Mystery: A Spark

The original Mercury Warhammer - Imitation gradually disintegrated in Bonova's hands and was then melted down and reforged into new parts.

Arthur couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion as he watched this scene.

It is a regrettable thing that he can no longer play the role of the second battalion commander in Piltover.

But there's no other way, since the current psionic crystals are all handcrafted by Bonova, and production is a real problem, so naturally they have to save as much as they can.

After being promoted to a schemer, Arthur's battles entered a new phase.

He will focus more on using schemes and tricks to harm people, and try to avoid direct confrontation with others.

Therefore, the Mercury Warhammer was not actually of much help to Arthur, and it didn't quite match his tactical style.

In terms of direct confrontation, Salamani's berserk form is much more powerful; but if it's about ambushing, Arthur might as well get a better gun.

In short, rather than letting the Mercury warhammer gather dust in his warehouse, it would be better to reforge it into a new weapon for Xiu to use.

After all, as the sheriff of the East District, Hugh often does things that are easy to offend people, so he does need some equipment to ensure his safety.

As Arthur's sequence advances, his steps will become increasingly larger, and Hugh, as his capable subordinate, will naturally face more and more open and covert attacks.

These open and covert attacks are no longer the petty squabbles with gangsters of the past.

After all, Backlund's gangs are merely existing in the shadow of order, barely surviving, and they can hardly even find a Sequence 7, so they are not enough to be called formidable enemies.

For example, Ambassador Beckeron's Black Gloves Zgerman Party had no powerful figures after the death of Meursault.

Because of the conflict between Beckron and MI9, they were targeted by the Kingdom of Rune. So when Arthur seized the opportunity to set a fire, the gang was easily eliminated.

Previously, Hugh's only weapon was her triangular military dagger, but in Arthur's opinion, such a small thing was really useless and could only scare ordinary people.

So he planned to give Xiu a powerful piece of equipment as a gift, to stop this guy from coming to his house to play the victim every now and then.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Bonova, is the Church sufficiently interested in exploring the tombs of the Quaternary period?" Arthur suddenly asked after watching Bonova's incredible manufacturing techniques for a while.

"A tomb? Do you know which family it belongs to? The Church is quite interested in relics from the Quaternary period," Bonova asked while continuing his work.

Arthur didn't speak, but instead made an "OK" sign with his right hand and then gestured over his eyes.

Bonova suddenly realized.

“I understand. Give me the address, and I’ll ask Khoramik to send someone to explore the area.”

Exploration... I'm afraid it'll just be a barrage of artillery fire... Arthur muttered to himself, then said:

"The location should be at the bend in the Stefford River in White Cliff. There's a hidden entrance there; if you look carefully, you should be able to find it."

“Okay.” Bonova refocused on the work at hand.

“Ahem, well…” Arthur coughed lightly to get Bonova’s attention. “Mr. Bonova, after I reported the clues about the ruins, hasn’t there been any… uh…”

"You mean the reward?"

"Yeah."

"Of course, once the tomb has been fully explored, you can choose one item from all the spoils of the exploration."

Bonova said with a smile:

"If it has the Reaper trait, then you're in luck."

"Hmm...actually, I have the Reaper trait now," Arthur said, scratching his face.

"Oh? Then you'd better pray that it contains the extraordinary characteristics of the Iron-Blooded Knight or the Despair Witch."

"Can we choose items from higher sequences?" Arthur asked, somewhat surprised.

If he could choose a high-sequence item, and it happened to have the Iron Knight's extraordinary trait, then he might not necessarily choose the Shadow of Human Skin trait.

After all, advancement in the ranks is the most important thing; money is just an external thing, a tool to help one move forward on the path to the extraordinary.

Arthur was well aware of this, and he wouldn't put the cart before the horse.

As for what to do with the traits you promised Klein's Shadow Skin after choosing the Extraordinary trait? Well, we'll have to find another way.

Of course, even if he possessed the extraordinary qualities of the Witch of Despair, he would never want them.

Absolutely not!!!

“Sure, why not?” Bonova was a little puzzled at first, then suddenly realized, “Oh, I understand what you mean. The rule against choosing extraordinary items that are too valuable or too dangerous is for outsiders, so you naturally won’t have this restriction.”

He turned around, looked at Arthur seriously, and said:

"Preventing the outflow and proliferation of excessively dangerous and extraordinary items is something that all orthodox churches are doing, and I think you should understand why."

Seeing Arthur nod in understanding, Bonova continued:

"Therefore, given the limited nature of extraordinary characteristics, we naturally need to impose restrictions on extraordinary individuals in the outside world."

"Unless you can successfully find a new, extraordinary path."

"Huh?" Arthur was a little stunned.

Bonova picked up a psionic crystal, tossed it around, and looked into Arthur's eyes, saying:

"Isn't the birth of psychic power precisely your effort to find a new extraordinary path?"

"If it's simply about energy, then fossil fuels, wind power, and hydropower are all good options, and I believe you should be familiar with these things."

"On the contrary, developing psionic power at the cost of the lives of extraordinary beings is not a good choice; it's somewhat like taking the long way around."

Arthur chuckled softly:

"I didn't expect you to notice, Mr. Bonova. So, what are your thoughts on this matter? What is your attitude towards the new extraordinary path?"

Generally speaking, in fantasy novels, such things are called "battles of the Dao," which often involve bloodshed and life-or-death struggles.

However, to Arthur's surprise, Bonova's expression didn't change much; he calmly asked in return:

How much do you know about the apocalypse?

"I only know one time, it should be more than ten years from now," Arthur replied.

"Yes, the end of the world is just over a decade away. At a time like this, is it really necessary to care about the different paths? As long as it allows us to safely get through the end of the world, that's a good path. Everything else is secondary."

Bonova sighed softly and said:

"Alright, you can go back now. I'll have someone deliver the gloves once they're finished."

"By the way, what's the religious situation of that girl you mentioned before? Is she a follower of my Lord?"

“Yes, she is also a believer of my Lord,” Arthur nodded in reply.

As for whether his faith was genuine, he didn't know, since Arthur himself wasn't a devout believer.

He doesn't believe in any gods, only in himself.

“If she’s a follower of my faith, she can come to me anytime to adjust the gloves, and she can also give me any feedback during use,” Bonova instructed.

The implication is that if one is a heretic, then such a good thing is naturally not possible.

“Yes, Mr. Bonova, I will pass on the message to her.” Arthur left the underground laboratory after saying goodbye.

……

Tuesday afternoon, 7 Townsend Street, Queens.

"You didn't invite me here just to have afternoon tea, did you?" Hugh asked, looking at the pastries on the low table with some surprise.

“Of course not, I have a gift for you.” Arthur pulled out a large box from the side and handed it to Hugh. “Try it on. Your triangular bayonet isn’t very effective anymore. You need a new weapon.”

Hugh opened the box, looked inside, and said in surprise:

"These are... boxing gloves?"

"Yes, and to make it less conspicuous, these gloves also have a transformation function. They can change their shape to become a pair of arm guards when not in use. You can try it."

Hugh put on the boxing gloves and found they were the perfect size.

Curious, she reached out and pressed a button on the arm of one of the boxing gloves. The next second, a mechanical sound came, and the glove began to fold and shrink, turning into a pair of matte black arm guards in the blink of an eye.

"Interesting." Hugh acted like a child who had received a new toy, turning the boxing gloves into arm guards and then back into boxing gloves, having a great time.

"Alright, alright, stop playing around. Let me explain the functions of these boxing gloves to you," Arthur said, somewhat exasperated, interrupting Hugh's play.

"Ahem, I'm listening, go ahead and say it." Hugh stopped, somewhat embarrassed.

"As you just saw, the arm guards are in their usual portable state, but they can be transformed into gauntlets during combat."

"The gloves have two combat modes. The first one I call the heavy punch mode."

"Users can unleash a powerful attack by charging up for a certain period of time; the longer the charging time, the greater the power."

"However, it is important to note that if the power is stored up for too long, it may exceed the body's tolerance and cause injury to the user."

Seeing that Hugh nodded to indicate that he understood, Arthur continued his explanation:

"The second mode of the gloves is what I call the Swift Mode. In this mode, the gloves will provide assistance when you swing, allowing you to punch and block more quickly."

"Therefore, I also call this model the three-dimensional defense model."

"However, this mode requires a high level of skill in controlling the gloves, and you will probably need to practice for a while to master it."

Hugh nodded in realization and said:

"In that case, I'm afraid I'll need to find someone to help me train in boxing. The knight training I received before didn't include boxing techniques."

Arthur gave a strange smile and said:

"Boxing is actually very simple. As long as you master one core technique, no one can beat you."

"What technique?" Hugh asked curiously.

"The technique is to throw punches without any set pattern, also known as 'no move is better than move.'" Arthur's smile grew increasingly strange, as if he had just thought of something. "If you throw punches without any set pattern, how can the enemy break through? They can't, don't you think?"

“No, I feel like you’re completely lying to me.” Hugh wasn’t stupid, and he exposed Arthur without hesitation.

"Ahem, okay, I was just joking, but I'm about to get serious." Arthur's expression turned serious.

Hugh also became serious and listened attentively to what Arthur had to say.

"Do you know what the names of the next few sequences of sheriffs are?" Arthur asked first.

“Hmm… I only know that the next sequence is called the Inquisitor, and I’m not too clear about anything after that,” Hugh said, shaking his head.

“I can tell you that the next in line for the interrogator is called the Judge.”

"Judge?"