Xia De met the doctor in the same consulting room. Compared to The Lady on the third floor of the club last night, Xia De had a high degree of trust in the doctor, so he revealed everything that happened last night. He didn't think there were any details that needed to be hidden.
This, of course, included the matter of the darkness box, though Xia De blurred the conditions for the box's containment breach.
When the doctor first heard that Xia De had encountered a relic out of control, he stood up in surprise and paced around the room; halfway through, when Xia De mentioned the sage-level relic, he stood there covering his forehead; when he heard the crazy idea of the Silver-Eyed One, he let out an undisguised groan:
"What a madman. I knew Mercury Blood was in the New World before, trying to alchemize with unique minerals there. I didn't expect them to actually come to Tobesk."
He was very satisfied with Xia De's performance in facing the darkness box, but he didn't think the Silver Moon's Light Spell had much value; there were simply too many such Miracles. Although the Light Spell described by Xia De was a bit too bright, it wasn't overly unique.
As for Xia De trading the statue with the Old God's remnant to someone else, the doctor thought he did the right thing. He didn't even care much that the woman might learn about the five-person correspondence group through Xia De:
"There are actually quite a few people who know of our existence; otherwise, how would we exchange materials and Knowledge with others, or find talented people to help? Do we have to wear masks every time? As long as it's not the Orthodox Church, it's fine. The fact that the other party is willing to trade with a low-level Ring術士 like you means she is very friendly."
As for guessing the woman's identity, the doctor couldn't think of who it might be, but he also believed that her Ring術士 level was very high; otherwise, there would be no reason for her to discover Xia De in that way and know the specific information about sage-level relics.
"In any case, this is a good thing. You obtained a rare spell and a very good relic without risking your life. I think this should be considered luck. This world is not safe, and you won't have such luck every time."
The doctor concluded the matter.
"Is it considered luck?"
Xia De asked, but after thinking about it, it really seemed very lucky.
The evil god statue with the Old God's remnant, although Xia De could only gain Knowledge from the first contact, its actual value was definitely far greater than that Document-level ring. But if you add the free information and Knowledge, as well as Xia De's unintentional act of causing the darkness box to lose control, this transaction could barely be considered a "fair trade."
More importantly, The Lady was much stronger than Xia De.
The doctor didn't care much about The Lady in the club. After all, this was the capital of a northern kingdom on the Old Continent, and any kind of Ring術士 could appear. He cared about Mercury Blood:
"Actually, Saint Byron's has recently issued a mission related to the Mercury Blood organization, and I was even preparing to participate... It seems I still need to consider it, Sage-level..."
The doctor muttered to himself, then looked up at Xia De:
"Xia De, overall, you handled this matter quite well. You didn't encounter danger yourself, and you properly handled the transaction with an unknown Ring術士, and provided valuable intelligence to the group. You've already gotten the hang of it; this is roughly what your future life will look like.
But this piece of intelligence is quite useful, and perhaps I should give you some compensation. Don't refuse; although the five of us belong to the same group, and it's very likely we'll cross the Great Northern Ice Cap together in the future, some things need to be settled clearly. Ordinary intelligence can be shared freely, but this time it concerns something like this..."
He thought for a moment:
"How about four pounds? The other four people each give you one pound. This information is probably worth that much."
Such important inside information, if sold on the black market, would certainly be worth more than four pounds.
However, when shared within a group of five, it couldn't be priced that way. Four pounds was not a return on investment for Xia De, but rather an acknowledgment of his contribution to the group. The two are fundamentally different, indicating that the relationship between the five is not purely an exchange of interests.
"Four pounds, that's equivalent to me bringing Little Franklin back from the club eight more times, or more than one orange cat, Mia."
Xia De mentally calculated, equating these three relationships. He wasn't greedy for more, so he smiled at the doctor:
"Of course, that's very good. But Doctor, I didn't mention Mrs. Lasoya's information last night. Will this have any impact?"
He then took the opportunity to ask for advice. Doctor Schneider shook his head:
"Since the other party didn't ask, you had no right to say. But don't contact The Lady you mentioned again; she is probably a member of Mercury Blood. However, I haven't heard that they possess a relic for gender transformation. It's probably for Mercury Blood's synthesis formula. The difficulty of that Saint Byron's bounty is greater than I imagined."
The doctor frowned slightly:
"In short, don't get involved in anything related to Mercury Blood anymore.
I'll probably do something soon, but I am a PentaCircle, and you are not. Mercury Blood is a group of madmen who always believe they can create the legendary angel-level relic, but how is that possible?"
"That's true. If angel-level relics could appear casually, then this world would be too crazy."
Xia De also said, and he truly thought so.
The blue-eyed doctor seemed to have had some interaction with this organization, but he didn't intend to share it with Xia De, so he changed the subject:
"Xia De, your task now is to learn more about common life Knowledge and build up your career as a Detective. Interact more with the ordinary world, and when you advance to the second circle, or gain enough power, then consider participating in the shadows of Tobesk City. This crazy world will always be crazier than you think."
"So, Doctor, does Saint Byron's Comprehensive College always hide crucial information from us like this?"
Xia De seized the opportunity to ask, but the doctor unexpectedly shook his head:
"Don't think of Saint Byron's Comprehensive College as too harsh. They usually share appropriate information with us at the right time."
"When is the right time then?"
Xia De asked again, then saw Doctor Schneider lean back slightly in the single armchair:
"Only they themselves know that."
After leaving Doctor Schneider's psychological clinic, aside from hearing at noon that there was an accidental gas explosion in the alley opposite the Silver Parrot Milk Company last night, nothing else worth Xia De's memory happened that day.
No illegal organizations came knocking, no generous clients rang the doorbell downstairs, and no acquaintances of Sparrow Hamilton came looking for him. Instead, Xia De's solo research at home actually yielded results.
He still couldn't activate any Time-Space power, but for Silver Moon, probably due to the breakthrough use on the third floor of the club, Xia De could now attach the Silver Moon's light to external objects, in addition to the Light Spell.
In his most successful attempt, he made the orange cat, Mia, who had gradually become affectionate with him, emit light for ten consecutive seconds.
This action scared the cat, causing it to run wildly around the house, even scrambling up to the third floor of the apartment through the broken stairs.
It took Xia De a long time to call the runaway cat back, and he therefore wondered if the Detective had hidden his gun on the sealed first floor, the inaccessible third floor, or the uninhabited Room 2 on the second floor.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough tools, so he couldn't go to these three locations to investigate. But investigating these locations had already been added to Xia De's schedule, as he had to confirm that the house he lived in was absolutely safe.
