They Were All Pawns to Be Sacrificed
Although they had decided to imprison the Earl under the guise of protection, they couldn't immediately turn back to the inner city because a very important problem still hung over their heads.
If the Second Waterworks had Heretic who came ahead of time to try and break through half the city's water pipes to release spores, doesn't that mean other buildings or facilities handled by Herbert might also have problems?
What if many Heretic have already arrived in other places and started releasing spores simultaneously, creating a massive self-destruction around Watch City? Wouldn't that mean everything is doomed?
With the current manpower of Watch City, it is absolutely impossible to defend all the places that need to be watched in such a short time; it is simply not feasible.
Lin En dared not delay any longer. He immediately left a team of his men to work with the city defense Patrol that had just arrived to guard the four survivors. While sealing off the Second Waterworks, he also carried out pipe wall repairs and on-site treatment to prevent any remaining spores from seeping into the water pipes.
Although the city defense Patrol personnel who have been called in may also be Contamination, what else can be done at the moment? There really isn't a better solution.
After arranging the aftermath of the Waterworks's collapse, Lin En immediately led Lu Yuan and the remaining team members out of the hall and boarded the steam carriages outside.
Several steam-powered carriages sped along the snow-covered streets, puffing out scalding White Mist. Inside the carriages, Lin En and his team members looked rather grim.
Few of the people selected for this elite squad are fools.
In fact, during what just happened, everyone had more or less figured out the intricacies of the situation and realized that they were currently out of options and couldn't think of any foolproof solutions. It seemed that they could only take it one step at a time.
Sitting by the car window, Lu Yuan watched the street scene and snow rushing past outside. After a brief moment of thought, he had a rough idea of what these Heretic were up to, and judged that Watch City was not yet in a true life-or-death crisis.
The reason is quite simple: just now, when they dealt with the Heretic at the Second Waterworks who were preparing to release spores, the experience bar for Watch City didn't pop up in their field of vision. This means that there's still room for maneuver, or rather, this isn't their real action plan at all.
Lu Yuan made a simple deduction in his mind: this group of Heretic probably didn't intend to fall to Watch City so quickly. Otherwise, theoretically speaking, they only needed to spread the spores completely, and with the power of those spores, they would have been able to fall to the entire Watch City in a very short time.
Although Lu Yuan admitted that he could indeed see some details and clues that ordinary people could not, if this group of Heretic were really determined to do so, no one could stop the fall of Watch City, because the threat of that Illusion-Reality Boundary Mushroom was simply too great.
Conversely, while these Spores at the Boundary of Illusion and Reality pose a significant threat, they are not directly lethal enough to wipe out the entire city's inhabitants. Therefore, these Heretic must have other motives.
Moreover, as the Gray-White Text had already mentioned when introducing the core, the core of this kind of Illusion-Reality Boundary Mushroom is extremely rare and very difficult to cultivate.
In terms of time, the entire Northern Territory has only been in chaos for a little over three months.
The Watch City hadn't been in this chaotic state for very long. In such a short time, it's highly unlikely that those Heretic could cultivate a large number of these Illusion-Reality Boundary Mushroom gadgets that they somehow managed to get their hands on.
After figuring out these key points, Lu Yuan turned to look at the solemn-looking Lin En and the others inside the carriage and calmly stated his conjecture:
"There's no need to worry too much for now. Based on my assessment of the previous fungal samples, it's still quite difficult to culture the spores of this 'Illusion-Reality Boundary Mushroom'."
"The Watch City has only been in this chaotic state for a short time, and in this very short period, they probably won't be able to cultivate a large number of 'Illusion-Reality Boundary Mushroom spores."
Lu Yuan claimed that his judgment was based on the bacterial sample, but in reality, the rare introduction given by the Gray-White Text and the experience bar that had not yet popped up were the main reasons why Lu Yuan dared to say those words.
After listening to Lu Yuan's analysis, Lin En's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and he let out a long Turbid Qi.
However, despite Lu Yuan's speculation, no one in the carriage dared to be completely certain.
Because no one knows how long these Heretic have been preparing in secret, and if they have been preparing for a very long time and have actually produced a large number of spores, then no one can say for sure what will happen. Therefore, they still need to go and see the remaining places with their own eyes.
Fortunately, Lin En calmed down and considered the situation. The City Hall had already ordered all boilers in the city to remain running, completely locking down the heating pipe circuits. In addition, the entire city was under martial law and patrols were in place. Even if there were other spores elsewhere, they would not be able to break through the Defense Line in the short term.
Furthermore, the water pressure in those ordinary water storage stations and branch pipelines is extremely low, and the Pipe Network interfaces are equipped with cast iron valves to prevent backflow. Even if someone were to stuff mushroom spores into them, it would only Contamination a very small area of people, and this loss is completely acceptable in the current situation.
There are only two high-pressure water towers in the entire western district that could Contamination half of the Watch City. The main Waterworks was heavily guarded and remained unscathed, while the second one was the Second Waterworks that they just managed to save in time.
Several steam carriages sped through the snow-covered streets, heading at full speed toward the key water conservancy and heating facilities to be built. Meanwhile, Lu Yuan, sitting by the carriage window, took the opportunity to inspect other buildings and facilities that Herbert had overseen along the way.
The dozen or so small and medium-sized buildings and facilities I passed along the way were spotless, without a trace of blackness.
After stopping the carriage and breaking down the doors at the only two remaining facilities with faint traces and the key subsequent nodes, Lin En and the others were shocked to find that the entire place was deserted. The few remaining traces of utensils had been burned and cleared away by the Heretic themselves more than half an hour earlier.
Immediately afterwards, the other two six-person teams that went to check the other routes also reported the situation via communication. The facilities they checked along the way were mostly normal, and the only two hidden rooms had been deserted more than half an hour ago.
Standing in the last empty, heated underground room, after listening to the summaries from the other two teams, Lin En and the team members behind him suddenly realized what was happening.
Since the Heretic in the dozen or so surrounding areas received word of Herbert's arrest more than half an hour ago and promptly destroyed all traces and left, why didn't the four people from the Second Waterworks run away? Instead, they stayed there to fight them to the death.
The answer couldn't be clearer: the moment Herbert was arrested, the order to shut down all the boilers in the city was issued, rendering those dozen or so buildings on the outskirts completely unusable.
The Heretic leaders in the inner city immediately and decisively ordered the destruction of the outer perimeter, gathering all forces and withdrawing them back to the inner city. The four people left behind at the Second Waterworks were most likely expendable pawns sent to cover the retreat and die!
The Heretic deliberately placed two mature Illusion-Reality Boundary Mushroom on the high platform of the water tower in the Second Waterworks, just to keep the Knight Academy's attention at bay, even at the cost of four lives to delay them!