54: Chapter 54 Undercurrents

The Battle of the Full Moon had concluded, and Tingen City, its smoke cleared, briefly descended into a false sense of peace.

But this tranquility was like thin ice over an abyss; it lasted only three days before being completely shattered by hidden undercurrents.

The phenomenon of dead fish in the lower reaches of the Hoi River erupted fully on the third day after the battle. In the early morning at the Dock District, fishermen returning from sea dragged up hundreds of floating fish with their bellies turned upward from the river estuary. These river fish were intact, with no external injuries, but their scales would fall off in sheets at the slightest touch. Their lifeless appearance was identical to the symptoms of the dead fish discovered at the Iron Cross Street drainage outlet before the night of the full moon.

The water patrol arrived at the scene immediately and detected dense remnants of Beyonder contamination in the silt at the bottom of the estuary. After comparison and verification, the fluctuations and characteristics of this contamination matched perfectly with the blood sacrifice pulse released by Megose at the top of the lighthouse.

Old Neil brought all the contamination samples back to the Nighthawks' Potion Room and spent an entire day analyzing them throughout the night. Finally, a report marked with a high-risk warning was completed: the entire Hoi River system had been contaminated with mild Beyonder pollution, and the state of contamination would persist for at least a week.

It was ordered that all fishermen in the lower reaches suspend fishing operations, and the domestic water used by the residents of the Dock District must be thoroughly purified with holy water before use.

That afternoon, this report, which concerned the livelihood and safety of the entire city, was placed firmly on Dunn Smith's desk.

On the other side, the cleanup and finishing work in the Iron Cross Street underground drainage system was still being rigorously pushed forward without the slightest relaxation.

Leonard mobilized several logistics team members, holding portable holy water sprayers, to launch a second round of full-coverage disinfection on all the stone brick seams in the third section of the underground branch pipe.

The previous rune stripping ritual had already caused the spreading, eerie mold mycelium to dehydrate and wither in large areas, but deep within the crevices of the stone bricks, a trace amount of root systems remained, hidden in a dormant state.

These residual hidden dangers, invisible to the naked eye, seemed harmless, but Old Neil always maintained extreme caution, firmly demanding that every seam and every dead corner must be soaked repeatedly with holy water at least three times.

Facing the logistics team members who came to apply for holy water supplies, Old Neil, focused on calibrating a portable spiritual compass, did not even lift his head. His tone was serious and firm: "These mold root systems have already lost the complete circuit of spiritual supply. Relying solely on their own remaining weak spirituality, there is absolutely no possibility of autonomous resuscitation. However, hidden dangers are never afraid of being small. Once the next peak of the Spirit World tide arrives, the surging spiritual pulses from the outside will easily resonate with them, and at that time, they will rise from the ashes, leading to endless trouble."

After the team members left, the Potion Room returned to silence.

Old Neil opened a drawer and took out the newly revised distribution map of seal nodes. On the drawing, the high-risk warning mark for the seventh induction node of the outer ring had been mostly erased, but in the remarks column, a line of scarlet handwriting was eye-catchingly glaring: External reflux spiritual traces have not completely subsided; it is recommended to maintain weekly routine monitoring.

He carefully folded the drawing in half, put it into a sealed file bag, and prepared to formally submit it for the record at the next team meeting.

On the fifth day after the battle, an official investigation notification from Storm Cape updated key clues.

The maritime patrol once again captured the traces of that eerie black sail ship in the reef waters thirty nautical miles northwest of Storm Cape.

At that time, the sails were all furled, and the hull was hidden deep within the intricate reefs, surrounded by a dense spiritual barrier—an concealment barrier exclusive to the Aurora Order—that ordinary people and ordinary Beyonders could not approach or investigate at all.

Long-range spiritual observation instruments clearly captured that the evil spiritual fluctuations on the hull remained active and had never dissipated. It could basically be determined that the defecting Aurora Order member, Megose, was still hiding on the ship and had not gone far.

Dunn carefully read the entire telegram, his expression calm, and then filed it away, placing it into the [Continuous Key Monitoring] top-secret folder.

Compared to the traceable black sail ship, the traces of another person had become a completely unsolvable mystery.

Roy King had completely disappeared without a trace, as if he had evaporated from the world, ever since he released the activation pulse of the last backup rune on the night of the full moon.

Daly had cast Spirit Mediumship several times, specifically scanning the three core areas of the Iron Cross Street battlefield, the Textile Factory ruins, and the Hoi Family secret room, but she could never find even a shred of spiritual residue belonging to Roy King.

In the end, she gave her judgment: the moment the rune was stripped, this person actively severed his own spiritual link with all the backup runes, and using some unknown, secretive means, completely erased and concealed all his spiritual characteristics. Such top-tier lurking and concealment abilities were enough to allow him to lie dormant in any corner of Tingen City silently without being detected for a long time.

For days, Klein's movements had been fixed between the Potion Room and the Archives, more diligent than usual.

He assisted Old Neil in recalibrating four high-precision portable spiritual compasses, replenished the entire stock of holy water copper bottles in the storeroom, and personally re-formulated and refined the purification dust that had been exhausted during the Battle of the Full Moon, fully replenishing all logistical combat supplies.

In the lounge, Leonard looked at the constantly busy Klein and couldn't help but ask for the reason behind his sudden diligence in preparing for battle.

Klein gently closed the supply list in his hand, his expression calm, and only calmly spat out four words: "Better safe than sorry."

The hidden undercurrents were not limited to the remaining dangers of the battlefield; there were also strange movements in the black market.

The news was brought back to the team by Rozanne. Her cousin, who had a stall at the East Borough flea market, sent an unusual message: recently, a mysterious person had been anonymously purchasing two types of low-Sequence Beyonder materials at high prices—the root powder of the Chrono Herb commonly used by the Marauder Pathway, and black cat whisker ash.

The purchaser acted extremely cautiously, not revealing their face or leaving their identity throughout the process, leaving only a single code name: A.

Rozanne immediately reported this secret intelligence to Dunn, and the captain immediately instructed her to continue following up and keep a close eye on the subsequent movements in the black market.

At that time, Lu Li was sitting on the fabric sofa in the lounge, reading a receipt for the allocation of jiaowei transferred from the Backlund headquarters.

The secret procurement network of the Abraham family had not stagnated or gone dormant due to the crushing defeat of the Battle of the Full Moon. On the receipt, it was still the same unchanging official rhetoric—suspend all procurement and wait for further notice. But Lu Li knew that this was only a superficial dormancy; the other party was clearly accumulating strength in the dark, preparing for a new round of operations.

He slowly folded the receipt, tucked it into his inner pocket, stood up, and walked to the window, looking at the cool twilight of Tingen.

The ultimate guidance of the jiaowei token had never changed; the only place of repayment was the legendary Antigonus Ruins. And the sealed entrance of this ancient ruin would only open briefly on the night of the full moon.

There was only one month left until the next full moon.

These thirty days were his only buffer and preparation time. He had to completely digest the Sequence 8: Prometheus potion, prepare all the advancement materials for Sequence 7: Swindler, and wait for the full moon to arrive to face the final choice—step into the dangerous and unknown ruins, or completely destroy the token and cut off all entanglements.

In the afternoon, Rozanne's call came from the front desk.

"Lu Li, there is a Sailor looking for you at the entrance, saying he is a crew member of the White Whale. He was entrusted by someone to bring you a message and something."

Lu Li walked out of the Nighthawks' hall and saw a middle-aged Sailor wearing an old woolen coat leaning against the pillar next to the entrance, smoking a pipe.

Seeing him come out, the Sailor raised his hand to knock the ash out of his pipe, took out a layered oil-paper package from the inner pocket of his coat, and handed it over.

"This is an object fished up from the lower reaches of the Hoi River. It was hooked on submerged wood and dragged up by a net. The captain thought it looked strange and knew it was a Beyonder phenomenon that you Nighthawks are responsible for, so he asked me to drop it off on my way."

As his voice fell, the Sailor steadily handed over the oil-paper package, put the pipe back in his mouth, turned, and walked away, crisp and efficient, without a single word of unnecessary chatter.

Lu Li unwrapped the layers of oil paper, and a palm-sized, dark green piece of mycelium residue came into view.

The edges of the residue had been soaked in river water for a long time and were swollen and soft, but the eerie pattern of a snake circling a ring in the center of the residue was still clear and complete, without any fading.

He recognized the abnormality at a glance—this was by no means ordinary mold left over from Iron Cross Street.

The mold in the drainage system previously had already completely dehydrated, shattered, and dissipated after being repeatedly washed and disinfected with holy water. But the residue before him had a deeper mycelium color, a denser and more delicate texture, and its texture matched the scale-like, eerie secretions originating from a higher-level existence that he had seen in the hidden secret room of The Dark Channel.

It did not originate from Iron Cross Street; it had drifted along the Hoi River from upstream or even further, unknown places.

Lu Li took the residue back inside and turned on the Potion Room's spiritual detection lamp.

A pale blue, pure spiritual halo slowly spread over the surface of the residue, wandering along the intricate mycelium textures, and finally, at the core position of the central snake emblem pattern, illuminated a line of slender, ancient Hermes script.

He turned off the detection lamp, let the room fall into darkness, and sat quietly for a long time, the depression and gravity in his heart layering upon one another.

Twilight gathered, and the setting sun sank.

Lu Li, holding the mycelium residue, walked into the Potion Room.

Old Neil was at his desk calibrating a brand-new portable compass. Looking up and catching a glimpse of the eerie residue, he immediately put down his tools, took a spiritual detection needle, and gently touched the surface of the residue.

The tip of the needle instantly burst out a circle of rich, glaring dark green fluorescence, the brightness far exceeding the standard samples of Iron Cross Street mold, more than twice as high. When the detection needle was moved away, the fluorescence quickly faded and returned to its normal state.

Old Neil's expression tightened slightly. He put on special protective tweezers and carefully pushed aside the swollen edge mycelium of the residue. Inside the interlayer of the residue, a very thin piece of copper foil was embedded. On the copper foil, a line of neat and cold handwriting was engraved:

[Antigonus Ruins entrance, opens on the night of the full moon. Those holding the token shall use blood as a guide.]

The handwriting was sharp and unique, exactly the same as the handwriting left by the mysterious client on the letter in the locker, without the slightest difference.

Old Neil placed the residue steadily on a lead tray for anti-contamination, took off his thick deerskin protective gloves, looked at Lu Li with heavy eyes, and pointed out the entire layout in one sentence:

"The other party used the Hoi River to send you a message."

"He calculated that the Tingen Nighthawks would carry out a comprehensive salvage and screening of abnormal items in the river, and he calculated that this special piece of mycelium residue would eventually be sent to the Potion Room for testing and verification. This secret message hidden in the residue is not just for you; it is also a public announcement for the Tingen team, the Aurora Order, and even everyone lurking in the dark who is paying attention to the ruins."

"The secret letter in the locker, the guidance of the jiaowei token, and the river mycelium residue—three completely independent channels all ultimately point to the same destination: the Antigonus Ruins."

He paused for a moment, his tone carrying a calmness that saw through everything: "With less than a month until the next full moon, the other party's goal is straightforward and clear. You must completely digest the Sequence 8 potion and prepare all the Sequence 7 advancement materials before the full moon to attend the appointment on time."

Lu Li lowered his eyes and stared at the mycelium residue on the tray, his voice low, as he stated the entire layout he had seen through:

"He is certain that I will go."

"Once I activate the snake emblem token with the jiaowei at the entrance of the ruins, the long-hidden Spirit Descent Ritual, the final seal, will be completely broken. This is the ultimate goal of everything he has planned."

"If I avoid going, all the backup runes he laid out in Tingen, which he spent countless efforts to bury, will be completely voided, and his entire plan will fall through."

"He knows very well that both halves of the token and the core jiaowei are all in my hands. He has no other choice but to wait for me to keep the appointment. And the entrance to the ruins only opens briefly on the night of the full moon; there is no other time."

Lu Li raised his eyes, the afterglow of twilight falling into his eyes, reflecting a bone-deep calmness and realization:

"On the next full moon, he will definitely be stationed at the entrance of the ruins in person, waiting for me to appear."

The entire Tingen seemed calm, but on the invisible chessboard, all the undercurrents, all the foreshadowing, and all the games of chess had already converged on the night of the full moon one month later.