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

Klaus looked at Calvin.

There was no response.

He simply picked up the teacup.

After the meeting.

People gradually dispersed.

Agnes led the two monks ahead, glancing in Lu Yuan's direction as she passed by.

Lu Yuan understood. He'll contact you again if he needs anything in the future.

Calvin and Selena followed closely behind.

Selena didn't say a word from beginning to end. From the moment she entered until she left, she was like a cold, aloof statue. As she passed the door, she raised her hand to straighten the silver piping on her cuffs, her steps steady and her eyes fixed straight ahead.

Calvin paused at the door and glanced back at Klaus.

"Vice Chief of Staff Klaus."

"Um?"

"Please notify Boxueta half a day in advance if there are any adjustments to the personnel configuration marked on the drawings."

Klaus nodded.

Calvin then turned and left.

The monocle flashed one last time in the dim light of the corridor before disappearing around the corner.

The meeting room was finally empty except for the Night Watchmen.

Klaus leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

His gaze fell on the notebook that Holger was pushing towards him.

"Tell me. Is there anything else about von Linde that I haven't seen on paper?"

Holger did not hesitate.

"The Baron's mutation went out of control. After being decapitated, his torso exploded, branches spreading throughout the study, before withering away on its own within ten seconds. His core vanished into thin air."

"No one has made a move; Bronze City is not reacting."

When these words were spoken in the conference room, Klaus subconsciously glanced at Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan glanced at Hogel's action report.

I remember the warehouse, funds, aliases, and contact person in great detail, but there's one thing I forgot to write down.

"There's more," Lu Yuan said. "When that so-called nephew confessed, he also mentioned something else: the Baron started contacting an unidentified person six months ago, and at the beginning of each month he would receive a bottle of dark green, viscous liquid. When the Baron was drunk, he said something like, 'Wait until that tree wakes up.'"

Klaus frowned slightly.

"That tree."

He chewed over those three words.

But Lu Yuan could tell from his expression that those three words touched on something. Klaus knew something, or at least suspected something.

Conrad looked up from the wall and glanced at Holger. Holger didn't look back.

"The evidence and samples are all here." Holger patted the inner bag. "Plant fiber fragments, receipts, confessions."

Klaus reached out his hand.

Holger took everything out and placed it on the table.

Klaus looked through them one by one.

Finally, he picked up the thumb-sized piece of plant fiber between his fingers and held it up to the light for two seconds.

Then he put it into his inner pocket.

"Alright. I'll handle tonight's situation."

He stood up and pushed the teacup and saucer on the table aside.

His gaze swept over Holger, Conrad, and Raymond.

"You all go and rest first."

Then he looked at Lu Yuan.

"You stay here for a moment."

Holger nodded and stood up.

Conrad and Raymond followed them outside.

As he passed by Lu Yuan, Conrad gave him a slight nod.

Raymond didn't say anything, just took his notebook and went straight out the door.

The sound of footsteps faded away down the corridor.

The door was closed.

There were only two people left in the meeting room.

Klaus sat down again, took the plant fiber fragments out of the inner bag, held them between his fingers, and slowly twirled them under the light.

There was a few seconds of silence.

Then I put the fragments into the inner bag and patted them down.

"I'll investigate 'that tree'. You don't need to worry about it."

Lu Yuan nodded.

"Let's get down to business." Klaus straightened up and placed his hands on the table, clasped together. "I need you to lead the fishing operation to the Tower of Learning tomorrow night."

Lu Yuan did not respond immediately.

Klaus looked at him.

"You heard what Calvin just said. Those above level three are not allowed to enter the fishing area. Among those below level three, you have the highest rationality. Of course, this is easy to verify; your usual performance is enough to prove it."

He paused for a moment.

"But that's not the main reason."

Klaus picked up the now-cold black tea, took a sip, and remained expressionless.

"Your method allows you to perceive auras. If anything in the Sea of ​​Knowledge shows any unusual fluctuations, only you among those present can detect it in advance."

The arrangements were the same as last time at Von Linde Palace.

"The Night Watchmen aren't the main force in the fishing operation," Klaus continued. "The main force is the people of the Tower of Learning. Their manpower..."

He paused for a moment.

You'll see when you get there.

Klaus said this without any change in his tone.

But Lu Yuan sensed a underlying tone of disgust.

"The Night's Watch has only one task." Klaus tapped his fingers on the table. "To construct a barrier of sanity at the entrance."

"What are you guarding against?"

"Two directions." Klaus held up two fingers. "To prevent what's inside from getting out. And to prevent the contaminated people from getting out."

He lowered his hand.

"To put it bluntly, you are gatekeepers, not fishermen; you don't need to go into the water."

Lu Yuan remained silent for two seconds.

A sea of ​​knowledge.

He had dealt with that sea before, been pulled in, and almost didn't come out. To this day, a drop of a key he brought from there is still embedded in his left eye.

It's not a good place.

But Klaus made it very clear... he'd stay in the goal, not in the water.

The risks are manageable.

and...

Lu Yuan thought of a few other things.

What exactly is the structure of the so-called device inside the Tower of Knowledge? Is there anything we can learn from its method of connecting the passages to the sea of ​​knowledge?

There are also insects of knowledge.

Will the little creature be able to return to the Sea of ​​Knowledge through the passage? Are there any other creatures like it in the Sea of ​​Knowledge?

If these questions are not answered by entering the Tower of Knowledge and are instead explored on one's own, it will likely take a very long time to find the answers.

"Okay," Lu Yuan said.

Klaus didn't press him about what he had hesitated about.

"Get a good rest tonight. Come to the branch office after noon tomorrow; I'll give you something."

Klaus finished the last sip of cold tea and placed the teacup on the table.

"There's one more thing."

His tone suddenly softened.

"I've already arranged tomorrow's newspapers; Bronze City needs some good news."

Lu Yuan glanced at him.

Klaus didn't say anything more.

There was a silence between the two of them for about two seconds.

Lu Yuan nodded.

"I will pay close attention to the changes in the seeds."

Klaus's gaze shifted slightly.

Then he waved his hand.

"Go."

Lu Yuan turned and left the conference room.

The corridor was quieter than before.

The night watchman on duty had changed shifts at some point, and only a gas lamp remained lit at the end of the corridor, casting a dim yellow light.

Lu Yuan walked along the corridor toward the stairwell.

I just reached the corner.

A white figure leaned against the wall.

Agnes.

Long, moon-white hair cascaded over her shoulders, and a black hood hung behind her head.

The two monks behind her were not there.

She was all alone.

Upon seeing Lu Yuan, she straightened up from the wall.

Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks.

"You knew I would come out."

"Klaus's habit of keeping people behind to discuss business is not hard to guess."

Lu Yuan looked at her.

Agnes was looking at him too.

A few seconds of silence.

Then she spoke.

See you tomorrow night.

There are only three words.

Lu Yuan didn't ask her how she knew she would be going to the Bo Xue Tower the next night.

"See you tomorrow night," Lu Yuan replied with the same three words.

Agnes nodded and turned to walk deeper into the corridor.

The hem of the white robe flashed in the dim light and disappeared around the corner.

Lu Yuan didn't look around much, went downstairs, and exited through the main building's main entrance.

The night wind blew in my face.

The river of light overhead was brighter than during the day. A pale purple glow spread across most of the sky, like a slowly flowing, luminous river.

Lu Yuan wrapped his coat tighter and walked back to his residence along the stone path.

Close the door.

Draw the curtains.

Lu Yuan sat on the edge of the bed, not in a hurry to lie down.

My mind is filled with too many things.

He briefly went through it in a few minutes.

Count Helmut only showed up after the chaos in Bronze City, accompanied by a fourth-rank attendant. This man is another old fox.

The Ascension Society's attitude is worrying. That man said in front of everyone, "We need what you have," without even producing a written order. Such audacity suggests either someone is backing them up, or they simply don't care about the rules.

The Church, on the contrary, was relatively restrained. After settling in Bronze City, their attitude towards the Seeds changed from "demanding" to "cooperating." Agnes's performance tonight also confirmed this; they must have sensed the change in the Seeds and knew that coexistence was better than force.

Let's not even mention the Tower of Learning.

Lu Yuan rubbed his head, feeling a bit of a headache.

I lay down to rest, and nothing happened that night.

Lu Yuan woke up as dawn broke.

[Sanity: +12...63/140]

Lu Yuan lay on the bed for a few seconds.

Then close your eyes and adjust your breathing.

I'm preparing to try and continue training my defense. Although my defense has reached level two, it's still far from enough.

As consciousness sank into the depths of the mind.

The widened river of reason is clearer than before; the river of reason is abundant and flows at a uniform speed, and the new channel is nearly twice as wide.

It mobilized its rationality to continuously flush away the 'riverbed'.

[Defense II: +0.5…0.5/50]

As the gray and white text appeared, Lu Yuan finally withdrew his consciousness and took the opportunity to scan his entire body's condition with his internal vision.

The worm of knowledge dwells deep within the left eye, its colors shifting slowly, still digesting what it swallowed the day before yesterday.

The key hovered behind the insect, completely still.

In the shadows...

That face is still there, quietly floating on the top layer of the shadow.

Two black hole-like eye sockets, and a slightly parted mouth.

no change.

Lu Yuan ignored its existence and withdrew his inner vision.

He got up, dressed, and went downstairs to wash up. Today, Lu Yuan planned to go to the logistics department in the morning to check on the changes in the seeds.

If this thing comes into contact with bad 'wishes' and starts to grow out of control, then it must be eliminated.

After all, Klaus would also be punished if he cultivated another 'mycelium'.

Section C. End of the corridor.

A night watchman stood in front of the iron door of room number seven.

Young, in his early twenties, with a straight posture.

Upon seeing Lu Yuan approach, he bowed slightly.

"Captain Lu. Deputy Chief of Staff Klaus instructed that you can come in at any time."

Lu Yuan nodded and took out a copper key.

Insert it.

But the lock is wrong.

Lu Yuan looked down and saw that the lock had been changed at some point. The original copper lock had been replaced with a larger dark red alloy lock with a ring of inscription patterns engraved on its surface.

"It was changed last night," the night watchman added. "The key is here."

He took a new key out of his pocket and handed it to him.