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

"Let's continue our discussion on some...deeper topics after this game," Eve said.

"What are we discussing?"

"What specific new obligations are included in this long-term partnership?"

"Let's start with information sharing and mutual protection of personal safety," Gordon said. "For example, you helped me set up a meditation array without proposing any additional conditions, which is very good."

Eve chuckled softly, her fingers slowly withdrawing from Gordon's palm.

As a thoughtful researcher, she intended to proceed with the project step by step, and she did not approve of overly radical tastes like Vera's.

She had enough patience to personally experience all the details and slowly advance each stage.

Later that evening, Vera arrived at the St. Bartholomew's Monastery.

Although it had only been less than two days, she still cared a lot about Gordon.

Pinch his arm, look into his eyes.

Vera read many changes in the text, but she couldn't explain what they were.

"Things have changed," she said.

"where?"

"Even more dangerous."

"Indeed, I feel like I have inexhaustible strength right now." Gordon took out the Void Flow Demon Sword.

He used flow manipulation to constrain the liquid metal, and the silvery water flow quickly elongated and converged, forming a narrow, cold, and slender blade.

This sword is very strange.

Its end is closely connected to the hilt, and if you are not careful, it will become soft and harmless. Only in Gordon's hands can it become a transformable magic blade, and turn into a sharp blade the moment it touches the target.

They arrived at the ruins of the monastery.

The place is littered with broken stone beams, shattered bricks, and damaged furniture.

Due to the torrential rain, the craftsmen have not yet had the time or energy to repair the site, and the place that once led to the underground cavern is now flowing with water.

He tried to swing his sword at a broken stone pillar.

The blade struck the middle of the stone pillar, sparks flew, followed by a thin, sharp scraping sound.

It did not display the dignity befitting granite; a barely perceptible mark appeared on the pillar, cut directly a third of the way by the sword, like cutting through a piece of cheese.

Gordon drew the sword from it; it was thin and the draw was light and smooth.

:

Vera was taken aback.

When she first saw this mysterious fluid that could hardly be called a "sword", she had no hope that it would be of any use.

However, they were able to easily cut through the stone pillar.

It's so smooth! It doesn't look real at all.

This demonstrates that Gordon's movements were precise, his power was applied correctly, and his sword cooperated very well.

"Give it a try." Vera pulled out the black spike and turned to Gordon.

"Come on. How much force should I use?"

"I'm not afraid to give it my all."

Gordon controlled the Void Flow Demon Sword to thrust forward, while Vera blocked it with her sword.

The moment the two weapons made contact, the silver blade suddenly melted into two streams, flowing from both sides of the black sword. After passing through the defense, they reformed, resembling two deadly spikes that stopped in front of Vera's chest.

"Hmm?" Vera found herself in a dilemma. "Let's try again."

Gao Deng turned the sword into water and returned it to his hand.

He slashed at Vera again.

She dodged to the side, but the sword followed her movement, transforming into a sharp edge behind her.

Vera stepped back, her back touching the blade, and instantly felt a chill run down her spine.

"Are you alright?" Gordon quickly asked.

"It's okay." Vera took a deep breath.

At first, she went easy on Gordon, giving him the chance to adventure with her. Later, her punches couldn't hit him. Now, with the right weapon, Gordon has a chance to break through her defenses.

The two stood still again.

Vera watched the constantly changing sword blade and nodded silently.

In Gordon's hands, it constantly transforms into various forms that the fluid can manifest: swords, knives, arcs, spikes, changing at will according to his ideas.

It is a fluid when necessary, but can also condense and transform into an extremely sharp solid at any time.

Stab if you want, slash if you want...

"This is an undefendable weapon," Vera made a professional assessment from her perspective. "Once it's used, any defense will fail due to its unpredictable nature."

:

It's like facing a jet of liquid; unless you're holding an airtight shield, you'll definitely get wet.

When faced with such a sharp weapon, "getting wet" means injury, bleeding, and death.

"I still have so much to learn—stance, footwork, distance control, how to generate power." Gordon rotated his wrist. "Teach me everything, Vera. Let me protect you from now on!"

"it is good."

Vera was very pleased with this.

After all, she hadn't used her full strength just now.

She would only be satisfied if she trained Gordon to be a man who could fight her to the death, honorably and with his life on the line.

……

On July 24, 3355, the road to the chapel across the water was fully opened.

The temporary command post was set up directly above the chapel, inside an evacuated hotel.

After days of training, Gao Deng's overall energy and spirit have improved significantly.

Upon entering, the walls were covered with detailed survey maps of every aspect of the chapel wading through the water.

More than forty people had already gathered inside.

Judging from the red arrows that pierced through the defenses, the Imperials were determined to succeed in this operation.

Vera followed closely behind him.

Vera had already obtained the Dragon Lizard Demon Scale Armor, which greatly enhanced her defense and added some insurance to her journey.

On one side of the long table stood Imperial Army and Engineering Corps soldiers in red uniforms, and on the other side stood Royal Anglican Knights. Behind them stood doctors and rescue workers from the Benevolent Order. Among them was Rachel, the young doctor whom he had met briefly during the collapse. She nodded to Gordon.

There were also many city patrol officers dispatched by the Lundnium Police Department, and Shirin was so small that she could hardly be seen inside, waving to Gordon from afar.

"Is everyone here?" Scarlett glanced around.

"One more is needed. According to the list... there's another bounty hunter who's going to come." Martin picked up the list, half of his bandages undone. "His name is..."

A white crow landed on the windowsill, followed by a second, a third, and a fourth.

The hushed conversation in the command room suddenly stopped, and people turned to look at the birds.

A bird flew in, landed in an empty space, and then exploded into a pile of light dust, after which a tall figure stood up.

He wore an exquisite white trench coat, an elegant scarf, carried the longsword "Steel Core" on his back, and had an Emotion Killer belt at his waist.

:

Arthur Gray glanced arrogantly at everyone around him, making sure they had all seen him, before nodding in satisfaction.

"Grey! You're out!" Gordon looked at him in surprise.

"Tsk, don't act like we're old friends." Gray lifted his chin.

In fact, Gray hadn't expected his refinement of the Source Essence to be so smooth this time. The Source Essence blended into his system like milk, adding to his domain.

What he never expected was that so many wonderful things would happen in Lundenim during the month he spent in deep cultivation.

"Mr. Arthur Gray, who would you like to work with?" Scarlett picked up the list.

The hunters nearby who recognized him all exchanged subtle glances and lowered their heads in unison, fearing that Gray would spot them.

Being Gray's enemy is terrible, but being Gray's friend is even worse.

"Gordon," Gray said.

"We're not familiar with each other," Gordon protested.

Gray walked to Gordon's side, crossed his arms, and clearly took up a spot.

"Alright." Scarlett wasted no time, picked up the blueprints, and said, "Prepare the report."

An engineering officer pulled a brass lever on the wall, the gears turned, and a cross-sectional diagram was lowered.

They saw that the main body of the chapel had sunk nearly 100 meters underground, with ancient drainage systems, natural underground fissures, and modern sewers passing through strata from different eras.

According to the survey, the chapel was built inside a large ancient underground cave.

"The complex is 400 meters wide from east to west and 600 meters deep from north to south. The confirmed areas include the priest's hall, the congregation's living quarters, the ceremonial pool, and an underground water system whose depth is unknown," Scarlett instructed.

"The torrential rain caused the water level inside the chapel to rise significantly, and the roads that were originally passable were submerged. The operation adopted a multi-pronged attack. The main force entered through the ancient water channel, blasted open the gaps in the rocks from the high ground, provided a fire support point, and assisted two battalions of Imperial infantry in seizing the stone bridge to fight against the main force of the Blackwater Hermitage and the superhumans."

She tapped the markers on the map with the pointer.

Representatives from the Royal Order of Knights confirmed they would spread holy oil along the route and establish a supply point every two hundred meters. A major from the military assessed the combat capabilities of the merfolk, otherworldly beings, and Blackwater Hermitage officers, aiming to minimize casualties among soldiers without supernatural abilities in the conflict.

They are very rational.

With firepower and training, proper deployment and strict discipline, the Empire can rely on a large number of mortals to handle wars involving the supernatural.

Scarlett then proceeded with the planning.

"Four different teams will start from various angles, bypassing the chapel's frontal defenses, and advancing deep into the interior through underground maintenance pipes, ancient drainage channels, and other routes. Gordon Vick will replace Investigator Martin Hott and be allowed to lead one team alone. Besides Arthur Gray, who else would you like?"

"Vera Cartrett, Eve Grant..."

"...Shireen Paisley, we need a sniper."

:

Shirin waited on tiptoe for a long time, and when she heard Gordon call her name, she finally couldn't help but let out a suppressed cheer.

She greeted the patrol officers nearby, then walked excitedly to Gordon's side.

"I'm here." Shirin was overwhelmed with emotion.

Gordon chose to enter through the underground water canal to inspect the pipeline.

Based on his knowledge of the underground hydrographic map of Lundenim, he knew that the fastest and closest way to reach the chapel was from there, where an ancient shaft led directly to the top of the chapel.

"Well then..." Scarlett continued selecting, "The second team, led by Royal Protestant Knight Oswin, will advance through the underground tomb passage; the third team, led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Beckett, will pass through the lair of an ancient cave-dwelling creature; and the fourth team, led by Investigator Griff..."

She carefully selected her team members to ensure they were all skilled, and then summarized her performance.

"Besides our main operation, the other teams have three main tasks: find the source of the song, find the mermaid, and disrupt their operation, whatever they're doing in the chapel wading through the water. If you encounter Olivia, codenamed 'Lady,' or Severin, codenamed 'Swordsman,' try to avoid direct combat unless you have the same confidence in your abilities as I do," Scarlett explained.

Everyone accepted their orders.

Next, Scarlett had the engineers show them a large quantity of waterproof explosives and a small quantity of underwater breathing agents.

Gordon received two underwater breathing kits, first aid supplies including a regeneration compound and a life-saving ampoule, as well as enough guns and ammunition.

He glanced around; Vera, Eve, Grey, and Shireen were all ready to fight, and he took a deep breath.

As the whistle sounded to signal the start of the operation, the army, determined to conquer the chapel in the flooded area, swiftly began its advance.

……

Half an hour later, they arrived at the bottom of the dark passage. Gordon raised his hand and parted the gushing sewage to both sides, leading the team members forward. Vera was used to the stench of Lundnim's sewers, Eve looked natural, and Shirin also believed that the harsh environment would help to temper their will. Only Gray looked displeased.

"Next, I'd like to introduce you to another companion..."

Gordon summoned the rats.

When the rat arrived, its body had swelled up to the size of a calf, and its two red eyes were bright.

"Oh my!" Shirin drew her gun so fast it was almost invisible, nearly blowing it up.

"It looks like you've drunk a lot of water," Gordon observed carefully.

"So many human things." Rat was shocked when it saw the four people behind Gordon. Its wet white fur clung to its overdeveloped muscles, and its two front paws were as big as shovels.

"What is this?" Gray questioned, already regretting making the trip for the 150 gold pound allowance.

"The research team's advanced research results, the non-permanent staff, listen to me, after this battle is over, I'm going to apply for a national position for it." Gordon stroked the mouse bar.

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