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

He spoke casually, but Lu Yuan recognized Lei Ke; the more understated he was, the worse the truth was.

This young man, who had always hated the bizarre, looked at the fourth-tier transcendent being covered in insect bites on the bed, his lips moved, but he ultimately didn't utter a word.

Rick spoke first.

"Jurgen's been doing well lately, killing several ghouls." He looked at Lu Yuan, his tone carrying a hint of something that was hard to tell whether it was satisfaction or a joke. "This kid under you're ruthless; he didn't even leave himself a way out."

Lu Yuan glanced at Jürgen.

"Well done," he said briefly, paused for a moment, and then added, "But always prioritize your safety and don't overexert yourself."

Jürgen nodded, which was his way of agreeing.

Lu Yuan stood by Lei Ke's bedside for a while. Before leaving, he casually touched the scholar, wondering if he could lend a hand to Lei Ke.

But none of the proposed solutions were actually useful.

The materials he could mobilize were mostly things like holy water, but since someone as strange and extraordinary as Rek couldn't use holy water, he couldn't come up with any useful solutions for Rek's body.

Lu Yuan sighed softly and turned to walk out.

"Jurgen, stay with him a little longer."

Jürgen didn't answer, but pulled up a chair and sat down next to Rex's bed. Rex looked at the stern-faced young man in front of him and smiled again.

Lu Yuan went out and headed towards Sector C. He remembered what Klaus had told him: the seed in Sector C was acting strangely, and he needed to take a look.

The corridors in Zone C are unusually empty.

After the city was placed under martial law, there weren't many people left in the logistics department area; most of them had been transferred to the front lines. As Lu Yuan walked along, he only encountered a few night watchmen carrying medicine boxes and rushing out at a corner, and didn't run into anyone else after that.

Room number seven was at the end of the corridor. The iron door was locked, and a night watchman stood at the door, leaning against the wall with a somewhat unnatural expression on his face.

Lu Yuan walked over and took out the bronze key from his waist. The night watchman saw him coming and stepped aside.

The key was inserted into the lock, the iron gate opened, and golden light poured out from the crack, a large expanse of warm light pouring out of the room and illuminating a section of the corridor. The night watchman instinctively moved to the side, turning his body to avoid the golden light shining on him.

Lu Yuan slipped inside and closed the iron door behind him, preventing the golden light from showing.

As the door closed, golden light fell upon him, its warmth seeping into his skin. Lu Yuan closed his eyes, carefully sensing the sensation. His rationality was slowly returning, but it was a genuine recovery. It seemed that as this "hope" grew larger, its power also grew stronger.

He took a few steps closer to the sapling, where the golden light intensified and the warmth deepened, and his rationality returned a little faster.

The last time I visited, the seed was a palm-sized coral, with a pale golden amber shell encasing a few warm orange buds and leaves, placed on a copper plate in the center of the room, covered by a half-person-high glass dome. Now the glass dome is gone, and the seed has completely changed.

It grew from the size of a tiny coral into a small tree taller than a person. The trunk was about the thickness of a forearm, its surface gleaming with a golden sheen, its veins faintly visible, spiraling from the roots to the top. Several branches extended from the trunk, their leaves unfurling, their warm orange fading into a deep, metallic gold. The golden light emanated from these leaves and the trunk, filling the entire room, even illuminating the intricate patterns on the walls.

Lu Yuan fixed his gaze on the small tree, and gray-white characters appeared.

[Detection target: ? (Hope)]

A seed inspired by a wish is growing in an unprecedented direction. It is growing at an astonishing rate.

The results were similar to the last test, except for the addition of the phrase "amazing speed." Clearly, Hope has absorbed a lot of strength during this period.

Lu Yuan looked down at the inscriptions arranged in the room; they had all dimmed considerably. It seemed that the overflowing golden light not only restored his sanity but was also eroding the inscriptions that were blocking it.

Before he could take a closer look, another line of gray text appeared.

[Current Status of Bronze City: 44.2/51]

Lu Yuan's gaze lingered on this line of text.

51?

The upper limit of Bronze City's current state is clearly fifty, but it has now reached fifty-one.

He had seen this kind of situation before, where the current number exceeded the upper limit. The current situation in Grimport had also exceeded the upper limit in the past, but in those cases, it was the first number that was increasing, while the upper limit of the second number never changed.

He couldn't quite figure out what it meant.

The next line of gray text has already appeared.

You seem to have discovered the way to change your destiny.

Lu Yuan's breathing slowed down by half a beat.

To reverse the course of fate.

The city walls were being eroded, the flesh and blood beneath the ground were raging, and everything was heading in the worst possible direction. Yet, the gray and white words told him that the way to reverse his fate was right before his eyes, right there on this little golden tree.

But how exactly can we turn things around? The current amount of time is simply not enough for "hope" to grow any further. Where is the direction, or rather, where is the path to survival?

Lu Yuan stood in front of the tree for a long time, turning it over and over, but couldn't come up with a more specific solution.

Just then, the worm of knowledge deep within Lu Yuan's left eye suddenly twitched.

The little creature poked its head out from under the key, and enveloped in this warm, cozy aura, its entire body stretched out, with colorful light flashing all over it.

It emerged from Lu Yuan's left eye, floating slowly in the golden light, its body relaxed, carrying an indescribable joy.

Lu Yuan watched it swaying in the air, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

Ever since this little thing was infused with the guardian's power, it has been clinging to the key to heal its injuries and rarely shows itself. But now it looks quite energetic, so it seems to have almost fully recovered.

It approached the small tree and gently touched a deep golden leaf. The leaf trembled slightly, releasing a warmer scent. It lingered around the treetop for a moment before reluctantly drifting back to Lu Yuan's left eye and retracting under the bronze key.

Clearly, this guy had eaten away some of the light of hope. A notification then appeared.

[Taboo Studies - Seeker of Knowledge: +2...79.9/100]

Lu Yuan's expression darkened slightly. Thankfully, this thing didn't actually bite the leaves of Hope; it merely basked in its light and yet gained so much forbidden knowledge. Once the mess in Bronze City is resolved, it can come here more often to bask in Hope's light, like sunbathing.

Just then, a faint ripple came from my left leg.

It was a drowning creature. This time, what it conveyed was completely different—an emotion Lu Yuan had never sensed in it before: joy. It was happy; it had emotions now.

Lu Yuan immediately mobilized the power of the Knowledge Insect to look at his left leg, and the world before him was enveloped in golden light.

The black mist was still clinging to his left leg, covering roughly the same area as before, but the face inside had changed. A faint blush of color had appeared on his normally deathly pale face, spreading across his cheeks.

The two previously empty eye sockets have also changed, with a blurry luster emerging from the depths of the eye sockets. Although they can't be described as bright, at least they no longer look lifeless.

"It's conscious?" The moment this thought crossed Lu Yuan's mind, his back tightened slightly.

From the moment he became a parasite until now, he has always treated the suspended man as a mindless, mindless remnant that acts only on instinct.

But the joy he felt just now, coupled with his flushed face and shining eyes, couldn't be explained by the word "instinct" at all.

Previously, at the bottom of the abyss, this thing was so frightened that it shrank back, wishing it could escape; its fear was almost human-like. But now, bathed in golden light, it was actually happy.

How far is something that can feel fear and joy from being "conscious"?

Lu Yuan suddenly remembered something. The Drowned One was the lingering resentment left behind by a powerful being who had reached the sea of ​​knowledge after his death. Did this mean that he might have picked up an "old man"?

He didn't touch it immediately, withdrawing the knowledge worm's vision. The drowned creature remained quietly attached to the spot, golden light falling upon it, and a hint of warmth emanating from the edges of the black mist.

Lu Yuan did not linger in the room. He put the brass key back into his waistband, left the room, and closed the iron door behind him.

When the night watchman saw him come out, he moved back a little and stood still against the wall.

"Don't let anyone in, except Klaus," Lu Yuan said.

The night watchman nodded.

Lu Yuan turned and walked towards the main hall.

The main tower of the Pagoda of Learning stands silently in the night. Most of the bronze inscriptions that were originally inlaid on the tower have gone out, with only a few rings at the top still gleaming faintly.

Klaus stood before the tower gate. The people inside seemed to sense his arrival, and the gate opened slightly. Klaus pushed it open and went inside.

As soon as he entered, he saw the guard sitting on a stone chair on the first floor of the main tower, with a large amount of documents spread out in front of him.

The old man's body was unusually upright, his full head of white hair hanging over his shoulders. A dark aura emanated from below his waist, spreading outwards towards the ground, and the number of black eyeballs floating within the aura had decreased significantly. Clearly, the extraordinary power within him had been initially brought under control.

Klaus paused slightly. The aura of the guardian had changed; the previously oppressive, suffocating presence had faded considerably, leaving only an unstable fluctuation.

Klaus walked over and sat down in front of the guard.

The old man put down the documents in his hand and slowly raised his head. In the pitch-black aura, several suspended eyeballs rolled, aimlessly sweeping over Klaus before sinking back down. The guardian looked at him with his own eyes, the dark green crystals on his body reflected in his cloudy pupils.

"Senior," Klaus began, glancing upwards, "there are some things we can't let him hear."