Mysterious: The Innate Sacred Body of Destiny

Chapter 241 Brando, the Manipulator of Emotions

Chapter 241 Brando, the Manipulator of Emotions

"Nice gun—"

Lorne held a brand-new lever shotgun in his hand, examining it closely. The gun gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, and the wooden stock was polished smooth and comfortable to hold, without a single burr.

This was the first batch of samples that Factory Manager Ted gave him.

The craftsmanship of the workers in the gun factory was better than he had expected. Although there were still many traces of hand-polishing on the gun body, the key parts were all machine-made. Compared to the "Ripper" that he had hand-made with rudimentary tools on the "Golden Dream", it was far superior in both accuracy and reliability.

"What a pity, my Ripper was abandoned at sea. I wonder if Tracy will tear it apart in her anger."

First-edition weapons are often highly collectible—Lorne said with some regret. Before his transmigration, a first-edition pistol made by Browning himself could fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction.

He sighed, pulling his chaotic thoughts back to reality.

In the past two days, the factory's situation has been improving at a visible pace. Factory manager Ted successfully paid the workers their back wages and also brought back some long-term workers who had resigned due to salary issues. Lorne, acting as the behind-the-scenes boss, generously announced a 2-sol weekly wage increase for every employee, a move that instantly ignited the workers' enthusiasm for production.

Old Kohler officially started his job as the factory's new gatekeeper. Although his salary was not as high as that of the front-line technical workers, the work was easy and not tiring, and he could live in the factory's dormitory, saving a lot of money, which was enough for him to live with much more dignity than before.

Everyone was happy, and everyone was overjoyed.

"The Russell Memorial Exhibition—is it about to begin?" Lorne's gaze fell on a copy of the Backlund Post on the corner of the table, a striking headline catching his attention.

He subconsciously thought of Fors.

"Should we invite Forsythia to take a look? She seems to be a follower of the god of steam and machinery too—"

"As a writer, she would certainly be interested in occasions that provide a wealth of inspiration and writing material. After all, Emperor Roselle also made considerable achievements in the literary field, although—" Lorne suddenly chuckled, "although most of his works were plagiarized."

"Besides, if Hugh isn't around, I might be able to get some information about the nobility out of her—"

"Well, as a friend, inviting her to an exhibition shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Lorne rested his chin on his knuckles, mentally calculating the corresponding procedures.

"The Russell memorial exhibition is still a few days away, so there's no rush. Let's think about business first."

"To find new sales channels, I guess I still need to visit Congressman Macht—as a friend of Hazel," Lorne sighed. "Sigh, being an entrepreneurial boss is really demanding."

"However, I can't go on a visit empty-handed. What kind of gift should I bring? Bringing something too expensive on my first visit might be seen as having ulterior motives—"

"Future", Captain's cabin.

"A female—queen?!"

Gadriya stared at the figure that had appeared before her without warning, so shocked that she jumped up from her chair, her face filled with disbelief.

She hadn't seen her in person for a very, very long time. Bernadette's previous task of keeping an eye on Russell's diary had only been through correspondence. This was the first time since being "driven" out of that house that she had seen the person she once most revered and relied on so closely again.

"You—you're here?" She instinctively reached out to cover the letter from "Brando" on the table, her voice trembling slightly with nervousness.

She had longed to see him again in countless dreams, but when the moment finally arrived, she felt a complex mix of joy, fear, and grievance.

She pressed her lips tightly together, waiting for the other person to speak.

"It's been a long time, Cattleya," Bernadette's tone was as gentle as ever, her soft gaze falling on her. "You've grown a lot."

"I—" Cattleya opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Should I be happy? She praised me—which proves I can live well without her. She acknowledged my growth—but why do I feel so bitter?

A strange and inexplicable emotion was churning within Cattleya.

"Why did you suddenly come here?" she hesitated before finally asking.

"Prophecy." Bernadette parted her cherry lips slightly and uttered a single word.

"prophecy?"

"Yes," Bernadette explained, "remember the task I asked you to help search for clues about him—related to my father's diary?"

Cattleya nodded immediately: "I remember."

"I've found some clues and locked onto a target." She sighed softly as she said this, "but the person seems to have some special characteristics. I can't locate him directly through divination; I can only predict things related to him to indirectly find out his location."

Her tone was calm, but Cattleya could sense something unusual. A target that even the Queen couldn't directly pinpoint?

"During my search for him, I also encountered a witch and was slightly injured."

At this point, Bernadette's gaze fell on Cattleya again, becoming somewhat profound:

"I foresaw that the clues to that target were on the Future."

You contacted me—just for this reason?

A wave of indescribable disappointment washed over Cattleya, and she instinctively pressed her hand to her heart, where it seemed to throb slightly. But soon, she also sensed something amiss in Bernadette's words.

The Queen said there were clues about the target on the "Future"? But everything on the "Future" seems normal... Could it be that—

Her gaze involuntarily drifted to the letter on the table, which was covered by her hand.

"My lord," Cattleya's voice was hoarse, "who is that target?"

Bernadette noticed her unconscious little movement, gave her a meaningful look, and slowly uttered a name:

"Monkey Brando."

A recently famous adventurer at sea.

Do you know him?

"I—" Cattleya's eyes unconsciously glanced to the side.

Should I say I know him? Why did Brando become the Queen's target? Wasn't he on my side during the last period of his life?

Does Brando really have some secret?

Gadriya recalled how Brando had shielded him from the attack of "Blood General" Senor, and how he had remained unmoved by Senor's threats and inducements, always protecting her.

Although I was very touched at the time, now that I've calmed down and thought about it carefully, there are indeed some suspicious points.

Brando, whose strength was no less than his own, not only won against Señor, a pirate general whose rank was clearly lower than his opponent's, but also seemed to have been mostly unharmed.

Attributing it all to luck seems like a stretch—

She looked up, her expression somewhat hesitant as she met Bernadette's gaze.

Bernadette, however, gave her a playful look with her eyes half-closed.

"The Queen seems to have discovered my connection with Brando. But, she probably won't do anything to Brando—"

After hesitating for a moment, Cattleya tentatively asked, "Is it Monkey Brando, the one with a private bounty of ten thousand pounds?"

"Yes." Bernadette nodded.

She glanced at her adopted daughter, whose face was filled with hesitation and seemed to understand something. She then added a detail: "As far as I know, he was wanted by 'General of Illness,' Tracy, for toying with her feelings."

"What?!" Gadriya exclaimed in shock.

Brando toyed with Tracy's feelings?!