On the Conquest Sea, during the night in Moncarlo, Miss Dorothy, wearing a nightgown, sat on the sofa in her suite. While looking at the bright moon outside the window, she communicated with Vanya in the distance using the consultation channel. At this time, she was transmitting image information one by one into Vanya's mind, letting her identify them. These pieces of image information were all individual items of various kinds, which were goods to be auctioned at the auction tomorrow.
According to the intelligence Miss Dorothy obtained, at the auction tomorrow, Edward and Sword Scale would secretly conduct a crucial important transaction. Sword Scale would confirm the results of Vanya's corruption and then hand over the Water of Immortality in his hand to Edward. The success of this transaction would be the beginning of Edward's secret return to the Ebergrass Church.
After learning about the information of this transaction, Miss Dorothy was very confused. What method would Sword Scale use to approach and confirm Vanya's degree of corruption? Vanya was always guarded by strict escorts, and during the auction, she would be in her own private box. It would be very difficult for irrelevant people to approach. Any stranger approaching Vanya would be suspected, let alone conducting a Spirit Sight test under these circumstances.
Therefore, Miss Dorothy deduced that Sword Scale's corruption detection of Vanya should be carried out without approaching her. After presuming this premise, Miss Dorothy further speculated and finally thought of the nature of the auction.
An auction, in a sense, is a public exhibition. One auction item after another is placed on the stage and displayed before all participants. Everyone's attention will be drawn to these auction items, including Vanya.
Since the Ebergrass Church can develop symbols and patterns that only people who are slightly corrupted can understand their meaning and be interested in, why not apply this technology to these auction items? Sword Scale could create an ordinary artwork, create those special symbols and patterns on it, and then take this artwork to auction.
When this artwork appears before Vanya, who is slightly corrupted, it will immediately arouse her interest. Vanya will inquire about it, and will bid for this item. Even if she doesn't win the bid, she will pay attention to it in various ways afterward. Sword Scale only needs to observe Vanya's reaction after seeing this auction item to confirm whether the seed of corruption he carefully prepared has been successfully planted and whether Edward's mission has been successfully completed. Even if Vanya bids for that item, her escorts around her will not find anything unusual.
Using this method, Sword Scale can check Vanya's corruption status without contacting Vanya at all and without arousing any suspicion, thereby determining whether to give the Water of Immortality to Edward. Similarly, as long as Miss Dorothy knows in advance which auction item the slightly corrupted Vanya will react to, she can lock down Sword Scale's disguised identity on Moncarlo Island by finding the owner of the item.
After figuring this out, Miss Dorothy immediately spent a day sneaking into the Moncarlo Auction House and obtained all the information about the first stage of the auction, including all the auction items that had been photographed and registered, as well as the information of the consignors.
The Moncarlo auction is divided into two stages. The first stage auctions are all ordinary items, and the audience includes many ordinary merchants and rich people. After the first stage ends, the end of the auction will be announced, allowing ordinary people to leave and leaving other secret-related individuals. The second stage then begins to auction items related to secrets and the extraordinary.
Among them, the items in the second stage are more valuable and are guarded very strictly. The items in the first stage are more casual, but Sword Scale, in order not to arouse the suspicion of Vanya's escorts, will definitely arrange the item he prepared for testing in the first stage. After all, Vanya being interested in an extraordinary item for no reason would also arouse suspicion.
Just like that, Miss Dorothy specifically had Vanya eat all the food given by Edward and read the book sent by him at the dinner party, deliberately falling into a state of slight corruption. Then she showed Vanya the auction item information she had collected one by one, letting her confirm them one by one. Finally, upon seeing the twelfth auction item, Vanya finally reacted.
This was an exquisite Holy Mother holy emblem necklace that had undergone special processing. This holy emblem necklace was not only made of Golden, but also inlaid with a ruby in the center, and decorated with a circle of gorgeous and complex patterns around the outside. It looked like an exquisite religious artwork and jewelry created by carefully redesigning the ordinary holy emblem style. There are many similar artworks, which are common in wealthy Churches and among collectors.
"This is…" Sitting in her hotel room, Vanya focused on the new photo of the artwork reflected in her mind, and a trace of fascination couldn't help but appear on her face. Miss Dorothy accurately grasped Vanya's condition and immediately asked her through the consultation channel.
"What? Vanya, is there something wrong with this photo?"
"Well, yes, this Gentle Heart Holy Mother necklace… I feel a strange sensation when I look at it. Overall, it feels similar to when I read that holy scripture. This feeling is very subtle, and I don't know how to describe it. I feel like if this item were in front of me, I would pick it up directly… I would really want it…"
Witnessing the scene in her mind, Vanya stretched out her hand and stroked the empty space above the table in front of her, murmuring, as if holding that holy emblem. Miss Dorothy, upon seeing this scene, couldn't help but touch her chin and ponder thoughtfully.
'The auction item used to test Vanya's reaction… turned out to be a holy emblem necklace? Heh, those guys are really thoughtful… to specially make something like this…'
While saying this in her heart, Miss Dorothy began to recall other registration information related to this holy emblem necklace. Soon, she confirmed who had consigned this holy emblem necklace. It was a North Wu merchant named Ilogu.
'Ilogu… Is this the hidden identity Sword Scale is using in Moncarlo? Even if it's not his, it's one of his subordinates'…'
Having found Sword Scale's hidden identity, Miss Dorothy couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement in her heart. Then she responded to Vanya, saying.
"You've worked hard, Vanya. Next, pray to Aka and let Aka help you clear the Spirit Sight…"
Listening to Miss Dorothy's words, Vanya, sitting in her seat, let out a long sigh. Then she closed her eyes and began to pray to Aka as usual. After receiving the prayer, Miss Dorothy immediately helped her clear the Spirit Sight.
"Thank the Lord…"
Feeling a moment of clarity in her mind, Vanya silently prayed, and at this time, Miss Dorothy responded to her again.
"There are still trace amounts of the drug remaining in your body, but don't worry, I have a way to remove the effect of the "cup" drug. After we leave Moncarlo, I will find an opportunity to detoxify you. Now, you should rest. Tomorrow's auction is the main event."
"I understand, Miss Dorothy. Good night, may Captain Aka protect you…"
Vanya whispered to Miss Dorothy in her mind, then she got up from her seat, preparing to rest and sleep. On the other side, Miss Dorothy took out her "wen hai hang zhi" and placed it on the table.
"Hoo… It seems I'll have to work overtime tonight…"
Sighing, Miss Dorothy opened the book in front of her, turning to the communication page with Little Fox.
...
The bright moon hung high, the lights were brilliant, and the sea breeze blew.
Somewhere in Moncarlo at night, in a carriage driving on an empty street, Detective Ed, wearing a trench coat, sat inside the carriage, silently waiting for the carriage to reach its destination. In front of Ed was a petite figure wearing a cloak and a face mask, and a Black Cat with a vigilant expression sat on the seat beside the figure.
"Woo woo… It's so late, do you still have things to investigate?" The girl named Shaliya said with a hint of fatigue as she yawned, and Ed immediately responded.
"Yes… We've found some important clues here, and now we need Miss Fox's ability to expand the results. I can only trouble you."
"Important clues… Can't we investigate tomorrow night?"
"No, tomorrow night is the auction, and some things must be clarified tonight." Looking at Shaliya in front of him, Ed said solemnly, and Shaliya spoke again with some confusion.
"So who are you investigating this time? Is it someone from Edward's side? Or from the Ebergrass Church?"
"No, none of those, this time it's just an ordinary person."
"An ordinary person?"
"Yes, an ordinary person who might have grasped important clues. Alright, we've arrived. My puppet is already providing you with a view inside the target's room. Now, pray to Aka, and I'll graft that view over."
Finally, as the carriage slowly came to a halt, Ed spoke to Shaliya. Hearing Ed's words, Shaliya also perked up, closed her eyes, and began to pray. Soon after, a strange image from another perspective appeared before her eyes. In this view, there was a man sleeping in his room, covered by a quilt.
Looking at this man, Shaliya used her ability to enter his dream. Soon after, her consciousness transformed into a small white Little Fox and appeared in a lush green park. As soon as she entered, she saw the dream's owner sitting on a park bench, leisurely feeding pigeons.
The Little Fox who entered the dream looked around the dream scene, then jumped directly in front of the man, the dream's owner, scaring away a large flock of pigeons he was feeding. This made him speak up.
"Hey, where did this Little Fox come from?"
"I ask you, what is your name? What are you?" Ignoring the man's reaction, the Little Fox directly asked him. After a moment of surprise, the man replied.
"You're not answering my question, but asking me questions instead… Alright, I'll tell you. My name is Allen, and I work at the auction house on the island as a registrar."
The man named Allen truthfully answered everything he knew. At this time, Dorothy also began to guide the Little Fox on how to ask questions through the communication channel.
"Then do you remember a consignor named Yiguluo?"
"Yiguluo… I don't seem to remember. I usually don't make a point of remembering the names I encounter at work." Allen thought for a moment and then spoke, while the Little Fox immediately responded again.
"Then… do you remember what he looked like?" Saying this, a faint soft light appeared on the Little Fox's body. She began to use her ability to awaken fragmented memories that Allen's own main consciousness might have forgotten, and the effect was very good.
"Ah… now I remember. That Yiguluo seems to be a North Wu person. The item he consigned for auction is a saint emblem necklace, which has been scheduled as auction item number twelve."
Allen said with sudden understanding, and at this time, the Little Fox continued to speak.
"Show me the specific appearance of that guy."
After the Little Fox finished speaking, a phantom image of a traditional North Wu merchant, wearing a robe and a headscarf, and slightly overweight, appeared beside him. Dorothy immediately compared this image with the image of Sword Scale in her memory and found that they were very different. This Yilugu is likely Sword Scale's subordinate.
"Do you know where this Yilugu lives?" Looking at the materialized phantom image before her, the Little Fox continued to ask Allen, who shook his head and spoke.
"I don't know this. When registering, this guest refused to register his address on the island. He only said that the money from the auction would be deposited in the firm, and he would come to collect it later. We couldn't force him."
Allen responded this way. After hearing his words, Dorothy couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly, and then guided the Little Fox to ask him.
"Then… is there anything else special about this Yiguluo?"
"Anything special… It doesn't seem like it. If I had to say something, when he registered the auction item, he specifically instructed us to arrange his item to be auctioned a bit earlier, but the earlier slots were already full, so we arranged number twelve for him." Allen said this, and then he seemed to remember something else and continued to speak.
"Ah, right, if there's anything else to note, it's that shortly after this Yilugu registered the item, a Faloro person named Gade came. He also specifically requested that the auction order for his item be later, and it must be at least three items after number twelve. Even if it costs more money, it must be after the Holy Mother necklace at number twelve… He was also a bit strange."
"Must be after number twelve…"
Listening to Allen's words, Dorothy, sitting on her sofa, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, as if she had realized something. Then she instructed the Little Fox to ask again.
"Then what does this Gade look like? What is the item he is auctioning?"
"Here, this is what he looks like. Take a look."
Allen responded to the Little Fox's words. As he spoke, a phantom image of a standard middle-aged man with blond hair, wearing a suit, appeared in the dream space in front of him. Beside him, a small, well-made crystal bottle floated.
"Auction item number seventeen, the Vic Court Crystal Bottle, is the item registered by this Mr. Gade. It also comes with a small bottle of court nectar."
Allen explained to the Little Fox before him, while Dorothy, through the Little Fox's vision, stared intently at the small crystal bottle in the dream.
"I have one more question. Are all these registered auction items currently in your auction house's possession?"
"Some are, some aren't. Some guests feel they can better keep their auction items themselves, and they can do so as long as they give us the items half an hour before the auction is to take place. Like this crystal bottle at number seventeen, it's still in its owner's hands. He can wait until item number seventeen is about to be auctioned before giving it to us, as long as he leaves us enough time for confirmation."
Allen answered the Little Fox this way. Listening to Allen's answer, an expression of interest appeared on Dorothy's face. Then, in Ed's voice, she spoke to the Little Fox.
"Miss Fox, we've asked enough questions here. Now let's move to another place and talk to someone else."
"Ah… where else do we need to go? And who else do we need to ask?"
"The usual place, a familiar face… I need to review Mr. Tonic's memory again."
...
Soon after, Ed and Shaliya arrived near the secret prison again. There, with Dorothy's help, Shaliya successfully entered Tonic's dream again. On the ship in the dream, the Little Fox saw Tonic in the dream again.
Here, the Little Fox asked the words Dorothy had instructed.
"I have one more question to ask you. After Sword Scale confirms Edward's results, how will he give the Fountain of Youth water to Edward? Will they meet directly face to face to hand over the goods?"
"Until he notifies me, I don't know how Lord Sword Scale will give the Fountain of Youth water to Edward. But I am certain that Lord Sword Scale will absolutely not meet Edward in person. Edward's actions are inconsistent, and he changes his stance without principle. If Lord Sword Scale rashly appears in his true form on his territory, Edward might temporarily renege, set up an ambush to forcibly capture him, and use the captured Lord Sword Scale, who has consumed the Fountain of Youth, to atone for his sins to Holy Mountain.
"Since Moncarlo is Edward's territory, which he has managed for a hundred years, if he chooses to double-cross at the last moment of a face-to-face transaction, Lord Sword Scale will be very passive. Therefore, to be safe, Lord Sword Scale will definitely come up with a way to trade the Fountain of Youth water without directly meeting that Old thing Edward. This method will definitely keep the initiative of the transaction entirely in Lord Sword Scale's own hands throughout."
Tonic responded to the Little Fox this way. Listening to Tonic's words, a slight smile appeared on Dorothy's lips in the distance.
At this moment, she… had found a way to operate among these Scarlet at tomorrow's auction.