You're Saying There's a Big Ivan at the Dock?

Li Mo was actually quite worried on the way here.

Fortunately... the special envoy remained calm.

Li Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm afraid even the special envoy will look flustered; that would be a disaster...

Caroline spoke softly:

"Mr. Li Mo, rest assured, the initiation ceremony of creation is top secret. In the entire kingdom, only Her Majesty the Queen and the two chief elders of the Royal Capital Privy Council have mastered it."

"Captain Carter, stationed on the third line of defense, couldn't possibly know that. Even if he did, without the Privy Council's Twin Moon Key and specific rituals, he couldn't activate the artifact even if it were placed before him."

Hearing this, Li Mo felt relieved.

He said, "That's good."

Caroline shifted her gaze, glancing at Anna and Wayne.

Anna reacted quickly and immediately said:

"Your Excellency, we came here tonight only to report the clues about Dr. Morris's murder in the police station cell. As for anything else, I didn't hear a word of it."

Wayne, standing nearby, jolted awake and immediately exclaimed, "Yes! Me too!"

Caroline nodded slightly.

Throughout the entire process, Estelle remained calm.

Although the Autumn Equinox Surprise Attack Plan had completely fallen apart in Mondel Town, it seemed like everyone knew about it.

But she didn't seem to care much.

The reason is quite simple:

This is just a deliberate baiting move.

The war in the northern border of the kingdom is currently critical, with more than half of the troops lost at the front lines.

At this critical juncture, she "quietly" transported a Mystical Artifact to the military-controlled docks in Mondel Town.

There are two advantages.

First, you can use it to fish.

If an insider wants to gather intelligence, they must take the initiative to do so.

It's easy to expose what you're doing.

What if we discover there's a traitor among us? Of course, we'd kick him out without hesitation.

The second benefit.

Once the spies relay the intelligence back to the north, the duchy will have to withdraw a large number of troops from the main battlefield to the coastline for defense, thus diverting firepower from the kingdom's main battlefield.

This is not simply a smokescreen.

The Mystical Artifact is real, and so is the transport ship.

If the duchy chooses to remain inactive, it will receive a surprise gift on the day of the autumnal equinox high tide!

No matter which choice the duchy makes, it's a sure win for the kingdom.

This is a perfectly legitimate and open conspiracy orchestrated by Her Majesty the Queen using a top-tier, Mystical Artifact...

To put it bluntly, if you just put this Mystical Artifact on the coastline, tell me, wouldn't you be scared?

Caroline looked at Li Mo, whose expression was gradually relaxing, and said:

"Thank you for delivering this intelligence tonight. Starting tonight, the Black-Robed Court Guards will be keeping a 24-hour watch on Captain Carter."

Wayne let out a long sigh of relief, "That scared me to death... I thought I was going to get into some big trouble tonight, but thankfully the envoy had everything arranged perfectly."

Just then, Estelle, who had been quietly listening, looked at Li Mo and asked:

"So, how did you come up with so much analysis? Was it purely based on guesswork?"

Li Mo spoke frankly:

"It all started because I helped Professor Bryce solve a math problem..."

"At the time, I guessed that the military might be planning to use the deep-water channel to transport something big on the autumnal equinox."

"Later, a series of strange things happened in the town, and there were many things I couldn't understand before."

"Until tonight, after I deduced that Morris might have been silenced by the military, everything suddenly became clear."

"If we substitute the assumption that 'there are spies from the principality within the high command of the military,' everything that came before makes sense."

"So I followed this logic and boldly made the guess I just made."

After saying that, Li Mo said with a hint of apology:

"I also need to apologize to the Special Envoy. I was indeed a bit anxious just now, fearing that something might really go wrong at the docks..."

Estelle remained silent for a moment.

She suddenly turned her head and asked Caroline, "Your Excellency, what exactly is this creation you mentioned? Would you mind telling me?"

Caroline responded with a soft "Hmm?"

Although I don't know what the Queen is thinking, I definitely have to obey her first.

She nodded in agreement and said:

"Miss Estelle is right. Mr. Li Mo has some prior knowledge of the occult and should know that occultists are divided into five ranks from lowest to highest, and the classification of Mystical Artifact usually corresponds to this."

"But above the fifth-tier creations, there are seven ultimate creations in the world. They are all trump cards sealed away by the royal families of various empires over generations. We collectively call them the Seven Great Mystical Artifacts."

"Currently sealed within the Mondel Military Docks is one of the ultimate creations under the control of our royal family, the [Crimson Corona]."

Li Mo raised an eyebrow slightly.

He had seen this Mystical Artifact in a book...

It can be said to be a very famous creation.

Caroline glanced at the Queen, and seeing her nod slightly in agreement, began to describe the actual effects:

"In documented history, the [Crimson Corona] has been activated a total of twice."

"The first time was many years ago, when the Royal Institute of Mystical Studies triggered it on an uninhabited volcanic island in the South China Sea to understand its effects. That time, the entire ten-mile-long island, along with the seven high-ranking Mystic Ritualist who presided over the ceremony, perished. The explosion created a giant underwater crater, and to this day, that area remains barren."

"The second trigger occurred two hundred and twenty years ago during the War of the Three Kings. At that time, the old empire assembled three full-strength legions at the border Cullen Stronghold. Our army suffered heavy casualties after a prolonged siege. The late emperor finally issued an order for the Great Sage to personally escort the [Crimson Corona] to the outskirts of Cullen Stronghold and detonate it directly as a tactical weapon."

"After the creation took effect, the forty-foot-high granite walls of the Cullen Stronghold, the sixty thousand troops stationed within, and tens of thousands of stone and wood buildings all vanished."

"When our scouts approached three days later, the original location of the important Cullen Stronghold was reduced to a large, smooth-edged circular basin. Later, rainwater accumulated there, and it became the famous Cullen Inland Lake in China today."

Anna had learned these things from history books, but hearing them from the envoy added many more details...

She even softened her breathing.

Li Mo appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he really wanted to curse.

--Damn, so there was a Big Ivan docked at the pier?

Wayne, standing next to him, had completely lost his composure.

He asked in a panic:

"Special Envoy, this... this Mystical Artifact won't be triggered unexpectedly, will it?"

Caroline said:

"Don't worry, as I just said, there's no possibility of it triggering automatically. Besides, this creation will take twenty-four hours from the moment it takes effect before it finally erupts."

Wayne breathed a sigh of relief when he heard there was still a 24-hour delay.

That's good, that's good...

Twenty-four hours is plenty of time to run away!

Caroline then said the second half of her sentence:

"However, within these twenty-four hours, all areas within a ten-mile radius of the creation's influence will be locked down. Within this locked area, no mystic can perform any Mystical Ritual, and a barrier will form at the boundary, preventing any living being from entering or leaving."

Wayne: "?"

So what's the point of giving everyone these 24 hours? To let everyone write their wills and have their last meal, right?

Should I thank you?

Wayne suddenly found even the gold medal pocket watch in his hand unappealing.

This was absolutely the most terrifying episode he had ever heard in his life.

Li Mo chose to return to the main topic, saying, "Your Excellency, Dr. Morris's time of death was roughly between 7:40 PM and 8:20 PM tonight, sometime between those two forty minutes."

Caroline nodded. "Okay, I'll check."

"Thank you for your trouble, Your Excellency."

Li Mo bowed slightly to Caroline:

"It's getting late, so we won't disturb the Special Envoy any longer. Xiao Xi, see you tomorrow."

Estelle nodded slightly. "Okay, see you tomorrow."

Led by a Black-Robed Court Guards, Li Mo led Anna and Wayne out.

As Wayne walked down the stairs, he whispered to Li Mo:

"Li Mo, do you think our town is really safe?"

Li Mo shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"... Sigh, I always feel uneasy."

Anna didn't think too much about it. After getting into the carriage, she hugged Li Mo and said:

"After you get home, drink your milk, and apply your medicine, you're not allowed to make excuses to read anymore."

Li Mo replied, "I know, I'll definitely sleep well tonight, but there's something I want to discuss with you before I go to bed."

"What's up?"

"Hmm... There are too many people outside, let's talk at home."

The Governor's private residence, second floor.

Caroline half-squatted beside Estelle and said:

"Your Majesty, I don't quite understand... Why did you choose to tell Li Mo about the Crimson Corona? This creation is on the dock; logically, the fewer people who know about it, the better."

Estelle did not answer.

She walked to the window, looked at the Red Moon, and asked, "Has Harrison called over?"

Caroline glanced at her pocket watch and replied:

"A special car was sent to pick them up half an hour ago."

Estelle nodded slightly.

"Okay, when we get there, let him come up directly. I really need to study math more."

The Queen simply wanted to learn mathematics.

But it scared Mr. Harrison so much that he wet himself.

At this very moment.

Harrison walked down the corridor and knocked on the door of room 204 at the end, striking a coded signal with three long knocks followed by one short knock.

Kent opened the door and stepped aside to make room.

After Harrison darted into the room, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Harrison parted a corner of the curtain and glanced down at the street.

"It's too late. The special envoy just sent someone over, specifically requesting that I be taken to the governor's private residence."

Kent paused. "What did you say?"

"I said I needed to take a dump, and then I ran out the back door."

Kent immediately packed his things and said, "Aren't we waiting for Li Mo?"

Harrison was silent for two seconds.

Finally, gritting his teeth, he said in a deep voice, "Wait another hour!"

Ten minutes passed.

Kent stood up. "Let's go."

Harrison hesitated, then said, "Okay..."

Before leaving.

He decided to leave a letter for Li Mo.

Kent frowned at him. "What time is it? What if this letter falls into the hands of the Special Envoy's Office..."

"A letter written in mathematics—those people can't understand it!"

Harrison went downstairs, found the store manager, and said to him:

"There's been an emergency at home, and I need to catch the night train to leave. Tomorrow, you must personally deliver this letter to the Li Mo family in the West District and hand it to Young Master Li Mo himself. Remember, it can only be given to him personally."

Along with the letter, a gold pound was also delivered.

The store manager quickly reached out and took it, nodding in agreement, "Don't worry, I recognize Young Master Li Mo. I'll deliver it to him on time tomorrow morning!"

Harrison nodded, then turned and left with Kent.

Kent asked on the way, "Is it necessary?"

Harrison gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, Li Mo is a genius, a true genius... Such a genius shouldn't die with a country that believes in mysticism. The Duchy's laboratory is where he belongs!"