Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1721 - 1720: Collaboration

Megan smiled:

"Young people should respect their elders. Why don’t you go first and tell me what you are here for."

She had actually prepared herself for action, although there were no hidden followers this time. As her condition gradually improved, the Witch believed she could handle the two juniors in front of her.

The brothers exchanged glances—they could only exchange glances:

"We are here to find a certain Relic. According to the Mirror Association’s investigation, over the past two hundred years, especially in the hundred years following the family’s decline, Relics have been gradually circulated from the island. Earl Gaiman seemed to have contact with these Relics when he was alive. The Mirror Keeper has sent us to investigate."

Megan frowned slightly, which coincided with the results of her and Shard’s investigation.

"Auntie, do you and Uncle happen to have found that Relic? That Relic can be used to make wishes."

One of the twin brothers asked, although Megan couldn’t distinguish whether it was the older or younger brother. Seeing the other party willing to exchange information, she said:

"We are also here to find a Relic, but not the one you mentioned."

She shook her fingers with a ring on, causing the brothers to instinctively flinch, only to realize it was simply to show an item.

"I am here to find this beautiful ring, your uncle is quite fond of it."

A smile appeared on her lips, and the silver cat spoke with a man’s voice:

"Besides this ring, we have other findings. It might be related to your purpose here."

Although the cat speaking was peculiar, especially the elegant silver cat’s mature male voice, the brothers proposed:

"Since we need to deal with our ancestor, maybe we can jointly search for Relics related to the ancestor. The estate isn’t that big; four searching is faster than two."

Shard was waiting for this moment; he moved his paw, signaling Megan not to speak, understandingly leaving Shard to continue speaking:

"Interesting proposal. However, demonstrate your abilities first before discussing cooperation. You ran fast on the rainy Monday; I suspect you’ve inherited some of the family’s special Spatial Talent."

Adding another bargaining chip:

"Want to demonstrate? We can also share with you about other family matters."

He intended to pre-confirm what powers related to "The Chosen" they possessed.

The brothers seemed to have a special way of communicating, still using "exchanging glances" as their method.

"Okay."

The man with a blind right eye nodded, reaching out to hold his brother’s hand. This time, without displaying the Ring of Fate, they each formed a frame with thumb and forefinger, aiming it at the cat-holding Megan.

Immediately, a feeling of being locked returned. Last time was across rain-soaked alleyways and glass doors, now directly facing them.

"Our talent—Space Lock. Once we lock on, any attack will hit unless deflected or canceled beforehand...including firearms and Arcane Technique effects."

"I also felt space stabilization effects."

Shard said, but this stabilization wasn’t strong enough and quickly broke free. It’s unclear if the brothers held back or their Eight Rings weren’t sufficiently powerful.

"Spatial Stabilization Aura."

Uttering softly, the sensation of being locked immediately vanished.

The brothers also relaxed their hands:

"Yes, we are exploring these unusual talents, taught by the Mirror Keeper, who instructed us many mirror-compatible Arcane Techniques."

They spoke only to this extent as the Shard Cat nodded. Compared to a complete Chosen, this talent wasn’t very prominent, but it did prove to be a characteristic of the "Chosen of Space":

"Alright, the intel we can provide is that the Edwards Family isn’t a Pure Human family. Elf, Little Fairy, Stardust Dragon, Centaur Astrologer, Vampire Kind; we possess at least five Exotic Bloodlines. Moreover, there’s a very small unknown component in the bloodline, suspected to relate to Human Alchemy."

Megan said, if Shard spoke it’d be a lie, but her words ring true.

The brothers furrowed their brows, surprised by the results. They took off hats, placed them on their chests, bowed slightly toward the cat-holding woman:

"Thank you, Aunt, this is valuable intel. Shall we proceed and share the intel here, conducting a joint search?"

She pinched Shard Cat’s paw, and the cat responded:

"We found a notebook."

"We have a memoir of the maid who worked closely with the late Earl Gaiman, who passed away last month."

The three humans and one cat exchanged information. Reading through those brief documents didn’t take much time. The maid’s memoir reveals little about the Old Earl who died fifty years ago, but the emotions expressed are very genuine.

Or rather, the maid had once been the Earl’s lover and was still thinking of the man from fifty years ago as she wrote the memoir.

"It’s quite common for maids to have affairs with their male masters."

Megan said this with an unknown mindset, and fortunately, Shard was still in cat form; otherwise, his expression would definitely have changed.

As one of Earl Gaiman’s closest people, the maid naturally knew about the Earl’s "adventures". However, the Earl seemed to be protecting her, so he never told her the whole truth about what happened.

But she knew Earl Gaiman always valued this manor, and at midnight, he often murmured phrases like "must not continue wishing," "can’t be greedy," "it will take everything from me," and "don’t trust that person." Out of concern for her lover, the young maid once tried to explore what the Earl really experienced. But when she secretly followed the Earl one night and found he was taking a fishing rod alone, setting off by boat from the small pier behind the manor, the Earl discovered the tracking and dismissed her.

"Probably to protect her."

Megan commented when she read this, and then continued flipping through.

Shortly after the maid was fired, the Earl unexpectedly died. He seemed to have predicted his death in advance, so he left a will. The dismissed maid also received a generous gift, which his family did not oppose but chose to respect his choice.

"It’s a perfect love story. If you add the maid sneaking back into the manor to investigate the true cause of the Earl’s death, it would make a great novel."

Shard Cat said from Dorothy’s perspective, but Megan rudely rubbed his head and flipped another page, confirming there was no other related content:

"That means Earl Gaiman’s secret might not only be in this manor but also in the waters behind it."

"We thought the same way."

The nearby two brothers said:

"Aunt, the contents of your notebook further confirm this point. The possibility in the water should be greater. Shall we search together?"

They extended the invitation again, and though Megan wanted to go back for lunch with Shard right away, she agreed in the end. After all, this matter might really be related to their ancestors:

"Alright, but the sun is too strong today, and I didn’t bring an umbrella. If there’s no clue by noon, I’ll head back."

So, the three humans and one cat crossed the abandoned manor, circled around the mansion, and came to the pier through the small gate in the completely desolate rear garden. Although the manor and buildings have been abandoned for long, this small pier could still be barely used, probably by local gangs during smuggling.

Of course, there were no boats left for the three humans and one cat to use, but even the lowest Level Shard Cat had Water Walking ability, and the High Rank Archwitch and Eight Rings brothers wouldn’t be stumped by such issues.

The three humans and one cat started searching the nearby waters divided into two areas, left and right, from the pier as a starting point. In the area near the shore, the water wasn’t deep, so most of the time, they only needed the help of "another me" for Perception without having to reach into the water.

Yet, even so, the search was quite challenging. Shard expected it to take a long time or maybe yield no result, but within half an hour, one of the separated searching brothers, the one with a blind left eye, discovered an anomaly:

"Come over here."

He called to the other two humans and the cat, where Megan, holding the cat, walked over on the water. This was about 800m from the pier, with no markers except a bunch of reeds nearby. The discovered item was a glass bottle lying in about 3m deep water.

The bottle’s specific look and shape kept swaying with the water surface’s ripples, making it impossible for anyone to see it clearly.

"Found it so easily?"

Megan asked skeptically, not really trusting the brothers, and now doubting if this was their plot:

"Since we found it, let’s take the bottle up. The Whisper Element is very faint, almost non-existent. What is this?"

"Aunt, we also suspect if this is your scheme, given you came here sooner."

The brothers standing on the water surface on the other side of the bottle hesitantly said.

Shard Cat’s eyes looked at the bottle at the bottom, feeling more familiar with the thing the longer he looked. He furrowed his brow slightly, then said to the three:

"What’s the point of worrying so much? Since it’s cooperation, there must be mutual trust. Let me try first, everyone step back."

As Megan retreated while holding him, Shard raised his paw; a snowball fell from the sky, and with a loud boom~, the Arcane Technique [Passionate Ice] exploded on the water surface.