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

It's different from last time.

The word "growth" has been added after "parasitic". "Some unknown change" has become "found a way to continue moving forward".

It swallowed something. The resentment, bitterness, or something else emanating from the corpses in the hotel—it absorbed it all, and then found a path.

The gray text didn't say what road it was.

Lu Yuan's gaze darkened.

He accessed the key deep within his left eye.

The moment the aura of authority surged from his eyes, his pale face trembled violently.

It sensed it.

The faint "spirit" that had just gathered in its empty black eye sockets vanished completely. It shook its head, and the overflowing black aura suddenly contracted back, shrinking from its spreading edge back to its original range. Its entire face pressed against the skin of its left leg, and it remained motionless.

It was clearly afraid.

He had expected that authority could subdue it. Once the key was turned, it became obedient.

But that's where the problem lies.

It couldn't speak. Lu Yuan poked it and scared it, but it couldn't utter a single word. It knew nothing about whether it was good or bad, where that "road" led, or how much it planned to grow.

Should he force it? Lu Yuan thought for a moment and dismissed the idea. The drowning victim was stuck to his left leg, close to the skin and blood vessels. Forcing it might aggravate the key and the worm of knowledge in his left eye, causing more trouble than leaving it there. Besides, the gray and white text had never given any warning signs.

He withdrew the aura of authority.

The pale face remained still for a few moments, confirming that the pressure above its head had truly dissipated, before slowly returning to normal. The black aura began to spread outwards slightly again, but it was much less intense than before, no longer creeping below the knees.

Lu Yuan stared at it for a long time.

Let it go for now; there's no better way at the moment. Authority can keep it in check for a while, but it's growing and searching for a "way." We'll take it one step at a time.

He withdrew that wisp of power, the light of the Knowledge Worm faded, the color patches disappeared, and his left leg returned to its normal appearance.

Lu Yuan pulled down his trouser legs.

That line of gray text was still hanging in the corner of my field of vision.

It seems to have found a way to continue.

As night fell, he walked to the window.

One by one, the lights of Oak Forest City lit up, their warm yellow glow seeping from the depths of the streets and alleys, carrying a sense of peaceful tranquility. Unlike the still oppressive darkness under the lights of Bronze City, the night here was truly quiet.

His gaze went beyond the rooftops, toward the west.

Two days.

He can only wait two days.

Lu Yuan stood by the window for a while, then looked away and turned back to the bedside.

When Lu Yuan woke up, it was already bright outside the window.

On the second morning in Oak Forest City, the two potted plants on the windowsill were covered in dew, and the wind blew in through the cracks, carrying the sweet scent of grass and trees. In the distance, someone was shouting something on the field ridges, the sound carrying across half the city, but it was hard to make out clearly.

I didn't feel it when I was completely out of my mind and my nerves were on edge day and night, but these past two days, as soon as I had some free time, that restless anxiety seeped out from the very marrow of my bones.

Under the same sky, a different kind of fire is burning in the Bronze City.

Bronze City, a division of the Night's Watch.

Klaus closed the third urgent report in his hand and placed it on top of the ever-growing stack of pamphlets on the corner of the table.

The office was dark, with only a sliver of dim daylight filtering in from the window. He leaned back in his chair, pressing his palms against his temples and rubbing them in circles. A tingling pain seeped from deep within his brow bone, blurring the words in front of him. He had barely slept for the past few days.

There were three urgent reports on the table, none of them sounding good.

The situation underground is changing. The giant ghouls contaminated by the forest seed are no longer rushing upwards. For the first two days, they were still pouring out of the collapse in waves. The Night Watchmen and the Holy Armor Army used copper-cased incendiary bombs with mithril to repeatedly burn the rotting fungi that were spreading out, and the corpses were disposed of on the spot and sent to the logistics department to exchange for points.

By the third day, those things had simply retreated.

After retreating, they changed tactics, ramming back and forth in the pipeline layer, repeatedly hammering the existing collapses, while digging towards the weak points. Those collapses were originally gnawed out by them one by one.

The Night's Watch and the Holy Armored Army positioned themselves above the collapse and threw weapons down, causing the animals to dodge and scatter.

If we don't throw them away, they'll stay down there, their eerie green eyes staring up at us in clusters. Their malice is so intense that it's suffocating even from a distance of more than ten meters. The situation is at a stalemate, and there's nothing we can do about them for the time being.

The nobles' private soldiers have been gradually incorporated into the Night's Watch squads over the past two days, patrolling, scouting, and defending against spillovers. There are indeed more people than before, but bad news has followed.

Another collapse occurred yesterday.

There were enough guards nearby, plus the newly recruited private soldiers, to barely block the entrance.

However, the fourth-tier combat power of the Night Watchers is completely insufficient. Each collapse requires at least one fourth-tier commander to be stationed. Currently, all the fourth-tier captains have been deployed at several breaches, and some places still require third-tier commanders to hold the line.

The nights are even harder to endure. The corrupted ghouls prefer to raid at night, sneaking up in small groups of three or five from the edge of the collapse. They'll be hit once and then retreat, only to come back from a different spot next time.

Each time a person or two is lost, the casualties aren't significant, but this kind of consumption continues day and night, gradually wearing down the night watchmen's condition. If this drags on, they'll eventually break down.

Klaus flipped through the last list of losses, scanning each item. The Night's Watch had recently lost seven or eight more men, all capable fighters. The nobles' private soldiers had lost more than ten, their quality far inferior to the Night's Watch. Filling the gaps was easy, but few were truly up to the task.

These measures alone are insufficient to hold the line. Church personnel will be gradually deployed to the network layer to assist in the next few days, but the church already has limited manpower in Bronze City, so the available personnel are limited.

As for the Ascension Society, their offspring are the main force, and their bodies contain a large number of copper parts. The forest species swallows copper, which is a consensus reached by the first-time divers.

Letting the newborn fight those things is like feeding them; the Ascension Society won't be able to come.

Fortunately, we had made sufficient preparations in advance. The supplies were stored in the branch warehouse, including copper-cased incendiary bombs, mithril, and sanity potions, which should last for a while. External reinforcements were also on their way, and new personnel should arrive soon.

The forging process has also been changed; most of the original bronze weapons have been reduced and recast into silver.

Silver has a natural advantage against ghouls and is much more lethal than copper; the only problem is that it's expensive.

But we can't worry about that right now. The giant ghoul contaminated by the forest can devour copper. If you cut it with a copper sword, it will open its mouth and bite. The copper sword is worn out too quickly. If we replace it with silver, at least we won't be feeding it.

Klaus closed the list of losses and placed it on the corner of the table. He stood up and walked to the window. In the courtyard downstairs, several night watchmen were carrying boxes toward the warehouse, their steps hurried and heavy. The lights in the branch office had been on since dawn and had not gone out at all.

Ascension Society, Research Lab.

A mechanical instrument, taking up half the room, hummed and creaked, the sound of gears meshing emanating from deep within the pipes. In the center of the control panel, a fragment of a serpentine interlocking device was clamped onto a silver mounting bracket.

The fragment is not long, about the length of two arms, and is covered with a layer of grayish-green scaly skin. At the break, you can see the tangled wood fibers and tendons inside.

This thing was cut off from the serpentine chimera during the first dive. After so many days, it should have been dead long ago, but there are still slight tremors on its skin, and the mucus seeping from the cut is still slightly warm.

The Ascended One stood beside the control panel, his mechanical eyes fixed on the broken piece. He repeatedly cut it, took samples, and tried various methods, drawing conclusions one by one, none of which were reassuring.

This thing is specifically designed to eat copper. It feeds on copper and uses it as nourishment. It shrinks noticeably when it is separated from copper, but it stops shrinking after a certain point. Even after more than ten days, there are still no signs of death. It can indeed eat copper, very slowly, but it really can.

The most dangerous conclusion drawn from this is that beings contaminated by the forest species will have significantly enhanced vitality. If this thing were to take root under the Bronze City, using all the copper in the city as nourishment, the more it devoured, the faster it would grow, making it almost impossible to deal with.

The Great Ascendant flipped through the old files he had obtained from the Gray Pact Society.

Based on his research, one thing was certain: the Forest Seed was created by the Gray Contract Society. He didn't investigate further; confirming the source was enough. The more important thing now was how to deal with it.

The Ascended One turned off the equipment and walked out of the research room.

Klaus's office at the Night's Watch branch.

When the Great Ascendant pushed open the door, Klaus was standing by the window.

"The results are in." The Great Ascended's voice came from the mechanical throat, flat and without much inflection, "Born for copper, it shriveled up after shedding copper, but it won't die. The severed limbs have been alive for more than ten days, its vitality is extremely tenacious. If it takes root under your city..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Klaus turned around, glanced at him, and understood without him having to finish.

"What are the Ascension Society's plans?"

"The Ascension Council will not directly participate in this war." The mechanical eyeball of the Great Ascended One shifted slightly. "The Incarnates are our main force, containing a large amount of copper. If we let them fight those things, their copper parts will be completely devoured and wasted. The Ascension Council cannot accept this price."

"It's the same for other models as well."

He paused, then changed the subject.

"But I can help you myself; I'm immune to these things. At the same time, I need to collect more samples, which requires the help of the Night Watch. We need to capture more ghouls contaminated by the Forest Seeds, alive. As for logistics, construction above, and the Ascension Society, they can provide manpower and transportation."

Everything that could be given was laid out.

After listening, Klaus did not respond immediately. He walked back to the table and sat down, tapping his fingers on the surface slowly.

If the Ascension Society doesn't participate, it's like losing one of the most capable forces in a tough battle.

The Night's Watch, the Holy Armored Army, the Iron Guard, the Church, plus the newly recruited noble private soldiers—it's not easy to send such a small force underground, but it's not impossible.

He suddenly realized something: the giant ghouls were delaying their direct assault, instead accumulating power below, constantly transforming themselves into more ordinary ghouls, making themselves fatter and stronger.

The longer we wait, the worse it gets. When they feel they've had enough and finally surge up, the people on the ground won't be able to stop them.

Klaus's fingers stopped.

"We can't wait any longer," he said, his voice low. "We must take the initiative, force our way down, and not let that thing develop comfortably down there."

The Ascended One glanced at him. "It's all up to you; you're the Vice Chief anyway."