The Night Watch roll call in the inner city did not differ from the outer city. The captain gave a few words, and then everyone dispersed to their own duties.

  Pillnar brought Stirling to Sacchi's side. "Boss, this is my junior brother." Pillnar said with a smile.

  "Oh? Also from Kim Dojo? What level?" Sacchi became interested.

  "Sir, I am currently at the initial stage of bone forging." Stirling bowed and replied.

  "Well, sounds okay but not good enough." Sacchi was rather disappointed.

  "Working in the archives for now, he should be able to improve soon." Pillnar continued.

  "Alright, you arrange it." Sacchi said, then turned to Stirling and said,

  "Master Kim has a good reputation. I hope you can upgrade soon, just like your senior Pillnar. Then, you can take on more responsibilities in the future."

  "Pillnar, take him to finish his onboarding."

  Sacchi waved his hand, signaling for the two to leave.

  "Senior, what about that team over there?" Stepping out of the room, Stirling pointed to the courtyard next door and asked.

  "The captain over there is Dalmat. If you encounter their team, be careful." Pillnar said, then walked towards the back of the courtyard. "Come with me; I'll take you to the Archives."

  After a short while, Stirling completed his onboarding and sat down in the Archives. Besides him, there were two other clerks in the Archives: one old and one young.

  Zoe, the younger one, is rumored to be from Dalmat's team. The older one was a veteran in the archives; no one knew his full name; everyone called him Old Bruce.

  The archives' work involved organizing files, sorting them out, and registering cases based on procedure. It wasn't very busy. At the moment, Stirling flipped through the files on the shelves. He was looking for clues about statues or fragments of statues when Zoe approached him.

  "Brother Luis?" Zoe said with an eerie gaze.

  "Zoe, what's up?" Stirling glanced at Zoe, then continued looking at the files in his hands.

  "Ah, nothing, just that you've been messing around here, which isn't good, so I came to remind you." Zoe forced a smile.

  Zoe was from Dalmat and rarely got along with Sacchi. Seeing Stirling arrive, he wanted to give him a hard time.

  The officialdom is like a battlefield. Stirling hadn't realized it in the outer city, but he witnessed it firsthand on his first day in the inner city.

  "None of your bloody business, you piece of shit." Stirling's eyes never left the files as he spoke indifferently.

  "What?" Zoe was stunned. He doubted his ears. Had Sacchi gone mad, letting a lunatic in? He had to tell Dalmat right away. Otherwise, in registering the files later, it would be a gigantic risk. After his initial shock, Zoe didn't argue with Stirling. Instead, he felt secretly encouraged. This Stirling was a brainless madman; sooner or later he would make a grave mistake. Then Sacchi would lose all face. Zoe then snorted coldly and left, seemingly to report to Dalmat.

  Stirling looked where Zoe had gone, sneering. Then, he went back to check the files in his hand. In the afternoon, Stirling, pen and paper in hand, appeared to be preparing to leave.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "Luis Chilavert, where are you going?! You're absent without official leave!!" Zoe shouted.

  "To the exorcist's house. Six pieces of the statue fragments were delivered yesterday. Then, they were sent to the exorcism house for destruction. I need to check if there indeed are six pieces." Stirling said.

  "You dare to doubt our records?" Zoe was taken aback.

  "What is wrong with doubting? Our duty is to work seriously to avoid mistakes." Stirling left with those words.

  Zoe, seeing this, gritted his teeth and hurried to follow Stirling out of the door. He believed Stirling's trip to the exorcism house on her first day showed that something was off. Shortly afterward, the two arrived at the Night Watch's exorcism house.

  Unlike the outer city, this exorcism house was noticeably larger, but again, there was no one in front of it. Without saying, the samurai avoided this place.

  Stirling pushed open the door without protective measures and went straight in. Zoe, seeing this, cursed, "This guy's crazy! Even the constables at the exorcism house don't want to stick around, so what are you, a lowly clerk, trying to prove?" Thinking of the task Dalmat had set for him, Zoe gritted his teeth and waited outside. As for going in, Zoe in no way accepted. Did this madman think he could eat those fragments inside? Less than twelve breaths later, Stirling opened the door again. He stepped out, still writing on a file.

  "What, still not leaving?" Passing by Zoe, Stirling stopped writing, looked up at Zoe, and asked.

  Zoe snorted coldly and strode forward.

  Stirling, under his breath, watched Zoe's retreating figure, sotto voce, delighted. He'd just arrived in the inner city and had already got a Pie falling from the sky today. The six fragments received yesterday left a little residue when he went in. He refined them right away, adding a full six months to his lifespan! It's not much, but even a mosquito leg is meat.

  Back in the archives, Stirling didn't continue looking through the files. Instead, like Old Bruce, he leaned back in his chair, waiting for his shift to end. Time flew by, and soon it was time to finish his shift. Stirling picked up his bag and left the archives. He grabbed his waist token from the wooden shelf by the door. Then, he left Night Watch and walked to the market in the inner city.

  He entered the inner city, of course, for the Hematopoietic pill. There was only one place in the inner city that sold these hematopoietic pills: The Precious Medicine Shop. The Marshalls owned the Precious Medicine Shop. Stirling had confirmed this before arriving.

  Soon, Stirling arrived at the Precious Medicine Shop. He glanced briefly at the tall building before him, then walked in expressionlessly.

  The Herbal Medicine Shop's inner hall was spacious. A shop assistant welcomed Stirling as he walked in.

  "What would you like, sir?"

  "Hematopoietic pills." Stirling got straight to the point.

  "This way, sir. Our hematopoietic pills are 5 silver coins each, and ten are only 30 silver coins." The shop assistant often helped customers buying hematopoietic pills, smiling as she did.

  "Holy crap, that's expensive." Stirling gasped inwardly upon hearing the price.

  Thirty silver coins were enough for a family in the outer city to live on for a year. How was this any different from robbery? But Stirling hesitated only a bit before saying: "Give me a bottle."

  After Stirling finished speaking, the shop assistant continued: "Please come with me to register, sir."

  "Register?" Stirling felt surprised.

  "Sure, hematopoietic pills cannot leave the inner city. Each pill has a unique mark from my Precious Medicine Shop. This lets us trace the buyer," the shopkeeper said with a smile.

  "Alright then." Stirling realized at once that the inner city aimed to monopolize combat power. This would split the inner and outer cities completely. It would stop anyone in the outer city from improvement!

  These dignitaries act the same everywhere!

  Stirling bought the hematopoietic pills, then left the Precious Medicine Shop. He unfolded a piece of paper. The paper contained an address. Pillnar gave this to Stirling when he left during the day. He said it was Stirling's house in the inner city. This senior brother was quite generous; after all, houses in the inner city must be scarce.

  As he walked and asked, Stirling finally arrived at a small courtyard, somewhat dilapidated, but he didn't mind. Instead, he took out the key Pillnar had given him, opened the gate, and went inside.Stirling stepped into the courtyard as the wooden door slid open. The yard was spotless. After looking around, Stirling pushed open the door to the room at the back. The house was still a one-bedroom, one-living room layout. However, the walls were mottled, showing it nobody had lived in for a long time.

  Stirling put the package on the dusty table, pulled out the quicksand map, and looked at it. There was nothing wrong. He checked each room again, then sat back down at the table. "The first step is done. Next, I should think about how to get the malice." Stirling stroked his chin, lost in thought.