Kraus didn’t answer.
He looked up at the sky for a moment.
“Wait a bit longer.”
Kraus walked to the center of the square.
The copper plate was just half a step away from his feet, with a finger’s width of a gap left between the newly laid metal edge and the old stone surface.
He looked around at the group.
“Let’s go over the plan first.”
Archbishop Adrian turned, his scepter held upright at his side. Arthur looked up, his gaze locked on Kraus. The Great Ascendant stood where he was, his silver-grey pupils slowly turning toward the Vice Director.
“The dive will be led by three rank 4s,” Kraus said. His voice wasn’t loud, but it reached everyone in the square clearly.
“Three is enough.”
He paused for a beat.
“If three rank 4s can’t suppress what’s down there, five won’t either. Anything more would be a waste. We must leave a foundation on the surface.”
No one argued.
“From the Nightwatchers, Lake will go down.”
Lake gave a slight nod from the shadows on the periphery. He had been silent until now, his short brown hair tucked into his coat collar, his presence almost negligible.
“From the Church, Archbishop Adrian will go down.”
Adrian gave a thin smile.
“As it should be.”
The old Archbishop turned his head, his gaze falling on Lake in the distance.
“Among rank 4 mutants, there are few who can withstand the scavenger fungus. In a place like that, he can hold out half a day longer than the rest of us.”
Adrian didn’t elaborate further.
“From the Ascension Society, the Great Ascendant will go down.”
As Kraus said this, his tone carried a subtle, unreadable quality.
The silver-grey pupils turned toward him.
“Only three rank 4s?”
The Great Ascendant’s voice vibrated from his metal chest, devoid of obvious emotion but tinged with a certain critical edge.
“At that depth, is three enough?”
Kraus didn’t rise to the bait.
“Sufficient.”
The Great Ascendant was silent for half a second before letting out a laugh. It was a sound that echoed within his metallic torso.
“As you wish.”
He didn’t press the matter further.
Adrian said nothing.
Arthur kept his head lowered. Despite his status as an Inspector, he knew better than to interfere in the business of the three major factions unless necessary.
Kraus continued.
“Escorts. Lu Yuan will follow.”
Lu Yuan nodded.
He had no objections to going down.
At that depth, The Bronze Sin would be much closer. He still hadn't fully figured out the nature of the resonance, and the dive would be an opportunity.
Furthermore, there was the ‘Bronze City Status’. During the trip to the Polymath Tower, even though the Great Ascendant’s old body had died at the tower top, the grey-white text hadn't moved a single point. There was definitely something else below that he hadn't encountered yet.
“Church nuns will accompany the team to provide purification support.”
Adrian nodded slightly.
“Agnes will take two people down.”
Agnes bowed behind Adrian, remaining silent.
“The Ascension Society’s Descendants will serve as the vanguard.”
Kraus looked toward the squad of black-robed mechanical constructs at the edge of the square.
The Great Ascendant nodded.
“Acceptable.”
Kraus surveyed the surroundings.
“I will take command of the surface. Glock will hold the exit. The Holy Armored Army and the Iron Guard will maintain the blockade.”
He paused.
“We will proceed once the people from the Count’s Mansion arrive.”
Just as Kraus finished speaking, the sound of footsteps echoed from the alley on the south side of the square.
They weren't heavy, but each step carried a shimmering quality as it landed.
Lu Yuan looked over.
A young woman emerged from the shadows of the street.
She appeared to be in her early twenties, with blue hair pulled back and held by a slender silver clip. She wore an exquisitely tailored dark dress-coat, the fabric giving off a faint luster under the march lamps. Her left hand hung at her side while her right hand lightly held the hem of her coat. Her gait was perfectly composed, every step seemingly calculated before it was taken.
The cut of her dress, the silver clip in her hair—it was clearly not the attire of a typical transcendent. After all, no one wore formal finery into battle.
However, the sense of oppression she radiated was on an entirely different level from her clothes.
Grey-white text floated at the edge of Lu Yuan's vision.
【Target Detected: Count’s Mansion Knight (believer transcendent)】
【A human with good combat skills, seemingly believing in something powerful.】
Lu Yuan’s gaze lingered for half a second.
“The Count’s Mansion has another believer transcendent?”
What Lu Yuan cared about more was the phrase “good combat skills.” The grey-white text had never evaluated combat skills in isolation before. This was a first.
“Another very strong person.”
Moreover, she seemed to carry her own set of unique methods.
Lu Yuan discreetly withdrew his gaze.
The young woman walked to the center of the square, her gaze resting on Kraus for a moment before she gave a slight nod.
Kraus watched her.
“I didn’t expect the Count to send you, Blue Knight.”
His tone held a hint of surprise.
The Blue Knight nodded but didn’t speak.
She didn’t approach Kraus, instead walking over to a position on the east side of the square—the spot where the Count would have stood if he were present. She came to a halt, hands folded in front of her, and stood there quietly.
Adrian’s gaze lingered on her for two seconds before slowly moving away. The old Archbishop’s expression didn't change, but he looked as if he had thought of something unpleasant.
The Great Ascendant also looked her way, his silver-grey pupils scanning her once, though he surprisingly offered no comment.
Arthur didn’t look at her at all.
Footsteps echoed again from the alley on the west side of the square.
Lu Yuan looked up.
Hilde Winter emerged from that direction.
She wore the deep grey robes of an Imperial Inspector, her dark brown hair tied back, with silver thread embroidered at her cuffs and collar. Faint mud stains marked the hem of her robes—she had come straight from the underground pipe network layer and hadn't had time to change.
Following behind her was a young Nightwatcher carrying a copper box.
Hilde walked straight to the center of the square.
“Vice Director.”
Her voice was low but her articulation was clear.
“The report has been compiled.”
Kraus nodded, skipping the pleasantries.
“Speak.”
Hilde turned and took the copper box from the young Nightwatcher. The lid opened to reveal a roll of parchment.
She unfurled the first page.
“There are four sections,” she said steadily.
“Spillover data for The Bronze Sin, the status of the backfilled sinkholes, a timeframe estimation, and a preliminary analysis of the inscriptions.”
Adrian stood half a step behind and to the side of Hilde, his gaze falling on the scroll. Arthur stood on the other side. The Great Ascendant didn't move, but his silver-grey pupils turned toward them.
“First, the data.”
Hilde’s finger pointed to a set of figures at the top of the scroll.
“The Nightwatchers conducted thirty-two monitoring sessions in the underground pipe network layer. The height, intervals, and the deviations between the four pillars of The Bronze Sin are all listed here.”
She flipped through a section of the scroll.
“Conclusion: the spillover speed is still accelerating.”
Lu Yuan watched the string of data from the side. The “three finger-widths a day” mentioned in the previous report had already been surpassed by several pages. According to the scroll, the average daily height over the past week had exceeded an inch.
“Second section.”
Hilde flipped to the next part.
“Surface observations of the backfilled sinkholes.”
Her fingertip landed on a simplified map of Bronze City’s inner and outer cities. Several red dots were marked on the map, with numbers labeled next to them.
“Among the sinkholes that have already been backfilled, five have experienced secondary collapse.”
The whispering in the square died down.
“The degree of collapse isn't severe, and the ground hasn't completely fallen through. However, the backfill layer has subsided—the shallowest by half a foot, the deepest by nearly a foot.”
She looked up at Kraus.
“Just because the surface looks stable doesn't mean it is stable below.”
Hilde continued.
“Based on the soil quality at the sites, the earth beneath the backfill layer is still being slowly hollowed out by some force. The Abyss is further below the underground pipe network layer. This means that gaps may have already appeared in the pipe network layer, even if they haven't collapsed through to the surface yet.”
Glock interjected.
“That matches our findings.”
He stepped out half a pace from behind Kraus.
“The Nightwatchers conducted a second survey over the last two days. The backfill layer has indeed subsided. In addition to the five locations Hilde mentioned, we’ve found three more instances of minor subsidence.”
He paused.
“There’s one more thing. Scavenger fungus is growing at all these sinkholes. However, we’ve found no signs of ghoul activity.”
“Internal collapse,” Glock added finally. “The surface is fine, but the bottom is already compromised.”
Hilde nodded.
“The data aligns with my projections.”
Lu Yuan listened, a thought weighing on his mind.
“The Abyss is about to make another move.”
He only hoped no more strange things would emerge.
Hilde continued.
“Third section. Timeframe estimation.”
She unrolled the next part of the scroll, which featured a trend chart.
“Combining the spillover speed and the rate of collapse deterioration, I have recalculated the estimate.”
Hilde looked up, her gaze landing on Kraus.
“The data I’m seeing is likely more recent than what the Vice Director had previously.”
“The new estimate: two months at most.”
“In two months, the spillover length of The Bronze Sin will exceed the controllable range. The sealing function will fail completely.”
Her speaking speed remained unchanged.
The square fell silent for several seconds.
Kraus glanced at Hilde and nodded.
“My previous estimate was too optimistic. We’ll go with yours.”
He turned to Glock.
“Redo the contingency plans based on a two-month window. Coordinate with Margaret later.”
Glock made a note.
Adrian had remained silent, his scepter held at his side, but his breathing was a beat slower than before. Arthur kept his head down, his fingers twitching slightly inside his sleeve.
Lu Yuan committed the “two months” to memory.
【Bronze City Status: +1... 35.2/50】
The grey-white text flashed briefly.
“Finally,” Hilde’s finger pointed to the last section of the scroll.
“A preliminary analysis of the inscriptions.”
She spoke more slowly here than before.
“I conducted on-site observations of the inscriptions on the four pillars of The Bronze Sin, and simultaneously reviewed the ancient inscription files available from the imperial headquarters.”
Hilde paused.
“The four pillars are interconnected.”
She looked at Kraus.
“They are four nodes in a single network.”
The atmosphere in the square grew heavy at that moment.
“The four pillars currently observable are all within the pipe network layer,” Hilde continued. “From the flow of the inscriptions, their direction is not limited to the pillars themselves. The ends of the inscriptions on each pillar point toward several other locations.”
She paused.
“These four are merely a local part of the network.”
Hilde’s gaze moved from Kraus to Lu Yuan, and then to Adrian.
“The scale of the entire network is at least several times larger than what is currently visible. I cannot say for certain what the exact number is; it will require on-site verification in the deeper layers.”
Adrian, standing beside Hilde, saw the corner of his mouth twitch at the word “network.”
Hilde seemed to notice but didn’t look at him, simply adding one more thing.
“The so-called ‘The Bronze Sin’ refers to the entirety of that network.”
Adrian was silent for two seconds before nodding slightly.
Kraus looked back at Hilde.
“The objectives of the dive.”
Hilde took the lead.
“First, determine why these four pillars of The Bronze Sin emerged.”
“Second, confirm the distribution of the entire network as much as possible.”
“Third, judge from the distribution density whether what is sealed below is a curse or a creature. This will dictate our subsequent response plan.”
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