Lu Yuan didn't have time to ponder his newly acquired skill before Old Morgan's voice drifted over.
"Someone from the Ascension Society is here, Lu Yuan. Come with me."
Old Morgan spoke as he looked at Lu Yuan, who was engrossed in his book.
"So soon?"
Lu Yuan was somewhat surprised. He closed the book and followed Old Morgan out of the library.
Deep within the base, in a hidden room, the person from the Ascension Society was already waiting.
He was a middle-aged man wearing grey work clothes. He looked ordinary, but his expression was icy.
His gaze swept over Old Morgan and Lu Yuan. Without any pleasantries, he cut straight to the point.
"Where are Marcus and the Arbiter?" His tone held a hint of stiffness. "I need to check their status before we discuss the terms of our cooperation."
Old Morgan didn't mind his attitude and gave a nod.
"Follow me."
In a separate room near the medical bay, Marcus lay on a specially made medical bed.
His condition was better than Lu Yuan had imagined.
He was currently covered in a special green ointment that emitted a faint herbal scent; it seemed to be something used to stabilize Marcus's vitals.
The mechanical devices in his chest turned occasionally, letting out a faint clicking sound that proved he was still alive.
But that was all.
Marcus's eyes were tightly shut, his breathing weak, and extensive burn marks remained on his mechanical exoskeleton.
If most of his internal organs hadn't been replaced with machinery, Marcus would likely be a corpse by now.
The man from the Ascension Society stepped forward and leaned down to perform an inspection.
His fingers pressed a few times on the device in Marcus's chest, seemingly confirming something.
A moment later, he straightened up, his expression softening slightly.
"Fortunately, he's still alive."
He turned to Old Morgan, a trace of surprise in his tone.
"And the item is still here as well. It seems you Nightwatchers are quite trustworthy."
Old Morgan didn't speak, only giving a slight nod.
In truth, it wasn't that the Nightwatchers were trustworthy; after hearing Lu Yuan say that Marcus had a potion hidden in his body, they had actually tried to retrieve it.
Unfortunately, the structural design of Marcus's body seemed to have intentional safeguards. There were only two ways to open the compartment near his chest.
One was for Marcus to open it voluntarily—even Old Morgan couldn't do it, as Marcus's body utilized a very special material that could effectively defend against the transcendent.
The other was to force it open, but given Marcus's current physical condition, he would likely die before it was halfway open.
Combined with the events in the inner city, the matter had been temporarily delayed.
Next was the Arbiter.
The Arbiter's situation was much worse.
It was placed in a small room next door, lying directly on the ground with only a crude layer of straw beneath it.
The Nightwatchers had no better solution for it.
After all, Marcus could still be considered human, whereas the Arbiter was essentially just a brain grown onto a machine.
However, for the sake of treatment, the Nightwatchers had still dismantled most of the mechanical parts on its body.
Only a few core components that could not be removed remained, with exposed metal and flesh intertwined in a shocking display.
But because the proportion of flesh was so small, only a simple application of medicine had been done.
The Arbiter's body twitched from time to time; at least it didn't look completely dead.
The man from the Ascension Society crouched down and performed a careful inspection, his brow furrowing.
"Scrapped so quickly despite such deep modification?"
His tone carried dissatisfaction, as if he were complaining about the poor quality of an asset before him.
"Does the fellow inside want to go on strike?"
He stood up and tapped on the Arbiter's helmet, seeing that no movement came from within.
"It seems further adjustments are required."
Lu Yuan stood to the side without speaking, but in his heart, he raised the danger level of the Ascension Society another notch.
Returning to the room near the previous meeting room, the man from the Ascension Society took a file from his coat and handed it to Old Morgan.
"You guaranteed the safety of Marcus and the item, so since we are cooperating, this is our sincerity."
Old Morgan took the file and flipped through it quickly.
Lu Yuan leaned in to take a look and found that the contents were far more detailed than he had imagined.
The island's location, the structure of the seals... there was even information recorded about the offspring, though critical parts were blacked out.
But overall, it was clear that the Ascension Society's last trip to the island had been conducted after a specialized assessment.
Old Morgan flipped through a few pages, his hand suddenly stopping.
"This intelligence format... looks a bit familiar?" Old Morgan's voice sounded surprised.
The man from the Ascension Society gave a cold laugh.
"You only just noticed? Otherwise, where did you think the Ascension Society would get this kind of intelligence?"
He looked at Old Morgan with an icy expression.
"Without someone's approval, how would the Ascension Society dare to reach out?"
He paused and continued.
"That's right, the intelligence belongs to your Nightwatchers. There's no need to doubt it. So, how shall we discuss the cooperation?"
Old Morgan didn't answer immediately, just quietly staring at the documents in his hand.
The man from the Ascension Society seemed well-prepared.
"Furthermore, our Ascension Society, after internal discussion, can make even greater concessions."
He held up one finger.
"First, we will allow you to know the intended use of this bottle of blood."
He held up a second finger.
"Second, we will share a portion of the results."
He withdrew his hand and spoke calmly.
"Of course, we know you are currently short-handed, so you don't need to provide personnel. For now, just keep it a secret."
Old Morgan was silent for a moment before looking up at the man in front of him.
"I need to evaluate the safety of your project," Old Morgan spoke in a calm tone. "At the very least, this file isn't enough."
The man from the Ascension Society raised an eyebrow, seemingly not expecting Old Morgan to make this request.
But he only fell silent for a moment before nodding.
"Fine."
Old Morgan's expression didn't change, but Lu Yuan could feel that Old Morgan was suppressing his emotions.
Moreover, given the current situation, cooperation was indeed the only choice.
The Ascension Society was backed by high-ranked imperial officials who could even mobilize the Nightwatchers' intelligence. Even Old Morgan, one of the leaders of the Gelimu Port Nightwatchers base and a participant in the entire incident, hadn't received a single bit of news.
Most critically, if the plan failed, all of Gelimu Port would be equivalent to provoking such an entity.
That was absolutely not allowed in the Empire.
Old Morgan felt a bit weary. Why did these people have no sense of reverence at all?
But now that things had come to this, he could only find a way to gain some benefits while grasping as much information as possible.
"Deal." Old Morgan no longer hesitated.
The man from the Ascension Society nodded and turned toward the door.
"I'll take the people and the item with me now. Someone will contact you regarding follow-up matters."
With that, his figure soon disappeared at the end of the corridor.
After the man from the Ascension Society left, Old Morgan turned to Lu Yuan.
"I have some very bad news. Regarding the three internal moles the Nightwatchers identified, after the inner city incident last night, two have disappeared and one is dead."
"However, I have already reported their information to headquarters. Once the reinforcements arrive tomorrow, they will conduct a thorough search. I will give you an explanation."
"Okay." Lu Yuan indicated that it wasn't a problem.
But as for those so-called internal moles, he had never even met them.
Since joining the base, he had only interacted with Old Morgan and Mary, the two Nightwatchers responsible for internal affairs.
The rest were people like Hans and Valentine, who were on the front lines.
"Also, starting tomorrow, we'll be screening the residents of the inner city. I'll need your help."
"No problem." Lu Yuan nodded, as he also wanted to find out exactly what Dr. Brin and the Deep Sea Church had done.
Of course, there was another point: filling up the experience bar for Gelimu Port Status.
This thing wasn't exactly a skill; what would he get once it was full?
"Brin and those doctors have operated for so many years, who knows what hidden dangers they've left behind." Old Morgan sighed. "The Church and we will conduct a joint screening, especially of those who have received treatment from them long-term. We'll try to finish screening the inner city in one day."
"You should go rest for now; there will be a tough battle to handle tomorrow."
Rate on N.U.
