Mystery: The Silver Key

Chapter 40: An Unexpected Rejection

After carefully reviewing all his memories and confirming that he had no so-called believers, Cyril stared solemnly at the full-length mirror in front of him:

"Are you sure you're my follower?"

Seemingly sensing Cyril's emotions, the ripples on the mirror surface became chaotic, and after a while, silver words emerged:

"I'm quite sure. To be sure, I even secretly observed him for a while."

As Arods gave his answer, he also constructed a realistic portrait in the mirror:

He was an elderly man with half-white hair, wearing a gray-collared shirt and a woolen overcoat, with light blue and exceptionally clear eyes, like the surface of a clear lake under a deep blue sky.

"His name is House, a member of the Backlund Machine Heart Squad, and a Sequence 9 'Secret Seeker'."

As Sirion looked at his reflection in the mirror, a memory flashed through his mind: when he had just transmigrated, a Mechanical Heart team came to investigate the evil ritual that caused the original owner's death.

He remembered that the old man named House had looked at him from afar in the carriage. He felt that the other man had seen something in him, and he was worried about it for several days. However, the people from the Mechanical Heart never came to find him, and he had almost forgotten about it.

So, back then, because of his "peeping to the secrets" nature, he did see things in me that he shouldn't have seen, and was thus corrupted, becoming my believer?

But he may not necessarily be my follower. It is also possible that a "higher-dimensional observer" in the starry sky has discovered him and, taking advantage of the situation, has developed him into a follower.

If it's the latter case, then his plan to steal the underground seal of St. Hillan Cathedral must be aimed at me.

Is it simply to gain the power to deal with me, or to frame me and push me to the opposite side of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, so as to use the power of the Church of the True God to deal with me?

Wow, if that's the case, that's pretty harsh.

We must take action; neither my followers nor the followers of the "higher-dimensional observers" can allow him to continue this plan.

Thinking of this, he looked at the rippling mirror-like surface of the water in front of him and said in a deep voice:

"Stop him, but don't hurt him, that's not my intention."

In his heart, he would have preferred Arodes to find a way to kill the other party, but unfortunately, this guy was just a restricted sealed object and might not be able to do it.

He was also worried that House might die and cause a lightning strike, which would draw the attention of the Church of the "God of Steam and Machinery" to him. So, until he could come up with a solution, he decided to keep him alive.

As he spoke, lines of words rapidly appeared on the surface of the full-length mirror:

"No problem, I will convey your divine message to him."

Although it was just text, he could sense the other party's hidden sense of loss, as if this mirror really wanted to leave the Steam Church.

I thought this little mirror only wanted to follow Klein away from the Steam Church after he appeared, but it turns out it had always harbored thoughts of defection.

Indeed, once you have the characteristic of being alive, who would want to be a sealed object held in someone else's hands?

As he was thinking, he suddenly froze, belatedly realizing that he seemed to have an extraordinary understanding of words, able to see the other person's emotions and vague thoughts through simple words.

After being promoted to "Master of Tricks," did he also gain some of the abilities belonging to "High-Dimensional Overlords"?

This seems different from potions; I need to discover, understand, and master it myself...

Coming to his senses, he saw a line of words already reflected in the full-length mirror in front of him, but which dared not disappear because he had not answered:

"A sublime being, do you have any further questions?"

Cyril shook his head gently: "No more."

On the mirror, the words instantly came to life:

"A sublime being, Arodes takes his leave."

"I will now convey your divine message to your believer."

As the silvery words on the mirror disappeared, the full-length mirror instantly became bright, reflecting the interior layout and Sirion's image once again.

Thump~ thump~

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Before Sirion could open it, the person outside had already pushed the door open.

Wearing a well-fitting formal suit, a top hat, and gold-rimmed glasses, Ha Wen stood in the doorway and tossed a letter at him:

"There's a letter for you from the Cuckoo Newspaper. It seems there's been a response to your submission from a couple of days ago."

"Also, you didn't go to school this morning?"

Cyril reached out and the envelope landed right in his hand: "It's not a big problem. I've already taken two weeks off, one more morning won't make a difference."

Harvin, standing outside the door, seemed used to his behavior and didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he said:

"You'll have to figure out your own lunch and dinner today. I'm going to a party later; it's an invitation from Academician Portland Momont."

"By the way, do you need me to set aside some money for your living expenses today?"

Sirion waved the envelope in his hand magnanimously and said, "No need, I'll pay back the money I borrowed from you soon."

Ha Wen raised an eyebrow slightly, and in a good mood, jokingly asked, "Just paying it back?"

"Shouldn't you be the one lending me some start-up capital for the lab this time?"

"You're planning to set up your own laboratory?" Sirien looked at Harvin in surprise.

He suspected that some of his intelligence might have been taken away by Ha Wen when his mother was pregnant, otherwise why would the twins be so different?

With a restrained smile, Havin nodded slightly: "That depends on the outcome of today's gathering. However, Academician Portland Momont said he has high hopes for me. If all goes well, I might be able to secure some investment through his connections."

"Then I wish you all the best." Xireen raised her hands and gave the other person a hug from afar.

He paused, then added, "To show my support, if the investment you ultimately secure doesn't meet your expectations, no matter how much the shortfall is, I'll make up for it."

Havin raised his hand to adjust the top hat on his head and chuckled, "You can have more faith in me, and I hope you also have enough faith in your savings."

"Alright, I have to go now. I need to find Academician Portland Momont first."

After saying that, Ha Wen turned and walked towards the stairwell.

After watching Havin's figure disappear, Xireen sat down at her desk and opened the envelope in her hand.

The reply from the Cuckoo Newspaper consisted of only a few lines of words written on a piece of paper, which was torn in several places and the handwriting was not very neat.

Even without his own ability to interpret words, he could tell that the person writing the reply was not at peace.

A moment later, the letter and the envelope below suddenly burst into flames in his hand, turning to ashes, which were then swept out the window by the flowing air.

He was rejected for blasphemy, and the newspaper's reviewer said that if it happened again, he would report him to the nearby Church of the Night.

"This newspaper, which is clearly affiliated with the Steam Church, actually said it would report me to the Night Goddess's Church of the Night. The reviewer who replied to me is quite good at protecting himself."

He muttered a complaint under his breath, then leaned back in his chair, gazing thoughtfully at the gray sky outside the window.

He roughly guessed the part that led to his rejection: the Abyss Cult and the Wind God who busked on the streets and swindled people out of alcohol.

"If I wrote about the false heaven, wouldn't all seven major churches of the true gods come knocking on my door to check my gas meter at the same time?"

"How stingy! They don't understand what freedom of thought is at all."

"Sooner or later, I will bring the will of freedom to this world!"

"But before that, I need to come up with some literary content that wasn't copied by Russell and that can be published in this world. I still need to make money."

After gazing at the sky outside the window and muttering to himself for a while, he suddenly sat up straight and picked up the round-bellied fountain pen that was lying to the side:

This is a story about technological development and environmental pollution, and the class conflict between high-level managers and ordinary people.

It is a story that combines love, family, friendship, struggle, conspiracy, and adventure.

In another, faraway world, there exists a city renowned for its advanced technology, called Zaun...