It was a dream or not. Everything here looked so real. Whether it was the domes of the tall buildings or the hustle and bustle of the traffic, it was no less prosperous than a small city. It was hard to imagine how many people in the outside world had joined the "Namiya Mechanical Engineering Society", but a conservative estimate was that the number would not be less than 20,000.
The elevator was lifted up by the iron chain, swaying. After a teeth-grinding sound, the door opened and an old man with graying temples hurried out with some letter paper.
"Good evening Ethan."
"Good evening Heidegger."
"Good evening Mr. Heidegger."
"Praise Xiyang, may the shadow protect you on your way forward."
In the corridor, people he knew would greet him from time to time, and he nodded in response, but he didn't have time to say the same blessing words. This was because he was very busy, and he had important information to send to the higher-ups.
"What happened?" A hand suddenly grabbed him. "Hey man, don't worry... You just came back from outside, right? A cross-border mission? Then you should go see Dr. Fermi to confirm your mental state first."
"Don't joke with me, Cornerel." Ethan pulled away Leon's hand that was hanging on his shoulder. I'm old enough to be your father. You call me your father in private, but you call me your brother in front of so many people?
He was a little angry and stopped even calling him by his nickname. He knew that even now, if Li Ang said this last name, he would still feel uncomfortable.
"Oh, I just wanted to make you feel better."
"So you want me to go find Fermi? Do you know that only here—" Ethan tapped his temple, "he's the only person who needs to go to if there's a problem here?"
"This is also insurance, okay?" Li Ang sighed, "Insurance - God knows what the situation is in the 'Erosion Abyss'. Now we can't contact the two Your Majesties. We must prevent spiritual pollution from the outside world."
"unnecessary."
"why?"
"I brought this."
Ethan took something out of his arms. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was an exquisite mechanical puppet made of gears and what looked like discarded parts.
"Okay." Li Ang looked at the thing enviously. "It doesn't look damaged... It looks like it can be used at least three times... Then you've passed the test. I'll go up with you."
The two walked through the crowded corridors and found an elevator again. They pressed 44 on the floor button and reached the top of the clock tower.
Entering another corridor, there was no one crowding with them this time... Not everyone dared to hang around here without a mission or need, even though they knew very well that the people sitting in that office were not the two people they feared the most.
"Huh?" Leon was stunned when he reached the door, because there was a man walking towards him from the opposite side. He was wearing a black robe and had a long white beard that looked like it had been washed. There was only one person in Shadow City who had this feature.
"Master Luca." Ethan still respected him and nodded to him. "Are you here to look for the master as well?"
"Yes... I plan to introduce two... oh, should I say three new people to the society." Luca looked a little annoyed. "Originally there were only two, but damn... one of them seemed to have fallen in through the original manuscript left by His Majesty. She has already seen this. I can only bring them in first - they are waiting downstairs now."
"Authentic manuscripts, do you mean the new books donated to the library?" Li Ang raised his eyebrows. "There must be tens of thousands of them, right? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
It was difficult to find the exact author's work among tens of thousands of books. It was almost as difficult as looking for a needle in a haystack. He wondered what kind of luck this "third person" had. Should he say he was lucky or just unlucky?
"Oh, it seems you don't know..." Luca's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a smug smile, "They are all 'authentic'."
All of them?
Even Ethan was a little surprised. Just handwriting and drawing a book with hundreds of pages would take more than a month. Where did she get so much time to do these things?
“There is an assembly line.” Luca shook his head. “But after all, it is… so it’s okay to say it’s a manuscript. Logically, such things wouldn’t have much impact on mortals, but she came in anyway.”
He spread out his hands and made a gesture that made me feel helpless.
"That means her Poltergeist level is far beyond that of ordinary people, and she has an outstanding talent in this area!" Ethan pointed out, "And... 'her'? Who is the third person? I only heard that you were going to pick up the descendant of the Time Dragon."
"The princess of Chesman, the one with dark skin and who likes hunting."
"It's her...why don't we go in?"
"Because if she was inside, the door would open by itself without us knocking."
Ethan answered immediately, turned the doorknob and stepped into the room, his soles touching the dark red wool carpet.
The decoration style here is relatively luxurious for ordinary people, but the degree of luxury is extremely limited. Apart from the carpets and murals and chandeliers, there is nothing of real value. The tea tables and sofas used to entertain guests are all made of wood, and unfortunately, the thing they have the most is wood.
Really no one?
Ethan looked around the office with a bewildered expression on his face. He had submitted a report and made an appointment before coming up, and he saw the application being pulled up by the hanging basket, which meant that there was someone in the office at the time.
Whether it is one of the two people or the so-called "Blood Mage Leader" who is also the vice president of the society, Moren Shaw, one of them has to sit here.
The door didn't open by itself, and he thought that it would be President Morun who was sitting behind the desk... But now it seems that the situation is very suspicious... Who on earth could sneak into a place like this?
Quickly walking to the desk, Ethan saw the application he had submitted lying squarely on the table. This not only showed that someone had sat here not long ago, but also that the information had been reviewed by someone.
This is top secret information about the "Eclipse"!
Who dares to invade this sacred place?
Ethan was shocked and angry. Reflexively, he squeezed the mechanical doll with his left hand and pulled out a shiny black pistol from his inner pocket with his right hand.
"Boom!"
Suddenly there was a slight sound from under the desk.
"Who?" Ethan immediately pointed the gun at the table.
"Who's down there?"
"I've got my sights on you... come out on your own!"
As he spoke, he also felt confused and uncertain.
Because the reactions of the two companions were too strange.
Logically speaking, when faced with such a terrible thing, even if they didn't show any anger or tension, they should at least seal off the room and pass the message out to put the entire Shadow City under martial law, right?
But they didn't... Whether it was Luca Pilarcon or Leon Cornerell, what Ethan observed was that the two of them first looked at each other, and then gave each other a meaningful smile that was mostly helpless and doting.
Wait... pampering?
Am I thinking too much?
This is a character who can infiltrate the "Fantasy Realm" without anyone noticing... Could it be that they know each other? Did they already know who was using this office?
"Okay...Emily." Leon said, "Come out, we swear we won't tell your mother."
Ai——
Before Ethan could react, he saw a small black-haired head popping out from the other side of the table - almost from under the hole in the table. She had delicate facial features and incredibly white and smooth skin, and two big watery blue eyes that seemed to be able to directly express her inner emotions.
Just by being looked at like that, Ethan instantly put away his gun.
This is blasphemy...
Wait, I don’t think I know who she is yet…?
"Who else do you think this kid could be, with this kind of genetic traits, in a place like this?"
Luca patted the dazed old agent on the shoulder and half-knelt down in front of the black-haired girl who was coming around.
"Good night, Your Highness the Princess of Night and Moon."
The little girl giggled and rushed over to grab Luca's beard.
"examine!"
She threatened Luca in a baby voice.
"Give me all your cards! I want the 'White Dragon'!"
"You can have anything else you want, but not this!"
Luca's face instantly turned bitter.
"Don't do this... Cornerel, come and save me!"
"Okay, Emily...your Grandpa Luca just recovered and started working. Don't bother him. He will bring the fatigue here back home. Don't tell me you don't know~"
"Then each of you must give me a card."
"Okay, okay...how about I give you 'Dark Knight'? It's my favorite."
"I don't want it! I want the 'Tree of Death'! And I want the 'Emperor Worm'!"
"What do you, a girl, need these cards for? I'm afraid you'll have nightmares when you see the cards!"
"I want the 'Tree of Death' and the 'Emperor Worm'——"
"I'll find a way - let's talk about it outside, okay?"
Forced into a corner, Leon rolled his eyes and directly dragged Ethan to be a shield.
"Come, Emily... let me introduce you to a new grandfather. This is Mr. Ethan Heidegger, an experienced chief detective. And there is one thing you may not know - he has collected all the cards and toys that Earl Candy has released so far!"
Wait…he sold me out just like that?
Ethan was still immersed in speculation about the girl's identity - he was still shocked by the terrible possibility and lost consciousness. When he turned around, he found that the little girl's dangerous eyes were staring at him again.
Wait...wait...
According to the way she just "robbed" these two people, she would not want to...
"Well, Mr. Heidegger, respectfully."
The girl really reached out her hand to him.
"Ready to bribe Emily?"
After all the chaos, the little girl named Emily sat in the main seat behind the desk - that was usually a seat that only the two His Majesties were qualified to sit in, and even Moren Shaw had to sit next to it to work... Ethan couldn't help but keep looking at the girl's face.
He looked at her eyes, then her nose and lips, and felt that they looked more and more alike.
Especially those eyes, that is not a pure blue, but the deep part is like the abyss of the sea, and the shallow part is like the azure sky, it is an extremely dreamy and magnificent color.
She...if that person hadn't had a transplant of God's eyes, she would probably have such a pair of beautiful blue eyes, right?
Somewhat excited.
Even goose bumps are forming under the skin.
Multiple emotions such as excitement, nervousness, curiosity, etc. are intertwined in my heart.
Ethan wanted to say that he was glad to see "Emily" appear, but he couldn't understand... How long had it been? How could a person grow so big?
Although the girl looks very petite, to the point that she can only be called a "tiny little thing", and is only 4-5 years old at most, but considering her mother's condition a year ago... isn't this a bit too shocking?
“It’s a bit difficult to explain this matter.”
Li Ang nodded, "Remember the mechanical cinema we found in Colosse?"
Ethan also nodded. How could he not remember such an impressive scene?
"Doctor Mechanical... cough! He revealed a very important piece of information, which is that our time has actually been folded by a great being using incredible means... a lot of history has been missed in the middle."
"Don't tell me." Ethan said with a dark face, and couldn't help looking at Emily in the middle, "This is also the effect of time folding."
"Don't ask me, I don't know."
Li Ang spread his hands.
"How can I guess their methods... maybe they have found a way? Fold it for three to four years, five to six years... It doesn't have to be long, but it's enough for our Highness to grow this tall."
This really is... I just went abroad for a trip, how much did I miss?
If I had to describe Ethan's mood in one sentence, it would be regret, great regret.
If he had known that there was such a large satellite besides "Shadow City", he would definitely have found a way to use his merits to offset that assignment - he would stay no matter what!
This is testimony!
Xi... I guess this can only be her child... and as a friend, an elder, a senior... I was not there at the time!
Luca was teasing Emily with the "Purple Aurora" card. The girl asked him about the story on the card and pulled his beard. Luca smiled with joy and cried out in pain from time to time, but overall he was still smiling with joy.
But Emily was not completely immersed in playing with the old man. She would occasionally look over here. Ethan thought that she was actually still wary of him and was observing the situation by hiding herself.
What a clever child.
How come she doesn't recognize me!
Thinking of this, Ethan felt that he had finally made up his mind.
He met that inquiring gaze directly.
"If you are willing to visit my home, I can show you the entire collection of Earl of Candy."
"Really?"
Emily immediately dropped the beard in her hand, jumped off her seat and ran to Ethan, staring at him: "You actually collected the whole set... Isn't that something only girls play with?"
"Pfft!"
