The warehouse is at the back door of the West Garden, the back of the Changchun Palace. Inside, there are layers of boxes on the shelves, and each box is sealed. One of the boxes had been opened and placed next to the door, and inside was the writer's clock.

The silver writer's clock carries the simplicity and harmony of Romanesque and classicism. There is no frills to spare, it is a bell with a brass case. But the ingenuity lies elsewhere – the clock is extraordinarily large, and the movement stuffed inside is quite "full". There are no fancy decorations in the writing figures, and every joint is accurately reproduced.

"This bell was given to me by Rome when I was a child. Although it looks ordinary, it can be written as soon as it is wound. ”

"It seems like a lot of clocks can be written? I remember that I was in Yangzhou and repaired one by myself. Is there anything special about this one? ”

"This one can write twenty-five words."

"Huh?" He remembered that the one he repaired was already very expensive if he could write four words.

"Yes, twenty-five. It is the classic script: 'Shangda, Qiu Yiji, Hua 3,000, 70 Shi, Er Xiaosheng, Eight or Nine Sons, Jiazuoren, can know etiquette. ’。 Twenty-five characters were all written on a square inch of paper, and each word was written clearly. Moreover, the penmanship is relaxed, rigorous and fair, and you can learn how to write these characters by observing the trend of the penmanship. So it's a moving, teaching copybook. I was still young at the time, and it was a gift to encourage me to study hard. ”

"Good fellow, why do you keep it here?"

"Well, it's because, my mom said that the villain above is a little crazy. I also thought it was strange at the time, this villain obviously doesn't even have facial features, but he does have a somewhat eerie feeling, but he is really good at writing. I played it once and then put it in the warehouse, and I kept the key on me, but I didn't find it. ”

"Then you can get one?"

"You just take it, and then you figure it out yourself."

He reached out and took out the clock and put it in a handbag in the corner. The national gift from Rome was packed like a snack box.

"Ah, can I just take it?" As soon as he heard that this thing could write 25 words, Shang Luo's long-term training was mobilized—he didn't dare to hold this thing empty-handed, who knew if he would knock off a part from where and break it. It's easy to know where to fix it, but most of the time you don't know where to do it, so you can only take it apart and check it slowly, which is a nightmarish experience.

"It doesn't matter. Although it is a national gift, it has been hanging here and hanging, so it is better to send it to a useful place. And Victoria knows you well, doesn't she? She wouldn't mind. ”

"I don't know her very well."

"Eh, once you are born and twice cooked, you will be familiar when you see each other. Come on. He shoved Shang Luo by the shoulder and coaxed him out, "If you really can't help it, you can go straight to Victoria." ”

With a national gift in his handbag, Shang Luo stood on the subway uneasily. He held the whole bell in his hand, and leaned on the corner of the carriage with his legs like a squatting horse, for fear of being broken by the person next to him.

With the bell in his hand, he made his way to the Golden Arches restaurant at the entrance of the Academy, where Fae worked on Sunday afternoon.

"What?" She asked as she wiped the table with a rag.

"Look at this." He opened the bag, missing a corner.

"It's . ," Phaethon cried out, "Omega Core! How can you hold it in your hands! Didn't Apollonia tell you what it was? ”

What is this? I didn't do it. I haven't used it again. 】

Shang Luo relayed Apollonia's answer.

"Okay. Then I'll tell you. Wait a minute, manager! An acquaintance here orders a meal, and I'll go back to work right away! She ran back to the inner room to put the rag back, washed her hands and sat down in front of Shang Luo, "Put it on the table, I'll take a look." ”

Shang Luo took it and slowly put it on the table.

Phaethon didn't check anything else, but checked the villain above.

"That's right, that's it. Here's one. A rather terrifying and powerful creation. Because this Vulcan core is a special type, the 'omega core', or the ultimate core. The letter Omega stands for the end. Because its material is pure gold. That is, God Chrome. ”

"How do you tell?"

"Because of this clockwork villain, it doesn't have the finishing touch. This is important because it restricts the machine itself from performing its full human functions. Because a Adamantite movement can ignore most physical rules such as temperature, once fully operational, nothing can stop it. Is this the gift of Rome to the Aurora Son? This is indeed a very precious gift. Rome now only uses such a small one on the capital ship, and they are equivalent to sending a capital ship to the Son of Heaven who was still a child at the time. What do you think? Do you want to try it? Take a look at the keys, I want to try it myself. ”

"Ah, the key is gone. Wait until I get back and get a new one. ”

"Ha ???" Faetong was stunned, "The key is gone?" Why is it not there???"

"Because at that time. The Son of Heaven was still young, and he thought that the key was more fun than this clock, so he kept the key with him. He told me he was going to look for it, but he didn't seem to find it. ”

"It's over, this thing is useless."

"Is the key necessary?"

"Yes." Phaethon nodded, "It's not just an omega-level movement, all Vulcan cores are equipped with a key when they are used, which is used to wind up - Vulcan cores can indeed work on their own, but the clockwork with them is a self-locking mechanism designated by the Muse. All Vulcan cores, even with unlimited abilities, must be wound up, without exception. And each clockwork and each key are paired one by one, and only the owner of the core can hold it. It is up to the owner to decide how long he wants to run this time - as long as he wants to go and how long he wants to wind. Not more, not less, just right. ”

"Is this to prevent mutiny?"

"Yes. The Muse is far more discreet than the Colombian side. Although this is troublesome, it can be wound for up to twenty-four hours at a time, and the larger the machine, the more troublesome it is to wind up. But this is a self-locking design of technological ethics: no Vulcan core can operate without its master, it must be wound up. No matter how powerful it is, if you don't wind it for a day, you will be completely disqualified from running, and this is the underlying design that cannot be changed. The winding keys are paired one by one, and if you lose it, you will be gone. ”

"Ahh What to do? ”

"Go to Alexandria's Palace of the Muses. Only the Muse, which made this rule, provided lockpicking, as there was an Primordial Key that could be used as a master key to wind all Vulcan cores and also to derive new keys. But the lockpicking service is expensive, you look at your wallet. It's a huge sum of 2,000 drachmas. ”

Take a little rest on Friday, and there will be three more tomorrow

(End of chapter)