123: Chapter 61 Points

The message that the anchor point in the Old Industrial District branch had been activated was delivered to Mingde Street via the old bookstore on Water Pump Street.

On the note Lu Li handed over, the precise coordinates of the anchor point and the complete trajectory of the mycelium imprints were clearly marked.

The last line of handwriting was neat and pointed straight to the key: the core of the branch anchor point was intact and not shattered. Ince had stabilized the base with a temporary Seal Rune, but the sealing technique was crude. His old injury on his left hand had likely already interfered with the precision of his spirituality output.

Inside the Mingde Street Detective Agency, the light was dim.

Sherlock laid the note flat on the desk, which was covered in a thin layer of dust, and spread out the yellowed distribution map of the Old Industrial District drainage network.

After repeated comparisons, he confirmed the anomaly.

This underground node was neither in the internal distribution map of the Secret Order nor in any municipal maintenance records.

It was obviously the work of Ince Zangwill.

He had served in the Tingen Nighthawks squad for fifteen years, handled countless sealed nodes, and knew all the weaknesses and hidden blind spots of the official sealing system like the back of his hand. During his tenure, he had quietly deleted all official files for this node.

Now, this experience, cultivated over many years, had become his greatest reliance while on the run in Backlund.

Sherlock pulled open a drawer and took out an ordinary paper figurine.

The fountain pen fell, quickly writing down his assessment on the back of the paper figurine: "Ince's left-hand injury is affecting his spirituality output; the temporary Seal Rune is extremely unstable, and the anchor point could collapse at any time."

The target is in urgent need of backup anchor points; we must expand the scope of the investigation, focusing on clearing all unnamed abandoned branches at the junction of the Old Industrial District and the River Bay District.

After writing, he activated it with his spirituality. The paper figurine floated off the ground, turning into an imperceptible afterimage, and darted toward Water Pump Street.

That evening, deep in the cold and damp underground pipes.

Lu Li shuttled through the abandoned branch, which was filled with rubble and overgrown with spiderwebs, and successfully found the second secret anchor point.

This location was far more hidden than the first, tucked away at the end of an old branch pipe that was mostly buried by a collapsed boulder.

The flaws in the temporary Seal Rune on the surface of the base were even more obvious. Several lines were incomplete and broken, not fully closed.

It was clear that when the rune was inscribed, the spellcaster's fingertips were trembling violently, and their state was unstable.

The anchor point's crystal core was still barely running, but several fine cracks had already spread across the surface, and its stability was far inferior to the first anchor point in the branch.

Lu Li squatted down to make his exclusive spirituality mark, recorded the coordinates and the damaged state of the rune in his notebook one by one, and then continued to explore deeper into the branch.

At the end of the passage, it connected to a completely dried-up underground dark channel.

The stone walls of The Dark Channel were damp and mottled, covered with water marks left by years of standing water. Both sides of the stone walls were covered with large patches of light-brown mold mycelium, and the direction of the lines was exactly the same as around the first anchor point.

All the mycelium converged, pointing toward a rusted iron gate at the deepest part of The Dark Channel.

The copper lock on the gate had long since oxidized and rusted, stuck firmly, but the inner wall of the keyhole had extremely fine, brand-new metal scratches.

It was definitely not caused by violent lock-breaking, but by someone using an extremely thin metal tool to precisely pick the lock cylinder tooth by tooth.

The technique was steady and precise, so steady that there wasn't a hint of trembling.

This was definitely not a level that someone suffering from an old left-hand injury and a loss of control over their spirituality could achieve.

Lu Li took out a detection needle and inserted it into the scratches in the keyhole to take a sample.

A trace amount of metal debris was brought out, with a faint trace of spiritual dust attached to the surface.

After comparison, its composition was a perfect match for the Sea of Wraith dust extracted from the bases of the previous two anchor points.

The truth instantly became clear.

The rough and incomplete Seal Runes at the first two anchor points and the deliberately exposed instability of his spirituality were all illusions.

Ince's old left-hand injury was real, but it had been deliberately utilized by him to mislead all pursuers.

The rough sealing was a deliberate disguise; the precise Lock Picking was his true strength.

The branch anchor points were just sentries used to attract attention; behind this iron gate was the core secret he was truly hiding.

At the same time, inside the Mingde Street Detective Agency.

The afternoon sun was blocked by clouds, and the atmosphere inside the room was quiet and oppressive.

Audrey arrived as promised and got straight to the point, speaking about the latest developments in the Psychology Alchemists clinic salon.

"At last week's internal salon, I saw Philip Nolan again."

"He was exceptionally proactive, taking the initiative to discuss dream prediction training methods with Isabelle, and even displayed the snake-pattern diagrams he had copied during the clinic's courses in public. After the salon ended, Isabelle kept him behind, and the two had a private conversation for nearly an hour."

She paused for a moment and continued, "Philip has confirmed he will join the clinic's training program. He told me that Isabelle promised to connect him with a high-ranking Spectator Pathway mentor before the end of the year and would also recommend him to participate in the Southern Continent art psychology research team."

"I deliberately delayed the time for officially joining by using the excuse that I needed to consider it. Isabelle did not force me; her attitude was restrained, but she never relaxed her attention on me. When I was leaving, she gave me a copy of Roselle's 'Dream Analysis Theory,' with a handwritten inscription on the title page: 'May your dreams be as clear as your eyes.'"

Sherlock nodded slightly, his tone calm and firm.

"The Spectator Pathway excels at reading faces and minds. Your observational skills far exceed ordinary people's, and your eyes are the target she is focusing on."

"She doesn't urge or pressure you because she knows that forcing you will only make you more vigilant and guarded. She is waiting for you to enter the game of your own accord."

Audrey's eyes narrowed slightly as she stated her core discovery: "Philip revealed that the Southern Continent research team's itinerary includes several ancient Antigonus quarries and an abandoned ancient sacrificial platform."

"I have verified the information, and it overlaps highly with the core areas where the client's private laboratory is mining serpentine in the Southern Continent. I suspect the Psychology Alchemists are using the research team as a cover to secretly search for mutated serpentine ore or to trace the original source of that batch of ore."

Sherlock was silent for a few seconds, quickly sorting through the clues.

Previously, Vera had told Lu Li that the client's private laboratory had reached a long-term cooperation with the Secret Order, continuously supplying serpentine ore samples to the Secret Order's archives for secret research.

Once the Psychology Alchemists' research team arrives in the Southern Continent, it is highly likely they will locate the quarries and intercept the key resources.

"Do not tell Philip about your suspicions for now," Sherlock instructed. "In subsequent salons, focus on the details he mentions regarding the research team's itinerary. Record all specific place names and locations, and inform me at any time."

Several days later, in an old street in the suburbs of Backlund.

The doors and windows of Abraham's grocery store were tightly closed. The light inside was dim, and the air was mixed with the smell of old paper and dust.

Lu Li laid the test report of the gate lock hole flat on the counter.

Abraham quickly finished reading it, took out a paper record from the bottom drawer of the counter, and handed it over.

"A boat without sails appeared at the pier in the Storm Cape reef area."

"It docked twice. The second time, it stayed for a very short time. Before leaving, someone carved a special rune on the wooden piles of the pier."

Lu Li lowered his eyes to look at the rune pattern and recognized its origin at a glance.

"It's a variant of the Aurora Order's blood sacrifice rune."

"The Secret Order's archives have records about it; this is a secret encrypted pattern used specifically for transmitting intelligence between various secret supply points."

He instantly connected all the clues: "Ince is using the boat to connect to Storm Cape. He is not transporting supplies; he is transporting encrypted messages."

"The two underground anchor points are both decoys. His true target is the secret area behind the iron gate. The things hidden there are extremely critical and require him to repeatedly confirm coordinates and activation conditions with Storm Cape."

Abraham tapped his fingertips on the yellowed ledger and added in a deep voice, "Behind the gate, it is highly likely an ancient secret anchor point, or Beyonder characteristics and Sealed Artifact remains that Ince hid privately during his service."

"It is even more likely that it is an underground rift connecting to the periphery of the Chanis Gate. That rift connects directly to the Sea of Wraith."

"Once successfully activated, there is no need for anchor points or crystal cores; he can directly extract massive amounts of Sea of Wraith spiritual dust, with a magnitude far exceeding ordinary artificial anchor points."

"But the drawback is obvious." Lu Li took over the conversation, his tone serious, "The rift itself is extremely unstable. A single activation will trigger a collapse, rendering it completely useless."

"That's why he has been delaying."

Abraham nodded, "He is waiting for the peak of the autumn tide. At that time, the structure of the underground rift will be most stable, capable of supporting one complete, high-intensity extraction, which is enough for him to accomplish his goal. After that, he doesn't care whether the rift collapses or not."

Lu Li put away the report and reviewed all the details in his mind, completely seeing through Ince's layout.

The target's old left-hand injury was real, and the rough sealing of the first two anchor points had elements of being affected by the injury, but he had utilized it infinitely, turning it into the greatest smoke bomb to confuse pursuers.

He deliberately left contradictory clues: showing weakness and clumsiness at the anchor points, while revealing top-tier, precise control at the keyhole.

This was a naked hint.

He knew everyone was hunting him, so he deliberately left flaws, forcing the pursuers to repeatedly analyze and hesitate.

Ince would not stay in Backlund for long; the final key layout was about to come to an end soon.