Kraus’s finger traced a line across the map.
“Based on the crystal’s previous passive signal, they are definitely in the inner city. We will pinpoint the exact location once we arrive.”
“The enemy has at least four rank 4s, possibly six. Jie is the most severely injured; her strength has dropped significantly for the short term. Nine has cracked armor on his ribs and is suffering from crystalline erosion, so he won't be able to fight at full capacity. J is largely unaffected. The one who appeared in the pipe network layer is very likely close to rank 5.”
Kraus paused, sweeping his gaze over everyone present.
“On our side, the Assault Group will consist of me, Lake, Margaret, and these two.” He tilted his head slightly toward the two hooded figures. “We will break in from the front and suppress their main force.”
“Archbishop Adrian will be responsible for blessings and suppression.” He looked at the Archbishop, who was now dressed in civilian clothes. “The Grey Covenant’s methods lean toward the eerie; the Church’s blessings can effectively weaken them.” Adrian nodded slightly but did not speak.
“The Count’s Mansion’s people will coordinate with the operation.” The attendant’s expression remained unchanged, but his right hand instinctively brushed the hilt of the sword at his waist.
“Bo Er and Glock will handle the outer perimeter.”
“Lu Yuan, you’re with me.”
“The seeds.”
The atmosphere in the meeting room shifted subtly. Adrian looked up, and the Count’s attendant moved his hand away from his sword hilt.
“The Grey Covenant has two seeds in their possession. Once the matter is resolved, the Nightwatchers will take one. The other will be shared between the Church and the Count’s Mansion.”
Kraus’s tone left no room for negotiation.
Adrian watched Kraus for a few seconds before giving a single nod.
The Count’s attendant nodded as well.
“The operation begins tonight.”
Kraus’s voice leveled out.
“They don’t know we’ve gathered this many people. This is our greatest trump card, and its value diminishes with every day we delay.”
He finished speaking and paused for a moment.
“There is one more thing.”
The meeting room fell silent.
“The Guardian will also act.”
The moment those words fell, the tension in the room visibly thawed.
Lake opened his eyes, which had been half-closed, and Margaret lowered the hand she had resting on the manifest. Adrian’s expression didn't change, but he leaned back slightly in his chair.
The Count’s attendant’s shoulders relaxed significantly.
Kraus waited for two seconds before adding another sentence.
“However, he can only act once. A rank 5’s presence creates too much of a disturbance; it would alarm the entire Bronze City. After one strike, he can only serve as our safety net.”
No one objected. The fact that the Guardian could strike even once meant this mission had shifted from merely weakening the Grey Covenant to annihilating them.
“Meeting adjourned. Get ready. Assemble at the branch entrance in fifteen minutes.”
The sound of chairs scraping against the floor echoed as everyone rose to leave.
Adrian was the first to go, with the Count’s attendant following closely behind, his right hand never straying far from his sword hilt.
The two hooded figures were the last to leave, silently peeling away from the shadows in the corner and vanishing.
Lake straightened up from the wall and patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder as he passed.
“Why are you following Kraus? It would be better if you didn't go on this mission.”
“Remember those wooden men?”
Lu Yuan looked around, making sure everyone had left the meeting room before continuing.
“I suspect those things have something to do with The Man on the Wall. I have a feeling... they are very important. I need a sample. When you get there, try to grab one for me if you can. Since the Grey Covenant made a deal with The Man on the Wall, I suspect they might have other ways to leave with the wooden men.”
Lake narrowed his eyes, seemingly thinking of something as well.
“Did you tell Kraus?”
“No.”
Lu Yuan looked at Lake.
“Just let Kraus focus on the killing. Isn't your pathway’s range very large?”
“When you’ve got the area covered, remember to keep an eye out for me.”
“Got it.”
Lake nodded.
At the branch entrance, everyone had arrived. The march lamps were dimmed to their lowest setting, and weapons were ready.
Kraus walked at the front, gripping the tracking crystal in his hand.
Lu Yuan followed half a step behind him to his right.
Behind them were Lake, Margaret, and the two hooded figures.
Adrian and the Count’s attendant took a different route, maintaining their distance as they followed, waiting for the location to be pinned down before moving to block the exits.
Bo Er and Glock dispersed to the outer perimeter.
The team drove carriages through the outer city streets, moving toward the inner city.
The night was thick, and the gas lamps in this area were spaced further apart, providing only thin illumination.
Kraus occasionally glanced down at the crystal in his hand. It wasn't activated yet, but something seemed to be guiding him; he adjusted their route slightly every few blocks.
The team turned into a narrow alley, rounding the outer wall of the Polymath Tower.
Kraus’s footsteps stopped. They were very close.
Kraus raised his hand, signaling for them to wait.
He held the crystal in his palm. He glanced at Lu Yuan, then at Lake behind him.
Then, Kraus tightened his grip on the crystal.
A green light shot out from within the crystal, forming a slender beam that pointed precisely at a stone building with boarded-up doors and windows less than a hundred meters away.
The beam pierced through the night, leaving a bright spot on the building's outer wall. The tracking crystal throbbed violently in Kraus’s palm, green light spilling through his fingers and illuminating half of his face.
Position locked. Surround them!!
...
A few minutes earlier, inside the abandoned workshop.
The doors and windows of the workshop were all sealed from the inside with two layers of wooden boards, the gaps stuffed with rags.
Several inscriptions were carved into the inner sides of the door frames and window sills, their color deliberately adjusted to a greyish-brown that matched the stone. They were impossible to notice without a close look.
The strokes were crude, completely different from the precise and orderly inscriptions of the Nightwatchers’ system. They looked more like makeshift eerie inscriptions, but they were functional.
In the corner near the entrance were a few small devices.
A glass bottle the thickness of a thumb hung inside the door frame, filled halfway with a murky liquid. The surface would boil the moment a transcendent approached.
At the bottom of another window sill, a fine thread was tied, connecting to a grey flake the size of a fingernail to capture external aura fluctuations. It was a bit crude, but sufficient under these conditions.
The interior of the workshop was no different from a regular alchemy workshop, except most of the equipment had been removed or destroyed.
This was near the Polymath Tower. After the recent ghoul incident and the start of the harvesting mission, this area had remained abandoned.
The Grey Covenant had naturally taken over this place as one of their perfect temporary hideouts.
The space was small. The original operations area had been cleared to create an open space about five or six meters square.
Several stone slabs on the floor had been pried up and then pieced back together, with mud seeping from the cracks.
In the corner, a few cloths were spread on the ground, with some dry ration crumbs, two water canteens, and a folded dark coat scattered nearby.
The air was thick with the smell of copper rust and a faint, lingering sweetness.
The source of that sweetness was in the center of the clearing.
Five kneeling wooden constructs were arranged neatly in the middle of the cleared area.
Their surfaces were covered in fine bark textures, and they bowed their heads in a posture of pious prayer, identical to the ones found in the warehouse’s underground hall.
However, the scale this time was much smaller; the circular altar woven from roots and the greyish-green dome network were gone.
Complex patterns had been drawn directly on the ground with some kind of dark liquid, extending outward from the bases of the wooden constructs to form an irregular design.
The patterns were glowing slightly, the light so weak it could be mistaken for the reflection of water on the floor.
The surfaces of the wooden constructs were changing, the bark textures slowly writhing like living wood breathing.
Their kneeling bodies occasionally gave a very slight tremor, indicating that this mysterious ritual was still progressing.
In the center of the five constructs, a seed floated about a palm’s width above the ground.
It was an unhatched seed.
It looked like a greyish-brown stone with a rough surface and no signs of life, completely different from “Hope,” the seed in the Nightwatchers’ possession that had already developed a pale gold amber shell and warm orange sprouts.
In the center of the ritual, dark patterns extended from the ground to support the seed from below.
J sat on a copper experimental table against the wall, his legs dangling over the edge. He held a bowl containing a cold, unidentified liquid, which he stirred with a spoon, seemingly satisfied with it before taking a mouthful.
However, as his gaze swept over the ritual area, his expression remained indifferent. The layer of black liquid on his body flowed slowly and continuously beneath his sleeves.
Clearly, he remained vigilant even while eating.
Jie was half-leaning against the cloths in the corner, her eyes closed. Her breathing was shallow and uneven. Traces of green light burns still marked half of her face; the charred and crystallized wounds extended from her cheekbone to the base of her ear, left there when Kraus had grabbed her head in the narrow street.
She hadn't put on a new mask after her old one shattered. She coughed occasionally, and with every cough, her aura fluctuated, straining her internal injuries.
Nine was crouching next to the ritual area, his finger moving slowly along the dark patterns on the ground, stopping at certain intersection points to fine-tune the flow.
The wound on his ribs was wrapped in bandages. He frowned whenever his movements became too large. His carapace-like skin glinted with a greyish-white reflection under the weak light of the patterns, appearing a layer thinner than before.
Clearly, his injuries were healing very, very slowly.
Q was on the other side of the workshop, near the sealed window, crouching to check a warning device. He meticulously confirmed the tension of each thread and the feedback sensitivity of the flakes.
J took the last spoonful of porridge, the spoon scraping against the bottom of the bowl.
“How much longer?”
He didn't look up, his tone casual.
Q didn't turn around. “The pattern calibration is almost done. The seed still hasn't reacted, which shouldn't be happening!”
J held the bowl, his gaze falling on the floating greyish-brown seed.
He watched it for a few seconds before setting the bowl down, his thoughts unknown.
The workshop fell silent for a while, save for the faint friction of Nine’s finger on the floor patterns and Jie’s occasional coughing.
J withdrew his gaze from the seed and glanced toward Jie.
Jie’s aura was growing weaker. The strike to the face from Kraus in the narrow street had been severe; although the crystallization erosion had been forcibly extracted, the internal damage it left behind was far worse than it appeared on the surface.
Combined with the massive amount of mental energy she had consumed to maintain her blinking in the Count’s Mansion’s main hall, her recovery speed was worryingly slow.
Rate on N.U.
