America: The Cremator

Chapter 203 Find a Hammer Relic!

Surong turned his gaze away from the diary and followed Stella deeper into the archives.

The circular bookshelves on the first floor of the lobby stretch along the wall to the horizon, and the air is filled with the distinctive smell of old paper.

The two walked along the circular passage to its end, where a spiraling, intricately carved brass staircase came into view.

Stella stopped and pointed to the stairs leading up.

"The first floor mainly contains early works on the theory of the supernatural, as well as historical records of the extraordinary compiled by various families."

"Although these items are rare on the market, they are essentially mass-produced printed materials and cannot be considered truly rare."

"If you want to find those more core secrets, you have to go up the hierarchy."

Su Long looked up at the top of the stairs, then followed.

"Let's go up and take a look."

Stepping on the creaking wooden footstool, the two arrived at the second floor.

The second floor is significantly smaller than the first floor, and the lighting is much dimmer.

Instead of the neat rows of hardcover books, there are rows of independent display shelves equipped with moisture-proof and temperature-controlled systems.

Some were tattered manuscripts written in charcoal on parchment, others were interrogation records with severe water stains and bloodstains, and still others were fragmented stone slabs sealed directly in vacuum glass tubes.

Each individually stored folder has a handwritten, yellowed label on its cover, indicating the name of the document inside and a brief description.

Su Long slowly walked along the rows of wooden display shelves, his eyes quickly scanning the labels.

"Tracing the Source of Spiritual Pollution in London's Whitechapel District in 1888" and "A Rare Manuscript of High-Level Incantations from the Inca Empire" —

His gaze eventually settled on a thick kraft paper bag in the far corner of the shelf.

The cotton thread on the surface of the bag was worn, and the label had a title written in elegant cursive script: "The Nightingale Legend: The Origin of the Relics and the Lost List".

Su Long untangled the cotton thread and pulled out a thick stack of typewriter printouts.

In the very first part, the author presents a theory about the birth of "sacred objects".

Before this, all the sacred objects that Surong had come into contact with, whether it was Elena's lantern or Sirius and Raphael in his own possession, were imbued with a strong sense of mystery.

Furthermore, most exorcists believe that these things are natural products born from supernatural forces.

This document presents a new perspective on this point.

Many high-level relics come from "human legends" and are themselves just ordinary items.

When a legendary figure who has left a significant mark on history uses a particular object frequently and over a long period, that object will acquire the unique spirituality of its owner.

Throughout history, with the praise, worship, and faith of tens of thousands of people, this massive collective consciousness will continuously erode the object, eventually causing it to undergo a qualitative change and transform into a sacred object with extraordinary rules.

The latter part of the archive details the story of Florence Nightingale, a legendary figure who contributed two high-ranking relics.

She was born in 1820 into an upper-class English family in Florence, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

There are numerous positive accounts of this founder of modern nursing in modern textbooks.

During the Crimean War, the frontline medical system nearly collapsed.

Florence Nightingale volunteered to lead 38 nurses to the front lines to take on the important task of rescuing the wounded.

In that era of barbaric medicine where antibiotics were scarce and amputations relied entirely on wooden saws, her arrival directly reduced the mortality rate of soldiers in the war from 42 percent to 2.2 percent.

Every night on the battlefield, she would carry a lantern and patrol the wards, comforting the wounded and sick who were struggling in pain.

For this reason, the soldiers respectfully called her "the Lady with the Lamp".

After the war, Nightingale returned to England with unparalleled honor and was hailed as a national hero.

With the more than four thousand pounds awarded by the government, she founded the world's first formal nursing school at St. Thomas' Hospital in the UK, and later established schools for midwives and nurses in economically disadvantaged hospitals.

Based on her immense historical achievements and the faith of later generations, the lantern in her hand that had accompanied her through countless bloody nights naturally transformed into a high-level sacred object.

At this point, everything aligns perfectly with normal historical records.

Sulong turned to the next page, where the story recorded in the archive differed from the history he knew.

In those deliberately concealed internal military records, this gentle Lady with the Lamp had another, more widely circulated, and revered title among the lower-ranking soldiers.

The lady with a hammer.

The woman with the hammer.

When Florence Nightingale led her team of female nurses to the Crimean front for the first time, they faced strong rejection and harassment from male military doctors and logistics officers.

These officers refused to provide much-needed medical supplies and even locked the door of the storeroom, which contained a large stockpile of clean bandages and medicines, with a heavy padlock.

Faced with this deadly bureaucratic style, Nightingale simply grabbed an sapper's hammer used for building fortifications, smashed the lock on the storeroom door in front of all the high-ranking officers, and seized the supplies.

This hammer blow earned her the fervent respect of the soldiers on the front lines.

In addition, due to her outstanding appearance and gentle temperament, she was extremely popular in the military camp full of rough men.

This meant that when she made her rounds at night, she often had to deal with some unruly soldiers who couldn't control their hands.

To ensure her own safety and the smooth progress of her patrol work on a physical level, her daily self-defense gear has become extremely hardcore.

The archive includes an illustration and a sketch.

The woman in the painting is wearing a long dress, holding a lantern that emits a soft glow in one hand, and a 70-centimeter-long engineering hammer upside down in the other.

The hammerhead is made of solid cast iron and features a highly destructive octagonal structure.

This is the most authentic image of the Lady with the Lantern on the battlefield.

He carries a lantern in one hand to heal the wounds, and a hammer in the other to perform physical exorcisms.

As she earned a formidable reputation in the military, this demolition hammer also transformed into a sacred object renowned for its destructive power.

The last two pages of the file detail the final whereabouts of these two sacred objects.

The lantern, which symbolizes healing and exorcism, was purchased for a large sum of money by the Campbell family, a family of North American exorcists, after changing hands several times, as one of the family's heritage treasures.

The demolition hammer ended up in the private collection of an anonymous Seattle tycoon at an underground auction decades ago.

Su Long looked at the list and a smile appeared on his lips.

He knew all too well that the lantern was in the hands of the Campbell family.

A few hours earlier, Elena, carrying that brass lantern, had erected a sanctuary under the oppressive aura of the A-rank demon Baphomet.

A scene flashed through Su Long's mind.

If Elena were to hold that lantern radiating holy light in her left hand and that 7,000-centimeter-long demolition hammer in her right, and use it to smash the heads of those high-level monsters.

It felt completely natural and was definitely more intimidating than if she continued to use that greatsword.

Furthermore, according to the author of this document, if a complete set of sacred objects created by the same legendary figure were simultaneously in the hands of one person, it would likely produce a resonance that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Elena stood by him through thick and thin during this mission in the Otherworld, even entrusting him with her most treasured radiation grenade.

If we could help her complete Nightingale's exclusive outfit, it would be a huge help to both her personally and the entire team.

Most importantly, the hammer is currently in Seattle, which means the item is right under our noses and can be obtained with a little effort.

A wealthy Seattle resident would not have spent a fortune to buy such a high-level sacred object with murderous properties just to display it in a glass case for show.

This person is most likely to have intricate connections with the supernatural community.

Su Long stuffed the file back into the brown paper bag, tied the sealing thread around it, and put it back in its original place on the display shelf.

Deep inside the second floor, Su Long put a document back in its place and continued walking down the corridor.

The information I saw tonight completely overturned Su Long's previous understanding of the supernatural.

He originally thought that the Otherworld was just an alternate dimension filled with monsters, and that as long as his fists were strong enough, he could fight his way through.

But now it seems that those truly higher beings completely defy the common sense of physics and conventional spirituality.

Su Long pulled out several top-secret files from different fields.

"The Connection Between Medieval Alchemy and Spiritual Purification", "The World Projection Interference Hypothesis in the 1911 Tunguska Explosion", and "High-Order Distortion Sound Wave Frequency Records in the Deep Pacific Ocean".

He quickly flipped through the manuscripts, beginning to understand the knowledge with extremely high information processing efficiency.

He quickly deconstructed and memorized the pages of dry and obscure data.

In a research report on resistance to mental pollution, Su Long found a way to deal with the strange phenomena of sound waves.

The report points out that certain high-frequency sound waves not only have physical destructive power, but can also resonate directly with human cerebrospinal fluid, leading to a collapse of rationality.

The solution is not to plug your ears, but to counteract the effect by actively releasing spiritual vibrations of the same frequency.

In other words, he can upgrade to the four-star [Ruler] attribute to deal with sonic anomalies and use it as a countermeasure to neutralize those high-level mental attacks that are difficult to defend against.

Sulong was completely absorbed in this knowledge, and time slipped away unnoticed as the brass mechanical clock on the wall began to tick dully.

The clock had already struck 3 a.m.

He closed the book "A Study of the Blood Sacrifice of the Ancient Inca Empire," put it back, and turned to look for Stella.

Stella was leaning against a glass display case not far away.

She took off her white lab coat, revealing a well-tailored black fitted knit top that accentuated her mature and elegant curves.

At this moment, she closed her eyes, gently rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers, her face showing obvious signs of fatigue.

As a researcher at Harborview Medical Center, Stella had already been busy in the lab for most of the night, and then she personally drove Sulong across half of Seattle to get here, spending several hours there. Even an iron man couldn't withstand such a long period of exhaustion.

"Professor Stella, let's head back today."

Upon hearing the sound, Stella opened her eyes, her usual intelligence and composure returning, and she looked Su Long up and down.

"Is that enough? Judging from the way you were flipping through those manuscripts just now, I thought you were going to swallow this entire bookshelf whole."

Stella's tone carried a hint of her usual teasing.

"If you are really interested, you can stay here and look at it for a while longer. After all, these rare documents are simply not available outside."

"I can go back to the car and take a nap, or I can take a taxi back to the lab and you can stay here and do your research."

Su Long shook his head, with a hint of reluctance.

"No need for that. I'm interested in every single file here. If I were to read them all, I'd probably have to live in this building for several years."

"Knowledge is addictive, but I can't expect to cram all this information into my brain in one night."

Looking at Stella's slightly darkened eyes, Surong softened his tone: "As for letting you go back alone, that's even more unacceptable."

"You drove me around in the middle of the night and introduced me to such a crucial resource channel. I have to show my appreciation, or it would be too insensitive of me."

"I should at least treat Professor Stella to a candlelight dinner to properly thank her for her selfless help."

Stella smiled when she heard this.

"I didn't expect you to become so reasonable after coming back from the Otherworld. I thought you would abandon me and bury yourself in books."

Su Long smiled and said, "Although I like to use force to solve problems, I still know basic social etiquette."

"Let's go, Professor Stella, it's my treat today."

Stella straightened up and adjusted the hem of her cardigan.

"Don't rush off. Since you're so interested in the information here, I'll take you to the front desk to complete the formalities."

"By the way, would you mind joining the Association for the Study of the Strange and Unusual?"

After saying that, she walked towards the stairs in her high heels.

Su Long followed behind her, asking curiously, "What mandatory obligations do you have to fulfill to join the association? Like regularly clearing out certain troublesome anomalies, or submitting research results?"

Stella explained, "It's not as complicated as you say. The original purpose of this association was to share and pass on information."

"It doesn't impose any mandatory responsibilities or obligations on its members, nor does it restrict you from joining other factions. Essentially, it's an academic circle that provides information exchange."

"If you become a full member, you can come here to access information anytime."

Su Long nodded.

"Sounds like a sure-fire way to make money. Okay, I'll take advantage of it."

The two went down the brass staircase back to the lobby on the first floor.

The staff member in the vest was still sitting behind the semi-circular wooden bar, flipping through books by the light of the bar lamp.

Hearing footsteps approaching, he looked up, and the light swept over the two of them.

Stella walked to the bar and leaned on the counter.

"I recall that as a full member, I can recommend one new member to join the association this year, right?"

The staff member closed the book and replied respectfully, "Yes, Professor, you currently have one referral quota per year."

"However, I need to remind you that you can use this spot on the condition that the person being referred must have a direct connection to the extraordinary field and pass the relevant vetting process."

Stella stepped aside, letting Surong sit directly in front of the bar, and pointed at him, saying, "That's perfect, I'll introduce him to the club."

"Su Long is currently a special consultant at the Federal Corpse Management Bureau, an unofficial member of the Bureau of Oddity Support, and also a B-level exorcist with extensive combat experience."

Upon hearing this, the staff member looked at Su Long again with some surprise.

The Asian youth in front of me was tall and dressed casually, with handsome and composed features.

However, she is far too young, both in appearance and age.

In the world of the extraordinary, most exorcists who can reach the B-level are veterans who have been fighting on the brink of death for more than a decade, or core heirs of ancient exorcist families who have been nurtured with resources.

"Such a young B-rank exorcist is indeed very rare. Your recommendation is quite accurate."

The staff member's tone became much more serious.

"Sir, do you have an officially issued exorcist's certificate with you? I need to verify your identity information for data entry."

Su Long took out the black ID card with the federal emblem and handed it over.

The staff member took the document, opened the inner pages, and placed it on the scanner under the bar.

A blue light swept across the screen, and the machine emitted a soft beeping sound, confirming that the identity code in the federal database was correct.

He handed the documents back to Su Long, then opened the bar drawer and took out a pure black metal business card.

This business card is slightly heavier than a regular paper business card, with a frosted surface and intricate geometric patterns outlined in dark silver lines along the edges.

In the center of the business card, the English spelling of Su Long was laser-etched, and below it was a line of smaller text: [Northwest Ghostly Research Association - Formal Member].

"Entry complete."

The staff member handed the black business card to Su Long with both hands.

"Mr. Surong, next time you come, just show this business card to the sensor at the main entrance, and you can freely enter and exit the first and second floors of the archives."

"Congratulations on officially becoming a member of the Association for the Study of the Strange and Unusual. You are welcome to visit this archive at any time."

Su Long accepted the business card. With this card, his future operations in Seattle would have an extremely large intelligence support.

Those bizarre weaknesses and mechanisms were no longer a black box to him.

"Thanks." Su Long put the business card into his pocket.

Stella watched as the formalities were completed, then turned and walked towards the wrought iron gate.

"Let's go, our exorcist."

Sulong followed Stella out of the cubicle.

Pushing open the door, a chilly night wind blew in from the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

The oak trees lining the streets cast large shadows under the streetlights, while downtown Seattle in the distance remained brightly lit.

Su Long walked to the passenger side of the Porsche sports car, opened the door, and looked at the night sky in the distance.

The massive remains of the black goat cub had been completely erased by the radiation bomb, but Su Long knew that the mother body from which the cells had fallen still lingered in some unexplored abyss in the inner world.

The sports car engine emitted a deep roar, and the red taillights sped away on Harvard Avenue, quickly disappearing into the night.

Shortly after they left, the old man pushing the brass cart slowly emerged from behind the display shelves at the far end of the second floor of the archive.

Through his thick-rimmed reading glasses, he glanced at the bookshelf that Su Long had just browsed, and his withered lips twitched again.

"Young people—they're so energetic, but—the deeper they look, the faster they'll be targeted."

The Porsche convertible sped along the empty streets, cold air rushing into the cabin.

Stella gripped the steering wheel with one hand and glanced at the time on the dashboard.

"Okay, it's already past four o'clock."

"My dear exorcist, would you rather find a hotel to lie down and get some sleep, or are you planning to go back to the Bureau of Corpses to let them know you're safe?"

-

Su Long leaned back in his leather seat, watching the streetlights rushing past on either side.

"As I mentioned at the archives, I wanted to treat you to a candlelight dinner to express my gratitude."

Su Long turned his head to the side, his face full of seriousness.

"I know it's a bit late now, but it's still quite appropriate to call it a late-night snack."

"Are there any places in Seattle that still offer decent food and alcohol at this time of day?"

Stella laughed out loud.

"Yes, I happen to know a place where the food is actually quite good, provided you can afford the bill."

"Of course, no problem. There shouldn't be anything that could bankrupt me now."

The sports car suddenly swerved at an intersection and headed towards a secluded neighborhood in the city center.

Twenty minutes later.

The Candle Room at Grappa.

This is a private restaurant hidden in the basement of an old building.

After Stella presented a dark gold card, the waiter respectfully led the two to a private double room at the end of the corridor.

Pushing open the heavy soundproof door, Su Long surveyed the space before him.

There were no main lighting fixtures installed in the room.

As far as the eye can see, there are hundreds of candles scattered irregularly, as well as retro warm-light wall lamps emitting a faint light on the walls.

The walls are covered with a large area of ​​dark gray velvet material, completely isolating them from outside noise.

Several vintage-style mirrors are embedded in the velvet, reflecting the flickering candlelight throughout the room.

In the corner, several large green plants cast overlapping shadows in the dim lighting, creating a strong sense of privacy.

In the center of the room stood a black marble dining table covered with a crisp, snow-white tablecloth, and an intricately designed silver candlestick.

Su Long pulled out a chair and sat down.

"The environment here is nice; it's perfect for discussing things that can't be discussed in the light of day."

"Of course, and you don't need to choose from the menu here; the chef will arrange everything." Stella said as she sat down opposite her, casually tossing her car keys onto the table.

Not long after, waiters filed in carrying trays.

Several dishes were quickly placed on the table.

The grilled octopus, cut into sections, exudes a rich, caramelized aroma and has a crispy, seared shell on its surface.

The burrata cheese was gently sliced ​​open with a knife and fork, and its sticky filling flowed to the bottom of the plate.

The black truffle and mushroom soup was steaming, with slightly charred scallops and medium-rare Wagyu beef tenderloin on the side.

Dessert was a molten chocolate cake and two glasses of poured Grappa.

Su Long picked up his knife and fork, cut off a piece of Wagyu beef tenderloin, and put it in his mouth, feeling the rich juices burst in his mouth.

Although his energy had already been replenished by Raphael's wine, the satisfaction from chewing high-calorie food was an irreplaceable comfort.

For those who have recently escaped from the cruel world, this kind of everyday life is much needed.

Stella across from me didn't eat much; she only ate a few bites of salad before picking up her glass of Grappa.

Su Long looked up at her.

In this dimly lit private room without a main light, candlelight became the only source of light.

Stella leaned back in her chair, her clothes outlining a mature and alluring silhouette.

She has the kind of aggressive and flamboyant Western looks, but the sharp intellectual beauty she exudes in the laboratory is so striking that it's hard to look directly at her.

At that moment, the flickering warm candlelight cast a soft glow on her profile, softening her sharp features.

The interplay of light and shadow on her eye sockets and high nose bridge added a touch of languidness to her appearance.

Su Long silently assessed Stella in front of him.

He is capable, has connections, controls the core resources of Seattle University and Medical Center, and can freely bring people into the archives of the Association for the Study of the Strange.

Furthermore, her understanding of the supernatural is deeper than that of most exorcists who fight on the front lines.

This woman's background and abilities were far more powerful than he had imagined.

"The way you look at me is like you want to throw me aside and see what's inside me." Stella took a sip of her strong liquor and raised her eyebrows.

"I wonder how many secrets Professor Stella is hiding."

"Professor, you really helped me a lot tonight. Consider this meal as a small amount of interest I'm paying back."

"Interest?" Stella chuckled.

"You spent four hours tonight going through forbidden files in the archives."

"I'd rather hear you tell me, besides those ancient myths and monsters, what else has piqued your interest?"

Su Long put down his knife and fork and picked up his glass of wine.

"I have indeed found some very interesting information about the birth of the sacred object."

Stella's eyes flickered slightly, waiting for him to continue.

"The legend of Florence Nightingale is recorded in an archive on the second floor of the archive."

"She left behind not only a lantern symbolizing healing, but also a demolition hammer."

Sulong looked directly into Stella's eyes.

"That hammer is a high-level sacred artifact with extremely high destructive power."

Elena held the lantern in her hand. The lantern had strong healing and defensive capabilities, but Elena herself lacked sufficient offensive means, so she could only passively take hits when encountering high-level monsters.

If we could get our hands on this demolition hammer, it would not only make up for Elena's weaknesses, but also, with the same source relics together, it might create a stronger resonance with the rules.

He wants to build his own team in Seattle. Elena is his most trusted teammate. Strengthening her is strengthening his trump card.

"Nightingale's hammer."

Stella's slender fingers touched the rim of the glass, as if she were beginning to recall something.

"I've heard of this thing. It does exist, and it has extremely violent rules of physical destruction."

"The last record in the file states that the hammer came to light at an underground auction decades ago, and the buyer was an anonymous wealthy man from Seattle."

"Professor Stella, you have extensive connections in Seattle's supernatural circles, so I would like to ask you to help me find out who this anonymous tycoon is."

The candlelight flickered on the dining table between the two.

"You want that hammer." She saw right through Su Long's intention.

"Everyone wants good things," Su Long said without any attempt to hide it.

"Besides, I know a friend who desperately needs it. If you have any leads, I can pay for it or exchange it for other extraordinary items of equal value."

He still had the soul crystals left over from hunting the strange creature tonight, which were hard currency in the supernatural black market.

Stella put down her glass and tapped her fingertips lightly on the table.

"Your plan is quite clever, but things aren't as simple as you think."

She sighed.

"I do know who bought the hammer. Thirty years ago, that underground auction caused a sensation in Seattle's high society."

"And the buyer of that hammer was none other than Victor Rowland, Seattle's biggest mining tycoon."

Su Long searched his memory for the name.

He had seen the Roland family's business report in the records of the Department of Corpse Management, a behemoth that controlled several large mines in northern Washington state.

"Now that we know who it is, things are much easier. Whatever he wants, as long as he's willing to name his price."

"He can't set a price anymore," Stella interrupted Suron.

Su Long frowned.

Stella picked up her glass and downed the rest of the spirits in one gulp.

"Victor Roland died three years ago. He died in an unusual fire at his private estate."

She lowered her voice: "The fire burned for two whole days and two nights, turning the entire Roland Manor into ruins."

"When the disaster response team arrived to clean up, they found only a few charred bodies and detected extremely high levels of spiritual contamination at the scene."

Su Long grasped the key point: "The presence of spiritual residue indicates that it was not an ordinary fire, but a bizarre attack."

"Yes. But that's not all the trouble. The Roland family claims that the demolition hammer, which was part of their family collection, along with many precious works of art, was completely melted down in the fire."

Su Long sneered.

"Melted? Could a high-level sacred relic be so easily destroyed by a fire?"

Stella sighed.

"Everyone knows they're lying."

"But the Roland family refused to admit it and quickly sealed off the manor ruins after the fire, not allowing anyone to approach."

"As for now, that ruin is now completely surrounded by the Roland family's private armed forces and magic arrays, and even the investigators from the Bureau of Strange Support cannot get in."

Su Long leaned back in his chair, muttering to himself.

"But the more they try to hide it, the more it proves that the hammer is still there, and I suspect that the fire definitely concealed something shady."

Suron must get his hands on that hammer; the Roland family's blockade is meaningless to him.

"Where exactly is that manor located?"

Stella gave a place name.

"Deep in the mountains of the Snoqualm Pass."

"If you want to investigate that place, I won't stop you. With your abilities, I doubt anything will happen to you."

"However, I must warn you that since that fire, the remaining members of the Roland family have been behaving very strangely."

"They purchased large quantities of pure silver and mercury, and recruited a large number of outlaws with no extraordinary backgrounds at high salaries, stationing them in the ruins of that manor."

"It didn't feel like we were letting someone in—"

Surong immediately understood Stella's meaning: "It's like—we're guarding against something coming out?"