Chapter 3916

After lunch, Xia De stayed at home for a while, and only appeared in Arcadia again after Luvia went to work at 1:30 in the afternoon.

He visited old Mr. Leibori as planned and told the old gentleman the good news that two of the three manuscripts he wanted were now in hand.

Although this elderly library holder was surprised that Xia De could even get the collection of the "Candlekeep Library," after hearing him say that it was because of the relationship with the Astley family, he smiled and praised that this young man really had means:

"Good, good, good. When you get the last manuscript, I will hand over the ownership of the Blue Ink Library to you immediately. I didn't expect things to go so smoothly. Mr. Watson, I'll wait for your next visit."

Xia De had afternoon tea at old Mr. Leibori's place, and it was not yet three o'clock in the afternoon when he left. Although Vigo said that Xia De could help see if there were clues to external organizations when operating in the Outer City, it was only two hours until the five o'clock meeting, and Xia De didn't think he needed to run to the Outer City.

"Let's go to the 'Wonder Tower' and take a look. I still feel that this morning's matter is very wrong."

【Actually, if you go to the Fragrant Residence in advance, that witch shouldn't mind.】

"She" said with a smile.

There were also many people in the "Wonder Tower" in the afternoon. Some of them really wanted to buy something, but more people just wanted to visit here. Compared to a shop, this place was indeed more like a mechanical museum.

After arriving, Xia De didn't go to find Mr. Finch or Mr. Munios again, but wandered around by himself.

After entering the tower, directly opposite was a huge pentagonal counter for tourists and shoppers to consult. Half of the first floor of the Wonder Tower was a real shop area, and the other half was a mechanical exhibition area.

There would be special explainers next to each machine. Xia De suspected that many of them were the designers or manufacturers of the machines. The machines that were demonstrating specific operating effects were surrounded by people, and one could hear exclamations and cheers from time to time, as if a performance was taking place here.

Xia De also joined in the fun to kill time, and was surprised by the various whims of people in this era.

For example, a machine the size of a person called an "automatic smoking machine." This complex mechanical device could hold multiple cigars at the same time and automatically light and smoke them.

And the purpose of inventing this machine was not to consume excess tobacco, but to make places without smokers full of smoke, creating a "popular atmosphere" — most people in this era had the strange concept that "smoke-filled is a sign of a successful place."

And in terms of small equipment, what impressed the outlander most was the "mechanical leech," which was a metal device equipped with springs, with sharp parts imitating the mouthparts of a leech and a suction system.

Its effect was to replace live medical leeches for traditional bloodletting therapy. The middle-aged inventor wearing a bow tie first pulled a rabbit out of his top hat like a magician, and then used the rabbit to demonstrate the specific blood-sucking effect of the mechanical leech:

"Ladies and gentlemen, with this, you will never have to be directly 'kissed' by those soft and disgusting creatures again."

Xia De didn't care about whether the mechanical leech could secrete anticoagulant substances like real leeches, or whether the metal was easy to cause wound infection, etc. What he considered was more forward-looking:

"If this thing is really promoted, does it count as a reusable injection needle?"

The outlander was instinctively thinking about such risks.

There were quite a few interesting things here, such as the "dog-powered sewing machine" invented to save the fragile legs of sewing women. Unfortunately, the puppy used as a power source was not obedient during the demonstration, and even peed directly on the pedal, causing the onlookers to burst into laughter.

There was also a metal "anti-yi/jing device" with sharp tooth-like edges. The volume of this thing was very small, and the inventor tried to prevent men from night... by causing pain during sleep at night.

Xia De didn't comment on this thing, just felt that it should be classified as a torture instrument.

However, there were not no potentially useful things among the exhibits, such as the "swinging bathtub." This large wooden bathtub was installed on a metal frame that could swing back and forth, equipped with a manual crank to control the swing amplitude, allowing the bather to experience the feeling of waves hitting.

The young man demonstrating this invention even claimed that bathing like this for a long time could promote liver health and improve mental state.

"It's easy to splash a lot of water, and it requires a special person to continuously shake the crank... When bathing, it's better to be quiet. After all, this is a rare time in a day when one can completely relax."

A gentleman with a small bat logo on his head standing in the crowd said so, and Xia De also agreed with his statement. Unless he was washing with girls, he didn't want to feel too much stimulation when bathing:

"Very true."

Xia De patted the shoulder of the middle-aged man in the black hat in front of him:

"Mr. Bernhardt."

The middle-aged blood-sucking species turned his head with a slight surprise when he heard his name being called. When he saw the slightly familiar face, he blinked first, then showed a surprised expression, and finally laughed at himself:

"Well, I knew this city was definitely not peaceful, but being reunited in this season of spring flowers is a surprise... Long time no see, Mr. Watson. Are you also here to visit?"

The middle-aged blood-sucking species that appeared in the "Wonder Tower" was exactly Viscount Armand Bernhardt, whom Xia De just wanted to meet and ask about "Essence of All Things Blood." The two first met in Midhillburg, helped each other in Huntington, and visited blood-sucking species many times together when in Moon Bay.

He was one of the few good male friends the outlander had in this world. The closeness of Xia De's relationship with him was second only to the doctor and the priest, and was at the same level as Professor Manning.

And Mr. Bernhardt had clearly determined that as long as he met Xia De suddenly in a strange city, then there was a high probability that something would go wrong. Therefore, seeing Xia De suddenly when he turned his head at this moment, he was surprised first, then frightened, and finally turned to relief:

"It seems that I will definitely have a very fulfilling spring this year... I just saw a teahouse across the square, how about going to sit for a while?"

"Of course, I am also very curious, Viscount, why are you here at this time?"

Although Mr. Bernhardt was involved in the major event of the "Descent of the God of Blood-Sucking Species" in the autumn of 1853, that was the requirement of the clan. In fact, he was a person who pursued a peaceful life very much.

In the current war era, if it wasn't for something really important, he would never appear in such a city close to the war front. Just looking at the refugees living on the edge of the Outer City, one knew that this place would definitely not be peaceful forever.

And after sitting down in the corner of the "Madame Bovary Teahouse" across from Scholar Square, Mr. Bernhardt also stated his purpose for coming here while holding a teacup:

"Going to Moon Bay last year was because of some business and visiting Albert. Coming to the City of Scholars this year is still because of the task given by the clan."

The two sat face to face, and the table was already full of teapots, teacups, and afternoon tea snacks. There was a very pleasant aroma in the teahouse. Most of the people who came to the teahouse to kill time at this time were young people or noble ladies, and there were no other guests around the two.

Xia De hesitated when he heard this:

"It's not said that after the task in Midhillburg, unless it's a major event concerning the ethnic group, otherwise with your merits, they won't take the initiative to arrange tasks for you... Could it be that it's the same as the task at that time?"

Mr. Bernhardt shook his head immediately:

"Of course not, what are you thinking? Isn't it enough for that kind of thing to happen once?"

He didn't hide from Xia De what he was here to do:

"I'm here to find missing persons. Our ethnic group is composed of multiple ancient clans. Although rooted in the Willendale region, many members also live in other places like Albert. After the Year-End Festival, the ethnic group discovered that many fellow clansmen could not be contacted inexplicably with Arcadia as the center.

Some people indeed don't contact Willendale often, so those 'old gentlemen' also spent several months confirming that many fellow clansmen had disappeared around the 'City of Scholars'."

Only then did Xia De understand:

"But you don't need to come to investigate this kind of thing, right?"

"Originally, I didn't need to, but the first batch of fellow clansmen sent to investigate the missing persons incident also lost contact two weeks ago. The elders of the ethnic group thought that they couldn't rashly send a second batch of people, so they directly asked me to bring people here."

They probably held the idea that if I disappeared, Albert couldn't ignore it.

Mr. Bernhardt sighed:

"But after all, it involved fellow clansmen. Although I didn't want to come here, there were also people I knew in the past among the missing persons. Since the problem was really so serious, the rewards and action funds given by the ethnic group were also very generous, so I didn't refuse in the end.

However, I am not acting alone this time. There are five or six other high-level blood-sucking species fellow clansmen accompanying me. I was a seven-ring when I was in Moon Bay last year, and now I have been promoted to an eight-ring. The highest level of the others accompanying me is ten rings, and the lowest level is six rings. Besides them, the ethnic group's industries in Arcadia can also be used by us at will. The clan elders asked me to command this operation, and they all trust me."

After all, Mr. Bernhardt had already accomplished many major events.

He continued to introduce the current situation:

"We only arrived last week, and currently we only have a basic understanding of the local situation and haven't conducted an in-depth investigation. So many fellow clansmen have disappeared, and we are also very cautious. We haven't rashly contacted the local forces related to the blood-sucking species race. We suspect that the previous batch of investigators disappeared because there is a mole locally."