Chapter 1352: The Fifth Story

The purpose of this place was easy to judge, because the basement of No. 6 St. Derand Square, where Xia De set up his own potion and alchemy laboratory, was just like this.

It was just that compared to Xia De's laboratory, the styles of the experimental instruments here were quite old. Judging from the materials, they were old things from before the start of the steam age, and some were even worth sending to a museum. And among these old things that were now outdated, lay a folded letter.

That letter was placed in a very conspicuous position on the experimental table, and next to it were two stones attached with long-lasting illumination spells, as if afraid that later comers wouldn't see it.

Xia De stepped over the ritual base array on the ground whose effect was unknown, and because he was worried that the letter was some kind of trap, he only picked it up after a careful inspection. He didn't look at the content first, but looked at the signature:

【Thomas Granger】

This was the first guardian Xia De encountered, who gave him the power of the earth in the Emerald Dream, and whose remains were left beside the Old God statue in the White River Valley vineyard.

"Before I came here, I even lied to Earl Granger, saying that his great-uncle might have visited the family's old cemetery. I didn't expect it to be true."

Xia De thought in his heart, and only then did he carefully browse the content of the letter.

【Later comer:】

【Congratulations on finding this place.】

【This underground laboratory does not belong to me; it belongs to the ancestor of the Granger family, Ferrari Granger, born in 1405. I discovered the location of the laboratory in the family's old books and found the grave robber who died here. The grave robber probably lived around 1690. By the time I wrote this letter, he had become a ghost, so I transformed him into a guard to protect this place. Please forgive me for doing so.】

"So this is the guard he left behind. No wonder he could have a certain resistance to the power of the silver moon."

【This laboratory is a symbol of a shameful history of the family. I am not the first Granger to discover the family's bloodline power. The family genealogy records that Ferrari Granger, born in 1405, died in 1460. But in fact, he was still alive until the Randel Valley earthquake in 1498, and he secretly hid in the underground of the family cemetery to conduct his own research.】

Xia De frowned slightly. Since this place mentioned the earthquake in 1498, it meant that Ferrari Granger was related to this.

And thinking of this, he touched the mithril cube in his pocket and immediately perceived that as the cube vibrated slightly, brand-new information appeared on it. However, he didn't look at the content on the mithril cube, but continued to look at the letter in his hand.

【Yes, later comer, I feel ashamed for this. The occurrence of the Randel Valley earthquake in 1498 is related to my ancestor. Ferrari Granger hid here, secretly researching the power of the earth, and accidentally induced that disaster during the experiment. I don't want to explain anything for this, but Ferrari Granger has died here, and his body was buried by me in the soil outside.】

【Being able to expel the guard proves that you are a person with ability. As a reward, everything here will belong to you. I only took away a silver cube, which may be related to inducing the great earthquake. Besides the worthless collection in the ancestor's laboratory, I placed a gift for you in the box next to the letter. If you wish to obtain my secret, you can take the token in the box and go to my family to inquire about my information. That will guide you to find me. Whenever.】

Below was the signature. This letter was quite short, but after Xia De finished reading it, he read it again from the beginning, and only then did he put down the letter paper:

"So that mithril cube recording many stories of Randel Valley was not the creation of Mr. Thomas Granger at all, but he got it from here. In other words, Mr. Thomas Granger left home shortly after visiting this cemetery... What exactly is this mithril cube? Mr. Thomas Granger left it at home, seemingly treating it as one of the clues to guide the next generation of guardians. Does he know what this is himself?"

Thinking in his heart, he finally took out that cube. After "The Church of the Forgotten," "St. Perry Cemetery," "The Secret Room of the Stonemason Association," and "Randel Valley Gold Mine," the fifth story about Randel Valley finally emerged:

【

Randel Valley Earthquake of 1498:

Legend has it that God shook the earth to punish the disrespectful on the earth. But in fact, an earthquake is just a natural phenomenon. And the Randel Valley earthquake of 1498 was a disaster inadvertently induced by a greedy and crazy mortal in pursuit of ancient secrets. The truth of the earthquake lies in Granger, and the secret of the earthquake lies at the feet of the land of peace and faith. This is not a good story, but it warns us to respect the power we do not understand.】

"At the feet of the land of peace and faith, this directly explains that it is underground in the cemetery church."

Xia De sighed softly, holding the cube, and looked at the blurred ritual base array not far under his feet. In the center of those lines, there happened to be a square gap, the size of which was quite similar to this cube.

"Hmm..."

Fortunately, his curiosity wasn't heavy, and now the ritual base array was severely incomplete, so even if he tried, it would be meaningless, so he put the cube away again:

"Mr. Thomas Granger took a fancy to the ability of this cube to guide stories, so he left it to the descendants who followed in his footsteps. The usage method written on that slip of paper should also be explored by this gentleman. Since it said that six stories could open it, then I am only one step away. What exactly will it be?"

Thinking in his heart, he picked up the box mentioned in the letter again. After opening it, he saw a silver pocket watch that had stopped turning, a letter, and a small piece of irregular metal.

The pocket watch was Mr. Thomas Granger's personal item, which was the token. The letter was the message he wrote to his family, asking them to forgive his leaving without saying goodbye and telling them not to look for him. It seems that at that time, Thomas Granger already intended to leave home:

"Which means, his physical condition at that time was already very bad because of being stained with black mud."

And that thumb-sized metal piece with a pitted surface looked like unpolished silver ore at first glance, but Xia De understood what it was after touching it:

"Mithril?"

This small piece of mithril was enough for Xia De to pay all his tuition fees from the first grade to the ninth grade graduation at Saint Byron.

"The shot is really generous."

Xia De put that small piece of mithril into his pocket, and the smile on his face could hardly be covered.

Of course, he didn't forget his purpose. He didn't come here to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Thomas Granger and eventually become a guardian; he was here to find the gem left by the Butterfly family.

Mr. Granger's letter didn't mention this at all. It's unknown if the original owner really didn't have it, or if Thomas didn't find it, or if he took it away directly after finding it.

Xia De held the idea of spending the whole day digging three feet into the basement and digging up every wall to search this place, and then three minutes after starting the search, he found that hexagonal golden gem in a small jar containing broken gems and rare minerals on the experimental table.

The red gem under the memoir represented summer, the white gem given by Osanfort represented winter, and the golden gem in front of him represented autumn.

"Is this too simple?"

The three gems already in hand were held together by Xia De. Judging from the size and carving craftsmanship, the golden gem found here was one of the four keys he was looking for. In this way, only the green gem representing spring remained to be found.

"However, why didn't Mr. Thomas Granger, who lived more than seventy years ago, take it away? Did Ferrari Granger, who built this underground laboratory more than three hundred years ago, discover the secret of this family heirloom gem?"

But no matter what, Xia De was getting closer and closer to the secret of the guardians. After riding back to the city, Xia De sent Mr. Thomas Granger's pocket watch and that letter with severely faded ink back to Granger Manor, which could be considered as completing the Earl's commission.

It was only noon on this Monday, so Xia De first went home and had lunch with Mia, then spent the rest of the day at home.

He wasn't lazy, but read Mr. Lyman's memoir in its entirety, learning about the peaceful but magnificent life of this ordinary man living in the Fifth Era.

Because Xia De had had an important intersection with him on his life trajectory, he was clearer about how much influence that encounter between Mr. Lyman and himself had on his entire life.

In the evening, when he was privately meeting with Princess Lei Qianya at a secret club in the city and having dinner together, Xia De also told the story of this gentleman to the Princess. The little princess sat by the table and pricked up her ears to eavesdrop, and Lei Qianya was also very curious about the life of ordinary men in the Fifth Era, but she was more concerned about another thing:

"He married three wives?"

Ajielina was more interested in this topic.

"Yes, they were all butterfly girls he brought out of the worm cave." Xia De said while petting Mia:

"This bloodline has not been cut off. According to the situation I learned from local folklorists, among the locals currently living in Randel Valley, at least one-third can be considered descendants of Mr. Lyman. The butterfly bloodline is rooted in that river valley. I even suspect that this is also the meaning of the Old God I once met. He wants to use this to stabilize the land of Randel Valley in the Sixth Era today."

"Why do you say that?"

Lei Qianya asked curiously.

"Because the butterfly bloodline can resist the petrification plague effect of the crazy earth. I only learned this from Miss Bernice today. The church is establishing files for the current victims infected with the plague, and when tracing the ancestors, it was found that most of the current severe cases are not local indigenous people." ===== CHAPTER 1353 =====

"Because of their butterfly lineage, they are able to resist the petrification plague effects of the Mad Earth. I only learned this from Miss Bernice today. The church is currently creating files for the victims infected by the plague, and when tracing their ancestors, they discovered that most of the current severe cases are not local indigenous people."