Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

"When will the final offensive begin?" Gordon asked.

"The Imperial Army's engineering corps has already taken the lead. This time it's not a small-team raid. To deal with the superhumans and their subordinates, we may have to use thousands of people this time. We need to clear enough roads for them to march, which will take about three or four days. You can use these days to continue preparing."

Gordon was planning to use the items he won at the auction for a period of cultivation, and he decided to take full advantage of this time difference.

"Why don't you show us what you've got? I've never seen you fight before. Stand up and fight!" Gordon encouraged.

"That doesn't sound like something a doctor would say. You'll be taking over command of a team, and you'll decide who goes in." Martin's bandages still reeked of medicine.

Gordon, Vera, Eve, and maybe Shirin, that makes four. I wonder if any other kind people will be willing to help.

"I've become a captain-level figure now, that's great, that's great." Gordon nodded. "...You mentioned achievements earlier, didn't you? Without that heartbreaking word 'small,' I hate small things the most."

"Indeed, this is no longer a small-scale operation. If 'Captain Vic' can achieve key results in the Battle of the Flooded Chapel, you can become a formal investigator. You will also have access to your own notebook and be able to handle cases independently."

Martin looked at his black notebook.

[An investigator's notebook. It usually begins with "The killer is no ordinary human."]

"The next level up is Special Investigator?"

"Upon completing a great undertaking, the Empire will grant corresponding authority and honors."

"It's hard to explain if someone does something so big without giving them a title."

"You could say that."

"What are the benefits of being a formal investigator?" Gordon asked immediately. "It depends on how well I perform in the next battle."

"A formal investigator can work independently; you will be my colleague, with an annual pension of one hundred gold pounds."

"I can earn 100 gold pounds a month by renting out my warehouse, so I'm risking turning into a fish and being eaten by fish, and my income is not as good as keeping the Vic One warehouse in place," Gordon questioned.

"Wealth, power, and source energy—someone like you wouldn't be satisfied with just one of them. Investigators have all three: a salary, the authority to mobilize local police and cordon off crime scenes, and a quota for applying for source energy resources."

Gordon nodded.

Once you leave the internship status, your initiative will increase significantly.

"Since you can't control me, then I'll just register my own achievements from now on? I'll fill in my achievements with my eyes closed."

"No, it was just Miss Top Grade who applied for it for you."

"Ah, so my boss of the opposite sex has appeared."

Martin felt that his injury was ill-timed.

"In short, your previous actions can be considered a small achievement." He recalled the emergency rescue not long ago.

:

"Save it for me. I'm going to hunt down a major achievement now, one that's no small matter and no compromises." Then, Gordon remembered something else: "What exactly did the swordsman merman take from the auction house warehouse?"

"Sheet music, just a piece of sheet music, that's all he wanted, he didn't take anything else," Martin said.

Gordon left the ward, seemingly lost in thought.

Then, he began to think deeply.

Within a few days, all the clues converged on the same point.

Severin attacks the St. Bartholomew's Monastery, steals the auction items, and escapes into the wading chapel. The song of a mermaid appears from underground, and heavy rain falls from the sky. The Blackwater Hermitage is gathering its strength.

The Public Health and Jobs Recovery Act has been passed, and 80,000 jobs are being siphoned off potential members of the Blackwater Hermitage, vying for the most important hearts and minds from the cultists.

Two trends are about to collide.

He stood beside the quiet courtyard of the monastery.

Not long ago, this place was filled with auction guests, but now only dust remains. The houses to the north, which once sheltered the priests from the wind and rain, are now broken into pieces, turning into a brick and stone ruin that has to withstand the rain.

How terrifying. Gordon recalled the sword that sliced ​​through the building.

He has become stronger; without strength, one always feels a lack of ease and control.

The Spiritual Crystal of the Weaving Phase is perfect for enlightenment, and the Void Flow Demon Sword also needs to be mastered as soon as possible.

"How did it go?" Eve's voice came from behind.

She had a perpetually burning lantern hanging from her waist; the white flame burned silently behind twelve glass panels, producing neither smoke nor sound.

"Not bad. I'm getting ready for the Super Adventure. Would you like to join my team?"

"Of course," Eve replied without hesitation.

"As the captain, I need to become an expert. How do I use those crystals?" Gordon didn't quite understand. "I don't want to swallow them. The one thing in the world that should least understand spatial loops is my intestines."

"Spiritual crystallization is an excellent medium for resonance. Now all you need to do is create a suitable environment to immerse yourself in spirituality. Generally speaking, the first resonance is the most effective. Have you tried deep meditation?"

Gordon recalled that he had first experienced the unbroken string and first seen the mythical loom before the Easter holiday.

I was blacked out for about 10 hours. When I woke up, my mind was incredibly clear, as if my brain cells had been rearranged, and my strength had increased significantly.

Now I guess I need to spend some time reflecting on it.

"Yes, I did. My mind wandered away from home for a while, and when I came back, I was completely transformed," Gordon said.

"This time it might take longer, so find a quiet place."

:

"Places like Lundnium are rare; they're usually in cemeteries."

“This is just right.” Eve stomped her foot on the floor. “Because of the attack, the monastery will be closed to visitors for a month. The auction is over, the investigators and the wounded will leave after they recover, and the priests will be praying in silence. Right now, this place has become a rare quiet spot in Lundenim.”

"That's true." Gordon looked at the collapsed building and the deserted monastery. To avoid public panic, the disaster might be downplayed as poor building quality, enough to keep pedestrians away for a while.

"Then, I'll take care of the setup. It'll probably take about two hours. You go and get something to eat first. The people you love and who love you are waiting for you." Eve winked at Gordon.

"Senior, you're so kind to me."

"These are things I think should be done," Eve said with a faint smile.

……

Outside the monastery, Charlotte was preparing to go back, holding an umbrella in her hand.

Gordon said goodbye to her.

"I really went back. My father sent people to find me to make sure I wasn't hurt. Three groups of people came in total," Charlotte told Gordon.

"I need to reflect here for a while."

"You must notify me first after you come out."

"clear."

"Also, once all this is over, we're really, really going on a trip. We went through so much trouble to win a summer without homework, and I don't want all I'll remember are cult attacks, evil contamination, and some business plans." Charlotte came over and straightened Gordon's clothes.

"Yes, my beloved and beautiful princess baby."

"Be good to yourself." Charlotte stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

She returned to the carriage, outwardly calm, but inwardly feeling a sense of unease about the impending underwater war.

that's terrible.

This war will conscript many people, but she herself is not among them.

A thought surfaced... Should we go find another source essence? A stronger source essence, a stronger power.

That's probably how Source Hunters are; once they start, they're never satisfied.

With mixed feelings, Charlotte walked away into the distance.

……

Two hours later, Gordon returned to the room where he had been resting.

Eve has already arranged the woven spiritual crystals in the positions required for the meditation array.

:

Each crystal looks like a Möbius strip, with finer threads than spider silk suspended inside. The inner and outer structures are nested together, forming a precise fractal structure with Eve's arrangement. Each spiral is self-contained in a higher-level structure, with no beginning and no end in sight.

[A spiritual crystallization of the fabric. I am the answer, but what is the question?]

"Like a spider's nest," Vera remarked from inside the doorway.

"Gordon might be gone for several days. Are you going to stay here the whole time?" Eve asked as she walked out.

"certainly."

"Before the big battle, you need to ensure your physical condition; staying here will only lead to idleness. The threat of the swordsman merman has been temporarily eliminated; have you considered returning to the agency to rest?"

"..." Vera glanced at Gordon.

"I feel it's unfair to you to keep sitting here waiting for me to come out," Gordon said frankly. He didn't want Vera to lose herself because of him.

Vera thought for a moment.

"OK."

She walked over, picked Gordon up tightly, took a deep breath of its scent, as if she needed it to get through the next period of time, and only after a long while did she put Gordon back on the ground.

Vera staggered away.

Gordon watched her walk away.

"What about the senior?" Gordon asked, looking at her.

"I am responsible for monitoring the spiritual concentration and helping you when you show signs of contamination. If someone comes to me, I will make them understand the importance of quiet."

"It sounds like you'll protect me very well."

"Of course, don't worry, I'll arrange everything for you."

Then, Eve bent over with her back to him and placed the last crystal in front of Gordon. The astonishingly large crystal rose high, making her look more like a spider.

Before long, Eve had Gordon sit in the middle, drew the curtains, closed the door, and left him alone in the darkness.

Gordon didn't feel anything at first.

But then, the spirituality of the weaving began to spread.

They flowed into Gordon's nerves, starting with the spiritual crystals closest to him, and began to resonate one by one.

He felt his spirit entering a beginningless and endless orbit, entering the mysterious landscape revealed to him by these pure woven crystals, beginning a tranquil and vast spiritual journey, his whole body and mind rapidly sinking into a vast and boundless space.

Gordon began to truly grow.

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