I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

The lockdown did not last long.

About half an hour later, the iron gate was opened again.

It wasn't Hans who walked in, but a woman.

She looked to be around thirty years old, dressed in a smart bartender's uniform, toying with a lighter in her hand, her red curly hair casually tied up behind her head. Her eyes were languid, but Lu Yuan sensed a dangerous aura emanating from her—the "scent" acquired from long-term dealings with the supernatural.

"I'm the person in charge here, you can call me Mary."

The woman pulled out a chair and sat down, tossing a document onto the table. A lighter clicked crisply between her fingers. "Lu Yuan, male, of East Asian descent. Claims to be a friend of Dr. Leisen, entrusted to take over the clinic. Arrived in Grimport the day before yesterday."

She raised her eyelids, her green eyes fixed on Lu Yuan. "Your resume is spotless, as clean as a blank sheet of paper. But I'm curious, how did a newcomer from out of town manage to remain calm and even retaliate against a deeply mutated being?"

The interrogation began.

Lu Yuan adjusted his posture to make himself appear neither nervous nor arrogant.

"When Leisen wrote to me, he mentioned the 'strange disease' here," Lu Yuan said, half-jokingly. "As a doctor, although I've never seen it before, I've done some mental preparation. As for fighting... that's a survival instinct."

"Survival instinct?"

Mary scoffed. "The survival instinct of ordinary people is to scream and wait to die, or to desperately escape from there, not to pick up a scalpel and cut the neck of the mutant."

She leaned forward, the oppressive feeling intensifying. "Just tell me. When you were facing that thing, did you hear any sounds? Or see any hallucinations?"

This is a test of reason.

Lu Yuan knew very well. If he said yes, it meant he had been contaminated, and he would most likely be facing a bullet.

"no."

Lu Yuan answered decisively, "Besides being ugly and smelly, that thing is just disgusting."

Mary stared into his eyes for a full ten seconds, as if trying to find a trace of a lie in his pupils.

But Lu Yuan's eyes were clear and calm.

[Rationality II: 15/48 (Experience)]

He hadn't lost his senses; he wasn't lying, he was just telling the truth.

"very good."

Mary withdrew her gaze, her tone softening slightly. "It seems you have a high level of mental resistance. That's a rare talent in Grimport."

Then she asked a few more questions about pharmacology and anatomy.

This was not difficult for Lu Yuan, who had experience in pharmacology. He combined his previous practical experience with his explanation, and although his wording wasn't fancy, it was precise and logical, which made Mary nod frequently.

"Alright, it seems you really are a doctor."

Mary closed the file. "The test is over. You can go now."

Lu Yuan stood up, but did not move immediately.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"What else? Do you want me to buy you a drink?" Mary raised an eyebrow.

"I've helped you out of some trouble and provided you with firsthand information about 'alienation'," Lu Yuan said calmly, looking at Mary. "And now, I'm facing mortal danger."

"What do you mean?"

"Brent's uncle mutated at home. This means the source of the contamination is at the port, and it's likely spreading." Lu Yuan paused, then offered his trump card, "Leyson complained to me in a letter that recently quite a few doctors have mysteriously 'disappeared' or 'had accidents.' He was terrified. Most importantly, Leyson is really dead. Don't tell me you Night's Watchmen didn't know."

"So someone is targeting doctors."

Lu Yuan looked directly into Mary's eyes. "Or rather, someone is targeting those who can detect 'abnormalities.' Now that Leison is dead and I've taken over the clinic, will I be next?"

The air in the room seemed to freeze instantly.

Mary's languid expression vanished. She re-examined the young Asian man before her, her eyes now showing a hint of seriousness.

"You are very smart and perceptive."

Mary paused for a moment, then slowly spoke, "Indeed, doctors in Grimport have been dying rather quickly lately. Not just doctors, but scholars, alchemists... anyone who has come into contact with 'knowledge' is going to have trouble."

"Because we are short-staffed."

At that moment, Hans pushed open the door and walked in. He had clearly been listening outside the whole time.

"The Night's Watch is powerful, but we can only offer swords; we don't have enough brains," Hans said bluntly. "We need doctors, and we need support staff who can handle contamination and analyze pathology. But those famous doctors have either been won over by the Church or have already fled."

He walked to the table, placed his hands on the surface, and looked at Lu Yuan.

"Lu Yuan, since you've brought it up, I won't beat around the bush either. Are you interested in joining the Night's Watch?"

"Join you?" Lu Yuan frowned. "Sorry, I just want to live. I don't want to fight those monsters hand-to-hand."

"No, as an 'advisor'."

Hans offered a bait: "You need protection? We can provide that. You need money? We'll give you double. Most importantly..."

He lowered his voice, his tone carrying a hint of seduction:

"Don't you want to know why you can see those things? Or rather, don't you want to possess the power to truly combat the supernatural?"

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered.

"strength?"

"In this world, the only way to fight monsters is to become a monster... or to surpass a monster."

Mary picked up the conversation, her voice low:

"We call this power the 'extraordinary path'."

"Some people gain power by devouring the flesh and blood of monsters; that's a 'mutation pathway,' low-level and disgusting."

"Some people make deals with the supernatural; that's the 'supernatural path,' powerful but prone to madness."

"Some people are born favored by the gods; that's the 'chosen path,' but their lives are short."

"And those lunatics in the church, who believe in gods and gain power, that's the 'believer's path'."

At this point, Mary paused and gave Lu Yuan a deep look.

"But there is another, most unique and extremely complex path, which requires neither flesh and blood nor faith, but only..."

She pointed to her head.

"Knowledge."

"Gaining power through reading, studying, and analyzing the world's taboos. We call this the -- [Knowledge Pathway]."

boom!

A flash of lightning seemed to strike Lu Yuan's mind.

[Forbidden Studies]!

That skill that allows you to gain experience simply by reading forbidden books and observing monsters!

So this is what they call a "knowledge pathway"?

If he was blindly grinding for experience before, now a door to a new world is slowly opening before him.

"Knowledge equals power..." Lu Yuan murmured to himself.

But in the gray and white text prompt, there was a second half of the sentence he didn't say: Knowledge is also pollution.

"How is it?" Hans asked, observing Lu Yuan's changing expression. "Join us, and the Night's Watch library will be open to you. You'll find all the answers you seek there."

Lu Yuan took a deep breath.

Protection, wages, and... avenues for advancement.

This was a condition he couldn't refuse.

"How are wages calculated?" Lu Yuan raised his head, reverting to his businessman-like demeanor.

Hans and Marie exchanged a glance and both smiled.

"Weekly salary is five gold shields. Additional pay for missions."

"make a deal."

Lu Yuan reached out and grasped Hans's large, calloused hand.

[Join Faction: Night's Watch (Unofficial Advisor)] [Unlock New Map Access: Night's Watch Library] [Gain Key Intelligence: Extraordinary Path System]

In my field of vision, the experience bar jumped up and down merrily.

Lu Yuan knew that from this moment on, he was no longer a fake doctor who could only hide in his clinic and tremble with fear.

He officially embarked on this path of no return—a path leading to the abyss, or perhaps to godhood.