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

When Lu Yuan opened his eyes, it was already bright outside the window.

Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the wooden window frame, casting warm yellow streaks across the stone floor. He lay there for a few breaths, motionless.

The drowsiness in my mind completely disappeared, and in the corner of my vision, the line of gray text floated quietly.

[Rationality: 140/140]

My sanity has been fully restored, and the barrier of reason that had been damaged for so long is finally able to repair itself...

Lu Yuan stared at the line of numbers for a couple of moments, then threw back the covers and sat up.

The residence in Lilin City was more comfortable than he had expected. It was a two-story building with brick and stone walls and wooden shelves. On the windowsill were two pots of green plants whose names he did not know. Their leaves were thick and emerald green, covered with a layer of fine dew.

You can hardly see anything like this in Bronze City. The whole city smells of bronze rust and is covered with inscriptions. Even the weeds on the streets can't grow. It's different here. When you open the window and look out, all you can see is greenery. Vines grow at the base of the walls and climb on the roof ridges. In the distance, the rice paddies are a glossy green in the morning light.

He looked away and got dressed.

The news of losing contact last night is still weighing on my mind. The communication crystal was obviously interfered with, but I'm in Lilin City and can't reach it. There's no point in worrying.

His priority was to go to the Night's Watch branch in Oakwood to complete the handover, deliver the person, file the documents, and coordinate with the local branch before heading back himself.

When I went downstairs, Bor was already waiting in the yard.

"Did you sleep well?" Bo'er leaned against the door frame, a blade of grass between his teeth. When he saw Lu Yuan come out, he spat out the grass.

"it is good."

"That's right. Your complexion has been getting worse every day since we left the city. You're finally showing some signs of life today."

Lu Yuan didn't reply and walked towards the courtyard gate. Bo'er followed, and the two walked along the stone path towards the branch.

The daytime appearance of Oak Forest City is completely different from what I saw at dusk last night.

The entire city was built on the top of a large but not high, gently sloping mountain. The mountain rises slowly, and the city is laid out on the flat, wide hilltop. Looking in all directions, the view extends extremely far. The ridges of the fields outside the city walls spread down layer by layer, stretching all the way to the distant horizon.

Not near mountains or forests, but surrounded by flat rice paddies and medicinal herb fields, with irrigation canals running through the middle, the water shimmering in the sunlight.

It's almost impossible to hide anything in this kind of terrain. With nearly 10,000 acres of fertile land on all sides, there isn't even a corner to hide in. No wonder it's so peaceful here, completely different from the Bronze City, where the walls are covered with inscriptions and the air is always filled with a suffocating rusty smell.

The branch was located in the east of the city; the Night's Watch emblem could be seen hanging above the door just two streets away.

It was smaller than Bronze City, but it had everything you needed. As soon as you entered, you could tell it was a proper branch office. It had a duty room, an archive room, and an armory. Several night watchmen were going in and out, wearing the same dark gray uniforms as those in Bronze City.

Lu Yuan glanced around after entering the room and got a sense of what was going on.

The branch has a considerable size, with at least thirty or forty men stationed there, far fewer than in Bronze City. The highest-ranking officer stationed there is a battalion commander, with no deputy commanders.

A man came out from inside to greet them.

He was quite old, with gray hair and deep wrinkles etched on his face. He wore a drab old coat with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a section of his sun-tanned forearm.

At first glance, he doesn't look like the head of the branch office; he looks more like an old man who has just returned from harvesting herbs in the fields.

But as soon as Lu Yuan got close, he sensed that the extraordinary fluctuations emanating from this person were terrifyingly deep, and that calm and heavy aura was on the same level as that of Klaus.

"You're Lu Yuan?" The old man extended his hand to him. "I'm Otto, and I'm in charge of this place."

Lu Yuan shook hands with the old man. The old man's hands were rough, and the strength in his palm was deep and steady.

Otto led them into the inner room. The branch was clean and tidy, unlike the tense atmosphere that always permeated Bronze City. The watchmen here nodded to Lu Yuan and went about their business without any tension on their faces.

The documents were laid out on the table. Lu Yuan handed over the handover letter prepared by Klaus. Otto flipped through a couple of pages, checked the seals and the number of people, and then signed his name on the archive page.

"Over two hundred people, escorting them all the way here, that wasn't easy." Otto put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Lu Yuan with a scrutinizing gaze. "How's that old man Klaus doing lately?"

"The same as always," Lu Yuan replied briefly.

"The old ways are no good." Otto chuckled and shook his head. "That man carries an entire city on his shoulders, never showing a hint of it on his face. Nobody can see how exhausted he is behind the scenes."

He spoke casually, but his words carried a kind of understanding that could only come from working together for many years.

Lu Yuan didn't reply, he just nodded.

He knew far more about Klaus than most people did.

The old man was riddled with old wounds, a ghoul was pinned beneath him, and someone was locked on the wall at the top of the tower. Several factions in the city were still entangled in a conflict, but not a single word of these matters could be uttered.

Otto didn't ask any further questions. He put the documents away and stood up.

"Alright, all the paperwork is done. You've finished your trip."

He paused, then added.

Isabella will probably need to see you again.

His tone was flat, but when he said "should," the slight smile at the corner of his mouth was impossible to hide.

Lu Yuan glanced at him.

The old man was being overly polite. From the moment he entered, his attitude and the level of hospitality he showed were nothing like those he would give to an ordinary escort captain. It was more like he was receiving someone he had already spoken to and who knew his background.

He roughly had a idea of ​​what Klaus and Isabella had told him beforehand.

As they left the branch, Bohr muttered something behind them.

"This senior is no ordinary person."

Lu Yuan hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything more.

The handover is complete, the formalities are all done, and now all he wants to do is return to Bronze City.

The information on the current state of Bronze City in the corner of my view is nearing its limit. I'll go back and refresh that section to its maximum; it might yield some new insights.

But there's one more thing I need to do before I leave.

He needs to meet Isabella; she brought over two hundred people here, and he needs to find out their whereabouts before leaving.

Before Lu Yuan could even make the effort to find her, Isabella had already sent someone to invite him.

The manager who came yesterday was still not very talkative. He led Lu Yuan out of the branch office, across most of the city, and to a manor in the south of the city next to a medicinal herb field.

The estate was small, with stone walls and wooden doors. In the courtyard, freshly harvested herbs were drying, and a bittersweet fragrance filled the air.

Isabella sat at the stone table in the courtyard, with two cups of tea in front of her.

She changed her clothes today. Unlike the dark green dress she wore last night, she wore a grayish short jacket with the sleeves rolled up. There were a few traces of mud on her arms, indicating that she had just come from the fields.

Lu Yuan sat down opposite her.

As he sat down, he noticed something.

Isabella possessed a faint aura of supernatural power.

Unlike Otto's terrifyingly heavy aura, her aura was gentle, thin, and soft, carrying a sense of "being protected," unlike her fighting style.

He stared intently for a moment, and then the gray and white text in the corner of his vision appeared.

[Target for detection: Isabella (Lord of Oak Forest City) (Earl) (Supernatural Believer)]

A person whose faith holds no power over others may possess exceptional talent in other areas.

Lu Yuan stared blankly at the prompt before him. A faith with no deterrent power? It seems the Empire is hiding quite a lot.

He turned his gaze back, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Isabella asked with a smile.

"it is good."

"That's good." She nodded. "You've had a long journey here, and I was originally planning to give you a couple more days to rest before discussing business. But judging from your appearance, I guess you're planning to leave today."

Lu Yuan did not deny it.

Isabella put down her teacup, crossed her hands on the table, and straightened her posture.

"You want to know what happened to those artisans, right?"

"Hmm." Lu Yuan spoke up, "I brought over two hundred people here. I need to find out how they'll be settled and where they'll go before I leave."

Isabella sized him up for a moment, considered it carefully, and finally decided to speak frankly.

"Vice Chief of Staff Klaus confided in me before sending the people away."

Her voice became flatter, no longer the light and cheerful tone of yesterday.

"These artisans will live in Oak Forest City from now on. There's no need to bring them back later."

Lu Yuan paused for a moment, holding the teacup.

"Was this Klaus's arrangement?"

"His exact words," Isabella nodded.

"Do the craftsmen know?"

"I know. Klaus gave instructions to everyone before he left. Those who want to stay can stay, and those who want to return to Bronze City in the future are free to do so. I can send someone to send them back. I won't force them."

Lu Yuan slowly placed the teacup back on the table.

He realized what he meant.

No wonder the artisans were so downcast along the way. When he left the city, he thought it was the unease of leaving home, the tension everyone feels when leaving their hometown. But now, thinking back, it wasn't just a temporary departure. Klaus had already made it clear: you weren't coming back.

This group of people was handpicked by Klaus. Those who were actually sent on the train and escorted all the way here were all people who were willing to walk and had skills. Carpenters, blacksmiths, bricklayers—when they stopped at the inn, some of them would crawl under the train to tap on the axle; they were clearly experts.

Klaus sent them out to leave seeds for Bronze City.

If the city can be defended, we can take them back and rebuild it in the future. If the city cannot be defended, these craftsmen can still settle down in Lilin City.

Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief for the group. Compared to Bronze City, which was still in a state of disrepair, staying in Oak Forest City was much safer.

"I understand." He nodded.

Isabella observed his reaction, confirming that he had truly come to his senses, before continuing the conversation with a more serious tone.

"Lu Yuan, there's something I want to say directly."

She lifted her gaze from the teacup and placed it on Lu Yuan's face.

"The Night's Watch division in Oakwood only has one captain, Otto, with quite a few men under him. He's probably the only one who can keep things under control. If you're willing to stay, besides Otto, your words carry the most weight among the Night's Watch."

She paused.

"I can give you resources: medicinal herbs, equipment, manpower. Oak Forest City may not have much else, but it has plenty of these things."

Lu Yuan understood; this was a recruitment tactic.

The words were spoken subtly, without directly throwing out a title, but the meaning was clear. Isabella knew how to gauge the situation; she was the city lord and the countess, and wouldn't use phrases like "come be my deputy" to pressure people, but the conditions she offered were substantial.

Moreover, she specifically mentioned "medicinal herbs".

Lu Yuan had already witnessed yesterday that Lilin City was rich in medicinal herbs.

The lush green medicinal fields outside the city stretch for thousands of acres. He himself knows how to refine medicine and is knowledgeable in pharmacology; what Bronze City lacks most is raw materials. Isabella threw out this statement, aiming at his weakness.

He's quite good at using his abacus.

But Lu Yuan didn't hesitate.

"Your Excellency is too kind." He shook his head. "Bronze City still needs me. My brothers and friends are all there; I can't stay here peacefully."