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

The Guardians understood the "he" Klaus referred to. The person on the wall was locked inside this tower, and the skull's perception range covered almost half of Bronze City, not to mention the main tower right under their noses.

Ordinary conversations cannot hide it from him at all.

The guardian remained silent. He tilted his head slightly, and an eyeball emerged from the darkness, larger than the others, entirely black, without a pupil, and exuding an extremely malicious aura.

The eyeball swirled in mid-air, and the next moment, a faint black gaze swept out, enveloping the lower half of the main tower along with the two of them, completely isolating them from the outside world.

With the barrier in place, the atmosphere inside the main tower became somewhat somber, and Klaus could feel his breathing becoming heavier.

He didn't waste any words and got straight to the point.

"I've investigated everything you asked me to do. I've seen what's down there with my own eyes."

Klaus spoke slowly, one sentence at a time.

At the very bottom of the abyss was a massive piece of flesh, to which all the bronze pillars were nailed.

The bronze pillar that was supposed to suppress it was now integrated with it. The piece of flesh had its own consciousness; after he made a move from below, it immediately sensed it and was determined to kill them to silence them.

I almost didn't make it back up after that trip.

The guards frowned, their faces grave, and listened quietly without interrupting.

Klaus continued.

"It wasn't just downstairs. The copper wall on the pipe network layer was also tampered with; it was Selena Winter. She can manipulate the strange inscriptions behind the copper wall, which means she has something that looks like a key."

He looked into the eyes of the guard.

"The Tower of Erudition participated in the dredging of the Sea of ​​Knowledge and had dealings with that skull for a long time. Selena, or rather the entire Tower of Erudition, most likely made a deal with the people on the walls. She was merely following orders."

Klaus's tone was somewhat serious.

The guardian seemed lost in thought. Klaus had already informed him of Bronze City's current predicament and the potential challenges it might face in writing, and he knew he needed to first understand who his adversary was.

Now that the person on the wall has made their move, it did indeed land on the bronze wall, but it seems that they did not succeed, or perhaps they stopped halfway through.

The guard couldn't understand it, but he remembered that the person on the wall had recently approached him and signed that contract, most likely because something had gone wrong with the bronze wall. As for the flesh and blood below...

A subtle ripple spread across the black barrier.

"That thing down there," the guard said, his voice hoarse, "I'm not sure what it is. But you don't need to worry about it."

These words, spoken by a fifth-level expert, carried immense weight.

"I'll intervene when it emerges." The guardian paused. "Now, I can intervene too."

Klaus's eyes lit up.

He didn't know what had happened, but since the guardian said he could help, Bronze City had regained its biggest source of confidence.

"I understand about the copper wall." The guard's voice lowered further. "As for those on the wall, you don't need to worry about them; I'll handle that."

Klaus finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the heaviness on his face eased somewhat. He looked at the guard, paused for a moment, and then spoke.

"Senior, there's something I'd like to tell you."

The guard's cloudy gaze returned to his face.

"I've finally figured out a bit of what my master left behind," Klaus said in a low voice. "This trip down wasn't just to find out what's down there. I think I've found the path to the fifth level."

At this point, a hint of regret crept into his voice.

"But time might not be enough."

After he finished speaking, the main tower fell silent for a moment.

The guard's gaze lingered on Klaus's face for a long, long time, and finally, a smile appeared on his lips.

The Night Watch will have another Tier 5 member.

Moreover, he wasn't a fifth-tier individual like himself, bound to a city and confined to a corner of the world; that was someone with truly decisive influence.

His voice was terribly hoarse, with a certain indescribable fluctuation in his enunciation.

"If all else fails..."

The old man paused, and several eyes in the dark aura turned to Klaus at the same time, their black pupils reflecting an eerie light and his face.

"You can leave here."

Klaus wanted to say something more.

The guard suddenly raised his hand, stopping him from speaking.

Klaus looked at the somewhat aged guard in front of him and finally shut up, not pressuring him any further.

The old man's hand hovered for a moment, then fell.

"The person on the wall came by just now," the guard suddenly said, his voice slightly distorted. He didn't look at Klaus; his gaze was fixed on the pile of documents spread out in front of him.

Klaus frowned slightly but didn't reply. He wasn't sure what it meant for the person on the wall to come over.

The guardian offered no explanation or further comment. He merely tilted his head slightly, and the jet-black eyeball in mid-air slowly rotated, causing the black barrier surrounding the two to begin to recede inward from its edges.

The oppressive weight that had been pressing on our breath dissipated, and the air in the main tower began to flow again.

Klaus looked into the guard's eyes. Clearly, the old man had made up his mind and was certain of what he was going to do.

Before the barrier had completely dissipated, a faint aura approached.

From the darkness above the main tower, a small, grayish-white head slowly emerged. The head was small, no bigger than a fist, and its features, formed by condensed mist, were indistinct.

It hovered in mid-air, first looking at the Guardian, then turning to Klaus, before pausing.

"You..." it began, its voice carrying a long, lingering quality, "...there's a familiar scent about you. Have you ever descended into that abyss?"

Klaus didn't answer directly. He looked at the small, gray head and asked a question in return.

"Did you get Selena to activate the seal behind the city wall?"

The face in the mist moved, and an indescribable emotion surfaced on its blurred features.

"Yes." Its tone was surprisingly calm, "but I stopped it."

Klaus stared at it for a few moments. Whether its words were true or false was irrelevant. It wouldn't explain, and these few words alone couldn't confirm anything. Klaus was simply trying to confirm a small preconceived notion.

He didn't press the matter further and had no intention of staying any longer. Just as Klaus was about to get up, he heard hurried footsteps outside the main tower.

Two figures filed in.

Arthur walked in front, clutching a roll of parchment, his expression grim. Hilde followed behind, glancing at the small, grey head in mid-air, her face expressionless.

"Klaus, you've come at the perfect time." Arthur didn't waste any time on pleasantries, walking straight up to him and handing him the rolled-up parchment. "An imperial edict, just arrived."

He paused, then added, "The Bronze City is now heavily polluted; this edict travels through the channel between the Empire and the Tower of Learning."

Klaus frowned slightly, then reached out and took it. He glanced at the person on the wall, then strode out of the main tower.

The three of them went outside the main tower, and only then did Klaus unfold the parchment.

The writing on the paper was sparse and the wording extremely concise.

The central command decided that evacuation was not permitted and that the city of Bronze must be defended to the death.

Arthur waited until he finished reading before leisurely adding a sentence.

"The Central Government's meaning is clear. Bronze City is the Empire's only fully-developed fishing ground for the Sea of ​​Knowledge, and the Tower of Learning still holds the head of the person on its walls," Arthur continued.

"Thanks to the knowledge sent from Bronze City, a preliminary method has been developed to fill the cracks in the barren borderlands. The central government has recognized the value of this fishing plan and will not let it go."

Hilde then took out a similar scroll. She unfolded it, and the words on it were almost identical to those in Arthur's scroll: Defend the Bronze City to the death, do not evacuate.

The two imperial edicts arrived very close together.

Clearly, this is the result of decisions made by both the central authority and the headquarters of the erudite tower.

Klaus glanced at the roll in Hilde's hand, then at the roll in his own, and silently folded it back, his expression unreadable.

The small head of the person on the wall hung inside the main tower, its features formed by condensed mist constantly trying to get closer to the edict in Klaus's hand, seemingly looking at something.

The guardian glanced at it.

It said nothing more, slowly shrank back, and sank into the darkness.

"I'll take this order with me." Klaus put it back in his pocket.

Arthur nodded and did not refuse.

Just as Klaus was about to return, two figures suddenly appeared outside the Tower of Learning. They were dressed in black robes and cloaks, which covered most of their faces; their attire alone revealed them to be seekers.

Only those searching for their way would dress like that. But how did they end up here? A bad feeling rose in Klaus's heart.

One of them saw Klaus and immediately stepped forward, taking out a fist-sized wooden box and a note from under his cloak.

"The Empire has issued an urgent order." The man spoke extremely quickly, without stopping.

"The following information is directly from Night's Watch headquarters. Klaus, listen carefully. Gaps have appeared simultaneously in the Dead Lands and several other locations in the north, and the Empire has already redeployed a large number of personnel there. The situation in Bronze City is currently manageable, and we can't spare much reinforcement."

He paused for a moment, then added, "But Deputy Chief of Staff Klaus, we've made contact with those people you asked us to contact earlier. They're on their way."

As he spoke, he handed over the wooden box. "The Empire sent us to bring this in."

Klaus took the wooden box and opened the lid. Inside, there was a cloth with inscriptions, and in the center was a glass tube about the length of a thumb, the liquid inside gleaming with a very faint golden light in the night.

The strip of paper was pressed down next to the glass tube.

Klaus pulled it out; the handwriting was neat, but it was unsigned.

"At this point, we can only offer you the limited assistance we can provide."

This potion can be given to you or to your guardians.

You have one last chance. You are not facing the forbidden entity itself; there may still be a glimmer of hope. Remember, nothing can happen to Bronze City, not even before you die.