Patrol at any time.
Security at the furnace factory wasn't particularly good. The people coming and going were mostly horse-drawn carts carrying coal and some workers. Of course, it's also possible that because Lu Yuan and his group were wearing the Knight Academy badges, the guards at the gate just glanced at them and let them in.