Northern Territory: 0.1

Before the two officials could even utter a word, Lin En's stern and cold official reprimands had already slammed into their faces:

"According to the Empire's latest martial law regulations, during the citywide martial law period in Watch City, the heating furnace plant harbored Heretic, which have now been dealt with by our Knight Academy."

"According to the martial law regulations, you have seriously violated the provisions regarding inadequate screening and dereliction of duty. The presence of numerous Eerie Inscription at this site is not merely a simple oversight in screening, but a serious violation. Your routine screening and factory security have committed grave negligence. Please come with us immediately for investigation. We will contact new security personnel to temporarily take over your defense duties!"

Upon hearing these stern accusations, the local Night Watcher and the two guards from the City Hall both paled. They initially wanted to retort and defend themselves, but after peering into the auxiliary boiler room and seeing what was happening inside, they were rendered speechless.

The open auxiliary boiler room was not only in a mess, but also covered with a large number of Eerie Inscription that had not completely disappeared on the floor and the surrounding brick walls. It could be said that the entire auxiliary boiler room was covered with Eerie Inscription.

With such glaring, irrefutable evidence before them, it was too late for the two of them to deny it or try to secretly destroy the evidence.

Unless they blow up the entire auxiliary boiler room right now, even if they do blow it to the sky, the serious dereliction of duty for failing to guard it properly can still be firmly pinned on their heads.

The two guards lowered their gazes, exchanged a glance, their faces filled with bitterness and helplessness, and could only bow their heads in resignation:

"This was indeed a problem caused by our negligence in security, and we are willing to accept investigation and punishment."

Lin En gave a cold snort, not bothering to waste any more words with them, and waved his hand, saying in a deep voice:

Come with us.

Lu Yuan, who had been observing the whole process from the sidelines, felt a slight stirring in his heart upon seeing this scene, and it wasn't until this moment that he realized it directly.

It turns out that the Northern Territory Knight Academy has such high actual authority in Watch City that it completely surpasses the local Night Watcher and the City Hall's own army. It's even possible that other legions dispatched from outside the city don't have as much authority as the Knight Academy.

After Lin En led the two guards who had bowed their heads and accepted their punishment out of the auxiliary fuel room, he immediately had them put on basic Isolation Protective Barrier. He used chains engraved with sealing patterns to firmly bind the two men to prevent them from being secretly Contamination by the spores. Then he handed them over to Colin and the other young guards who were stationed outside the furnace for safekeeping.

While Colin and the others were taking the people away, Lin En immediately assigned someone to compile and report everything that had happened at the heating furnace factory.

The report included, but was not limited to, the discovery of the specific characteristics of the Illusion-Reality Boundary Spores Withered Glory Society the method for dealing with high-temperature Flame; the discovery of traces of Heretic activities by the Decaying Society inside the heating furnace plant and a large number of Eerie Inscription hidden in the auxiliary boiler room; and the on-site arrest of the City Hall guards, Night Watcher guards, and other personnel involved in the work responsible for the furnace plant's defense.

The entire incident was simultaneously reported to the City Hall and local Night Watcher leaders, who were ordered to come up with a solution. If they could not come up with a reasonable solution, all those involved would be detained.

After arranging the handover and follow-up matters around the furnace, the young guard Colin, along with several other guards, escorted the arrested Night Watcher and the head of the City Hall's guards onto another escort carriage and left first.

Lu Yuan, Lin En, and the Dwarf master craftsman Baron Hawke boarded a black carriage parked on the side of the street. The driver flicked the reins and drove towards the Iron Furnace Street workshop outpost. Inside the swaying carriage, the three began to discuss their next move.

Because Lu Yuan had become deeply involved in the core mission after the battle, and because the Wailing Crystal hanging on the carriage wall had not shown any abnormal cracks since the three of them got in, it was enough to prove that the three people in the carriage were all trustworthy comrades. Lin En's tense expression relaxed slightly, and he was able to talk more openly in the carriage.

Lin En leaned against the wooden wall of the carriage, rubbed his temples, and spoke first:

"If the spores of this 'Illusion-Reality Boundary Mushroom have already taken root in Watch City, I strongly suspect that there are more than just this one heating plant in the city. If that's the case, then a city-wide screening should be conducted immediately."

That being said, the three people sitting in the carriage were well aware that it was practically impossible to conduct a large-scale city-wide search of Watch City at the moment, especially given the current dire situation of being beset by both internal and external troubles.

Outside Watch City, a large number of refugees who had fled overwhelmed the city were gathered in the Isolation area, waiting to enter. Inside the city, it was unknown how many officials, guards Peace had been Contamination by the strange potion or spores. The entire Watch City was now like a huge, dilapidated house with drafts everywhere.

If we were to thoroughly examine this enormous, dilapidated building that houses nearly a million people from beginning to end, we simply wouldn't have the time or the manpower.

Moreover, what if, during the door-to-door screening process, the people responsible for the screening themselves are Contamination by spores or Heretic lurking in the shadows? Right now, without sufficiently reliable and comprehensive Protective Barrier measures, such a blind, city-wide screening is absolutely not allowed.

Faced with this precarious situation, a direct investigation was almost impossible. Even though the stronghold had the Wailing Crystal recently issued by their superiors, it was extremely difficult to investigate the entire city of nearly a million people with just these crystals. For now, they could only make targeted arrests in special locations where clues were exposed, as they did today.

Lin En looked up at Lu Yuan sitting opposite her, lowered her voice and continued:

"According to the overall plan from higher authorities, our Knight Academy has actually formulated a plan for the gradual screening and regaining of control of the entire Watch City. The first and most important step is to have reliable manpower. With the first batch of large quantities of Wailing Crystal about to arrive, the Academy will strictly implement the phased deployment of these Wailing Crystal."

"The first step is to use it on the local Night's Night Watcher in Watch City thoroughly identify which members are truly loyal and which are no longer part of our ranks. Once the Night Watcher has been cleaned up, we will immediately incorporate the confirmed and reliable Night Watcher into our main force."

"The second step is to use it for the Watch City's own garrison. The Watch City's garrison is the city's most important protective force after the Night Watcher. By thoroughly screening them, the city's defenses can be stabilized."

"As for the third step, it's finally for the people in the City Hall, including officials at all levels, the Earl, Viscount, and nobles. Right now, they're pretty much dispensable to the overall situation. Although the City Hall is still officially in charge of overall coordination in Watch City, in reality, most of the real power in the city has been taken over by our Knight Academy."

"Only after the three groups of people inside the city have been completely cleared out will the troops stationed Outer City the city, namely the troops sent by the imperial central government and the peripheral personnel of the major families in the Northern Territory, be deployed. But by then, it may have been several months or even longer."

Lin En, glancing at the small tube of snowflake-shaped crystal powder hanging on the carriage wall, couldn't help but sigh heavily and remark:

"Although we don't know which brilliant predecessor invented the Wailing Crystal as a detection method, the Wailing Crystal itself is something that was taken from the mouths of the dead. The reserves of this thing are not particularly large. Not to mention our Northern Territory, even if you searched the entire Auris Empire, there wouldn't be many readily available reserves."

"To thoroughly search the entire Northern Territory, the number of Wailing Crystal needed is an extremely terrifying figure. Therefore, the Academy's higher-ups are currently working desperately to report to the Imperial Central Government, trying to find ways to collect as many Wailing Crystal as possible from various locations."

Sitting opposite him, Lu Yuan listened quietly as Lin En marveled at the genius who invented the Wailing Crystal. He remained calm and didn't say a word. Lin En and the others didn't know that Lu Yuan had personally developed the purification and testing method for the Wailing Crystal in the North Campus. Naturally, Lu Yuan had no need to step forward and show off at this time.

Just after Lin En finished explaining the inside story of the Knight Academy taking over Watch City and the phased screening, a new Gray-White Text entry quietly appeared at the bottom of Lu Yuan's field of vision.

[Northern Territory: 0.1/??]