Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 47 I haven't yet deciphered the runes...

"This rune..."

Lu Ran sat upright in the stone chamber, resting his chin on his hand, and began to study.

Based solely on visual observation and shape analysis, the runes on the hand currently correspond to four forms: spiral, hexagram, crescent, and pictograph. Each rune also seems to be distinguished by some angular deviations.

Among them, the spiral shape and the six-pointed star are some of the simplest ones in that huge teleportation array.

Lu Ran knew that such a rough rubbing would definitely have some errors, but his main goal was to understand the relationships involved first.

As for the divination runes provided by the foodies, they are more like regular star trails, the moon, and a rune that looks like an eye.

If Lu Ran remembered correctly, there was a similar eye rune in the Deception Magic. Perhaps there was a subtle connection between them. Lu Ran quickly grasped the feeling the foodie was talking about and asked a question.

Will Philip, the butler at Biden's estate, come to my place today?

The thought had barely formed when a vague yet certain "will" appeared out of nowhere in my mind—not like a clear voice, but more like a suddenly amplified sixth sense whispering a hint: the other party will definitely arrive today, so it's best to be prepared.

If I had to use a metaphor, it would be similar to the feeling of not doing homework and playing video games at home in a past life, and suddenly feeling uneasy and quickly turning off the TV.

"It seems that this divination magic cannot provide very detailed results; it is limited to simple yes or no answers."

Lu Ran guessed that its complete model should be a higher-level magic, because the current structure was missing something, which led to the effects being also nerfed.

"It seems we'll have to wait until this inspiration ends before trying a new direction."

Fortunately, Lu Ran never expected that a 250 gold pound enlightenment would directly enable the entire rats to enter the era of forbidden spells. Just by looking at the enlightenment costs of other modern technologies such as gunpowder, it is clear that this is just a magical enlightenment from 0 to 1.

There's still a long way to go before delving into detailed magical studies, spell classification, forbidden spells, and so on.

Lu Ran opened the system. He had already consumed 209 gold pounds, and there were still 41 gold pounds left to consume. He wondered if there would be a chance to create a new magic in the remaining time.

"Then there's... the number of mice."

Thinking of his current wealth, Lu Ran simply spent 300 gold pounds to raise the cap of his subjects by 3000, bringing the total cap of his territory to 3650.

These are no ordinary mice. Each mouse, after being brought into the territory from the outside world, will gradually strengthen its physique and intelligence to meet the system's standards. It can be said that it has become a very terrifying organizational force.

Of course, he only plans to reserve 500 slots for the main territory's expansion and scientific research development in the Stone House area.

After the remaining nearly three thousand mice are trained, they will be dispersed into Baker City one by one. Lu Ran's long-awaited Mouse Station project can also be launched - small outposts will be set up from the manor to Baker City to make the transmission of information more convenient and smooth, and ensure that information arrives on the same day.

"It's good to be rich."

Lu Ran sighed, as the remaining two thousand gold pounds were intended to be reserved for future expenses such as the next enlightenment and the start-up operation of the factory.

Just as Lu Ran was thinking about what else he might have forgotten, there was a sudden knock on the door.

dong dong dong-

Has Mr. Sherlock returned?

The divination came true; it really happened?
Even though he had anticipated it, Lu Ran was still somewhat surprised by the magic's wonder, but now was not the time to marvel at it.

Lu Ran tiptoed to the door and carefully said, "Yes, Mr. Philip."

The stone house still retains its original design: there is a hole at the entrance.

However, compared to before, when a small piece of dark, thick cloth was hanging down, cleverly concealing the opening and leaving only a gap for the sound to be transmitted clearly, it was also convenient for handing over the entrusted item. Philip's ears twitched outside the house, and his voice remained gentle as usual: "The legal registration of the factory's property rights requires signing and filing at the government land registry. I wonder if Mr. Sherlock would be able to handle it in person?"

Lu Ran was taken aback, but reacted quickly, her tone carrying just the right amount of apology, "I'm sorry, I'm quite busy and it's not very convenient. Mr. Philip, do you have any other options?"

"Of course." The voice on the other end was warm and welcoming. "If it's inconvenient for you to come in person, we can arrange for someone to handle the entire property transfer process on your behalf. It won't affect the outcome. But I wonder if Mr. Sherlock's identification documents would be convenient to provide?"

Lu Ran frowned slightly, still refusing, "I don't know if there's an anonymous way, because as a detective, it's really inconvenient for me to reveal my true identity."

Philip didn't seem surprised and maintained his polite tone: "Of course there's an anonymous method, so I'll handle that part as well. Also, Mr. Sherlock, do you need me to prepare some relevant identification?"

Identification? Can you make me a fake document?
Lu Ran was somewhat surprised.

Although I felt like I was being tricked into saying something, there was no reason to refuse such a good thing that was going too far.

"Then I'll have to trouble you," Lu Ran readily agreed.

"You're too kind." As soon as the voice outside the door fell, a stack of documents was precisely passed through the opening into the wooden basket behind.

"Here is the detailed information and relevant certifications for the Black Gold Transportation Equipment Machinery Manufacturing Plant. With this, you can take over related industry work at any time. That's all for the factory's affairs... I wonder if Mr. Sherlock has any further questions?"

"No, that's all."

Philip, standing outside the door, paused, his gentle voice suddenly taking on a barely perceptible hint of inquiry: "Mr. Sherlock, aren't you curious about those precision machines at Blue Reef Harbor...?"

A look of surprise flashed across Lu Ran's face; he had no idea why the other party wanted to bring up this issue so openly.

As for how they knew, the signs that the cargo box had been pried open, coupled with the fact that the two men happened to die near the port, it wasn't hard to guess that this detective had made a discovery.

Of course, Lu Ran directly and decisively denied this, his voice carrying just the right amount of bewilderment: "I'm sorry, Mr. Philip, I'm not aware of what you're talking about. If it's a new commission, you can submit a complete commission information."

There was a very brief moment of silence outside the door.

"Perhaps I misunderstood," Butler Philip smiled. "Goodbye."

……

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Lu Ran's tense nerves slowly relaxed. He climbed to a higher place and carefully took out the documents from the wooden basket. The documents contained the core terms such as the loan, property purchase, and equipment list, and the Earl Biden's side had already signed and sealed them.

Lu Ran read through the notes one by one, quickly confirmed that there were no obvious problems, and decisively signed his name as Sherlock Holmes.

Since the other party is willing to use their connections to enter Sherlock Holmes's false identity into the system, then signing this name directly shouldn't be a problem. Having a recognized identity will make things much easier in the future.

After all, part of the reason Lu Ran moved here was because he valued the connections behind Afra. So far, it's quite good that they can perfectly balance helping each other and remain in a friendly phase.

"Hmm, let's not dwell on that. I haven't had Miss Afra's scones for days, and I really miss them."

After signing all the documents, Lu Ran lazily stretched and rinsed himself off in the bathroom. After getting a nice, fragrant wash, he quietly slipped out through the back door of the stone house.

Last time, she left a note and ran away with Bella. I wonder if Miss Afra is angry.

We'll stay here a couple more days before going to take over the factory's issues.

……

(End of this chapter)