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

A night breeze blew in from the side, carrying the distinctive rusty smell of bronze from the Bronze City.

The three people walked towards the inner city following the route marked by the streetlights.

Lu Yuan was at the front, with Rex following two steps behind, and Beren walking at the back with his cane.

The streets were quieter than I had imagined.

After the ghoul incident, nighttime freight transport in Bronze City almost came to a standstill.

Those small caravans that used to make their rounds at night now never leave their homes until they've finished their journeys during the day. Occasionally, you can see one or two groups of residents traveling together, their necks hunched over as they walk under the lamplight, their steps so fast it's as if they're running away from something.

In the distance, a patrol of night watchmen passed by the opposite street corner, carrying three men carrying marching lanterns. One of them glanced at Lu Yuan, roughly recognized the night watchmen's uniform, but did not approach to question him and continued walking.

The newly renovated gas lamps lit up one after another, their orange-yellow light creating irregular lines of light and shadow on the stone pavement.

Several lampshades were newly replaced, and their reflections were brighter than the old ones, making them somewhat dazzling in the night.

Lu Yuan looked up at the sky.

Above the Tower of Learning, the long river, flowing with a dreamlike quality, still flows slowly, like an inverted Milky Way.

Several indescribable colors surged and shifted, stretching from the spire of the Tower of Learning to the other side of the horizon.

Clearly, there may be further fishing plans for the Bo Xue Tower.

Lu Yuan didn't look at it for long.

"Which direction does it point to?"

Rick's voice came from behind.

Lu Yuan tilted his head, and the perception deep within his left eye extended out along that faint thread.

The silk thread was thinner than when it first left the branch, swaying slightly in the night breeze, as if it might break at any moment.

The direction is clear.

"East, the inner city." Lu Yuan paused. "Move quickly, the mark is fading."

Beren didn't speak, tapped his cane twice on the stone slab, and quickened his pace.

The sound of three people's footsteps echoed on the empty street, mixed with the creaking sound of a window being blown by the wind in the distance.

As you cross the boundary between the outer and inner city, the density of streetlights noticeably increases.

The roads in the inner city were neater than those in the outer city, the gaps between the stone slabs were narrower, and the buildings on both sides had changed from a mix of wood and stone to a pure stone structure.

Lu Yuan's pace suddenly slowed.

Deep inside the left eye, the state of that thread changed.

The thin lines, which were initially faint and could break at any moment, gradually stabilized after entering the inner city.

The color changed from grayish-white to light gold, and the outline became much clearer.

Clearly, the mark became firmly established as it approached the target.

Lu Yuan looked in the direction of the silk thread.

The clues pointed directly to the end of the streetlights ahead, where a two-story stone building stood.

It wasn't some luxurious mansion; it was just an ordinary commercial warehouse.

A large double wooden door stands at the front, reinforced with sheet metal strips that have rusted at the edges due to long use. Above the door frame hangs a dark wooden plaque with peeling paint.

The streetlights shone on the sign, making the lettering barely legible.

"Hoffman Freight Forwarding - East Warehouse"

Lu Yuan looked at the sign and went through it in his mind.

Hoffman cargo operation.

It wasn't a big name in the inner city, but it wasn't exactly a nobody either.

There are more than a dozen such trading companies in the inner city, which specialize in acting as transit warehouses between foreign caravans and inner city shops, profiting from the transportation price difference.

It was a small business with low profits, and somehow managed to squeeze in by establishing connections with several bigwigs in the inner city who controlled the chambers of commerce.

Normally, the night watchman wouldn't even glance at such a place.

There aren't enough people or enough energy. Bronze City is so big, who would bother to check a small errand-running store?

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked at Lei Ke.

Rick had stopped. His face, with its indistinct features beneath his short brown hair, tilted slightly toward the warehouse, a few tendrils silently peeking out from under his collar and swaying gently in the air.

"There are people inside," Rick continued. "The lights are on, and there are at least two on guard."

"Let me take a look first."

Before Lu Yuan could respond, his trouser leg bulged slightly near his ankle.

Several plump gray worms fell from the flesh onto the stone slab, the sound of them landing so softly that it was almost inaudible.

The insect paused for less than a second under the light before darting along the wall at an inhuman speed and disappearing into the crack at the bottom of the warehouse door.

Lu Yuan led Bo Lun into a side alley.

The alley was narrow, just enough for two people to stand side by side.

The wall was made of rough limestone, and a half-finished notice from the Chamber of Commerce was pasted on it, soaked by rainwater.

Beren leaned against the wall, his cane resting at his feet, his hands in his trench coat pockets.

I waited for about two minutes.

Rick's voice came from the alley entrance, calm and indifferent.

"The guards are all asleep, let's go."

Lu Yuan did not ask further, "How did you get him to sleep?"

Rick always does things cleanly and doesn't need to worry about the details.

The three of them went around to the side of the warehouse's transport passage.

This is a narrow alleyway used for transporting goods. There are still scratches on the ground from where wooden crates were dragged. The side door is an inconspicuous single wooden door, and the latch has been pried open from the inside by insects.

Lu Yuan pushed open the door and went in.

The warehouse was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside.

The entrance is a moving area, with iron ziplines extending from the roof beams to the ground, the ends of which are hung with rusty iron hooks.

Next to it is a set of trolley tracks, embedded in the floor, leading to the depths of the warehouse.

In the corner of the moving area, there was a crooked wooden table with a half-filled pot of cold tea and a still-burning oil lamp on it. The wick was almost gone, and the flame was only the size of a bean, casting a yellowish and dim light.

On the bench beside the table, two men on duty were slumped over, breathing evenly and fast asleep. One of them had drool on the corner of his mouth, and his teacup was tilted, spilling tea across half the table.

Rick walked past them without even glancing at them.

Walk a few steps further in, and you'll enter the warehouse.

The space suddenly felt much larger, taking up most of the building.

Several rows of wooden shelves stretched from the entrance to the bottom wall, neatly stacked with sacks, wooden crates, and rolls of cloth. Each section was labeled and divided by merchant name.

The air smelled of cloth and hay, mixed with the bitterness of insect repellent.

Rick stopped in the aisle between the shelves, tilted his head, his whiskers twitched in the air a few times, and then retracted.

"There's nothing there." He looked at Lu Yuan. "There's no polluting smell, and the guards are just ordinary people."

A few faint lights of inscriptions flashed across Beren's hand before fading away. The old man shook his head slightly.

"It's very clean here."

Lu Yuan was not in a hurry.

He stood between the shelves, the thread deep within his left eye still steadily pointing to his feet.

It's not in front, it's below.

There's something underground.

Lu Yuan's gaze swept across the warehouse floor.

The stone slabs were pieced together tightly, but their color was different from the other floor tiles.

However, warehouses of this size usually have one or two brick-built cellars for storing goods that are sensitive to moisture and heat.

He followed the silk thread to the innermost corner of the warehouse.

There is an inconspicuous gap between the shelf and the wall, just big enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.

There was a trapdoor on the ground, with a shiny iron ring handle, clearly indicating that it was frequently used.

Lu Yuan opened the trapdoor.

A cool breeze rose from below, carrying the smells of alcohol and sealant.

The stone steps descended and disappeared into the darkness.

Without hesitation, several insects detached from his sleeve and quickly crawled down the edge of the stone steps.

After waiting a moment, Rick nodded.

"There's no danger. Let's go down."

The three of them walked down the stone steps.

The cellar wasn't large, only about ten meters square, with a low brick vaulted ceiling; you almost bumped your head if you stood up straight. Wooden wine racks lined the four walls, holding rows of sealed earthenware jars and glass bottles, covered in a thin layer of dust.

In the corner were several nailed wooden crates, labeled "Hoffman North District Allocation".

everything is normal.

Rick frowned.

"There's still nothing there."

Lu Yuan did not respond; his gaze followed the direction of the silk thread and landed on the west wall of the cellar.

That wall looked exactly the same as the other three, with the same gray brickwork and the same mortar joints.

But the thread passed through the wall.

At the same time, gray and white text appeared at the edge of the field of vision.

[Environmental Sensing: A minor source of pollution has been detected...]

Lu Yuan walked to the wall and ran his fingers along the cracks in the brickwork.

When my fingertip touched a certain brick, the feel was wrong.

The other bricks were rough, but this one had a very smooth surface, as if it had been pressed down a lot.

He pressed down hard.

"Click."

A very faint mechanical sound came from inside the wall.

The entire wall slid open half a meter to the right, revealing a dark passageway behind it.

A chill surged from the depths of the passage, mixed with a faint, sweet scent, like some flower rotting.

When Lu Yuan smelled this scent, he knew they had arrived at their destination.

Rex reacted faster than Lu Yuan. His body surface began to writhe, and his humanoid outline blurred in the darkness. Tentacles emerged from his collar and cuffs, with several reaching towards the passage.

"Let me scout ahead."

Several insects quickly crawled in along the wall of the passage.

Lu Yuan and Bo Lun waited in place for about ten seconds.

Rick's whisker tips twitched slightly before retracting.

"It's very deep. There's a large space below." He paused. "My bug encountered something... it's hard to describe."

"Let's go." Lu Yuan said without hesitation.

The passageway was much wider than the cellar entrance above, wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

The stone steps are carved from a single piece of limestone, with a very smooth surface. This level of polishing cannot be achieved by walking on them a few times.

Simple iron lamp holders were nailed to the walls on both sides. Most of the lamps were off. There were black marks on the bottom of the lamp holders from long-term soot, and there were remnants of wax at the wick position.

The stone steps extend downwards for about thirty meters.

At the end was a heavy iron gate.

The iron gate was wide open.

Lu Yuan stopped at the door.

The space behind the door far exceeded his expectations.

The size of the entire cellar no longer qualifies it as a cellar.

Someone dug out a hall from underground in the inner city.

The space is elliptical, with a major axis of at least 30 meters and a minor axis of about 20 meters.

The dome is a carved limestone arch, about five meters high, with chisel marks remaining on its surface.

Grayish-green roots covered everything.