95: Chapter 33 After Promotion

After advancing to Sequence 6 "Cryptologist," Lu Li spent nearly a week consolidating his spirituality circuits.

The core ability of a Cryptologist is the deep analysis and logical reconstruction of information—an ability highly complementary to the experience he had previously accumulated in the black market by relying on the information theft of a Swindler.

He took on a few intelligence commissions as tests, and using only half his usual time, he extracted several verifiable conclusions from disorganized old archives; his speed of information integration and accuracy had improved significantly compared to when he was Sequence 7.

That evening, he went to Water Pump Street to find Old Eye.

Old Eye was squatting in front of a bookshelf, organizing a batch of newly arrived old books, and only lifted his chin when he saw him enter.

"Did the advancement go smoothly?"

"Smoothly. The Cryptologist's information analysis ability is more precise than a Swindler's. Before, when taking intelligence commissions on the black market, I had to steal the information first and then piece it together manually; now, I can automatically extract logical chains directly from information fragments." Lu Li sat down across from the counter.

"Then you didn't come to see me today just to show off your Sequence 6 abilities, did you?"

Lu Li took a folded note out of his inner pocket and placed it on the counter.

"I discovered a batch of swapped fourth epoch imitation old books on the black market. The swapper's technique is very professional; the locks were intact, there were no pry marks on the windows, and all the swapped books had the imitation emblem of a serpentine ring printed on the title page. It is exactly the same technique Vera used when she was flipping through old newspapers in the library basement. These are the supplier's transaction records and the intermediary's contact information."

Old Eye took off his copper-rimmed glasses and slowly wiped the lenses with the corner of his clothing.

"People from the Secret Order."

"Vera told you last time in the pier warehouse that the Secret Order needs to confirm whether the relic seal has truly been closed. They are collecting trace spiritual imprints left on the imitations to reverse-track the changes in the spiritual fluctuations of the token before and after the seal was closed. This isn't to chase debts; it's for academic verification. 'To seek knowledge is to seek redemption'—they do not believe in gods, only in knowledge itself. But knowledge requires evidence."

"To what extent have they investigated?"

"They should have already confirmed that the seal is permanently closed. But the Secret Order's rule is that any conclusion requires at least two independent chains of evidence for cross-verification. The token itself is destroyed, so they can only start from the residual imprints on the imitations. This batch of swapped old books is likely the last few puzzle pieces for the second evidence chain."

Old Eye put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, took out the note Vera had left last time from the drawer, wrote a few words on the back, and then put it back in the drawer.

After leaving Water Pump Street, Lu Li went to the detective agency on Mingde Street.

Sherlock was hunched over his desk, organizing a newly completed commission report.

Piled on the desk were several old nautical logs bought from Old Eye's old bookstore, and next to them was a map showing the spread of spiritual contamination.

"Recently, a batch of fourth epoch imitation old books was swapped, using the exact same technique Vera used when flipping through old newspapers in the library basement. The Secret Order is collecting residual spiritual imprints on the imitations to reverse-verify the permanence of the relic seal. They aren't enemies, but their investigative methods are prone to causing misunderstandings." Lu Li sat down in a chair.

Sherlock put down his fountain pen.

"In the last few weeks, at least six old bookstores or private collection rooms have reported similar swapping incidents. A client came to see me, a retired middle school teacher, who said that a fourth epoch old book he collected had been swapped. I used spiritual perception to scan the dust residue on the cover of the old book; the composition is completely identical to the fragments of the Antigonus seal base that the Secret Order previously detected in ores from the Southern Continent. I hadn't finished checking yet when you arrived."

"I've finished checking. The swapper is a fellow member of Vera's, from the Secret Order, Sequence 8 of the Apprentice Pathway. Their procurement list and payment method are completely different from Abraham, who previously helped the Aurora Order purchase materials—the procurement target is singular, focusing only on fourth epoch old books bearing the Antigonus imitation emblem, with no interest in materials of other Pathways. An independent third party."

"Since the Secret Order is only conducting an academic investigation, there is no need to continue digging deeper into this matter."

Sherlock took the dust sample from the old book cover out of the drawer and placed it on the table. "Take the composition analysis results of this dust sample; it might be useful."

Lu Li took the sample box and put it in his pocket.

"There is one more thing. The spiritual fluctuations of the black sail ship at Storm Cape are continuously decaying, and the wraith-materialized puppets on the ship have been exhausted. There are no longer any active Aurora Order safe houses in the Backlund urban area. Abraham confirmed that no one in the underground market is asking about spare rune fragments anymore. The main force of Storm Cape is still there, but in the short term, they lack the strength to launch a new offensive against Backlund."

"The black sail ship has retreated to the Fog Sea, the Aurora Order's power supply network in Backlund has been dismantled, Malcolm has been captured, and the messenger's Apprentice Pathway squad has been completely wiped out. The next time they send people, it will take at least several months to restock the wraith-materialized puppets. This leaves us with enough preparation time."

Sherlock took the heat-insulation rune fragment from the shell of the jiaowei seal box out of the drawer and placed it on the table, tapping the micro-patterns on the surface of the fragment with his fingertip. "The focus for the next steps should be on the maintenance of the intelligence network and the consolidation of Sequence abilities."

Lu Li nodded in agreement.

The two exchanged their plans for a while longer—Sherlock prepared to put his energy back into the detective agency's business and continue pursuing clues about Ince, while also finding time to perform a larger-scale divination above the gray fog to confirm whether there were any Beyonders above Sequence 5 on the black sail ship.

Lu Li intended to continue consolidating his Cryptologist abilities, maintaining the underground market's intelligence network, and simultaneously keeping an eye on the movements from the direction of Storm Cape.

Then he pushed the door open and walked out of the detective agency, walking along Mingde Street in the twilight toward the River Bay District.

Over the next few days, Lu Li took on a few intelligence commissions on the black market, continuing to consolidate his Cryptologist information analysis abilities.

Abraham sent word through an Apprentice Pathway messenger that the Storm Cape black sail ship had completely retreated to the reef area deep within the Fog Sea, and the spiritual fluctuations on the ship had decayed to less than 30% of their normal level.

The Backlund underground market returned to normal order, and several fixed shops that had temporarily closed due to the Aurora Order's cleanup operations had also reopened. He organized these pieces of news into a brief report and entrusted Old Eye to pass it on to Sherlock.

On the weekend evening, he went to the Mingde Street church.

Old Kohler was squatting at the church entrance, using a broken fishing net to repair the armrest of an old bench.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up, took a package wrapped in old newspaper out of his tool bag, and handed it over.

His daughter had recently become obsessed with painting watercolors, and using the paints Matthew had given her, she painted a new picture—the scene depicted the old oak tree at the church entrance, its branches hung with small, silvery-white road signs, and standing under the tree was a person with copper buttons on their backpack; this time, she had finally drawn a face.

Although it didn't look very much like him, at least it was recognizable as a man.

"She says this is a New Year's gift for you. Even though New Year's has already passed." Old Kohler shoved the package into Lu Li's hands. "She also said she's already read the comic weekly for the third time, and likes the story about the pirates and the ghost ship the most. Matthew drew illustrations for her, and she now spends every day lying on the windowsill copying them."

Lu Li took the package and put it in his pocket.

After returning to the River Bay District apartment, he took the painting out of the old newspaper and examined it for a moment.

The oak tree branches and the silvery-white road signs in the painting were drawn very earnestly, and although the features of the person with copper buttons on their backpack under the tree were crooked, the copper buttons on the backpack had been carefully dotted with light gold paint, reflecting a faint luster on the drawing paper.

He pressed the painting under the glass top of his desk, placing it together with those old notes he had brought back from the black market earlier.

Outside the window, the bell tower of St. Hillan Cathedral struck the hour.

The mist over the Hoi River was dyed a faint silvery-white by the moonlight—another full moon cycle was about to arrive. The fragment of the worm of time in his waist pouch was quietly emitting a rhythmic glimmer, and the Fate Anchor had been maintaining a low-frequency operation since his advancement.

He opened his notebook, recorded the progress of this week's intelligence network maintenance and the analysis of the Aurora Order's residual movements one by one, closed the notebook, and turned off the light.