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

As long as it touches on the realm of knowledge, the worm of knowledge will stuff it into its mouth.

And what about this flesh and blood before us? That thing underground is a forbidden existence sealed by the bronze pillar for countless years. Its flesh and blood must contain a large amount of knowledge and abyssal aura, as well as the remnants of countless extraordinary beings it has devoured.

These things can theoretically be considered knowledge; moreover, they are taboo in themselves, so it is only natural that something is hidden within flesh and blood.

Lu Yuan immediately asked his knowledge worm through the symbiotic connection: Can I eat this flesh and blood?

The light emanating from the Insect of Knowledge flickered slightly, revealing an irrepressible excitement.

This time, unlike the previous fear of the flesh and blood of the abyss, it conveyed the message: it's edible.

It didn't speak plainly, but Lu Yuan understood its meaning; it had long wanted to pounce on it.

Lu Yuan found it strange. Wasn't he quite afraid before? Could it be that with more companions, he could eat them? Without thinking too much about it, he asked again: "Can these flying insects of knowledge outside help us out?"

The worm in his left eye reacted more strongly than he had expected.

The insect twisted its body, its colorful light flashing continuously, carrying a certain sense of showing off, and the whole insect spun in mid-air.

The meaning couldn't be clearer. Yes, of course they can, they all have to listen to me.

Lu Yuan's lips twitched slightly. At this critical moment, this little thing still had the mind to put on airs.

He didn't ask any more questions. Since the worm of knowledge could be eaten and joining the battlefield could relieve some pressure on the thousands of people in the branch and on Klaus and the others, there was nothing to hesitate about.

Then let go and go.

Lu Yuan issued the final order through the symbiotic connection.

Upon receiving the command, the Knowledge Insect suddenly shone brighter and shot out from in front of Lu Yuan, plunging headlong into the group of floating light spots.

Countless points of light exploded at the same time, hundreds and thousands of points of light were ignited at the same time, and colorful light burst forth from each insect, and the gaps between the points of light almost disappeared.

The insects of knowledge coalesced into a flowing, colorful sea of ​​light, surging and swirling in mid-air above the branch entrance, their brilliance even tinging the already thin white mist with color.

Lu Yuan stood in that sea of ​​light and looked up. The countless insects of knowledge connected into one, forming a river of light that poured from the branch entrance toward the direction from which the flesh and blood were flowing, directly landing on the ruins of the Bronze City.

The river of light crashed into that patch of dark red flesh.

The front of the flesh and blood paused briefly when it encountered the worm of knowledge, its spread slowing abruptly. Beneath its dark red surface, something seemed to have grown fearful.

Immediately afterwards, the worms of knowledge swarmed forward.

At that very moment, the authority deep within Lu Yuan's left eye trembled slightly.

The tremor was very slight, leaking out with his earlier permission, like some kind of authorization flowing from a key.

The worm of knowledge only began to speak after he nodded.

Lu Yuan then realized something.

The insects of knowledge flew to him, but did not directly devour the flesh and blood, perhaps due to some restriction. Only after his permission and the tremor of his authority did they pounce.

In other words, for the insect of knowledge to feed in reality, it must first pass through his gate, and obtain his key and authority.

Once you understand this, the other thing becomes clear as well.

No wonder these wild knowledge insects in the outer city haven't been deliberately feeding or growing stronger since the second fishing and leakage.

When they gathered together, Lu Yuan sensed something was wrong. The light on those insects was dim and shriveled, as if they had been starving for a long time, with only some scattered light remaining. They were even smaller than the Knowledge Insects that Lu Yuan had seen before.

Without the approval of authority, they cannot eat anything and can only survive on the remaining traces of their extraordinary aura.

The power was still slightly burning, and his own worm of knowledge transmitted back a greedy yet satisfied emotion through the symbiotic connection.

If that's the case, then the insect of knowledge might have a lot to offer.

Lu Yuan raised his head and looked at the river of light that was being entangled with flesh and blood.

A second-tier seeker of knowledge suddenly found a trump card far beyond his own level, and he felt somewhat at ease.

Guanghe plunged completely into flesh and blood.

The swarm of insects plunged into the dark red surface and burrowed straight inside. Instead of devouring the insects of knowledge, the flesh was gnawed open from the inside by the insects.

The gnawed areas shrank at a visible speed, and large patches of dark red flesh retreated. The street at the branch entrance, which was originally covered with flesh and blood, retreated dozens of meters in an instant.

The flesh and blood in the second block were also receding, and the third and fourth blocks were loosening at the same time. The colorful light of the Knowledge Worm shone through the gaps in the flesh and blood, casting colorful spots of light on the dark red flesh.

But the good times only lasted for a short while.

The rate at which the flesh and blood receded began to slow down, and the underground substances were continuously replenishing the surface. Fresh flesh and blood surged out from beneath the receding front, refilling the gaps created by the insect swarm.

The worms of knowledge devoured quickly, and flesh and blood replenished just as fast. The two sides locked in a fierce battle in the area of ​​a few blocks in front of the branch.

Lu Yuan stared at the stalemate dividing line and immediately understood the situation.

The worm of knowledge poses no real threat to the flesh and blood body or its core.

The flesh and blood underground are almost endless; no matter how much the worm of knowledge can eat, it can never reach their core.

Judging from the current swarm size and feeding speed, they probably won't even be able to break through the outer perimeter in the short term; if the swarm size increases several times over, then they might pose a real threat.

But for now, this effect is sufficient.

The flesh and blood that had been spreading in this area were held back by the worms of knowledge, preventing them from moving any further in this direction.

Several thousand people had already been housed in the structure beneath the branch. That underground space was specially built years ago and deliberately avoided the pipe network layer. The walls and ceiling could still hold up for a while.

With the insect swarm at the front, the entire branch is temporarily safe.

On the defensive line in front of the branch, Klaus was cleaving through the fleshy tentacles rushing towards him with his sword; his bone armor already bore many signs of corrosion. Just then, the fleshy tentacles suddenly stopped.

Before Klaus could even retract the bone sword, the dark red flesh in front of him had already stopped spreading.

He stared at it for a couple of breaths, his brows furrowed. How could the flesh and blood have receded?

Then, he realized that above his head, there were countless points of light. Hundreds and thousands of colorful points of light converged into a flowing sea of ​​light, pouring out from the branch entrance and disappearing into his flesh and blood.

The light was so dazzling that it seemed out of place in this city, and the dark red flesh and blood rapidly faded away where the sea of ​​light passed.

Klaus slowly lowered his hand, because he suddenly remembered something.

He had seen something similar before. The knowledge-derived worm in Lu Yuan's left eye was the same thing that helped him suppress his injuries and alleviate the mutation.

But wasn't there only one of Lu Yuan's worms? No matter how powerful a single knowledge-derived worm is, it won't be of much use in front of such a massive mass of flesh and blood.

But what was before them? Hundreds and thousands of colorful light spots flew everywhere, forming a river of light. Even those creatures capable of devouring fourth-tier flesh and blood were powerless against these insects.

And it was only then that Klaus realized the insects were the wrong color.

He had seen the knowledge-derived insects from the Tower of Knowledge before; they were grayish-white and exuded a cold, sinister aura.

But the light flowing over these insects, each a fixed color—pale purple, dark gold, ghostly blue—was completely different from the grayish-white, cold knowledge-derived insects.

Klaus's gaze followed the sea of ​​light back and landed on the figure standing on the branch's steps.

Not far away, Reck's half-crippled body leaned against the branch's wall, with Jürgen beside him.

He stared intently at the colorful sea of ​​light, his expression even more complex than Klaus's.

He had certainly seen Lu Yuan's knowledge-derived worm, but now he had to admit that this thing and the knowledge-derived worm were not on the same path at all.

You might not notice it when there's only one, but when hundreds or thousands of them gather together, the aura they exude is something that the Knowledge Derivative Insects can't compare to.

The Blue Knight also stopped.

Her silk threads retracted behind her back, the scarlet sword energy dissipated, and she remained rooted to the spot, staring at the river of light for several moments before slowly turning her gaze back.

Having graduated from the Knight Academy, she had seen many things, but she had never seen anything like this before.

Lu Yuan stood on the steps, with a river of light surging toward flesh and blood in front of him, and a branch office packed with thousands of people behind him.

Surrounded by a sea of ​​insects, with many knowledge insects still flying around him, colorful light spots slowly moved around him, white mist pressed down from behind him, and the light of the knowledge insects spread out in front of him.

He stood on that dividing line.

He could feel those gazes.

Klaus's, Rex's, the Blue Knight's, and some other Night Watchmen who had retreated here and there, all had their gazes falling on him, filled with shock, doubt, and something else he couldn't quite make out.

Lu Yuan did not turn around.

Once this trick is revealed, it can no longer be hidden.

The doubts Klaus had been suppressing would inevitably surface sooner or later, and Rex and the Blue Knight wouldn't pretend not to see them. Margaret's words resurfaced.

Even meritorious individuals can become targets.

But there's no other choice right now.

The flesh and blood were still churning back, and the pressure from the swarm of insects was increasing. So many people in the branch were waiting for him to hold this line of defense.

Lu Yuan turned his gaze back to the stalemate dividing line in front of him.

He could feel his knowledge worms relentlessly gnawing at the flesh and blood.

At the same time, the gray text in front of them began to jump around, appearing line by line.

Pharmacology +1

[Medicinal Herbs +1]

[Ancient Music Theory +1]

[Imperial Language +1]...

The experience points were increasing rapidly.

After this wave, aside from the current state of Rationality and Bronze City, almost every skill has increased significantly.

Lu Yuan felt a surge of joy as he watched the text keep popping up.

Just then, Klaus caught up from the front; he wasn't far away to begin with.

The green light on the bone armor had dimmed considerably. The bone armor, along with the bone sword, was originally formed from a bone ring, but now it had shrunk back into the ring.

With the insect swarm holding the line, we don't need him here for the time being.

He walked straight up to Lu Yuan, not asking what those knowledge worms were, but directly asking, "Have you sensed anything over in the inner city?"

Lu Yuan nodded.

He certainly sensed it; the power was still slightly warm, and the changes in the atmosphere in the inner city were too drastic to ignore.

"The Guardians won't last much longer." As Klaus said this, he pulled out a copper-cased medicine bottle about the length of a finger, the seal bearing the imperial emblem.

Lu Yuan's gaze fell upon it, and the gray and white characters jumped up.

Target detected: Dying Breath (Special Alchemical Product)