When Kraus emerged from around the corner, the light from the march lamp hit his shadow first.
The shadow stretched long against the copper wall. Three people followed behind him—Glock and two other Nightwatchers—all armed and moving at a brisk pace.
Kraus did not rush forward.
His gaze first swept across the copper walls on both sides of the passage, lingering for a moment on the slowly writhing eerie inscriptions before finally settling on Lu Yuan and Lake ahead.
Lake leaned against the right copper wall, the surface of his worm-composed body resuming its slow writhing, though his tentacles were all retracted to his sides. Lu Yuan was crouching beside him, one hand still pressed against his knee as he rose from the ground.
Kraus watched them for a few seconds without speaking.
He raised his left hand. The bone ring on his ring finger emitted a faint dark green glow, which spilled from the surface and extended along his finger, sweeping over Lake first before turning toward Lu Yuan.
The dark green light fell upon them; it did not change color or fluctuate, receding quietly after a single pass.
“Not polluted.”
Kraus withdrew his hand. A look of helplessness flickered across his normally stern face, and then his gaze landed on Lake.
“Speak.”
Lake didn't change his posture, his head resting against the copper wall and his eyes half-closed as if he were giving a routine report.
“While interrogating the rank 3 Grey Covenant member, the Swarming Worms were reading his memories. There was a scene in his mind: a giant head, grey mist, and cultists kneeling to receive instructions. When the Swarming Worms touched that memory, my consciousness was pulled directly inside.”
Kraus did not interrupt. Glock stood half a step behind him, clutching the communication crystal, his expression shifting from confusion to solemnity.
“It was that thing,” Lake said, his tone unchanging. “The head from the rank 3’s memory. The Man on the Wall. He was waiting in that space.”
Kraus’s expression remained the same, but Lu Yuan noticed the finger rubbing his bone ring paused for a moment.
Lake continued, describing the space: grey mist filling everything, a rock platform about three or four paces wide beneath his feet, and a bottomless void all around. Shattered platforms floated at various heights, and while standing there, no transcendent powers could be used.
“He is trapped in that space and cannot leave. But He can pull people in.”
Lake’s gaze lowered slightly.
“Before I was ejected, I fell for a while and saw the full view of the stone wall. There were figures on the steps—several of them, blurred and faceless. In the rank 3’s memory, all the transcendents of the Grey Covenant had been to that space and knelt before Him.”
He stopped.
Glock’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“The rest is sealed,” Lake’s voice dropped even lower. “I can't say it.”
Kraus watched him, not pressing further.
Lu Yuan stood up and took over.
“After Lake was pulled in, I used the insect to build a bridge and sent my own consciousness in as well.”
Kraus turned his gaze toward him.
“I also met The Man on the Wall,” Lu Yuan said concisely. “He was interested in something on me but could not touch me. Further details are similarly sealed.”
The passage went silent for a few seconds.
Kraus’s fingers tightened slightly on the bone ring, a dark green shimmer flashing between them. He did not ask what the “something” was or what had been sealed. Everyone present understood that if information was blocked by an entity of that level, it could not be spoken even if asked.
Glock finally couldn't help himself.
“What exactly is The Man on the Wall? An entity trapped in a space? How could it—”
“Glock,” Kraus said, glancing at him.
Glock shut his mouth.
Kraus was silent for a while, slowly rotating the bone ring half a turn. The light from the march lamp cast flickering shadows across his face.
Lu Yuan waited a few seconds before speaking.
“There has always been something that didn't make sense about those two rank 3 Grey Covenant members coming to the pipe network layer.”
Kraus looked up at him.
“At the time, the Grey Covenant’s rank 4s—Jie, Nine, and J—were all in the inner city ambushing you,” Lu Yuan said slowly, deliberate with every word.
“If the operation in the pipe network layer was also arranged by the Grey Covenant, they should have sent at least one rank 4 as an escort. For a mission of this level—bringing something near the copper wall where they might encounter Lake or a Nightwatcher patrol—having two rank 3s run toward the wall with a box and no cover at all...”
He paused.
“The distribution of force is wrong. All the rank 4s went to ambush you, while only two rank 3s were thrown into the pipe network? Either the Grey Covenant commander is an idiot, or these weren't the same orders.”
Lake straightened up from the copper wall.
“It wasn't an organizational action. They came on their own.”
Glock frowned. “Acting on their own? Two rank 3s?”
Lu Yuan didn't look at Glock, his eyes fixed on Kraus.
“The Man on the Wall can pull people into that space. The Grey Covenant members kneel before Him. If He can deal with everyone individually...”
He paused for a beat.
“Those two rank 3s might have each received something from Him and then ran here to their deaths on their own.”
No one spoke in the passage.
Kraus’s fingers stopped on the bone ring, motionless.
Lu Yuan lowered his voice.
“There’s one more problem.”
Kraus looked at him.
“Lake was targeted after reading the rank 3’s memories in the detention room,” Lu Yuan said, his pace slowing. “But his consciousness wasn't actually pulled away until later, in the pipe network layer.”
He glanced at Lake. Lake didn't speak but gave a slight nod.
“In other words, simply coming into contact with a memory of The Man on the Wall is enough for Him to find you. You don't need to be near the copper wall or in His space. Reading a single memory fragment is enough.”
Glock’s expression changed.
Lu Yuan did not stop.
“But that’s just one way we know of,” he whispered. “The Grey Covenant has been lurking in Bronze City for so long; every one of them has a connection to The Man on the Wall. If a rank 3 can be reached through memory, what about the rank 4s? What channel do the more core members of the Grey Covenant use to establish contact with Him?”
The passage was silent for two seconds; the flame of the march lamp flickered.
“Memory is just one door,” Lu Yuan’s voice was barely a whisper. “We don't know how many other doors He has.”
“The Grey Covenant needs a sufficiently hidden contact point within the city,” Lake said. “Somewhere that can shield perception and accommodate a taboo-level connection channel.”
“Where in the city has such conditions?” Lu Yuan added. “A deep enough history, a sufficiently complex underground structure, and enough knowledge-based transcendent shielding methods...”
Three voices spoke almost simultaneously.
“Polymath Tower.”
Kraus. Lu Yuan. Lake.
Glock’s mouth fell open, but no sound came out.
Complete silence fell over the passage.
The Sea of Knowledge Harvesting Plan led by the Polymath Tower, Arthur Heinz’s acceleration experiments, the suppression of the Nightwatchers, and the resistance Kraus encountered when he forced his way into the Polymath Tower.
Everything in Lu Yuan’s mind clicked together at that moment.
If there was some connection between The Man on the Wall and the Polymath Tower, and if the Grey Covenant was contacting Him through the tower...
Then how many people in the entire Polymath Tower were involved?
And what about the imperial officials operating through the Polymath Tower?
Kraus’s expression turned grim to the extreme.
Glock turned pale. The hand holding the communication crystal was trembling, and his lips moved twice, but in the end, he said nothing.
Kraus closed his eyes.
The cold air of the pipe network layer filled his nostrils, carrying a faint scent of copper rust. The light from the march lamp cast deep shadows across his face.
He opened his eyes a few seconds later.
“Stop for now.”
His tone was hard, leaving no room for negotiation.
“We won't act on this deduction yet.”
Glock opened his mouth.
“There is no evidence,” Kraus’s voice resonated through the passage, low and clear. “If we go after the Polymath Tower now, we’ll only be alerting the enemy. The Man on the Wall is bound by rules, but He can see things—at the very least, He knows exactly what’s happening with the Grey Covenant.”
He released his grip on the bone ring.
“All we can do now is resolve the matter at hand.”
Glock’s mouth closed, but his expression made it clear he had a mountain of words he couldn't swallow.
The Polymath Tower was one of the empire’s most core institutions in Bronze City. If the tentacles of The Man on the Wall were truly hidden within it, many of the events that had occurred would finally make sense.
But precisely because it made sense, they could not afford to act rashly.
Kraus turned to Lu Yuan.
“You saw the copper wall last time. What’s the situation?”
Lu Yuan organized his thoughts.
“There is something behind the copper wall; that was confirmed during the last visit, but my perception cannot analyze it, so I can't determine what it is exactly,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “Bolen’s exact words at the time were that the existence behind the copper wall might be the source of Bronze City’s power. But even he didn't reach a definitive conclusion.”
Kraus did not interrupt.
“Returning this time, the state of the wall is much worse than before.” Lu Yuan gestured toward the copper wall.
“The density of bulges and cracks has at least doubled. The inscriptions are peeling off the wall, spreading strand by strand toward the pipe network. Last time, the boundary line of the inscription spread was much deeper; this time, it’s all over the walls as soon as you turn the corner.”
Kraus’s eyes darkened.
Lu Yuan held up two fingers.
“I have two judgments.”
“One,” he said, raising his index finger. “The Man on the Wall wants to release whatever is behind the copper wall. The Grey Covenant calls it ‘The Root.’ The severed limb we intercepted earlier was meant for ‘feeding.’ If The Man on the Wall has been sending things into the copper wall through the Grey Covenant, the accelerated corrosion makes sense.”
“Two,” he raised his middle finger. “Something is wrong with the Abyss. The copper wall is part of the sealing structure, as are the bronze pillars. If the thing below is moving on its own, causing the seal to loosen, then the deterioration of the copper wall is just a chain reaction.”
He lowered his hand.
“Regardless of which it is, the result is the same.”
Lu Yuan’s gaze fell on Kraus, his tone turning cold.
“If Bronze City’s inscription defenses collapse, the ghouls will return. This city is the anchor for the empire’s western territories. When that happens, the tens of thousands in the inner city, along with the surrounding towns and villages...”
He didn't finish. He didn't need to.
The passage was silent for a few seconds.
“We must dive. We need to find out what’s happening down there.” Lu Yuan’s voice was steady as he laid out all his speculations.
He paused.
“But before the dive, the Grey Covenant must be dealt with. We can't jump into the Abyss with knives at our backs.”
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