Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 720 Is it fate that is secretly arranging things?
22B Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes and Watson Detective Agency, second floor office.

After a short silence, Alice suddenly propped up the table with both hands, stood up, leaned forward, and looked excited, as if she was going to give a long speech. But Saint Charity seemed to have foreseen it. The moment the golden-haired maid opened her mouth, she stretched out her left hand, gently strangled her throat, and then pushed her back to her seat. Through this actual example, we can know that the speed of human hands is actually faster than the speed of sound propagation...

"Mmmmm, let me, mmm, speak!!!"

Lingge ignored the struggling sounds coming from the side and said to Miss Detective Gloria, who had a playful look in her eyes: "Thank you for the information you provided us. It is very useful and has answered some questions for us. Then please explain what price we need to pay for this information."

"Eh? Mr. Ling is really being polite~"

Gloria leaned back in her chair and said slowly, "Maybe I'm kind-hearted and will just give it to you for free?"

Lingge looked at her quietly without saying a word, using his eyes to show that he was not a fool who would believe in such a good thing as pie falling from the sky - maybe Alice believed it, but her fate was now strangled by Saint Xia Liya, and it was difficult for her to speak, so her opinion could basically be ignored.

"Well, it seems you are a reasonable man, Mr. Ling, much like me."

Gloria smiled slightly and said something quite controversial. Then, without waiting for Lingge to admit or deny it, she continued, "To be honest, this information really can't be given away for free. Even if we don't consider the unspoken rules of the detective industry, just to comfort me for my near-death experience, Mr. Lingge will surely not be stingy about paying a satisfactory price for it, right?"

Lingge didn't say anything, which was considered as tacit agreement. Although this matter seemed a bit like a forced sale, after all, it was the girl who took the initiative to lure them into the office and then took the initiative to tell them the information. But Lingge didn't interrupt her story, which meant that he had already prepared to pay a price for this information. The only question was how much was the price?
Most of his money had been despicably swindled away by a certain alchemist lady who wished to remain anonymous when he was buying a swimsuit in the city of Lotdana. The few pounds left in his wallet were obviously not enough to pay for this level of intelligence. Was he going to ask the Countess for help again?

"In that case, I will make an offer without hesitation."

Miss Gloria showed a smile that frightened Ling's wallet, but did not make an offer immediately. Instead, she picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of coffee elegantly, then narrowed her eyes slightly, leaned back, and relaxed her posture, as if she was savoring the bitter taste lingering on her lips, teeth and tongue.

After making such gestures, he opened his eyes again. His smiling expression looked very similar to the alchemist lady in Lotterdana City, which made Linger's wallet tremble again. "As for the price, to be honest, it's easy to negotiate. In fact, I don't need such vulgar things as money. As a detective, what I want most is... the truth."

Ling Ge frowned slightly when he heard this: "Do you want me to tell you the truth? To be honest, this price is more expensive than just paying you directly."

"I understand your concerns, Mr. Linger. So actually, my offer is not that high. I just want a chance to cooperate?"

"An opportunity for cooperation?" "Yes." The gray-eyed detective girl put down the teacup in her hand, leaned forward slightly, and said in a seductive tone: "Have you heard of Professor Heinrich Schliemann?"

Before Lingge could reply, the golden-haired maid who had finally broken free from Saint Shalia's ruthless iron hand could not wait to shout: "I know, I know, he is a legendary archaeologist who has excavated the city-state ruins of Troy, Mycenae and Tiryns, and is known as the father of Western archaeology for his outstanding contributions to archaeology. In other words-"

She concluded confidently: "He is undoubtedly also a philosopher of the Witch Society!"

"Huh?" Gloria showed a surprised expression. "I didn't expect Miss Alice to know so much about the philosophers of the society. Even I had to work hard to confirm Professor Heinrich's identity as a philosopher. However, the deeds you mentioned, as far as I know, do not match the professor's life experience. He is indeed an archaeologist and the director of the Lenwitting Prehistoric Heritage Institute. He is dedicated to studying the civilization heritage preserved from ancient times, rather than excavating the ruins of city-states. As for the so-called title of the father of Western archaeology, it is a bit exaggerated. I am afraid that the professor himself would feel ashamed of it."

"Oh, is that so? Maybe I remembered it wrongly?" Alice scratched her hair and pretended to be stupid. The deeds she mentioned were of course true, but they were the deeds of Heinrich Schliemann on Earth.

Linger asked, "So, the matter you want to cooperate with us is related to this professor?"

"Yes."

Gloria nodded and said, "All citizens of Lenwitting know that the Prehistoric Heritage Research Institute contracted the City Hall to excavate and investigate an underground ruin in the Roald District three and a half years ago. The archaeological work was not officially published until a week ago. But as you all know, the professor is actually a member of the Witch Society. So, the archaeological work on the underground ruins in the Roald District is naturally not as simple as it seems on the surface. It is actually a project of the society. The ancient relics buried in the ruins must be of great significance to them, otherwise a philosopher would not be directly responsible for it, and it would not take up a full three and a half years and a lot of manpower and material resources. If we can find a way to obtain the research results of Professor Heinrich Schliemann, perhaps we can get a glimpse of what the Witch Society wants to do next."

Linger frowned: "So, how do we do it? This isn't an easy task, is it?"

"Normally it would be difficult, but according to my careful investigation, our dear Professor Heinrich Schliemann has two bad habits. One is that he is used to backing up all the work diaries and research results of all archaeological projects in a secret study in his villa, Xiaoliang Palace, in Westminster. Another bad habit is that every time he publishes a major research result, the professor will hold a banquet in Xiaoliang Palace, invite celebrities from all walks of life to attend, and publicly display some of the results. The purpose is to arouse their interest, expand the influence of archaeology, and at the same time raise funds from them as the activity funds for the Institute of Prehistoric Heritage. This time is of course no exception."

"This means that as long as we can attend this banquet and find a way to sneak into the professor's secret study, we can easily obtain valuable information."

"It just so happens that I have an invitation to Professor Heinrich Schliemann's dinner party in my hand. Where did it come from? Why don't I remember it?"

Gloria slowly took out an invitation card with gold wax printed on it from her shirt pocket and gently shook it under the gaze of the guests, smiling slyly and intriguingly: "Maybe this is what they call fate?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)