Regardless of the noise outside, Lu Yuan was tossing and turning in bed. His mind was filled with the half-sentence A.M. had left him with before leaving during the day.
Someone’s scheme was almost complete.
But they refused to say who or what it was, leaving him hanging. He had to guess the rest himself. I hate people who talk in riddles.
Lu Yuan rolled over, the more he thought about it, the less he could sleep.
Having slept for less than four hours, he simply climbed out of bed.
It was still dark outside the window, and the room was quiet. In the corner of his vision, a line of text floated silently.
【Sanity: 72/140】
Although he hadn't slept long, his Sanity had still increased by 12 points.
Since he couldn't sleep anyway, lying there was just a waste of time. He might as well get up and do something productive.
Lu Yuan thought about mixing potions. He happened to have a handy pharmacy available, and it was a good chance to practice. As for why he didn't make recovery or Sanity potions in the logistics area, the reason was simple: ten bottles of medicine might not even grant 0.1 experience points.
The experience gains from repeatedly crafting low-level potions decreased exponentially.
Besides, he was running low on Sanity potions. It would be good to take this opportunity to prepare a few more.
However, that pharmacy belonged to Margaret, and she had the key. If he wanted to use it, he had to ask her for it first.
Lu Yuan threw on his coat and headed out.
A few oil lamps were lit in the corridors of the logistics courtyard. The light was dim, just like any other night.
Lu Yuan walked along the corridor toward Margaret’s place. When he passed the fork leading to C-District, he paused.
Lights were still on at the end of the C-District corridor, in the direction of Room 7.
The seed “Hope” was kept there.
Lu Yuan turned in on a whim. There wasn't any particular reason; he just wanted to see if it had grown lately.
A Nightwatcher on duty stood before the iron door of Room 7. Seeing it was Lu Yuan, the man nodded and stepped aside. As the key was inserted, the door swung open.
After all, very few people were allowed in this room, and Lu Yuan was one of them.
He pushed open the iron door.
A wave of warmth hit him. It was the aura of the seed, same as last time, only stronger.
The room was the same, but the center had changed.
The original waist-high glass dome was gone, replaced by a new, taller, and larger one. The copper base was polished to a shine, and the circle of isolation inscriptions on it was running quietly.
The seed inside the dome had grown larger.
It had only been the size of a palm when he last came, huddled at the bottom of the dome. This time was different; its branches were spreading out in layers, reaching half a person's height, resembling a stalk of coral growing from the ground. The pale gold amber shell was still there, and the warm orange buds and leaves had become much denser, swaying gently inside the dome.
The entire thing glowed with a warm golden light, illuminating the room.
Lu Yuan stood still before the dome. The warmth seeped into him with every breath, and the grey-white text at the edge of his vision popped up.
【Detection Target: Hope】
【A seed that has entered the developmental stage, perhaps moving toward an unprecedented direction.】
Immediately after, the numbers for Lu Yuan's Sanity jumped up.
【Sanity: +5... 77/140】
Lu Yuan looked at the text with a hint of emotion. It was truly a rare thing. Just being near it could increase Sanity; he couldn't imagine what it would grow into in the future.
The weight of the “Wish” suppressed within it was truly heavy... No wonder the Holy Church, the Ascension Society, and the Grey Covenant were all eyeing it. If this thing was nourished according to what was needed and then grown, wouldn't it produce something incredibly world-defying?
However, Lu Yuan didn't dare stay long.
The aura in this room was “too clingy” and would seep into him on its own. Since he was missing quite a bit of Sanity, he had already absorbed a significant amount of the room's aura in just this short time.
If he stayed any longer, Lu Yuan estimated he might suck this little sapling dry.
Fortunately, Kraus personally watched over Hope. Combined with the isolation inscriptions in the room and the guard at the door, not much of the aura could leak out.
With a touch of regret, Lu Yuan took one last look and stepped out. Once the Nightwatcher relocked the iron door, he turned and walked back.
Margaret’s pharmacy was deep within the logistics area, adjacent to the side room where the Old Dean was settled. When Lu Yuan arrived, the side room door was slightly ajar, with light shining from within.
As expected, Margaret wasn't asleep yet.
She sat at a long table before a kerosene lamp, head down as she ground medicinal herbs. Her movements were steady. Hearing the door, she looked up and glanced at him.
“Why aren't you asleep?”
“Can't sleep.” Lu Yuan walked a few steps inside. “You're not asleep either.”
“I can't leave this place.” Margaret tilted her chin toward the glass tank.
Inside the tank, the Old Dean was submerged up to his chest in a pale green medicinal liquid, his head drooping.
The dense circle of inscriptions on the tank wall glowed with a ghostly light. Several thin needles were inserted through the tank's opening into the old man's neck and shoulders, with pale blue vapor seeping in through the tubes bit by bit.
However, the Old Dean's complexion had clearly improved a lot.
Lu Yuan stood before the tank for a moment.
“How is he?”
“Hanging in there.” Margaret didn't stop her work. “His life is saved, but the people from headquarters are taking their time. It's not a long-term solution to keep him like this. Whether he can hold on until they arrive depends on him.”
Lu Yuan didn't respond.
He remembered what the Old Dean looked like when he first met him, and then looked at the scene in the tank. He felt a pang in his heart. Being able to retire with his life intact was considered a good end in this circle, but seeing it before his eyes still made him sigh.
“Right.” Lu Yuan pulled his thoughts back. “Lend me the key to your pharmacy for the night. I can't sleep and want to practice a bit.”
Margaret raised an eyebrow but didn't ask much. She unhooked a ring of keys from her waist, picked one out, and tossed it to him.
“Take it.” She went back to grinding medicine. “You can mess with anything on the shelves, just don't set the room on fire.”
“That won't happen.” Lu Yuan caught the key.
“I wouldn't be so sure.” Margaret didn't even look up. “From what I've seen, your medicine making is only so-so.”
Lu Yuan smiled and didn't say more, simply heading next door with the key.
As soon as the pharmacy door opened, all the equipment was laid out before him. Shelves covered the entire wall from floor to ceiling, packed with countless bottles and jars—at least a hundred kinds, each with a label full of writing.
In the middle of the room was a long table, with mortars and measuring tools still spread out on it.
Lu Yuan changed into his academic robes and put on gloves, picking and choosing from the shelves.
Information for the potions on the shelves floated before his eyes. He could understand most of them—the formulas, the heat control; he was quite familiar with them.
There were also some he couldn't see through, where the grey-white text only provided a single line.
【Alchemical knowledge detected...】
【Analysis failed.】
Lu Yuan glanced at them but didn't force it. No matter how useful the grey-white text was, it wouldn't give him anything if it encountered something beyond his understanding. He had known this for a long time.
He focused on what he could understand, comparing and reconstructing formulas while mixing a few Sanity potions on the side.
The stock in this room was very abundant. It didn't matter if he used a little, or even if he wasted some. Since Margaret had lent it to him, what was wrong with using some? Besides, he was still a Captain, wasn't he?
As Lu Yuan continued to work through the potions before him, lines of grey-white text popped up: 【Pharmacology experience +1】.
Seeing the text constantly appearing, Lu Yuan felt quite good.
Although experience only appeared after completing a potion, at the current rate of +1, he should be able to level up soon.
After all, there were many types of potions here. Even if he didn't level up, he could still raise Pharmacology to a very respectable level.
As the potion in the crucible cooled, Lu Yuan poured it into a small bottle, and Pharmacology jumped up another notch.
He picked up the bottle of black liquid and held it against the lamp. The grey-white text said this stuff could reinforce Sanity Resilience, but it didn't give a value for Sanity recovery.
This potion was actually a bit awkward. Low-rank transcendents had low Sanity to begin with, so even if they drank it, the reinforcement effect wouldn't be of much use. High-rank transcendents had already taken plenty of good medicine; they wouldn't care for something that only reinforced resilience without restoring values.
But Lu Yuan was different. His Sanity limit was 140, which was ridiculously large. While this potion was useless to others, it was cheap and effective for him.
Lu Yuan put the black potion away and noted the formula.
【Pharmacology: 49/100】
He mixed a few more, but the effects were lackluster. He tried some special mixtures for a few bottles, but they all failed. Failure was fine; it was just practice, and he didn't feel bad since he didn't have to pay for the materials.
However, thinking of this, Lu Yuan suddenly realized he was actually quite rich. He had nearly a hundred imperial gold shields on him, though they were deposited in the Nightwatchers' internal bank.
Putting aside the random thoughts, Lu Yuan downed a bottle of the Sanity potion he had just mixed.
【Sanity: +7... 84/140】
Margaret’s long-acting medicine hadn't worn off yet, and this added a bit more.
【Sanity: +5... 89/140】
The grogginess in his head vanished completely, and his hands became nimbler. Lu Yuan was about to take two more bottles to continue practicing when he suddenly noticed something was wrong.
There was a lot of movement outside the branch. Even though this pharmacy was deep in the logistics area, the sound of footsteps was abnormally frequent, wave after wave.
He stopped what he was doing and put the potions back on the shelf.
Before he could figure it out, a notice arrived—everyone at the Captain Rank and above was to gather in the hall immediately, without exception.
Lu Yuan’s heart skipped a beat.
At this hour, such a sudden mobilization was definitely no small matter. He took off his academic robes and headed to the hall with a mind full of questions.
By the time Lu Yuan arrived, over a dozen Nightwatchers were already in the hall, with more streaming in.
Lu Yuan was momentarily stunned when he walked in.
He had been at the Bronze City branch for so long and had always thought there were only a few Captains. Looking around now, he saw a dense crowd, at least dozens of them. It seemed these people usually had their own affairs to handle and rarely gathered like this.
After about ten minutes, almost everyone had arrived and found a spot to stand. There were no specific seats; they just stood together.
Klaus walked to the front of the hall, his expression grim.
“Bronze City is about to face real trouble.” He didn't mince words. “From now on, all available Nightwatchers are under unified deployment. No disobedience allowed. Those whose names are called, come to my office to receive your orders individually.”
Leaving those few sentences, he scanned the crowd, turned around, and strode away.
Rate on N.U.
