Chapter 26: Evidence

"A short rod?" Lin Nian asked.

"A short rod," Masashi Toyama nodded.

The second piece of evidence lay in the case: a short rod, about seventy centimeters long. Its surface was smooth, with a texture somewhere between gold and ceramic. It lacked any patterns or flaws, so perfectly rounded that one felt an urge to roll it between their palms.

"May I touch it?" Lin Nian examined the rod, noticing that the two ends were not the same size. If he had to describe it, it was essentially a baseball bat, just with a much more flamboyant exterior.

"Absolutely not," Toyama shook his head. "Unlike the Stone Mask, this object is an out-and-out alchemical weapon—extremely dangerous!"

"Does it have some hidden mechanism?"

"Of course it does," Toyama nodded, walking over to a bookshelf to pull out a stack of white paper. "But we don't need to trigger its mechanism today. We only need to understand its basic properties."

Lin Nian took the sheet of paper Toyama handed him and asked, puzzled, "What is this for?"

"Ever heard of 'a heavy sword with no edge'?" Toyama asked.

As Lin Nian nodded, he thought to himself that the atmosphere had suddenly shifted from magical werewolves in Leningrad to Jin Yong’s martial arts.

"Hold the paper vertically directly above it, then let go," Toyama instructed.

Lin Nian complied. As he released the paper, it fell straight down. The moment it touched the rod, something eerie happened: the square sheet of paper was "sliced" in two by the rod and fell on either side, the edges perfectly smooth without a single fray.

Cutting a hair when blown across it.

The idiom instantly sprang to Lin Nian's mind.

"This rod is actually a blade, an incredibly sharp alchemical tool!" Toyama said. "It is the most dangerous of the three items I brought today, but if you don't touch it rashly, you won't be harmed. After all, danger is relative; even if I put a baguette in this briefcase, you could use it to choke me to death."

"If I were to grab it, would my hand be sliced open?" Lin Nian asked, staring curiously at the gleaming golden rod.

"Possibly, possibly not," Toyama gave an ambiguous answer, immediately clarifying, "This alchemical weapon was once stored in the college's 'Ice Cellar' and labeled as 'High Risk' alongside other artifacts. It first appeared in England in 1756."

"The time of the Seven Years' War," Lin Nian said, eager to show off his knowledge. He blurted out the historical context while Lin Xian still had her mouth slightly agape. She could only look at him with a wry smile and shake her head.

"It is said that the craftsman who forged it was a royal swordsmith in England. At the time, fencing was popular among the British royalty, so this weapon was created for fencing. Unfortunately, it has no actual connection to that historical period," Toyama said with a laugh, leaving Lin Nian somewhat embarrassed.

***

"This is actually a short sword. The manufacturing technique followed traditional English sword-making methods. That royal swordsmith was frustrated by losing every fencing match, so he had a sudden inspiration to create a weapon that would never lose," Toyama explained. "To defeat an enemy in fencing, you either lock them with your sword tip or... knock their weapon away. This smith’s line of thinking was a bit skewed; rather than the technical skill required for a disarm, he wanted to simply and cleanly 'snap' the enemy's weapon in two."

"How... imaginative," Lin Nian didn't know how to respond.

"This sword appears to have no edge, but in reality, its entire contact surface is an edge. Because its raw material was quite rare—the tailbone of a Third Generation Black Dragon—it was imbued with a sharp alchemical field upon creation. This field cannot expand outward and exists only on the body of the blade itself," Toyama said, setting down the sheets of paper, all of which had been cut to shreds without exception.

"Then doesn't that mean no one can use it?" Lin Nian asked, puzzled.

"Of course they can, otherwise it would still be gathering dust in the Ice Cellar," Toyama nodded. "An 'S' grade student once entered the Ice Cellar with Principal Anjou and managed to wield this weapon. The reason was that his bloodline was exceptional enough to be recognized by the 'living spirit' within the alchemical weapon. Later, they even discovered that this rod was truly forged to the specifications of a sword, and it only undergoes a transformation to reveal its true form when the wielder's bloodline purity reaches a certain level."

"'S' grade student? Is he still at Cassell College?" Lin Nian was surprised.

"No, he graduated a long time ago. He joined the Executive Department and is now traveling the world searching for dragon ruins. Perhaps if you decide to join the Executive Department after graduation, you might run into him," Toyama said with a smile.

"Impressive," Lin Nian watched as Toyama closed the black briefcase and turned his attention to the third box. He spoke up, "Actually, the first two items were enough to make me believe in the dragon civilization."

"No, I believe this third item is the most persuasive," Toyama shook his head. "After all, nothing is more shocking than having an actual dragon placed before you."

With that, Toyama opened the third briefcase. As he saw what was inside, Lin Nian’s mouth fell open, his expression one of pure shock.

He couldn't help but be shocked, for there was a literal 'dragon' placed before him.

Lying horizontally in the black briefcase was a cylindrical glass bottle filled with pale yellow formalin. Floating inside was an animal about the size of a three or four-year-old medium-sized dog. It looked like a lizard, with dense, aesthetically beautiful scales, and folded membrane wings on its back that looked like the texture of tough canvas.

The animal’s eyes were closed, and it slept peacefully. Its wings and long whiskers drifted in the formalin; it looked like an infant curled in a womb, waiting for the day it would be born.

"We discovered 'him' in India in 1796. It is a Red Dragon hatchling, but for some reason, it was swallowed by a giant python just after hatching. When the locals killed the python and skinned it for meat, they found him. They believed they had offended the offspring of a god and kept him in a temple. Fortunately, the Secret Party arrived in time; any later, and we would have seen that village burned by dragon fire." Toyama gazed at the hatchling in the jar, his eyes full of appreciation and awe. "No matter how many times I see it, I find it miraculous. Look at these patterns, scales, and wings—a perfect creation!"

Lin Nian stood before the briefcase, looking down at the 'animal' in the bottle. For no reason, he felt his heart racing. He couldn't help but reach out to touch the glass. Toyama did not stop him, as everyone who saw this for the first time did the same.

The room was deathly quiet, each person admiring this perfect work born from the hands of a creator. The Red Dragon hatchling floated in the formalin, its whiskers drifting like mist caught in thin clouds.

"Can he still come back to life?" Lin Nian asked softly.

"Of course! Noble things do not pass away; for them, death is merely a long sleep beneath the ice."

Someone answered him. The voice was soft, as if telling a beautiful fairy tale.

***

But the voice that answered Lin Nian did not belong to anyone in the study.

Lin Nian suddenly snapped to attention. A chill crawled from his spine to the nape of his neck. He stepped back, his expression fearful and uncertain as he looked around, as if someone were about to harm him. Yet, in the study, only Toyama, Manstein, and Lin Xian were looking at him, startled by his sudden movement.

"What's wrong? Are you overwhelmed?" Toyama stepped forward to comfort him. "Don't worry, although it is not dead, it won't wake up either. Its day of awakening is supposed to be in 2077. Perhaps by then, humanity will have entered the cyberpunk era."

"Didn't you hear someone talking just now?" Lin Nian asked, his sudden fright making his breathing slightly labored; he looked agitated.

"Who talked? What did they say?" Manstein frowned and stepped forward with concern. "No one in the room said a word. You suddenly stepped back with a look like you'd seen a ghost."

"Sis, did you hear it?" Lin Nian turned to ask Lin Xian decisively.

Manstein was about to speak, but Toyama raised a hand to stop him, shaking his head slightly to signal him to remain silent, waiting for Lin Xian’s reply.

Under Lin Nian's gaze, Lin Xian looked at him with slight confusion and shook her head. "I didn't hear anyone talking. Are you having auditory hallucinations again?"

"Does he often have auditory hallucinations?" Toyama asked. "Science suggests that auditory hallucinations are caused by nervous exhaustion and irregular sleep schedules. You just got off a plane and are still suffering from jet lag; perhaps we need to plan a new schedule for him."

"No... maybe I just misheard," Lin Nian took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He felt his heart rate gradually increasing and his eardrums throbbing. After one last glance at the glass bottle on the table, he decisively turned his head away.

Toyama immediately closed the briefcase and locked it. "You don't look well. We've seen everything for today, so let's stop here. Professor Manstein, I suggest canceling his physical tests this afternoon and moving them to tomorrow. What do you think?"

"Agreed. I will notify the staff on standby," Manstein stood beside Lin Nian and gently patted his back. "Feeling better? If not, I can take you to your dormitory to rest."

"What about my sister?" Lin Nian nodded slowly. He realized his body was experiencing some unknown condition and needed time to recover.

"Your sister has been specially arranged to stay in the staff dormitory. Instructor Toyama will take her there; the conditions are quite good. As for you, because your dormitory has already been assigned, I'm afraid you'll have to make do with a room in the senior dorms. Most seniors are out on internships, so there are plenty of vacancies."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Professor Manstein," Lin Nian said.

"Get along with your roommates, and don't get into fights," Lin Xian stood beside Toyama, calling out a reminder as Lin Nian was led out of the study by Manstein.

"You too, take care of yourself," Lin Nian looked back at Lin Xian, but his gaze couldn't help but drift back to the briefcase on the table, until it was finally blocked by the closing door of the study.