Grego's belongings

Lu Yuan sat down on the other side of the workbench and continued chewing on the dried meat.

My mind drifted away without my noticing.

Herman mentioned that matter in his letter.

It should be Grego.

Lu Yuan slowed down his chewing.

He remembered something.

In Sandworm Town, after Grego's death, during the division of the loot, he found a badge in a hidden compartment of his satchel.

It's made of bronze, thicker than a regular badge, and has a thin slit on the back, as if it has a hidden layer.

I'd tried opening it before, but without success, so I stopped thinking about it.

Given the numerous and busy events in Bronze City, this badge remained quietly at the bottom of the inventory until today.

Herman's letter reminded him of the badge again.

Lu Yuan put down the dried meat, wiped his hands, and took out the badge from his pocket.

Place it in your palm.

Turn it over and run your thumb along the slit.

It's almost perfectly sealed; only by relying on the reflection of the material itself can you barely tell that there used to be a gap.

Just as he was observing, a Gray-White Text popped up in Lu Yuan's field of vision.

[Detection target: Weak traces of residual knowledge.]

"Um?"

Lu Yuan was a little surprised.

There's actually something hidden inside this badge?

However, I don't think I can handle it.

But right now we have Laurina, isn't she? As Alchemy Department genius, she should have some tricks up her sleeve, right?

Laurina was still busy at her workbench; the liquid in the crucible had turned from pale yellow to light green.

Her movements were steady as she observed the changes in the liquid while adding some powder.

Lu Yuan walked over and sat down opposite her.

I didn't rush to speak, waiting for her to finish her work.

Laurina added another spoonful of powder, stirred it a few times, then removed the crucible from the heat source and placed it on a stone slab to cool.

She looked up and glanced at Lu Yuan.

"What's up?"

Lu Yuan placed the bronze badge on the workbench.

"Can you take a look at this for me?"

Laurina's gaze fell on the badge.

She didn't pick it up immediately, but examined it for a few seconds first.

A bronze-colored surface, a clockwork pattern, and frozen hands.

Then she picked it up, turned it over, and ran her fingers over the thin slit.

Where did it come from?

"The suspicious items seized during the investigation," Lu Yuan continued, "We couldn't open them before. I explored them myself; there should be a hidden compartment inside."

Laurina did not ask for further details.

She held the badge up to her eyes and examined its surface carefully in the light from the window.

Then she did something.

He took a thin, long Silver Needle from the drawer under the workbench and gently scratched the surface of the badge.

The tip of the Silver Needle left a barely visible white mark on the bronze-colored surface.

Laurina stared at the mark, her brow twitching slightly.

What were the findings?

"Ordinary copper, when scratched by Silver Needle, should leave a dark mark. But this one is white." Her tone was somewhat serious. "It's a special alloy."

She paused for a moment, as if recalling something.

Have you ever heard of Memory Material?

Lu Yuan shook his head.

"This research direction was established by some of the mentors of the Tower of Erudition in an attempt to decipher the Bronze City." Laurina leaned back in her chair, gently twirling the Silver Needle between two fingers. "Simply put, it's a metal that can 'remember'."

"Remember what?"

"Alchemy Inscription, or anything that takes effect as soon as it's engraved." She looked at Lu Yuan. "Ordinary metals can only hold, not store. Alchemists engrave runes on them; the runes are on the surface, and they're gone when damaged by external forces."

"But metal Memory Material are different; they can 'absorb' Alchemy Inscription and integrate them into the internal structure of the metal. Even if the surface is completely destroyed, as long as the carrier remains, the contents hidden inside can still be used."

Lu Yuan glanced at the badge in his palm.

Is this material rare?

"It's not just rare," Laurina said with a subtle expression, "It's basically a lost art."

She put the Silver Needle back in the drawer.

"When I was at Tower of Erudition, I took an interdisciplinary course in the Materials College, and this research direction was mentioned in class. My advisor said that many years ago, a group of people in the Materials College were doing this research, but later that group disappeared, and the project was discontinued."

"That's all?" Lu Yuan was a little surprised.

"Missing," Laurina said calmly. "The mentor didn't go into details, only saying that the group went on a long trip and never came back. The project data is still stored in the tower, but no one has taken over it, so it's just been left there."

Lu Yuan did not respond.

Then he asked the most crucial question.

Could you please open this for me?

Laurina picked up the badge again and flipped through it.

"We can try..." Her tone returned to the professional realm of an alchemist, "If it's Memory Material, the only way to open it, besides forcibly breaking it open, is to keep trying to find out what kind of solution its former owner used as the Key."

She tapped the seam on the back of the badge lightly with her fingernail.

The idea isn't complicated, but...

She paused for a moment.

I'm not sure.

These were four words that Lu Yuan rarely heard from her.

"I've only seen the literature on metallic Memory Material once in class, and it was just an overview. The specific triggering mechanisms—that research material should still be in the Materials College archives at the Tower of Erudition Hotel."

She glanced at Lu Yuan.

"But I dare not go back now."

"I can only speculate based on general alchemical principles, and then try. It depends on the type, concentration, and combination of catalysts; even a slight difference can cause problems. It might work on the first try, or it might take several."

She looked at the row of medicine bottles on the workbench.

"I have the basic acidic solvents. I have enough of the catalyst... enough Silverleaf Powder, enough Mineralized Salt... but I'm still missing one thing."

"What?"

"Hemlock Extract." Laurina closed the drawer. "The Alchemy Workshop doesn't have it. It's an obscure stuff; we don't use it on a daily basis."

She turned around and leaned against the cabinet.

"The Night Watcher Branch's Herb Repository should have it. They occasionally use hemlock when dealing with Contamination."

Lu Yuan nodded.

He was going to the branch office anyway; Raymond had already made arrangements for him to access the Archive Room yesterday.

I'd like some Hemlock Extract along the way.

I'll go to the branch office this afternoon and bring it to you on my way back.

"Okay." Laurina pushed the badge back to him. "Keep the stuff for now. We'll talk about it again when all the materials are ready."

She paused, then added.

"This material is uncommon, and the contents inside may not be stable after opening it. After all, this field of study has disappeared, and the contents are very likely already damaged."

Lu Yuan carefully put the badge away.

"Um."

Laurina did not respond; she had lowered her head again, her attention returning to the pool of pale green liquid cooling in the crucible.

Lu Yuan did not go out for the rest of the morning.

He sat by the window, took out the "Knowledge Path Guide," and continued to adjust his rational thinking according to the methods in the book, with his Lu Yuan closed.

Fifteen minutes later, Lu Yuan opened his eyes with a helpless expression.

[Defense I:+0.1...1.3/10]

[Sanity: -1...91/120]

It jumped only three times, then stopped moving again.

Very slow, very slow.

But Lu Yuan was helpless and didn't know the reason. He could only hope that his experience would improve when he tried again that night.