"Strength? You are too weak. The power I possess is not suitable for you."
This once again demonstrated the other party's immense power, a fact Xia De firmly believed.
The woman paused before continuing, as if thinking. The temperature in the room had returned to the same level as the corridor, indicating that her mood had also returned to normal:
"But I happen to have a decent relic, though its value is far from comparable to that Old God's statue... No, not the darkness box; that's merely a Poet Grade (Level 5) toy. I'll give you a Document-level (Level 4) relic and tell you the secret of Mercury Blood, helping you avoid danger, in exchange for the address and incantation. How does that sound?"
"No problem, thank you for your generosity, madam."
Since flattering words cost nothing, Xia De was happy to use his internal "Northern Common Language Gift Pack" to translate Chinese into a foreign-sounding, translated-style praise for the other party.
But this time, Xia De did not voluntarily reveal the incantation's content. The woman behind the door, of course, understood his meaning:
"Recently, a sage-level relic appeared in Tobesk City."
The first sentence was somewhat surprising. He had thought the woman would discuss the Secret keeper-level relic, forged philosopher's stone, related to Mercury Blood, which Xia De had seen on the Academy's wanted poster at the doctor's.
But fortunately, it was only Sage-level (Level 2), not Angel-level (Level 1). Still, thinking about it, it was unlikely he would suddenly encounter an angel-level relic, as Xia De had some confidence in his luck.
The woman in his mind laughed again.
"This isn't really a secret; at least the Church and the Academy know about it, as do others with spies in the area... That sage-level relic is god's gift box, an artifact once used by an Old God who possessed the ability of creation."
The woman behind the door said in a teasing tone:
"Currently, Mercury Blood possesses this sage-level relic, and they are classified as an illegal organization.
For some reason, Mercury Blood is temporarily unable to move this relic, so god's gift box is still in Tobesk City. The relic's power is immense; every Ring術士 who touches the box for the first time automatically learns a synthesis formula. By putting specific relics into the box in a particular order, a more powerful and certainly suitable relic can be synthesized. Detective, do you understand?"
"I think I understand."
Xia De carefully memorized this information. This was the first piece of information he had encountered about a sage-level relic.
"This is somewhat similar to alchemy synthesis, but the side effects of a sage-level relic... Diake, the Silver-Eyed One of Mercury Blood, seems to believe he can use that box to master the synthesis method for the Angel-level (Level 1) relic, Mercury Blood..."
The woman was laughing, but that laughter was far less pleasant than the laughter in Xia De's mind at that moment.
"The Silver-Eyed One is attempting to use this immovable sage-level relic to synthesize the true Mercury Blood. This is also the original purpose of the Mercury Blood organization's formation: to pursue a relic that may not even exist... That's why this group of people came to this city with all sorts of miscellaneous items, including that statue. It's said there are also several excellent relics, but unfortunately, I only want this statue for now."
"Then what do you think of that sage-level relic, god's gift box?"
Xia De hesitated. He strongly doubted that if everything the woman said was true, whether the Academy, knowing about this, would tell the Letter-based Ring術士s in the area.
If they told the truth, then that wanted poster seemed to be downplaying the situation. Therefore, the Academy's wanted poster he saw at the doctor's likely had "finding the traces of the Mercury Blood organization" as its true purpose, with the forged philosopher's stone being merely incidental.
The Academy currently did not intend to share this information with the Letter-based Ring術士s.
"I have no interest in that item whatsoever. I know exactly what that box is, so I will absolutely not touch it. It only appeared in the autumn of the fifth epoch, 1068. It's very ancient, very powerful... If I were you, for the next few months, I would definitely hide from Mercury Blood in this fog-shrouded Steam City. Those people are practically insane now."
"Alright, madam, thank you very much for the information. Here is the incantation..."
He took a few seconds to memorize every word the woman said, then voluntarily recited the six-syllable incantation. After speaking, he added that he was able to obtain this information due to the effect of his core Ling Rune.
But the woman seemed indifferent to this remark, just as she was indifferent to why Xia De could so easily lose control of the darkness box.
"Very good, Detective, I appreciate people like you. This was a quite satisfactory commission. Now, please take good care of this relic."
The sound of a drawer being pulled open came from behind the door, followed by footsteps. But when the door finally opened, only a young maid walked out. She looked to be in her twenties, wearing a classic, thick black and white maid uniform.
Her long black hair was held in a white hairnet. Since she wasn't working in the kitchen, there was no apron over her long maid dress as Xia De had imagined.
This certainly wasn't the lady Xia De had been speaking with. The outline of the lady behind the door had been described by the golden glow in the darkness earlier, which was very different from this Black-haired maid.
After the maid opened a door in the corner of the bookshelf, she immediately left it ajar, not giving Xia De a chance to see the "noble lady" inside. Then, very carefully, she held a small square box with both hands and approached Xia De. The box was wrapped in red velvet. She held it with one hand, and with a click, opened it to reveal a ring embedded in the lining.
A faint scent of blood was detected, but neither the naked eye nor Blood Echo could see any bloodstains on the ring itself.
The ring band had the texture of pure silver, and the setting was yellow amber encasing an unknown insect. The insect resembled an ordinary flying mosquito, but it was entirely blood-red, as if it could come alive from the amber at any second.
You have come into contact with 'whisper.'
"The Document-level relic, vampire ring: when injured, wearing the ring and directly touching the skin of any humanoid creature allows you to absorb their blood to heal yourself.
It cannot cure diseases or curses, but it can alleviate them. However, if the injury requiring healing is too severe, it may cause the touched person's blood to be drained instantly... But do not use the ring as an attack method, even if you are willing to self-harm, do not. This is a Document-level relic; frequently using the ring's ability to heal yourself will cause you to exhibit symptoms similar to hemophilia."
This was the woman behind the door explaining; she did not hide anything about this relic:
"Do not wear it when uninjured, at least not for long periods, otherwise I cannot guarantee what will happen. Of course, even if it's not due to the relic's side effects, it's best not to wear it lightly, because I also took this from Mercury Blood. They don't know who took it, so... you should exercise such caution."
Xia De was momentarily unsure whether to complain about her conflict with Mercury Blood, or to ponder the relationship between Mercury Blood's collection of so many blood-related supernatural items and the synthesis formulas.
