After inspecting the box, Xia De hesitated to speak, while Mr. Cameron was quite pleased: "Detective, did you discover the false bottom in the box? I once suspected it was a scam too, but I'm certain there's no false bottom; this is indeed technology from across eras."
He looked quite smug: "I see your client must have bought a fake victor box. Someone probably heard of this special technology and wanted to fake it to deceive people. Detective, you should investigate from this angle, rather than doubting the authenticity of this technology."
That heartfelt conviction contrasted sharply with the box on the table.
Xia De pursed his lips and nodded, taking out his Mind Crystal Ring from his pocket. As he put on the ring with his hand behind his back, he turned to look out the window, where the City was shrouded in thick fog: "Hmm? What's that?"
Xia De suddenly said. Mr. Cameron turned to look out the window in confusion but saw nothing. When he turned back to look at Xia De, he just happened to meet his eyes. The Detective's eyes seemed to possess a magical power in the moment, making Mr. Cameron feel as if he had been punched in the face.
He instantly felt his vision go black: "Oh!"
He leaned back against the sofa, but he didn't faint. Instead, as he heard Xia De say, "Oh, it's just fog. The pollution has been getting worse lately," he felt as if he suddenly understood something.
The factory owner sat up straight, looking at the box on the table in surprise, then scratched his head, shrinking his neck: "I was scammed?"
The Miracle 【Mind Blast】 works by vibrating the spirit and igniting the soul. When used at its lowest efficiency, it poses little harm to ordinary people, at most causing them a headache for a few days. But such an attack can also break some mental control effects, and Xia De's attempt was clearly successful.
However, Dorothy and Princess Margaret were both surprised; they hadn't noticed anything unusual about that box.
"Yes, I'm afraid you really were fooled."
Xia De reached into his pocket and pulled out a dagger in its sheath. This was a gift he had taken from a gift box in the autumn.
He drew the dagger and plunged it into the box, the sharp blade piercing straight through it.
Xia De pulled the dagger back out, letting Mr. Cameron look at the pierced hole against the light: "You see, there are no printing mechanisms inside, not even gears or pistons. If you still believe this box possesses technology from across eras, I can only attribute it to... Occult technology. Perhaps the Church would be very willing to explain its principles to you."
Mr. Cameron opened his mouth, watching the light pass through the pierced hole, and indeed there was nothing inside the box. He scratched his head again, then slumped his head in dejection: "God, how could I believe such a thing?"
"Everyone gets deceived sometimes, and those who are deceived can never understand their situation until they wake up. Luckily, your loss isn't great."
Xia De said regretfully, then suggested: "I'll buy it from you for 2 pounds as a clue for the ongoing investigation. However, you must tell me who sold this to you and where they are now."
This time, Mr. Jimmy Cameron did not refuse. He looked at the ground in a daze, still unable to comprehend why he had fallen for such a ridiculous scam: "Could it be that my life has been too decadent, causing my mind to go awry?"
He tugged at his hair again, revealing a rather precarious hairline. This gentleman would probably be confused for a while.
Having obtained the address of the merchant selling the victor box, Xia De, carrying the box, left the textile factory with the two girls. They did not immediately take a carriage to their destination but instead found a nearby inn. Under the innkeeper's strange gaze, Xia De took the two girls and requested a room.
"This thing is problematic; there's a very faint elemental reaction."
Only after the door closed did Xia De voice his discovery. The room was very small; although there was no peculiar smell, the floor looked as if it was covered in a layer of dust that could never be wiped clean.
He placed the box on the small room's desk. Dorothy waved her hand to draw the curtains. Neither she nor Princess Margaret noticed anything unusual:
"Xia De, what did you sense?"
"I don't know exactly what it is, but it's definitely not normal. We can try to examine it."
Saying that, he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a small bottle containing white powder: "Developer powder, it can make invisible items visible."
This was something Xia De had bought from Priest Augustus, a potent developing powder made by the Priest using Knowledge after integrating more angel bones, but nothing appeared when the powder was sprinkled on it.
So he took the hair ornament Dorothy handed him. This was an alchemical item Dorothy had bought from Old John, which could make certain special items that were not yet effective glow.
But still, nothing happened.
Princess Margaret also rummaged through her handbag and pulled out a black eyeshadow compact. She asked Xia De to carefully shake the powder from the bottom right corner of the eyeshadow compact onto the box:
"This is alchemical powder made by one of my teachers; it's very effective on special items."
But still, nothing happened.
Xia De thought for a moment, then finally took out a bottle of No. 4 holy water and sprinkled it on the box.
"Oh! Step back!"
With a sizzling sound, black smoke with a foul smell rose from the box. Xia De retreated abruptly, dropping a silence charm while urging the two princesses to move away from the table with him, watching the box spontaneously combust in black flames.
As the black smoke continuously ascended into the air, the wooden box burned and produced green acid. The acid directly melted the table, even creating depressions in the floor, though fortunately, it didn't penetrate to the floor below.
In the black mist, a terrifying face seemed to emerge from the twisted smoke. The three people in the room all heard a whisper in their ears, a voice seemingly from the deepest part of their hearts, tempting them to reveal their desires together.
Xia De was completely unaffected. Dorothy, due to her special connection with Leia and the mental resistance provided by her Red Butterfly pendant, also barely resisted the voice from her heart. Only Princess Margaret suddenly gasped for breath, and the black mist, during the trio's moment of hesitation, transformed into a black misty humanoid with only an upper body:
"Mortals, show me your desires."
The black mist generated by the burning expanded continuously, and various illusions within the black mist appeared before their eyes, seemingly about to cover the entire room. The mist bypassed Xia De and surged directly towards Princess Margaret. The latter touched the ring on her right hand and pushed forward, and under the soft white light, the black mist slowly stagnated.
"Don't come closer; I'll deal with it. Close your eyes!"
Xia De shouted loudly, shielding the two girls. The Princess was puzzled, but Dorothy, who had learned her lesson during the "dream pen of joy" incident, immediately put her right hand over the Princess's eyes and closed her own.
Xia De extended his finger: "Silver Moon!"
The brilliant Moonlight that instantly erupted in the small room penetrated the black mist. The light flashed for less than a second, but the entire room seemed to be dyed with a layer of silvery Moonlight.
"This light..."
Even though Dorothy extended her hand in time, Margaret Anjou still felt her vision whiten. And when she could clearly see everything around her, she felt as if she were standing inside a church:
"What Miracle is this?"
"Light Spell... Don't worry, that was just an illusion. This thing is very weak."
Xia De said softly, looking at the box, still holding out a hand to shield the girls.
At this point, the box was still burning, but the black mist it produced was just black mist. It was completely burned away within half a minute. After a muffled bang, the table collapsed due to the corrosion of the green acid, and the acid dripping onto the floor corroded the floor until it turned into a pile of white-green foam.
"Light Spell?"
The Princess was startled, once again doubting Xia De's level. No one had ever told her about Xia De's level, and Xia De had never released his Destiny Ring in front of her.
"Miss Mary, don't worry, Xia De is very professional at dealing with things like this."
The Writer was quite relaxed:
"Xia De, what liquid did you use?"
She asked, covering her mouth and nose with her right hand, while her left hand summoned wind to confine the black smoke, compressing it into a small black ball that fell to the ground, preventing too much smoke from escaping through the door cracks and drawing attention.
"No. 4 holy water."
Xia De said softly. He looked at Dorothy, who nodded, took the hand of the somewhat bewildered Princess Margaret and made her turn, then smiled and made her turn back before the latter could ask a question.
At this moment, everything in the room had surprisingly returned to its original state. There were no traces of corrosion on the floor, the table was back to normal, and even the smoke-blackened walls had returned to their original appearance.
Only the "victor box" that had burned due to contact with holy water was gone. Xia De's 【Breath of Years】 was not very effective on extraordinary items, and he also did not want the box to reappear.
He reached into his pocket and took out the branch prepared for the spell 【Elf's Antidote】. He poked around in the pile of foam on the ground a few times, confirming that the box had burned very thoroughly, and the foam was rapidly evaporating. It would soon leave no trace.
"It's not a relic. I don't know what it is exactly, only that it can trigger inner desire. It seems this investigation won't be simple. I didn't expect that after such a long time without a commission, something like this would happen as soon as one appeared."
Xia De sighed: "The other party seems to be afraid of being caught by the Church. The self-destruct function is really cautious. Do you still want to investigate with me?"
"Of course."
Dorothy nodded immediately; she was in high spirits today. Princess Margaret hesitated for a moment, then also nodded: "Yes, at least until evening, I can move around the City. Mr. Hamilton, do you always experience things like this? When I was in Weilandale City, I rarely encountered extraordinary events triggered by ordinary things."
"This has been a characteristic of this City since this year."
Dorothy said with a smile: "But I think this will be an interesting day, won't it?"
The Golden-haired girl nodded, then looked at Xia De's back. She found herself increasingly unable to fathom this handsome Detective.
Since the box corroded and burned under No. 4 holy water, it indicated that the person who made the item used forbidden Knowledge that should not have been used. The power contained in holy water itself and the characteristics of its elements are only so strongly targeted at a few forces such as undead, demons, and relics.
Therefore, if the mastermind behind this incident was not Dr. Bill Schneider, then they were almost certainly not a good person. While good people might also use evil power, they would definitely not create such an item.
Xia De did not understand how this box was made, but he understood that it drew upon human desire to fulfill wishes. Rather than calling it a "cash duplicator," it was more like a wish-granting machine. Such alchemical items cannot be made by ordinary means; the first-year alchemy course at Saint Byron's repeatedly emphasized the dangers of such items.
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