Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic
Chapter 929 - 929: Invisible Man

In that instant, it was like placing the Ever-Youth Leaf before my eyes, as information surged from the slate into my mind. But the amount of information was very small, all of it consisting of incomplete sentences.

"So that's it, really just one-third."

But Shard's face didn't show disappointment; instead, he became even more excited. Although the information was fragmented, from the broken sentences, Shard could fully confirm that the knowledge within the slate was definitely related to enhancing Time Perception.

"Mia, I didn't choose the wrong target. This is what I want—a way to enhance Time Perception and acquire the most real-time information!"

He excitedly picked up the clearly reluctant cat. His heartbeat accelerated, and blood rushed to his brain. His thoughts immediately spread out, and various possibilities were presented and then eliminated. Whether the Sixth Era was truly the Sixth Era, or whether the present was really now, perhaps it wasn't important to others. But for Shard, who could travel through past times, it was quite crucial.

With a light touch of his finger on the slate, it flew slightly backward but soon stopped, hovering in front of Shard at eye level. The ever-ready Mia quickly escaped Shard's arms, landed on his leg, then swiftly climbed up and leaped onto Shard's shoulder. And then, with a sudden jump, she actually "caught" the flying slate and stood there with incredible balance.

"Meow~"

The orange cat looked at Shard triumphantly, and Shard looked at Mia with a smile. Reaching out his right hand again towards the slate, Mia hopped along Shard's arm back onto his leg.

Stroking Mia, Shard looked at the slate in the air again:

"I thought that once the knowledge was given to me, the slate would turn to ashes, yet it still exists."

Touching the slate with the silver-rimmed corners again, the slate did not transmit the knowledge to Shard a second time, indicating that its mission to "transmit knowledge" was complete.

"Why wasn't it destroyed?"

Shard was a bit puzzled. He had come into contact with several Old Gods, but whether they represented Miracles or Desecration, those deities would never let the things they created appear where they shouldn't. Since the slate transmitted its knowledge but wasn't destroyed, it meant the slate still had use.

"Why did the Gray Robed Sage leave it to me?"

He lightly tapped the side of the slate, which immediately began smoothly rotating in the air. The silver Light Particles continued to scatter around, and Shard could completely imagine how beautiful an art piece this would be in a pitch-black night.

"Surely it's not just to give me a lamp, right?"

Taking the slate and putting it back into the box, but nevertheless, having an "artifact" left behind by an Old God that bore no Malice towards him was a good thing. Maybe when Shard finds the three slates, the secret of the slate will fully reveal itself. Any intervention the Old Gods from the Fifth Era made in the Sixth Era is for a reason.

Since the Vampire God planned for a thousand years merely out of boredom to obtain fine wine, perhaps the Guardian of the library really just wanted to give Shard a beautiful piece of art, or perhaps—

"Could it be that transmitting the knowledge to enhance Time Perception was just a side effect, and giving me the three wondrous slates was that Old God's main purpose?"

"She" chuckled softly:

[Very possible.]

"Can you feel anything special when touching the slate?"

Shard closed the box.

[Miracle Element, a very pure Miracle Element.]

"How pure?"

[As pure as Silvermoon.]

Shard nodded, holding the box and the cat as he moved to the basement, placing the slate alongside the four printed one-shilling bills.

Before leaving, he glanced at the four "gifts" taken from a gift box:

"What if, as a grey-headed eagle, I presented these four printing plates to Princess Margaret?"

This was Shard's self-amusing thought before he left the basement.

Wrapping up the business with the Time Slate took until past ten, and Mia was unwilling to follow Shard out, so Shard headed to the University District alone to visit Professor Manning.

Unlike Professor Drake, who was disabled in his legs, Professor Manning was in quite good physical and mental health, and thus he wasn't at home every day. That morning, when Shard arrived at number 17 Cat Tail Alley in the thick fog, he knocked on the door but received no response.

Fortunately, he had anticipated this. After waiting a while and confirming that neither Professor Manning nor any servants were home, he took out a notebook to write a note to slip under the door.

But before Shard had finished writing, he felt a tap on his shoulder:

"Oh, Shard!"

He turned around to see a smiling Iluna behind him.

Standing in the fog was a seventeen-year-old girl, wearing a white frilly collar shirt with two rows of silver decorative buttons at the chest, with a brown warm lady's coat over it. She tied a black scarf at her neck and held a brown checkered clutch. It was considered formal attire.

The hazy Friday morning light penetrated the thick fog, and the gray world seemed to have more color because of her presence. Every time Shard saw Iluna, he couldn't help but feel she was truly like the protagonist in this world:

"Oh, good morning, Iluna. What are you doing here?"

"I'm now the newly appointed Police Detective Miss Beyas, commissioned by the Riddlevitch Field to investigate a theft case here."

Iluna pointed to the police badge hanging on her chest, remembering that the first time she visited Shard's house, she used this identity as well:

"Professor Tiris Manning, yes, number 17 Cat Tail Alley. Shard, are you also here to see this old professor?"

"Yes, Professor Manning is an old friend of mine, but he's not at home."

Shard shook his notebook, which he hadn't finished writing.

"No worries, I made an appointment to visit at eleven this morning, so the professor should be back soon."

Iluna said, curiously examining the unopened door, as it was the first time she knew Shard was also acquainted with such an elderly gentleman.

Shard nodded:

"There's still a little over ten minutes until eleven, let's wait together. But what exactly is the theft case about, that even the Church had to get involved? Just now, I thought perhaps the professor had... no, never mind."

He felt it wasn't right to speak ill of someone behind their back, and besides, it was just that the professor had some unique hobbies.

He put his notebook back into the inner pocket of his coat and turned to lean against the wall of Cat Tail Alley, while Iluna, holding her clutch in both hands, stood by the lamppost looking at Shard. In the street on the outside of the two, the gray mist seemed to have solidified. On this sharply cold winter's day, only the silhouettes of passersby flashed by hurriedly.

None could disturb them, and Iluna very much enjoyed such an atmosphere:

"It's related to a Relic. Recently, the Church of Creation notified all churches in this diocese that a Humanoid Relic related to theft has appeared in the city. So far, no one has ever seen its true form. It's an Invisible Man."

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