Chapter 594: Chapter 594 The Second Kind of Blood Chapter 594: Chapter 594 The Second Kind of Blood Shard did not tell them about his plan to search for Priest Augustus between life and death; instead, he intended to wait until the group meeting tomorrow afternoon, to carefully consider his words and address it then. Without guessing, it was clear that the girls would certainly oppose Shard doing this. “Shard, Old Man John paid a visit this afternoon.” Bending her head in thought and just reaching the second floor, Mia rushed over, and as Shard held her, the blonde girl in the study spoke up. “What did Old Man John come for?” Shard asked while holding the excited cat, which sniffed suspicion at Shard’s front with some doubt before sneezing. “Old Man John said there’s a lead on that special blood you wanted to buy; he paid the deposit for you. The blood has already arrived at his pawnshop, and he wants you to bring the money and collect it when you have time. What did you actually buy that was so expensive that Old John himself would come looking for you?” Dorothy asked, snapping the fountain pen’s cap on and sitting down at the imposing desk in the study. She pressed her neck and then came out with a smile: “You didn’t see how surprised he was when he knocked on the door and saw that it was me and Luviya who answered.” Old John was very familiar with the Schneider Group, so when it was said he was “surprised,” in reality, he wouldn’t think too much of it. “Were there any other visitors for me this afternoon? Surely no clients came to the door, did they?” Shard asked again, setting the cat down on the coffee table. “No clients came to the door. Didn’t you say your business doesn’t even meet a client once a week?” Luviya also came down from the third floor, wiping her palms with a towel. Shard could faintly smell the oily scent of lubricating mechanical bearings. “But at least I earn a lot.” Shard spoke the truth while Luviya shrugged her shoulders: “But I seem to recall that most of your income comes from another aspect, right?” “Yes, that Duchess.” Dorothy teased. The three went out together and had dinner at a restaurant on Silver Cross Avenue, and only then did the two ladies go their separate ways. They would return tomorrow, though, as Luviya needed to tinker with her astrology equipment and Dorothy was to help watch the cat, to prevent Shard from leaving it hungry all day if he failed to return. After bidding farewell to the two ladies, Shard then went to Old John’s Pawnshop with Mia and the gold pounds. Old Man John lived above the pawnshop, so it closed late: “Good evening, old man.” As Shard pushed open the door, the old man in the shop was doing his accounting. He lifted his head to greet him, and after finishing the accounts, he got down to business with Shard: “I knew you were in urgent need of special blood, so I paid a deposit to my friend for you in advance and had him deliver the blood. You’re not going to tell me that you’re short on cash and can’t afford it, are you?” While speaking, Old John called Shard over to help, and together they moved a wooden crate out from underneath the counter. After prying open the crate with a crowbar, a chill instantly surged out. The crate was filled with straw, and among the straw, there were also chunks of ice for cooling, most of which had melted already. Old John searched through the straw, digging out a chilly brass-colored metal box. Upon opening it, the cold was even more intense, and inside were two pieces of hard ice clamped together. Between the blocks of ice was a long glass tube as thick as a thumb, with thick red blood that seemed to congeal due to the low temperature. “What’s that fishy smell?” Shard asked, and Mia looked curiously at the box in front of them but didn’t jump into the straw. “It was sent here by ship along with the low-temperature stored catch, so of course, there’s a fishy smell.” Old John used his wrinkled, aged hand to take out the glass tube from the ice: “Oh, my God, it’s really cold. Shard, take it quickly!” He handed the glass tube to Shard, then rubbed his hands together vigorously. Having taken the glass tube, Shard also felt the chill from the glass. He thought for a moment and moved the glass tube closer to the cat resting on his shoulder. Mia immediately meowed to stop Shard’s action. This cat wasn’t foolish enough to risk getting its tongue frozen by licking such a thing. “What blood is this?” Shard asked curiously. “The blood of the Rhine Monster, shake the container a bit.” Shard gently shook the glass tube he was holding, and the bright red blood gradually showed clearly defined rainbow colors. “It really is beautiful.” “The blood is pretty, but the Rhine Monster is incredibly dangerous. It’s an Exotic Creature that lives on small offshore islands and is extremely dangerous. Legend has it that the entire species never exceeds 49 individuals. In any case, if you see a Rhine Monster, you must kill a blood relative, otherwise your parents, children, and spouse will die. Therefore, besides being called ‘Rhine Monster,’ this dangerous being is also called the ‘Demon of the Extinct Door’.” Old John clicked his tongue: “Very dangerous, only God knows why such a creature exists. There’s a theory that they were created to contain an Exotic Species from the Subspace with an extremely strong breeding rate, but this theory is unconfirmed. Regardless, the Rhine Monster’s blood is incredibly precious, and it can serve as auxiliary material for many rare Magic Potions. Holders of the Sublimation Incantation related to bloodlines who want to progress after constructing a complete incantation must use this blood as a Ritual Material.” “Indeed, nice, how much?” Shard was very pleased. “I’m not haggling this time, it’s a friend’s item. He wants 4,900 Gold Pounds.” The price was very steep—4,900 Gold Pounds could even buy a very useful weapon-class Relic. The Elixir of Immortality from the Merman that Shard sold did not fetch that price. However, according to Old Man John’s description, the price was actually just a bit too high. Under normal circumstances, Shard thought maybe 4,500 might suffice… “For this blood, my friend has made an enemy of a rank-9 Vampire Kind. You have no idea how dangerous the situation was then,” Old John added, starting to pack up the wooden box. “Forget it, 4,900 Gold Pounds it is,” Shard sighed, actually thinking about going to see Miss Galina tomorrow for another type of blood. With that, his second expedition of the Year 3014 of the Fifth Era, which had been delayed by a whole week, could begin. Coincidentally, Shard had recently been on the edge of life and death, and he didn’t know what would happen inside, so he could take the blood, the Time Key, and the door locket with him. If danger arose, he could return to the past for a 30-minute rest. He believed that even in such an uncertain place between life and death, the “Time Key” would still be usable. “A few days ago, I bought some very expensive sorcery at Saint Byrons Library, and if I hadn’t won some money afterwards, I wouldn’t have been able to produce such a large amount of cash. Your friend certainly knows how to value things, any higher and I couldn’t have afforded it.” As he spoke, he began taking money out of his pocket, and after this high-cost purchase, he was left with just over 200 Gold Pounds in his savings. The fact that the number of Gold Pounds in his hand was about to drop into the single digits was causing the Outlander significant anxiety. Old John had seen Shard pull banknotes out of his pocket that surely couldn’t have fit, so he was not surprised: “Didn’t you just win 3,000 pounds because of the Big City Player? Don’t look so glum, young man, Gold Pounds are earned to be spent. And it’s only because of me that you were charged just 4,900 pounds instead of 5,000. Oh, I also bet on your victory, so I won’t charge you for the delivery. Detective, you could never imagine how many people have died for this blood before he got it. Although these lives are none of our concern, in the end they were indeed worth only 4,900 pounds.” “So, we have to be the ones who can set a price on our own lives.” Shard said, the old man looked at him unexpectedly, and nodded: “That’s right, I’m glad you realize this. But before you embark on your thrilling adventure, I need to remind you that this blood needs to be stored at low temperatures. Whatever you plan to do with it, don’t keep it for more than a week.” This world is so real, any material will expire and not be preserved forever. “I understand, Old John.” He put the glass tube back into the ice, the cold sensation reminding him of the thinness of his wallet right now: “The acquisition of rare blood is still on, I still need the blood.” He didn’t forget to remind as he was leaving, after all, blood was still required for the third soiree. “It’s not easy, I’ll help you get the word out, but remember to prepare the money.” Old John shrugged, so Shard had to find a way to make some money for himself. After sending Mia and the tube of blood home, he changed into an old outfit of Detective Sparrow that he hadn’t worn before, and donning a wide-brimmed black hat, Shard hastily left the house under the cover of night. He originally didn’t intend to get involved in the “Grey Owl” and the neighboring country’s espionage matter, but now, when money was needed, he had to complete the mission that Detective Sparrow hadn’t finished. The information obtained from Mr. Vigil Cameron needed to be delivered to number 1 Victor Street. It was a street in the Lower District, and on the city map left behind by Detective Sparrow, this street wasn’t marked as anything special. The carriage dropped Shard off at the street corner, and after alighting, he could only see a few gas street lamps flickering with unclear, dim-yellow light through the thin fog scattered across the street. The municipal maintenance of the Lower District was very poor, and it was unclear when the gas street lamps on Victor Street had been erected. Now, at first glance, only two-thirds of them were still lit. Number 1 Victor Street was right at the street corner, to be precise, right behind the street sign at the corner. Standing on the street and looking towards the building, lights were on in every floor of the three-story apartment, and each window had its curtains drawn. The street was very quiet, and Shard couldn’t make out any sound from inside the houses. “The problem now is, I know where to pass the information, but I don’t know how to tell someone that I have information,” he thought to himself, as he stepped onto the porch and hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. A few dozen seconds later, footsteps sounded from behind the door. Without asking who was outside, the person behind the door opened it directly but did not remove the security chain. Shard stepped back a bit and saw that the door was opened by an old gentleman with a white wig, wearing a brown nightgown, and round reading glasses. He looked at Shard with suspicion, sizing him up from top to bottom: “May I ask who you are?” This seemed to be an ordinary citizen of Tobesk City, perhaps just now having a hot tea while reading in the living room. “I… I’m here to sell a fountain pen.” Shard took out the fountain pen from his pocket. The old man behind the door slightly bowed his head, eyeing the pen from above his bifocals: “Why have you only come now? I have been waiting for several days, wasn’t our appointment on Wednesday?” Shard sighed with relief: “Sir, you must understand me. There are so many buyers who want this pen, I can’t just let anyone know it’s in my possession.” “That makes sense, I thought you had failed…” He didn’t take the pen but turned and went back inside the house. Shard stood at the doorway, not pushing open the half-ajar door any further. It appeared that “Sorcery” was indeed skilled at disguise and concealment; even this contact didn’t recognize the real “Sorcery”. “The agreed price.” Shortly after, the old man inside handed Shard a briefcase. As Shard handed over the fountain pen, the old man pointed at the case: “You did well this time. Apart from the agreed price, there’s a letter from home for you in there, don’t forget to read it.” “Old man, do you think I’m new to this line of work?” Shard said calmly, nodding politely as a goodbye. Then, adjusting his hat, he turned and stepped back into the long night. The old man at number one Victor Street curled his lip, watching Shard’s figure disappear at the street corner before closing the door: “This guy is really cautious.” Once home, Shard couldn’t wait to open the briefcase. Inside were stacks of five Gold Pound banknotes, all old notes with non-sequential serial numbers, with no conspicuous marks on them. Shard placed the briefcase under the gas desk lamp, admiring the impressive view of the box of banknotes together with Mia Cat. But he didn’t find the letter in the box. After pondering, Shard slowly tore the box apart, and then used Priest Augustus’s Reveal Potion to treat the lining of the box. As expected, a long string of numbers appeared on the fabric. After decoding it using the cipher corresponding to three novels, the gist was that “Sorcery” was riskily mobilized for intelligence this time. For safety, all previous contact methods were voided. “Sorcery” would revert to being deeply undercover, and when needed for a mission, a special letter would be sent. “Do not contact me again; the last mission of ‘Sorcery’ is already complete.” Shard whispered, burning the cloth filled with codes. After ensuring the cat poking its head around had no interest in the brazier, he turned the banknotes into toys, stuffing them into the upper locked drawer of his desk: “‘Sorcery’ is dead; please don’t come to me with any more trouble! I already have enough matters to handle.” He whispered again to the desk surface, unsure whether he was speaking to himself or the possible existence of Sparrow Hamilton’s spirit. Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com