Chapter 261: Chapter 260: Deathly Holy Artifacts? Chapter 261: Chapter 260: Deathly Holy Artifacts? Time reverted to the present.
In the main laboratory of the experimental facility, Richard stood on the ground, looking up at Gutas, who was stuck in the rooftop, motionless. He confirmed the other was truly dead.
He couldn’t help but sigh lightly.
Though, due to the previous research breakthrough, Gutas’ usefulness had become less significant. And since he had already acquired enough blood and other tissue samples beforehand, all he needed to do was to continue with cell cultivation from thereon. Hence, even if Gutas died, it was acceptable.
But regardless, Gutas was a rare Bloodline Seed research subject. To simply be killed by Pandora was somewhat regrettable.
Moreover, Pandora had thrown him with such force that the rooftop was damaged—what if it leaked when it rained?
Richard thought about this, sighed again, then quickly started considering the follow-up arrangements.
The rooftop could wait; the weather didn’t seem like it would bring rain anytime soon, but the corpse needed to be dealt with swiftly.
If Gutas’ body had been relatively intact, perhaps it could be frozen and any remaining value extracted. But now, having been left in such a terrible state by Pandora, it seemed more fitting to make him disappear in a humane way.
Blinking, Richard thought of many methods for a humane disappearance: deep burial degradation, incineration, acid dissolution…
However, each method had its advantages and disadvantages; a common downside was that they were all quite bothersome. Actually, the best and most hassle-free way to handle Gutas’ body would be—letting others deal with it.
But that would require someone trustworthy.
Like Gro. Though asking him might scare him half to death before he even began.
Like Alex. He could be trusted too. But given his courage, he probably wouldn’t be much better than Gro.
Richard recalled what Baki had said earlier in the library—that he still owed him two favors and was willing to help if there was trouble.
But could he be taken at his word, or was it just lip service?
Perhaps… this was an opportunity to test him.
Richard’s eyes sparkled as he turned to Pandora and said, “I’m stepping out for a bit. You… well, just get some good sleep. There’s no one for you to keep an eye on this time. Just don’t make trouble or tear down the house, and that’ll do.”
“Hiss!” Pandora climbed into the bed, letting out a disgruntled noise as if expressing some emotion, then promptly fell asleep.
Richard shook his head, stepped out the door.
After a moment, Richard returned.
He waited a while, and then the courtyard door was knocked.
The knocking matched the arranged signal, two long and one short.
Richard opened the door to see a carriage with a cabin parked outside; beside it stood two men—one was the robust Baki, the other slightly smaller in stature, a muscular man.
Upon seeing Richard, Baki wasted no words and asked succinctly, “Where’s the body?”
“In the courtyard,” replied Richard, gesturing behind him—during the earlier time frame, he had managed to dislodge the body from the rooftop and laid it in the yard. After all, he really didn’t want to explain to Baki how a fully-grown man ended up on the roof.
Upon hearing Richard’s word, Baki nodded, walked briskly into the courtyard, and saw Gutas’ body lying on the ground.
In the darkness, Baki took only a rough glance and couldn’t help but curl his lips, showing a trace of sympathy while looking at Gutas’ corpse in its exceedingly strange posture.
Turning his head towards Richard, Baki spoke, “I know I shouldn’t ask, but I’m a bit curious, what did this guy do to offend you, resulting in him being in this state?”
“Um…” Richard spoke, “He climbed over the wall to steal, and also… he admitted that he had killed quite a few people before. Treating him , um… You could say it’s justice served.”
Baki didn’t continue to probe. He knew very well that digging too deep was not going to be a help but instead could create enemies.
In fact, Baki was relieved that Richard had entrusted him with disposing of the body. This at least meant that Richard really considered him a friend to some extent. Naturally, he wouldn’t share his secrets with just anyone, especially not with Rose.
With these thoughts in mind, Baki and his companions exerted force together, lifting the body from the courtyard, tossing it into the carriage, nodded at Richard without saying much, mounted the carriage, and quickly left for the outskirts of the city.
Baki’s companion drove the carriage while Baki stayed in the carriage with the corpse.
Out of boredom, Baki began to carefully examine Gutas’ corpse in the carriage.
With an oil lamp hanging in the carriage, under its illumination, Baki could clearly see what Gutas looked like.
Seeing the clear signs of Gutas having been bound, Baki frowned.
Seeing the numerous needle marks on Gutas’ body, Baki’s frown deepened.
Seeing the shattered bones of Gutas, Baki’s brow scrunched into a knot.
Recalling the time he had bumped into Richard in the library, and the book Richard was holding, Baki shivered and murmured to himself, “Could it be… that’s the truth? But even the most extreme methods in that book weren’t this cruel, right? This seems a bit too much. I’ve never done anything …”
Then Baki’s gaze fell upon Gutas’ gaping mouth, noticing it was obviously deformed, as if something had been roughly stuffed into it frequently, the jaw almost dislocated.
Baki observed Gutas’ mouth for a long time, then subconsciously glanced down at a certain part between his legs and slowly showed a look of horror, “That’s quite severe… gulp!”
Richard, in the lab, wouldn’t know what Baki was wildly imagining. After simply cleaning up the lab, he lit the oil lamp and sat down at the table.
Taking a deep breath, Richard calmed his mind and took out the book he had obtained from the library girl earlier that day from the Space Iron Ring — “My Autobiography – Moratos.”
Placing the book on the table, Richard began to read attentively.
But after reading earnestly for a good while, whether it was the recounted little Spell tricks, or the wicked methods of training Slaves, Richard read every word without missing a beat, fully digesting even the hidden meanings, yet he found nothing strange about it.
“What is it that made the ancient Ring react?” Richard mused aloud, the ancient Ring on his finger remaining continuously warm, “What’s the connection between this book and the ancient Ring? What content is hidden? What secret is the White Stone Tower really hiding?”
Richard’s brow furrowed, pondering continuously.
Richard flipped the book to the last page, his gaze landing on a peculiar symbol on the final page.
On the outside, the symbol was a black triangle. Within the triangle, there was a circle. And finally, a line segment passed vertically through both the triangle and circle, dividing them evenly in half.
This reminded Richard of a modern Earth book called “Harry Potter,” a wizard novel that featured a similar symbol representing three powerful Deathly Holy Artifacts, or in the terms of the current world, three powerful Magic Tools.
The triangle represented the Invisibility Cloak, the circle the Resurrection Stone, and the line segment the Old Magic Wand.
What then did it represent now…
Richard’s eyes twinkled, feeling as though he had just lightly touched upon a piece of the White Stone Tower’s secret and grasped a relevant clue.