Please be my partner.

But before he could take a few steps, he saw the butler coming out from the corner and just looking at him quietly.

Mellen frowned and said, "Excuse me, has Miss Vera rested well?"

The butler nodded and said, "Please follow me, guest."

Mellen followed the butler. They did not go to the living room, but came to a place similar to a tea room. A girl in a pleated skirt was sitting there, drinking a cup of tea elegantly.

Because the girl had her back to Melen at that time, he had not yet seen her appearance.

Mellen walked forward slowly and said gently, "Hello, Miss Vera. Nice to meet you. I'm Mellen Warwick. I'm here to ask you something about Master Nomi."

When he came to the front of the girl, even with Melen's temperament, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

The beauty of the girl in front of him was simply not human. She was like those perfect faces generated by AI technology in his previous life, which absolutely met the human aesthetic standards.

This appearance, combined with the lifeless and indifferent temperament of the other person, gave Melen the illusion that this was a life-size doll.

At this moment, an idea unconsciously emerged in his mind... If it is such a realistic doll, it is not impossible to collect it... ahem!

"You seem to be thinking about something rude." Vera's face was expressionless and her voice was cold.

Mellen withdrew his gaze calmly.

Vera didn't dwell on this issue any further and asked, "Are you here for my grandfather?"

Mellen nodded, and straight to the point, he took out the black beetle and asked, "Miss Vera, I want to ask, do you recognize this thing?"

The moment she saw the black beetle, a moment of surprise flashed across Vera's face, which had always been calm, and then it was filled with shock, sadness, grief, anger and other emotions.

She looked at Mellen, her eyes almost spitting fire, as if she was looking at an irreconcilable enemy.

Chapter 157 Making the Deal

Noticing Vera's changing expression, Mellen was immediately delighted.

It’s good to have changes!

The change proves that Vera does know the black beetle, so his search direction is correct.

But what do the sadness and hostility mean?

Mellen was no fool. As soon as this thought came to his mind, he thought of the answer and explained, "Miss Vera, it seems that you do recognize this black beetle. It should be your grandfather's burial object."

"But you may have misunderstood. The reason I got this item was not because I dug up your grandfather's grave. It was..."

Then, Melen briefly recounted how he had obtained the black beetle, including some of the contents in the diary of the perverted gravekeeper.

As Vera listened to Mellen's story, her expression gradually became skeptical.

Finally, Mellen said, "Miss Vera, everything I said is true. If you don't believe me, you can go and verify it yourself."

Hearing the words "You can check it yourself", Vera's delicate face, which had returned to expressionless, showed a slight fluctuation again.

After a moment's silence, Vera asked, "Even if what you said is true, so what? Why did you come to me with my grandfather's burial objects?"

Mellen said, "Miss Vera, I believe you should understand that this black beetle is actually an extraordinary item. My purpose in coming here is very simple, I just want to know the origin of this extraordinary item."

At this point, curiosity flashed across his face, and he asked, "Excuse me, it seems you and your grandfather had a good relationship, didn't you? Then why did you bury him in the Vero City Cemetery? There should be enough space in this manor, right?"

Vera had previously thought that her grandfather's grave had been dug up, and her sadness and anger were real. However, given the area of the Puppet Manor, it should have been easy to set aside an area as the owner's cemetery. In fact, this was also the choice of many nobles and wealthy businessmen.

After hearing what Mellen said, Vera fell silent. Although her face was expressionless, Mellen could clearly feel that she seemed to be weighing something.

After a long moment, Vera said, "Mr. Mellen, I suppose you are also a mysterious person, right?"

Mysterious people are the name given to those with extraordinary professions by non-extraordinary people.

Mellen nodded slightly to confirm.

Seeing that Vera was still hesitant, Mellen took the initiative to say, "Miss Vera, I come here with sincerity this time. If you have any difficulties, please tell me. I will not be stingy in helping you in any way I can."

For Melen, who comes from a civilized society, he still abides by his own moral standards. If he can get what he wants by paying some price, he is willing to do so.

what?

The Farsail Port Maritime Bureau and the Vero City Household Registration Office have something to say?!

Well, the information is there anyway, and it won’t cause any loss if Mellen uses some means to see it.

This time, Vera was silent for a longer time before she finally said with a determined heart, "Mr. Mellen seemed very confused as to why I didn't bury Grandpa in the manor, but instead buried him in the Vero City Cemetery."

Melen did not reply, but looked at him listeningly.

Vera spoke slowly and clearly, "That's because Grandpa and I don't want his body to become a puppet after he dies!"

"Oh?" Melen showed interest when he heard this: "Turn into a puppet?"

Now that she had spoken, Vera no longer concealed anything and continued, "Actually, there's another unknown secret in this puppet manor. That is, if you stay here for too long, you'll become a puppet being controlled!"

Mellen's eyes fixed, and he looked thoughtfully at the butler who had been standing behind Vera without any expression.

Vera said, "A long time ago, Grandpa was just an ordinary magician's apprentice. He wasn't famous, and he didn't have many unique tricks."

"Until one day, Grandpa accidentally obtained a special item. Since then, the title of 'Puppet Magician' has been known in the world."

"Originally, everything was going well. Grandpa gradually became successful and famous, and more and more people began to admire and worship him. But at this time, an extremely terrifying thing happened..."

"It was about ten years ago when my parents turned into dolls."

"This incident happened so suddenly, without any signs beforehand, that my grandfather and I even thought it was some kind of prank or a new kind of performance they had come up with."

"But the fact is, they lost their lives and became puppets!"

"Grandpa couldn't accept this outcome. He knew it must have been that special item he had obtained that caused all the trouble. He spent years trying everything, but he couldn't bring my parents back to health."

"Finally, Grandpa came to his senses. To prevent that thing from harming anyone again, he hid it in the Puppet Manor before he died."

When she said this, Vera's expression darkened: "But, this is obviously useless."

Finally, Vera looked at Mellen and said seriously, "If you're not afraid of that special item, you can take it with you. Also, my grandfather's diary details how he obtained it, so I can give it to you as well."

"I just hope you can agree to one request of mine..."

Mellen nodded slightly, motioning for Vera to continue.

Vera said: "I hope you can find a way to take me away from this manor."

"Hmm?" Mellen looked puzzled.

Vera's delicate face revealed a hint of bitterness as she said, "Ever since my parents died, I can't leave this manor. Once I leave, I will begin to transform into a puppet like my parents. Only by returning here can I temporarily return to normal."

"But this won't work. Even if I stay in the manor, this transformation won't stop. Just like now, I feel like my human emotions have gradually disappeared, and I've become like a puppet. Sometimes I even wake up in the middle of the night and find that my body has turned into a puppet without any consciousness, and it will only return to normal after daylight."

"Please, save me!"

Melen looked puzzled. In his opinion, although Vera in front of him looked like a doll, she was undoubtedly a normal human being.

Normal humans turn into puppets at night?

A barely detectable blood mist overflowed from Mellen's body, entered Vera's body, circulated around, and then quickly returned.

After investigation, it was found that there were indeed some extraordinary traces in Vera's body, but these traces were now in a dormant state, and Melen could not see anything.

So he asked, "From what you mean, this manor will look different during the day and at night?"

At this point, he thought of the sign hanging at the entrance of the villa, and then asked, "What are those rules at the entrance?"

Vera said, "Ever since the day my parents died, everything in the manor has been normal during the day, but at night, many strange things happen here."

"At first it was fine, it only happened once in a while, but gradually, it became more and more frequent, and lasted longer and longer, until now, it lasts all night long."

"As for the rules at the entrance, they were written down by my grandfather as a warning to those entering the manor. Unfortunately, they have not been of much use so far."

Mellen nodded and said, "You mean you want me to help you solve the strange changes that have occurred in you? You mentioned the special item your grandfather found earlier. These changes should all come from it, right? Can't you just throw it away or give it to someone else?"

Vera shook her head and said, "No, Grandpa has tried everything he can. Since the day my parents died, it seems that all the strange things have become this manor itself. Even if we throw that thing away, it will be useless. The manor will continue to change."

"Grandpa believes it is the only hope of lifting the curse on me. Once lost, there will be no chance of recovery."

Mellen nodded slightly, and suddenly thought of David and Johnny, so he asked, "Those two students of your grandfather, are they here to help too?"

Vera shook her head and said indifferently: "They came for that item."

Melenchi asked, "How could they covet such a strange thing? Why didn't you tell them how dangerous it was? Or did they not believe it?"

Vera said, "Of course they believe it!"

"Ever since they learned about the existence of that special item, they've always felt that Grandpa's success was entirely due to it."

"So, when they learned that the strange things were most likely caused by this manor, rather than that special item, they would set aside a few days every year to come here and look for the latter."

"Of course, in order to avoid being cursed by the manor, each visit won't be too long."

“Now, it’s the third year.”

The third year.

That is to say, after Nomi's death, his two students immediately entered the manor to try to find the thing that made their teacher famous.

This is really...

Mellen said, "Okay, I'm clear about the general situation. I'll take this deal... I'll help you leave this manor, and you'll give me what I need."

"Although I can't guarantee success, please believe that I will do my best."

Mellen is being modest when he says that success cannot be guaranteed.

Judging from Vera's current condition, she is most likely contaminated by some supernatural power. If he wants to solve it, Melen actually has the simplest method, which is...fighting poison with poison.

As long as Melen takes action and transforms Vera into a half-fairy-tale life, the forces that seem to be polluting her will be expelled.

However, this method is a last resort, and he will not casually transform others into semi-fairy tale lives.

Next, Mellen chatted with Vera for a while and talked about the special item in general.

Unfortunately, Vera knew very little about that thing.

Because before the accident, Nomi regarded that thing as a treasure, and even his closest family members were not allowed to see it.

After the accident, in order to protect Vera, the only remaining family member, Nomi would never let her touch that thing.

After Nomi died, Vera tried to look for it, but she could never find it. She could only confirm that the thing was in the manor.

After getting the information he wanted, Mellen left.

Looking at Mellen's departing back, Vera remained expressionless, even her eyes were filled with indifference.

Mellen left the villa and wandered around the manor.

This manor is also interesting, with hundreds of puppets of different images scattered throughout it, as well as many interesting mechanisms.

Most of these mechanisms were placed in conspicuous places. Some were secret passages leading to other places, some were switches that could control puppets to perform various actions, and some were hidden rooms that blended in with the environment...

After a moment, Mellen said to himself, "This is the perfect place to play hide-and-seek."

He glanced in the direction of the villa, then looked away and continued walking around.

In a room in the villa, behind the curtains, two pairs of eyes were staring at Mellen. They were David and Johnny.

Johnny pulled the curtains and said uncertainly, "Did he find us?"

David said, "Perhaps, it is said that people with extraordinary powers have very sharp senses."

"Supernatural power? A supernatural being?!" Johnny said uneasily, "If he is a supernatural being, then we..."

David shook his head and said, "It's possible that he's just a guy who has just come into contact with the extraordinary. Don't panic."

Then, he said bitterly, "If the old man hadn't been holding on to those secrets and not telling us, why would we have gone through so much trouble?!"

Johnny hesitated for a moment and said, "Didn't the teacher say that those powers would only bring curses and misfortunes..."

David interrupted Johnny and scolded him, "Nonsense!"

Mellen's sudden appearance ultimately caused some unexpected changes in the plan, and the pressure from the extraordinary person made it impossible for David to maintain his usual calmness.

As if sensing the inconsistency in his tone, he calmed himself down and continued, "Don't we already know that? The teacher has clearly discovered the path to transcendence from that object, yet he refuses to teach us."

"As for Mel and Fina, their accidents were just accidents. Otherwise, why has the teacher been fine all this time?!"

"You're just saying you're afraid we might be in danger too. Vera's changes have both been seen by you and me. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"Even if it's true as Vera said, that she became like this because of a curse, it's also because of this manor. We just need to take that item and leave."

"My biggest regret is that when the teacher asked me to keep that item for him, I didn't just take it away. At that time, I naively thought that as long as I was obedient, the teacher would share the secret with me!"