Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 887 - 514: The Secret of the Boundary (Part 4)
But Gloves had some concerns: "Master, next time we come, this thing might not be in its original place."
Li Banfeng was startled: "What do you mean?"
Gloves wasn’t sure how to express it: "I just vaguely remember that when Black Glove came here, it had to be looked for each time. Sometimes it would be found in half an hour, and other times it might not be found even after a whole night."
Li Banfeng understood what Gloves meant. The location of these documents was not fixed, and the next time they came, this document box might be relocated.
This was a bit troublesome.
Hong Ying yawned: "We’ve copied so much tonight, just keep it for now. We’ll talk about the remaining half when we have the chance."
Gloves had a different idea: "In our line of business, we’re just afraid of variables. Things went smoothly today, but who knows what issues might arise next time."
Hong Ying said: "What kind of issues could there be? Didn’t you say that the one named Xiao has been here many times? If he can get away unscathed, what are we afraid of?"
Gloves shook his index finger and said: "As the Master also said, Xiao Zhenggong has been in the outside provinces for many years. He knows how to handle some matters, but we don’t!"
The crowd kept arguing, but it woke up the Judge’s Pen lying on the shelf.
"Annoying!" The Judge’s Pen turned over, stood up from the shelf, and flew to the document box.
"Ink!" The Judge’s Pen commanded, and Gloves quickly went over to grind the ink.
The Clock Pendulum was startled: "Why are you listening to him like that?"
Gloves didn’t quite understand either: "I just felt he was quite imposing just now."
"Paper!" The Judge’s Pen ordered again, and the Tang Sword cut the paper and placed it in front of the Judge’s Pen.
"Flip!" The Judge’s Pen looked at the documents and instructed Hong Ying to turn the page.
Hong Ying angrily said: "You’re acting against me, how dare you command me?"
The Phonograph slapped Hong Ying: "Listen to him!"
Unable to help it, Hong Ying turned the pages for the Judge’s Pen.
The Judge’s Pen dipped into the ink, and with a flick of the pen tip, it copied a page of the document.
Li Banfeng was stunned, it was even faster than a photocopier.
"Are you using the Literature Cultivation Technique, ’A Thousand Lines with One Stroke’?" Li Banfeng had seen Zhang Xiuling use this technique, but Zhang Xiuling definitely couldn’t write this fast.
Even if a Literature Cultivator from Above the Clouds came, they couldn’t write this fast.
"Hmph!" The Judge’s Pen didn’t bother to respond, and in the blink of an eye, another page was done.
As Hong Ying flipped the pages, the Judge’s Pen kept writing, and in less than an hour, the remaining half of the documents were finished.
After writing, the Judge’s Pen flew back to the shelf, took a minute to choose a suitable spot, and lay down steadily.
Li Banfeng walked over to the shelf and asked: "I remember the Peddler once said you gave all your techniques to that real pen, so how can you still perform the Literature Cultivation Techniques?"
"Blanket!" The Judge’s Pen didn’t answer Li Banfeng’s question, only said the word "blanket."
"Blanket," what does it mean?
Li Banfeng thought for a moment and realized it was literal.
He took a newspaper and used it as a blanket for the Judge’s Pen, which promptly fell asleep.
Hong Ying said angrily: "Had I known he had this skill, why did we exhaust ourselves?"
The Phonograph sighed: "This Cheap Pen put in so much effort, do you think it doesn’t cost?"
Hong Ying resented: "Don’t we also incur costs? Didn’t we exert ourselves?"
The Judge’s Pen roared: "Quiet!"
The family fell silent, and Li Banfeng, carrying the document box, quietly left the Portable Residence.
Returning the document box to its original place, Li Banfeng left the data room and went straight back to his residence.
He wasn’t in the mood to sleep and promptly began researching the boundary’s secrets with his wife, spending an entire day. His wife concluded: "Husband, this isn’t a Craftsmanship Method, in our Puluo State, this surely isn’t a Craftsmanship Method."
The first half of the document discussed electromagnetic theory, so it couldn’t be said that it wasn’t a Craftsmanship Method at all; it’s just his wife wasn’t too versed in this kind of technology.
Li Banfeng had attended college and naturally knew some basics of electromagnetism. He slowly explained some foundations to his wife, and after a whole day, Li Banfeng finally remembered something: "Our old man must understand this. We should have shown it to him first."
The Phonograph said: "The old man has already seen it. When asked if he understood, he didn’t say much. You should personally go and ask him, husband."
Li Banfeng went to the Third Room and asked: "Old man, did you discover the secrets in this?"
The Portable Residence replied: "I think I’ve figured it out."
"Is this the method the people from outside provinces use to control the boundary?"
"It should be."
Li Banfeng seemed dissatisfied: "Old man, why are you always speaking so ambiguously?"
The Portable Residence candidly replied: "Because I’m unsure, this thing looks somewhat like it, but also not quite."
"Shall we try creating something according to this method first?"
"Sounds good, Ah Qi, help me prepare the materials. Some materials aren’t readily available, so you’ll need to find a way with Electric Cultivation."
We’ll also need Luo Zhengnan to make a trip.
Li Banfeng said: "Old man, first write me a list of materials."
...
Da Boyins looked at the list of materials and couldn’t help but shake his head: "The materials you mentioned might not be possible to gather in Puluo State, right?"
"Some items need to be sourced from other provinces." Under Da Boyins’ pressure, Xiao Zhenggong finally wrote out this list, but the materials were indeed hard to find.
Da Boyins made many notes on the list: "I’ve been to other provinces, and there are many things here I’ve never heard of. The outside provinces might not have them either. Did you perhaps misinterpret something?"
Xiao Zhenggong was very confident: "During my time at the Dark Star Bureau, I visited the data room over a dozen times, each time taking only part of the data out, encrypting it through different subordinates. Do you know how much effort I’ve put into this? How could you doubt I misread something?"
Da Boyins was a bit troubled: "It’s fine with the materials that can be found in Puluo State, but those from the outside provinces are not easy to procure."
"Find Lu Xiaolan!" Xiao Zhenggong crossed his legs and poured himself a glass of wine, "She has spent many years in the outside provinces and has plenty of connections."
Da Boyins glanced at Xiao Zhenggong, who, in recent days, had become a lot more humble. However, seeing him now, that air of arrogance seemed to be returning.
Should he ask again if Xiao Zhenggong remembers his own surname?
After thinking it over, Da Boyins discarded the idea.
Let him be arrogant for a while; soon he would no longer be of use.
...
At midnight, at Black Stone Slope, Duan Shuqun, the general manager of Dongjing Stationery Company, had just stepped out of the workshop.
Having received a large order the day before yesterday to rush a batch of stationery to Qi Qiu City, Duan Shuqun had heavily rewarded the workers, leading them to work overtime until now to finally complete the batch.
The workers each went home, and Duan Shuqun returned to the office to sort the accounts. But he had just sat down when he suddenly saw a person, covered in blood, leap into the room.
Duan Shuqun was taken aback; upon closer inspection, the person turned out to be He Jiaqing.
"Jiaqing, how did you end up like this?" Duan Shuqun advanced to support He Jiaqing.
He Jiaqing waved his hand, retreating repeatedly: "Don’t touch me. There’s a lesion on me. The Greenwater Beggar is hot on my heels; find me a place to hide first!"
PS: Yu Dacheng, one of the Iron Sheep Trio, first appeared in Chapter 197.
Duan Shuqun, an important member of the Brotherhood Alliance, first appeared in Chapter 326.