Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 596: Since When Did You Know Embarrassment?
At first, Mr. Lee assumed Steven's words carried some sort of hidden threat.
But after realizing the young man had simply said his piece and made no further attempt to pressure him, he couldn't help feeling puzzled.
Could this boy really have been offering nothing more than a warning?
When he first acquired that mysterious wine cup, he had felt an indescribable sense of unease from it. Still, with nothing else happening afterward, he had eventually dismissed it as mere imagination.
Yet now that Steven had brought it up again, Mr. Lee found his attention drifting back toward the cup once more.
He had known from the beginning that the object was probably troublesome, but the fact that someone like Steven—a complete unknown with an unfathomable background—had shown up almost immediately after he obtained it…
That definitely wasn't a good sign.
Narrowing his eyes, Mr. Lee stared at Steven for a moment.
But in the young man's gaze, he saw neither greed nor intimidation.
After a brief silence, Mr. Lee sighed softly and shook his head.
"Sorry. This item was specifically entrusted to me by a very important friend. Strictly speaking, it actually belongs to him, not me, so I can't make decisions on his behalf. If necessary… perhaps you could negotiate with him personally."
He let out another weary sigh.
If it weren't for the fact that the owner was an old friend of many years, he genuinely wouldn't want any involvement with this mess at all.
But friendships built over decades weren't so easily ignored.
Even knowing this wine cup was likely the root of endless trouble, Mr. Lee had still chosen to keep it.
Turning around, he walked into his bedroom and retrieved the wine cup from a locked safe before finally placing it down in front of Steven.
"That said, if you only wish to examine it, then I don't see any problem with that. If you really do discover something dangerous about it… I might even end up thanking you."
For someone dealing with a complete stranger he had only just met, Mr. Lee's trust was surprisingly straightforward, almost as though handing it over was the most natural thing in the world.
Steven, meanwhile, accepted the bronze wine cup without the slightest hesitation.
Holding it close, Steven narrowed his eyes and carefully inspected it.
Whether it was the craftsmanship or the design, the cup clearly carried the unmistakable style of ancient Yan.
Steven wasn't an archaeologist, so naturally he couldn't identify any historical significance from appearance alone.
But that didn't mean he saw nothing.
He might not understand antiques, but he did have Mods.
The moment his eyes landed on the item's name, Steven already had his answer.
[Wine Cup Housing a Fragment of a God (Damaged)]: A worn bronze wine cup containing a faint trace of divine authority. However, it appears to currently be controlled by a certain will, which remains dormant for the time being.
Judging purely from the description, he had definitely found the right object.
The only problem now was how to get it from the hands of this middle-aged man in front of him.
Clearly, based on Mr. Lee's current attitude, there was no chance he would willingly hand over the cup for him to "deal with."
Which left Steven with only one remaining option:
Take it by force.
But the problem was that Mr. Lee wasn't some smuggler, mercenary, or shady biotech thug.
If anything, the man was practically a model citizen and a helpful neighbor.
He hadn't committed any crimes, nor was he remotely a bad person.
With a helpless sigh, Steven turned to glance at Lin Yuhsia, only to discover that she was quietly inching herself toward the door while simultaneously beginning to slip off her stockings.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not planning to smash the cup, so there's no need for you to prepare that in advance."
Steven shot Lin Yuhsia a helpless look as he casually tossed the wine cup up and down in his hand before returning it directly to the middle-aged man in front of him.
"Alright, I've seen enough. This really is the item I was looking for. But since you've already said this much, I'm not the unreasonable type. I suppose I can accompany you sometime instead. I've got plenty of free time these days, so I wouldn't mind having a proper talk with this friend of yours."
The unexpectedly polite response left everyone in the room stunned.
At this point, even Lin Yuhsia—who had been halfway through preparing her stocking—started wondering if Steven had accidentally taken the wrong medication today.
Was this really the same lunatic who could pull out a fire-arm at any moment and start spraying bullets while yelling about robbing a bank?
Since when was he this courteous?
"Perhaps. However, I don't think I can reveal my friend's private information. If you truly wish to contact him… then I'm afraid that will depend on your own abilities."
Mr. Lee quietly accepted the wine cup Steven handed back to him.
"I see. That's rather unfortunate."
Steven sighed with disappointment before rising to his feet and exchanging a glance with Lin Yuhsia.
For one terrifying moment, she thought he was about to directly tug off her stockings himself.
Instead, he merely raised an eyebrow at her before turning toward the door.
"In that case, we won't disturb you any longer. Of course, if you ever change your mind and decide to part with that troublesome item, feel free to contact me anytime. Just get in touch through Miss Lin here."
Leaving those words behind, Steven departed the agency together with Lin Yuhsia, looking every bit like someone who had simply stopped by for a casual visit.
"That's it? You're seriously ending things here? Didn't it take you quite a bit of effort just to track down information about that cup?"
Frowning, Lin Yuhsia finally asked in confusion.
"Come on, little mouse."
Steven, who had been quiet for a while, turned around and flashed her a bright, carefree grin.
"I never said I was giving up."
It was as though a film reel had suddenly skipped a frame.
Steven's figure froze for an instant, glitching unnaturally like someone had hit pause on reality itself.
And when the image resumed, there was now an extremely familiar bronze wine cup sitting in his hand.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 689: Impossible to Refute[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713