Chapter 490
On Gertrude Avenue, the group came across a huge Phonograph Device.
Shi Lei initially thought it was for playing music to facilitate square dancing for citizens. Later, he learned from the locals that it was a defensive Soundwave Weapon that could emit Energy Light Wave by activating Phonograph Device.
He considered buying a few to take back to Liyue City, but Texas quickly poured cold water on his idea. She said these devices only recognize keys, not people, and if enemies infiltrated Liyue City and used them, they could even turn around and attack their own people.
Upon hearing this, Shi Lei abandoned the idea of purchasing it. Liyue City now has a natural geographical advantage, and buying the Phonograph Device was meant to be an added bonus, not to cause trouble for the Qianyan Army.
Taking Liyue City won't be that easy.
Whether climbing the mountain from Ursus or Shangshu, one needs to use a three-story elevator guarded by designated personnel. This early warning system alone can deter most enemies. There's really no need to be pedantic and go to unnecessary trouble.
After spending a few days there, they continued westward and arrived in Sargon's capital at noon on July 15.
Cinderelme.
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Chapter 564 The Phantom Thief Refraction (4K)
The capital of Sargon Capital Cinderelme, is smaller in area than the capital of Victoria, Londinium.
Shi Lei and his group drove across the plains, they could see towering White-Gray City Wall. Roughly estimated to be over a hundred meters high, they were also equipped with numerous Anti-Aircraft Gun.
These Anti-Aircraft Gun are not as powerful as City Defense Cannon and are only used to deal with high-speed warships. However, their advantage lies in their large number, which will prevent foreign enemies from easily gaining air superiority.
Texas had just driven to the city gate when he was stopped by a group of armored guards wielding halberds.
"Get out of the car, turn off the engine, and cooperate with the investigation!"
Their group consisted of two Lupo, two Sarkaz, Sarkaz, Vulcan, and even Eastern Dragon, making it a rather complex composition. Being stopped was understandable, and everyone cooperated readily.
A guard gripped his halberd tightly and asked sternly:
"Where did you all come from and where are you going? What are you doing passing through here?"
Shi Lei noticed that although he was asking everyone questions, his eyes were fixed on Mudrock and Surtr.
Judging from the guard's serious demeanor, he was clearly not attracted by her beauty. His eyes, hidden beneath his helmet, revealed an almost undisguised disgust.
Since Theresis led his army to Londinium over half a year ago, the Sarkaz's reputation on this land has plummeted to a very low level. Those infected with Originium-related illness need no further explanation, but even the uninfected Sarkaz can be compared to the infected.
Some say the Sarkaz are warmongers, others say Sarkaz are despicable beings; all sorts of nasty things have been said about them.
Shi Lei understood the current situation and didn't want to explain too much to a gatekeeper, so he simply said:
"I am the City Lord of Liyue City. I have come to request an audience with the Twin Empresses to discuss a multinational project."
"Liyue City? Never heard of it. I suspect you're carrying contraband. Hand over your weapons!"
Despite being regarded as a major threat by high-ranking Shi Lei in various countries, Liyue City's reputation among the common people is not as widespread as one might imagine.
It's normal that people know about the capital of Yan, Chernobyl, and Londinium, but not other places.
Besides, this is the capital of Sargon, so we'll just have to confiscate our weapons and cooperate. Everyone's weapons are Rock Constructs, so Shi Lei can just remake them after we enter the city.
"Okay, don't get excited, we'll give it to you."
Shi Lei, Xi, and Lisa were all unarmed. Texas and Lappland put down their Rock Sword, Mudrock reluctantly put down his Rock Hammer. Surtr put down the wrapped Reine des Neiges without resistance.
Seeing how cooperative these people were, the guard grinned smugly. Seeing them hand over their weapons, he thought to himself that he was now in control, and said without any hesitation:
"You can leave now, but the two of them have to stay."
After saying that, he raised his hand and pointed at Mudrock and Surtr.
This provocative act did not elicit any change in Shi Lei's expression; he remained polite and calm in his response.
"This Sarkaz is my wife, and this Sarkaz is my friend. Your insistence on keeping them both here—have you perhaps violated some law of your country?"
Upon hearing the man's boast of marrying Sarkaz, the guards looked at him with equal disdain.
"I suspect they are Sarkaz intelligence agents and need to stay for identity verification. If you want to go in, hurry up; if not, none of you should go in."
Shi Lei has a good temper, but that doesn't mean everyone on the team has a good temper. Lappland suppressed the Exusiai and immediately set the stage for a confrontation:
"You son of a bitch, have you gone mad from guarding this city gate all day? Don't you know...?"
Before she could finish speaking, a familiar voice suddenly came from the left front, interrupting Lappland:
"Mister Zhongli!"
The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and caught sight of a man named Kuranta with blond hair.
He was dressed in a well-tailored suit, with a sword at his waist. He looked exactly like Maena Saria, who had left Liyue City half a year ago and headed south in search of his brother and sister-in-law!
He quickly approached and was delighted to see Shi Lei and the others there.
How did you get here?
Maena had initially wanted to say, "Why didn't you let me know you were coming?" But then she remembered he hadn't left his contact information, so she swallowed the rest of her sentence.
Shi Lei did not shy away from the question and responded truthfully:
"We have some personal business to attend to this trip to the Sami Icefield. We also want to take the opportunity to meet with leaders of countries we'll be passing through to discuss a project to establish Cross-border Communication."
Maena didn't know much about these things; he used to mainly work in the Building Materials industry at the Commercial Union. He nodded upon hearing this, then looked at the anxious city gate guard:
"What's going on here? Is there a rule that Sarkaz can't enter the city? If you neglect our distinguished guests, how will you take responsibility when the Empress blames you?"
"Yes, yes, you're right."
The guards recognized the distinguished guest beside the Empress, and bowed their heads, nodding obsequiously. If asked whether they were truly convinced, the answer would undoubtedly be no.
This is the Sarkaz's situation on this land. Killing this guard won't change the prejudices of tens of thousands who believe everything they hear.
Seeing that Shi Lei seemed ready to stand up for her, Ni Yan stretched out a Mudrock finger to cover his mouth. At the same time, she used her wrist and the curves of her chest to restrain her lover's arms.
"Honey, don't argue with them. Since there's nothing else, let's go inside."
She was overjoyed that Shi Lei had just called her his wife; her heart felt as sweet as if she had drunk honey.
Perhaps marrying all three would violate the laws of their respective countries, which is why they never held a wedding ceremony. Aside from that, they gave everything they were entitled to and did everything they were supposed to do.
Mudrock has nothing to regret about being able to stay with its owner. If there's anything to regret, it's probably that it never got to wear a Wedding Dress for him.
Anyway, there's a long road ahead. Who knows, maybe one day the owner will get it and hold a grand wedding?
Surtr didn't seem to care, and seeing that Mudrock had said everything he wanted to say, he remained silent.
"Mister Zhongli, please come in. Since you wish to see the Twin Empresses, perhaps I can make an introduction."
Maena seemed to be doing quite well here, gesturing for everyone to enter the city. The city gate guards all hung their heads, their spirits utterly dejected.
If it weren't for Maena today, the conflict between the two sides might have escalated. If it weren't for Shi Lei and his group, an ordinary Sarkaz might have been arrested and imprisoned.
The Sarkaz already had a bad reputation, Theresis made them even more unpopular.
Mudrock glanced back at the city gate with a worried look, then continued walking inside with Shi Lei in his arms.
Surtr, on the other hand, didn't care. She had always had a very weak sense of racial identity and felt no belonging to the Sarkaz branch or the entire Sarkaz race.
After entering the city gates, Maena began to recount what had happened since he left Liyue City.
He stayed in the city for a while before heading south into the territory of Sargon.
They first visited all the mobile towns in the country before finally arriving at the Capital Cinderelme.
While he was introducing the exhibits, Exusiai noticed the wanted posters on the right side of the entrance. After browsing through them, she became quite interested and called out to everyone:
"Hey, come look! This wanted poster for the phantom Phantom Thief Refraction is interesting. It even includes his biography below, come and see!"
Unable to resist her repeated calls, Shi Lei and the others went over to check the contents. These wanted notices and reward notices were not only posted on the notice board at the city gate, but also on the telephone poles along the way; it was hard to ignore them with so many.
It is said that this phantom Phantom Thief Refraction, is a lingering shadow in the hearts of many Sargon nobles.
This person is called a 'Phantom Thief' because he is different from ordinary thieves and robbers.
After setting their sights on a particular piece of jewelry, they would send a pre-arranged Crime Notice via letter, stating when and what style of jewelry they would steal.
On several occasions, they even published Crime Notice in local newspapers with great fanfare, causing an uproar among the public.
This Phantom Thief Refraction only steals expensive jewels and has no interest in equally valuable paintings.
Even though he issued Crime Notice each time, and the jewelry owner always strengthened security measures, the final outcome was always the same: the jewelry was Refraction.
No matter how many security personnel are on site, or how capable they are, Crime Notice is like an invitation from the Grim Reaper —once issued, it is bound to come to pass.
The Originium Arts displayed by the Phantom Thief Refraction are equally astonishing. Some disappear after dropping a smoke bomb, others vanish by waving their cloaks. There's even a rumor that he can emerge from his body as pigeons and then vanish instantly.
The endless array of escape methods left the nobles and security personnel helpless. In the general populace, the stories were embellished and exaggerated, becoming almost mythical.
The blatant theft by the Phantom Thief Refraction was undoubtedly a slap in the face to some nobles. The victims united and issued wanted notices throughout the city. This is why Shi Lei and his group saw bounties everywhere.
Seeing the various methods recorded on the bounty, Shi Lei felt they looked increasingly familiar. Wasn't this Phantom Thief Refraction just Sargon version of Kaito Kid? Especially the magic he used to escape, which gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.
Perhaps thinking of some funny scenes in "Detective Conan", Shi Lei couldn't help but grin.
He noticed that Maena was looking at him, but he didn't know how to explain what happened before he traveled through time, so he pretended to say:
"I think this Phantom Thief is quite interesting."
Seeing that both Zhongli and Exusiai were interested in the Phantom Thief Refraction, Maena, after introducing herself, took the initiative to steer the conversation in that direction:
"You've come at just the right time. After the Twin Empresses ascend the throne, they will hold Empress Festival on the same day every year. At that time, the nobles within their borders will meet with the Empress under the pretext of presenting jewels."
Actually, I don't have that much influence to bring so many of you to meet the Twin Empresses. But Mister Zhongli, don't worry, I have a way to handle this.
Yesterday, the Count Sachsen approached me, asking me to help protect a necklace. If successful, I could enter the palace as a jewel bodyguard to meet the Twin Empresses.
Shi Lei felt that borrowing someone else's jewelry to enter the palace was still a bit troublesome. He opened his right palm, and soon a fist-sized obsidian stone materialized:
"Could this be used as a gift?"
Maena was greatly shocked to see that the other party could create gems with his bare hands. The fact that he could create rocks with his bare hands back in Kazimierz was already outrageous enough.
Now, with a direct upgrade in capabilities, they can even create black gemstones with more complex compositions.
Despite her surprise, Maena examined the large piece of obsidian with great seriousness.
"To be honest, although I've been involved with jewelry for a few days, my appraisal skills are limited. It's best to have a jewelry appraiser check whether it meets the standards for a gift."
If he considers these rare treasures, then presenting them to the Twin Empresses should be no problem. However, before you arrived, I had already promised the Count Sachsen, whether or not I enter the palace as a jewel bodyguard, I must watch over the jewels for them tonight. Please forgive me."
Shi Lei expressed his understanding regarding this:
"You didn't know we were coming, so there's no need for apology. If you and the Earl don't mind, we can go check it out tonight. If the Phantom Thief Refraction gets away, we can use this gem as bait."
Obsidian was his creation, and its high purity might attract the Phantom Thief Refraction.
There's no need to arrange guards; just let the other party take the obsidian away. Afterward, Shi Lei can easily pinpoint the suspect's location using the GPS tracking.
"Hehe, I couldn't be happier. With you watching over us, that Phantom Thief Refraction will surely never return. Let's go, I'll take you to an inn in town to register first. Later, I'll take you to the Count Saxson's Mansion."
Shi Lei nodded and continued to ask:
"From what you're saying, Phantom Thief Refraction has already issued Crime Notice, right? What time tonight?"
"Ten o'clock."
Maena was completely open and honest, with nothing to hide:
"In addition, Viscount Quinn also received Crime Notice today from the Phantom Thief Refraction, saying that he will steal his necklace 'Crazy Star Stone' this Thursday."
This action amused Shi Lei. Even Kaito Kid wouldn't be in such a hurry!
"He didn't steal anything tonight, but he's already giving advance notice of Thursday's orders. He's really a workaholic. Isn't he afraid that giving too much notice will cause the owner to move the jewelry?"
"If the owner really moves the jewels, it means he's afraid to take on the challenge of the Phantom Thief Refraction. That way, even if the jewels weren't stolen, no one will say he made a mistake."
"So that's how it is..."
The group chatted as they walked, and soon, led by Maena, they arrived at a hotel in the Enward District. After making the arrangements, he left, saying he would come back that evening.
The group had lunch at the hotel, discussing who to take that evening. Mudrock volunteered that he wouldn't be going, saying he wasn't feeling well and wanted to rest.
Shi Lei knew she was hesitant to go with him because of her racial identity and didn't want to cause him trouble. Seeing such a sensible woman stirred feelings of tenderness in him.
While this kind of discrimination may not exist in Liyue City, it is difficult to eradicate in other cities. The local noble class is also intentionally guiding public opinion, making it difficult to change people's perceptions.
Texas said she would stay to take care of Mudrock, and seeing this, Yu also said she would stay. Besides, the three of them were clearly on the same side.
Lisa and Surtr also didn't want to go; only Exusiai and Lappland volunteered. These two were always looking for trouble and wanted to get involved in everything.
With the candidate chosen, all that's left is to wait.