Chapter 185: Magic Mirror Alodes

On the gleaming surface of the frame, the man in a black double‑breasted tailcoat appeared again.

His body twisted sideways, facing forward, and with the hand holding his top hat he pressed his chest, gave a slight bow, and performed a salute.

His features were blurred and distorted as if interfered with, faintly showing the hue of oil paint.

The scene abruptly halted, then several lines of ancient Gufsak words appeared:

"According to the principle of equivalence, it's my turn to ask now."

"If you answer incorrectly or lie, you will be punished!"

The word "Punishment" glowed blood‑red, as if crimson liquid were still dripping!

I Kangse seemed to recall a terrible memory; his expression twisted briefly, then became unusually solemn.

On the silver mirror, rippling light flickered, and a new line of words appeared:

"What is your sexual orientation?"

I Kangse's solemn expression froze instantly, his face shifting between pallor and flush; at that moment he felt the gazes of the surrounding teammates piercing him.

The next morning, noon sunlight streamed through the window into the room.

Leiketon took down a wall‑mounted mirror, set up a simple ritual, and drew on its surface a symbol representing secrecy and voyeurism.

The room's lighting dimmed slightly, and the temperature dropped a bit.

The mirror turned pitch black, yet rippling light continued to surge; amid the layers of wavering light, several blood‑red words emerged:

"Who is summoning the great Alodes!"

Watching the pretentious little mirror here, Leiketon couldn't help but curl his lip; before the words on the mirror could change further, he began speaking to himself:

"Nice to meet you, Magic Mirror Alodes!"

"But I think this isn't your first meeting with me."

"Last night the Mechanical Heart people asked you about what happened at the abandoned warehouse; how did you respond to them?"

Leiketon deliberately used some restricted vocabulary, posing a question to himself.

Without Kelaien nearby, this sycophantic mirror couldn't suppress its nature; even if only his own rabbit and a crow were watching, Leiketon didn't want to embarrass himself.

The pitch‑black mirror stayed silent for a moment, then began displaying a scene: shortly after he and others left the abandoned warehouse last night, a squad of Mechanical Heart arrived

"Did you add special effects to Kelaien's entrance scene?"

Leiketon looked at the mirror set in a brass‑colored metal frame before him with a playful expression, his right hand tapping the nearby tabletop.

As the rippling light on the mirror shifted, the scene of Kelaien—clad in a black double‑breasted tailcoat, holding a semi‑high silk top hat, bowing in salute—faded away.

New lines of words reappeared:

"According to the principle of equivalence, it's now my turn to ask!"

He let out a light laugh, unbothered by Alodes deliberately evading his question, paused his tapping of the table, a fitting smile curving his lips, and stared quietly at the mirror.

Alodes seemed to sense danger; the words that were forming on the mirror twisted and changed into a new question:

"You will help me return to my great master's side, won't you?"

"That depends on my mood."

"And my mood depends on your performance."

Leiketon answered the mirror's question in a mocking tone.

The rippling light on the mirror shook violently a few times, as if being violently shaken.

The mirror quickly calmed, and the words on it changed:

I merely enhanced my dear master's presence a bit, which helps him obtain more feedback from those of the Mechanical Heart.

This time the words vanished quickly, and after a moment new words appeared:

"Now it's my turn to ask."

"Why are you lurking beside my great master? Is it the will of the God of Knowledge? Or the True Creator? Or perhaps the Hidden Sage?"

Leiketon glanced at the string of words on the mirror and said in a very flat tone:

"That's four questions."

At the bottom of the mirror, another line of words surfaced:

"You may answer only the first question."

"I hope he can become the new Lord of the Mysteries."

When Alodes's question appeared, Leiketon immediately gave an answer.

"Correct answer."

Behind the word was a fireworks display, source unknown to Alodes.

On the mirror, new lines of words rose again:

"The Mechanical Heart people came to me again; this conversation ends here."

The sentence lingered fully for a moment, then vanished swiftly; the mirror returned to normal, reflecting Leiketon's figure again, and the room's light brightened a bit.

"You ran pretty fast."

Leiketon stared at the mirror, murmured thoughtfully, then returned the mirror to its place on the wall.

After probing Alodes's attitude and learning the Mechanical Heart's investigation progress, Leiketon stretched contentedly, preparing to fetch some supplies from the storage room and set up another ritual.

Tu Ba Ge looked at the re‑hung mirror with a face full of curiosity and said:

"Boss, what was the thing that connected that mirror to this one just now?"

"Magic Mirror Alodes, a mirror with a nasty temperament."

"But it knows a lot, seemingly possessing some omniscient authority or ability."

Leiketon gave his rabbit a brief explanation.

He glanced at Tu Ba Ge's eager expression and reminded it:

The hobby of this mirror is to make anyone who asks it a question suffer social death in front of others; you'd better not try it lightly.

"Is a rabbit not allowed either?" Tu Ba Ge asked sincerely.

"A rabbit isn't allowed either," Lei Kedun replied irritably.

Tu Ba Ge left the room, disappointed, with his little crow companion, but Lei Kedun noticed that Anu the crow's eyes clearly showed curiosity; perhaps it will find time to try summoning Arodes.

He fetched the needed materials from the storage room, quickly set up a ritual, and sent the bio‑toxin vial to the library through the ritual.

Then Lei Kedun closed his eyes and meditated, sketching a ring in his mind; through the connection between the ring and the library, he arrived at a library deep within the spirit realm.

In the library, Mr. Huang casually flipped through an ancient book without a cover.

Lei Kedun stepped forward and greeted Mr. Huang:

"Good morning, Mr. Huang."

"Hmm, there have been some fluctuations in your fate; pay attention to the coincidences you encounter and the unreasonable decisions you make."

"A buildup of small mishaps can also become a big trouble."

Mr. Huang gave a slight nod, responded in a flat tone, and then added a reminder.

"Hmm?" Lei Kedun was startled for a moment, then immediately understood the meaning behind Mr. Huang's words.

He pondered his recent experiences in his mind but found no trace that could have been arranged by 0-08 or Adam, so he cast a puzzled glance at Mr. Huang.

Mr. Huang set the book down, and in a rather serious tone explained:

"Perhaps your inadvertent actions have provoked that pen, but its script‑writing ability is mediocre; if you pay a little attention, you should notice something amiss."

Lei Kedun gave a slight nod, while internally wondering where he had offended that pen.

After half a day of pondering without any clue, Lei Kedun simply gave up further thought on the matter.

He rummaged through the clutter in the corner and retrieved the bio‑toxin vial he had just loosened.

Returning to Mr. Huang, he handed over the bio‑toxin vial and said:

"Mr. Huang, could you crush this wondrous item and infuse the extracted properties into the Plague Doctor statue?"

Mr. Huang silently stared at Lei Kedun, then took the bio‑toxin vial.

He gave the glass bottle a brief glance, and his right hand, holding the bio‑toxin vial, applied a slight pressure.

Snap! With a sound, the bio‑toxin vial was crushed by Mr. Huang, specks of light burst out rapidly, then coalesced into a semi‑transparent, hazy light sphere.

Lei Kedun glanced at the glass shards on the floor, not having a chance to speak.

Mr. Huang immediately tossed the hazy semi‑transparent light sphere at the Plague Doctor statue placed at the library entrance.

The semi‑transparent sphere, bearing specks of phosphorescence, struck the Plague Doctor statue directly; the extracted properties seemed to find a suitable vessel and rushed into the statue.

In a moment, the statue acquired some subtle colors, and the metal beak mask on its face appeared even colder.

"Don't think about giving it the Pain Witch's properties; a virus that doesn't distinguish friend from foe will render it useless."

Mr. Huang's voice rang out, neither flat nor melodious.

"I understand," Lei Kedun, without doubting it was a self‑rebuke, immediately nodded in response.

A pale blue entity, bearing a chill of cold, fell into his hand; Lei Kedun felt as if an extremely cold ice block had been shoved into his palm, and he flailed, tossing it between his two hands to ease the biting cold.

A brilliant starlight emerged, enveloping the pale blue entity; the starlight instantly solidified, forming a transparent amber that separated it from him.

Lei Kedun held the transparent amber in his hand, and through its clear layer, he curiously examined the thing inside.

It was still a cluster of pale‑blue, gorgeous gems, its surface covered with a thin layer of ice crystals and ever‑flowing cold, etched with strange runes.

Lei Kedun turned his puzzled gaze toward Mr. Huang.

"This is a conglomerate of various frost abilities, such as the undead's frost and the witch's frost."

"I collected this long ago; it's not very useful, but it looks nice enough."

"You can use it as raw material to craft some relatively normal wondrous items."

While explaining, Mr. Huang glanced at the Plague Doctor statue at the library entrance.

Lei Kedun instantly realized this was a scornful remark about the figurines he had previously made.

He then, with sincere and serious tone, made a promise:

"No problem, I guarantee this time won't be like the previous ones."

(End of chapter)