Chapter 349: Strange Theft (Seeking monthly votes at the start of the month)

Looking at the open metal cabinet, Lu Mian had an absurd and unreal feeling:

The thief entered the house, didn't take the most valuable "Torture" gauntlet, and didn't flip through Aurore's witchcraft notes to see if there were any banknotes tucked inside; they only took away a mineral specimen that didn't look like a gemstone at all.

Not to mention the issue of traps, if that thief was a true "Thief" with supernatural abilities, they definitely wouldn't have let go of a gauntlet with unique materials and powerful abilities. If they were just an ordinary thief, it would be impossible for them to only take the Earth Blood Ore, and they might even have thrown this item, which didn't look valuable, onto the ground.

Everything made Lu Mian suspect that the intruder had only one purpose:

To take that piece of Earth Blood Ore!

The other party clearly knew what was special about that mineral specimen and was trying to utilize it!

"Termiboros, who stole the Earth Blood Ore?" Lu Mian couldn't find a suspect no matter how he thought about it.

Except for dealing with Guillaume Bénet a few days ago when he took out the Earth Blood Ore and gave it to Franca, he had kept this mineral specimen in the safe house at all other times and never carried it with him, so it shouldn't have been targeted.

Of course, that thief might have used "divination" or "prophecy" to narrow down the range, searched room by room, and finally found the target item.

Termiboros's grand, layered voice rang out suddenly:

"I don't know."

Don't know... Lu Mian was startled.

This answer itself had no meaning, but coming from Termiboros, it represented many things.

Although Termiboros was sealed in Lu Mian's body and couldn't exert any power, He was an angel after all, an angel of the Calamity domain. Even if He only relied on Lu Mian's eyes and fate, He could discover many problems and traces that mid-to-low Sequence Beyonders couldn't perceive.

And now, He said He didn't know!

This meant that the person who stole the Earth Blood Ore was definitely not simple and might involve high-level power, originating from some secret organization or evil god cult!

Hiss, I have to write a letter to tell Ms. Magician about this. After all, she once foresaw that the Earth Blood Ore would bring me some encounters that might be good or bad. As a result, the encounter hadn't arrived yet, but the item was lost first... Lu Mian originally didn't want to trouble the Major Arcana card. To him, the Earth Blood Ore wasn't a very valuable item, and its application scenarios were very narrow; if it was lost, so be it. But once the matter became weird, it couldn't be underestimated.

In the occult world, negligence often leads to bloody lessons!

Frankly speaking, Lu Mian now had neither the anger of losing property nor the motivation to find the mineral specimen back. Although the Earth Blood Ore might bring him certain encounters, that was too ethereal, not clear enough, and lacked substance, making it hard for him to value or cherish it.

Moreover, Ms. Magician had said that the encounter had the possibility of being bad. Lu Mian felt that losing it actually reduced a risk.

He checked the safe house again, confirmed that all traps hadn't been triggered, and that only the Earth Blood Ore was missing, then sat down and began to write a letter.

This time, the "Doll" messenger summoned was no longer as cold as last time, and there was no feeling of suppressed intense emotions.

It was only a few minutes later that Ms. Magician returned a short letter:

"This matter is indeed problematic, and I also cannot lock onto who stole the Earth Blood Ore. If you are not afraid, you can go to the entrance of the 'Different' cabaret and ask any person wearing a monocle on their right eye. Even if they didn't do it, they should know who the suspect is. If you feel this is too risky, then wait a while; someone will help you ask in a while."

"Different" cabaret... Also, the previous Sequence of a swindler is "Thief"... Those people wearing monocles can control all the thieves in Trier involving supernatural powers? Lu Mian muttered silently.

Aurore's witchcraft notes mentioned that "Thief" is Sequence 9 of one of the divine pathways, above which is "Swindler," and above that is "Cryptologist."

After pondering for a while, Lu Mian decided to wait for a while for someone to help him ask. Anyway, he wasn't in a hurry to use the Earth Blood Ore.

Whenever he thought of the "Different" cabaret, thought of the island swindler Monit who wore a monocle, and thought of those swindlers who had the same style as him, he felt his scalp go numb. He would avoid contact as much as possible.

After burning the letter, Lu Mian cast his gaze toward the metal cabinet where Aurore's witchcraft notes, the "Torture" gauntlet, and other items were stored.

This safe house was no longer safe; he had to change to a new place for them.

"Carry the 'Torture' gauntlet with me, take what I can take, sell what I can sell, and find another safe house for what I can't... Rent a large bank and rent an anonymous safe deposit box to store Aurore's witchcraft notes and those gold coins... I won't renew the lease here when it expires..." Lu Mian quickly had an idea.

Actually, he couldn't carry them on him, and he didn't want to sell them. Except for Aurore's witchcraft notes and the accumulated gold, there were only those five ritual skins. He had to find a new home for them. Of course, for himself, he also had to prepare another safe house.

After considering these matters, Lu Mian began to write a letter to "Madame Lady Lady Hai La."

He said he learned the approximate location of the "Samaritan Woman's Spring" from a secret channel, and the provider of the information required him to enter the underground and retrieve a bottle of real "Samaritan Woman's Spring."

Writing to this point, Lu Mian was suddenly a bit puzzled:

This matter didn't seem to require his direct participation; he could completely commission "Madame Lady Lady Hai La" to help bring a bottle of spring water out.

"Ms. Justice shouldn't have failed to think of this, but her words meant that I have to go to the fourth level of the catacombs myself... In her view, relying only on Ms. Madame Lady Lady Hai La, the probability of finding the 'Samaritan Woman's Spring' and retrieving the spring water isn't high, and I must provide assistance?

"What's special about me? Besides having an angel sealed in my body, my Sequence isn't high...

"Ms. Madame Lady Lady Hai La has a higher Sequence; getting closer to the 'Samaritan Woman's Spring' will be relatively dangerous and easy to go crazy. Am I responsible for monitoring her state and waking her up in time?

"I previously thought Ms. Madame Lady Lady Hai La was at least Sequence 4; otherwise, she wouldn't have said she could solve the Kordu village problem before the descent ritual. Now it seems she shouldn't have become a demigod yet; otherwise, she shouldn't have been able to enter the fourth level of the catacombs, let alone get close to the 'Samaritan Woman's Spring'... Does she have a Grade '1' sealed artifact or a magical item equivalent to a saint?" Lu Mian combed through the whole matter and had some guesses and judgments.

He continued writing the letter, using the information provider's request as an excuse, and clearly stated his hope to personally enter that ancient tomb.

After the summoning ritual, that skull head, which looked like it was made of pure silver and emitted a soft light, took the letter.

Not long after, this messenger sent back "Madame Lady Lady Hai La's" reply:

"No problem. Tomorrow at 4 PM, we'll meet at the gate of that empire of death."

Hu... Lu Mian let out a breath, his body trembling slightly.

This was both excitement and fear.

He had always had a spirit of adventure and experimentation, and that couple who disappeared weirdly in the catacombs left a deep impression on him.

…………

The next morning, 11 Spring Water Street.

Lu Mian dutifully came to Gardner Martin's villa to report the details of his meeting with Count Pouif and other "Black Cat" members.

Gardner Martin, whose spirit was more excited than usual, sat behind the desk and said with a quite pleasant mood:

"Although you said you don't have artistic cells, your background determines that you can chat with them. This is the reason I sent you instead of finding Albus.

"I was originally worried that you wouldn't be able to show enough generosity, but you did very well. You sponsored them 4,000 verl d'or on the first try."

The implication of this "Chief" of the Iron and Blood Cross Order was that, as the younger brother of the best-selling author Aurore Lee, even if Lu Mian didn't have artistic cells, he wouldn't lack gossip, rumors, grudges, and love-hate relationships within the literary and artistic circles that he heard and saw daily.

"What I don't understand is why that King Cake game made me feel dangerous, and I even had a few nightmares last night." Lu Mian went straight to the point.

Gardner Martin nodded thoughtfully:

"This is because Pouif is quite special. He is very similar to his ancestor, Vumunda. The blood relationship is close, and many key steps can be omitted when holding the ritual."

"Did his ancestor become an evil spirit? After hundreds of years, he can actually still accept sacrifices." Lu Mian didn't mention what Mr. K had said and used normal human logic to speculate and ask.

Gardner Martin said sternly:

"This is the matter you need to investigate by getting close to Pouif. Don't worry, as long as you don't participate in that King Cake game every two or three days, there won't be any sequelae besides having some nightmares. Hmm, maintain that dangerous intuition. Don't become the 'King.' You are more likely to become the 'King' than anyone other than Pouif. If you don't have the confidence to make the correct choice, let Pouif choose first."

The Iron and Blood Cross Order wants to find the whereabouts of Vumunda Solomon, who has mysteriously disappeared for hundreds of years? Heh, why didn't you tell me the danger of the King Cake game beforehand and remind me to choose last? Lu Mian suspected that Gardner Martin hadn't mentioned it before because he wanted to use him to confirm a key point.

…………

In the afternoon, underground not too far from the Trier Opera House, inside a quarry cavity that required passing through a hidden crevice to reach.

Franca and Jenna, wearing half-face masks, met that "Wizard" in a black robe once again.

He was the client who gave the commission about the disappearance of the gatekeeper of the Deep Valley Monastery.

Franca looked around, looked at the man dressed as a wizard, and deliberately said in a hoarse voice:

"We have gained some harvest in investigating the case of the missing gatekeeper of the Deep Valley Monastery and want to communicate with you privately."

The man was silent for a dozen seconds, then nodded and said:

"Okay."

The skeleton host wearing an iron-colored mask immediately led this man, Franca, and Jenna into a "conversation room" deliberately partitioned off at the edge of the quarry cavity.

…………

With one hour left until the agreed time, Lu Mian carried a calcium carbide lamp and entered the underground Trier corresponding to the Market District.

PS: Seeking monthly votes at the start of the month~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 350 =====