Chapter 448: Boneyard Society
Looking at the handwriting before her, Doro thought to herself that she had previously exchanged with Nephnis about the content in her grandfather’s notes. There was a passage written by Davis Boyle about the Treasure Theft Society, and it seemed quite accurate now.
“Azamu was killed, which means the extraordinary item he held, capable of divining the Star Number Repair Association, has fallen into the hands of someone named Garib? So you want me to find this Garib?”
Doro continued writing in the “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” while Beverly’s response once again exceeded her expectations.
“No, that item did not end up in Garib’s hands. After killing Azamu, Garib searched through all his belongings but could not find the item. His primary reason for killing Azamu was to obtain that item, but he ended up empty-handed.”
“Did not find it? Then where exactly did that item go?”
With a look of confusion, Doro wrote on the “Navigation of the Literary Sea.” Soon after, Beverly’s answer appeared before her eyes.
“A month before Azamu died, he sensed something was amiss. He realized he was being watched and attempted to resist Garib to save himself. Although Garib thwarted him each time and he failed to escape, he successfully transferred the most important item out.”
“Transferred it… Didn’t you say Azamu was being watched in the last month? How could he transfer it out?”
Doro continued to write in puzzlement, and Beverly responded accordingly.
“Of course, under a pretext that Garib wouldn’t suspect. You might not know, but Azamu had a habit of donating. He often donated ordinary antiques without extraordinary effects to well-known museums. Thus, he was an honorary friend to many city museums.
“When Azamu first realized he was being watched, he was preparing a routine donation. So, Azamu mixed that item with the donation and sent it out, planning to retrieve it after escaping. Garib’s people hadn’t noticed their surveillance had been discovered, nor did they anticipate Azamu would take such drastic measures and send such an important item out without thorough inspection.”
‘He donated it out… Goodness, these tomb raiders have a habit of donating to museums after getting big? I remember Neve’s grandfather donated a lot too. But indeed, this habit made it less suspicious when mixing things.’
Doro mused as she read the story in the book, then immediately continued writing.
“So now the divination item is actually somewhere in one of these mundane museums?”
“Yes, after failing to find the divination item, Garib realized the problem lay in the donations. He checked the records of those artifacts and found they were donated to seven different museums in various countries.”
“Seven… That’s so many. If I need to find that divination item, wouldn’t it take forever?”
“You don’t need to look. Someone has already filtered most of them. Garib, who took over the Boneyard Society, has sent people to search six of those seven museums, but found nothing. Only one remains unsearched, and the divination item can only be there.”
“The last museum is in Iwig’s Adriah, called the Cleansing Flow Church Museum. It’s a museum converted from a church and is under the Church’s jurisdiction. This is why Garib hasn’t gone there yet.”
Beverly’s words continued to appear before Doro, who nodded in understanding.
‘Wow… He directly sent the item to the Church’s territory. That’s pretty ruthless. Compared to other mundane museums, the Church naturally avoids unnecessary trouble.’
Doro thought to herself, realizing she had already seen her next destination: Adriah in Iwig.
‘But it seems my initial destination was Iwig after all. The destination of the Shining White Pearl was there. We encountered the Abyss Cult along the way, leading to a series of events. Now, things are finally back on track…’
After her reflection, Doro had a clear picture of the information provided by Beverly, though she still had some doubts.
“Thank you for your information; it’s very useful. But let me ask, how do you know so much about the Boneyard Society? Isn’t it a breach of neutrality to reveal such crucial information to me?”
Doro wrote, thinking that this information could damage the Boneyard Society’s interests, which clearly contradicted their neutral stance.
“Neutrality… Neutrality is based on mutual respect. The actions of Garib and the Boneyard Society have offended us, so we no longer feel obligated to keep their secrets.”
“Garib offended you?”
Reading Beverly’s response, Doro wrote in surprise, and Beverly immediately explained.
“Yes, you may not know, but during Azamu’s time, we had close ties with the Boneyard Society. They were our frequent and important clients.
“For over a decade, Azamu sold us a large number of ‘Enlightenment’ storage items and other valuable items, giving us the most convenient acquisition channels. The Boneyard Society provided us with a steady supply of ‘Enlightenment’. To consolidate this business relationship, Azamu even signed a long-term cooperation agreement with us. We don’t form alliances with any forces, but we do have numerous purely commercial agreements.
“During the period when Azamu was cursed and monitored, he tried every means to seek help, even contacting the Artisan Guild. He asked us to help him on the basis of our long-term business. Through him, we learned about the changes within the Boneyard Society.”
Beverly wrote, and Doro, reading her words, could guess the subsequent outcome.
“Azamu sought help from you, but you didn’t respond?”
“Of course, commercial cooperation is one thing, helping out would be interfering in internal affairs. Although Azamu was sincere and explained everything clearly, even offering us generous rewards, we did not choose to intervene. For us, not interfering in another society’s internal affairs is a principle. Also, Garib assured us he would continue the agreements signed by Azamu with us. We don’t care who leads the Boneyard Society as long as they adhere to our agreements.
“However, things didn’t go as planned. Not long after taking over, Garib reneged on our agreement, canceled the shipments intended for us, and sold them to the Dark Gold Society instead. Later, we found out that Garib had been working with the Dark Gold Society for a long time, and their support allowed him to easily gather forces to overthrow Azamu.
“The Dark Gold Society has coveted the stable ‘Enlightenment’ trade between us and the Boneyard Society for a long time, wanting to take away our priority trading rights. Since normal methods couldn’t achieve this, they decided to support the internal strife within the Boneyard Society, backing the person they wanted to see in power.”
