Soon, darkness finally fell completely.

  In the side room, Stirling sat in a chair, quietly awaiting Lance's arrival.

  After an unknown amount of time, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door. Stirling's brow furrowed, and he stood up from the chair.

  Accompanied by the knocking, Lance's voice rang out from outside: "Master, it's me."

  Stirling raised an eyebrow, then opened the door, revealing Lance's fawning smile.

  "Is it time?" Stirling asked.

  Lance was stunned when he saw Stirling's unfamiliar face. Without that familiar voice, Lance might have believed the man in front of him was his master.

  The enhanced human skin mask was nearly invisible. Even up close, its edges showed no flaws.

  "Master, I apologize for having you follow behind me." Lance said cautiously.

  Stirling was now Lance's assistant, so their roles had completely reversed.

  "Never mind." Stirling looked outside and saw that Lance had already moved everyone away. The conversation between the two and Stirling's face-swapping was very discreet.

  Lance, the eunuch, was very professional in his intelligence work. He paid attention to every detail and handled matters gently and persuasively.

  Seeing this, Stirling nodded and then signaled to Lance that they could depart.

  Lance responded, then straightened his back and strode forward with measured steps.

  Stirling, but bowed his head and followed Lance at heel, taking small, quick steps.

  The two left Lance's house one after the other and saw the carriages already waiting at the gate.

  Lance first planned to prepare two carriages: one for himself and one for Stirling. However, Stirling turned down this suggestion forthright, which was too flashy.

  Lance stepped out of the carriage and through the gate. Stirling stood beside it and jogged to keep up as the carriage moved, careful not to overstep.

  It was curfew, and the silent streets were deserted, save for the crisp sound of the carriage's hooves.

  This was the first time Stirling had been on the streets so late. He looked around, wanting to see what was different about the inner city at night.

  Everything around him was pitch-black. Only the dim light from the lantern above the carriage broke the darkness. Stirling watched for a bit, then got bored. He lowered his head and jogged beside the carriage.

  After a short while, the carriage gradually came to a stop. Stirling looked up and realized they had arrived at their destination.

  "This is the Patrol Shaman's office?" Stirling looked at the tall building before him, somewhat surprised.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Patrol Shaman's headquarters was much larger than Night Watch's, almost double the size.

  A tower stood in the courtyard, and figures could be faintly seen moving about, showing that some people were on night duty.

  The carriage door opened, and Lance stepped down.

  Stirling withdrew his gaze, tightened his guard, and followed directly behind Lance.

  Lance reached the entrance to Patrol Shaman and began knocking on the brass ring on the door.

  After a short while, footsteps sounded behind the door, and then the heavy doors inched open.

  Lance, familiar with the place, stepped inside. A squad of soldiers in black armor stood on either side of the door, silently watching Lance like ghosts.

  "Lord Lance, are you only bringing one person for today's patrol?" One of the black-armored asked.

  "Of course, what use are so many people?" Lance's tone was stern, displeased.

  "Hehe, Lord Lance, please!" The black-armored seemed quite familiar with Lance. They winked at the group next to them. Then, two men stepped forward—one towards Lance and the other towards Stirling.

  "Don't be offended; it's just routine."

  One of them stood before Lance, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and began searching him.

  The man before Stirling, however, was much less polite, delving into him.

  After a while, he found three oil lamps and some wooden tubes in Stirling.

  "What are you doing with these?" The black-armored gazed at Stirling and asked coldly.

  "I'm going to check the array. It's normal to have oil lamps for lighting, isn't it?"

  Stirling felt astonished, asking in bewilderment.

  "And what about these?" The soldier shook the wooden tubes.

  "Some parts of the array need relubrication. Is there a problem?" Stirling said, somewhat annoyed.

  The soldier didn't speak but looked at Lance beside him.

  Lance nodded almost imperceptibly. The soldier then returned the item to Stirling and made way.

  "Lord Lance, remember the timeline." The soldier said as a last remark. Lance didn't reply, leading Stirling inside.

  The layout of Patrol Shaman was extremely complex. Stirling followed Lance, winding left and right, unsure of their location. Finally, upon entering a small courtyard, Lance stopped.

  In the middle of the courtyard, a hole popped up. An iron door covered it to keep rainwater out.

  Lance scratched his head imperceptibly. Seeing this, Stirling immediately knew they had arrived at the entrance to the array.

  At that moment, Stirling glanced to the side and saw at least six or seven dark figures hiding in the shadows. Their auras were steady, showing they were clearly skilled. He gained a new understanding of the Patrol Shaman's strength.

  "Who would have predicted that the renowned Patrol Shaman would become the fattest sheep on my plate?" Stirling suppressed his excitement and reminded himself to stay calm.

  He followed Lance into the cave entrance, descending the stone steps.

  Along both sides of the underground passage, torches were placed at intervals. Stirling saw that the oilcloth around the torches was odd. It gave off a faint fishy smell, but he couldn't identify the animal fat used.

  This cave was significantly deeper than the dungeon Stirling had visited before.

  After walking for about half an hour, Stirling still hadn't reached the bottom. Luckily, the passage was spacious and didn't feel oppressive like it had before.

  After walking for another ten minutes, Stirling finally saw a vague platform ahead.

  Stirling guessed he was at least 100 meters underground. He couldn't help but marvel at the project's sheer scale.

  Plus, Stirling could even feel a gentle breeze.

  This meant that there was great ventilation. No worries about oxygen or fire hazards.

  "Master, follow me."

  When Lance arrived at this place, he relaxed a lot. He pulled a torch from a nearby passage and whispered to Stirling.

  Stirling nodded and followed Lance, carefully making his way forward.

  In this vast underground cavern, the depths ahead were pitch-black. It looked like a gaping maw, ready to swallow Stirling and Lance.

  The torch in Lance's hand swayed gently in the breeze. It was a small light piercing the darkness, casting faint halos around them.

  The heavy darkness made Stirling frown. He felt his heart tighten with unease.

  The two walked forward for a while longer in the darkness. Suddenly, Lance, who was leading the way, stopped.

  "Master, we are in position." Lance said, turning to Stirling and raising his torch high.

  Suddenly, lights burst one by one on the walls, flashing like fireworks. They formed a large circle that brightened most of the cave.

  Stirling then saw that he and Lance were on a large stone platform covered in closely packed runes.

  These runes spread out in all directions. They covered the walls and reached the cave's dark ceiling.

  "Master, this is the Great Heavens Malice-Shifting Array of Yearning Palace."

  Lance explained.