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

However, the uncarbonized mycelial layers on both sides of the channel are unusually active.

But instead of attacking, they emitted unconscious spasms.

Like a dying body, the muscles are making their final, unconscious twitches.

In the living wall area embedded in the wall, all the grayish-white arms stretched out, struggling in pain.

The crawling creature overhead let out a sharp screech, fell from the ceiling, rolled and convulsed on the ground, and the gray-green mycelium on its body was peeling off from under its skin.

The hyphal network, having lost its central hub, is collapsing.

The hyphae parasitizing each host suddenly lost their command; some contracted wildly, some expanded blindly, and some burst out of the host's body.

The entire pipeline network has turned into a huge, rotting corpse.

[Sanity: -1...-1...44/120]

The Iron Guard's rearguard swung his sword and cleaved open a living wall arm that had sprung out halfway from the wall; the dark red furnace fire was reduced to a mere ember.

"Don't stop! Don't linger!" Wolf's voice came from ahead.

"Just charge over there!"

The shaft soon came into view.

I saw the iron ladder.

Wolf was the first to climb up. The gray-green film that had covered the iron ladder had completely withered and fallen off, revealing the rusty iron surface.

The mycelium is dying.

Starting from the closest point to the ground, it withers section by section.

Everyone climbed the iron ladder as quickly as possible.

Burren was carried up by Kale and a Night's Watchman; the old man didn't say a word the whole time.

Lu Yuan was the last to come up.

The moment I emerged from the shaft, the night wind rushed into my lungs.

Dry and cold, Lu Yuan took a few deep breaths, then looked back into the shaft.

A series of muffled thuds followed... It seems the death of that thing at the end of the mycelium has triggered quite a few things.

Glock has already led his men to meet them.

"How is the situation?"

Lu Yuan didn't stop, talking as he walked, his voice very low, so that only Glock and a few people around him could hear him.

"I destroyed the core of the mycelium, so there will be no further threat in the short term."

"But the roots haven't been completely cleaned yet, so it might revive, but we don't know how long it will take."

"There's one more thing..." Lu Yuan looked at Glock.

"There's a section of copper pillar deep inside the pipe network. The roots of the mycelium core have penetrated into the seal, and the bottom third of the runes have already gone out. You'd better take some people to repair it as soon as possible."

Glock's face showed a hint of surprise upon hearing this. There were copper pillars in the pipeline layer? How come he didn't know?

"Report this to Klaus as soon as possible," Lu Yuan added.

"I'll handle this. Thank you for your help. You should go and get some rest."

Upon hearing this, Glock did not ask any further questions.

He nodded, then turned and strode quickly toward the Night Watchman who was in charge of making contact.

Lu Yuan stopped at the entrance of the alchemy workshop.

Bohr followed behind, looking at the gray-green liquid and charred debris covering his body. His lips moved, but he only said one sentence in the end.

"Go wash up quickly, be careful of contamination."

Lu Yuan glanced at him.

"Um."

First floor of the Alchemy Workshop.

Lu Yuan closed the door and tossed his handbag onto the table.

The air still smelled of copper dust and old wood.

Lu Yuan walked to the bucket in the corner.

The water was stored yesterday and has already cooled down.

Take off your trench coat.

The grayish-green liquid soaked through the front and cuffs of the entire garment, and after it dried, it formed a hard shell that could be peeled off with a fingernail.

The charred powder was embedded in the fabric fibers and couldn't be wiped clean no matter how hard you patted it.

He tossed his trench coat aside and wiped his face and hands with a damp cloth.

When the cold water hit my skin, I felt a shiver run through my body.

Lu Yuan shuddered as he looked at the marks left on his palm.

I'm not sure if it's because it's cold or something else.

After quickly wiping myself down, I changed into a clean undershirt and leaned back in my chair.

[Rationality: 44/120]

The gray-white numbers floated quietly at the edge of my field of vision.

This number means that I am now at a very dangerous threshold, and any high-intensity mental shock could cause irreversible consequences.

Before Lu Yuan could continue his wild thoughts...

Exhaustion began to creep in at this moment, and a drowsy feeling arose from the repeated mental strain.

Images of the dome would occasionally flash through my mind.

A giant tree hanging upside down.

The material is densely packed.

"...I will...come back..."

Lu Yuan closed his eyes briefly, suppressing the image.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Boer pushed open the door and came in, with two sets of folded clothes tucked under his arm and a small crystal in his hand.

"Glock had these sent over; one set for you and one for me."

He put the clothes on the table.

It was the Night's Watch's standard overcoat, dark gray with a thick cotton lining, newer than the one I was wearing now.

Bohr then took a few small bottles out of his pocket and placed them on the table.

"And these too, the branch pharmacy is distributing the latest sanity-stabilizing drugs, two bottles for each of the combat personnel."

Bohr glanced at the old trench coat lying in the corner.

"You can't wear that dress anymore. I'll get rid of it for you. It would be terrible if it got contaminated."

"Um."

Lu Yuan put on the new coat, tried it on, and found it fit perfectly.

Bohr placed the crystal in his hand on the table.

"Glock left this before he left." Bor paused for a moment.

"The branch office wants to question you directly about the pipeline."

Lu Yuan looked at the communication crystal on the table, unsurprised.

The information from the copper pillar is too important; a second retelling is bound to be distorted, so Klaus wants to hear it firsthand.

He reached out and pressed his hand on the crystal.

The crystal lights up randomly.

A pale blue light emanated from within, followed by a steady voice.

"Lu Yuan?"

It was Klaus's voice, the deputy commander of the Night's Watch division in Bronze City.

I just don't know where the Chief of Staff went.

Thinking about this, Lu Yuan suddenly realized that his consciousness was unconsciously wandering.

I took a deep breath and forcibly cleared my mind of the jumbled thoughts.

Lu Yuan spoke.

"exist."

"Glock gave a general overview of the situation, but I need you to confirm it with me personally." Klaus spoke slowly, but every word carried an unambiguous tone.

"What did you see at the deepest part of the pipeline?"

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and began speaking in order, starting with the water collection room.

He ventured deep into the area alone after the inscriptions sealed him off.

First, there was the dome-shaped cave.

The suspended host, then the upside-down giant tree, and finally the spherical core woven from brain tissue.

"It is conscious," Lu Yuan said with certainty.

"Because it can not only talk to me, it can even learn, evolving from single words and phrases to complete sentences within minutes."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the crystal.

"continue."

"I used the potion Laurina gave me to create a breakthrough, inserted two exorcism grenades and detonated them, and finally burned off the connection between the main vine and the root system with a can of mithril. That spherical core is most likely destroyed."

Lu Yuan paused for a moment.

"However, I cannot guarantee whether the root system has been thoroughly cleaned. Given the survival ability of the mycelium, it may revive again in the future."

"There's one more thing."

Lu Yuan lowered his voice by half a point.

"At the deepest part of the dome, there is a section of bronze pillar. The roots of that thing have penetrated into the runic grooves of the bronze pillar, and the bottom third of the runes have all been destroyed."

There was silence on the other end of the crystal for a long time.

Even Boer glanced at the crystal.

"Are the runes recovering?"

Klaus finally spoke.

It was just one sentence that made Lu Yuan realize this.

Klaus knows something.

"Several runes have lit up again," Lu Yuan paused slightly before continuing.

"It's weak, but it's definitely recovering."

Another silence followed.

"I will go down and confirm it myself," Klaus said, his voice regaining its composure.

"Your mission ends here. Get some rest, and remember to make sure you don't lose your composure. I'll arrange for someone to take care of you. We'll talk about the rest later."

No further words were needed.

The crystal's brilliance went out.

Meanwhile.

At the Night Watch branch, Klaus stared at the extinguished communication crystal.

He asked Glock, who was sitting in front of him:

"If Lu Yuan is right, then he has done a great service, and I now understand why he was able to get so many points."

Klaus seemed to be reminiscing about something, then changed the subject.

What do you think of Lu Yuan as a person?

Glock knew that this was the result of a previous secret assessment of Lu Yuan, and that it was time to end it.

After all, as someone involved in "secrets," no matter how normal he is, the Night Watch must be prepared for anything.

Once he is bewitched by some being.

That could cause irreversible damage to the empire.

Glock paused briefly, quickly organized his thoughts, and then began to speak:

"Based on the investigation over this period, what we know so far is that Lu Yuan should be an unknown second-level transcendent being, because he has never used the offensive methods that only knowledge transcendent third-level beings possess."

"The extraordinary weapon used is the 'Timekeeping Device,' which is the thing known as the 'Final Destination'."

"Of course, the reason why I think the data is inaccurate is this: based on his participation in previous missions and his use of items, Lu Yuan's sanity value is likely above the fourth level of knowledge transcendence."

"I found this information from the Pathfinders. When the Empire sent Pathfinders to the northern desert, they encountered Lu Yuan. There, Lu Yuan used the third-tier ability of 'Timekeeping' to kill 'Gregor,' and Lu Yuan also gained a considerable amount of points."

"Deputy Chief, you should know how ridiculously high the sanity consumption of the third skill of 'Timekeeping' is. Even a fourth-order knowledge transcendent can be completely drained. But Lu Yuan, who was only a first-order, managed to use it. So at the time, I strongly suspected that he had become a servant or believer of some kind of being."

"But after these few days of testing, including the assessments from the Ascension Society, the Church, the Holy Armor Army, and the Iron Guard Battalion, it can be basically confirmed that Lu Yuan is still human. Oh, by the way, these are the assessments submitted by Boer and his teammates respectively."

Glock handed three envelopes to Klaus.

Klaus disassembled it one by one.

The contents were mostly tentatively approved.

Boer: Carrying fragments of knowledge contamination, Lu Yuan was unaware.

Judging by the degree of pollution and the clarity of reason, Lu Yuan passed the test. Note: His reason was even more stable than that old man, Beren's.

They do not exhibit any obvious strange habits or impulses when dealing with various bizarre situations.

The basic judgment is correct.

Note: Calm and collected, with extensive professional knowledge, excellent interpersonal and leadership skills... and also 'kind'.