Chapter 2256: One-shot Deadly Pistol

Chapter 2256: Chapter 2256: One-shot Deadly Pistol

The doctor, in his third-floor bedroom at the clinic, showed Shard the relic used for spatial movement. Its appearance surprised Shard:

"A handgun?"

It was a petite, pocket-sized handgun, smaller than any handgun relic Shard had seen so far, such as the "Spear of Kindness" and "Faded Memories." The silver handgun could be easily concealed, and if its magazine didn’t possess spatial specificity, it would hold only one bullet at a time.

On the side of the barrel, there was a line of cursive letters, their meaning easily recognizable:

"Focus belief, one-shot deadly."

Shard, holding the well-rested Mia, now lively after her nap, asked:

"Doctor, could you explain its function?"

"Sure, Keeper of Secrets Level relic, ’One-shot Deadly Pistol.’ A characteristic of the relic is that it always hits the target, but the bullets aren’t generated automatically, requiring manual loading. Fortunately, it can adapt to most calibers of bullets. Since the bullets are ordinary items, their power has a limit, so while the range is almost unlimited, they can only reach unobstructed locations.

For example, if you were hiding in a completely sealed house made with ten-foot-thick steel plates, this gun couldn’t hit you... But there’s a need to beware of the risk of suffocation."

The doctor placed the gun into Shard’s palm:

"Although it’s conceptually ’must hit,’ in reality, it’s just ’must reach.’ If the bullet reaches the target’s location but the target dodges, the bullet won’t curve to chase the target."

Shard nodded to indicate understanding:

"For instance, wearing the Scribe Level relic ’Arrow’s Enemy,’ one wouldn’t be afraid of this relic."

He gave this example because this relic was seized by him on Green Lake Central Island and is now in Angelina’s possession.

"But if it’s just ordinary bullets and sure hit quality, the relic’s rating wouldn’t be Keeper of Secrets Level, at most Poet Level."

Shard posed this question, and the doctor nodded again:

"Yes, after all, only Low Ring Sorcerers fear bullets. This gun can actually be loaded with special bullets, even relic bullets. However, because such items are rare and the effects of alchemical bullets are somewhat limited, its Keeper of Secrets Level rating is not due to the capability for special bullet usage.

Research has found that the bullet fired by this gun is not merely flying over a long distance; instead, it performs a spatial leap approximately 10 feet after leaving the barrel, emerging randomly within a 20-foot range around the target. Further research has shown that if the gun barrel is pressed against an entity when fired, then that entity would be transported to the corresponding position."

Shard squinted and thought for a moment, while pushing away Mia, who reached out to touch the gun:

"Interesting, so if the gun points at you, the bullet would carry you to a targeted location at Moon Bay. When returning, it could be done this way as well?"

"Theoretically, yes."

The doctor nodded, and Shard thus looked at the gun with interest:

"Now I understand; the value of spatial leap indeed merits a ’Keeper of Secrets’ assessment. Bullet wounds are easily healed, making it almost cost-free space movement... So what are the negative traits and limitations?"

"The limitations are easily understood; the spatial traversal executed by the activated bullet is not suited for humans. You, as a user of spatial power, should understand that normal spatial leaping is primarily about protecting the user, but this gun doesn’t have that ability. Even for me, this kind of spatial movement can’t be overused; one to-and-fro trip is the limit. I don’t want to end up lying in bed for a long time like last year’s forced use of Sublimation Incantation."

said the doctor, taking back the gun Shard returned and carefully storing it in an empty metal cookie box. Such a "peculiar" storage method has to do with the relic’s containment requirements:

"The negative traits are quite troublesome, which is the primary reason for the relic’s ’Keeper of Secrets Level’ rating:

One-shot deadly, pulling the trigger must harvest life. This gun can only be aimed at living beings. If the target is a human or similar high-intelligence creature, and it doesn’t kill the target, the shooter must personally kill one person afterward to compensate, or otherwise, the shooter will die; if the target is a low-intelligence creature, regardless of whether it kills the target, afterward, it must personally kill a creature with intelligence not lower than that of a human."

Shard frowned:

"Sounds like a demon creation."

"I’m quite sure this is not a demon creation. Detective, in our world, frightening things are not just limited to demons."

The doctor shook his head, then shared his plan:

"Tomorrow we’ll meet at your place, then you go to Moon Bay while I shoot myself, with you as the target. Don’t worry, this bullet is easy to dodge. As for me, Old John has the means to offset this ’cost of killing,’ he sold it to me as a package."

While speaking, he also pulled out the silver chain hanging on his chest and swung it, which had a silver skeleton attached to it, quite a powerful alchemical item:

"Old John wouldn’t sell me this gun either, he rented it to me, and it has to be returned after use. You probably can’t imagine, the price of this alchemical item is more expensive than the rental cost of the gun. Old John said alchemical items are also made from relic derivatives.

Tomorrow’s action plan has been given to you, and the bell tower you described is indeed very suitable for hunting crows. I trust you very much, but I’m concerned about Miss Sianod. I can’t guarantee 100% safety, even with a unicorn, she and we alike have to take risks."

"In this world, there’s inherently nothing that’s 100% safe."

Shard sighed:

"Just confidently execute the plan tomorrow, I trust her, and I trust us... What I’m worried about is, what if it escapes? Although we each have one of the two marbles, it would work regardless of who acts, but doctor, you’ve said that it has never been caught over all these years."

The blue-eyed middle-aged psychologist sat in the chair, arms crossed over his chest, pursing his lips, exhaling through his nose:

"Nothing has 100% certainty, just do your best. If it really escapes, I’ll find another way to use other means to expel the curse for Miss Sianod. But preferably don’t let it be like this, I think the likelihood of successfully catching that black crow is higher than succeeding in expelling the curse."

The plan hasn’t changed, and the details have long been discussed, so Shard didn’t stay long in the doctor’s clinic, leaving here at three o’clock in the afternoon. Since it was still early when he returned home, the maids who routinely cleaned at home on Saturday afternoons hadn’t left yet.

Shard didn’t get involved in the cleaning activities at home, and took Mia for a trip to Moon Bay. After scheduling the departure time with Emilia for tomorrow morning, he spent some time chatting with the reluctant Miss Belindel before heading home just before dinner. As today was Saturday, and since Dorothy wasn’t around, tonight was Lecia’s lesson time, which Shard definitely couldn’t be late for.

"Tomorrow afternoon, Princess Margaret will arrive. After Vanessa and Emma meet you, we won’t have time alone."

When parting, the countess with the vermilion birthmark on her forehead reluctantly embraced and kissed Shard for a good while before letting him go.

Dropping the crystal shoe back home at five in the afternoon, it was still bright during summer at five, showing no signs of evening approaching. Shard thought he would have to wait a bit longer for someone to arrive, but when Mia returned to the second floor from upstairs expecting dinner, she unexpectedly saw Luviya sitting on the sofa, flipping through a stack of documents.

"Good afternoon, Shard."

The purple-eyed Miss Diviner greeted with a smile, pointing to the letter on the coffee table:

"Lecia sent a message to me, regrettably asking me to inform you that she couldn’t leave Yordle Palace tonight, so she’s sending me over to spend this Saturday night with you... She really regrets it.

As for why she sent me, she seemed to express in the letter that she hopes you cultivate a habit of being very energetic every Saturday night, so this tradition shouldn’t be broken."

Shard didn’t know how to evaluate Lecia’s idea, but can only say it’s indeed Lecia.

Picking up that letter, he immediately smelled the scent of Lecia’s perfume; she sprayed a lot on the letter paper. As for that letter, it was expressing her apology for being unable to conduct this week’s night lesson and complained about the Carsonrick ambassador to Tobesk accepting her father’s invitation for dinner at Yordle Palace tonight.

"Lecia mentioned that Miss Galina would also be attending tonight’s dinner."

Shard said, then noticed that at the end of this letter, instead of Lecia’s signature, there was a bright red lipstick mark.

"Even if Galina had no plans, I wouldn’t think Lecia would want her to come."

Luviya said, then stuffed the stack of documents she was holding to Shard:

"These are the ones you gave me, matching the locations from Sparrow Hamilton’s landscape photographs to the real scenes. I’ve repeatedly confirmed each location and there shouldn’t be any mistakes."

"Oh, Luviya, you’ve really worked hard."

Shard didn’t immediately flip through the documents, but first gave the purple-eyed girl a hug, which Luviya enjoyed very much.

The two of them, with Mia, went out for dinner, followed by a walk with the cat after the meal. Approaching seven, when the streetlights of Saint Delan Square began to light up, they returned home together.

Luviya’s analysis results of those photographs were very useful, because while no images of Karas Mountain appeared among the landscape photographs left in the home attic by Detective Sparrow, one photograph of a large lake was taken at a location not far from Karas Mountain, or rather, right at its foothills.

These photographs hadn’t been tainted by time’s power, so Luviya easily performed divination on the large lake photograph, determining it was taken in 1850, which is four years ago.