Kraus picked up a report from the desk, its pages filled with numbers and timestamps, and slid it to the center of the table.
“We have been continuously monitoring the bronze pillars since we first discovered them being pushed up from underground.” His finger traced the markings of several bronze pillars on the map. “Monitoring data shows that the signs of emergence have not only failed to stop, but are actually accelerating. Initially, it was three finger-widths a day, then four. Today’s record is five.”
Kraus’s voice was level, but everyone in the room understood the weight of those words. The bronze pillars were the core structure of the Bronze City’s seal. If the pillars were moving, it meant that whatever lay beneath was active.
“We must dive ahead of schedule,” Kraus continued. “We need to figure out exactly what is happening in the abyss, or resolve it entirely. Even if we can’t solve it, we must at least confirm the timing of the next ghoul emergence to give the Bronze City a window for preparation.”
The Count couldn’t help but frown upon hearing this. Adrian’s kind smile remained unchanged, but his fingers, which had been tapping on the table, stopped. The Great Ascendant hadn’t moved from the beginning, his silver-grey pupils constantly scanning the surroundings.
Kraus continued.
“Of course, I’m sure you are all aware that there is a group of rank 4 transcendents within the Bronze City. Therefore, before the dive, we have already cleared out the Grey Covenant’s forces in the city.”
He spoke at a steady pace, listing the results point by point. Jie: killed. 9, J, and Q: detained.
“The only one who slipped through the net was K. He was rescued by something and his whereabouts are unknown. K is currently the greatest threat.”
Kraus had slightly modified the information regarding K, pausing here to sweep his gaze across the table before finally landing on Arthur.
“The rest will be explained by the Inspector.”
Clearly, Kraus and Arthur had spoken beforehand.
Arthur stood up.
He looked at everyone present, meeting their eyes one by one. When he spoke, his tone was more candid than Lu Yuan had expected, and his phrasing was more direct than it had been on the battlefield.
“I originally intended to tell you all this after the plan was fully concluded.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but every word was clear.
“But right now, there are too many incidents in the Bronze City. The sudden appearance of the ghouls and the continuous leakage of the Sea of Knowledge have led to some unexpected events. None of this is what we wanted to see.”
He paused for a moment.
“As the Special Inspector from imperial headquarters, my purpose in coming to the Bronze City is singular: to make a certain preparation for the Empire’s border defenses. The knowledge required for this preparation has been lost to time; the only way to obtain it is through the Sea of Knowledge above the Bronze City.”
Arthur’s speaking pace slowed slightly.
“The Sea of Knowledge Harvesting Plan originated from a voyage to the Northern Sea decades ago.”
Lu Yuan subconsciously sat up straighter.
The Northern Sea, that voyage log, the 63-man expedition... He had come across that record in the branch’s archives. Back then, the page A.M. had deliberately left open on the bookstore table had led him there.
The log recorded that the expedition had ventured deep into the Northern Sea, and all 63 members were eventually listed as missing. Lu Yuan had never been able to figure out what they had actually discovered there.
Nor had he figured out what A.M. had been trying to say at the time.
Now, Arthur was providing the answer in this meeting room.
“That voyage discovered a giant head.”
Arthur’s expression was solemn as he continued.
“That head possessed a certain will. After decades of research, we discovered it is part of the body of a forbidden existence.”
No one in the meeting room spoke. The tapping of Adrian’s fingers on the table had stopped at some unknown point. Agnes lowered her head slightly behind him. The Count’s gaze moved from the map to Arthur.
Arthur continued.
“From its consciousness, body structure, and aura, we extracted a method. This method allows us to enter the Sea of Knowledge and capture what we need.”
“Research on the head has continued for decades, but the actual implementation of harvesting in the Bronze City only began this year. This is because this place possesses a unique inscription system—a set of inscriptions that is the key condition for the harvesting to proceed.”
“But plans can’t keep up with changes.”
Arthur’s voice dropped half a notch.
“After the harvesting began, we discovered that the students could not bear the cost of knowledge pollution. A large number of Polymath Tower students died.”
As he said this, his tone briefly took on a rare weight, but Lu Yuan noticed a flicker of complex emotion in the Dean’s eyes.
“I know the price is cruel, even barbaric. But this was the only way.”
Arthur looked up, staring straight ahead.
“The Empire needs this knowledge. The defense line formed by the Withered City on the border has already collapsed, and the gap is constantly widening. If we don’t find a better means of repair, the Empire will pay an even more tragic price. This is something the Empire cannot accept.”
Arthur didn’t dwell on the topic for long. His tone suddenly became grave, deliberately lowering his voice to its minimum for the next part.
“In addition to the Bronze City, the Empire is conducting similar experiments in other locations.”
“The harvesting of the Sea of Knowledge, the exploration of the Land of Dreams, the excavation of ancient ruins... even involving forbidden existences themselves.”
Lu Yuan subconsciously frowned when he heard the Land of Dreams mentioned. Having been an infected of Strange Dreams, he knew all too well what dreams could involve.
“I’m not saying all this for any other reason.” Arthur lowered his hands.
“The Sea of Knowledge Harvesting Plan is basically finalized; we are among the first group to complete the tasks assigned by the Empire. But there are things remaining beneath the Bronze City, and what this city needs most right now is stability.”
He put a bit of extra emphasis on the word ‘stability.’
“I cannot accept this stability being broken. Therefore, this trip underground must resolve everything.”
Arthur scanned everyone in the room.
“If there are any questions, you may ask me.”
The Empire was doing the same thing in many places simultaneously: taking things from forbidden existences.
The Bronze City was just one of them.
The meeting room fell silent.
The flame of a march lamp flickered, and the shadows on the wall trembled with it. The corners of the map on the table looked yellow under the lamplight, with the positions of the bronze pillars and the copper wall circled in red ink.
After finishing his piece, Arthur stood still, looking around at those present, waiting for a response.
Adrian was the first to speak.
He leaned forward slightly, hands clasped on the table. His kind smile hadn’t changed; the curve of his lips was even deeper than before.
“Inspector Arthur.”
His voice was unhurried.
“Since you represent imperial headquarters, you should possess quite a bit of information regarding the Bronze City.”
Arthur glanced at him but didn’t respond.
Adrian didn’t wait for an answer, continuing of his own accord.
“Do you know that there is an abyss beneath the Bronze City?”
When this question was thrown out, the atmosphere in the meeting room shifted slightly. Kraus’s fingers closed beneath the table, and Glock’s gaze moved from the map to Adrian.
Arthur didn’t answer immediately.
Adrian, as if he had long expected no response, continued.
“After the Church established itself in the Bronze City, we conducted some investigations.”
His gaze moved from Arthur to Kraus, then to Glock, before finally falling back to the table.
“In the records of the local Nightwatchers branch, documentation regarding the Bronze City itself is extremely scarce. Not just locally—even at the Nightwatchers headquarters, not much can be found.”
He paused, a hint of meaning entering his tone.
“It seems someone has deliberately erased this information.”
Kraus’s expression didn’t change; instead, he waited with interest for Arthur’s response.
Kraus couldn’t have been unaware of the issues with the Nightwatchers’ archives, and now Adrian had brought the matter to the table.
The subtext was: You, an inspector transferred from the center, surely you don’t mean to say you don’t know the Bronze City has problems?
Were the previous investigations all for nothing? You speak so righteously now, so what of it?
Arthur fell into a brief silence.
‘A bunch of old foxes, what are you pretending for?’ Adrian sneered inwardly.
Adrian didn’t linger on that topic for long.
“But the Church is different.” His voice slowed by half a beat. “While the Church’s records aren’t complete, they have preserved some secrets.”
He straightened up, his gaze falling on the pipe network map on the table. He tapped his finger near the marking for the copper wall.
“This place, the Bronze City, was actually a forbidden land before it was built into a city several centuries ago.”
No one in the meeting room interrupted him.
“A thousand years ago, something fell into this region.” Adrian’s voice turned somber. “The Church’s records don’t specify exactly what it was. It is only known that it triggered a terrible curse. That curse affected a vast area. And after the curse spread, the eerie followed.”
He looked up, meeting the eyes of everyone present.
“And so, a war began.”
When Adrian mentioned the war, the layer of kindness in his tone thinned slightly.
“At that time, the Auris Empire was not as powerful as it is now, and the center’s control over the West was limited. Therefore, the main participants in that battle were a joint forces composed of Western cities and families.”
He paused.
“The Church also participated in that campaign.”
As he said this, his gaze lowered slightly, as if looking through the table at a place very far away.
Clearly, the things the Church had lost in that campaign were far more than he was willing to say in this setting.
“The outcome was not ideal.”
Adrian’s voice dropped half a notch.
“A large number of powerhouses on transcendent pathways died. A large number of inscriptionists and craftsmen died. Almost everything that participated died here.”
He stopped for several seconds.
“Even those who didn’t participate died. The nearby residents, innocent ordinary people. They were wiped out completely.”
Agnes lowered her head slightly behind Adrian, her black hood concealing her expression. Arthur stood in his place with a solemn face, showing no intention of interrupting. The Dean’s gaze fell on the back of his own hand resting on his knee, his thoughts unknown.
The meeting room was so quiet that one could hear the soft sizzle of the oil lamp wicks burning.
Rate on N.U.
