Chapter 1840 Three Glazed Beads <TOC> Chapter 1842 Scarf
Translator: SumTLMan
Hidden clues?
Gloria’s words took Angel by surprise. The illusion was of Angel’s own making, so he was well-versed with the clues within the painting. What could possibly be hidden?
However, since Gloria brought it up, Angel decided to hear her out.
Gloria took out a glass bead and gently caressed it, and the scene of the —Apocalypse Heavenly Eye— appeared before them.
Gloria extended her finger, pointing to the lower right corner of the image: “What do you think this is?”
Following her gesture, Angel saw what Gloria was pointing at a semi-circular object nestled within one of the numerous fissures in the painting. To be precise, it was a circular object, but only half was visible, the other swallowed by the dark chasm, thus only showing a semi-circle.
This object had indeed caught Angel’s attention while constructing the illusion, but because it was enveloped in darkness, it didn’t seem significant at the time. Now that Gloria was pointing it out directly, Angel started to ponder deeply.
“A grayish-black semi-circular object, it doesn’t seem to have any distinct features, could it be some kind of ball?” Angel murmured to himself.
Gloria shook her head: “It’s not a ball, its cross-section is actually flat.”
Not intending to keep him in suspense, and under Angel’s inquisitive gaze, she revealed the answer.
“I am a gourmet witch, hence I am very familiar with the utensils I use. If I’m not mistaken, this semi-circular item should be a pot.”
“A pot? As in a pot used for cooking?” Angel asked incredulously.
Gloria shook her head, “Although it is a pot, it is probably not meant for cooking.”
Angel looked at Gloria, puzzled, and waited for her to explain how she could determine that this pot was not related to cooking.
“Intuition,” Gloria tapped her forehead, “Even without direct evidence, after using various pots over time, I can ascertain their purpose even without considering their shape. This pot, although without distinctive features, my intuition tells me, is not for cooking, but a tool for concoction.”
A concoction tool? Angel seemed to have thought of something. Such a form of concoction tool… “Could it be a potion cauldron?”
“Yes, I also believe this could be a kind of potion cauldron,” Gloria replied affirmatively.
The so-called potion cauldron is actually a specialized apparatus for a branch of potion studies. The potions brewed in this branch have a unified term——Witch Soup.
Witch Soup is a product of the Gypsy school within potion studies. Generally, only witches can inherit the Witch Soup, and all Witch Soups are not named after their properties but after the names of the witches themselves. For example, the Ceylon Witch Soup is crafted by Ceylon; the Carling Witch Soup, by Carling…
The clue provided by Gloria was highly extensible.
Once it’s confirmed that this pot is indeed used to concoct Witch Soups, it would be possible to lock onto some definitive leads. In this scenario, there would be someone who concocts Witch Soups.
“Related to you, also concocts Witch Soups,” Gloria looked at Angel, “Do you think of anyone?”
Angel recalled carefully the women he knew; none seemed to have explicitly indicated an ability to craft Witch Soups. Perhaps Liana might? But Liana is primarily focused on the fragrance school. As for other female alchemists, that would leave only the members of the Research Institute such as Farina, Portia, and Kimberly from Black Castle.
The individuals mentioned above are those who have a barely passable relationship with Angel; there are others with whom there is little to no relationship, and even some enmity, such as the Basket Witch and Grafting Lunatic, whom Angel did not consider in his count.
But even if all were counted, to Angel’s knowledge, none were experts in Witch Soup.
Kimberly is a mechanical alchemist and has not been practicing for long, hence can be ruled out; the Basket Witch, Summer Dew, and the Grafting Lunatic, Dongula, are both fervent biology alchemists and can also be ruled out; Portia is an expert in fragrances, and Farina specializes in aqueous solutions… Perhaps they know a bit about Witch Soup, but Angel is not very familiar with their expertise.
Moreover, Angel does not expect to have any contact with the aforementioned individuals in the near future.
“Have you thought of something?” Gloria asked again.
Angel shook his head: “I know some female alchemists, but it seems none of them specialize in Witch Soup.”
Gloria shrugged: “Then it seems this clue is currently not helpful to you. Let’s look at another clue.”
After speaking, Gloria pointed to the lower-left corner of the scene.
Looking there, Angel saw that Gloria was pointing to an area of broken stones, and beneath them, a blood-stained boot could vaguely be seen.
Perhaps, someone was trapped under the rubble.
As the constructor of the illusion, this was undoubtedly a clue Angel would have noticed. He had observed it carefully and found nothing unusual about the boot, except, perhaps, for its old-fashioned shape and the rough material and tanning of the leather, which resembled the methods of ancient times.
Aside from the boot, Gloria had discovered several other clues. For instance, there was a long-snouted animal that had fallen, as well as a segment of human bones that had tumbled into a ravine.
The clues were all too apparent, and Angel had noticed them as well. Even the documentation for a proboscidean animal was found, a common herbivore inhabiting regions with a temperate climate. This animal had a broad distribution, making it difficult to pinpoint a specific geographic location.
As for the fragment of human bones, they were beyond recognition, leaving no clues behind.
Just when Angel thought that perhaps only the cauldron of broth might be a useful clue, Gloria spoke up, “I’ve discovered a place that’s somewhat abnormal, but I’m not sure if it constitutes a clue. You can judge for yourself.”
After saying this, Gloria pointed towards the sky in the image.
Angel looked without much hope, only to see that Gloria was not pointing at the enormous eye in the sky but at the horizon that resembled both a mist of blood and the afterglow of a sunset.
Angel had not noticed anything unusual about this place when constructing it.
Why had Gloria suddenly pointed there?
“Take a closer look at this reddish expanse; do you see a spot where the red is slightly different?” Gloria indicated towards the edge of the sky.
Upon closer inspection, Angel quickly located the area Gloria was referring to.
There indeed was something!
The sky was predominantly red, and while the red was unevenly spread, this unevenness had a clear gradient transition.
Gloria was pointing to something different.
The red in the sky had a deep burgundy hue, slightly darkened, like the remnants of blood.
But the red that Gloria indicated was a vibrant red, even possessing a kind of fluorescent, pulsating feel.
Although both were red, the transition from deep burgundy to vibrant red was abrupt without any gradient, it was this anomaly that Gloria spoke of!
Angel quietly observed this vivid red area, seeking to understand the implications behind this anomaly.
At first, there were no clues, until in his mind, he gradually traced the shape of the vivid red area…