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

"Your speed..."

"Practice makes perfect." Lu Yuan didn't explain further. "I've already dealt with Mary's situation. Her case is rather special and requires continued observation."

"It's good that Mary is alright." Hans nodded, clearly relieved.

Lu Yuan responded and turned to walk towards the library.

Mina and Brent are still inside; he needs to go check on them.

Moreover, I had promised Mina to prepare a sedative to alleviate the side effects of "Echoes of All Things," but I hadn't had time to prepare it until now that all the ingredients were available.

The library was very quiet.

Lu Yuan pushed open the door and saw Brent asleep leaning against the bookshelf, his face showing signs of fatigue.

A blanket was spread on the ground next to her, and Mina lay on it, her brows furrowed and her lips moving incessantly, as if she were having a nightmare.

The ink floated in mid-air, and those beady eyes were staring at Mina with an unusually solemn expression.

She was surrounded by several orbs of knowledge light, more than twice as many as usual.

At this moment, she was holding a ball of light in her hand, eating it bite by bite, but her movements revealed a hint of absentmindedness.

"You've arrived."

The sound of ink was very low, as if afraid of waking Mina.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yuan took a few steps closer, his gaze falling on Mina. "Has her talent flared up again?"

"Did something come out outside?" Ink took another bite of the light orb, his tone heavy. "The thing that rushed into Mina's ear just now suddenly increased in size..."

She paused, swallowed the remaining orb of light in one gulp, and then picked a new one from beside her.

"I suspect something big has appeared over there. How's it going?"

"The High Priest of the Deep Sea Church." Lu Yuan crouched down and checked Mina's condition. "But it's already resolved."

Ink breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"That's good." She put the ball of light in her mouth and said indistinctly, "Now that the source is gone, I'll recover after resting for a while."

Lu Yuan nodded, his gaze falling on Mina's pale face.

The little girl's lips were still moving slightly, uttering a few indistinct words intermittently:

"...No...I don't want to hear it..."

"...Stop shouting...please stop shouting..."

"...They can't be saved...no one can save them..."

Her voice was choked with sobs, tears welled in her eyes, and she curled up into a ball.

Lu Yuan frowned: "Why is Mina still talking about this?"

"Aftershocks," Ink sighed. "Too many of those voices have come in; we can't process them all in a short time."

She floated to Mina's side, a complex emotion flashing in her beady eyes.

"Grimport is such a mess." Ink's tone was tinged with annoyance. "All sorts of nonsense gets into her ears—the deep sea, the dead... it's a complete hodgepodge."

She paused, then picked up another ball of light and took a bite.

"Once things are settled here, we need to take her somewhere else."

Lu Yuan nodded. Grim Port was indeed not suitable for Mina. Later, he could talk to Old Morgan and ask if Mina could be sent to an Imperial province or another safe place.

Before Lu Yuan could say anything more, the communication crystal in his arms suddenly lit up.

It was Sivadin's voice, brief and urgent:

"We've arrived in the inner city. Things here haven't been resolved yet. The Viscount made a mistake, and old Morgan is investigating."

"How's it going on your end?"

Lu Yuan replied, "The situation is temporarily stable. Tell Alice that Mary's condition is under control."

"Okay. Contact me again if there's any news."

Communication was lost.

The library fell silent again, with only Mina's occasional murmurs echoing in the air.

Lu Yuan looked down at Mina, his brows furrowing slightly: "I'll go get her some medicine..."

"No," Ink interrupted him, his mouth still stuffed with half a ball of light, and mumbled, "This kind of progress is very rapid, it's best not to interrupt."

The Book Spirit chewed on the ball of light, its tone complex: "The sooner you adapt to the talent of Echoing All Things, the better. It won't hurt to suffer a little."

She paused, then added, "Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on things. If anything goes wrong, I'll call you."

Lu Yuan remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

[Current status of Port Grim: 43/50 → 44/50]

A grayish-white notification flickered at the edge of the field of vision, clearly indicating that the Viscount had done something wrong.

This caused the long-dormant experience bar to move a little more.

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze.

What exactly happened in the inner city?

Lu Yuan had no idea; now he could only wait for news from old Morgan.

Half an hour earlier, when old Morgan led Valentine and his squad through the outer city, the streets were filled with panicked people.

The lights were mostly out, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood, mixed with the putrid stench unique to mutated creatures, which sent chills down one's spine.

"There are mutants ahead." Valentine's voice came from ahead, his green eyes gleaming faintly in the darkness.

Old Morgan raised his hand, signaling the team to stop.

Valentine gestured to old Morgan that everything was fine, then dashed off in a flash. His upper body began to swell as he ran, and a layer of gray keratin seeped out from under his skin, covering his elegant face.

After a few muffled thuds, Valentine returned carrying a mutated creature that was still convulsing, and casually tossed it to the ground.

"Severely polluted, there are no human characteristics left." Valentine wiped the black blood from his hands, a look of disgust on his face. "The pollution level in the inner city is higher than I imagined."

Old Morgan crouched down and poked at the corpse with his cane.

The mutant's skin is a sickly grayish-green, covered with fine scales, with bulging eyes and a mouth that splits open to the base of the ears, revealing a row of fine, sharp teeth.

Typical deep-sea alienation characteristics.

"Let's go." Old Morgan stood up, his voice hoarse. "Don't delay."

The team continued forward.

Just then, the communication crystal on old Morgan's waist suddenly vibrated, and Hans's voice came through the crystal:

"The battle at the warehouse is over; the mastermind has been defeated."

Morgan paused slightly in his steps.

"Good, it seems the plan was a success."

"Yes, Lu Yuan controlled the turret very well, and together with Sivadin and Alice, they successfully decapitated the enemy."

Old Morgan narrowed his cloudy eyes slightly, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"After all these years of planning, it's finally not been in vain."

Old Morgan didn't say much, he simply put the communication crystal back into his waistband.

Valentine glanced back at him. "The warehouse issue is resolved. You don't seem surprised?"

"The fortifications were built for this kind of situation." Old Morgan's gaze fell towards the inner city. "I'm more worried about the inner city."

The sky in the distance was tinged with an eerie dark red, as if something was burning fiercely.