124: Chapter 62 The Gate

As dusk settled, the gas streetlights along Water Pump Street flickered on one by one. The dim yellow light pierced through the thin night mist, casting fragmented spots of light onto the damp cobblestone road.

Lu Li spread the copper lock inspection report flat on the wooden counter of Abraham's grocery store, the room filled with the mingled scent of old paper and damp wood.

"The scratches on the keyhole are fresh," he said, looking directly at the other person with a resolute tone. "The technique was extremely precise; there was absolutely no sign that his old left-hand injury had any impact."

Abraham lowered his head to quickly scan the report, then reached out to pull a paper record page from the drawer.

The page contained records of abnormal sightings in the reef area of Storm Cape: that mysterious sailless boat had docked at the pier for the second time. The second stay was extremely hurried, and before leaving, someone had carved a strange pattern onto the old wooden pilings.

"It's a variant of an Aurora Order blood sacrifice rune," Abraham said softly. "The Secret Order has records that this type of pattern is specifically used to transmit encrypted information between secret strongholds."

It was clear that Ince was using the sailless boat to connect with Storm Cape, and what was being passed back and forth was not supplies, but critical information.

The previous two underground branch anchor points were merely sentry decoys he had deliberately set up.

"His real goal is what lies behind the iron gate." Lu Li pointed his fingertip at the diagram of the keyhole scratches on the report, reviewing the flaws clearly. "The temporary Seal Rune at the branch anchor point was crude and clumsy, looking as if it were caused by his old injury flaring up and his spirituality becoming unstable."

"But the precise Lock Picking technique completely exposed the truth. His left-hand injury is real, but he used it to deliberately mislead all his pursuers."

Abraham pressed his fingertips lightly against the cover of the ledger, taking over the conversation to reveal the secret deep underground:

"Behind that iron gate lies an underground fissure connected to the outskirts of the Chanis Gate. This fissure leads directly to the depths of the Sea of Wraith."

"If he has hidden rune fragments in advance, he only needs to activate the fissure to directly extract a massive amount of spiritual dust. There is no need for anchor point support or crystal core energy storage."

A fatal, unavoidable hazard would follow. The entire natural fissure structure is extremely unstable, and a single activation would inevitably trigger a total collapse. This is also the core reason why Ince has repeatedly connected with Storm Cape, confirming the coordinates and activation conditions time and time again.

"He is waiting for the best opportunity," Abraham said in a deep voice. "The peak of the autumn tide."

"At that time, the overall stability of the fissure will reach a short-term peak, sufficient to support a high-intensity, large-scale extraction of dust. Once it is done and the fissure collapses completely, it won't matter to him at all."

Lu Li folded the inspection report and put it into his pocket, his eyes calm and sharp.

"There are less than two months left until the peak of the tide."

"According to his layout, he will definitely activate the branch anchor point again before the peak arrives. The goal is not to stockpile dust, but to test the real-time stability of the underground fissure with weak spiritual pulses."

"We must seize this test, lock onto the precise coordinates of the fissure, and break through that iron gate before he makes his move."

At the same time, at 15 Mingde Street, the detective agency.

The room was dim, with the curtains half-drawn, shutting out the bustling twilight on the street.

Sherlock stared at the dense handwriting appearing on the surface of the paper figurine; it was the complete intelligence sent by Lu Li.

The gate led directly to the fissure on the outskirts of the Chanis Gate, connecting to the Sea of Wraith.

The clumsy seal on the anchor point was entirely a ruse; Ince's fine operational capabilities were completely intact.

The sentries were fake, and the fissure rune fragments were real.

Once the fissure was activated using the peak of the autumn tide, the total amount of spiritual dust extracted would crush the sum of all previous artificial anchor points. This dust would be enough for him to refine sufficient potions to delay the corruption and erosion within himself for months, or even longer.

Sherlock leaned back against the chair, his fingertips pinching an enamel cup covered with a knitted cozy, a hint of gravity in his eyes.

Ince Zangwill had been in the Tingen Nighthawks squad for fifteen years, deeply involved in the sealing system. His understanding of the pros and cons of all secret nodes and underground fissures in both the inner and outer perimeters far exceeded that of an ordinary senior Nighthawk.

He had long known about this dangerous fissure leading directly to the Sea of Wraith. However, during his tenure, he had always restrained himself from using it, fearing that the fissure's collapse would trigger a chain reaction of collapses across the entire underground sealing node system, affecting the entire city.

But today is different from the past. A fugitive at the end of his rope no longer has any concerns or bottom line. He can disregard all costs to overturn the sealing balance beneath Backlund.

Sherlock put down his teacup, took out a new blank paper figurine, and quickly picked up his pen to write down the warning and countermeasures:

The activation of the gate fissure would inevitably lead to a collapse, and the shock waves would propagate along the bedrock layer, very easily triggering a chain collapse of the entire underground sealing node system in the Old Industrial District.

It is necessary to immediately contact the Secret Order to pre-deploy buffer seals at the boundary between the two zones. Keep a close watch on recent anchor point anomalies to lock down the exact time of Ince's test activation.

After finishing the spiritual endowment, the paper figurine soared into the air, turning into an invisible afterimage as it sped towards Water Pump Street.

Night completely enveloped Backlund. The abandoned alleys of the Old Industrial District were cold and damp, and the evening wind whistled through the empty, dilapidated factory window frames. The entrance to the branch path, littered with rubble, was covered in spider webs and felt deathly still.

Lu Li and Sherlock met here, both squatting on either side of the branch path, lowering their voices to quickly exchange intelligence.

"The spatial perception charm set up by Vera captured a very weak spiritual fluctuation," Lu Li spoke first.

"The duration was extremely short, and the intensity was less than a tenth of the anomaly during the summer solstice. It was a test."

Ince was using the anchor point to output weak spiritual pulses, testing the stability of the anchor point while tentatively touching the deep fissure to read the spiritual feedback. In order not to detonate the fissure prematurely and cause an early collapse, he had to keep the pulse intensity to an absolute minimum.

"The intervals between his tests are constantly shortening," Lu Li concluded. "He is very anxious; he is in a hurry."

Sherlock tapped his foot on the cold bluestone ground and slowly analyzed, "The peak of the autumn tide is the final window. He is repeatedly testing now to collect data on the fissure's spiritual fluctuations."

"He is using it to compare and calibrate with the encrypted information coming from Storm Cape. The Aurora Order rune on the wooden pilings in the reef area records the precise coordinates and time window parameters for the fissure activation."

Over at Storm Cape, there must be someone more familiar with the Sea of Wraith and the structure of natural fissures who is calculating the safest activation timing for Ince.

"Once the test data matches perfectly, he will make his move at the peak of the tide."

Sherlock looked up into the deep, dark depths of the branch path:

"The dust extracted from a single fissure is enough for him to significantly suppress the erosion within his body. After it is done and the fissure completely collapses, all traces will be destroyed, and we will completely lose the trail."

"What's more dangerous is that this fissure shares the same bedrock layer with many sealing nodes on the outskirts of the Chanis Gate."

"The collapse shockwave will propagate in a chain reaction along the bedrock layer, and the entire underground sealing system of the Old Industrial District could collapse on a large scale at any time."

"The traces marked by the spring mold mycelium and the node distribution map in the Secret Order archives clearly indicate all transmission connection points," Lu Li added, his tone steady. "We can pre-deploy holy water talismans at key nodes to build buffer seals and lock down the propagation path of the shockwave."

The two exchanged a glance, reaching a tacit agreement, and said no more.

The night was deathly silent, and the shadows of the abandoned factory twisted and coiled over the land. The anchor point deep in the branch path continued to pulse steadily and weakly. The secret fissure behind the iron gate slumbered in the Darkness, silently waiting for the arrival of the next test pulse.

Far away in the depths of the Sea of Wraith, the power of the autumn tide, capable of overturning the balance of the underground seals, was slowly accumulating and brewing.

Above the gray fog, there was eternal silence. The vast, boundless gray mist surged and floated, isolating all worldly aura. The towering bronze long table lay quietly in the void, and the Fool sat on the high-backed chair at the head of the table, his posture indifferent, looking down from above.

The Hanged Man bowed and reported the latest investigation results: at the old pier in the reef area of Storm Cape in the Fog Sea, a variant of the Aurora Order blood sacrifice rune had reappeared. The residual spiritual frequency of the rune was highly consistent with the natural fluctuations of the underground fissure in the Sea of Wraith.

"Continue to monitor the reef area," Klein said, his tone low and flat, carrying unquestionable majesty. "Focus on guarding against all ships sailing from Storm Cape to Backlund around the peak of the autumn tide."

The Hanged Man acknowledged and retreated; the regular Tarot Club gathering ended.

In the empty temple of gray fog, only the Fool remained. Klein raised his hand, took out the spiritual paper figurine from his sleeve, and read the complete intelligence summary sent from below.

Ince's test pulses had been captured, and the approximate coordinates of the fissure were initially locked. The benefits of activating the fissure were huge, but the cost was an irreversible total collapse.

His fingertips tapped lightly on the cold bronze tabletop, his thoughts calm. There was still some time before the peak of the autumn tide. He had to complete the final cross-comparison of the buffer seal plan and the Secret Order's spatial perception data before the final window period arrived, completely blocking off Ince's last retreat.

The gray fog surged, silent and soundless. A game concerning the safety of the underground seals of Backlund had already entered its final countdown.