They didn't have to wait long.
About twenty minutes later, the sound of dense footsteps echoed from deep within the pipe network.
Lake led the way.
Or rather, that mass of grey led the way, its body of meat-worms writhing under the light of the march lamps. His short brown hair was the only feature proving he was still human.
Everyone else followed behind him.
Heinrich was second. The dents in his armor remained, but his holy power had mostly recovered, with a faint golden-white light flowing around him.
Two Holy Armored Army knights followed closely behind him.
Bolen leaned on his cane. Although the old man looked weary, he was still in high spirits.
The nun kept her head down, walking by Bolen's side.
Two members of the Imperial Iron Guard carried Wolf in the middle of the line.
Wolf's head hung low, and his feet almost dragged against the copper surface. He was still in poor condition. Bo Er brought up the rear.
Fortunately, there were no casualties.
Everyone had made it back.
It was obvious that the entity chasing Lu Yuan hadn't bothered with the group behind him.
Glock went to meet them, quickly counting the people. Once he confirmed everyone was present, he immediately began making arrangements.
“Support team, escort the injured back to the surface. Wolf is the priority. Heinrich, take the knights and follow them. Nun, you're responsible for Wolf's condition.”
Heinrich nodded without objection.
The nun said nothing either; she simply walked over to Wolf's side and held her palm over his back, a faint golden shimmer appearing and disappearing.
The two Imperial Iron Guard members supported Wolf and followed the support team back.
The sound of their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
The relay point grew quiet.
Only a few people remained.
Glock, Lu Yuan, Bo Er, Bolen, and Lake.
Lu Yuan pulled Glock aside.
He lowered his voice, though he didn't intentionally hide his words from the others.
“We dug something out from under the copper pillar.”
Glock looked at him.
“We found a seed under the copper pillar. It shares the same origin as the North Ward hyphae core.”
Glock’s brow furrowed.
“There are outsiders in the pipe network. Mutated transcendents. They can turn invisible and have long-range attacks. There are at least two of them. The one Lake chased is Rank 4. The one that attacked me was weaker, but I’m not sure of its exact rank.”
Glock’s expression grew grimmer by the second.
“Also, there are likely seeds under the other two copper pillars as well. We must confirm this as soon as possible.”
Glock opened his mouth to speak...
“No need to contact him.”
Lake’s voice came from the side.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Lake stood at the edge of the relay point. His body of meat-worms was unsettling to look at under the march lamps, but his voice sounded exactly like a normal person's.
“I already contacted Kraus on my way to get the others. I’ve explained the situation. He canceled his meeting and is on his way back.”
Glock was stunned for a moment.
Lu Yuan also glanced at Lake.
Chasing a Rank 4 mutated transcendent, turning back to retrieve the team, and escorting everyone back to the relay point—all while finding the time to send a message to Kraus.
Lake’s efficiency was truly high.
Glock remained silent for a few seconds.
“Then we wait.”
The wait wasn't long.
About half an hour later, Kraus arrived.
Wearing a dark shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows and sweat on his brow, it was clear the Vice Director hadn't stopped for a moment on his way here.
He scanned the remaining people at the relay point, skipping the pleasantries.
“Where is it?”
Lu Yuan took the fist-sized stone out of his tool box and handed it over.
Kraus took it, holding it in his palm.
He turned it over a couple of times.
The dull grey surface was rough and heavy, showing no signs of anything special.
But Lu Yuan noticed that as Kraus handled the stone, the patterns on the bone-colored ring on his left ring finger flashed.
It was extremely brief, lasting only an instant.
Kraus’s expression didn't change.
He handed the stone back to Lu Yuan.
“Take it. We’ll talk on the way.”
He turned to look at Bolen.
Bolen hadn't left with the injured; the old man stood at the relay point leaning on his cane, clearly signaling that he wasn't going anywhere unless asked.
“The copper pillars need an on-site assessment,” Bolen said, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.
Kraus didn't refuse.
His gaze swept over Glock.
“Glock, stay at the relay point and coordinate with the surface. Bo Er, stay with Glock.”
Bo Er looked at Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan gave a slight nod.
Bo Er said nothing more and stepped back to stand beside Glock.
The four-man group was set.
Kraus, Lake, Lu Yuan, and Bolen.
“Let’s go.”
Lake led the way.
He was completely different from when he had been pretending to be an ordinary Nightwatcher in the team.
Now, he no longer hid anything.
From the neck down, he was entirely composed of writhing grey meat-worms.
Fragments of his deep grey uniform still clung to the surface here and there, hanging like old skin.
Dozens of tentacles extended from the sides of his torso, swaying gently in the air as if sniffing for something.
He made no effort to suppress his pollution aura.
It was so potent that any remaining Little Ghouls in the pipe network fled the moment they caught the scent.
A greyish-white juvenile hiding in a side passage let out a shrill scream the moment Lake passed, then scrambled desperately into the depths of the darkness.
The four of them moved at a very high speed.
Lake cleared the way. His perception range far exceeded that of a normal person, covering dozens of meters of the pipe network around them.
He was doing two things at once: tracking the residual aura of the previous attackers and locating the copper pillars according to the coordinates Bolen provided.
Kraus walked two steps behind Lake. His pace was steady and his breathing even, as if he were merely taking a stroll.
Lu Yuan was third.
Bolen was last.
The old man leaned on his cane, but his speed was not slow at all.
Lu Yuan noticed that when he walked, the cane barely touched the ground, as if it were suspended an inch or two above the copper surface. I’ll have to find a time to ask if this old man actually knows some physical techniques.
Lu Yuan pushed the thought aside.
The pipe network tunnels receded rapidly under the light of the march lamps, the reflections on the copper walls flashing past one after another.
The network was unnaturally quiet.
Only the footsteps of the four men and the occasional tap of Bolen’s cane echoed.
Lu Yuan looked at Lake walking ahead.
That writhing grey humanoid mass.
Below the head, he looked nothing like a human.
“Kraus.”
Lu Yuan spoke.
His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough in the empty pipe network.
“Are all mutation transcendents and eerie transcendents like this once they reach Rank 4?”
Kraus didn't look back.
He didn't stop walking.
“I suppose no one has explained it to you systematically.”
His tone was calm and steady, just as it was during meetings.
“Among all the transcendent pathways in the Empire, the most powerful and noble are the God-chosen transcendents.”
“Once they are chosen, they possess power far beyond that of ordinary transcendents.”
“Below them are Knowledge transcendents, believer transcendents, eerie transcendents, and mutation transcendents, in that order.”
“The reason for this ranking is very practical.”
Kraus’s voice echoed through the tunnels with a practiced indifference.
“Eerie transcendents and mutation transcendents are essentially borrowing the power of those things in the darkness. The more you borrow, the deeper the corrosion, and the less human you become.”
He turned slightly to avoid a copper pipe protruding from the wall.
“After Rank 4, the vast majority of eerie and mutation transcendents can no longer advance.”
“The very few who break through to Rank 5 can almost never use their power normally, because their humanity and their bodies are being devoured bit by bit.”
“Before they completely turn into monsters, the last thing they can do...”
Kraus paused for a moment.
“...is guard the major cities of the Empire. They can’t go anywhere else.”
Listening to these words, an image surfaced in Lu Yuan’s mind.
A white-haired, elderly figure standing at the entrance of the Alchemy Workshop. Doing nothing at all, he had sent the Vice Dean of the Polymath Tower fleeing in panic.
Later, he had released his power above the inner city, single-handedly purging the ghouls from the entire city.
The Guardian.
“The Guardian,” Kraus said, as if knowing what Lu Yuan was thinking. “You’ve seen him, haven't you?”
“I have.”
“He is a senior of our Nightwatchers, a true genius who reached Rank 5.”
Kraus’s voice carried a hint of regret.
“But now, he is also on the verge of turning completely into an eerie.”
The pipe network fell silent for a moment.
Only the sound of footsteps remained.
Kraus didn't stop. After a couple of steps, he added another sentence.
His tone was very faint.
“I expect I’ll be joining him soon.”
Lu Yuan’s footsteps faltered for a split second.
He looked at Kraus’s back.
The dark shirt, the rolled-up sleeves, the posture of a normal man.
The contrast with Lake was far too striking.
If not for the greyish-white text, perhaps no one would have known that this Vice Director was also an eerie transcendent.
Kraus didn't linger on the topic.
“Knowledge transcendents are different.”
He transitioned the subject naturally.
“Knowledge transcendents are transcendents in the truest sense. They don't borrow external power or rely on the darkness; they rely entirely on their own understanding and mastery of knowledge to gain power.”
“But while the threshold seems low, in reality, most people can’t even manage the Entry. Before Rank 3, Knowledge transcendents have no means of attack. The requirements for Sanity and will are extremely harsh; one wrong move and you’ll be eaten hollow by knowledge.”
“That’s why most Knowledge transcendents in the Empire take relatively safe branches.”
Kraus glanced at Bolen behind him.
“Like Inscription. Advancing is incredibly difficult, but after Rank 3, your status in the Empire rises exponentially. You become even more important than a Vice Director like me.”
Bolen chimed in from behind.
“Director Kraus, you joke. That importance is only relative.”
The old man leaned on his cane and caught his breath.
“But Rank 3 is so difficult... sigh.”
Kraus turned his gaze toward Lu Yuan.
“The direction you’ve chosen is very dangerous.”
He spoke quite bluntly.
“But if you can reach Rank 3, you will also have a certain level of influence in the Empire.”
“Especially now.”
Kraus’s tone grew slightly heavier.
“War has broken out in the North of the Empire. The number and intelligence of the eerie seem to be increasing significantly. The pressure on all major cities is growing, and the demand for Knowledge transcendents will only go up.”
Lu Yuan made a mental note of this information.
War in the North, increasing eerie activity.
Bolen turned his head at this point, looking Lu Yuan up and down.
“You didn't choose to be an eerie transcendent, did you?”
The old man narrowed his eyes.
“No wonder you look so dark.”
Lu Yuan didn't respond.
Bolen didn't press him, either; he just muttered something to himself, his voice drowned out by the tapping of his cane.
The pipe network tunnel continued to stretch into the depths.
The light from the march lamps cast four long shadows against the copper walls.
As the group fell into their own silences, their footsteps never faltered...
Rate on N.U.
