Chapter Twenty-Two: The Roar

"Why did you come to such a conclusion?" Dunn asked Lily in confusion.

Lily immediately recounted what Camille had witnessed when joining John's screening patrol team, including their estimation that Dunlun's Eye would likely collapse in eight or nine years.

Dunn's expression tightened; he too recalled the terrifying conclusion Lily and Camille had discussed at the station. He swallowed hard, took a swig from his canteen, and tried to quell the tidal shock Lily's words had brought him.

Lily glanced at John and said in a low voice, "It's all speculation for now, so let's treat it as a hypothesis. We should first consider where to go once we reach Embankment Station."

"Alright," Dunn took a deep breath and said no more.

Aiden and Sandro looked grim as well; they too had realized what Lily's fearful conclusion implied.

After some discussion, the group decided to travel above ground to Piccadilly Circus Station.

To reach Piccadilly Circus Station directly from Embankment without taking the railways, they would need to pass through the grand plaza of the National Gallery of the British Empire.

Sure enough, when they reached the plaza in front of the National Gallery, Stephenson began to lag behind, expressing his desire to go inside and have a look. But the rest of the team unanimously rejected his request—time was too tight for sightseeing.

Ultimately, Camille had to grab Stephenson and carry him away under her strong biceps.

It was worth mentioning that all the buildings of the British Empire Lily and her companions saw along the way possessed a certain classical beauty; their designers were clearly masters of their craft. Compared to the district where the orphanage was located, although the area they now traversed had suffered more severely from the ravages of time, aside from a few peeling walls, the integrity of the architecture was well preserved. The full outline of the street was still visible, and Lily knew that if not for the mist, these streets would be bustling with traffic and crowds.

"There are so many buildings with the 'Royal' prefix..." Sandro observed as he walked, marveling. He was trying to pull himself out of the spine-chilling sensation, so he kept talking to distract himself. "This might be considered Dunlun City's, or perhaps our—"

A roar, utterly unlike anything a normal creature could produce, suddenly interrupted Dunn, making him shudder in fright.

The roar froze everyone in place, as if playing a game of Red Light, Green Light.

Camille could even hear Stephenson swallow nervously beside him.

"Um, Lily, what should we..." Sandro whispered.

"That sound came from at least two hundred meters away. Our view is limited, so we can't get any specifics. My advice is to quickly put more distance between us, or find a suitable building to hide and observe," Lily offered two suggestions swiftly.

"The roar was northeast. If we want to move away, we can't head north—we need to go southwest, which is the opposite direction from our destination..." Dunn quickly assessed.

"Um..." Stephenson piped up hesitantly.

Camille looked at him—what did this boy want now? Surely he wasn't about to ask for a bathroom break?

Seeing everyone's attention, Stephenson ventured his idea: "Maybe we could go to the National Gallery?"

"You still haven't given up?" Sandro shook his head helplessly.

"No, actually, Stephenson might have a good point. The National Gallery's materials and construction were carefully selected for its purpose. In other words, it's extremely sturdy," Dunn explained in a low voice.

The group looked to Lily.

"Alright, we'll go to the Gallery. We can't stray too far from our original route, or this excursion would be for nothing," Lily decided without further hesitation. Since Aiden didn't object to Dunn's reasoning, it seemed sound; so the National Gallery was a viable option.

Suddenly, every hair on Lily's body stood on end. She resisted the urge to scan her surroundings, lowered her voice as much as possible, and told the group, "Something is watching me—or us."

Her passive skill, Sense of Surveillance, had triggered. That meant within a fifty-meter radius, some unknown intelligent creature was observing Lily and the rescue team. Moreover, not all intelligent beings had their vision limited to twenty-four meters; some could see farther.

Her words left the group hesitating, unsure whether to move on—would action provoke whatever was watching?

Then Lily raised her right hand, pointed at herself with her index finger, hooked it, and softly intoned, "Blurred and clear are synonyms." She then twisted her wrist and presented her hand palm up to herself, the awkward gesture owing to the reverse grip.

"It's right due north of us," Lily suddenly said.

"Huh?" Sandro almost missed it—how did Lily suddenly know its location?

"Go!"

Aiden made a snap decision and bolted ahead. He hadn’t understood what Lily had done, but now that they knew the location of the unknown entity, they could try to move.

Lily let out a breath of relief and quickly followed the others—had that really worked?

She had used her gloves to warp her ability, distorting a fixed fact so her 'blurred sense' became 'blurred (clear) sense.' She had only tried it out of curiosity; if it hadn't worked, things wouldn't have been any worse.

As they moved, Lily noticed the presence watching them seemed to adjust its position, as the sensation came and went intermittently. Its maximum range of observation was probably fifty to sixty meters, Lily roughly guessed, though she had no time to focus and confirm—if she did, perhaps she could figure out what was watching them.

With the persistent gaze overhead, Lily and the group soon reached the colonnaded entrance of the National Gallery, found the main door, and Camille hurried forward to try it while the others kept watch, alert to the area they'd come from.

"It's locked," Camille said, preparing to force it open.

"Wait."

Lily stepped forward, pulled a wire from her hair, crouched down, slipped it into the lock, twisted it, then shaped it and reinserted. In a few seconds, there was a click—the lock opened.

Dunn's eyes widened yet again.

Everyone was similarly stunned—Lily was so deft at this!

Dunn's mouth twitched; he decided he’d ask Lily to teach him a few tricks later. This seemingly gentle, lively lady possessed a thief's finesse, elegant as she twirled daggers in her palm, opening locks in three seconds—a high-level rogue skill set (thanks again to Ander’s “tutorials”), all of which he’d always dreamed of mastering. It was simply enviable.

When Lily followed Aiden into the Gallery, the sense of surveillance vanished. Lily finally relaxed; though the surveillance warning skill was useful, it was a mental strain—the prickling discomfort kept her nerves taut, never allowing her to ease.

She soon noticed everyone’s eyes on her.

Lily blushed and lowered her head.

"We need to find windows facing northeast and north, or get to the roof, to see if we can identify the source of the roar and whatever was watching us," Dunn immediately suggested, helping to shift the focus from Lily.