Chapter 73 Making Ice from Boiled Water (11)
Weston's reaction was stronger than she had expected.
—He seemed to know what it was.
Shu Ningmiao subconsciously placed her hand next to the broken stone.
If Weston tries to contest, she can be faster than him.
Weston's expression remained tense.
“It was taken from the men of Prometheus.”
Now that she had given him the item, Shu Ningmiao couldn't just keep quiet: "They wanted to induce students to have doubts by provoking Teacher Yelu to fall ill. Teacher Yelu did react to this item, so I think it should be related to Manla disease."
"You even know about Manla disease, it seems you've put in a lot of effort." Weston's tone was inscrutable, it was hard to tell whether he was praising her or mocking her.
After meeting Yelüqi in person, Shu Ningmiao guessed that Prometheus might want more than just the onset of the disease.
Yelüqi's death was also part of their plan.
But she won't say anything that hasn't been confirmed yet, at least not from her mouth.
"How did it break?"
"It broke during the robbery," Shu Ningmiao said.
"Who did you snatch it from? Where is that person?" Weston finally spoke after a long pause.
"Dead."
Shu Ningmiao completely killed the conversation by stating that she had only come to Weston for help, not to confess to him.
Before Weston could reach for the broken pieces of stone, Shu Ningmiao raised her fingers and pressed them against the back of his hand.
She maintained her supernatural abilities, increasing the pressure on his hand and firmly holding it down.
"What are you doing?" Weston frowned, his lips slightly downturned. Her strength was astonishing, like a boulder pressing down on his hand, rendering him unable to move an inch.
"Tell me what this is first." Shu Ningmiao's unwavering gaze was fixed on him like a nail, as if she could see right through him, which made him even more displeased.
Her tone was even certain: "You know what this is."
Weston's thin lips pressed into a straight line in extreme displeasure, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
He was annoyed that he had lost his composure and displayed too many unnecessary emotions, and that Shu Ningmiao had seen through him.
He had already come to understand how difficult the girl was. When he initially indulged her requests repeatedly because he wanted some peace and quiet, Shu Ningmiao had already lost all sense of respect for her teacher.
The more Shu Ningmiao understood him and saw through him, the more out of control she became, and the more she wanted to turn the tables on him.
He realized he had fallen into Shu Ningmiao's trap, but there was nothing he could do.
Weston glanced at her, his expression suddenly turning cold, and calmly sat back down.
He crossed his arms and remained silent. Shu Ningmiao slowly placed her other hand on the stone fragments, gathered her handkerchief, and said unhurriedly, "Such an important thing, I should hand it over to the National Research Center."
Weston, his face ashen, asked, "What was it like before it shattered?"
Shu Ningmiao opened the picture she had taken on the terminal and showed it to him.
The man stretched out his arm toward the bookshelf, and a leather notebook flew out from the top shelf and landed in his hand: "You should be glad you didn't give it to anyone else."
Following the trembling trajectory of the emerald green eyes, the notebook turned to a certain page, and the notebook, which had been floating above Weston's palm, flipped over on its own and was displayed in front of her.
The top part was a hand-drawn picture with many densely written words next to it. The end of each word was connected. Shu Ningmiao often saw Weston's handwriting on homework or test papers, but this was the first time she had seen such a large and messy handwriting. Yet she had a vague feeling that the notes looked very familiar.
"This is Pandora's heart, also known as the Crimson Stone."
Weston pointed to the hand-drawn illustration in her notebook, which meticulously depicted a stone similar to the one in her hand. The smooth texture could even be seen through the delicate hatching. Weston's drawing skills were surprisingly good.
The hand-drawn stone pattern is marked with 02, and its shape is longer and flatter than the one in her hand.
This thing even has a serial number, and Shu Ningmiao realized that there was likely more than one. She felt relieved: "Why is it called Pandora's Heart? Is this thing made from Pandora?"
“It’s not about manufacturing, it’s about discovery. Humans can’t manufacture this kind of thing.” Weston said calmly, “So far, among the more than 1,800 Pandora springs in Pine, only three Crimson Stones have been discovered. Each Crimson Stone contains at least 80T of Pandora energy, equivalent to the total energy of two hundred Pandora springs. It’s called the heart because when a spring is deprived of its Crimson Stone, the underground Pandora resources within a radius of tens of kilometers will also be depleted.”
Supplying the Pandora springs that stretch for tens of kilometers, it is truly the heart of the region; this substance was originally an ultimate concentrated form of Pandora solid.
How could a single rock compress the energy of at least two hundred Pandora springs?
Shu Ningmiao stared blankly at the countless pieces of stone before her, calculating their value according to the price of a single Pandora's Spring...
Seeing that she didn't react much, Weston assumed she hadn't realized the importance of this thing yet, and frowned: "All of Pygne's Pandora springs are mined under the control of the Resource Management Bureau, and so far, only these three pieces of Crimson Palace Stone have been found."
He picked up one of the broken stones from the handkerchief, emphasizing the word "three."
"And this piece, is it one of the three?" There are only three pieces in the entire Pinheis, so it's no wonder Weston reacted so strongly.
Shu Ningmiao found it hard to believe that Achini would so casually hand over something so important to Lianna and Eric.
Is he mentally ill?
“I’m not sure.” Weston picked up her terminal, compared it with the round white stone in the photo, turned a page of her notebook, and saw another strangely shaped stone, like a sword, with the number 03 below it: “I’ve never seen this shape before.”
His notes only showed these two stones, numbered 02 and 03 respectively. Judging from their shapes, they were clearly not the broken stone she had in her hand.
"Isn't there still 01?"
Weston simply put down everything he was holding, crossed his arms over his chest, and said solemnly, “These three Crimson Stones were discovered in the years 156, 239, and 439 of the Last Calendar, respectively. The Crimson Stone numbered 01 was the first to be discovered, but it was lost during the purge of the Parliament three hundred years ago.”
Therefore, he could not determine whether this Crimson Stone was the one that disappeared three hundred years ago, or whether it was the fourth Crimson Stone that Prometheus found through other means.
"Are you really sure this is the Crimson Palace Stone?" Shu Ningmiao asked, somewhat incredulous. "This stone contains so much energy, how come it didn't explode when it was broken?"
“You’re standing right on an underground spring right now. Do you think it’s going to suddenly explode and kill you?” Weston retorted, his long, thin fingers pressed against his forehead, his face devoid of any smile. “If it breaks, the things inside will go back to where they came from. They’ll just go back to nature.”
Great! She watched as Erice released two hundred Pandora's Springs.
Shu Ningmiao placed her fingertips on her temples and began to feel a headache: "Then why would it affect Manla patients?"
"To be precise, it's that people infected with this disease react to an overdose of Pandora." Weston wasn't surprised by her question: "Different concentrations of Pandora have different effects on patients."
“A small amount of appropriate Pandora can help stabilize a patient’s condition, while an excessively high concentration of Pandora can be fatal.”
He picked up the glass bottle that Shu Ningmiao had placed on the table earlier, and the pills inside made a rustling sound as they were shaken: "This incurable disease is like a maggot living in the human body. Giving it a little food can calm it down and stop it from gnawing on the internal organs. Once it smells an overly delicious and rich aroma, it will burst out of the body."
“The Pandora in the Crimson Palace Stone is the purest, so pure that it can alter the concentration of Pandora in the surrounding area.” Weston pointed out the cause and effect: “Do you understand? The National Research Center has been studying the Crimson Palace Stone for many years. It can’t save Yelüqi, but if others find out that you have the Crimson Palace Stone, you will be in even bigger trouble.”
He folded a corner of the handkerchief that was covered with stone fragments and examined it solemnly for a moment: "The material of this cloth can keep Pandora away."
Shu Ningmiao frowned. She thought it was Lian Nagi's own handkerchief and didn't pay attention to it.
But the handkerchief that could have protected Pandora from being on Rennagi was given to Erigi by the Crimson Palace Stone, which was tantamount to throwing flesh covered in blood directly into the water of the ringed shark.
Was Achini doing it on purpose?
She was immediately alarmed. If she hadn't intervened, Eric probably wouldn't have met with anything good.
If it had been any later, she might not have even gotten a fragment of the Crimson Palace Stone.
Shu Ningmiao slowly stood up, her fingertips landing on the hand-drawn illustration in her notebook: "What about the other two Crimson Palace Stones? Are they both at the National Research Center?"
She needs to find other Crimson Palace Stones to save the game again.
Weston didn't understand her curiosity and remained indifferent. Observing his expression, Shu Ningmiao added, "I can give you all these fragments."
“What would I do with this garbage?” Weston scoffed, picking up a fragment and letting it fall.
“If you weren’t interested, you shouldn’t have acted like you cared so much in the first place.”
Shu Ningmiao took a deep breath, lowered her body and stared into his eyes: "You still want to go back to the National Research Center, right? This thing should be useful to you."
Weston's eyes twitched slightly. Under her gaze, he closed his eyes with an unfriendly expression, then quickly opened them again: "I embedded the Crimson Palace Stone number 02 into the system center when I was developing the combat simulation system."
He tried hundreds of times, but ordinary energy sources couldn't maintain a stable connection for hundreds of people at the same time. Only Pandora's Heart, with its immense energy, the Crimson Palace Stone, could do it.
Weston understood the importance of the Crimson Palace Stone better than anyone else.
Shu Ningmiao was taken aback. No wonder she was able to save her progress in the combat simulation; it turned out it was also because of the Crimson Palace Stone.
“There’s one more.” Shu Ningmiao looked down at his notebook and pointed to the sword-like stone numbered 03: “Where is this Crimson Palace Stone numbered 03?”
Weston remained expressionless, under her intense gaze, and after a long while, he reluctantly said, "It's lost."
"..."
Thinking of the rumors about him, Shu Ningmiao hesitated for a moment: "It wasn't you who lost it, was it?"
Weston didn't answer, staring down at his notes.
Shu Ningmiao skipped over the topic: "Where did you embed the Crimson Palace Stone in the combat simulation system?"
Weston put down his notebook, the spine of the book hitting the table with a dull thud. He crossed his arms and looked at her with sharp eyes: "Shu Ningmiao, what do you want the Crimson Palace Stone for?"
Shu Ning deftly pressed her hand down on the gravel, throwing the question back at him: "Then what do you need it for?"
Weston closed the book with two fingers and tapped her hand lightly with the spine: "I thought—if I helped you out of a problem, you'd thank me? Looks like I underestimated your shamelessness."
He wanted the fragments of the Crimson Palace Stone, but that didn't mean he owed Shu Ningmiao anything. On the contrary, the stone was already broken, and it would have been a troublesome burden for Shu Ningmiao to handle.
They both knew this, but they were tacitly negotiating the terms.
“Someone lost a piece and is still standing here perfectly fine, so I don’t think it’s a big problem,” Shu Ningmiao said quietly, arms crossed.
“Then go and give it a try.” Weston gestured for him to continue. “Go tell people that you have a shattered piece of Crimson Palace Stone in your hand, and you’re eyeing the other two pieces at the research center—if you’re really keen on the Central Trial, I recommend you do it.”
Shu Ningmiao slammed her hand on his table, half-threateningly saying, "I'll pull some strings to get us locked up in the same place."
She and Weston really didn't see eye to eye, and since the fragment was useless, she didn't necessarily have to cooperate with Weston.
Perhaps it was rare for Weston's office to be so noisy. Just as Shu Ningmiao was about to get up, she noticed that the birdcage hanging in the corner of his room was shaking violently. The crows inside were flapping their wings and making loud, harsh cries because of their argument.
Weston looked annoyed, raised his hand and curled his fingertips, instantly silencing the raven's beak as if something had pulled it shut, its green eyes darting around.
Shu Ningmiao paused, then took two steps back.
--crow.
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