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

A moment later, the last two people arrived.

Raymond pushed the door open and came in, followed by a person.

Raymond looked somewhat tired, but his spirits were not bad.

He sat down next to Boer and gave Lu Yuan a wink, meaning "we'll talk about it later."

This is the end.

Klaus, Lu Yuan, Boer, Holger, Glock, Reck, Raymond, Franz, Conrad.

Nine people.

Klaus put down the teacup he was holding.

There was no small talk.

"Everyone's here."

His voice wasn't loud, but the meeting room immediately fell silent.

Klaus picked up the opened letter on the table and flipped through it between his fingers.

"Received it early this morning, from the church."

He handed the letter to Glock.

"Pass it around."

Glock took it, glanced at it, frowned slightly, and then handed it to the next person.

The letter spun around on the table.

When Lu Yuan received it, he examined it carefully.

The envelope was light gold, and the wax seal was imprinted with the church's sacred symbols.

The letter paper is of very good quality.

There are three main points.

First, the Church appreciates the Night's Watch's contribution to maintaining order in the Bronze City and is willing to cooperate deeply with the Night's Watch in the Sea of ​​Knowledge fishing project.

Secondly, the church has formed a special research team to assess the stable operation of the knowledge sea diversion channel and hopes that the Night Watch will appoint a liaison to participate in the coordination.

third...

This is also the last paragraph.

The wording was extremely tactful, almost going around in circles before finally getting to the point.

The gist is: "The Church is currently conducting a systematic assessment of the extraordinary relics within Bronze City. This includes a number of special artifacts from ancient times. If the Night's Watch possesses any such items, the Church is willing to provide professional assessment and safekeeping assistance to ensure that these items do not have any uncontrollable impact on the inhabitants of Bronze City."

Lu Yuan put the letter back on the table.

Special items.

Preserved from ancient times.

Assessment and storage.

To put it simply, it's a seed.

The church found out.

Klaus waited until the letter had been circled around, then took it back and slammed it on the table.

"You've all finished reading."

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"Tell me your thoughts. But before I do, let me address another matter as well."

He looked at Hogel.

Holger took out a neatly organized document from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"There has been progress in the investigation in the inner city area."

Klaus gestured for him to continue.

Holger opened the file, his tone concise.

"Bor and my men followed the trail from von Klein and found several inner-city figures who had provided assistance during the Grey Pact's operations."

His finger tapped the document a few times.

"The transfer of supplies, the transmission of information, and the hiding places are all traceable."

"The leader of this group was Baron von Linde. This man was ostensibly a respectable nobleman of the inner city, but in reality, he provided a great deal of assistance during the Grey Contract Society's infiltration, including the right to use at least two locations."

Holger pushed the file to the center of the desktop.

"In addition, there are two members of the Chamber of Commerce. They have a long history of misdeeds, not only connected to the Gray Contract Society, but also hedging their bets when the Church entered the city. Their attitude is very clear: they will follow whoever offers them benefits, and they don't care about the life or death of Bronze City at all."

Klaus did not immediately respond after hearing this.

"Is the evidence sufficient?"

"That's enough," Holger said firmly.

"Bor's side found direct evidence in the related information extracted from his memories. Von Linde and codename '8' had two face-to-face contacts."

Bohr added quietly from the side.

"It wasn't a coincidence. It was a pre-arranged meeting. The time, place, and content all matched up."

Klaus nodded.

"Then we won't wait."

His tone turned cold.

"Get rid of it. Just like last time."

Holger nodded.

"clear."

Last time.

Von Klein.

Everyone remembers the events of that incident: a newspaper, four bodies, and the phrase "encountering danger and death."

Disaster".

Clean and tidy, leaving no room for error.

Klaus finished dealing with the matters in the inner city and turned his gaze back to the pale gold letter.

"Okay. Now let's get down to business."

He picked up the letter and flicked it between his fingers.

"You've all read the church's letter. It was very tactful, but the meaning was clear: they're after the seed."

"But they're quite clever." Klaus's tone was tinged with coldness.

"First, he invited us to participate in the Knowledge Sea Fishing Project, bringing us into the cooperation framework. After the cooperation was established, he paused for a moment."

"The Church has always operated this way. They chant 'Heavenly Angels,' but they're ruthless when it comes to their crimes. They exploit the people and recruit followers; their methods are the most disgusting."

"but..."

He tapped on the table.

"The Church's move into Bronze City is a done deal. The channel for the Sea of ​​Knowledge has opened on the Tower of Learning, and members of the Church are already involved. This situation is unlikely to change in the short term."

"The matter of seeds will have to be discussed sooner or later. The question is, in what manner?"

Klaus's gaze swept over everyone.

"Before we talk, I need you to understand what a seed actually is."

He looked at Lu Yuan.

"Come here."

Lu Yuan did not hesitate.

He stood up and looked at the people at the table.

Bohr and Raymond knew a little about the seeds.

Holger and Glock knew part of it.

Franz and Conrad were completely unaware of this.

Lu Yuan organized his thoughts and began to speak.

"The origin and time of the seeds are unknown, but they should be related to the early days of the Bronze City."

"There were four in total. Two were taken by the Gray Pact, one sprouted out of control and was eventually destroyed along with its mycelial core. The last one is in our hands."

"Seeds are related to 'wishes'."

There was a moment of silence in the conference room. Franz's eyelids twitched, but he didn't speak.

"The one that was destroyed absorbed some kind of 'wish' and its germination went out of control, directly leading to the mycelium incident at Beifang."

Lu Yuan's tone was very flat.

"In that incident, the seed demonstrated extraordinary thinking abilities, survival instincts, control methods, and a strong capacity for rational corruption."

He paused for a moment.

"That's just the initial stage."

"Therefore, the potential of the seed is beyond doubt. We must treat it with the utmost care."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Holger spoke up.

"Since the seed is so unstable, why should we keep this hot potato?"

He crossed his arms and looked at Lu Yuan.

"Why not just destroy it? If you can destroy one, why not destroy this one too? Keeping this thing will only bring more trouble."

That's a very good question.

Glock paused, his pen still. Raymond looked over as well.

Franz remained silent, but his gaze shifted from the table to Klaus.

Clearly, Holger isn't the only one with this question.

Klaus did not ask Lu Yuan for an answer.

He took the lead himself.

"Things related to 'wishes' represent potential."

His tone became slightly somber.

"Last time, with that contaminant in the mycelium, no one said anything when it was destroyed. But this seed absolutely cannot be destroyed. At least not in the hands of the Night's Watch."

"Because this thing is far more precious than you can imagine."

He paused, as if considering his words.

"However, you are right about one thing. The 'wish' received by this seed is indeed extraordinary."

Klaus glanced at Lu Yuan, signaling him to continue.

Lu Yuan continued.

"My pathways allow me to detect eerie contamination and other supernatural phenomena. So I saw it even in its budding stage."

His gaze swept over everyone.

"The 'wish' received by this seed is very likely related to the residents of Bronze City's desire for security."

"Its scent is warmer than I've ever felt before."

The meeting room fell silent.

A long silence.

Bohr had his head down, his fingers interlaced on his knees, lost in thought.

Glock's pen started moving again, writing rapidly in the notebook.

Holger's expression changed from questioning to contemplation.

Franz remained motionless. But his gaze changed, shifting from indifference to caution.

Conrad opened his mouth slightly as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

Everyone already realized what this meant.

If the seeds truly possess such immense potential, then those that grow under the nourishment of the "desire" for security could very well become Bronze City's new trump card.

The premise is that it is controllable.

Klaus remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he spoke.

"The purpose of this meeting is to discuss seed treatment options."

He stood up, using the edge of the table for support.

"I want to emphasize one point here."

Even if the seed does grow, we may not be able to protect it.

His tone was calm, but he was under a lot of pressure.

"The Night Watch is already under enough pressure. The Church, the Ascended Order, and the remnants of the Grey Covenant are all watching them, plus the Tower of Learning's own agenda. In this situation, having another thing to protect is not good news."

"But if the seed's potential is indeed as Lu Yuan said..."

He paused for a moment.

"Then it's worth the gamble."

"So this isn't something I can decide alone. I need your opinions."

He turned his gaze to Bor.

Bohr took out a stack of cut strips of paper and a few short pencils from the drawer next to him and silently distributed them to everyone.

"Three options: protect, abandon, abstain."

Klaus glanced around.

"Write it down, fold it, and hand it to Boer."

The sound of a pencil scraping across paper filled the conference room.

Some people finished writing quickly. Others hesitated for a few seconds.

Franz is the slowest.

He held the pencil, stared at the note for a long time, and then put pen to paper.

All the slips of paper have been collected.

Bohr placed nine folded strips of paper in front of Klaus.

Klaus opened them one by one.

Each time he opened a slip of paper, his gaze would linger on it for a moment before he placed it on the table.

After unfolding all nine slips, he arranged them by category.

"Seven votes to protect. Two abstentions. Zero votes to discard."

He raised his head.

"The results are in."

No one speaks.

Klaus gathered the note, folded it neatly, and put it in his breast pocket.

Then he said the most important thing he said at today's meeting.

"Since you've already agreed, don't regret it."

His gaze slowly swept across the faces of everyone present, from left to right.

"From today onwards, the matter of seeds will die inside our bellies."

His tone suddenly turned somber.

"Who let even half a word slip out..."

He paused for a moment.

"I'll handle it personally."

The meeting room was completely silent.

Klaus's words weren't harsh, but everyone could tell they weren't a threat.

He did what he said he would do.

The silence lasted for a few seconds.

Then Klaus's expression returned to normal.

He sat down again, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his tone returned to businesslike.

"Okay. The seeds are settled."

"Next, Holger and Bor will discuss the details of the inner city."