53: Chapter 53 Aftermath

On the first morning after the full Moon faded, a thick, leaden-gray mist hung heavily over Tingen City.

The sky had not yet fully brightened, and the gas streetlamps on Iron Cross Street were still burning. The dim, yellowish light pierced through layers of mist, casting hazy, soft halos that barely managed to dispel the gloom in the street corners.

The drainage branch running through the district had long since shed the eerie, fishy stench of the previous night. The groundwater that had flowed through all night had completely washed away the strange mold powder that had covered the pipes, leaving only uneven, pale white marks on the cold stone walls where the holy water had eroded them, along with the remnants of blocking runes woven from dim silver patterns, still retaining the lingering spiritual warmth of last night's fierce battle.

At the iron gate of the Pumping Station, Lu Li placed the last empty pure copper holy water bottle precisely into the dedicated recycling wooden box.

The surface of his thin black gloves was covered in fine, grayish-white mold debris, feeling dry and cold to the touch. His forearm cuffs were mostly soaked through by the cold, wet mud from deep within the pipes, clinging heavily to his skin and carrying the damp, decaying scent of the underground.

On the bluestone steps not far away, Leonard Mitchell sat in a relaxed posture, a standard short baton resting across his knees. His fingertips held a cup of hot black tea that Rozanne had just brewed, the curling steam rising to slightly dispel the morning chill.

A few dry, curled fungal fragment pieces were still stuck in his dark hair. Although he still looked a bit disheveled, there was no fatigue in his eyes; instead, they shone with the bright excitement of post-victory. Holding a silver ballpoint pen, he wrote rapidly in the standard patrol log, the nib scratching against the paper.

"Are you catching up on your reports?" Lu Li lifted his hand to remove the stained gloves, carefully folded them neatly, and tucked them into the dark gray pouch at his waist.

Leonard Mitchell didn't even look up, his gaze locked firmly on the paper, his voice light and brisk: "Last night's battle record must be reported in detail. On the night of the full Moon, in the third section of the Iron Cross Street drainage branch, I successfully inscribed three high-level blocking runes and, in coordination with team member Lu Li, precisely stripped away the full set of backup runes pre-laid by Roy King. This completely dismantled the mold concentric circle spiritual positioning structure set up by the enemy, directly causing the Aurora Order's long-prepared blood sacrifice ritual to lose its ground anchor in Tingen City. This achievement must be listed separately in this week's team report."

A gentle, yet slightly helpless female voice suddenly came from the entrance of the Pumping Station.

Daly Simone leaned against the door frame, having already changed out of the old shirt covered in dust and spiritual stains from the previous night, and was once again properly dressed in the Nighthawks' standard dark gray short cape.

Her complexion remained pale after the great battle, her vitality not yet fully recovered, but her fair hand holding the hot coffee was as steady as a rock, without the slightest tremor.

"Settle your old debts first. You still have three blank pages in last week's patrol log that you haven't filled in. You've dragged it out until now, yet you're in such a rush to brag about your new achievements."

"These are two different matters and shouldn't be lumped together." Leonard Mitchell immediately closed the leather logbook and stood up straight, a touch of youthful stubbornness in his eyes. "Last week was just routine patrol and investigation, with no major anomalies. But last night was different. The scale and danger level of this battle are enough to rank among the top of the Tingen Nighthawks team's recent combat records."

"Conservatively in the top five."

A calm, deep voice came from the main entrance of the Pumping Station.

Dunn Smith walked out slowly. In the folds of the cuffs of his long, dark gray trench coat, there still lingered a faint scent of gunpowder and spiritual scorching that had not yet dissipated.

He had checked the old-fashioned revolver at his waist with both hands. The empty casings remaining in the chamber had been completely ejected, and it was filled with brand-new standard bullets, the weapon ready for combat at any moment.

His gaze was calm as he clearly reviewed past cases: "The 1345 water ghost riot in the lower reaches of the Hoi River, the 1347 evil spirit outbreak at the old Textile Factory in the East Borough, and the 1348 rupture of the third seal node on the perimeter of the Chanis Gate. The danger level, scope of impact, and destructive force of these three incidents far exceed last night's Battle of the Full Moon."

After a pause, he looked at the people in front of him, his tone carrying a steady certainty: "Last night, we faced a Sequence 5 evil cult emissary, as well as a meticulously laid out, layered system of backup runes. In the end, there were zero casualties, and the seal structure of the Chanis Gate did not suffer any irreversible damage. Achieving this result was entirely due to everyone's thorough preparations before the battle and precise tactical coordination."

As his voice trailed off, Klein Moretti bent down and walked out from the dark drainage branch exit.

He carried a mostly empty portable supply box in his hand, his fingertips carefully counting the remaining copper holy water bottles and purification powder inside. He checked the quantities one by one, recorded them neatly in the Potion Room's material consumption ledger, and after confirming everything was correct, closed the lid and placed the box steadily to the side of the stone steps.

Then he walked quickly to Lu Li's side, deliberately lowering his voice to avoid the gaze of the others in front, his tone carrying a cautious gravity: "When you stripped the core rune last night, did you notice any abnormal fluctuations in the bloodline imprint at the innermost layer of the rune?"

"There was indeed an anomaly."

Lu Li did not hesitate, lifting his hand to take out the treasured fragment of the worm of time from his pocket.

The worm-shaped fragment, which had always been silent and stable, now had a surface whose dim luster had returned to a slow, rhythmic flickering, just like its usual state. But if one looked closely, one could see a shallow crack on the edge of the fragment, as thin as a hair and almost blending into the texture.

The crack was extremely faint and easily overlooked by the naked eye, but in the field of spiritual perception, it looked like a piece of red-hot thin iron wire, continuously emitting a weak but constant warm spirituality.

"At the very moment before the holy water washed it away and the rune structure was on the verge of collapse, the hidden bloodline imprint on the innermost layer was instantly activated." Lu Li's eyes were calm as he precisely recounted the details captured last night. "The moment it was activated, it emitted a highly targeted, directional spiritual pulse outward. The pulse's destination was not the lower reaches of the Hoi River, but due north—Backlund. My fragment of the worm of time happened to be affected by the spiritual resonance of this pulse, which is why it left this crack."

Klein Moretti's eyes suddenly darkened. After thinking in silence for a moment, he slowly stated his core deduction: "This pulse is a pre-set trigger mechanism. Once the rune encounters external damage and is on the verge of failure, it automatically sends an alarm message. The entity receiving the message is not the fleeing Megose, not the lurking Roy King, but that mysterious client behind the scenes who has never appeared."

"Perhaps even the higher-level forces behind the client."

Lu Li took back the fragment of the worm of time and tucked it into his inner pocket, connecting the clues he had sorted out for a long time one by one: "All the clues we currently have match up. The other half of the snake emblem token is kept in Backlund, and the corresponding locker key is in the hands of the client; the place of repayment pointed to by the jiaowei symbol is the Antigonus Ruins, which transcend conventional regions and are hidden deep in the Spirit World."

His tone was certain as he stated the key restriction: "To enter that ruin, one must meet the exclusive spiritual entry conditions, and the core prerequisite is most likely that the two halves of the snake emblem token must be combined and spliced together to activate it at the entrance of the ruin. From the beginning to the end, the other party's goal has been this ancient ruin."

In the afternoon, in the second-floor conference room of the Blackthorn Security Company, the post-battle summary meeting for the Battle of the Full Moon was held on time.

Bright daylight spilled through the glass windows, landing on the spread-out map of Tingen City. Dunn Smith held a red pen and crossed out the marked red dots on the map one by one. The three high-risk alert points—the Iron Cross Street third drainage branch, the outer ring seventh spiritual induction node, and the Pumping Station power distribution room—were all released from their temporary lockdown status.

On the left side of the long table, Old Neil sat in his place, with a newly verified and finalized report on the decay data of the mold root system spread out in front of him, the handwriting neat and the data detailed. His usual oak staff leaned against the side of his chair; the worn old crystal at the head of the staff had been replaced with a brand-new, clear crystal core, shedding the withered state of being completely exhausted from the previous night.

"After the rune system was completely stripped away, the eerie mold completely lost the spiritual supply circuit it relied on for survival." Old Neil finished flipping through the last page of the report and reported the core data in a deep voice: "All mycelia that came into contact with the holy water have undergone irreversible dehydration and withered. The spiritual temperature in the Iron Cross Street branch area has completely returned to normal thresholds as of this morning. The abnormal fluctuations at the seventh induction node of the outer ring have also dropped below the safety alert line."

Changing the subject, his tone added a bit of gravity: "But the hidden danger has not been completely eliminated. The traces of overflowing spiritual backflow remaining at the seventh node have not yet completely dissipated. Although the blood sacrifice pulse released by Megose at the lighthouse last night lost its ground anchor and failed to complete the full ritual, some filthy spirituality has already seeped into the Hoi River water system. Conservatively estimated, the lower reaches of the Hoi River will remain in a state of mild spiritual pollution for the next week and will require continuous monitoring and investigation."

"Have the traces of Megose and that black sail ship been found?" Dunn Smith asked, raising his eyes.

Daly Simone spread a translated telegram file on the table and reported softly: "The maritime patrol team sent a request for assistance this morning. Before the full Moon ended and the Moon sank into the sea, that black sail ship suddenly turned to the open sea and sped away from the coastal patrol monitoring range, completely shaking off the pursuit. Megose did not stay at the lighthouse. When the patrol team arrived, only the wreckage of a broken altar and abandoned ritual props remained at the top of the tower; she had already successfully boarded the ship and escaped."

"What about Roy King?"

"A search of the entire territory yielded no results." Daly Simone shook her head slightly, her tone heavy. "After the battle ended last night, we simultaneously conducted a carpet search of the Textile Factory ruins, the entire Iron Cross Street area, the Hoi Family secret room, and all known spiritual anchors on the perimeter of the Chanis Gate. We used spiritual detection throughout, but did not capture any aura fluctuations belonging to Roy King."

"It is highly likely that he used the concealment effect of a substitute rune to completely shield his own spirituality and hide his tracks at the moment Megose released the blood sacrifice pulse and the entire field's spirituality was violently turbulent. He is likely still lurking within Tingen City."

The conference room fell into silence instantly, and a repressive atmosphere spread quietly.

Dunn Smith put down the red pen in his hand and placed it on the edge of the map. His gaze swept over every team member present, his tone steady and serious as he finalized the follow-up deployment: "In the Battle of the Full Moon, we successfully blocked the Aurora Order's evil ritual, safeguarded Tingen's stability, and protected the barrier of the Chanis Gate. But the crisis is far from over."

"Megose is leading the ship and lurking in the open sea, potentially returning at any time; Roy King is hidden in the dark, waiting for an opportunity; the mysterious client is hidden behind the scenes and has never appeared. The Aurora Order will not give up because of one failure, and the black sail ship from the Storm Cape will sooner or later return. From this moment on, the entire team will enter a Level 2 alert state, with normalized encrypted patrols and investigation of hidden dangers to strictly prevent a counterattack by the remnants of the evil cult."

The meeting dispersed, and the team members left one after another.

Old Neil returned to the Potion Room alone, carefully filed the thick mold root system data report, and locked it into his exclusive filing cabinet. He then took out a sealed old file bag from a hidden compartment and pulled out the letter paper left behind by the client.

His fingertips traced the paper, his gaze fixed on the last sentence circled heavily in red ink—[If you need them, they will appear in the locker.]

After staring at it repeatedly for a moment, Old Neil folded the letter and whispered the secret calculations behind this layered layout: "The potion materials in the Backlund locker are the core reliance for your promotion to Sequence 7: Swindler. You have long since found substitutes for the main materials, but half of the auxiliary materials in the formula are extremely scarce. I allocated them from the Tingen Potion Room's exclusive reserves; there are no channels to purchase them in all of Backlund, only Tingen has them."

"The client sealing the materials in advance was never a kind gift, but a precise game trap."

He saw through the other party's core purpose, his tone carrying the coldness of insight: "He sealed the materials and waited, just to force you to make a choice. If you accept this strange debt, you can obtain the scarce auxiliary materials and successfully advance; if you insist on destroying the snake emblem token and severing the bond, these tailor-made materials will be sealed forever and never appear. From the very beginning, the power of choice was manipulated by the other party; all the layouts were to lead you into the trap."

At the entrance of the Potion Room, Lu Li leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed, listening quietly to this analysis. His eyes were deep, connecting the clues spanning hundreds of years thoroughly.

"Everything is a closed-loop chess game designed in advance."

He spoke slowly, his tone calm and thorough: "Roselle Gustav mortgaged the eerie finger, Elliott Hoy accepted the snake emblem token and shouldered the source debt, Roy King stole the token and continued the bond, the anonymous client took over the debt and controlled the whole situation, and finally, using the jiaowei symbol to point the way, locked the destination of all holders to the Antigonus Ruins deep in the Spirit World."

Step by step, interlocking, leading the people in the game into the trap.

"That ruin is the core ancient battlefield of the war over Sefirah Castle." Old Neil locked the filing cabinet, turned to look at Lu Li, and revealed a secret that could overturn everything: "In the future, Klein Moretti will complete the apotheosis ritual of the Lord of the Mysteries here, Amon will launch the final invasion here, and the sleeping will of the Celestial Worthy also lies dormant deep in the ruins."

"And the ruin's access permissions and core seal are exactly deeply bound to the snake emblem token. On the night of the full Moon, if the token holder opens the seal with their own blood, they can completely lift the final imprisonment of the Antigonus Ruins and completely clear the last hurdle of the ultimate Spirit Descent Ritual."

The last trace of doubt in Lu Li's heart dissipated completely, and he thoroughly understood the greedy calculation of the person behind the scenes.

"I understand."

He spoke softly, his tone carrying a bone-chilling coldness and realization: "The client has no intention of accepting the so-called ancient debt. What he really wants is to use the hand of me, the token holder, to break the final seal of the ruins and pave the way for his own ultimate ritual."

"The previous suspension of purchasing and cutting off contact was not the end of the layout; it was that he no longer needed to lay out bait. He just needs to wait quietly. When I follow the jiaowei guidance and step into the Antigonus Ruins, holding the token and touching the seal, he can sit back and reap all the results, plucking the final victory of the entire chess game."

Night quietly shrouded Tingen City.

The Nighthawks team lounge was dimly lit. Lu Li spread out the black notebook he carried with him and flipped to the exclusive formula page for Sequence 7: Swindler.

The nib rubbed against the paper, and he wrote down three key inferences neatly in pencil on the blank side, his handwriting steady and the logic clear:

[1. Client's Identity: Highly likely to be a high-ranking member of the Aurora Order, Psychology Alchemists, or a top-tier third-party force that controls ancient secrets.]

[2. Backlund Locker: Bait-style sealed materials, used to coerce the token holder into accepting the debt and entering the game to fulfill the contract.]

[3. Antigonus Ruins: Dual core conditions for entry—snake emblem Token + Night of the Full Moon, to unlock the ultimate seal.]

After writing the last line, Lu Li closed the notebook, leaned his back lightly against the sofa, and raised his eyes to look at the deep night outside the window.

In the distance, the spire of the Saint Selena Cathedral pierced the night sky, pitch black and cold, silent and soundless.

The great clock in the bell tower stood silently, never ringing. But deep within Lu Li's spiritual perception, that string that had been repeatedly plucked by countless hidden clues and eerie layouts for days was still vibrating incessantly in the darkness, unnoticed by anyone, at an extremely low and steady frequency.

A final chess game spanning a hundred years with a profound layout—the curtain had only just been drawn back a corner.