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

The conference room was filled with smoke.

Old Morgan sat at the head of the long table, a nearly burnt-out cigarette between his fingers, his cloudy eyes half-closed, as if he were dozing.

Alice stood by the window, arms crossed, tapping her forearm impatiently with her fingers, her face gloomy.

Mary sat opposite old Morgan, holding a list in her hand, her brow furrowed, occasionally crossing out a name with her pen.

Valentine leaned against the shadows in the corner, his signature green eyes half-closed, his long fingers unconsciously stroking the buttons on his cuffs.

Hans sat in the corner, his left arm wrapped in bandages, his face somewhat pale, but his spirits were not bad, and he was wiping a dagger with one hand.

Lu Yuan pushed open the door and came in, and everyone's eyes turned to him.

"Have a seat." Old Morgan nodded to him, a bit of ash falling from his cigarette.

Lu Yuan pulled out a chair, sat down, and looked around.

"How is the situation?"

"Not good." Mary put down the list, rubbed her temples, and said wearily, "Last night's surprise attack cost us two brothers and five others seriously injured."

She paused, then added, "The Holy Armor Army also suffered several casualties. If it weren't for them holding the line, our squad would have been wiped out."

Alice snorted coldly, turned around, and slammed her warhammer against the wall with a muffled thud: "What the hell are these bastards trying to do?!"

No one answered.

Mary paused for a moment, put down her pen, and said, "Moreover, something is amiss with the Deep Sea Church's attack."

Everyone looked at her.

"Judging from the recent battles, the Deep Sea Church consciously slowed down its offensive when our main force went to sea," Mary said calmly, tapping her finger on the table. "But they waited until the Holy Armored Army arrived before launching a truly large-scale attack."

"The Deep Sea Church launched yesterday's attack on the very night Captain Sivadin arrived."

"This is unreasonable."

Alice frowned, lowering her arms from her chest. "You mean... they waited on purpose?"

"I don't know." Mary shook her head, folded the list and put it away. "But what is certain is that the Deep Sea Church is consciously weakening our fighting power."

"It's not just the Night's Watch, the Holy Armored Army stationed here is also being targeted." Her gaze swept over the crowd. "Don't forget, behind our base is the resettlement area, where a large number of civilians evacuated from the outer city live."

"They're forcing us to fight to the death."

Hans stopped wiping his dagger, his brow furrowing. "A life for a life?"

"More or less." Mary nodded. "Most of the mutants they sent out were low-level, but there were many of them, and they were specifically heading our way. They're using cannon fodder to wear down our manpower."

She pulled out a booklet and turned to one of the pages.

"There's one more thing. I had people keeping an eye on the inner city, and they discovered something interesting."

"A large amount of weapons and supplies have recently appeared at the Viscount's mansion, said to be supplies transported along with the Holy Armor Army."

Her finger pointed to a line in the booklet, "But the quantities are ridiculously large. Alchemy weapons, holy water, gunpowder, food... enough for a protracted war."

"It's as if they're preparing to face something."

Old Morgan flicked his cigarette ash, his cloudy eyes narrowing. "Anything else?"

"The Viscount convened a closed-door meeting yesterday with nobles and merchants from the inner city." Mary closed the booklet. "The content of the meeting is unclear, but after the meeting, the Archbishop of the Church set off for the Viscount's mansion."

Hans stopped what he was doing and looked up: "The archbishop himself is going to the viscount's mansion? What about the church district in the north of the city?"

"Some people were left behind, but the main force went with the archbishop."

A moment of silence fell over the conference room.

Hans tucked the dagger back into his belt and muttered, "So the Deep Sea Church is wearing us down, the Viscount is stockpiling supplies and holding meetings, and the Archbishop is running to the Viscount's mansion..."

"They're all moving towards the inner city," Mary continued, "as if they all know what's going to happen."

"But we don't know."

The atmosphere was heavy.

Hans moved his injured left arm and broke the silence: "If you can't figure it out, don't think about it for now. But one thing is certain, the inner city should know something. If things get out of control, they'll have to call the archbishop over."

"Strengthen vigilance and keep a close eye on the inner city. We can only wait for them to slip up," Valentine's somewhat languid voice rang out. "After all, under the treaty of the Empire, we have no right to interfere with the Viscount in non-emergency situations."

Old Morgan remained silent, just silently smoking, his eyes cloudy but sharp.

After a long while, he shoved the cigarette butt into the ashtray on the table, ground it a couple of times, and said:

"Strengthen our defenses, and let's take care of ourselves first."

"Among the various factions, we are the most severely lacking in combat power right now, so we must be extremely careful."

He raised his head, looked at the crowd, and called out their names one by one:

"Valentine, you and the Holy Armor Army should expand the patrol area. We're a bit blind now and need eyes."

Valentine opened his eyes from the shadows, his green eyes flashed, and he nodded without saying a word.

"Mary, you're in charge of the base's defenses. Make sure no one slips through the net."

Mary responded and put the list into her pocket.

"Hans, your injury hasn't healed yet, but as long as you can move, that's fine. Take a few men and patrol the area, but don't go too far."

"Understood." Hans sheathed the dagger back at his waist and nodded.

"Alice..." Old Morgan looked at the woman by the window, "You should rest for a bit; there might be a tough battle ahead."

Alice pursed her lips, reached out and picked up the Thunder Hammer leaning against the wall, hoisted it onto her shoulder, but did not object.

"And I'm preparing to call headquarters for backup."

Old Morgan looked around and continued, "The situation in Grimport has now crossed the line, and I have reason to suspect that the Viscount is deliberately excluding us Night's Watch."

"Based on the clues we've gathered before, I think some people's positions will need to be moved."

As soon as old Morgan finished speaking, the communication crystal on the table suddenly lit up, emitting a faint blue light.

A deep voice came from the crystal:

"Night Watchman, there are matters to discuss with the Ascension Council."

Morgan raised an eyebrow but did not respond immediately.

He looked around the conference room and waved to everyone.

"Everyone, get out first."

Alice frowned, glanced at old Morgan, but didn't ask any further questions. She then shouldered her warhammer and turned to leave.

Mary, Valentine, and Hans also got up one after another, and their footsteps gradually faded away.

The door closed.

Only Morgan Sr. and Lu Yuan remained in the conference room.

Morgan then looked at the communication crystal again, pressed his finger down, and said calmly, "Speak."

"The Judge and Marcus are our men," the voice on the other end of the crystal said calmly. "We're going to take them back."

Old Morgan leaned back in his chair, took a new cigarette from his pocket, and slowly lit it.

"Can."

He exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice neither hurried nor slow.

"But something must be left behind."