“Good afternoon, Mr.
White.” Sandrone lowered his voice.
“Good afternoon, my diligent little mechanic.”
Old White looked up from his ledger, her eyes behind the lenses sharp yet peaceful.
“What did you bring this time?
Another improved fine-tuning gear set?”
Sandrone shook her head and cast a wary glance at the door.
She then leaned closer to the counter and opened her satchel just enough to reveal a corner of the object wrapped in velvet—the edge of that strange silver mirror gave off a warm luster in the dim light.
The smile on Old White’s face faded slightly.
She gestured for Sandrone to follow her into the back room.
In the more private space, Sandrone finally took out the mirror completely.
Old White took it and picked up a magnifying glass, examining it carefully.
Her rough fingers traced the intricate vine and gear carvings on the frame, and she scrutinized the crystal-like and tiny diamond-like embellishments embedded within.
“Hmm…
beyonder craftsmanship.
Not a local style, nor a replica of any currently known mainstream classical schools.
These crystals…”
She tapped it lightly with his fingernail, listening to the almost metallic clear sound.
“Abnormal refractive index and high hardness.
They seem more like some kind of…
Crafted high-purity crystals.
And the material of this mirror surface…”
She tried to wipe it with his sleeve, only to find the mirror surface as clean as before, untainted by dust.
“Extraordinary, truly extraordinary.”
She put down the magnifying glass and looked at Sandrone, his gaze searching.
“Child, how did you…
get this thing?”
Her tone wasn’t harsh, but it was full of inquiry.
Sandrone had prepared his answer long ago.
He met Old White’s gaze, her voice calm but firm.
“The old rules, Mr.
White.
No questions about the source.”
Old White stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled helplessly and shook his head.
“Alright, alright, rules are rules.”
She picked up the mirror again to weigh it.
“It’s a good item.
The craftsmanship and materials are worth a lot, but…
its unknown origin is the biggest drawback.
Moreover, it’s too conspicuous; not everyone can handle it.”
She pondered for a moment and quoted a price.
Sandrone’s heart skipped a beat.
This price far exceeded his most optimistic estimate; it could almost cover his tuition and basic living expenses for over half a year!
But she remained expressionless, only frowning slightly.
She began to bargain with her meager yet precise negotiation skills, pointing out several extremely fine erosions on the frame and emphasizing its position as a practical item rather than a pure work of art.
Old White countered slowly, emphasizing the appraisal risk, storage costs, and potential trouble.
The satchel had already been placed on a chair in the back room.
On the moon, Columbina, who was watching their verbal sparring, was initially just curious about what Sandrone was going to do.
It was only when he heard words like “price,” “value,” and “sell” that he slowly realized what was happening.
“Wait…
is he going to sell me…
my mirror?”
She was a bit stunned, then felt a surge of panic.
“No way?
This soon?
Why sell it?
Isn’t this mirror quite pretty?
And it can…
communicate across worlds?”
She tried to touch the mirror surface and transmit his thoughts, but Sandrone was fully focused on the negotiation and didn’t react at all.
In her urgency, he circled the floating mirror on the lunar surface, his phantom fingers unconsciously fumbling over the complex carved patterns on the back of the frame. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Suddenly, his fingertip seemed to press a slightly recessed node.
“Buzz—”
The light on the mirror surface flared, instantly covering the scene of Sandrone and Old White bargaining.
An interface with a faint blue glow—one that could even be called familiar—unfolded on the mirror, accompanied by a soft sound like a system startup prompt.
Columbina: “…”
This interface layout, this sense of déjà vu…
The corners of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
There were several icons in the center of the interface:
[believer management] (1/???): Displaying a brief profile:
[Grey], Status: Casual Believer, Source of Faith: Moon Goddess (Pseudo), Contribution: Extremely Low, can collect a tiny amount of Faith Power.
[Contractor] (0/1): Blank.
Below was a line of small text: Requires the Contractor to voluntarily or involuntarily provide a drop of fresh blood on the mirror surface to complete basic binding and unlock partial functions (including but not limited to: summoning/returning regardless of distance, basic status sharing, communication enhancement, etc.).
[System Functions] (Mostly grayed out and locked): Words like [Daily Commissions], [Wish], and [Shop] were faintly visible, but detailed viewing required contract binding.
[Current Energy]: Extremely Low (consuming energy to maintain basic observation window).
“contract?
A drop of blood?”
Columbina opened his vacant purple eyes.
This sounded like some kind of mandatory connection, but right now it seemed it could solve the crisis of the mirror being sold.
And “returning regardless of distance”…
Sounded very useful.
As for “involuntarily providing”…
Well, there was a lot of room for maneuver.
She quickly studied it and found that he could, through the mirror surface, extremely covertly trigger a thorn attached to a sharp carved part of the frame.
The timing needed to be precise.
In the back room, the tug-of-war between Sandrone and Old White was nearing its end.
Finally, both sides made a concession, closing the deal at a price that made Sandrone’s heart race while he maintained a calm exterior.
“Deal, Mr.
White.”
Sandrone tried his best to keep his voice from trembling.
“Pleasure doing business, child.” Old White nodded and took out a coin pouch.
Just as Sandrone reached out to take the heavy coin pouch and pushed the mirror toward Old White with his other hand—
“Feel!”
A sharp, tiny pain, as if pricked by the tip of an embroidery needle, suddenly came from his fingertip.
She instinctively pulled her hand back, only to see a bright red bead of blood seep from her fingertip, landing exactly on the silver mirror surface that had just been pushed to the center of the counter.
The moment the blood bead touched the mirror, it didn’t slide off but vanished instantly as if absorbed.
The mirror’s luster dimmed for a brief moment before returning to normal.
Sandrone frowned, cursing himself for his bad luck, thinking that some part of the carvings on the frame must have been too sharp.
She didn’t pay much attention to it.
He wiped his finger with the corner of her clothes, confirmed the coin pouch was correct, then nodded to Old White, quickly pulled up her hood, and left the Shop.
Old White picked up the mirror, but his brow furrowed slightly.
In that moment just now, he seemed to feel a ripple from the mirror.
As a low-Sequence appraiser, his spirituality intuition was sharper than that of ordinary people.
She examined the mirror carefully again, his heart filled with suspicion.
“This thing…
is probably more than just an antique.
Perhaps…
it’s related to those hidden beyonder matters?”
She decided to lock the mirror in the safe and find an opportunity to have a more professional person look at it.
On the moon.
The moment Sandrone’s blood was absorbed by the mirror, the interface in front of Columbina flashed violently.
The [Contractor] column lit up instantly, filling in the information: [Sandrone (Unawakened)], Binding Status: Primary (Blood Pact).
At the same time, a huge suction force came from the mirror.
It didn’t pull him in, but instead crazily drained the power from within his spirit body—the power brought by Grey’s faith as well as his own remaining strength.
“Ugh!”
Columbina let out a muffled groan, feeling as if all her strength had been drained, and slumped onto the lunar surface.
Fortunately, the draining process ended quickly.
She looked tiredly at the interface and found that sub-options had appeared under [Contractor]:
[Location], [Status], [Summon/Return].
Most of the [System Functions] were still grayed out, but [Daily Commissions] and [Shop] were lit!
She first clicked on [Daily Commissions]:
Quest 1: Perform 100 standard push-ups.
Quest 2: Perform 100 standard sit-ups.
Reward: 10 Primogems.
Quest 3: Run 10 kilometers.
Reward: 20 Primogems.
Quest 4: Complete a devout prayer of at least ten minutes.
Reward: 15 Primogems + Random Low-level Faith Material x1.
(Daily Primogem limit: 60)
Columbina: “…”
Her expression must have been quite something.
What is this?
And the reward is “Primogems”?
With mixed feelings, he clicked on [Wish].
The interface showed a magnificent banner pattern, with a familiar figure in the center—the elegant and dangerous [the knave] Arlecchino, wielding a giant scythe.
Banner Description: Limited-time Character Event Wish, increased drop rate for character: ****[Arlecchino (5-Star)].
A single pull costs 160 Primogems, and a ten-pull costs 1600 Primogems.
Pity mechanism: A 5-star character is guaranteed within 90 pulls.
“!!!”
Columbina perked up.
Gacha!
It’s gacha!
Although it was a bit strange that the target was a colleague, it was still gacha!
But looking at his empty Primogem balance (0) and then at those ridiculous Daily Commissions…
She silently closed the Wish interface.
She clicked on [Shop], which was filled with a dazzling array of categories, but currently only the “Basic Supplies” section was unlocked.
The item list left him stunned:
Teyvat Fried Egg: Price 300 Mora.
Description: An ordinary fried egg.
Special Effect: Revives a Contractor or believer in a near-death state and restores a small amount of HP.
(Cooldown: 24 hours)
Fisherman’s Toast: Price 220 Mora.
Description: Ordinary toast.
Special Effect: Immediately restores the stamina and energy of a Contractor or believer.
Mondstadt Hash Brown: Price 350 Mora.
Description:…restores a moderate amount of HP.
(More food to be unlocked)
“Revival egg?”
Columbina raised an eyebrow.
This effect was somewhat broken, even if it only worked on Contractors and believers.
Finally, she checked [believer management] again.
Grey’s profile had a few more details, noting that he belonged to the [Church of the Goddess of Night (West Continent Branch)].
“goddess of night?”
Columbina thought back to the Seven Gods of Teyvat and was certain no such entity existed.
“A remnant from the God War era?
Or a local minor faith in Snezhnaya?”
She didn’t dwell on it much; after all, Teyvat hid too many secrets.
In the corner of the interface, [Distance from Contractor] was constantly increasing, showing that Sandrone was moving away from the mirror.
Columbina thought for a few seconds.
Should he forcibly “summon” the mirror back to his side through the contract now?
No, that wasn’t appropriate.
If the mirror disappeared right after the transaction, Old White would definitely suspect Sandrone and might even investigate, which would bring him great trouble.
And seeing Sandrone’s relieved look after getting the money, he clearly needed it urgently.
“Forget it, let him use that money to get through his difficulties first.”
Columbina made a decision.
“It’s fine to leave the mirror with that old man for now.
She seems to have some connections; maybe she can help me test what happens when the mirror is in someone else’s hands.
Anyway, the contract has been established, so distance isn’t an issue.
At a critical moment, I should be able to contact Sandrone through the contract, or…
pull him over.”
She nodded at his own thoughts.