Chapter 332 Archbishop of the Church

Upon reaching the last few stone steps, the view suddenly opens up.

The top of the bell tower is a semi-open platform, with low walls on three sides and one side open, facing the outer city. The large bell hangs on the iron frame overhead, its inscriptions completely faded, leaving only a few blurry marks. The night wind blows in from the open side, carrying the smell of earth and the dampness of night dew.

There is only one person on the platform.

The guardian sat on the stone railing of the platform. His aged body was hunched over, and his white hair fluttered gently in the night breeze.

A pitch-black aura enveloped his entire body, spreading from his shoulders to his ankles, so thick it was almost solidified, much denser than Lu Yuan had seen from a distance before.

The black eyeballs in the aura floated up and down, some closed, some half-open, their movements aimless, as if they were looking at nothing specific.

Grayish-white text jumped out at the edge of my field of vision.

[Detection Target: Guardian (Mysterious and Extraordinary) (Beyond Common Sense)]

[A human being who has reached the end is being slowly devoured by the path he chose.]

Lu Yuan's gaze lingered on that line of text for a moment. The end...?

The judgment given in gray and white text points in the same direction as what Klaus said at the time.

The Guardians may not have much time left.

Klaus had already walked up to the Guardian.

His tone was respectful.

"grown ups."

The guardian slowly raised his head. A dark aura rippled slightly between his movements, and several of his black eyes sank and then rose again. Two or three turned towards Lu Yuan, glanced at him casually, and then looked away.

The voice was hoarse and very low.

"Speak."

Klaus did not give a lengthy report.

"The Gray Pact has at least four Tier 4 members, possibly six. The Copper Wall is deteriorating, and the Bronze Pillar is accelerating. We must deal with the Gray Pact before diving down."

He paused for a moment.

"Our Tier 4 is sufficient. However, the Gray Pact may resort to desperate measures, and given the extremely powerful Tier 4 that appeared in the pipeline layer, Rex judges that he may not be a match for them."

"An adult needs to step in."

The guards did not respond immediately.

The black eyeballs slowly rolled in the darkness. A few seconds of silence followed, then a night breeze blew across the open platform, causing the white hair to flutter slightly.

Then he spoke.

"good."

One word.

Klaus's shoulders relaxed a little.

The guard's gaze shifted from Klaus to Lu Yuan.

The black eyeballs floating in his aura all turned to one side, and the guardian looked at him with his own eyes.

The dark aura faded slightly in front of the old man, and Lu Yuan saw the guard's face clearly for the first time.

Deep wrinkles were etched into his stone-like skin, his eye sockets were sunken, and the color of his pupils was obscured by the surrounding darkness.

Those eyes were confirming him, as if they had seen something.

"You are Lu Yuan."

Lu Yuan nodded.

The guard looked at him for a few seconds.

In those few seconds, all the black eyeballs floating in the aura drooped down, and not a single one looked in Lu Yuan's direction.

"You're doing great, live well."

After the guard finished speaking, he withdrew his gaze and looked back at the night sky in the direction of the outer city, and said nothing more.

Klaus didn't explain why the Guardian said that. Lu Yuan didn't ask either.

The two stood on the platform for a while longer. A night breeze blew in from the outer city, causing the flames of the marching lanterns to flicker. The guardian's white hair and inky black aura swayed gently in the wind, his black eyes sinking into the depths of his aura, becoming completely invisible.

The Guardians agreed, and now, with the addition of Klaus, Rex, Margaret, and the other two fourth-tier individuals Klaus mentioned, they have enough trump cards inside.

The two came down from the clock tower.

The heaviness on the stone steps lessened with each step, and by the time I reached the bottom, my breathing had returned to normal. The night wind was a bit colder than when I went up, and the gaslights of the outer city in the distance formed a warm yellow patch of light, shining quietly.

Klaus paused at the base of the clock tower.

"Go to the church now."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

"Agnes, you've dealt with her before. The Church has at least one Tier 4 member in Bronze City, and the Grey Pact is also a threat to the Church. That's enough reasoning."

Lu Yuan nodded. "What about the Earl's mansion?"

"I'll handle the Earl's mansion." Klaus's tone regained its businesslike calm. "The attendant is a fourth-rank official; the Earl might not be willing to lend him the place, but we can discuss it."

He paused for a moment.

"I've already notified those two; they'll come together."

The two walked back the way they came.

Lu Yuan glanced back at the top of the clock tower. A dark aura still lingered there, appearing particularly intense in the night. Black eyeballs were faintly visible in the shadows.

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze.

When he returned to the branch office entrance, Klaus paused outside the door for a moment.

"Don't tell anyone else about what happened tonight."

"I know."

Klaus pushed open the door and went inside.

Lu Yuan stood outside the door and took a deep breath of the cold night air.

The gray and white text floated quietly at the edge of my field of vision.

[Sanity: -1...83/140]

Within the symbiotic connection, the worm of knowledge lay curled up deep within the left eye, motionless. The tiny worm huddled at the base of the key; its luster flickered slightly before settling back down.

The image of those black eyeballs drooping down is still etched in my mind. What are they avoiding?

After Klaus pushed open the door, he stood outside for a few seconds, took a deep breath of the cold air, and turned to walk towards the outer city church.

Since the church moved to Bronze City, only one main church has been built, and the distance from the branch to the main church is not far, so it will be completed in a short time.

The outline of the church emerged from the night, its black stone gleaming as if it had never been worn by wind and rain, and the bronze ornaments on the spire reflected a dark light in the dim glow of the gas lamps.

Two monks stood guard on either side of the entrance, their eyes lowered and their hands folded in front of them.

Arriving late at night, the two cultivators glanced up. Lu Yuan identified himself, and one of them went inside to announce their arrival.

It didn't take long.

Agnes emerged from the side corridor, her black hood pulled up, her long, moon-white hair tucked inside. Despite being woken in the middle of the night, her expression showed no impatience; she nodded slightly upon seeing Lu Yuan.

"Come with me."

Lu Yuan didn't beat around the bush. As they walked, he explained that the Night Watch was preparing to take action against the Grey Pact Society, and that the operation would take place tonight, requiring the church to send people.

Agnes simply nodded after hearing this.

"I cannot make a decision, so you need to consult the archbishop."

"Come with me."

Agnes led Lu Yuan through the corridor, down a set of stone steps, and into a narrow passageway in the side wing of the church. At the end of the passageway was an unmarked wooden door. Agnes knocked twice and pushed the door open.

The side room was small, with a row of bookshelves against the wall and a long table in the middle, with an oil lamp lit on it. A person sat at the table, several documents spread out in front of him, and he looked like he hadn't rested yet.

The robe was purple, embroidered with gold patterns that ran from the collar to the cuffs. Lu Yuan had seen Samuel's archbishop's purple robe in the old city, but that one didn't have this gold pattern.

The middle-aged man had a kind face, regular features, and a clean jawline. When he raised his head, his gaze was gentle, but for a moment when it lingered on Lu Yuan, he frowned slightly.

[Target for detection: Archbishop of the Church (Extraordinary Believer)]

Humans who believe in angels and strange things are, in a sense, believers in the extraordinary, aren't they?

Lu Yuan looked at this and couldn't help but twitch his eye. What was this all about?

Agnes stood aside and did not sit down.

"This is Lu Yuan of the Night Watch."

Lu Yuan repeated what he had just told Agnes: the Gray Pact, the hideout, tonight's operation, and the need for church support.

After listening, the man tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

"The Gray Pact has two seeds?"

Lu Yuan nodded, because the simplest way to teach someone how to use their skills is to start with a seed.

The man glanced at Agnes, then stood up.

"no problem."

His voice wasn't loud, but after he finished speaking, Agnes didn't ask any further questions or add anything.

"Adrian." He nodded to Lu Yuan, which was his way of introducing himself.

Adrian walked to a corner of the side hall and opened a wardrobe. He took off his purple robe, folded it neatly, and put on a dark gray ordinary coat. He buttoned it all the way up, and the gold-embroidered robe was put away in the wardrobe.

When the cabinet door is closed, he looks like an ordinary middle-aged man.

"Let's go."

The two of them exited through a side door of the church. Only the footsteps of Lu Yuan and Adrian echoed through the outer city streets late at night.

By the time we returned to the branch, the sky was already turning gray.

There were twice as many people in the corridor as usual.

Klaus has returned. The Earl's servant is also there, standing near the meeting room door. He is tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a dark uniform, with a narrow-bladed longsword at his waist, and his face is expressionless.

Rick leaned against the corridor wall, arms crossed, eyes closed. Margaret stood in the doorway of the supply room, holding a list but not looking at it. Bor squatted on the floor checking the communications equipment, while Glock spread out a map next to him.

Two people stood in the shadows at the end of the corridor. Their hoods were pulled low, obscuring most of their faces; they were silent and kept their distance from the crowd. This was the first time Lu Yuan had seen them at such close range.

When Klaus saw Lu Yuan return with his men, he nodded toward the conference room.

Everyone walked inside.

The meeting room door closed.

Klaus stood at one end of the table, not sitting. Those present were: Rex, Margaret, the two hooded figures, Adrian, the Earl's squire, Bor, Glock, and Lu Yuan. Everyone who could come was there, except for the guards.

"The Grey Contract Society's tracking markers are still there."

Klaus skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"The marks on Ring and 9 haven't disappeared. The tracking crystal can pinpoint their location, but there's a problem."

He glanced at Lake.

"They'll notice the moment the crystal activates," Rick replied.

Klaus nodded. "So we can't activate it prematurely. We need to rely on the crystal's passive signal to determine the general direction first, and then activate it. We only have one chance."