Chapter 68: Craftsmen of Enmat Harbor
The message to sell the star crystals needed for "Justice" is not entirely for fishing purposes.
In addition to wanting to see if this "Justice" is the one from the Tarot Club, Angel also plans to sell the remaining star crystals on hand.
She had received 50 grams of star crystals when she made the batch of "Gathering Storm" bullets for the church. Because the success rate of the production was higher than expected, there was still a lot left. In addition, in order to stock up, she had bought goods at a low price in the Dragon Bar Trading Market in Tingen City. Although the star crystals she had now were not enough to make a whole batch of "Fortune Teller" potion, it was not far off.
If the buyer, who is said to be generous, can offer a reasonable price, she doesn't mind parting with it.
After writing the transaction information on the message board, Angel left the gloomy trading market, walked through the first-floor bar where shouting and cursing were heard, and returned to the street in the port area.
There was still plenty of time left for her to go out, so she planned to meet the "craftsman" of Enmat Harbor whom the "Hanged Man" had introduced.
————
Oak District, Golden Avenue.
The oak area next to the port area is the industrial area of Enmat Port. Even though it is close to the coast, the thick smoke from the chimneys of various factories during the day makes the area filled with gray fog that seems to never dissipate.
Arriving at the Golden Avenue in a hired carriage, Angel immediately saw the towering bell tower of the "God of Steam and Machinery" Church.
Well, maybe it's because the clouds here are so low...
Perhaps because workers in the Oak District rarely hired horse-drawn carriages to travel, the driver of the carriage she took was not very familiar with the area, so he only took her to the intersection instead of directly to the "Kavi Watch Shop".
Angel had no choice but to search along the street.
"The Gear and Wrench grocery store... The Workers' Home hotel... The Lube bar..."
Passing by one store after another with names full of regional characteristics, she was almost about to find a store to go into and ask, when she finally found the "Kavi Watch Shop" sign hanging in the corner.
It was a small shop sandwiched between two beautifully decorated storefronts. Its floor space was only one-third the width of other street-facing shops. The glass door, barely wide enough for one person to enter and exit, looked like it had not been cleaned for a long time and was covered in a lot of oil stains.
After looking up and carefully confirming that the store name was correct, Angel carefully knocked on the door.
Bang bang——
"The door is unlocked."
A hoarse female voice came from inside.
She pushed open the door and walked in. What came into view was a shop of about 30 square meters, which was trapezoidal in shape, with a small front and a large back. Next to the street-facing window were two glass display cabinets, with more than ten watches and pocket watches scattered around inside. A thin layer of dust had accumulated on the cabinet surfaces.
Wall clocks of different shapes are hung on the walls on both sides that gradually widen as they extend inward. A woman in her thirties, wearing a dirt-resistant khaki jacket, is standing on tiptoe to take down an avant-garde wall clock, then squats down carefully and puts it into a wooden box beside her.
At the end of the room was an iron door, currently locked. Next to the door was a long wooden table. A gas lamp sat beside it, its light focused onto the tabletop by a set of optical lenses. Sitting at the table was a gray-haired old man, carefully examining a pocket watch through a monocular magnifying glass.
It seems that this person is the "craftsman" Kavi.
Angel walked around the busy woman and approached. When the old man looked up at the sound of footsteps, he smiled and asked:
"Hello, is this Mr. Kavi?"
The old man looked at her doubtfully, shook his head, reached out to adjust the eyepiece, and continued to fiddle with the pocket watch.
What is going on… Could it be that the “Hanged Man” missed some steps and needs a secret code to come here?
"I'm Kavi, what do you want?"
The female voice that had invited her in just now came again. Angel turned around and saw that the woman who had been tidying up the wall clock closed the wooden box with the items inside, patted the dust off her hands, stood up and said.
"...I'm looking for 'Craftsman' Kawi."
The woman smiled an ambiguous smile and took two steps out of the shadows, letting the scattered light of the gas lamp shine on her. She repeated, "Yes, I am 'Craftsman' Kavi. What can I do for you?"
It seems I made a big mistake. I even recognized the wrong person...
Angel felt remorseful in his heart, but he remained calm and continued, "Sorry, I thought it was..."
"Humph, not surprising, many people make mistakes when they first come here."
Kavi seemed to be used to being ignored by visitors. He shook his head nonchalantly, his long brown hair swaying in waves.
"Tell me why you're here. You're not here to buy a pocket watch, are you?"
Seeing that Kavi didn't care about recognizing the wrong person and went straight to the point, Angel breathed a sigh of relief, took out the box containing the strange revolver from under his cloak, unlocked the buckle in front of Kavi, and opened the lid a crack.
The bloody smell instantly filled the entire room.
"This revolver originally had a damaged hammer and was scrapped, but it and the Beyonder placed together seemed to have produced a strange reaction, resulting in its current state."
Angel gave a brief introduction and handed the box over.
Kavi put away his self-deprecating expression, took the iron box with a serious face, and opened the lid completely.
The large-caliber revolver that Cole Granger had used up had turned completely black, and even shone a little under the light, as if the material it was composed of had changed from metal to an unknown animal shell, and the strong smell of blood was emitted by this unknown material.
Without the iron box that could block spiritual energy, the revolver seemed to sense the gazes of the two people, and the aura around it became tangible. The nearly liquid deep red gas quickly filled the entire iron box, dripping from the edge, and disappeared after being a distance away from the revolver.
After observing for a while with a frown on his face, Kavi returned the box to Angel, motioning her to keep it. He then took out a wooden-handled magnifying glass, ignored the bloody gas escaping, moved closer to the black pistol, and began to observe it carefully.
Angel held the iron box in both hands, not daring to move.
But the gas that was already visible to the naked eye spreading out of the box gradually spread out, and her nose was slowly filled with a strong smell of blood, as if her mouth and nose were covered by an invisible hand, and even breathing became difficult.
There was a sound of tables and chairs colliding behind her. She turned her head and saw that the old man who she had mistaken for a "craftsman" had stood up from his chair. He took off his monocular magnifying glass and looked at the two of them with vigilant eyes. His right hand fumbled under the table and took out a double-barreled shotgun with a sawed-off barrel.
Angel subconsciously wanted to draw his gun, but seeing that the old man did not raise the shotgun, but instead held the gun in his hand as if on guard, with the muzzle lowered, he did not make any extreme moves.
"Okay, all clear."
A heavenly voice came, breaking the dangerous situation in the room.
Kavi carefully put away the magnifying glass and slammed the lid of the iron box. The bloody smell that filled the room and the deep red gas gathered around the iron box disappeared without a trace in an instant, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion of the three people.
The old man with the gun's shoulders visibly relaxed. He stuffed the double-barreled shotgun roughly back under the table, his lips moving as he muttered something silently, then sat back in his chair.
"Let me ask you this first: are you planning to sell this magical item, or are you just asking me to identify its uses and negative effects?"
Magical item!
Angel captured this key word.
Based on Old Neil's occult classes and the meager knowledge left by Cole, Angel knew that this word referred to items that, after combining with Extraordinary characteristics, possessed some or all of the abilities of Extraordinary characteristics, rather than Extraordinary weapons that imitated a small part of the characteristics through spiritual materials.
Of course, their negative effects are usually far stronger than those of ordinary extraordinary weapons.
Without hesitation, she blurted out, "Just identify the purpose."
As if he had anticipated her answer, Kavi nodded.
"Okay, 100 pounds."
"What?"
Angel almost thought he had misheard, or perhaps the other party had misheard and thought he wanted to sell this item?
"I'm talking about identification!"
"Yes, this is the appraisal fee."
No longer serious as she was studying the magical item, Kavi's expression became cunning. Seeing Angel stunned, she laughed so hard that her long hair kept shaking.
Angel almost wanted to put the box away and leave, but considering that this might be the only appraiser she could find in her social circle, she resisted the urge.
Fortunately, I took all the cash with me when I left Tingen, otherwise it would have been a wasted trip...
She silently reached into her cloak and took out a stack of banknotes. These were gold pounds that she had placed in different pockets in advance, totaling just over three hundred pounds. She had placed the large-denomination banknotes in groups of ten or ten, so that even if they were stolen or lost, she would not lose all of them.
Holding the hundred pounds in her hand, she said with a gloomy face:
"You talk first, then pay."
"Well, there's a church across the street. I hope you don't do anything stupid."
Was she afraid I'd flee after hearing the appraisal? But what was the point of reminding me that there was a church across the street? Could she be connected to the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, or perhaps even a member of it?
Angel nodded to show that she understood. In any case, she had no intention of defaulting on her debt, so there was no need to worry about the "church".
"This revolver must have absorbed some of the Beyonder's power, corresponding to a Sequence 7 of a certain path, which is a mid-sequence Beyonder. However, this power is incomplete, and the Beyonder has been contaminated to a certain extent, so it only possesses two abilities."
Kavi got back into work mode, slowly and clearly introducing the characteristics of the magical items. Angel also held his breath and memorized every word in his mind.
"First, it can passively increase the attack effectiveness of all bullets, adding a flame that can damage spirits. It is also effective against living creatures, with an improvement of approximately 50%. Each attack consumes a small amount of the user's spiritual energy. When the user's spiritual energy is insufficient, this feature automatically loses its effectiveness."
"Then, it can consume a large amount of the user's spiritual energy in one fell swoop, making the attack extremely lethal. I estimate that it can increase the damage several times that of a fire bullet. If you want the specific value, do you need me to test it for you?"
Seeing Angel shaking his head in refusal, Kavi smiled awkwardly and continued:
"But after such an attack, it will immediately enter a negative state. Well, just like what happened just now, it will emit a strong bloody smell that can be smelled from hundreds of meters away. And at this time, let alone using it, just holding it will cause dizziness, weakness, and anemia. Only when you provide it with enough blood can it return to normal."
"Also, regardless of whether you're under negative effects or not, holding a weapon will make you more susceptible to enemy curses, making the effects stronger and making you more vulnerable."
"Putting it in a spiritually isolated container like it is now will block any negative effects, but you still need to restore it to normal state the next time you use it. In short, you only have one chance to repay your debt."
After ending the introduction with a double entendre, Kavi reached out and took the banknotes in Angel's hand, counted them quickly, stuffed them into his jacket pocket, and patted them.
"Thank you for your patronage."
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