"The Sage-level Relic Thief Jack will only appear in human settlements with a population of more than 30,000 people, and will appear at night to steal without any rules. Even if it encounters someone, it will just make it flee faster, and generally it will not hurt anyone. The stolen items must be of special value, and it is a thief who gets stronger when facing a stronger opponent. Even if it is a ring wizard, if there is no special anti-theft means at home, it will only use ordinary people's methods to steal. But if you want to cover up the secret and exaggerate the use of angel-level (level 1) relic anti-theft, then the thief Jack, who is rated as Sage-level (level 2), can exert a strange power beyond the angel level."
Yin Luna introduced:
"'Jack' is not its name either. It is called this because Jack is a common male name. It means that this relic is hidden among countless ordinary people."
"I see, just like 'Mary' is one of the most common female names. It sounds interesting, and it gets stronger when it meets stronger opponents... ... Any other characteristics?"
Shade asked with great interest.
"Of course. The real negative trait is that the person who is robbed by Jack the Thief may have a slight change in personality. In the early stage, it will manifest as regret for not taking good care of his property. Then this regret will ferment into regret for losing his property, and then it will turn into wanting to make up for the loss by stealing from others."
"Assimilated by Jack the Thief?"
Xia De asked, and Yin Luna nodded cautiously:
"Not only does their kleptomaniac habit become contagious, their internal body structure will also change, and the whispering element will gradually permeate their entire soul. Jack the Thief himself is just a thief, but the relic derivatives that have been infected with kleptomania by him are all mysterious lunatics."
Seeing that Xia De was listening seriously, Yin Luna smiled embarrassedly:
"The explanation in the material is actually very clear, but I didn't memorize it all, so I can only say this much."
"This is very detailed. I heard Miss Carina mention this matter at the Lakeview Manor banquet on Tuesday. So, Professor Manning has lost something?"
He asked again, and the nominal police officer nodded immediately:
"Three days ago, which was Monday of this week, someone broke into this place at night and stole an antique vase from Professor Tiris Manning's collection. Our team has been tasked with visiting the victim of the theft and using the divine items prepared by the church to confirm whether the victim has been affected and infected with kleptomania."
Yin Luna showed Xia De the iron ring on her finger, and Xia De could see the sun pattern on the surface of the ring.
"Look, this is it. The first step is to contact the professor with this ring, and the second step is to judge the professor's psychological condition through some simple questions. There have been many thefts in the city recently, and the captain asked me to be responsible for interviewing the victims in the university area."
This kind of task is just the right difficulty for Yin Luna to do, and it can also train this immature girl. She took off the ring and handed it to Xia De. While Xia De put it on his finger, he was still sighing in his heart that Professor Manning had really bad luck.
The carriage passed through the thick fog behind Yin Luna, and the two could only see the dark shadow of the carriage. They stopped talking temporarily and remained silent under the low sky. Xia De tilted his head to look at the street scene of Maowei Lane behind Yin Luna, while Yin Luna pretended to look at Xia De casually.
"I already talked to Luvia about Lakeview Manor on Wednesday night. Is there any progress on Vinales' trial and the church?"
When the carriage passed by, Xia De mentioned the matter again, and Yin Luna nodded:
"'The Invisible Person' could refer to many things, and could even be Jack the Thief. The Church is still investigating. The three major thaumaturgical schools have already intervened in this matter, and the first trial will probably be over soon. Even if we can't see it, the Church, the school, and even the Truth Society will try to find it."
"The identity of the fourth chosen one is still being verified by Luvia. But what I am more concerned about is that the Apuna Library and the Society of Truth exchanged information with each other. Didn't the True God Church punish them?"
When Xia De asked this question, Yin Luna showed a dissatisfied look on her face:
"The Orthodox Church and the ring magician groups including the Prophet Association are just cooperating. They are not in a superior-subordinate relationship. Generally speaking, as long as they don't go too far and can compensate for their mistakes, the church will not impose any punishment or other measures."
"Did they go too far this time?"
"Yes, we had the psalm fragments, but we didn't share them with the church right away. Oh, Shad, I'm not saying the church is the most reliable, but they obviously have their own selfish motives in sharing such things and truths. The Apna Library immediately admitted its mistake to the church after Tuesday night and handed over all the information on the psalm fragments, but we are still not satisfied and will issue warnings later."
"I don't understand, what is the purpose of Apna Library doing this? Do they also want to invest in the chosen ones?"
Shad found this incredible; given the size and organizational nature of the Apna Library, they did not have this capability.
"Of course it's not to invest in the chosen one, it's to invest in the keeper."
"Secret keeper?"
Xia De still didn't understand, so Yin Luna reminded him:
"As the chosen one appears, the Secret Keeper will frequently appear beside him or her to test and challenge him or her. Don't forget, you can only get the Wise Pyroxene if you don't make any wishes. But if you don't want the Pyroxene, those relics or other 'Secret Keepers' can realize the 'wishing' function to a certain extent. Especially the wishes for wisdom and knowledge, which are what the Apna Library wants."
"So that's how it is."
Shade nodded in understanding, but then he thought of the three "wishing people" he met in Huntington. Professor Drake had to pursue his past memories because of his wish, the poet got lucky but also had to bear a heavy burden, and only the old fisherman who loved fishing could accept his wish with an open mind, and did not regret it even when his fishing rod broke later:
"The chosen one this time wants to obtain five pieces of Wise Pyroxene, which is a test in itself. But if you want to rely on this opportunity to have unlimited opportunities to make wishes... ... making wishes comes at a price, and I hope everyone can understand this."
Although Yin Luna enjoyed standing on the street and chatting quietly with Xia De alone, and hoped that Professor Manning would be late for a while, even as the chosen one, she could not let Professor Manning be late.
The old professor, in good spirits, returned to Cat Tail Lane on time. Although the seventeen-year-old girl was a little disappointed, she also knew that work was important, so she and Xia De went to greet him.
"It's been weeks since we last met, Professor."
Shade greeted him enthusiastically and held out his hand with the ring. Professor Manning was also surprised by Shade's appearance and shook his hand naturally.
The ring did not show any reaction, which meant that Professor Manning was most likely not affected by the relic... Even the relic of the Joyful Dream Pen, which directly manipulated the deep dream, could not leave Professor Manning with permanent sequelae. Shade actually did not think that Jack the Thief could. This weathered archaeologist and history professor was quite mentally tough.
The professor and Xia De were close friends, so there was no need for too much small talk. As for Yin Luna, since she had a meeting appointment letter sent by Redwich in advance, she didn't have to waste time at the door to explain the reason for her visit.
Xia De calmly returned the ring to Yin Luna, and Professor Manning invited the two of them to come in together. After learning that Xia De had known the police officer on secondment because of the detective commission, the professor was obviously relieved.
Obviously, in this era, the police coming to your door is not a good thing for anyone. Even though Professor Manning is a victim and the police who came to his door is a woman, the professor still feels a little uneasy.
Yin Luna was doing "official business", so Xia De asked Yin Luna to deal with the theft case first.
Although she was only a police officer in name only, she had actually received police training, so she professionally asked about the details of Monday's investigation after entering the door, inserting psychological questions into the questioning. After confirming that no details were missed when reporting the case, Yin Luna also invited Xia De to inspect the scene with her.
The antique vase that Professor Manning lost was not valuable, but it was a retirement gift given to him by his students. It was an antique that Professor Manning cherished very much. The vase was originally placed in the corner of the living room on the first floor. Shade had seen it many times when he visited the professor. After careful inspection, he indeed found traces of extremely low whispering elements.
Xia De couldn't even trace it based on those traces of elements.
According to Yin Luna's professional judgment of the traces, the thief opened the locked window late at night, broke into the room directly, and took the vase away after finding it. The whole process took no more than five minutes and appeared very professional.
"Look at this."
Yin Luna pointed to the street-facing window wearing white gloves. The living room window of Professor Manning's house had a groove on the window sill. The latch could be pressed down to lock the window tightly. The edge of the window frame pointed out by Yin Luna had obvious traces of metal friction. Xia De thought carefully:
"A wire came in through the crack in the window, and it hooked the bolt and pulled it up?"
"Yes, Detective, it seems you are a professional as well."
Yin Luna nodded and recorded this detail. Xia De once again realized the meaning of "ordinary theft methods."
After confirming the intrusion method, Yin Luna used a knife to collect some rust from the windows and put them into a small paper bag. Professor Manning may not understand this behavior and think it is an advanced detective technique, but Shade understands that this is to allow the church to have materials for accurate divination.
After investigating the scene, Yin Luna and Xia De cooperated to search the living room. Of course, they found nothing. Although the famous thieves in the eyes of outsiders like to leave letters or their own emblems at the crime scene, Jack the Thief does not have such a ridiculous bad habit.
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