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

"Why do you want to see him?"

"They want something. I don't know exactly what they want, but their attitude is quite forceful. And it's not just Klaus they're looking for; several nuns have been frequently appearing at the branch recently. They're always around, sometimes walking around the logistics area, sometimes loitering near the main building."

"Is the logistics team coming too?" Lu Yuan glanced at her.

"I've been here twice. They were very polite when they asked questions, but their eyes were always scanning everywhere." Margaret put an empty bottle back on the shelf, her tone a little more subdued. "I don't like people looking around on my turf."

"Where's Glock?"

"I'm very unhappy. But Klaus hasn't said anything."

Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes.

What do the nuns want?

Items seized during the pipeline operation? Seeds? Or something else?

The two spent about an hour and a half preparing forty doses of sanity potion.

Lu Yuan sealed the last bottle and packed it into the box.

The gray-white text at the edge of my field of vision jumped slightly.

[Pharmacology: +0.2...34.8/50]

It took forty doses of sanity potion to increase my sanity by only 0.2.

With current pharmacology, the experience-based return on bulk drug preparation is already very low.

To achieve a significant improvement, you need more complex components.

Lu Yuan didn't pay any attention.

The main purpose of coming here today is not to gain experience.

He casually grabbed three bottles of basic herbal extracts from the herb shelf and stuffed them into his pocket.

Margaret saw it.

She rolled her eyes.

"You want to take the stuff after helping for an hour and a half?"

"Call me next time there's work."

"Come on."

Lu Yuan ignored him and left the room without looking back.

Margaret watched Lu Yuan's departing figure.

"You helped make forty bottles of medicine, but only asked for three bottles of herbal extract. Tsk, you didn't take the more expensive stuff. How polite."

Margaret smiled after speaking, then turned and threw herself back into the pile of unresolved issues before her.

Lu Yuan returned to the second floor of his residence and sat down at the lab bench.

The symbiotic connection then begins to jump around.

The worm of knowledge is hungry again.

It's been about a day since the last feeding.

Moreover, there were no problems after the last feeding, so it's perfectly fine to continue this time.

Lu Yuan took out the consciousness crystal from the bottom of the toolbox.

The fabric was untied.

A faint gray-green and dark gold light emanated from the sample vial wall, pulsating steadily.

The worm of knowledge emerged from the depths of the left eye.

The translucent insect, about the size of a grain of rice, hangs above the sampling bottle, its color changing rapidly.

There was no split this time.

There were no tricks involved.

Just wait patiently.

Lu Yuan transmitted the command through the symbiotic connection, but it was still just a small bite; he couldn't eat too much.

Upon hearing this, the worm of knowledge plunged headfirst into the surface of the crystal.

A few seconds later, the worm of knowledge fell off and then shrank back into its eye socket.

A sense of satisfaction emanated from the symbiotic connection.

It felt like I'd eaten about 70% full.

At the same time, knowledge feeds back into consciousness.

Grayish-white text flickers at the edge of the field of vision.

[Taboo Studies - Seeker of Knowledge: +0.8...37.4/100]

[Inscription Arts (Advanced - Mysterious Inscriptions): +0.3...2.8/50]

[Sanity: -2...82/120]

The feedback experience is slightly higher than last time.

Inscription prices also rose.

This made Lu Yuan even more interested in the crystal.

It seems that all the knowledge I possess is contained within the crystal, and this doesn't even include the knowledge I haven't learned and that has been swallowed up by the worm of knowledge.

Perhaps this crystal is also connected to an existence similar to the sea of ​​knowledge?

Lu Yuan thought for a moment, then shook his head helplessly. In any case, he wouldn't touch that thing for the time being, at least not until he understood it.

Re-wrap the sampling bottle and put it back in the toolbox.

Just then, the Worm of Knowledge emitted a strange fluctuation.

It's an extremely quick perception, like seeing something in your peripheral vision, but upon closer inspection, you can't find it.

But there is a definite direction.

It's underfoot.

Below ground.

The worm of knowledge sensed something.

Containing a wealth of knowledge, and it's underground? Could it be that the 'Abyss' is about to make a new move?

Thinking of this, Lu Yuan frowned slightly. He estimated that the exploration team for the 'Abyss' would soon be formed. Of course, Lu Yuan didn't really want to participate in this kind of operation.

The dangers of the abyss are obvious to all; who knows what else might be lurking at the bottom?

Moreover, in the past few days, my [Defense I: 8.5/10] is only five days away from reaching level two. At that time, my [Rationality IV (Experience): 1/120] may fluctuate again.

There hasn't been any real improvement in a long time.

Just as Lu Yuan was thinking, there was a knock on the door downstairs.

As the door opened, Glock appeared, looking at Lu Yuan with a somewhat serious expression.

"Klaus wants you to come here. Come with me."

"What happened?"

Lu Yuan followed behind Glock and asked.

"What has Beren discovered? It seems to pose a great threat to Bronze City. We need to find out as soon as possible."

Glock led Lu Yuan to the second floor of the branch building.

The meeting room door was closed.

Glock pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Lu Yuan go in first.

A small room.

A long table and four chairs.

The curtains were half-drawn, and sunlight streamed in through the gaps, illuminating the tabletop.

Klaus sat at the far end of the long table.

His coat was hanging on the back of the chair; he was only wearing a dark gray shirt.

There was a cup of tea that had gone cold next to me, but I didn't drink much of it.

Buren sat to the side, his cane resting on the table leg.

Lu Yuan and Glock took their seats.

The door closed.

There were four people at the meeting.

Buren placed something on the table.

Copper sheet.

It's the one we brought back from the Gray Pact stronghold. The etched patterns on its surface gleam with a dark gold hue under indoor lighting.

Next to the copper sheet was a stack of rubbings and a pile of handwritten analysis notes.

The handwriting in the notebook was extremely dense, written and revised repeatedly, with several layers of ink overlapping.

This is all the work that Burren did in three days.

The old man cleared his throat.

"I will verbally state the key conclusions. See the notes for details."

Klaus nodded.

Beren reached out and touched the etched patterns on the copper sheet.

"First, the bronze sheet and the bronze pillar use the same inscription system, which can be confirmed from the traces of the inscription."

He paused for a moment.

"But here's a question that's puzzling me: why is there a separate piece of copper?"

No one answered.

Buren took over the conversation himself.

"The copper pillars are fixed sealing devices, massive in size, embedded within the pipe network structure. But the copper plates are different. The copper plates are portable, and the fact that they were cut in half indicates that the complete copper plate was a separate object."

He pushed the rubbing paper to the center of the table.

The paper contains a rubbing of all the etching patterns on the copper sheet, with segmented analysis marked in blue ink next to it.

"My speculation is that the complete copper piece, when its two halves are joined together, is likely a kind of token, similar to a pass. The holder could move freely within the coverage area of ​​the copper pillar sealing system, without being suppressed or excluded by the inscriptions."

"Furthermore, I speculate that Bronze City should be able to be actively controlled, otherwise I really can't figure out what use this thing would have."

"Of course, there may be other effects." Beren's tone was very restrained. "But the copper plate is too badly damaged. Only the left half is left, and a lot of information cannot be recovered. I can only give speculation, not a conclusion."

Klaus didn't speak, his gaze falling on the blue markings on the rubbing paper.

Buren continued speaking.

"second."

His fingers slid along the etched lines on the copper sheet to a specific spot.

That specially marked point.

"The map etched on the copper plate is not an ordinary map. The specially marked location, the bottom floor of the city hall, is the core of the seal."

Burren paused for two seconds.

"You probably understand that what's being suppressed beneath the Bronze City is located at that marked spot."

The room fell silent for a moment.

"I have reason to doubt that a complete copper sheet could open this seal."

"Of course, the Empire's artisans, in theory, would not do anything that would leave a backdoor for the enemy, but such a possibility does exist."

Buren’s gaze swept over everyone present.

"Moreover, Gray Contract will have sufficient reason to retaliate against the Empire, so we must be on guard."

Glock frowned.

Klaus remained silent, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

Buren turned a page of his notes.

The tone changed, and the topic shifted.

"Thirdly, there is one thing that must be made clear."

He stared at the table.

"The seeds and the sealing system are completely unrelated."

Lu Yuan moved slightly.

"The knowledge density structure of seeds and the bronze pillar inscription system are two completely different things," Berren said slowly, carefully choosing each word.

"Based on the previous reasoning, I have reason to suspect that the seed was an accidental discovery after the Gray Pact infiltrated."

He turned to another page of his notebook, which contained two contrasting diagrams.

"They originally came for the seal, and the copper pieces were evidence of that, but after discovering the seed, they probably realized that its value had exceeded their original purpose."

Beren put down his notebook and sat up straight.

"My suggestion is to put the research on the seed on the agenda. Either apply for professional scholars from the Imperial Headquarters, or simply escort the seed out of Bronze City and send it to a safer place."

He paused for a moment.

"Of course, we also need to keep an eye on that runaway leader of the Gray Contract Society; we can't let him intercept us halfway."

Klaus finally spoke.

"I'll take care of the seeds. Continue."

Buren nodded.

"The last one, an additional discovery."

He pulled a single blank sheet of paper from his notebook.

An extremely detailed structural diagram is shown above using magnification symbols.

"When I was analyzing the molted material of the Gray Contract Society, I discovered an anomaly."

Buren's finger touched the structural diagram.

"The shell contains trace amounts of plant fiber."

Lu Yuan noticed that when Klaus heard the words "plant fiber," his eyelids suddenly lifted, but he quickly concealed it.

You wouldn't notice it at all unless you were constantly observing.

Buren didn't notice this detail. He continued.

"This thing has absolutely nothing to do with the Gray Pact, at least that's what I think."

The old man pushed the blank sheet of paper onto the table.

"Furthermore, with my abilities, I can only tell that it fell from a plant; I don't know its specific structure. I suggest arranging for a logistics specialist to examine it, as this might be helpful in finding the Gray Pact."

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

Klaus leaned back in his chair, remained silent for a long time, and then explained each point one by one.

"First, seal all analytical materials and molted samples, keep only copies, and send the originals to my office."

"second."

Klaus's tone turned colder.

"The leader of the Gray Contract Society has not yet been found."

He paused for a moment.

"But what's even more noteworthy is that the runes I set up separately for Bronze City have not been triggered."

Glock's expression changed.

"This means he either ran away a long time ago, or..." Klaus's gaze swept over everyone present, "is still hiding in the city. And someone is helping him evade detection."

Lu Yuan thought of something.

The liquefaction and invisibility abilities granted by the glass water.

The city wall detects runes by sensing their aura.

If someone had cleaned away any remaining aura beforehand, or tampered with the detection runes...

"It's obvious that someone in the city is assisting the Grey Pact. During this time, if any missions are suddenly issued in the inner city, remember to ask me first," Klaus continued.

"Third, we have already arranged for Hogel to start investigating the clues from the inner city, beginning with the line of von Klein."

Klaus stood up.

He picked up the teacup on the table, glanced at the cold tea inside, and then put it down.

"This meeting was organized on short notice, and the Night's Watch doesn't have many trustworthy people left."

Meeting adjourned.