100: Chapter 38 Speculation and Preparation

With the investigation of the Old Industrial District finally concluded, Lu Li once again locked his gaze onto the remaining movements of the black sail ship at Storm Cape.

At the desk in his River Bay District apartment, he spread out the copy of the shipping records submitted by Abraham last week. He flipped through them line by line and quickly caught a remark that was very easy to overlook.

A black market shop in the Dock District specializing in purchasing potions on behalf of others had been visited four times in the past four weeks by the same person. The items purchased were consistently diluents for the Sea of Wraith tidal dust, as well as various auxiliary materials for low-Sequence Apprentice Pathway potions.

In terms of category alone, these were merely ordinary low-level Beyonder consumables. However, when combined with the frequency and total volume of purchases, it had long since exceeded what was normally required for personal experiments or daily cultivation, revealing an indescribable strangeness.

Lu Li neatly copied down this key clue with a pencil, carefully put away the note, and confirmed that the door and window locks were all secured before pushing the door open to leave and heading straight to Water Pump Street.

The Underground Commercial Street in the daytime was still cold and desolate, with sparse foot traffic.

Abraham was lowering his head to organize a batch of newly arrived Southern Continent Spirit World dust. Hearing footsteps, he only raised his eyes to glance at him, then tacitly pulled a more detailed transaction ledger from the drawer and gently pushed it onto the desk.

"All four transactions were registered using pseudonyms from port cities in the Southern Continent."

He pointed his fingertips across the pseudonyms listed in the ledger, his tone steady: "But the subtle habits of the handwriting's turns and pauses are completely identical. It is the same person deliberately disguising their identity and deliberately avoiding being tracked."

"And the last purchase was yesterday at dusk. The messenger I arranged followed him the whole way and locked onto his temporary base—the second floor of an abandoned factory in the Old Industrial District, only two blocks away from the Textile Factory where Malcolm left behind his array."

Abraham continued: "Hoarding large quantities of diluents is abnormal in usage; even the shop owner was secretly vigilant, feeling that something was wrong."

Lu Li lowered his eyes to scan through all the records, his fingertips slowly stroking the edge of the paper, and spoke softly: "The spiritual tide of the black sail ship is still continuing to wane, and the materialized wraith puppets lost on the ship cannot be replenished in the short term. This person hoarding supplies is definitely not for immediate action, but is paving the way for the return of the black sail ship."

Abraham nodded slightly: "This is already the established situation. The spiritual tide of Backlund will reach its annual peak every spring, which is the best window for the black sail ship to replenish its wraith puppets and restore its combat power. There is only one month left until this time point."

"The other party is precisely hoarding consumables before the peak arrives. It's not blind stockpiling; every step is a layout planned in advance."

Lu Li folded the ledger, put it away, tucked it into his inner pocket, turned to leave Water Pump Street, and walked slowly eastward along the bank of the Hoi River.

The early spring river breeze carried a bone-chilling cold, sweeping across the empty riverbank, bringing with it the unique desolate atmosphere of the Old Industrial District.

The Sea of Wraith, which once had surging fog and was filled with mysteries, had long since seen its fog disperse and tide calm. On the stone piers of the old pier, only the grayish-white salt stains left by the daily washing of the tide remained, layered and mottled with age.

He stopped at the edge of the pier and took out the copper compass from his waist to calibrate his orientation.

The magnetic needle on the dial trembled slightly, steadily pointing towards the direction of the Dock District. The deviation was not large, but it was clearer and more stable than in the past—the activity frequency of the black sail ship's remaining personnel was steadily climbing.

Putting away the compass, Lu Li continued forward. When passing by the bakery on the street in the East Borough, Old Kohler, who was squatting at the door gnawing on black bread, suddenly looked up and recognized him at a glance.

The old man immediately put down the bread in his hand, carefully took out an object wrapped in old newspaper from his bosom, stood up, and handed it over, with a simple smile hidden in his eyes.

Inside was a sketch his daughter had recently drawn.

The picture was frozen in front of the newly opened old book exhibition hall in the Dock District. The brushwork was immature, but the details were clear. Standing at the door was an old man wearing copper-rimmed reading glasses, with a young woman in a canvas jacket standing beside him; her figure and expression were depicted quite accurately.

"The child said that the old gentleman set up a pile of brand-new comic books at the entrance of the exhibition hall and gave them to the children passing by for free. They were even more exquisite than the previous picture books," Old Kohler said in a gentle tone, full of gratification. "She was fascinated by them and came back to draw this picture overnight. That young lady even specifically praised her for having talent and asked her if she wanted to be a painter in the future."

Lu Li took the drawing, his fingertips gently stroking the rough paper surface, and understood in his heart.

The Secret Order's literature exhibition had already officially opened to the public.

They rented an abandoned warehouse in the Dock District and, under the guise of fourth epoch ancient book appraisal and literature restoration popularization, exhibited various ancient artifacts to the general public.

On the surface, it was to popularize history and cultural relic knowledge, but in reality, they were using the public exhibition to low-key release a batch of non-confidential Beyonder world investigation reports, quietly releasing signals.

Old Eye and Vera appearing at the exhibition hall at the same time meant that the internal review and vote of the Secret Order regarding the [Antigonus Ruins seal loosening, barrier closing] had already concluded, and the relevant conclusions were completely finalized and no longer internal secrets.

He tucked this simple drawing into his notebook, collected his thoughts, and walked steadily back towards the River Bay District.

When he walked to the third abandoned factory building on the outskirts of the Old Industrial District, a set of traces on the ground at the corner of the wall instantly grabbed his attention.

Those were a few extremely fresh footprints, shallow in impression, blurred in texture, and light in force, definitely not the foot pressure of an adult male. More importantly, these were traces of naked feet stepping directly on the mud, completely different from the footprints of the remaining personnel who wore canvas shoes all year round.

Lu Li's expression tightened slightly. He lightened his footsteps and followed the trajectory of the footprints to the back of the factory.

Between the broken walls and ruins, under a pile of messy broken bricks, a small lead box was quietly hidden there.

The box was carved with a complex snake-shaped circular pattern. The texture style and carving technique were exactly the same as the lead box for the rune fragments he had discovered before.

Obviously, the remaining personnel of the black sail ship had split the remaining rune fragments into multiple parts, sealed them in special lead boxes, and scattered them in various places in the Old Industrial District to avoid the risk of being searched out all at once.

And the hiding traces of the lead box in front of him were extremely hasty. The broken bricks were piled up in a messy and loose manner, and several bricks were suspended and unstable, obviously temporarily and hastily buried, without time for careful handling.

Lu Li did not touch the lead box at all, avoiding leaving any spiritual traces or personal aura. He just raised his finger slightly and branded a secret exclusive mark on the corner of the box lid with subtle spirituality, enough for him to accurately locate it later, but it would not be detected by ordinary Beyonders.

After doing all this, he quietly retreated from the factory along the original path, not disturbing this silent ruin.

He planned to wait until Leonard completely finished the investigation of the entire Old Industrial District, then organize all the fragment hiding locations into a complete list and hand it over to the Red Gloves squad.

The official authority of the Mandated Punishers was far beyond what he, an independent intelligence merchant, could compare to. Once they obtained precise clues, they could directly launch a thunderous raid and seize everything. He only needed to lock onto all the hiding points in advance to prevent the possibility of the fragments being transferred or destroyed.

The twilight deepened, and the setting sun dyed the sky of Backlund red.

When Lu Li returned to the River Bay District apartment, dusk had already enveloped the entire city.

He sat at his desk, combed through and verified the intelligence collected throughout the day, and organized it into a concise and condensed memorandum:

First, the rune fragments of the black sail ship's remaining personnel are hidden in multiple places. Currently, only two places have been identified, and the remaining locations are still waiting to be investigated. The total number is at least four;

Second, the Secret Order's Dock District ancient book exhibition has officially opened to the public, and the conclusion regarding the Antigonus Ruins seal closing has been publicly landed. Subsequent relevant investigation reports will be uniformly filed and sealed.

After confirming that all information was correct and without omissions or deviations, he closed his notebook and stood up to walk to the window.

The ivy on the windowsill sprouted two brand-new tender leaves, stretching its branches and leaves in the deep twilight, moistened by the evening breeze, glowing with a warm green light, adding a bit of vivid atmosphere.

The next morning, Lu Li set off from the Old Industrial District, passed through the junction of the River Bay District and the East Borough, and finally pointed towards the third berth of the Old Wharf—the location where the ghost ship last docked.

Lu Li stood at the desk in the River Bay District apartment and marked the coordinates sent by Leonard one by one on the copy of the municipal drainage network maintenance records.

The underground drainage network in the Old Industrial District of Backlund was much more complex than in Tingen.

The main pipelines were built at the end of the third epoch, while the branch pipes were continuously added in the following centuries. New and old pipelines were intertwined and superimposed, forming an underground labyrinth that even the municipal engineering department could not draw completely.

After the mold marks left by Ince Zangwill in this labyrinth were washed away by holy water, the tracking was interrupted for a time.

But Lu Li received a message sent by Leonard using a paper figurine yesterday evening—a new mold concentric circle pattern was found in an abandoned branch pipe in the outer ring, and the residual spiritual fluctuation at the center of the circle was exactly the same as the seal node outside the Chanis Gate.

Ince did not choose the location at random. Every mold mark he carved fell precisely on an abandoned anchor point. These anchor points had no connection when viewed individually, but when connected in the order of the time they were carved, they formed a clear path.

Ince had already activated at least four mold marks, and there were still a few left that hadn't been found.

If the last few anchor points were connected into a complete closed loop, the entire path would become a temporary Spirit World channel.

This channel was not for a Spirit Descent Ritual—the remnant soul of the Snake of Fate had already dissipated, and the Spirit Descent Ritual had lost its summoning object.

It was for Ince himself to use.

He was a Sequence 5 Gatekeeper. During his service in the Nighthawks, he had accumulated enough experience in seal maintenance and knowledge of Sequence advancement, but he lost everything due to his betrayal—the church's protection, his teammates' trust, and a stable source of materials.

A wanted former Nighthawk without the church's resource support could only rely on himself. He needed a Sealed Artifact that could stabilize his spiritual state to delay the erosion of 0-08, and the ghost ship wreckage under the third berth of the Old Wharf contained residual spiritual materials from the Sea of Wraith, which could be used to make a temporary stabilizer.

He folded the coordinate map and put it into his inner pocket, put on his outdoor trench coat, and walked towards Water Pump Street.

The hustle and bustle of the Underground Commercial Street on Water Pump Street at dusk surged from both sides of the main passage.

When Lu Li passed through the crowd and turned into Abraham's shop, Abraham was unpacking a newly arrived package of Southern Continent Spirit World dust.

After listening to Lu Li's analysis, he turned around and rummaged through the bottom layer of the shelf to find a dusty old booklet—the cover was printed with "Distribution Map of Abandoned Anchor Points of the Old Industrial District Drainage Network in Backlund," an archive discarded by the municipal engineering department, which marked more than a dozen anchor points that had long been officially abandoned.

"Ince was responsible for the maintenance of the drainage system outside the Chanis Gate when he was in the Nighthawks. He doesn't need to buy a map from the black market; he has a complete distribution map of the abandoned anchor points in his head," Abraham handed the booklet to Lu Li.

"He is carving mold marks according to this map—not choosing them randomly, but strictly following the nodes he inspected every day during his service. Several anchor points here lead directly to the area under the third berth of the Old Wharf. The ghost ship wreckage at the third berth contains spiritual materials from the Sea of Wraith, which can be used to make a stabilizer to delay the pollution and erosion of 0-08."

Lu Li took the booklet and flipped through a few pages.

The mold marks that Ince had already activated were all on this distribution map, and the remaining ones pointed directly to the third berth of the Old Wharf. "He needs the spiritual materials in the ghost ship wreckage to delay the erosion of 0-08. When the ghost ship docks, it releases the spiritual tide of the Sea of Wraith. The materials in the wreckage can only be extracted at the peak of the tide. The next spring tide peak is coming soon. He is only missing the last few marks to activate the entire path, and the time window is jammed before the arrival of the tide peak."

Abraham tapped the cover of the ledger lightly with his fingertips.

"That temporary Spirit World channel requires a huge amount of spirituality to consume. Ince doesn't have many things in his hand that can be used for energy supply. His own spiritual circuit is severely polluted and eroded by 0-08, and he cannot afford it. He needs spare rune fragments as auxiliary fuel."

"Or the core fragments of the materialized wraith puppets. The remaining personnel hoarding diluents is to reactivate these fragments and help Ince complete the last step."

Lu Li folded the distribution map of abandoned anchor points and put it into his pocket.

Leonard was investigating the remaining anchor points in the Old Industrial District, and Vera's Apprentice Pathway messenger was also assisting in tracking the movements of the remaining personnel.

Once the Spirit World channel is activated, all mold marks on the path will release spiritual pulses simultaneously. The entire channel will form a short-lived boundary zone between the Spirit World and reality, and Ince can quickly reach the ghost ship wreckage through this channel when the tide peak arrives.

But the channel only lasts for a few minutes and will automatically collapse afterwards. The best interception time is before he enters the channel—when he is preparing to activate the last few mold marks.

That evening, Leonard found another mold mark in the old boiler room of the fifth abandoned factory in the Old Industrial District.

The mycelium had just grown out for a short time, and the center of the circle was still slowly expanding. He did not wash it with holy water directly, but according to the idea provided by Lu Li when analyzing the rune structure before, he carved several blocking runes on the outer circle of the mold concentric circles, temporarily interrupting the spiritual flow of the positioning circle.

The runes worked, and the expansion speed of the mycelium slowed down significantly, but it couldn't last long.

The blocking runes were only a temporary measure. To completely stop Ince, he must lock onto all mold marks before the spring tide peak and cut off the material supply of the remaining personnel at the same time.

And the spring tide peak is just a few days away.