northernbook Chapter 388 A Request from the Mayor
Chapter 388 A Request from the Mayor
After several days of hard work, the crisis in the Lost Land was finally resolved, and Otto was found during this time. Naturally, Kallen was always by his side.
Rather, how come Zhe has ever seen the two of them apart, or perhaps they only don't see each other after get off work? After all, it was Karen who showed them around the castle when they last went to Kaslana's residence.
Tetsuya learned the reason for Kiana's disappearance from Otto's words. It turned out that ever since the Epsilon Hollow incident, Otto had been tracking the last burst of etheric energy released by Kiana.
After all, so much energy wouldn't just vanish into thin air. Yet, with so much etheric energy erupting in the void, the Epsilon Void didn't expand; instead, it collapsed back to its original size. No matter how you look at it, something doesn't make sense.
After all, Kiana, as the owner of those energies, was not defeated, and those energies simply leaked out of Kiana's body, which did not have the same effect as killing a large number of skeletons.
The first time that energy was detected in large quantities was inside the now-vanished Melinoa Void. Rather, the very formation of such a peculiar void as the Melinoa Void was due to that etheric energy.
However, with the disappearance of the Murinoe Void, most of that energy also vanished, with only a small amount remaining, which Otto detected in the Lost Land.
This is also why Geppetto is restless again. Fortunately, thanks to Zhe's efforts during this period, Geppetto has not actually succeeded in descending from the depths of the Zero Void to the Lost Land.
This also gave Otto time to collect and seal these energies. As he said this, Otto clapped his hands and exaggeratedly praised Qi Zhe and his agents.
Now, not only Zhe, but even Kallen, who was standing to the side, was made to shudder by Otto's exaggerated acting. Goosebumps rose all over her body. For some reason, Kallen felt a strange sense of familiarity when she looked at Otto like this.
Kallen quickly tried to calm Otto down, but Otto was the one who started to look aggrieved. He looked at Kallen with a pitiful expression, like a large golden retriever, and then explained that his acting was a deliberate imitation of Kallen's behavior when she was a phantom thief, wearing the costume she personally designed for him called "Sixth Serenade" to conceal her identity. Otto had originally thought Kallen would like it.
After hearing Otto's explanation, Kallen finally realized why she had always felt a strange sense of familiarity with Otto earlier. So that's the reason!
Karen's cheeks quickly flushed with embarrassment, much like how family members sometimes inadvertently reveal embarrassing secrets to guests.
Karen quickly stepped forward and covered Otto's incessantly talking mouth, afraid that he would reveal some more of her embarrassing past.
Seeing that the usually lively and serious Karen also had such a past that could be described as chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), Tetsuya and Rei were filled with curiosity. However, seeing Karen's excited reaction, the two silently gave up the idea of continuing their research.
While Tetsuya and Rei would consider Karen's feelings and choose not to delve into it, the AI would not, perhaps because it hadn't had a chance to shine in the previous Bollinger incident.
Fairy has been working exceptionally hard lately, and while working hard is certainly a good thing, the cost is that Fairy has exceeded the electricity bill.
Moreover, Fairy had already found all the information related to the keywords "Kallen" and "phantom thief" and reported it to Tetsuya.
Because they were using the language module of Ies, everyone, including those at the Lost Land, heard Karen's glorious history of robbing the rich to help the poor.
Of course, there's another point about Otto because Fairy found it interesting, and since it happened to be related to Kallen, Fairy mentioned it along with the other points.
It was a photo of Otto wearing a magnificent aristocratic gown, but Fairy wouldn't have singled it out for just that. The reason was that in the photo, Otto was wearing a resplendent and elegant lady's aristocratic dress.
So everyone immediately looked at Otto with shocked eyes, as if to say, "You actually have a hobby of cross-dressing?"
Although Otto does have a somewhat effeminate appearance, making him suitable to be a cross-dresser, it's hard to imagine that he would have such a hobby based on his usual behavior.
Unlike Karen's blushing reaction, Otto remained calm, as if Fairy hadn't been talking about him at all. He even recounted the experience to everyone with great interest.
In short, that was Karen's first phantom thief operation. At the time, the target's house was hosting a banquet, but the room containing a large amount of treasure was still heavily guarded by security guards.
Otto knew that being a woman would attract more attention from the security guards than being a man, so he dressed up as the lady in the photo to attend the banquet, tasked with stalling the guards during the operation.
After hearing Otto's description, everyone fell silent. To be honest, it was indeed a classic plan, but the fact that Otto was the one responsible for playing the role of a prostitute to attract the security guards' attention made the plan seem distorted.
However, the Lost Land was not a place to stay for long. Now that the mission was completed and everyone's curiosity had been satisfied, it was time to leave.
After leaving the Lost Land, Otto took the etheric energy he had collected and left, while Tetsuya composed himself and prepared to pick up Ies and take him home.
A few days later, Lycaon suddenly came to visit. He came to relay the mayor's message. Although Zhe and Ling didn't know why the mayor would suddenly come to them, they remembered that Kiana had told them that the mayor knew their teacher.
If they could get the mayor's help, it would probably be much simpler than them searching on their own.
Zhe agreed to accept the mayor's commission, and then Lekahn dialed the mayor's number.
During the phone call, the mayor made it clear that he did indeed know their teacher, Carlos Alna, and that to celebrate their collaboration, he had something he planned to give them.
The mayor gestured for Lycaon to open the box he had brought. Inside were items the mayor had created based on experimental data left by their teacher, Carlos, that could help alleviate some of the side effects of their eye implants.
In theory, once they use this item, their suppressed etheric adaptability will be unleashed, allowing them to move freely within the void without the aid of Bomb.
Of course, the one who replicated this technology was none other than the former Archbishop of Destiny, our good tool, Lord Otto.
It was also thanks to Otto who performed the reverse engineering that two could be produced in such a short time. Otherwise, even if it were the mayor's trusted research lab, they would most likely only be able to produce one.
Afterwards, Lycahn led the two to the inside of the cave for on-site testing, and the results were naturally very pleasing.
However, given that neither of them has formally learned any combat skills, they will most likely revert to their previous approach, the only difference being that they can now conduct some empty field investigations.
Back at the video store, the mayor finally revealed the purpose of the commission, which was actually somewhat related to them.
In short, they conducted research on the "Beast Mayor" that had been recovered by the police department. They discovered that the Beast could exist outside the Void and that it contained human genes. They then extracted a strange core from the Beast's body. This Beast Core possessed the same characteristics as the Beast, but it was recently stolen. An investigation revealed that the Beast Core was apparently embedded in a collectible item and was to be auctioned soon.
Given that the mayor's status is not suitable for appearing at an auction, and considering that he was able to steal something from what could be considered the most secure research lab in New Elidu, it is more likely that the crime was committed by an insider.
Therefore, the mayor also needs to investigate the forces around him during this period, in other words, he doesn't have many people he can trust.
While the Kaslana family can be trusted, the recent events involving Blinger have also affected Durandal, and the entire Kaslana family is now under the watchful eyes of various parties, making it unwise to secretly entrust them with tasks.
That's why the mayor sent Lycaen to ask Zhe Ling and the others for help. Of course, the mayor will also prepare sufficient funds, and Victoria Housekeeping will fully support the two of them.
Although Zhe and Ling were reluctant to get involved in this mess, Zhe decided to accept the commission considering the mayor's status and Kiana's previous words.
After getting the answer they wanted, the mayor's tone remained gentle and calm, but the brother and sister could still sense a hint of pleasure in it.
The only problem now is that this auction is by invitation only, but the organizer of the auction is related to TOPS, so it will take some time to get an invitation by bypassing TOPS.
The mayor then assured the siblings that he would resolve the matter as soon as possible, and that the rest would have to be left to them before hanging up.
After hanging up the phone, Lycaen noticed that Zhe seemed to still have questions, so he asked him.
What Zhe is concerned about is the relationship between the mayor and TOPS, which seems to be somewhat delicate.
“That’s natural,” Lykan answered Zhe’s question. “As you know, New Elidu was jointly established by the Kaslana family and the Mefraul family, while TOPS is a joint chamber of commerce founded by multiple companies. Power and interests have always been prone to entanglement.”
Meanwhile, Lycahn also stated, "This is why the invitation was so troublesome for us; everything would have been much simpler without TOPS's deep involvement."
Afterwards, Lycahn assured them that they would do their best to clear any obstacles, and then said goodbye to the brother and sister.
After Lycaen left, Zhe and Ling began to discuss matters related to the auction. Suddenly, Ling remembered the generous customer who had come to the video store a couple of days ago.
The man's name was Hugo. He claimed to be a collector and mentioned to the two of them before leaving that they could go to the auction if they wanted to attend.
Since waiting for Lycaen and the others to get the invitations is pointless anyway, I might as well try to get one myself.
However, the other party did not leave any contact information, so it may be difficult to find him now.
Suddenly, Ling made a guess: "Could he have left us with some kind of mystery... That's how it's portrayed in movies!"
"Rin, have you been watching too many movies lately?" Zhe said helplessly. "We need to distinguish between movies and reality."
Then Zhe remembered that Hugo had left them a lottery ticket before he left, and had said some strange things that sounded very childish.
"There are always secrets hidden behind the light..."
Zhe murmured, then seemed to have guessed something. To verify his idea, Zhe held the lottery ticket up to the light for a moment, and a string of numbers resembling a number appeared in the previously blank space.
It's still the physical "side of the light"!
Although he had a lot to complain about, his immediate priority was to contact the other party, so Zhe dialed the number that had just been unlocked.
The call was answered quickly, and the voice coming from the other end was indeed that of Hugo, who had come to the store a couple of days ago.
"Oh my, it's the owner of the video store I treasure. I'm so glad you discovered my little secret. I hadn't contacted you before, and I thought I had left a bad impression on you."
Zhe cut straight to the point: "Actually, we have something we'd like to ask you for help with, about that auction you mentioned before... could you get an invitation?"
"So you two want to participate in the auction. I'd be happy to help, but unfortunately I have some work commitments..."
Hugo then added, "Of course, if you two are willing to help me finish my work, I should be able to spare some time to find the invitations you want."
Bartering is fair; if you want to get an invitation quickly, you have to help the other party get a job first.
"What kind of work is it? Is it something we can do? There shouldn't be any danger to our lives, right..." Zhe asked.
"Haha, don't worry, I won't let my treasured shopkeeper be in danger. Let's talk about the details when we meet. I'll be waiting for you at the Morning Dew Flower Shop in Guangying Plaza."
After saying that, Hugo hung up the phone. Although he didn't know the specifics of the matter, he decided to trust him this once since the other party said there was no danger.
Anyway, Chaolu Flower Shop isn't too far from the police station, and they have connections there. Besides, I haven't really agreed to anything yet, so it wouldn't hurt to go check it out and get a feel for the situation.
So Zhe set off by car to Guangying Plaza to meet Hugo.