Chương 374: Chapter 360

His brief absence from the streets once again gave the city enough time to transform. As Sam made his way toward the crafting district, he quickly noticed the difference. The aimless groups of people loitering around the streets, chatting beside stalls or wasting time near taverns, had almost completely disappeared. In their place was constant motion.

NPCs marched through the streets with tense expressions and purposeful strides, while players hurried past in small groups and organized parties, either storming into shops to purchase supplies or rushing toward whatever defensive position they had been ordered to reinforce. The entire city felt more alert. Traffic no longer clogged the streets with merchants and supply carts. Instead, the number of guards had multiplied.

They stood at intersections, occupied building entrances, and patrolled the roads with rigid discipline, their eyes constantly scanning the crowds with open suspicion. Even Sam, who until now had moved through the city almost like a ghost, found guards tracking him with wary looks as he passed. Thankfully, none of them had stopped him yet. Still, it was obvious the situation was escalating rapidly. Sooner or later, somebody in the Blood Army would realize they needed to start internal sweeps.

Once that happened, infiltrators would become the primary concern, and the city would turn into a nightmare to navigate. Sam immediately increased his pace, blending himself into the tide of NPCs and players hurrying toward their destinations. At this point, he barely cared about maintaining appearances anymore. He hefted the ladder onto his shoulder openly, while his free hand remained ready to summon a shield at a moment's notice in case some nervous guard decided to attack first and ask questions later.

Pushing through the dense crowds, he reached the crafting district within minutes. The security there was even worse. The guard presence had nearly doubled again, with soldiers stationed in front of almost every shop, warehouse, and workshop. Additional patrols moved constantly through the streets while crafters from every profession rushed between buildings, likely scrambling to fulfill emergency orders for the army defending the city. Sam never slowed.

The moment he stopped to stare around or survey the area too obviously, the guards would begin questioning why he was there. So instead, he continued walking naturally through the district, letting his gaze drift only occasionally toward nearby buildings as he searched for weaknesses without drawing attention to himself. Once he reached the far edge of the district, he immediately slipped into a narrow alleyway and vanished into the shadows, finally granting himself a few uninterrupted moments to think.

At the same time, he kept his mana under extremely tight control as the magical pulses sweeping through the city became more and more frequent. When he had first arrived, the scans had appeared roughly every fifteen minutes. Now they came every thirty seconds. Maintaining an artifact capable of scanning such a massive area that frequently had to be absurdly expensive, meaning the Blood Army was burning through enormous amounts of gold just to maintain the search.

Thankfully, the scans were still broad and unfocused. They were looking for intruders in general, not for him specifically. If they actually knew Sam was inside the city, they would have adjusted the artifact to search directly for traces of his void mana. And they almost certainly had samples. Closing his eyes, Sam mentally reconstructed the district he had just passed through.

Most of the buildings, whether workshops, storage facilities, or specialized crafting halls, were effectively impossible to approach directly without advanced stealth skills. Which he did not possess. But he did have runes. And more importantly, not every workshop was defended equally. Some buildings clearly received far more attention and protection than others.

His target was one of the smaller workshops positioned near the outer edge of the district, a place protected just enough to discourage ordinary thieves but nowhere near the level of the larger facilities deeper inside. The real problem was figuring out how to enter. A slight frown crossed Sam's face as realization struck him. Under the current level of alertness, sneaking into one of the buildings cleanly would take a miracle. But if the guards were distracted... Then things became much more manageable.

Of course, causing a distraction would also make planting the final SUNBURST device vastly more difficult afterward. For several seconds, Sam weighed both options, debating whether it was worth attempting the infiltration quietly. Then a message from Adam appeared before him. [Adam: Starting attack. T-00: 10: 00] Sam's eyes widened. A grin spread slowly across his face. Immediately, he abandoned his hiding spot and stepped back into the streets. He didn't have much time.

Not caring much for subtlety anymore – and with the increasingly brutal time limit hanging over his head – Sam moved quickly through the city, occasionally slipping into narrow alleyways or lingering for a second within the shadows cast by taller buildings as he discreetly affixed simple runic metal plates in places unlikely to attract immediate attention. By the time he was finished, he was breathing noticeably harder.

Without slowing down, he rushed back toward the crafting district while the timer in the corner of his vision continued ticking downward. [00: 00: 30] [00: 00: 29] [00: 00: 28] As he approached the district entrance, Sam finally forced himself to stop for a moment. He adjusted his disguise, steadied his breathing, and deliberately slowed his pace before stepping back into the district on foot, his trusty ladder once again resting against his shoulder like nothing was wrong.

A pulse of anxiety shot through him as another magical sweep washed over the city. For a brief instant, every muscle in his body tightened. But nothing happened. No alarms. No guards reacting. Letting out a controlled breath, Sam continued deeper back into the district. [00: 00: 11] [00: 00: 10] [00: 00: 09] He headed directly toward the workshop he had selected earlier. Up close, it looked even more perfect.

Only half a dozen guards stood around the building, and most of them carried the unmistakable posture of men who desperately wished they had been assigned literally anywhere else. The workshop itself looked old and poorly maintained, the stone walls stained with age, while several wooden sections clearly needed repairs. More importantly, the place barely seemed operational. During the entire time Sam observed it, not a single customer entered. All in all, it was an ideal target.

[00: 00: 03] [00: 00: 02] [00: 00: 01] Watching the timer from the corner of his eye, Sam tensed his muscles. Stolen story; please report. The next few seconds were going to be dangerous. [00: 00: 00] The instant the timer hit zero, a deafening siren erupted across the city. The sudden wail snapped heads upward all around him as confusion spread instantly through the streets, people staring around wildly while trying to understand what was happening. Sam acted immediately.

Using the brief distraction, he relaxed his iron grip on his mana for only a fraction of a second and released a small pulse. Far across the city, the hidden metal plates activated simultaneously. BAMM! BAMM! BAMM! Explosions thundered through Roserun. Massive plumes of black smoke curled upward into the sky as screams erupted almost instantly afterward.

Panic spread like wildfire through the streets, made infinitely worse by the still-wailing sirens and the guards immediately shouting conflicting orders at civilians to remain calm. The city descended into chaos within seconds. A perfect distraction. Even the guards stationed around the workshop began moving toward the distant explosions, clearly deciding that investigating an apparent attack sounded far more important than guarding a nearly abandoned building.

'Well… their loss…' Sam mused. The moment the last guard disappeared from view, he sprinted toward the side entrance of the workshop. Opening the door, he stepped into a cramped corridor containing two side doors while the hallway itself extended toward the main shop area. Faint noises came from somewhere deeper inside the building. Activating his mana sense, Sam swept through the structure. One shopkeeper. Right-side door leading downward. Good enough. At this point, stealth barely mattered anymore.

Sam raised his hand. The terrified-looking shopkeeper had only enough time to round the corner and begin speaking.

"What–" A blast of void mana lashed outward, erasing the NPC from existence. Without wasting another second, Sam opened the right-side door and rushed downward into the basement. He took the stairs two and three at a time before landing heavily on uneven ground surrounded by piles of raw materials and rusting production equipment that looked barely functional. He ignored all of it.

"Guard, Lucky," he ordered immediately. The wolf emerged silently from the shadows and fixed his attention toward the staircase leading upward while Sam sprinted toward the far corner of the basement. Dropping to his knees, he skidded across the dirt floor and slammed his hand into the ground, quickly creating a shallow hole. The SUNBURST device was practically thrown inside.

He activated it with a careless brush of his fingers, barely even waiting to see the runic circle fully light up before sealing the hole again while simultaneously pulling out his engraving tools. Then he began carving. Above him, muffled through layers of stone and wood, he could still hear the city unraveling into disorder. Shouting. Running footsteps. Metal armor clattering against stone streets. Sam worked with ruthless speed. The circle came together in record time.

It lacked the elegance and precision of the previous ones, but that no longer mattered. It worked. And apparently, the system agreed. [Place the seven SUNBURST devices in the correct positions: 6/7] [Engrave the necessary runic circles at the correct positions: 6/7] Breathing out slowly, Sam dusted off his hands and stood still for several seconds, listening carefully.

People still moved around outside, and through the walls, Sam could faintly hear the distant chaos consuming the streets, but inside the workshop itself, there was only silence. Even so, he didn't immediately move. Letting out a relieved breath, he was happy to note that there was nobody around or in the building. Instead, he waited patiently for the next magical sweep to pass over the district before carefully unfurling his own mana through the building, his senses stretching outward room by room, floor by floor.

"Thanks, Lucky," he whispered softly, kneeling for the briefest moment to scratch the wolf behind the ears before the familiar dissolved back into the shadows. He ascended the basement stairs cautiously, opened the door just enough to slip through, and silently closed it behind himself before crossing the narrow corridor once more. The second door opened with a faint creak. Beyond it waited another staircase. This one led upward.

Within a minute, Sam was lying flat on a rooftop, silently observing the crafting district below as it descended further and further into organized chaos. The number of guards flooding the streets seemed to multiply with every passing second, joined now by heavily armed players sprinting through the district while officers barked orders loud enough to echo between the stone buildings.

"Find the saboteurs!"

"I want their heads on pikes!"

"Those blasted Chrysalis just attacked Madspire! They could be here any second!" Hearing that, Sam couldn't help the faint grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. Hopefully, Adam and the others appreciated the little distraction he had provided. Still, while helping his allies was satisfying, it also left him with a rapidly growing problem. The city now knew for certain that an enemy infiltrator was inside Roserun.

It would only take one competent commander realizing they needed proper tracking teams for the situation to become significantly more dangerous. Which meant Sam needed to move fast. Thankfully, he had solutions for exactly these kinds of situations. Remaining low against the rooftop, he quickly shifted his appearance, molding his disguise into the likeness of one of the guards currently flooding the streets below.

Armor, posture, facial structure – all of it changed within moments until he looked like just another exhausted soldier responding to an emergency. Once satisfied, he moved. Using his enhanced speed, Sam sprinted across the rooftops with astonishing agility, leaping narrow gaps and crossing entire buildings before finally dropping down into a shadowed alley several streets away. As always, nobody looked up.

Straightening himself, Sam pulled a generic-looking spear from his inventory, adjusted his expression into one of tense determination, and stepped back out into the streets as though he belonged there. Instantly, he became just another face in the chaos. The civilians and ordinary NPCs rushed toward buildings in panic, desperate to reach shelter before the rumored attack reached the city itself.

Meanwhile, players poured toward the gates in excited waves, eager to join the inevitable battle outside Roserun's walls and collect whatever rewards came with it. At the same time, squads of guards forced themselves through the swelling crowds, shoving civilians aside while searching desperately for the person responsible for the explosions. For him. And right in the middle of all that confusion, Sam walked calmly among them. He slipped in behind a small squad of guards and simply moved with them.

The group forced its way through the crowded streets with brutal efficiency, occasionally trampling civilians or shoving people hard enough to send them sprawling onto the stone roads. Yet one glance at the grim-faced officer leading the squad was enough to silence any complaints before they could even begin. Sam wisely kept his mouth shut.

Instead, he matched their pace perfectly and followed them out of the crafting district, moving with enough confidence to appear like just another soldier responding to the emergency. Eventually, the officer barked an order for everyone to spread out and search independently. That was Sam's cue. While the others fanned out through nearby streets and alleys, he calmly peeled away from the group and headed toward the final district he still needed to visit. The harbor warehouses.

As he approached the waterfront, the atmosphere changed noticeably. Aside from the guards flooding the area, almost all ordinary NPC traffic had vanished. Meanwhile, players were abandoning the harbor entirely, hurrying toward the city walls in anticipation of the coming battle outside Roserun. Along the docks, ships were already preparing for disaster.

Some crews hurriedly raised anchors in preparation for escape, while others unloaded sailors to stand guard around valuable cargo and resource stockpiles stacked beside the piers. Sam kept his amusement hidden behind a neutral expression as he slowly surveyed the district, searching for the perfect location to place the final SUNBURST device burning a hole into his inventory. Then, after only a few seconds, his eyes brightened slightly. Perfect.

Without changing pace, he began pretending to search the area like every other guard, peering behind crates and checking narrow gaps between stacked cargo piles. Eventually, he slipped between two massive stacks of shipping crates and crouched down out of sight. There was no need for anything complicated anymore. Summoning a thin blade of void mana, Sam quickly sliced through the rear panel of one of the crates before silently removing it.

The contents vanished directly into his inventory moments later, clearing enough space for him to crawl inside. Within seconds, the back panel was back in place behind him. Hidden completely from sight, Sam grinned faintly and pressed a hand against the wooden floor beneath him. The bottom of the crate vanished. Immediately, he began placing the final SUNBURST device beneath the hidden cavity. The instant the stone sealed over the device once more, a notification appeared before his eyes.

[Place the seven SUNBURST devices in the correct positions: 7/7] A satisfied smile spread across his face. Then he immediately began carving. His engraving tool moved rapidly, tracing the final runic circle into existence with practiced precision despite the muffled chaos raging outside the crate. And the moment the last line connected, everything snapped into place.

The mana streaming into the circle suddenly tightened and solidified as countless invisible threads linked together throughout Roserun, forming a massive golden circle – a glowing ring wrapped around the entire city. [Engrave the necessary runic circles at the correct positions: 7/7] Carefully pulsing his mana sense outward to confirm nobody was nearby, Sam restored the interior of the crate, replaced the removed panel perfectly, and slipped back outside as though nothing had happened at all.

The chaos surrounding the harbor worked entirely in his favor. A group of sailors hurried past him carrying weapons and supplies, giving him nothing more than a quick nod that he casually returned before continuing on their way. Nobody spared a second glance toward a lone guard.

'Boy... once we publish this video, a lot of people are going to be furious,' Sam thought with poorly concealed amusement as he began making his way toward his final destination. After all, he could simply dive into the ocean, swim far enough away, and activate the formation safely from a distance. That would be the smart option. But while wandering through the city, he had come up with a far more devious idea. It took Sam another ten minutes to make his way back to the market district.

Despite the chaos consuming both the city and the battlefield outside its walls, the district remained packed with players. Apparently, many people had decided that a looming disaster was the perfect business opportunity. Stalls were overcrowded, improvised shops had appeared practically in minutes, and merchants shouted themselves hoarse while trying to capitalize on the panic.

Everywhere Sam looked, players haggled aggressively over equipment, potions, consumables, and crafting materials whose prices had suddenly tripled. The atmosphere was a strange mix of tension and excitement. There was plenty of angry grumbling from players furious at being gouged during a crisis, but just as many triumphant exclamations whenever somebody managed to secure a rare item before anyone else could grab it. In short, it was complete chaos. Perfect for what Sam had in mind.

For what he dearly hoped would be the final time tonight, he slipped into another shadowed alleyway hidden between two overcrowded streets. Roserun seemed almost absurdly full of such places, narrow gaps, and forgotten corners that people ignored unless they had a reason to look closer. Standing in the darkness, Sam altered his appearance once more. His body shrank slightly, posture hunching forward as his clothing transformed into filthy, mismatched rags layered beneath a faded dark-brown cowl.

A long, tangled beard spread across his face while his eyes took on the unfocused intensity of a man who had spent far too many years talking to himself in alleyways. A perfect vagabond. Once the disguise was complete, Sam reached into his inventory and retrieved an old blanket that had probably been sitting there since the earliest days of the game – one usually claimed by Lucky whenever the wolf decided he wanted to nap somewhere comfortable.

Finding a small patch of space near the mouth of the alley, Sam spread the blanket across the ground. Not completely hidden, but easy to overlook unless someone specifically searched for interesting stalls or suspicious merchants. Exactly what he wanted. Then he began arranging merchandise.

One after another, he tossed random junk and worthless trinkets onto the blanket: old tools, cracked cups, cheap accessories, scraps of metal, faded charms, and miscellaneous items that looked just valuable enough to tempt scavengers and bargain hunters. Finally, he placed the Runic Detonator Band among the pile. For a moment, the item stood out far too clearly.

Clicking his tongue softly, Sam crouched down, scooped up a handful of dirt from the alley floor, and smeared grime across the device until it looked old, neglected, and half-forgotten beneath the surrounding clutter. Eye-catching enough to invite curiosity. Not eye-catching enough to scream trap. Satisfied, Sam lowered himself onto the blanket and leaned back against the cold stone wall behind him. And waited…