novelonline Chapter 3961 Reunion of old friends
Chapter 3961 Reunion of old friends
Chapter 3961 Reunion of old friends
After having lunch, Shad stayed at home for a while, and only reappeared in Arcadia City after Luvia went to work at 1:30 pm.
He visited Mr. Leber as planned and told him the good news that two of the three manuscripts he had requested had been obtained.
The elderly librarian was surprised that Shad had managed to get his hands on books from the Candleburg Library, but after hearing that he had gotten in touch with the Astley family, he smiled and praised the young man for his resourcefulness.
"Very well, once you get your hands on that last manuscript, I will immediately hand over ownership of the Blue Ink Library to you. I didn't expect things to go so smoothly, Mr. Watson. I look forward to your next visit."
Shade had afternoon tea at Mr. Leberi's place and left before 3 p.m. Although Viggo had said she could help look for clues about outside organizations while Shade was active in the outer city, there were only two hours left before their 5 p.m. meeting, and Shade didn't think it was necessary for him to go to the outer city.
"Let's go back to 'Miracle Tower' and take another look. I still feel that something is wrong with what happened this morning."
Actually, if you go to Fragrant Mansion beforehand, the witch probably won't mind.
She said with a smile.
The "Tower of Wonders" was also crowded in the afternoon, with some genuinely interested in buying things, but many more simply there for sightseeing. It felt more like a mechanical museum than a shop.
After arriving, Shad did not go to see Mr. Finch or Mr. Muñoz, but instead wandered around on his own.
Upon entering the tower, directly opposite is a huge pentagonal counter for tourists and shoppers to consult. The first floor of the Tower of Wonders is divided into two halves: a real shopping area and a mechanical exhibition area.
Each machine had a dedicated guide, and Xia De suspected that many of them were the designers or manufacturers of the machines. The machines demonstrating their operation were surrounded by people, and exclamations and cheers could be heard from time to time, as if a performance was taking place.
To kill time, Xia joined in the fun and was amazed by the various ingenious ideas of people in this era.
For example, there is a life-sized machine called an "automatic smoking machine." This complex mechanical device can hold multiple cigars at the same time and automatically light and smoke them.
The purpose of inventing this machine was not to consume excessive amounts of tobacco, but to fill places without smokers with smoke, creating a "welcome atmosphere"—most people in this era had the strange idea that "a smoky atmosphere is a sign of a successful place."
In terms of small-scale equipment, the one that impressed outsiders the most was the "mechanical leech," a metal device equipped with a spring, featuring a sharp part that mimics the mouthparts of a leech and a suction system.
Its effect is to replace the traditional bloodletting therapy using live leeches. The middle-aged inventor, wearing a bow tie, first conjured a rabbit from 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 'kissed' directly by those soft and disgusting creatures again."
Xia De wasn't concerned about whether mechanical leeches could secrete anticoagulants like real leeches, or whether metal could easily cause wound infection. His considerations were more forward-thinking:
"If this kind of thing really becomes widespread, wouldn't it be considered a reusable injection needle?"
Outsiders instinctively consider such risks.
There are many other interesting things here, such as the "dog-powered sewing machine" invented to save the fragile legs of seamstresses. Unfortunately, the dog used as the power source was not very obedient during the demonstration and even urinated on the pedal, causing the onlookers to burst into laughter.
There is also a small metal "anti-ejaculation device" with sharp, serrated edges. The inventors attempted to deter men from sleeping at night by causing pain during sleep.
Xia De didn't comment on the thing, but felt it should be classified as a torture device.
However, there are some potentially useful items among the exhibits, such as the "rocking bathtub." This large wooden bathtub is mounted on a metal frame that can rock back and forth, and is equipped with a manual crank to control the swing amplitude, allowing bathers to experience the feeling of waves crashing.
The young man demonstrating the invention even claimed that prolonged bathing in this manner could promote liver health and improve mental well-being.
"It's easy to splash out a lot of water, and it requires someone to keep cranking the handle. It's better to be quiet when taking a shower, after all, it's a rare time of day when you can completely relax."
A gentleman standing in the crowd, sporting a small bat emblem on his head, remarked something that Shad agreed with. Unless he was bathing with girls, he didn't want to experience anything too stimulating while showering.
"Said it right."
Shad patted the middle-aged man in the black hat on the shoulder:
"Mr. Bernhardt."
The middle-aged vampire turned his head slightly surprised when he heard his name called. Upon seeing the somewhat familiar face, he blinked, then his expression brightened with delight, and finally he gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"Well, I knew this city was anything but peaceful, but it's a pleasant surprise to meet again in this beautiful spring season. It's been a long time, Mr. Watson. Are you here for a visit too?"
The middle-aged vampire who appeared in the "Tower of Wonders" was none other than Viscount Armand Bernhardt, whom Shad had just wanted to meet and inquire about the "Blood Essence of All Things." The two first met at Midhill Castle, helped each other in Huntington City, and then went on several expeditions together in Moon Bay to search for vampires.
He was one of the few close male friends that outsiders had in this world. His relationship with Shad was second only to that of the doctor and the priest, and was on the same level as that of Professor Manning.
Mr. Bernhardt had clearly concluded that if he suddenly encountered Shad in an unfamiliar city, it was highly likely that something bad was about to happen. Therefore, when he turned and suddenly saw Shad, his initial reaction was surprise, followed by shock, and finally, relief.
"It looks like I'm going to have a very fulfilling spring. I just saw a teahouse across the square, how about we go sit down for a bit?"
"Of course, I'm also curious, Viscount, what brings you here at this time?"
Although Mr. Bernhardt became involved in the major event of the "Descent of the Vampire God" in the autumn of 1853, it was at the request of his clan; in reality, he was a person who longed for a peaceful life.
In this age of war, he would never appear in a city so close to the front lines of war unless there was something truly important to do. Just by looking at the refugees living on the outskirts of the city, one could tell that this place would never remain peaceful forever.
After sitting down in a corner of the "Madame Bovary Tea House" opposite Scholars' Place, Mr. Bernhardt, holding his teacup, revealed the purpose of his visit:
"Last year I went to Moon Bay for some business and to visit Albert. This year I went to the City of Scholars because of a mission from the clan."
The two sat facing each other, the table already set with teapots, teacups, and afternoon tea snacks. A pleasant aroma filled the teahouse; at this time of day, most of the patrons were young people or elegant ladies, and there were no other customers around them.
Xia De hesitated for a moment upon hearing this:
"Didn't they say that after the mission at Midhill Fortress, unless it's something of great importance to the tribe, they wouldn't proactively assign you missions based on your achievements? Are you saying it'll be the same as the missions back then?"
Mr. Bernhardt immediately shook his head:
"Of course not, what are you thinking? Isn't one such incident enough?"
He did not hide from Xia De what he was there to do:
"I'm here to find the missing. Our clan is a union of several ancient clans. Although we are based in the Velendale region, many members, like Albert, live in other places. After the year-end festival, the clan discovered that many of its members, centered around Arcadia City, had inexplicably lost contact with each other."
Some people didn't contact Velendale often, so it took those 'old gentlemen' several months to confirm that many of their kind had gone missing around the 'City of Scholars'.
Only then did Xia De understand:
"But this kind of thing doesn't need you to investigate, does it?"
“Originally, I wasn’t needed, but the first group of clansmen sent to investigate the disappearances also lost contact two weeks ago. The clan elders thought they couldn’t send a second group rashly, so they sent me here with people.”
They probably thought that if I disappeared, Albert wouldn't just ignore me.
Mr. Bernhardt sighed:
"But since it involves my own people, although I was reluctant to come here, there were people I knew in the past among the missing. Since the problem was really that serious, and the reward and funds offered by the tribe were very generous, I finally did not refuse."
However, I'm not acting alone this time; I'm accompanied by five or six other high-ranking vampires. Last year in Moon Bay, I was a seventh-ring vampire, and now I've advanced to the eighth. The others in my group range in rank from tenth to sixth. Besides them, we can also utilize some of the clan's assets in Arcadia City. The clan elders have entrusted me with commanding this operation; they all trust me implicitly.
After all, Mr. Bernhardt has already accomplished many great things.
He went on to describe the current situation:
“We only arrived last week, and so far we only have a basic understanding of the local situation and have not yet conducted an in-depth investigation. So many of our kind have already gone missing, so we are being very cautious and have not rashly contacted any local forces related to the vampire race. We suspect that the disappearance of the previous group of investigators was because there was a mole within the local community.”