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

The counterattack advanced to within twenty meters of the cave entrance.

Boer led his men forward, the sounds of bronze swords slashing and burning intertwined, each strike trailing a golden flame.

Lu Yuan provided pinpoint fire from the rear, responsible for clearing out any stragglers that managed to escape on the flanks.

But he noticed something.

The golden light membrane on his body was thinning.

Not everyone is getting thinner.

The golden light on Bohr remained thick and even, as did that on the other Night's Watchmen.

Only the blessings within myself are gradually dissipating.

When they were first attached, the difference wasn't noticeable, but as the battle progressed, the gap became increasingly apparent.

Others' bronze swords gleamed with a bright gold, while his revolver was covered with only a faint layer of paint.

It felt like something was repelling it from within.

[Note: The angel's blessing has a slight repulsion effect on the host's own special attributes... the blessing's application efficiency continues to decrease...]

When the nun raised her hand to bless them, the three members of the Ascension Society were directly repelled, and the two reincarnated beings and the gray-haired woman couldn't even touch the golden light.

And now I am also being rejected by the Holy Light. It is clear that there is a certain conflict between my own path, or rather, the extraordinary path, and the blessing of the angel believers.

Lu Yuan kept quiet.

However, the combat strategy was adjusted. Instead of relying on the extra damage from the Holy Light, the team used precise shooting combined with the burning effect of the copper-cased bullets.

Just be careful with how you play.

On the front, the two newborns are still guarding the front.

The newborn, whose right arm was severed and only a short thorn remained on its limb, and whose left arm was completely deformed, stood in front of the pile of corpses without retreating an inch.

Its condition is worse than before the counterattack began.

The black robe around his waist had long been torn apart, revealing twisted gears and connecting rods underneath, some of which had come off and were dangling outside his body.

The shoulder armor was covered with bite marks and scratches, and the metal frame on the right collarbone was exposed.

But it is still fighting.

A ghoul lunged forward, its short thorns piercing its jaw from below and going through its head.

The second one immediately followed and bit the back of the newborn.

The metal was instantly bitten through.

The sharp teeth pierced the internal structure and bit off a metal shaft responsible for transmission.

The left side of the newborn was instantly paralyzed.

The deformed left arm drooped down, no longer under control.

But the short thorns on his right arm were still moving.

The moment the ghoul saw its target was injured, it lunged forward.

The newborn was instantly pushed down.

The metal frame emitted a series of cracking sounds under heavy pressure.

It fell to the ground, its short thorns still mechanically stabbing, but no longer able to reach any target.

It's just futile poking at the air.

It's getting slower and slower.

Lu Yuan glanced at the far left of the position.

The woman with gray hair was still there.

She had already made a move before the counterattack began.

With a slight movement of his hand, the three ghouls shattered from the inside, leaving nothing behind.

After that, Lu Yuan stopped paying attention to her. The pressure from the front and the flanks was too great, and he didn't have the energy to pay attention to someone who didn't need his attention.

But now that the counterattack has advanced to the front, the pressure on the rear has decreased sharply, and Lu Yuan finally has time to see things clearly.

She stood there.

They were less than fifteen meters from the battle against the creatures that were about to be born.

Hands behind the back.

No action was taken.

She didn't hesitate when she was clearing the left wing, but now that the newborn are being torn apart, she stands still.

Clearly, she didn't care about the life or death of the newborn; she was just watching.

Watching the one-armed being reborn being torn apart by ghouls.

Watching the gears burst out of the crack.

It's getting slower and slower.

He remained expressionless.

It seemed to be observing something, until the newborn was completely destroyed.

The metal skeleton was torn to shreds by the ghoul horde, its limbs scattered at impossible angles, and half of the bird-beak mask was ripped off, revealing what lay beneath...

Lu Yuan only glanced at it.

The newborn has no face.

There was nothing under the mask.

It has only a single layer of black metal lining and a dense array of tiny gears.

The ghouls were still tearing at the fragments, as if they were fighting over something.

The woman with gray hair only moved when she saw this.

She took a few steps forward, squatted down, and picked something up from the shards.

A metal component the size of a fist, still connected to several broken copper wires.

She looked through it carefully for a while.

I put it in my pocket.

As she stood up, she frowned slightly and her lips moved as if she were saying something.

Just then, three ghouls surged in from the gap in the ruins on the left, less than ten meters away from her.

She didn't even look at her directly.

He simply raised his hand.

Exactly the same as before. The three bodies froze simultaneously, then shattered from the inside, turning into dust.

Clean and tidy.

[Detection Target: Ascension Society - Great Transformer (?)]

[An anomaly created through brain modification. It retains the complete human physical appearance but discards everything else characteristic of humanity. The modification is extremely profound; no external mechanical traces are visible, and the method of modification is unknown.]

[Taboo Studies - Seeker of Knowledge: +0.2...12.2/100]

The experience bar jumped.

Start by transforming the brain.

Lu Yuan thought of Marcus, the man whose face was half mechanical, whose transformation began with his torso and proceeded from the outside in.

This woman, on the contrary, is quite the opposite.

From the inside out.

The exterior is intact, but the inside has been replaced with something unknown.

They retained the human body, but abandoned everything else about humanity.

What is that?

A large ghoul in its semi-transformation stage leaped down from the roof and pounced straight at her.

She stepped aside to let her pass.

He put two fingers of his right hand together and touched the back of the ghoul's neck.

laugh.

A very soft sound.

The giant ghoul's entire back of the head exploded from the inside. Keratin shattered, and brain matter splattered everywhere.

It remained in its pouncing posture, then fell straight to the ground, twitched twice, and remained still.

She withdrew her hand.

Expressionless.

It was like crushing an ant.

Bol saw this scene from more than ten meters away.

The bronze sword was still stuck in the head of a ghoul.

He pulled it out forcefully and shook off the debris.

They didn't say anything.

He quietly withdrew his defensive range from the left flank.

They don't need him over there.

The battle continues.

But the pressure is dropping sharply.

Fewer and fewer ghouls were emerging from the cave entrance. Clearly, the entity directing things below the collapse had noticed this and knew that this would only lead to the ghouls dying in vain.

But the surviving ghouls still let out unwilling roars, and finally retreated impatiently towards the bottom of the cave.

The remaining newborn stood guard in front of the pile of corpses. Its bird-beak mask had three deep scratches, and its left arm was completely deformed, but it still stood there, motionless.

Lu Yuan felt the golden light membrane around his body thinning even further.

He glanced down at the revolver.

The golden light was almost completely gone from the gun barrel.

The blessing upon Bohr and his companions was still very bright.

Only his is experiencing an accelerated decline.

Lu Yuan did not hesitate.

"Retreat to the defensive line!"

Bo was chopping away with practiced ease when he heard the order and paused for a moment.

But he didn't ask why.

He pulled the knife out of the ghoul's head and turned to run back.

The others followed suit and retreated.

"Repair the barricades! Lay copper wire mesh! Cover the entire front line with copper powder!"

Lu Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear.

While the blessings are still present, rebuild the depth of our defenses.

Once it dissipates and is washed away again, there will be no second nun on the roof.

The night watchmen carried it out quickly.

Three men rushed to the front line to reinforce the barricades, while two others re-layed the copper wire mesh.

Bohr personally sprinkled the last copper powder on the open ground between the barricades and the bunkers, leaving a thick layer.

He has learned not to ask why.

The blessings gradually faded away.

The golden light faded.

The bronze sword turned back into ordinary bronze.

The bullets no longer gleamed.

The golden light covering his body vanished silently, like a thin mist blown away by the wind.

A faint warmth lingered in the air.

But it was quiet in the direction of the cave entrance.

Only occasional roars echoed from the farthest reaches and deepest depths.

No one spoke on the position.

Everyone gripped their weapons and stared ahead.

But no new ghouls have emerged.

The distant roars were also weakening, as if they were retreating into deeper places.

Lu Yuan slowly lowered the revolver.

The thumb was removed from the hammer.

My fingers are a little stiff.

Having held the gun all night, his five fingers were bent into the shape of pulling the trigger, and he couldn't straighten them for a moment.

He moved around a few times, and his joints made a slight clicking sound.

Four nuns jumped from the roof.

The lead nun was pale, but her steps were steady; the scripture was already closed and held in her hand.

Her eyes have returned to normal; clearly, the Angel Eyes treatment is over.

Three other nuns followed behind her.

She walked across the position.

His gaze swept over the Night's Watchman, over the newborn still standing, and over the gray-haired woman on the left wing.

The woman with gray hair returned her gaze.

Neither of them spoke.

The nun continued walking.

She paused for a moment as she passed Lu Yuan.

It was as if it had smelled something.

She looked at Lu Yuan.

His brows furrowed slightly.

But there was no hostility involved; rather, it was like suddenly spotting something that shouldn't be there amidst a normal atmosphere.

Her lips moved.

In the end, he did not speak.

Look away and keep moving forward.

But his expression didn't change at all.

The nun took a few steps.

There was no turning back.

"Angels protect those who have gone astray, and they also scrutinize each one they protect."

The sound wasn't loud.

After saying that, she continued forward, her white-robed figure gradually disappearing into the night.

Boer leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"Captain, do you know that nun?"

"I don't know him."

Boer looked suspicious, but seeing that Lu Yuan didn't intend to continue, he didn't press the matter.

He turned back to his position, stuck the bronze sword next to the sandbag, and sat down against the cover.

Silence followed immediately on the front lines.

No one knows when the next wave of ghouls will arrive, even though tonight's battle hasn't lasted very long.

However, after the intense emotional fluctuations, everyone felt an unprecedented fatigue.

Sporadic gunfire could be heard from other positions in the distance; it was unclear whether fighting was still ongoing in some direction or if it was just clearing out the remaining enemy positions.

Lu Yuan also sat down.

With his back against the sandbag and his revolver resting on his knees, he slightly relaxed his mind while calculating when to drink the next vial.

Bor leaned closer, took the water bottle from his waist, and tilted his head back to take a big gulp.

Water streamed down his chin, mixing with the black blood on his face, and trickled down his neck into his collar.

He wiped his mouth.

"Two nights already."

Bor's voice was much hoarse. "Two nights guarding this godforsaken place, we're almost out of bullets. I've been stationed in Bronze City for too long, I feel like my body is rusting."

He paused.

"But brothers, surprisingly, not a single one of them died."

After finishing his sentence, Bor cursed.

Laughed.

It wasn't the ecstatic joy of surviving a disaster.

It's something indescribable, a mixture of exhaustion and absurdity.

He placed the bronze sword on his lap, touched the blade, hissed, and cut a bloody gash on his fingertip.

"They were cutting down the animals so quickly when they were bestowing blessings, one after another."

He grinned.

"It's a pity the blessing time was too short; it became difficult to cut through the blade afterward, and the edge even became dull."

He put down his sword and said nothing more.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Bor nodded.

I let out a breath and lay there halfway down.

At this moment, there was a shallow abrasion on his left arm. He didn't know when he got injured, but the blood had dried and a layer of dark red scab had formed.

He leaned against the sandbags, his gaze passing over the barricades and looking towards the cave entrance.

It was quiet there; no more ghouls peeked out.

The sky was beginning to brighten.

The first ray of light shone through the eastern city wall, illuminating the scorched battlefield in front of the cave entrance.

The white smoke slowly dissipated in the morning light.

The bronze saddle still had charred fragments of the corpse hanging on it, which gleamed with a dark red luster in the sunlight.

The ground was covered with copper dust, bullet casings, and black bloodstains.

The ground was covered with grayish-white powder left behind by the shattered ghouls.

The remains of the fallen survivors were scattered near the front line of defense.

Various twisted metal skeletons were mixed together with ghoul corpses.

As the light intensified, the sour, putrid smell emanating from underground diminished.

Sunlight is a natural barrier.

It's safe at least during the day.

At the edge of my field of vision, the gray-white text danced quietly.

[Taboo Studies - Seekers of Knowledge: 12.4/100]

That final 0.2 was accumulated by him while observing the gray-haired woman during the battle.

Over one night, including observations of the Holy Light rejection reaction, the total was 0.4.

That's not a lot.

But it's better than grinding medicine in an alchemy workshop.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, Bronze City has mobilized a lot of people to deal with this wave of ghouls.

If it were only this strong, the ghouls would never be able to break through the defenses of Bronze City.

Unless it collapses in several places.

Most importantly, this time he instructed the Night's Watch squad to deliberately preserve a few of the Great Ghoul's corpses.

Whether my forbidden arts can be upgraded depends entirely on this.

Lu Yuan put away his revolver and tucked it back into his waistband.

Stand up.

In the distance, the gunfire from other positions had completely ceased.

There was someone shouting something from the direction of the Alchemy Workshop, but I couldn't hear it clearly. It was probably a battle report.

Boer also stood up and dusted himself off.

"Let's go check out what's going on with Glock."

Lu Yuan nodded.

The two headed towards the alchemy workshop.

Behind him, the Night Watchmen on the position began to pack up their belongings.

Shell casings, empty ammunition boxes, and empty sandworm oil cans.

There was also the corpse of the giant ghoul that Lu Yuan had ordered to be preserved.

The newborn who could still move remained standing in the same spot.

Three deep scratches appeared on the bird-beak mask, and the left arm was completely deformed.

But it still stood there.

Facing the direction of the cave entrance.

Not moving at all.

The woman with gray hair is no longer here.

I don't know when they left.

Lu Yuan turned around and glanced at the spot where she had stood.

"As expected of the Ascension Society..."