Roland had been experiencing the most hectic week since he took over Neverwinter City.

Although all indications suggested that the arrival of the Red Moon might be significantly earlier than expected, and he had been working towards that, the suddenness of this change still exceeded all predictions—not the Church's ten years, nor Taqila's estimated two or three years, but its appearance in the skies above the Western Region shortly after he had just started the population migration plan, completely without warning.

Of course, that's not entirely accurate.

Over the past week, there had been a series of urgent reports delivered from other cities, all mentioning the changes in the celestial phenomena. And without exception, no one had observed the approach or movement of the Red Moon; it seemed to have been hanging there all along, merely covered by the sky and in a state of invisible concealment, now simply unveiling the patch of blue sky above it.

Roland found himself suffering from a mild case of "Red Moon Syndrome," where no matter what he was doing, he would unconsciously look for windows to see the sky and easily fall into a daze while gazing at the Red Moon. The red halo was so huge, yet not dazzling at all, and its outline could be clearly seen both day and night. After staring at it for a long time, he even had the illusion that the Red Moon was also watching him.

According to the Union, the appearance of the Red Moon signified the beginning of the Battle of Divine Will. Roland had been preparing for this for years, but when it actually arrived, he felt a sense of unreality. Fertile Plains remained quiet, and the scouting team sent north had not returned. Only Neverwinter City had been significantly affected, with a report coming in from the administrative hall every half hour, and yet all of this had little to do with demons.

"Your Majesty," Nightingale's voice interrupted his thoughts, "you're staring blankly at the sky again."

Roland blinked and came back to his senses, "Uh—sorry, I just couldn't help it—"

Nightingale flashed over and held a piece of dried fish to his mouth, interrupting the rest of his sentence, "No need to apologize. Actually, spacing out isn't so bad; you've been too tired these past few days, so it's good to rest. Do you want me to watch the moon with you? Since the Red Moon is related to Divine Will, taking a closer look could be a form of research."

Roland couldn't help but laugh. Only Nightingale could justify slacking off so eloquently. He took the fish and shook his head helplessly, "There's still a lot to do. Keep an eye on me, and don't let me slack off on purpose, understand?"

Nightingale pouted and flashed back to the sofa on the side.

Roland took a deep breath and refocused his attention on the large stack of reports on the table.

The Red Moon had caused even more trouble for Neverwinter City these past few days than the demons attacking from afar. According to statistics from the administrative hall and the security bureau, Neverwinter City had experienced a total of four fires and sixteen criminal incidents in the past week. Adding in the industrial accidents that Anna had reported, a total of twenty-one people had died and more than five hundred were injured. Most of the casualties occurred within twenty-four hours of the Red Moon's appearance, making it the most chaotic moment since the city was founded.

At first, Roland thought it was the public's panic that caused all of this, but as the on-site reports gradually came together, he noticed that things were not so simple. Therefore, he appointed a joint team to conduct further investigations, and the conclusion was quite surprising—aside from the accidents caused by panic, the magic power fluctuations brought by the Red Moon's appearance were the real culprit behind the chaos.

Agatha's investigation report clearly described the situation at the time.

At approximately 5:35 PM, the Red Moon suddenly appeared in the sky, and all the magic power equipment in operation in Neverwinter City was affected to varying degrees. For example, the ending of *Annihilation Dust* being screened at the theater suddenly changed, and the illusions were almost indistinguishable from real scenes; the lighting in the industrial district instantly overloaded, and all the light bulbs burned out; some of the machine tools driven by Dawn I in the industrial area were paralyzed; the most serious accident occurred at the Machine Tool Factory One, where an old-fashioned boiler exploded on the spot, and the scalding high-pressure steam knocked down all the workers around it. Subsequent investigations proved that the boiler had hidden flaws due to the *xiànzhi* of the manufacturing process, and important parts such as the valve were solidified by Candlelight, but no one had noticed it before.

According to the testimonies collected from all parties, this abnormal state lasted for about ten minutes before gradually returning to stability. The frequent accidents further exacerbated the chaos at the time, even leading many to believe that demons were attacking Neverwinter City. Although the factory had practiced emergency plans for accidents, their execution was not ideal. If it weren't for Neverwinter City's public medical system being far superior to contemporary standards, plus Nanawe's presence to provide treatment, the death toll could have been several times higher.

Logically, such anomalies should have been recorded by the Union, but the fact is that the witches of Taqila were equally unaware of this. Looking back, either the fluctuations were smaller during the previous two Red Moon appearances, or the popularization of magic power devices was not high at the time, so no one noticed this small change.

The impact of the accident has not yet fully ended. Since no one dares to determine that the fluctuations will not occur again, the factory has launched a comprehensive inspection, improving or phasing out all kinds of old machines. The administrative hall has also made supplements to the emergency plan, including how to stay awake and avoid panic in abnormal situations, and the term "magic accident" has been formally recorded for the first time.

On the other hand, the second screening of the Magic Shadow after a three-day hiatus triggered a new wave of theater-going frenzy in Neverwinter City. People who knew the plot of the premiere from various channels almost surrounded the theater, mostly for the gimmick of "personally participating in and changing history." Even though the Magic Shadow has returned to normal at this moment, the audience's enthusiasm remains undiminished.

It can be said that this is one of the few interesting things that has happened in the past week.

However, in any case, this chain of accidents has cast a shadow over the upcoming Magic Cube Power Unit. What Roland wants to know most now is whether such fluctuations only exist at the moment of the Red Moon's arrival, or whether they will occur irregularly throughout the Battle of Divine Will.

If it is the former, occurring only once every four hundred years, he can fully accept it, after all, defeating the demons is the top priority—both Dawn I and the Magic Cube Power Unit have advantages that conventional equipment cannot match, greatly improving Graycastle's industrial capabilities, and are the kind of things that one becomes addicted to once they start using it. But if it is the latter, then he has to consider the high risks brought by loss of control.

At this moment, the administrative hall phone rang.

Generally speaking, only Chief Manager Barov can call this internal line.

Roland sighed, picked up the receiver, and put it to his ear, "What new problem has come up again?"

"No, Your Majesty..." Barov's tone seemed a bit hesitant, "Just now, Scholar Missar suddenly rushed into my office, saying that he has made a significant discovery about the Red Moon and hopes that you can... no, must have you personally go to the Observatory."