Chapter 302: The Old God of Space and Time

According to their agreement, after successfully receiving the inheritance, Mrs. Lemaire needed to pay Xia De 5 pounds in cash as a commission. This was one-tenth of the inheritance Mrs. Lemaire had received, and even for a middle-aged woman in her current situation, it was definitely not a small sum.

Of course, she did not regret it when it was time to actually make the payment. On one hand, this was indeed a kind woman; on the other hand, a middle-aged woman who was malnourished and currently in a cramped room would not want to annoy a young, strong detective.

But when she prepared to hand the money to Xia De, Xia De shook his hands to refuse:

"I don't think it's necessary to pay the commission fee in cash; I want these books."

He pointed to the pile of old books placed together with the old clothes:

"These old books are very interesting. How about giving me the books to offset part of the commission fee? Of course, Mrs. Lemaire, if you are worried that I won't be able to give a correct valuation, you can also find someone else to appraise these old books."

"No need, Detective. I trust you; please feel free to take them."

The lawyer from earlier had already said that those old books were worthless, so the middle-aged woman did not harbor any suspicion about Xia De's actions.

He reached out and pulled the box containing the old books in front of him, then picked out those old books along with the notebooks and stacked them together. Mrs. Lemaire did not pay any attention to the notebooks; perhaps to a woman who was not very literate, notebooks and books were the same thing.

"A total of 7 books, most of which are adventure novels, plus a few nautical logs and diaries. For a valuation... one shilling each?"

Although Mrs. Lemaire had never bought books, she knew that the price was not very high, but it was definitely not low either. The middle-aged woman probably took this as Xia De looking after her, and said quite embarrassedly:

"No problem, Detective."

Thus, Xia De obtained those notebooks recording the crew's secrets and received over 4 pounds in commission. As a return, he told the middle-aged woman the address of Old John's Pawnshop. There were many things in the inheritance for which it was difficult to find a suitable use, and Old John happened to like such miscellaneous items; selling them to him was just right.

Buying the diaries of a deceased Ringed Shushi for seven shillings was considered Xia De taking advantage of the situation, so before leaving, he reminded Mrs. Lemaire that since she had suddenly obtained so much money, it would be best for the family to move to a safer place:

"Many of your neighbors saw Lawyer Laurier and me visit today. You had better make up a reasonable excuse to explain the reason for our visit here... How about the news of your missing husband's death?"

Xia De suggested, but the dull woman did not know how to answer.

"In short, take this money and please move out of this place as soon as possible. Most importantly, never let anyone know that you have received this money; it's best not to even tell the children."

In fact, since Mrs. Lemaire was able to survive with two children, she should have known these basic things. Although Xia De knew he was being talkative, he always felt uncomfortable if he didn't say it out loud.

"Also, you know my address. If you need help with anything in the future, you can come to me at any time. I offer discounts to old customers, and my detective agency has expanded its business quite a bit recently... I wish you a pleasant life."

Having taken advantage of the other party this time, if Mrs. Lemaire really needed help with other matters, he would certainly not be stingy with his time.

Leaving the attic and arriving downstairs, after saying goodbye to the suddenly wealthy middle-aged woman, Xia De stood under the building covered in profanity and looked up at the house that rarely saw the sun due to the surrounding buildings.

Having suddenly obtained this not-insignificant sum of money, the life of Mrs. Lemaire's family would certainly change, and the future of the two children would likely change as well. But what the story of this family would be like afterward was not something Xia De could imagine.

Perhaps in half a year, a year, or two years, he might accidentally think of this commission while playing with the cat one day, or see the record of this commission while organizing files, and then find a way to locate the Lemaire family to see how their lives were going.

But at least for now, Xia De was more concerned about his own affairs. Having finished this commission, he still had to step into the year 3002 again tonight.

The task corresponding to the Time Key of the General Era 3002 was "Help mortals complete the God-Calling Ritual - Contact the Old God 'Yaobian Doorway'". Although it sounded easier than the 1068 Key's "Witness the Old God's final wish," Xia De believed in his heart that the 【Innocent Creator】 could actually fully satisfy the children's three wishes; it was only because he saw that he, a "child from the future," had appeared that he let him come with the mindset of "having fun."

This thought sounded ridiculous, but based on Xia De's brief experience with that Old God, he guessed it was very likely correct.

And this time, the task was to help three witches whose ritual had encountered trouble—it was truly in trouble. Therefore, even though he would only contact the deity at the very end of this task, the difficulty of the task was no less than the first one.

Up to now, Xia De had obtained information about the Old God "Yaobian Doorway" from various channels. The era in which this Old God appeared could no longer be verified; the earliest literature recording the Old God's name originated from the Third Era. Similar to the 【Innocent Creator】, the Old God 【Yaobian Doorway】 also belonged to that kind of very low-key deity, whose number of believers was extremely scarce, and there was not even concrete evidence to prove that His believers had ever formed a sect.

And according to the data of the Zhengshen Sect Society, the Old God 【Yaobian Doorway】 possessed the power of time and space. The most important event related to Him was His appearance in the material world in the form of a saint at the end of the Fourth Era or the beginning of the Fifth Era, preventing the material world's land changes caused by the loss of control of the Angel-level (Level 1) Relic 【Broken Old World Map】. That catastrophe directly led to the formation of the five main continents of the Fifth Era and had an impact on the civilization of an entire era.

Because Miss Feilian had attempted the God-Calling Ritual in the Fifth Era, Xia De originally thought that the Academy library would have more information about this deity, and perhaps even records of related events left by Miss Feilian, but the information Miss Daniesite gave Xia De was not more than what the church had.

Even if Miss Feilian's affairs were regarded as confidential by the Academy and could not be leaked at will, it was not right for the information on the Old God 【Yaobian Doorway】 to be so scarce; the Academy had no need to hide things about this deity. The current situation was as if Miss Feilian's God-Calling had never happened, which was why Saint Byron's didn't have much information.

Xia De couldn't help but feel a little worried; there were likely other accidents regarding the affairs of 3002.

It was Luweiya who found information from the Astrologer Society that was unexpected. Unlike the five major Zhengshen Sect Societies and the three major Shushi Academies that only appeared in the Fifth Era, the Astrologer Society, like the 【Xuelingxue Sect】, was an ancient organization that had experienced several eras.

The Society found some of the books on the list Miss Feilian had made, and Luweiya even found an old book in the database of the Tobesk branch that described the deity of "space."

But that book was confidential to the Society and could not be taken out of the library. So Luweiya could only transcribe the content Xia De needed. The information was not long, only half a page, roughly explaining the role the holy emblem of the Old God 【Yaobian Doorway】 could play in mystical rituals, and explaining that this deity not only had power over time and space, but even had power over nature.

Although the scope of a deity's divine office did not indicate whether they were powerful or not, judging from the information in his hands, the ritual to contact the Old God 【Yaobian Doorway】 would definitely not be simple.

After leaving Mrs. Lemaire's house, Xia De spent the rest of the day organizing this information. But after dinner in the evening, an unexpected guest came to visit.

It was Captain Lei Jiede. After the knighting ceremony two weeks ago, this was the first time Xia De had seen the Captain again. He had now received notice from the Delarion Royal Army, confirming that he would return to the Wind-Rising Path on the front line at the end of August or in September.

The Captain came this time, besides wanting to invite Xia De to go out for a drink before he left, to also inform Xia De that he had moved to live in another place.

Having gained honor and washed away his shame, Captain Lei Jiede, who held the rank of lieutenant, rented a nice apartment in the West District of Tobesk with the help of his friends, preparing to spend the rest of the summer in Tobesk there.

"Human destiny is truly fickle. My ups and downs over the past year have been more complicated than the first half of my life. Detective Han Mi Er Dun, sometimes I wonder how destiny views mortals like us."

"Captain, are you pondering philosophy?"

Xia De asked with a smile. Unlike when he first met the Captain at the club, Captain Lei Jiede's mental outlook had changed greatly. He had completely walked out of the title of "Eight-Gun Captain" and was about to face a brand-new life.

"No, this should be considered theology."

Captain Lei Jiede shook his head:

"Detective, do you want to play Luo De Pai? No betting money, just playing a few rounds. I know you are a Luo De Pai expert."

"Not tonight."

Xia De shook his head regretfully:

"I have to go out in a while. I have an important commission to carry out tonight, and the client is a respectable and extraordinary person. Captain, let's play cards together next time there is an opportunity."

"Alright then, since that's the case, I'll take my leave. Oh, do you know about what happened last week? Later, even the Police Chief of the Lideweiqi Field was broken into and killed in his house. The curfew has ended, but it's best not to wander around the city at night... If your client's identity is truly extraordinary, just pretend I didn't say anything. I heard that Miss Miss Jia Lin Na..."

He closed his mouth and didn't dare to say more, thinking he must have heard the rumors in the streets.

Xia De went downstairs to see the Captain off, watching him walk away from Saint Delan Square. While holding the door, he thought in his heart that among the ordinary people he had encountered so far who had come into contact with relics, they were either like Professor Manning and Captain Lei Jiede, whose lives had been significantly affected, or they were facing life-threatening danger like the little girl's family and the group of people who had come into contact with the mermaid statue.

This world was truly very unfriendly to ordinary people, especially to ordinary people with bad luck.

"After coming to this world, being able to meet Doctor Shi Nai De immediately, this shouldn't be the Doctor's luck, but my luck."

Sighing and adjusting his mood, he closed the door and returned to the study, once again sorting through the information he had found about the Old God. After eleven o'clock in the evening, he played with Little Mia for a while and planned that he must give this cat a bath when he had time.

The past time was very dangerous, so he wouldn't take Little Mia this time. After the midnight bell rang, Xia De stood in front of the bedroom door with a briefcase containing documents and data, and inserted the key that already showed signs of damage into the keyhole:

"May the World Tree protect me in the infinite time."

Click~ With a sound, the keyhole turned, and Xia De pulled open the bedroom door. The familiar white fog from behind the door drifted out like silk threads. Xia De reached out to try to catch it, but the white fog was not a solid substance that could be grasped:

"Little Mia, wait for me for three seconds."

The cat, who was familiar with Xia De walking into such doors every few days, was no longer curious about the current situation. It lay on the sofa and lazily meowed~ in response, resting its head on its two little paws, squinting its eyes as if dozing off.

But in reality, the cat was still able to see Xia De; it watched him walk into the door, and then obediently waited for his return.