Has the knight lady who married into the countryside fallen into depravity today?

The sea was shrouded in endless darkness, except for the moonlight. The sea breeze howled, carrying the salty, fishy smell.

Ophelia stood beside him, motionless. Her golden hair was blown by the wind and clung to her cheeks.

She didn't speak, but simply gazed quietly into the distance.

Klein withdrew his gaze.

He knew this wait could be very long.

He waved his hand gently, using the magic circle engraved on the magic stone to conceal the aura and figures of the two.

Any anomalies on the sea surface are difficult to detect.

They were like two reefs, blending into the night.

Time passed second by second.

The sound of waves crashing became the only background noise.

Occasionally, the sound of ship horns could be heard from afar, reminding them that they were not isolated from the world.

But the sound was quickly swallowed up by the sea breeze.

Klein yawned.

He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

His work as an alchemist had made him accustomed to staying up late.

But being on alert for several hours straight can still be exhausting.

Ophelia turned her head.

"Can you still hold on?" she asked.

"Hmm," Klein replied.

He stretched his neck, making a slight clicking sound.

"My magic consumption is not high," he said.

"And the spirit?" Ophelia pressed.

Her golden eyes gleamed faintly in the moonlight, carrying a hint of barely perceptible concern.

Klein smiled.

"When it comes to staying up all night, I'm a professional," he said casually.

"When I used to refine gold, I would often go for days and nights without sleeping."

"This situation is relatively minor."

Ophelia did not speak again.

She simply looked at him, seemingly assessing the truthfulness of his words. After a moment, she slightly turned her head, her gaze returning to the distant sea.

"If you can't hold on, just say so." Her voice was soft, but unusually firm. "I can stay up all night by myself."

Klein turned his head to look at her straight back and her golden hair, which had been ruffled by the sea breeze but quickly returned to its place. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end only whispered, "I understand."

The sea breeze grew stronger. The sound of the waves became clearer. They waited a long time. So long that Klein felt time seemed to stand still.

The eastern sky began to lighten. At first, it was just a faint, pale white. Then, that white was gradually replaced by the orange-red glow of the sunset.

The entire sea was dyed in magnificent colors, from deep blue to orange-red, and then to golden yellow.

The glow of the sunset also fell upon Klein and Ophelia.

Their robes were stained with a faint red.

Ophelia's golden hair shimmered in the sunlight. Her profile was softened by the glow of the rising sun.

Klein unconsciously looked at her. Her golden eyes met the rising sun, their color so deep it seemed to devour all light. In that light, she seemed to be bathed in a sacred halo.

Seemingly noticing Klein's gaze, Ophelia also looked at him.

Their eyes met briefly.

Klein's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively tried to look away, but then noticed a strange, indescribable emotion in Ophelia's eyes.

"It's time," she said, her voice softer than usual.

"Let's go back."

Klein nodded. He had no objection.

"Okay," he said.

The two turned and began walking towards Silverscale Harbor. Klein's steps remained relaxed.

The waves surged beneath his feet. Ophelia supported herself with her battle aura. Each step she took created tiny splashes of water.

The lights of the dock reappeared in view. Only the sun had risen, and they no longer performed their duties of the night.

They quickly returned to the small hut where they had met. The hut was empty. The middle-aged man who had been their contact was not there.

Klein looked around. The layout of the cabin hadn't changed, and there was nothing unusual about it. He reached out and gently waved his hand in the air, and several subtle ripples of magic spread out, confirming that no one had tampered with the cabin.

He walked to the table and took a small glass bottle from his pocket. It contained a small amount of blood—blood taken from Karen.

"That's all we can do now," he said, his tone heavy.

Ophelia stood behind him. She didn't urge him. She just watched quietly.

Klein began setting up the room. He took out some tools, a small alchemy furnace, several test tubes, and some unidentified powder and liquid.

He cleaned the table thoroughly and laid a fire-resistant cloth on it. Then he carefully arranged the utensils.

The entire process proceeded smoothly and methodically. Klein's movements were highly skilled. Every step was precise and accurate. He made very little noise.

Normally, they worked in existing rooms, so this was Ophelia's first time seeing Klein build the alchemy workshop. She stood to the side, watching the strange tools. They seemed to come alive in Klein's hands.

Her gaze followed his every move. From taking out the utensils to lighting the fire to preparing the reagents. Everything was like some kind of precise ritual. And Klein was the one presiding over this ritual.

Klein lit the alchemy furnace. Blue flames danced within. He carefully poured Karen's blood into a test tube. Then he added a clear liquid.

The blood in the test tube began to change. It became more viscous. The color also changed from dark red to almost black.

Klein picked up a thin glass rod and gently stirred the liquid in the test tube. His attention was completely focused on the test tube.

After a brief period of thickening and turning pitch black, the liquid in the test tube slowly faded back to a dark red.

Klein shook his head slightly, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.

"Something's not right," he muttered to himself. "The reaction is too weak."

He then carefully divided the blood in the test tube into several portions and dripped them into the prepared reagents next to him.

Ophelia stood to the side, her gaze calm.

She didn't say a word, but she could read Klein's feelings from the corners of his tightly pursed lips and the subtle wrinkles between his brows.

The first attempt clearly did not meet expectations. She did not speak rashly, but waited quietly. She knew that at this time, any disturbance could distract the alchemist.

Klein did not pause and threw himself back into the experiment.

A deep chant escaped from his throat, and magic converged in his eyes.

A deep blue light gradually shone from the depths of his eyes.

This is a basic magical vision that almost all alchemists must learn, allowing them to perceive the energy and properties contained in materials.

Of course, while it's called the basics, the way this magic is used varies drastically from person to person.

Klein twitched his fingertips, and an invisible force guided the dark red liquid in the test tube, precisely dividing it into several portions under the illumination of the azure magic, which were then injected into several empty test tubes prepared nearby.

Next, he picked up a row of reagent bottles and, with practiced and meticulous movements, dripped different colored liquids or powders into the dispensed blood samples one by one.

Ophelia's gaze remained fixed on his hand.

When he picked up a bottle of a bluish-green liquid and carefully dripped it into one of the test tubes, her breath hitched almost imperceptibly.

She was all too familiar with that cold and eerie blue—it was the blood of a siren.

Her gaze involuntarily turned to Klein's profile, trying to find a clue in his focused expression.

When did he prepare this?

Why would someone carry the blood of a siren with them?

However, Klein's entire mind was already absorbed in the alchemy before him.

His gaze pierced through the glass, as if he could see into the secrets deep within every drop of blood, completely oblivious to everything around him.

Various reagents came into contact with the blood samples one by one. Some instantly stirred up fine bubbles, like a boiling miniature ocean; others caused the blood to freeze for a moment, turning into a deeper dark red, and then slowly dissipating.

Under Klein's azure magical vision, the energy fluctuations beneath these appearances, like leaping runes, were clearly presented before his eyes.

But when the siren's blood was dripped into Karen's blood sample, the entire test tube trembled violently.

Klein's pupils suddenly contracted.

In his magical vision, the moment the two bloods came into contact, a violent energy confrontation erupted.

A chaotic and frenzied fluctuation surged within the sirens' azure blood, while the dark red blood seemed to be its natural nemesis, tearing at that chaos.

After a brief boil, the liquid in the test tube gradually calmed down. Its color turned an eerie deep purple.

"I see..." Klein said softly, his voice thoughtful.

Gradually, his tense lips relaxed slightly, and the wrinkles between his brows also smoothed out.

He didn't speak immediately, but gently and methodically gathered the reagent bottles, capped them, and put them back in their original places, leaving only the bottle containing the blood mixed with the siren's blood.

He then turned his attention back to the blood samples on the table.

The firelight illuminated his profile, and his thoughts surged silently like the undercurrents of the deep sea.

He began to search for the hidden secrets about Karen behind those complex and bizarre reactions.

Ophelia stood silently behind him, her golden eyes reflecting the flickering firelight as she waited quietly.

Although Karen had gone mad, he was still alive and returned compared to the other dead people.

In other words, there is a high probability that he contains both the problem itself and the answer to the problem.

Even if the answer is not entirely correct, it is enough to point out a direction.

Klein raised his hand and rubbed his temples.

Although the source of the contamination was uncertain, the experiment on Karen's blood, especially the obvious antagonistic fluctuations produced when the bottle was mixed with the siren's blood, had given him enough inspiration.

"Karen's blood can suppress deep-sea pollution," he said softly, as if explaining to Ophelia, or perhaps talking to himself. "No, to be precise, a certain substance in Karen's blood can antagonize the pollutants in the Siren's blood."

He turned around and looked at Ophelia.

"In other words, the song Karen heard... was very likely made by the siren."

"I can come up with something simple and targeted to deal with those guys."

Ophelia, who had been looking very serious when she heard the information about the siren, had a slight brightening in her golden eyes after hearing Klein's next words.

"You mean...?"

"Hmm." Klein nodded. "While it can't cure the problem completely, we can at least create an alchemical potion that can temporarily suppress the pollution and even dispel those deep-sea creatures."

He paused, then added, "It's also... an extra layer of assurance."

Ophelia paused for a moment, then asked softly, "How much siren blood do you need?"

Klein paused for a moment, then understood what she meant.

"Not much," he said, "and I have some stock on hand. If it's not enough..."

"My left hand," Ophelia interrupted him calmly. "You can use my left hand if needed."

Klein's expression instantly turned serious.

"No," he said firmly, "Absolutely not."

"Your left hand is contaminated, but it's a different kind of contamination. And..." He took a deep breath, "I won't let you take that risk."

Ophelia looked at him, a complex emotion flashing in her golden eyes.

"I'm just offering an option," she said.

"That option is not feasible," Klein replied quickly. "I have other methods."

The two looked at each other for a moment. Finally, Ophelia nodded slightly.

"Okay," she said.

Klein stretched his stiff fingers and was about to tidy up the dishes on the table when there was a knock at the door.

The rhythm is very regular: three short beats followed by one long beat.

Klein looked up, his gaze fixed on the doorway. He twitched his fingers slightly, and the magic circle on the corner of the table glowed faintly.

That was a surveillance array he had set up.

The scene outside the door emerged from the light—it was the middle-aged man in charge of the liaison point.

Klein turned to look at Ophelia.

Ophelia nodded slightly. She was certain that the man outside the door was indeed the middle-aged man himself. There was no disguise, and no one else was lying in ambush.

But her brows furrowed slightly.

"Something's wrong with him," she whispered. "He seems very nervous, and perhaps... afraid?"

Klein raised his hand, magic gathering at his fingertips. The door latch automatically popped open, and the door panel slid open a crack.

A middle-aged man pushed open the door and entered. He first glanced at the two people inside, and seeing that they were safe and sound, the tension on his face relaxed slightly. But his expression remained serious, even somewhat solemn.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his breathing was more rapid than usual.

He skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point:

"Sir, the people from the Silverscale Merchant Guild have expressed their wish to meet with you."

Klein raised an eyebrow.

"See me?"

"Yes." The middle-aged man nodded, his voice low. "And... the person they specifically requested to see is not an ordinary member of the Chamber of Commerce, but a core figure in the Chamber."

He paused, then added, "They said they have important intelligence to provide regarding your investigation."

Klein and Ophelia exchanged a glance.

"When?" Klein asked.

"Tonight," the middle-aged man said, "after sunset, at the 'Deep Blue Anchor' tavern in the northern part of Silverscale Harbor. They said they're only giving you one chance."

His voice carried a clear sense of unease.

"Sir, I feel that something is... not right about this."