The heavy gates of the Viscount's manor closed behind them.
As Lu Yuan walked down the steps, he heard rapid footsteps from behind.
"Wait!"
It was the Viscount.
He hurried out of the corridor, the arrogance on his face replaced by sheer anxiety.
"My daughter... are there any clues at all?"
His voice trembled slightly.
"What did you find? Is she still alive?"
Raymond stopped and turned around.
"It is still under investigation," he said calmly. "We will notify you immediately as soon as there is news."
"Under investigation?" The Viscount took a step forward. "What exactly did you find? Can't you give me a straight answer?"
"My Lord Viscount."
Raymond looked at him with a steady gaze.
"I understand your feelings, but for now, this is all I can tell you."
The Viscount opened his mouth to say more.
Just then, a crisp bell rang from inside the house.
It was the rotary phone.
The butler hurried over to answer it. After a moment, his expression shifted slightly as he beckoned to the Viscount.
"Master, a call for you."
The Viscount was startled. He shot a glance at Raymond before turning back toward the drawing room.
Lu Yuan noticed that after the Viscount picked up the phone, his expression became incredibly complex.
It looked like surprise.
And also... fear?
The call was short, lasting less than a minute.
The Viscount set the receiver down and stood in place silently for a few seconds. Then, without looking back, he headed upstairs.
"Master?" The butler followed him. "What about the Nightwatchers..."
"Let them go."
The Viscount's voice drifted down from the staircase, sounding somewhat hollow.
"I have matters to attend to."
The sound of his footsteps gradually faded away.
The butler stood there with an awkward expression, bowing slightly toward Raymond.
"Gentlemen, please."
Raymond didn't press for details and turned to walk out.
Lu Yuan followed behind, but his mind was occupied by that phone call.
Who was on the other end?
To change the Viscount's attitude so drastically in a single moment.
He suppressed the question for the time being.
The carriage was already waiting outside.
The two of them boarded and headed toward the inner city outpost.
The inner city outpost was an inconspicuous two-story building. From the outside, it looked like a common shop, but inside, it served as a temporary base for the Nightwatchers.
When Lu Yuan and Raymond arrived, two people were already waiting.
A man and a woman, both wearing Nightwatchers uniforms.
The man was in his early thirties, burly, with an old scar running from his eyebrow to his cheekbone—evidently a blade wound.
His presence was restrained, but Lu Yuan could sense he was someone who had weathered blood and fire.
The woman was in her mid-twenties, slender, with short brown hair cut in a crisp, clean style.
She held a leather notebook, scribbling something inside.
As Raymond entered, both looked up simultaneously.
"Captain."
The scarred man nodded, his gaze lingering on Lu Yuan for a moment.
"So this is Lu Yuan?"
"Karl," Raymond said briefly. "Get to the point."
Karl grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
"I've heard a lot about you."
He extended a hand toward Lu Yuan.
"Eight hundred points for a promise; the whole branch is talking about it. I'm Karl, in charge of combat."
Lu Yuan shook his hand.
"Hello."
The woman beside him closed her notebook and looked at Lu Yuan.
"Helen," she introduced herself in a flat tone. "Intelligence analysis."
"Lu Yuan."
After the brief introductions, Helen got straight to business.
"Captain, there's a situation at the Baron's manor."
"What is it?" Raymond asked.
"The residues at the scene are too faint to analyze the components," Helen said. "But we didn't come away empty-handed."
She flipped open her notebook.
"The Baron's state is very wrong. He locked himself in his study and refused to see anyone. But after hearing we were Nightwatchers, he suddenly changed his stance."
"In what way?"
"He said there are things he must tell you personally." Helen looked at Raymond. "Only you."
Raymond's brow furrowed slightly.
"What did he discover?"
"I don't know." Helen shook her head. "He refused to tell us, insisting on seeing the Captain in person."
Raymond was silent for a few seconds.
"What about the Merchant Association side?"
"They haven't arrived yet," Karl added. "Ryan and the others should be here soon."
"We can't wait." Raymond turned to Lu Yuan. "We go to Baron Thorn's manor first."
He looked back at Helen and Karl.
"Wait here for the Merchant Association team. Contact me immediately if there's any news."
The two nodded.
Raymond and Lu Yuan boarded the carriage again and headed for Baron Thorn's manor.
Baron Thorn's manor was smaller than the Viscount's, but the facade was still grand.
The carriage stopped at the entrance where the butler was already waiting.
"Captain Raymond?"
"It's me."
The butler looked haggard, as if he hadn't slept in days.
"The Master is waiting for you in the study. Please follow me."
He led Raymond and Lu Yuan inside.
Unlike the Viscount's manor, the atmosphere here was much more oppressive.
The corridors were silent. Servants hurried past with their heads bowed, and no one spoke.
A heavy, stifling air permeated the building.
At the study door, the butler stopped.
"The Master is inside."
He hesitated for a moment and lowered his voice.
"Ever since the Young Master went missing, the Master has locked himself in here and refuses to see anyone. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I hear him speaking inside, as if he is arguing with someone. But there is clearly no one else in the study..."
Raymond nodded, pushed open the door, and walked in.
Lu Yuan followed.
The study was very dark, with the curtains drawn tight. Only a single oil lamp on the desk emitted a faint glow.
The Baron sat behind the desk.
He was a man in his forties, thin, wearing a rumpled shirt with messy hair that looked as if it hadn't been tended to in a long time.
His eyes were bloodshot, his eye sockets sunken, and he looked thoroughly exhausted.
Hearing the door, he looked up.
"You are Raymond?"
"I am."
The Baron stared at him for a few seconds, then slowly stood up.
"I have some things to tell you."
His voice was hoarse, but his tone was serious.
"About my son."
Raymond didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.
The Baron walked to the window, his back to them.
"Two days before Philip went missing, he received an invitation."
"I know," Raymond said calmly. "Signed by Victor Howard."
"You've checked?" The Baron gave a bitter laugh. "Then you should also know that this person simply does not exist."
"Yes."
"But my son didn't know that." The Baron's voice grew low. "After he received that invitation, he changed completely."
He turned around, his eyes filled with a complex emotion.
"He became very excited. He said it was a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.' He said he was about to witness 'true knowledge.'"
Lu Yuan's heart sank slightly.
Knowledge.
Knowledge again.
"I asked him what he meant, but he wouldn't say." The Baron continued with a defeated expression. "But that night, I heard him talking to himself in his room."
"What did he say?"
The Baron was silent for a few seconds.
"He said, 'Sea of Knowledge, I am finally qualified to enter.'"
The air froze for a moment.
Raymond and Lu Yuan exchanged a look.
The Sea of Knowledge.
For those words to come from the mouth of an ordinary noble, the weight was entirely different.
"And this."
The Baron took a piece of paper from his desk drawer and handed it to Raymond.
"I found it in his room. It should be a part of that invitation. He tore it up, but he didn't do a clean job of it."
Raymond took the paper.
It was a corner of an invitation with only a few words on it:
"...opening for you the path to truth..."
The handwriting was beautiful, the kind of calligraphy that came from professional training.
"I knew all along that the Polymath Tower was not right," the Baron's voice suddenly became agitated.
"That place has never been some hall of academics! Every time my son came back from there, he would say strange things! Talking about 'knowledge' and 'the price'..."
His eyes grew slightly red.
"It was them who took my son away, wasn't it?"
"We are still investigating." Raymond put the paper away. "I will take this for now."
"Investigating..." the Baron murmured. "Investigating..."
He suddenly grabbed Raymond's arm.
"I beg you, find him."
"Whether he is alive or dead, just tell me."
"I want to know... exactly what happened."
Raymond looked at him and remained silent for a few seconds.
"I will."
Exiting the study, Raymond looked at Lu Yuan.
"Let's check Philip's room."
Lu Yuan nodded.
Philip's room was at the very end of the second floor.
Pushing open the door, the first thing Lu Yuan saw were those colors.
They were even fainter than at the Viscount's manor.
Like paint that had been diluted countless times, they were almost merging into the air.
But the direction was the same.
Starting from the bedside, they passed through the door and drifted toward the main entrance.
【Forbidden Lore - Knowledge Seeker: +0.1... 0.1/100】
The experience bar moved, meaning he could use his ability.
"He walked out on his own as well," Lu Yuan said, scanning the room.
Raymond stood at the doorway without entering.
"Can you see anything else?"
Lu Yuan stood in the center of the room, looking at those fading colored traces.
He thought of his new ability.
Perhaps... he could try it.
Lu Yuan closed his eyes.
He mobilized the newly acquired power within him, letting his perception stretch toward the "past."
【Sanity: -8... 59/120】
His vision began to distort.
The world turned blurry, as if a layer of water ripples covered his eyes.
Then, pictures appeared.
They weren't clear images.
They were distorted afterimages of inference.
He saw a young man.
About twenty years old, wearing a dressing gown, standing by the bed.
Another person stood before him.
In black robes.
The face was obscured.
There was only a blurry silhouette.
They were talking.
Lu Yuan couldn't hear the sound; he could only see their lips moving.
The young man's expression was shifting.
Confusion.
Surprise.
Hesitation.
And then, wavering.
The black-robed figure took something from his cloak.
It was very small.
Like a stone.
In that instant, the picture suddenly became clear.
Lu Yuan saw the surface of the object.
Flowing colored patterns.
The Sea of Knowledge.
Something related to that forbidden expanse.
The young man hesitated.
Then he reached out and took the object.
In the next second, his expression changed.
It wasn't fear.
It was fanaticism.
His eyes widened, his pupils contracting violently, as if he were seeing something unbelievable.
He was laughing.
Laughing madly.
Then his body began to distort.
Serpentine lines emerged from under his skin like certain runes, or like some kind of insects crawling through his veins.
Lu Yuan's scalp tingled.
But in the very next instant.
Those lines stopped spreading.
It was as if something from the outside had suppressed this power.
Rate on N.U.
