Struggle in the Steam Age

Early the next morning, Lawrence appeared at the door of the antique shop with a middle-aged gentleman in a tuxedo and a top hat, holding a carved wooden figure about the size of his forearm in both hands. If you look carefully, you can find that the wood carving is pitch black, obviously it has been burned.

Standing opposite them is an elderly man in his 50s, also wearing a tuxedo and a top hat. Also in both hands was a Briton-style cane topped with a topaz.

"—Yes, that's how things are. In the end, we succeeded in eradicating the evil spirits, and the problem of the mysterious shadow in your store was also solved." Lawrence briefly described the matter to the 50-year-old man in front of him. Yesterday was the process of how to eliminate the evil spirit of Tiao. During the whole process, the old man on the opposite side didn't say a word, just looked at Lawrence quietly.

"You mean that you found out that the black shadow was an evil spirit, and you burned my statue at the same time as you eliminated the evil spirit?" After Lawrence finished speaking, the old man opposite him asked.

He is Henry, the owner of the antique shop. This Mr. Henry appeared to be a kind-hearted gentleman. But with a single mouth, the meanness is fully revealed.

"Sir, let me say it again." Lawrence felt a little tired in the face of such an unreasonable guy, but he still emphasized a fact. "We have stipulated in the contract before that the inevitable loss caused when solving the problem is not our fault, and your statue is the sustenance of the evil spirit. After we eliminate the evil spirit, it will burn itself. Woke up."

"Then why don't you think of a way to strip off the evil spirits on this antique of mine?" Henry the shopkeeper quibbled, "If you choose to strip off the evil spirits, you won't destroy this antique of mine. I think you guys can solve the extraordinary problem. We should have taken this into consideration when—"

"Old Henry, that's enough." The middle-aged gentleman who came with Lawrence finally couldn't stand it anymore. "I don't know much about extraordinary people. But I know one thing, the evil spirit's sustenance and the evil spirit itself are one. Even if the sustenance is not destroyed in the process of eliminating the evil spirit, it will still be very good afterward. It is easy to grow new evil spirits again. Do you want to sell such dangerous things on Linden Street?"

"No, of course not." Old Henry glanced his eyes left and right nervously, and then said to the vice president of the Lime Street Self-Government Committee standing beside Lawrence. "Sir, I just want to protect my legal rights. By the way, please wait for me. I still have to check to see if there are any other losses in my store."

After speaking, he grabbed the key of the shop from Lawrence very impolitely, then turned around and opened the door and walked into the antique shop. After watching his figure disappear into the slightly dark shop, the vice president spread out helplessly. With both hands, he turned his head and said to Lawrence: "Old Henry has always been like this, but since his grandfather has been running an antique shop on this street, sometimes we can't do much about them .”

"That's why the Linden Street Self-Government Committee regards the completion of this task as a prerequisite for admitting you into this street. If you can deal with the most difficult person on this street, then we believe that you can naturally I get along with everyone on this street." The middle-aged gentleman shrugged his shoulders, it seems that Old Henry's reputation on this street is not very good, so that the vice president is all about this matter Prefer newcomers like Lawrence over their old neighbors.

Ten minutes later, old Henry came out of his shop. From his flat expression, it was obvious that he didn't notice that Lawrence and the others destroyed anything else yesterday.

After walking out of the shop, old Henry continued to entangle Lawrence about the burned portrait. He even offered to ask Lawrence to pay him 100 yuan according to the listed price.

Lawrence repeatedly explained that it was not his fault, but old Henry kept insisting on the fact that his statue was burned, even if the vice president explained it many times beside him, it was ineffective. In desperation, Lawrence could only use his trump card to threaten him to report the incident of the evil goods in the store to the Church of the Lord of Dawn.

The threat finally worked, and Henry Sr. no longer insisted on Lawrence's compensation, although he also refused to pay Lawrence the twenty-five dollars he was due, saying it was compensation for destroying the statue. The good vice president worked hard to get the statue that was burned into a ball of coke and gave it to Lawrence.

"I've tried my best." The middle-aged gentleman who was the vice president said when he left the entrance of Old Henry's antique shop. "Old Henry has always been like this. To be honest, it's beyond my expectation to get this statue from him today. I just mentioned it casually just now, but I didn't expect him to really give you this thing."

"Yes, so I am very grateful for your help." Lawrence smiled politely. He felt that the only reason why old Henry was willing to give him this statue was because he was a little worried that this kind of thing would happen again after knowing that this thing was the carrier of evil spirits.

After returning to the detective agency, Lawrence told Safir and Fatina the result of the whole matter. After listening to the process, they all expressed dissatisfaction, because they did not expect that some people could be so stingy.

"By the way, what are you doing with this piece of charcoal back? Why don't you find a place to throw it away?" After scolding old Henry a few words, Safiel focused on the burnt charcoal that Lawrence was holding. on the statue.

"Anyway, this is the first business we made after we opened, so it's good to keep it as a souvenir." L Lawrence put this thing on the table and said, "And I'm also a little curious about what it is ?”

After speaking, he cast an identification technique on the statue on the table. Unexpectedly, the content contained in the long string of messages that floated in front of him made him wake up with a jolt.

[Southern Continent, the statue used by the first generation sun god and war god Velopochetli of the indigenous gods of the Sun Dynasty. But after the fall of the gods, the idols have lost their divinity and are now completely destroyed. 】

[Because of the unique feature of shielding magic detection, this statue was later used by the tribal elders to store treasures. Now, it's not empty. 】

Lawrence had read about the deity Vilobochetelli in his studies before. According to the records, He has always been known for being cruel and moody, so in the end, the Feathered Serpent stabbed in the back in the battle of gods triggered after the arrival of the colonists of the Old World overthrown by gods and people. This has also led to the fact that until today, Feathered Serpent God, a member of the kind gods, is still the patron saint of the Sun Dynasty, whose land area has shrunk by more than half.

Lawrence might be interested in researching about the gods at other times, but now, he has been attracted by the last sentence of the previously observed information.

"Which one of you has a knife? A screwdriver is fine too." Lawrence straightened up and said to the two ladies who were watching. "I found that there was something wrong with this statue. After entering through the crack on the top, it seemed that the statue was hollow."

"Use this." Fatina took out a small blade from her body and handed it over. As a rat man, her body was stuffed with all kinds of small things. "Hurry up and open this statue, maybe there is some treasure inside."

"Yeah, let's do it quickly." Saifeier also said, "Generally, the things that can be hidden in this kind of place are often some more precious things. I can't wait to see what is hidden here. gone."