Then there was a loud "pop" sound that scared Cesare's whole body. The crazy girl Anya suddenly jumped up and threw herself into the pile of groceries like a hunting cat, making a violent noise. Waiting for Cesare When he looked at her, he saw that half of the girl's body was buried in the cargo pile, leaving only one of her legs hanging outside. Anya turned over and sat up, shook the dust from her hair, looked around looking for something with her mouth pouted a little angrily, and then shouted: "Don't run!"
"What? What did you see?" Although Cesare has gradually understood Anya's habits, he will inevitably be led astray by her when strange situations occur. Following Anya's gaze, a fluffy earth-colored fur ball poked out from under a piece of white cloth. The furry body also had some unevenly distributed patterns. Before Cesare could confirm, the fur ball suddenly opened. A pair of eyes with erect pupils made a frightened cat cry.
It was a dirty little tabby cat that had lived in this warehouse for who knows how long without being discovered. When Anya stood up again and pounced on it again, the kitten was so frightened that it raised its tail. Everything about his body exploded, and he jumped up quickly and shuttled back and forth among the goods in the warehouse.
The cat ran so fast that it would be difficult for a normal person to keep up with its speed, let alone catch it. However, the girl's light body can follow the cat closely. Anya jumps over and jumps from one cargo box to another, sometimes imitating the cat's movements and running on all four limbs at the same time in the complex terrain, crowded cargo piles. For her flexible figure, it was like walking on flat ground. To outsiders, she looked like a big tabby cat chasing a small tabby cat. Only Anya enjoyed it.
"Cesare! It's running towards you! Help me stop it!" Anya shouted anxiously, but Cesare just sneered silently and stopped looking at her.
One man and one cat started a chase in the warehouse. Cesare's throat hurt when he stepped on the dust. After the chase in the outer circle ended, the two magical creatures began to chase in the inner circle around Cesare. Cesare was running around left and right, disturbing him so much that he couldn't concentrate at all. Even when the cat passed by him, Anya easily jumped onto the table, raised her leg and kicked hard. , the whole body turned over Cesare's head.
Cesare retracted his legs inward for fear of being stepped on by her. When Anya landed smoothly, he immediately found his balance and ran forward. However, the cat still jumped onto the window edge first and stood happily in front of the open window. Wagging his tail as if taunting him, he jumped out of the window and disappeared without a second thought, ending the game.
"Oh... what a pity." Anya whispered regretfully with her back to Cesare, and when she turned around, she had a sweet smile on her face, as if she had gone through all this just to get to Cesare. It seems to be around. "How's your research going, Cesare?"
In response, Cesare rolled his eyes silently, and then carefully placed the mechanical heart on the ground. "There are no signs of damage on the outside. Just in time for your visit, I would like to see if I can use magic to activate the magic circle inside."
After saying that, Cesare snapped his fingers, and as the sound spread in the warehouse, the magic fluorescence floating on the ground began to tremble violently as if it had received some kind of induction. When Cesare slowly placed his palm on When the device was placed on it, the fluorescent lights gathered and moved like countless fireflies, eventually forming a huge circle shining with magical light right below the mechanical heart.
Cesare slowly raised his palm, and the gathered magic was pulled out from the surface, surged upward, and spread into the interior of the mechanical heart.
"It's amazing! It's a pity that I don't understand magic or mechanics, so what are you doing?" Anya first praised Cesare's magic, and then asked a question, but Cesare did not respond to him, just silently Quietly waiting for the mechanical heart's reaction. However, the surrounding area returned to darkness as the fluorescence disappeared, but the heart was still cold, without any change.
"Well...can we applaud now? Or should we wait?" Anya asked, holding her shoulders and tilting her head.
"It seems that the internal structure is completely damaged. It must be disassembled before there is any hope of repairing it." Cesare said with some disappointment. He was about to reach out to pick up the heart, but his fingers touched the iron surface for a moment. I felt an unusual temperature. Under the gaze of the two people, a weak light suddenly flashed between the gaps in the finely crafted iron sheets.
"Wait, there seems to be a reaction." Then, the light bursting out from the heart became brighter, gradually illuminating the expectant faces of Anya and Cesare.
Suddenly, a structurally small piston made a crisp rattling sound, and then a row of pistons jumped up and down rhythmically. As the piston rotates, a beating sound like a heart comes from the inside of the machine. It is very slow at first, but soon becomes more and more rapid. It sounds almost exactly like the heartbeat of a real person and makes people panic.
Cesare tried to touch the outside of the device, but found that the mechanical structure had become hot, as if there was a flame burning inside. In the end, the entire machine vibrated with the increase in temperature and the beating sound coming from inside, and a stifling thick smoke spurted out from above. The choking Anya coughed repeatedly and quickly waved away the smoke.
It was obviously a happy moment, but Cesare was particularly puzzled. If this device was not broken, why was it sold at a very low price at the auction? Things were indeed not that simple. Before the two of them could be happy for too long, the machine stopped exerting force after a huge beating node. As if it had exhausted its last bit of strength, the internal operation gradually slowed down. The temperature gradually cooled, the heartbeat became calmer, the light inside also dimmed, and Cesare's brows also frowned.
As the last stubborn smoke was discharged from the pipe, the machine seemed to have died suddenly and there was no more movement. It was as if everything just now was just a flashback, and the calm at this time was the destined normality. Seeing this, Anya knelt down and touched Cesare with her elbow, pursed her lips and asked, "Is it still okay?"
Cesare shook his head, knowing that the operation just now was the limit of this machine. Cesare picked up the mechanical heart and put it back on the table. He took out all the tools in his arms and lined them up next to him. He peeled off the surface layer by layer along the traces of the original design and assembly of the device. The dismantled parts of the small machine were spread all over the table, and they were even stuffed into Anya's arms to help hold some.
When Cesare pried open the innermost core, a totem paper firmly fixed in the center was engraved with a magic circle. This is the most important key part of the mechanical operation.
It was a magic circle with a very strange shape. It was different from the common five-pointed star or round moon. The shape of this magic circle looked like branched bird claws, or like a sapling growing out of the soil, or like a sapling growing out of the soil. The base is divided into three bifurcated crosses. Cesare vaguely remembered where he had seen this magic circle, but too much time had passed and he couldn't remember the details. He looked up at the curious girl beside him and decided not to tell Anya about it.
The paint used to draw the array has almost dried up, leaving only shallow marks in most places, and several line segments are completely disconnected, which should be the cause of the mechanical breakdown. Cesare used two fingers to gently twist some paint that had not yet dried. It was a black, viscous liquid that formed sticky threads when rubbed. It smelled extremely unpleasant, like the stench of a rotting corpse. Anya curiously came closer and smelled it, then immediately covered her nose and stepped back.
"What is this? Why does it smell so bad!?"
"It's some kind of highly efficient magic-guiding liquid. Obviously this kind of magic circle can only be drawn with this kind of liquid, otherwise it won't work. This machine is no different from being scrapped." Cesare rubbed it again with an expressionless expression. Rub the slime in your hands until it dries completely. "They determined that the magic circle could not be completed outside, so they made the price of the machine as low as scrap metal... Without this kind of material, I can't repair this machine at all, so I'm sorry, that's the end of it."
Listening to Cesare's explanation, Anya did not show any disappointment. Instead, the corners of her mouth raised inadvertently. "It doesn't exist outside, but it doesn't mean that your Hunyadi family doesn't have it. As long as we go to your family's territory, we will definitely find a way to repair the machine."
Cesare slowly assembled the mechanical heart back to its original state, and responded without any emotion: "Why are you talking about us? This is not within the scope of my promise to you."
At this moment, there were rapid footsteps outside the warehouse door, followed by the sound of a key being used to unlock the door. In the darkness, Patrolman Wayne's voice said decisively outside the door: "Mr. Anri, I definitely heard noises in this warehouse, and I don't know who opened the window. I seriously suspect that a student ran in." in!"
The door was pushed open forcefully, and the moonlight from outside shone in, illuminating the dark interior. The interior of the warehouse was indeed chaotic, but who still remembers what it looked like before it was locked? The two adults looked inside and saw no one, it was just an ordinary warehouse.
Dean Anli followed the patrolman and ran here. He was in such a hurry that he even forgot to put down the wine glass in his hand. Recreation after work does not violate school rules. However, it was strange that he didn't spill any wine during the rush. He went into the warehouse After looking around, he breathed a sigh of relief, raised his glass and took a sip, waiting for Wayne's explanation.
"But, but, I definitely heard it. He must have been hiding!" Wayne picked up the oil lamp and looked inside the warehouse carefully, then walked inside. Lian shrugged and had no choice but to follow behind. At this moment, Cesare and Anya were curled up and hiding behind a large stapled cargo box. Cesare was holding the mechanical device, while Anya was holding the parts that had not yet been put back together. I hold my breath for fear of making any sound.
Just as the light of the lantern gradually illuminated the shadow behind the cargo box, patrolman Vaien had almost vaguely seen Anya's boots. Behind him, director Li An quietly looked at his feet, looking at the weak but bright light. Fluorescent light spots that have not yet disappeared float slowly on the ground. "It's probably just a wild cat. There's nothing to see here. Can I go back to sleep?"
"What? Cat? No, no, no, sir, I'm sure that's not the movement of a cat." Wayne said and was about to walk in the direction of Cesare and Anya. At this time, the two students could only curl up even more. Tight, tight and close together in the shadow of the few remaining goods. Although Cesare did not want any physical contact, but the situation was urgent, he had no choice but to stick to Anya.
The patrolman was still walking in, and director Li An also became impatient, with a slightly angry tone in his tone. "I'm very tired, sir! The salary this college pays me is not enough to sacrifice my precious rest time and eight hours of sleep! Also, don't think that I didn't see the craft beer in your jacket pocket. No accident." If so, this year's financial summary will give you a surprise." After speaking, Li An turned around and left.
"But!" Wayne looked at the direction where Cesare was hiding, then looked at the direction where the teaching director Li An left, and stamped his feet anxiously. "Mr. Director, please wait for me and listen to my explanation!"
As the figures of the two men disappeared into the dusk, nothing more happened tonight.
