Chapter 308: Return to Coldwater Port

"Alright then, I'll give you news within a week. Since you only want relatively well-known research groups, I think it won't even take a week."

The professor took the envelope containing the money and didn't even look at how many banknotes were inside before putting it aside, then said quite embarrassedly:

"Detective, actually I originally planned to go find Lu Yisha in the next few days... I had that kind of dream again."

"What? How could that be?"

Xia De was shocked. It had been nearly a month since the 【Pleasant Dream Pen】 went out of control, and Miss Lu Yisha had clearly confirmed that the professor's body had recovered quickly and he hadn't suffered any more mental influence.

"How many times did you dream? What time?"

"Once, just yesterday."

"Then please give me your hand."

Xia De grabbed Professor Manning's right wrist. In the professor's quite worried expression, he made a listening expression. Ten seconds later, he released the professor's hand with a relaxed face:

"Don't worry, it's not that kind of problem, you are very safe."

In the state of close contact, "she" did not feel the slightest whisper element in the professor's body.

"Then why would I have that kind of dream?"

Professor Manning asked in confusion. Having experienced the recent serious illness, the old gentleman's current state could not be said to have fully recovered.

"I am not a scholar, so I cannot explain the cause of dreams. But I suggest you go find a psychologist friend of mine."

Xia De didn't have Doctor Shi Nai De's business card on him, so he asked for paper and pen to write down the address for the professor, saying while writing:

"This friend of mine is just an ordinary person, very good at this kind of psychological illness, and he will give you help."

The professor blushed and asked with a hesitant tone:

"So my dream is..."

Xia De nodded:

"Yes, at least this time, it really was just a dream you had yourself. But please rest assured, I don't believe in the baseless statement that 'things thought about during the day will turn into dreams at night,' so I won't have any suspicion about you. In my view, this might be the deep psychological trauma left to you by the previous incident."

After writing the address, he tactfully got up and said goodbye. Judging from the expression when Professor Manning saw him off downstairs, the professor would likely really go to see Doctor Shi Nai De for treatment.

Saying goodbye to the professor, Xia De planned to go to Coldwater Port for a turn today. It had been more than a week since the mermaid statue incident, so there was no need to worry about such dangerous things affecting him. At the same time, even if he couldn't find the next blood coin in the port city, there was still the safe house of the Ringed Shushi Lemaire discovered from the diary waiting to be explored. Xia De was very looking forward to his harvest.

This journey was convenient but also a bit dangerous, so Xia De didn't plan to take his cat to the seaside for a trip. And because he was worried that he would be trapped in Coldwater Port and couldn't come back at night, after returning to Saint Delan Square, he took Little Mia out again and found the female writer who was at home on Quill Pen Street.

After the exam week ended, she was about to start the serialization of the detective novel in the "Steam Bird Daily." The first story was adapted from the story Xia De heard from the two ghosts in the cemetery, so there was no need to go out for material during this time, and Miss Lu Yisha shouldn't be going on a long trip.

"Let me take care of Little Mia again? Oh, of course I can."

The writer lady was easy to talk to. She took the somewhat reluctant cat from Xia De and then asked curiously:

"What are you going to do this time? It won't be something dangerous again, right? I said, this kind of..."

"No no, although this time the destination is the same as last time, this time it's not dangerous."

Xia De said, and Miss Lu Yisha nodded knowingly:

"The same destination... Alright then, I'll help you take care of the cat. Anyway, I don't have any travel plans today, but remember to come back early. Also, don't bring fish as a souvenir again."

"No problem, but the fish soup last time tasted really good."

Xia De said with a smile, patted Little Mia's head, and left after saying goodbye to the blonde writer lady amidst the cat's reluctant meowing.

Miss Lu Yisha didn't see him off downstairs, but stood at the window holding the unhappy Little Mia, watching Xia De's figure appear on the street and then walk away along the street:

"The same place... Coldwater Port... Have a pleasant holiday."

Duo Luo Qian Lu Yisha curled her lips and smiled (Note).

After settling Little Mia, Xia De could spend the whole day exploring. This time there was no need for troublesome pre-trip preparations, because after stuffing the ordinary items he needed to carry into the suitcase, he directly turned the suitcase into a puppet with cloth and hung it on his waist.

The only relics carried were 【Gun of Kindness】, 【Twenty-Sided Dice of Destiny】, and 【Pirate's Blood Coin】. These three items, together with the spellcasting materials "diluent of wind-direction blue grass extract" that could not be turned into toys, the alchemical items that could use the one-time sunlight gun, and two Genesis-series Luo De Pai, were wrapped in waterproof canvas and carried with him.

Frog legs and bone powder could be turned into toys, as these two items themselves did not have supernatural properties.

After packing everything, he locked the house door and entered the hidden space behind the basement wall. After chanting the spell and touching the Ancient God statue, he successfully arrived at the dark cave under the sea cliff outside Coldwater Port.

Because he had walked this path once, this time it only took twenty-three minutes for Xia De to land on the remote beach at the Coldwater Port wharf.

Although the weather in Coldwater Port today was a bit gloomy, it didn't rain. Xia De, who was soaked from crawling out of the sea, could only wipe the water from his hair with a towel on the beach, and then change into clean outerwear and pants before daring to enter the city.

He still chose the Golden Rose Hotel on Hoglents Avenue in the wharf area and stayed under the fake name John Watson. By the time Xia De put down his luggage and started changing into dry socks and underwear, the time was ten-forty in the morning.

Choosing the same hotel as last time also had the meaning of wanting to determine whether the previous incident had been investigated to him. But waiting in the room for twenty minutes, he didn't see any suspicious police or Ringed Shushi squads appear, which made Xia De relax a lot, knowing that he could act a bit casually today.

There were two purposes for coming to Coldwater Port. The detection of blood coins required walking through the entire city, so Xia De thought about going to see the safe house of the crew member Mr. Lemaire first.

There were three diaries in the inheritance he bought, and in the record dated the autumn of two years ago, Xia De found the specific location of the safe house, as well as Mr. Lemaire's complaints about nearby restaurants.

Like the dilapidated house in a remote alley rented with Miss Lu Yisha, and the basement similar to the one rented by Priest Ao Gu Si from a friend, the seaman who went to sea all year round rented an attic in a three-story apartment in the city. Even to prevent himself from staying in the New Continent for a long time, he paid the rent for one year at a time, so Xia De didn't have to worry that the safe house had already been discovered by others.

The safe house was also located in the wharf area of Coldwater Port, specifically, on New Denton Street, two blocks away from the Mermaid Alley where the incident happened last time.

This street was a street in the wharf area specifically used for fish trade. Whether it was procurement for local restaurants or large-scale transactions by foreign merchants, they were all carried out here. The street was slippery, and there were many fish shops along the street. Even before turning into the street, one could smell the fishy odor.

The ground was paved with gravel, and the street was wide enough for four carriages to drive side by side. The shouting, the sound of wheels rolling over the ground, and the noisy conversation gathered together, making the heavy life atmosphere of the port city rush towards him.

Seagulls circled overhead, and wild cats were lurking in the corners of the alleys intersecting with New Denton Street, looking for prey or fighting with their own kind for the ownership of a garbage dump.

Xia De walked into the street from the dirty and damp alley with his hands in his pockets and his head lowered. There was some blood in the puddles on his feet, and the smell of fish diffused in the air made him a bit unaccustomed. On his right was a fish shop, with shallow tin fish tanks placed directly at the shop door. Huge black sea fish swam in the water, and the water splashes from occasionally wagging tails left more traces of water on the ground.

Looking up to the right, 41 New Denton Street was the destination. Xia De glanced at the sun blocked by the rain clouds, then pressed the black hat on his head, and then lifted his feet and walked over.

Stepping onto the steps, the rusty door made Xia De, who wanted to knock, hesitate. After knocking, he waited for a full two minutes before someone opened the door.

The person who opened the door was a thin, short old man wearing a white wig and leaning on a cane. His eyes were deeply sunken into his eye sockets, but his nose was very large. The old man's age was probably a bit younger than Priest Ao Gu Si, and the age spots on his face were very obvious:

"Who are you looking for? If you are a robber, go somewhere else; the people living here are all poor ghosts."

After glancing at Xia De and finding that he was a stranger, he spat outside and then wanted to close the door.

But Xia De's hand held the door, and he said to the rude old man with a very heavy accent inside the door:

"Is George Anthony living here?"

This was Lemaire's fake name.

"Mr. Anthony is dead, and the inheritance was given to a distant relative. I came to help him pack his things. Don't ask me for any identification; he died at sea and even his body wasn't found."

Xia De said.

The old man who opened the door looked at him suspiciously. Xia De's half face was hidden under his hat, and no matter how you looked at it, he was a suspicious person:

"Dead? How do I know if what you said is true? Even if he is dead, without seeing the will, I won't let anyone take anything from me. This house is mine, and even if the house is rented to others, the things inside are mine. Oh, damn, you even said you are not a robber, go, go away, otherwise I will call the police!"

It meant he wanted to swallow Lemaire's things.

But since Xia De dared to come, he was well prepared. He had long known from the diary what kind of terrible person the landlord here was:

"Look at what this is."

Saying this, he slightly opened his coat, revealing the pistol hidden at his waist. Subsequently, he shook the small document in front of the old man:

"Are you literate?"

"Military Intelligence Section 6!" ===== CHAPTER 309 =====