21st Century Necromancer
Chapter 848 - 842: The Necklace in the Easter Egg

Akagi was handling matters in Fukuoka's Tenmangu Shrine, while Chen Yu in Tokyo had already received a gift from the Russians.

Indeed, the Russians acted swiftly. After reaching an agreement with Chen Yu earlier, the gift was now placed right in front of him.

In the previous negotiations, the right to summon a Demigod ultimately fell into the Russians' hands. Although the U.S. Special Envoy presented three consecutive offers, putting forth everything he could, the inherent lack of resources determined that the United States had little competitive advantage in such a setting.

Certainly, the Americans had acquired many valuable goods from their plunder of the Indians back in the day, but how could the Indians compare to the former Russian Empire?

As for resources, whatever the Americans could offer, the Russians could provide as well. Competing in technology or economic strength might slightly favor the Americans, but when it came to the foundation in the Transcendent domain, the Russians, as an old-established European power, surpassed the Americans by far.

As for the U.S. Special Envoy, the consequence of failing to persuade Chen Yu was that he had twenty years of his lifespan extracted, transforming him from a middle-aged man into an elderly one.

This terrifying method not only shocked the Americans but also filled the Russians with dread.

There are many ways to kill a person, but extracting someone's life force—this method is far more frightening and appalling than death itself.

Though history has seen countless fearsome entities and rulers in Europe who relied on cruel means to assert their authority and maintain their reign, such a direct method of extracting life from a living person was unprecedented to both the Russian and American envoys.

While death itself inspires fear, what is even more terrifying than death is the manner of dying.

Dying in the battlefield, for instance, is a type of death; yet for those Courageous warriors who embrace death without hesitation, dying in battle is a death they might even yearn for.

For ideals, for love, for freedom... people always find various reasons to overcome their fear of death and face it valiantly. But what if the death is that of aging?

To be in the prime of life, only to suddenly grow white-haired and wrinkled overnight—yesterday with a robust and powerful physique, but today frail and weak. A life that was supposed to span seventy years now reduced to fifty. To tangibly feel oneself inch closer to death with each passing day—such terror surpasses the fear of directly confronting death.

Especially the uncertainty of how long one still has to live, coupled with the knowledge of having lost twenty years of lifetime out of nowhere. The possibility of dying suddenly tomorrow is enough to mentally devastate even the most staunch warriors.

However, compared to the Americans' fear after having their life force extracted, the Russians instead calmly discerned a key point.

Chen Yu had extracted the American's life before the Russian envoy's very eyes. The American had visibly aged twenty years in an instant, transforming from middle-aged to elderly. The extraction was perceptible to the naked eye—he had personally seen Chen Yu extract a certain energy from the U.S. Special Envoy, and then preserve it afterward.

If one could extract and preserve that energy, could it also be reintroduced into a human body?

The Russian envoy did not voice his question aloud but committed the scene he witnessed to memory. Despite being able to currently command only one Demigod, Russia still had access to a Demigod, and some questions could be brought up for their expertise.

After the Russian envoy relayed this matter back home, it immediately alarmed the three Demigods there. They regarded the incident with high importance, which explained why the Russians delivered their gift so swiftly.

The three Demigods required immediate confirmation from the Russian envoy on certain points, and presenting the gift was undoubtedly a very fitting occasion.

"Respected His Excellency the Demigod, this is the Demigod Artifact necklace once used by Empress Catherine the Great," the Russian envoy said, placing an exquisite and ornate jewelry box in front of Chen Yu. As the box opened, it revealed an even more magnificent Easter egg adorned with blue gemstones and diamonds.

Seeing the egg, a glimmer of surprise appeared in Chen Yu's eyes. "Is this a Fabergé egg?"

"It is," the Russian envoy replied. "At the time, His Excellency Potemkin specially commissioned the finest Russian jewelers of the era to craft this egg when creating the necklace for Empress Catherine the Great. Although it may not match the fame of the most renowned Fabergé eggs, it is still a rare masterpiece from the Tsarist Russian Royal Family's collection."

With visible pride, the Russian envoy introduced the egg before him, then put on a pair of white gloves. Only then did he cautiously and delicately pick up the precious egg from the jewelry box.

"Allow me to demonstrate," the Russian envoy said respectfully to Chen Yu, before carefully twisting the mechanisms on the egg, causing it to open.

Inside the egg was yet another, slightly smaller egg, equally adorned with fine jewels but shifting in color from blue to red.

Chen Yu noticed that on the inner egg, there was an intricately crafted miniature portrait of Empress Catherine the Great.

As though catching Chen Yu's gaze, the Russian envoy promptly explained, "This portrait is said to have been personally painted by His Excellency Potemkin as a token of his love for Empress Catherine the Great. Moreover, the portrait can be detached to serve as a standalone pendant, though Empress Catherine the Great never wore it as such throughout her life."

"Is that so? Truly masterful craftsmanship. To achieve such intricate work while still hiding a space that can house a necklace—this is undoubtedly a treasure," Chen Yu said. With a wave of his hand, the egg floated from the Russian envoy's grasp to his own, and the last layer opened automatically.

This inner layer revealed yet another egg, but unlike the preceding ones, it lacked jewel embellishments. Its surface was made of pure white enamel, with a decorative detail in blue-gold metal at the top. A golden chain spiraled down the egg's exterior in a double-helix design, converging at the base, where it was secured by a stand while concealing the rest of the chain within the egg.

Without touching the egg itself, Chen Yu watched it rotate. The top decoration turned halfway, loosening an internal latch. As the bottom stand detached, the blue-gold chain unwound itself from a thin spindle, transforming into a blue-gold necklace.

The decoration at the top of the egg then floated out from inside, forming a blue-gold pendant that hung from the necklace, embedded with a gemstone that shimmered with deep, luminous starlight.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.