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Chapter 244 The Immortal Item
Elori swayed twice, looking rather dejected. "...Did I fail in the end?"

Doesn't the customer's failure equate to the store manager's failure?

Such a record will undoubtedly lower the store's rating.

Chen Xuan couldn't let her think that way. "Don't be discouraged. The future may still be different."

“But the Temple Treasury was destroyed…and Mother Lucy is gone too…” Elori murmured.

"You have to see through the phenomena to the essence. Humanity is in dire straits because it is completely unprepared for the calamities in the heavens. After the warnings come true, do you think the Angel Alliance will still turn a deaf ear to what you said?" Chen Xuan said emphatically. "The demons suffered heavy losses, but their treasure trove was not completely destroyed. This alone is enough to bring about many variables."

"Will that really happen?"

"It's simple, why don't we go to the future and take a look? Seeing is believing, after all."

“Hmm…you’re right. As long as we can get back to New Paris, we can verify the results immediately.” Elori was still somewhat distracted, as if she were answering a question, or perhaps comforting herself.

"What if the future doesn't change?" Lin Qing whispered.

Chen Xuan gave her a dismissive look.

"Can you tell me about your relationship with the Mother Lucy?" He then looked at Ruri, and to be honest... he was very interested in the origin of the strange object. "Why can it exert restraint on you? You shouldn't be human, right?"

Liuli reached out and pressed her hand against the brim of her straw hat. "This is my privacy..."

"You don't want to talk about it...?" Chen Xuan didn't press further. "Since that's the case..."

"But I'm still willing to answer some of your questions to a limited extent, as a way of repaying you for lifting the restrictions on me." However, the other party's tone suddenly changed, catching him somewhat off guard.

Then, Liuli took off her huge straw hat.

A head of silver hair cascaded down.

Chen Xuan finally saw her true appearance—as if to avoid concealing her beauty, the light in the room had been dimmed. Her face, veiled by white gauze, showed no signs of weariness or disfigurement; instead, she appeared poised and elegant. Her eyelashes were long, almost covering half her eyes; her lips were slightly full, and her smile exuded warmth and friendliness… Perhaps, judging by her features alone, she wasn't the type to be strikingly beautiful, but Chen Xuan's attention was completely drawn to her eyes.

He had found it incredible when he caught a glimpse of her before, and now, upon closer inspection, it was even more so. Her pupils, with their purple base and countless star-like prismatic rings, were so captivating that it was impossible to look away once their eyes met. It was precisely because of those eyes that the rest of her face seemed less important.

It reminded Chen Xuan of a childhood toy: a kaleidoscope.

Her flowing white hair, as white as snow, was already quite eye-catching, though at least it could be said to be dyed. But her constantly changing heteromorphic pupils were impossible to replicate; anyone who saw Ruri's eyes would immediately understand that she was definitely not human.

"Whoosh~" Lin Qing couldn't help but whistle, "I want to have a pair of those eyes made too."

“You should already know that I am an artifact, numbered N21 in the Angel Alliance,” Liuli said with a smile. “There is a subtle connection between artifacts, which allows powerful artifacts to use or suppress weaker artifacts. In the Temple Vault, the Mother Lucy is undoubtedly the most powerful artifact.”

"Of course, I am not a slave to be manipulated by it. Our relationship is more like that of partners who have signed an agreement. I obtained a flesh and blood body from it, and my appearance is more in line with human characteristics. The price is to guard the treasure vault and protect those wonders from being destroyed and robbed. The time limit is four hundred years."

This was completely different from what Chen Xuan had expected. "I thought you were being restricted in your freedom by the Angel Alliance and had to work for them for free."

“You can think that way, that’s fine too. If I hadn’t been taken to the Temple Treasury by them, I wouldn’t have met Mother Lucy,” Liuli said slowly. “From this perspective, it was all part of the angels’ plan.”

"I'm sorry!" Elori apologized instinctively.

The mother, Lucy, was able to give these strange creatures a flesh and blood body...

Chen Xuan was astonished. Was this its ability as a wondrous object?
No wonder Liuli was so indifferent to the Angel Alliance and unmoved by the destruction of the treasure vault; it turns out she was tricked into this! As long as she doesn't touch those rare items, she probably hopes someone can turn the temple's treasure vault upside down.

"But you ultimately allowed us into warehouse number nine. Doesn't that violate the agreement?"

“Because at that time someone wanted to blow up the Temple Treasury, which was a real threat to all the artifacts, your entry into Vault Nine was no longer a simple theft or robbery, but could be seen as an act of protecting the artifacts,” Liuli said seriously. “The core of this agreement is protection, so it naturally has to change according to the actual situation.”

Chen Xuan was speechless. Why did what she said sound like a matter of free judgment?

"Huh?" Lin Qing interjected, "According to you, it's okay if I casually take one or two rare items with me before the bomb explodes?"

"Mm." Liuli nodded. "I won't stop you." "What a pity!"

"Oh, right." She reached into her fanny pack and took something out. "I remember you guys were interested in this. Consider it a thank you gift."

Chen Xuan took it with a puzzled look and found that it was indeed the circuit board.

When did you take it?

"Of course, it's when we're escorting this young lady out of the hall. After all, with an explosion imminent, moving the artifact is tantamount to protecting it."

Chen Xuan twitched his lips. She really always wanted to be right.

However, he naturally wouldn't be polite about taking something so rare for free.

This is a rare research opportunity!

"It was just a small favor, no need for such a generous gift." He said politely as he handed the circuit board to Lin Qing, who had been eager to try it out. "Do you know what it's for?"

Liuli said she couldn't help, "I don't really understand such novelties. I only know that its number is N959 and that it's mostly dormant."

"Sleeping?"

“In the words of the Angel Alliance, it’s a stability index. When any artifact becomes active, it will have an impact from the inside out, thereby changing the things around it.” She pointed to herself, “I’m no exception. Professor Yulen thinks my stability is 50.”

Chen Xuan pressed further, "What exactly is this strange object? Do you know how you were born?"

Liuli closed her eyes and shook her head.

"When I was born, I was a broken doll surrounded by ruins, lava, and dust. I could not move or speak, and this process lasted for a very, very long time. Then it rained heavily, the lava solidified, and my body gradually took shape until I was able to crawl out of the ruins on my own. I have no idea how long this process took, because consciousness is formed over long years, and no one has ever told me how to keep track of time."

A doll amidst the ruins?

It sounded like a myth. How could an ordinary man-made object possibly gain consciousness and extraordinary power?
Structurally speaking, she doesn't even have a brain!

"So I can't answer any of the questions you've asked. Because I myself want to know why I came into this world, and why I'm in this state now," Liuli said calmly. "As for the other strange objects... I have no way of knowing, because they are all unique individuals, and their degree of completeness varies."

"Can strange creatures evolve?"

“All life evolves, and so do we. It’s just that you measure us by race, while we measure us by individuals—after all, wonders are immortal in a sense.”

Immortal, but can be destroyed.

Chen Xuan felt that his understanding of strange objects had taken another big step forward. Although many mysteries were still hidden in them, he had now reached the threshold.

In particular, there was a talking monster sitting right in front of him.

"What about the mother, Lucy?" Lin Qing suddenly asked. "Do you know where she came from?"

Liuli shook her head again. "In fact, all my knowledge about the wonders in the vault comes from the Alliance guards. When I was brought to the Temple Vault, the Mother Lucy... N5 was already there."

"I have a guess, I don't know if it's right..." Lin Qing paused slightly before continuing, "That mountain peak is where Lucy was born, and it wasn't moved like you were. The sole purpose of building the Temple Treasury on the World Ridge was to cover up the birthplace of the mother Lucy!"

“You guessed right,” Liuli replied bluntly. “Warehouse No. 9 is indeed a natural cave, and the base is a house built on top of the cave. But does that matter? I thought you would know just by looking at it.”

Indeed, Chen Xuan glanced at Lin Qing with some confusion, not quite understanding the purpose of her question.

Lin Qing remained silent for a long time, as if she were deep in thought.

"That place may not necessarily be natural..."

After a long while, she whispered in a voice only she could hear.

(End of this chapter)