"Young people these days are really amazing."
On the third floor of Viscount Rudos' mansion, the elf watched Jenkins' series of actions, shook his head and sighed. He went to the window to confirm the thickness and light transmittance of the curtains, then raised his right hand, and a bright yellow ball of light like a small sun flew out slowly, helping the two of them illuminate the front.
The entire third floor is connected. Although the area of the third floor is smaller than the floor below because of the architectural style, the overall size is almost twice the size of Jenkins' living room.
This place is arranged like an exhibition hall, with display cabinets covered by transparent glass placed scatteredly on the smooth wooden floor. There are oil paintings hanging on the wall, and ancient armor or cold weapon racks standing beside the wall. Compared with the third floor of the residence, it is more like an exposition with a rich collection.
The southeast corner of the third floor is a staircase, but now the end of the staircase is blocked by a wooden wall, and it is obvious that a mechanism must be found to open it.
"I didn't expect this one to be an antique collector."
The elf approached the nearest exhibition stand with interest. Inside the glass cover was a silver table knife with dark brown marks on the smooth surface. The table knife lay on a white handkerchief:
"In the year 1093 of the Universal Calendar, the murder weapon used by the Nameless to assassinate the Earl of Langton."
The old elf read out the explanation on the exhibition stand, and Jenkins also looked over:
"I knew that rich people like to collect these weird things."
He said so, and then "visited" here with the old elf. The Viscount has a lot of collections, and the styles are also very mixed. A small part is as strange as the table knife just now, and most of them are relatively ordinary. So while it's a bit weird, it's not a problem per se.
Relying on the Eye of Reality, Jenkins also easily discovered that gift. It was lying in the display cabinet against the wall. It was a very delicate black iron key. It was not a flake-shaped key with teeth that is commonly used today, but a cylindrical key with concave and convex distribution.
This is the key for a unique lock created by the invention-obsessed people of the early days of steam, and it looks pretty good. But soon people found that such locks and keys were very easy to be picked, so they gradually gave up this form of keys, and now they can only be seen in antiques and history books.
"This is it."
Jenkins said to the elf, and the elf looked at the key with a surprised expression, and then saw Jenkins pull out a pair of white gloves from his pocket and put them on, and then carefully took off the glass cover.
"This is to prevent leaving fingerprints, although not many people know the word fingerprints now..."
He explained to the elf, put the glass cover aside, and took out a stack of ten-pound notes rolled up in paper from his pocket.
"If such a key is calculated according to the price of an antique, it is probably..."
Mumbling and counting the money, he pulled out six bills and put them next to the key. Jenkins would not be a thief.
"I paid an extra 30% of the price, and now it belongs to me."
Only then nodded in satisfaction and reached out to get the key. But at this moment, the old elf's pointed ears moved, and he suddenly turned to look at the blocked stairs on the third floor:
"Someone is opening the mechanism!"
The floor under his feet was shaking slightly, and there was a slight white steam gushing upwards from the gaps in the floor. Between the ceiling on the second floor and the floor on the third floor is a mechanism that opens the trapdoor. Although it looks like a wooden wall, the inside is actually made of steel.
With the sound of gears and levers moving under the floor on the third floor, a ray of light shone in from the lower end of the stairs on the third floor. Then the light continued to expand, and the hidden door was opened.
Viscount Rudos and a tall, thin middle-aged man came up together. They were all wearing out clothes, and they could even faintly smell Nolan's unique burnt smell in the air.
The Viscount touched the gas lamp knob on the wall with his hand, and he turned on all the lights on the entire third floor along the wall. During this process, the stranger checked the Viscount's collection with his hands behind his back, and had no intention of helping.
"This is really something amazing."
The stranger commented on the table knife just now, and then turned to look at the oil painting of bones and skulls on the wall. Viscount Rudos was already sweating profusely and turned on all the lights. The weather was hot, and the windows on the third floor were not open. In addition to the steam that was sprayed inward when the mechanism was turned on just now, it was really impossible to stay here for a long time.
"You can look at all my collections at will."
The Viscount said politely, and touched his forehead with a handkerchief. He was panting heavily, and he didn't look like he was exercising often:
"If there is no problem, I will wait on the second floor first, and you can just come down after you have made your choice."
As he spoke, he couldn't wait to walk towards the stairs, but was stopped by a stranger:
"Viscount, we are very satisfied this time. If you agree to your request, it will be done naturally. Your disabled son will get the leg he wants."
The stranger had a smile on his face.
"That's good, that's good."
The tall and thin Viscount bent slightly, and wiped his sweat while talking. The reason for his sweating was probably not only because of the temperature on the third floor.
"We always keep our word, and this time you helped a lot. We will use the best alloy to cast the leg, and use the most advanced technology to allow your son to adapt to the new body parts."
"That would be great..."
Viscount Rudos backed away while talking, and then froze suddenly, because he saw the man in front of him take out the pistol unhurriedly:
"But I'm sorry, you can't survive."
The viscount's handkerchief slipped, and the small female pistol that the viscount hid in the handkerchief was raised. This kind of gun is disposable, expensive but extremely poor in practicality, not only has a low range, but also has very poor power.
But now Viscount Rudos is very close to that man. If he can hit him, although he may not be able to kill him, at least he can buy the Viscount valuable time to escape.
As expected by Jenkins and the old elf who were hidden by the wall, Viscount Rudos shot first, and the ejected bullet hit the man's left chest, but only a few sparks sputtered out, and the shriveled bullet fell with a clatter. to the floor. The warhead hopped a few times before swirling on the ground, and finally stopped when it touched the display case with the table knife.
"Look, I knew it was going to happen."
The man said, smiling and looking at the trembling Viscount in front of him. The man put away his gun, then smashed the glass of the display cabinet next to him with his fist, and took out the table knife:
"Play a game, turn around and run now, if you are still alive when you return to the second floor, I will let you go."
While talking, he pinched the blade of the table knife with his fingers, and shook the handle of the table knife upwards:
"I count to three...one"
Viscount Rudos seemed to bounce off the floor. Instead of turning around and running towards the stairs, he grabbed the antique shield by the wall and carried it behind his back. It was a small buckler, which couldn't block the viscount's whole body, but at least it could block his upper body when he bent over and ran.
"two."
Although the third floor has a large area, the two of them were not far from the stairs just now, and the man deliberately slowed down when counting. When the second was read, Viscount Rudos had already reached the stairs.
"three!"
The table knife turned into a ray of silver light and flew out of the man's hand. At that moment, the viscount's eyes turned away from him. He felt it and understood that even if he had a shield, the table knife would penetrate the defense in the next second. Go through his body and nail to the opposite wall.
He held his breath and waited for the arrival of death with surprise on his face, but he didn't expect that moment to come for a long time. Bracing himself with all his courage, he turned around, and saw a young man with his back turned to him, holding a knife between two fingers.
The benefactor from the Gear Craftsman's Association had a haze on his face.
"I always think… "
As soon as Jenkins opened his mouth, the Bestower standing opposite him decisively took out a notebook from his pocket. He moved so quickly that the notebook was on fire before Jenkins flew the knife out of his hand and tried to stab it.
That notebook isn't an antique, it's an ordinary bargain you can buy anywhere. But as it burned violently, a dense mist with the smell of foul-smelling motor oil quickly spread into the room. All of a sudden, everyone coughed, including the benefactor of the Gear Craftsman Association, no one could bear the smell.
When the black mist gradually dissipated, the exhibition hall on the third floor had changed. The originally stuffy room became even hotter and humid, hot steam spewed upwards from the cracks in the floor, and hot red chains blocked the walls on all sides. Red light filled the entire room, making it look like a lava hell in a crater, and the oxygen in the air became thinner. The only ordinary person present, Viscount Rudos, couldn't breathe even if he was one step faster than Jenkins' cat.
There was no change in the exhibition cabinet, but Jenkins found that his hands and feet were locked by four hot red chains. The temperature of the chains was just right so that the skin would not blister, and the other end of the chains was the lock on the floor under his feet.
He wasn't the only one like this, Jenkins could see Viscount Rudos, the old elf hiding by the wall, and the bestower of the craftsmen's association were all chained through the steam mist gushing around. Only the cat in Jenkins' pocket was not treated this way. Chocolate hated even collars and bells, and would be maddened if chained.
"A believer in lies!"
The middle-aged man with a haze on his face yelled at Jenkins:
"Sure enough, it happened! We expected this, and this time you can't stop our plan."
After leaving Loen, Jenkins has always encountered the benefactors of the Gear Craftsman Association in various strange places. Not long ago, he subdued one with his senior sister, Miss Stillwell, in a tavern. They undoubtedly want to repair the difference engine in the underground, but unfortunately they are always bumped into by Jenkins.
This is probably the so-called fate, which proves that the underground difference machine is definitely related to the disaster or the beast of disaster at the end of the era. It is the fate of the savior that attracts Jenkins and the gear craftsman to meet.
Jenkins did not refute his identity, but tried to pull the chain. He is now a seventh-level gifter, the peak of a mortal before a demigod. Even if there is no corresponding ability, it is easy to catch bullets with bare hands or break through walls with bare hands, but at this moment, even with the power of the titan, the chains that imprison the hands and feet cannot be pulled at all.
PS: If there is no accident, the author insists on finishing the book. Every morning, this chapter is 3K. I hope everyone will not fatten up at the end, so that the results can be better before the end of this story... I don’t expect to be able to order more than 10,000. , it is actually impossible. Just keep the current average score of more than 7,000.