Lemeir, abandoned by his own organization, almost exhausted his years of savings to solve the problem. Although he couldn't even find out the exact name of the Mermaid statues, through a friend's introduction, he met a Fortune Teller who was said to be very powerful. The Fortune Teller gave him advice.
"Pirates?"
Xia De sat in the chair, looking at the text on the notepad in surprise.
The Fortune Teller sought guidance from fate through divination, and what he saw were pirates. Those Mermaid statues would be connected to pirates, and the way to break the curse might be related to pirates.
It was a pity that Lemeir had no chance to verify whether the Fortune Teller, who had taken 300 pounds in cash from him, had truly seen fate.
Lemeir had accumulated a large sum of money over the years through illegal smuggling activities. Unfortunately, to break the curse, he spent a large amount of gold on divination, and the remaining money was used to purchase relics with curse-breaking functions. This was why Xia De only found very little cash here.
That relic was carried by Lemeir, and it was likely buried at the bottom of the sea. Therefore, Xia De's gains this time, besides the cash, were only the old book "Abyss of Rising Wind" and the Second-Circle Arcanist's notes.
Suspecting there was a hidden compartment, he used Blood Echo to observe the room. Although he did find some hidden casting materials behind the bookshelf, most of them were not very valuable and inconvenient to carry, so Xia De didn't intend to take them.
In summary, the harvest this trip was not much. Including the notes and books, selling everything would probably earn around 200 pounds. Since it was a windfall, Xia De didn't feel it was insufficient. With this money, plus his current savings, he could comfortably spend money to renovate the third floor of Saint Delan Square.
"However, this incident once again tells me that this world is so dangerous that even a Second-Circle Arcanist can die suddenly due to bad luck."
He thought this as he prepared to leave, sighing at Lemeir's fate.
“What do you plan to do with that statue? Leave it here?”
"Of course not. I'll tell the church. But before reporting, I have one more thing to do."
Putting the money and books into the wide pockets of his overcoat, Xia De pushed open the door and walked out of the attic.
It was Monday during the day, and there was no one else in this rented apartment except the landlord. When he saw the old man again, he was hiding in his basement workshop.
The basement was steaming, with dense steam pipes extending from underground and upstairs, supplying the small workshop's production. Gas lamps lit the walls, and several gas-fired distillers were placed by the wall. Further inside were box-type drying devices and a low-power steam engine.
The largest item in the basement was a red copper high-temperature calcination furnace. When Xia De came down, the furnace was still working, and its metal surface radiated extremely high heat. The pointers on the rusted dial orderly indicated the internal working environment.
"What else do you want to do?"
Hearing Xia De open the basement door, the old man asked warily, standing at the innermost part of the basement, holding a gun in his hand.
"Just wanted to tell you that I've taken everything from upstairs,"
Xia De said.
"Then leave. I won't tell anyone you were here."
"One more thing, I want to see what exactly you produce here."
As he spoke, he looked around. The old man suddenly raised his gun:
"Leave here immediately! I'm only saying this once, leave here immediately! Don't think I won't shoot just because you're from MI6, young man. Get out now, and I'll pretend nothing happened."
"It seems what you produce is indeed a big problem. Go ahead and shoot if you dare. Have you killed anyone before?"
"Of course I have. Do you think I'm bluffing?"
Through the steam, neither of them could see each other clearly. But Xia De's footsteps were very clear. Seeing him still approaching, the old man fired a shot at Xia De's feet.
The young Detective stopped and looked at the bullet hole at his feet:
"Alright, I'll stop."
Although he said this, he still walked to the side. When he was about to approach the enormous distiller, he suddenly rushed forward. It looked like Xia De hid behind the distiller, but the old man's eyes widened because he couldn't see his legs under the distiller.
"Where did he go?"
He held the gun, vigilantly looking at the now quiet room, but soon felt a hand reach out from behind him.
Xia De, who had arrived behind the old landlord using Raglai's Leap, suddenly wrapped his left arm around the old man's neck, while his right hand tried to snatch the pistol that was pointing forward.
The old man's reaction was also swift; he had no intention of fighting Xia De for control of the gun. Instead, his body lay down, forcing Xia De to also bend down and wrestle with him.
But the old man's left hand took this opportunity to reach for Xia De's waist and pulled out the revolver.
Very skillfully, he pressed down the hammer with his thumb, curved his left arm upward, and pointed it back at Xia De's face:
"I haven't forgotten, you have another gun on your waist, young man. You're still thinking too simply."
Bang~
The gun of kindness killed the person who fired it. The bullet penetrated his forehead, leaving him no chance to even leave a last word.
"Yes, too young."
After the gunshot, the Echo reverberated in the basement. Xia De sighed, laid the body down, and then retrieved the gun of kindness from the old man's withered hand. Ignoring the scene, he walked out, wiping the gun with a handkerchief.
The old man had seen his face. If the church came to inquire after being informed of the Mermaid statue's hiding place, there might be complications. And if he killed him with his own gun, even if the body was taken away, there was a small chance the church would link the dispatcher's death to this incident. Therefore, having the old man "commit suicide" with the gun of kindness was the best method Xia De could think of.
This way, no matter what method the church used, they wouldn't be able to find out who had arrived here a step earlier today.
The rest was simple. Xia De skillfully locked the main door of the apartment building downstairs, confirmed he left no footprints, and then exited through the back window. When he returned to the street, he glanced back at the apartment building with its closed doors, gaining a deeper understanding of why Doctor Schneider always had shoe covers and gloves.
The closest church to New Denton Avenue was the Church of Creation and Destruction, dedicated to the Lady of Creation, but Xia De didn't report immediately. Instead, he returned to his rented hotel to change his clothes.
Reporting a dangerous relic, of course, couldn't be done by him running to the church himself. So, Xia De's plan was to find a child on the street near the church and pay some loose change for the child to deliver a message.
He wrote a simple note with his left hand, explaining the apartment's location and the Mermaid statue, then planned to take a carriage from the hotel. However, just as Xia De found an empty carriage at the hotel entrance and was about to get in, a group of police officers blew their whistles and ran over from a distance:
"All carriages stop!"
Police whistles usually meant something had happened, so apart from the coachmen stopping in place, passing pedestrians scattered. Xia De didn't want to get into trouble, so he could only shake his head apologetically at the coachman in front of him.
This group of police officers gathered all the coachmen on the street, but didn't say what was happening, only prohibiting them from taking passengers for now.
Xia De was worried that the Mermaid statue might have other accidents, so he was anxious to get to the church. He didn't wait there, but decided to walk to the next street to find a carriage.
Coldwater Port City is a typical West Coast harbor City. Compared to Tobesk, which is located inland, the air here is more humid. Because it is adjacent to the Wharf Area, one can even feel the dampness of the sea just by breathing in.
Unlike the capital of Delarion, which has a developed steam industry, Coldwater Port City relies mainly on maritime trade as its economic means. This has also resulted in the construction of steam and gas pipeline facilities in this City being far behind Tobesk City.
On the outer walls of buildings along the streets of Tobesk, the two types of pipelines could be arranged in a relatively orderly manner, maintaining the City's appearance well. However, on the outer walls of Coldwater Port City, the metal pipelines were purely laid out in whatever way was convenient.
Xia De thought that while such a pipeline arrangement looked a bit messy, it somehow had a rugged beauty. Coupled with the aged buildings in the Wharf Area, the streetscape here seemed like a mix of medieval ancient architecture and the Steam Age. Outsiders quite appreciated such scenery.
As long as he didn't have to live in such a place.
Hogglenz Avenue is connected to many alleys on both sides. Compared to the relatively clean streets, most alleys could be directly equated with garbage dumps. Even during the day, passing pedestrians would instinctively bypass alley entrances rather than walk directly through them.
Xia De was the same. However, as he looked at the animal clinic across the street and thought about bathing Mia, hurried footsteps suddenly came from the alley beside him.
It was as if that person had been hiding at the alley entrance the whole time. Xia De didn't even have time to react when a young girl in a black and white gauze dress rushed out of the alley and, without a word, shoved the paper bag she was holding into Xia De's arms:
"Help me hold this!"
After speaking, she didn't care about Xia De's reaction, quickly crossed the street, holding up her skirt, and ran into the alley next to the pet clinic.
"What?"
Immediately after, a group of police officers ran out of the alley from which the young girl had just emerged. It wasn't Xia De's first time seeing police in this world, but the people who appeared at this moment were definitely the most soldier-like police he had ever seen, not ordinary street patrol officers.
"Coldwater Port City's police department is indeed more formidable than Tobesk City's."
He couldn't help but praise in his heart.
The police officers didn't bother with Xia De, who was standing at the alley entrance. Instead, they ran directly into the alley across the street, following the direction the young girl had just left. Only Xia De remained standing there, holding the paper bag, completely unaware of what had just happened.