Published at 28th of August 2026 10:29 am

Chapter 3140: Unexpected Request

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"Lady Baoxiya, it’s been a long time." Angel performed a standard greeting.

Lady Baoxiya took out a lace folding fan, slightly opened it, and the floral pattern on the fan was currently quite popular in the Sky Mechanical City.

She opened the fan, smiling faintly to cover her lips: "Has it been a long time? Why does it feel as if we met just yesterday?"

Angel replied seriously, "Perhaps Lady Baoxiya was so engrossed in her research that she forgot about time?"

Lady Baoxiya chuckled softly, not responding directly, but instead gazed at the tall young man beside Angel: "Oh, this tall little brother, is he your new assistant?"

Angel: "Sort of. His name is Olao, and he’ll be conducting alchemy research with me for quite some time now."

However, Olao was the subject being researched.

Lady Baoxiya raised an eyebrow: "So, would you say this young Olao is someone you consider trustworthy?"

Previously, neither Antonio nor Midora actually questioned Olao’s identity, although they had noticed him. Lady Baoxiya, on the other hand, asked about him immediately, indicating her lower level of trust in Angel. She might try to trust him because of his membership in the Research Institute, but could hardly trust anyone around Angel.

Antonio and Midora, however, did trust Angel, and hence trusted Olao whom Angel brought along.

The distinctions in closeness and distance were clear and evident.

Angel didn’t mind; after all, he didn’t have much contact with Lady Baoxiya, and her being cautious was quite normal: "Yes, he is someone I trust."

After a pause, Angel continued: "Don’t be fooled by Olao’s youthful appearance; his actual age is quite advanced."

The implication being, Olao is far from being a little brother.

However, Lady Baoxiya evidently disagreed, cheerfully laughing: "Age doesn’t matter, the heart does. His eyes tell me he still retains innocence and ignorance."

This wasn’t meant as a satire.

Olao’s actual age is indeed great, but he spent most of that time in an isolated poetry chamber, unable to even enter the Mirror Domain. These ten thousand years for him were more like an Illusion Dream.

His psychological age should correspond to time from thousands of years ago.

In this calculation, he might not be older than Lady Baoxiya at all.

Angel thought for a moment but didn’t retort, instead smiling: "Today’s theme shouldn’t be Olao, right?"

Lady Baoxiya laughed: "Of course not... Since young Angel is so eager, shall we get to the main topic?"

Angel nodded noncommittally, whispering under his breath, "...Could you drop the suffix after my name?"

Lady Baoxiya closed her fan with a smile, elegantly pointed in the direction of the Light Screen: "No way~ Only when your strength surpasses mine will I change it."

Angel: "..."

Everyone’s an alchemist, why talk strength! Talk about technique!

Angel silently grumbled but understood that even in terms of alchemy breadth, he might still fall short compared to Lady Baoxiya.

After all, Lady Baoxiya is a genuine Alchemy Master, unlike him, who joined the Research Institute with the novelty of refining a semi-mysterious object...

Moreover, Lady Baoxiya was even chosen by Nail Granny as the most genius Alchemy Master in the Institute next to Muse.

In terms of breadth, she surely surpasses Lady Baoxiya.

But depth is another story.

However, discussing these things now is useless; Lady Baoxiya wouldn’t talk alchemy technique with Angel, instead leveraging her position to suppress him, leaving him speechless.

Had his strength been higher than Lady Baoxiya’s... By the rules of the Southern Domain Wizard World, he could indeed only passively accept this designation.

Angel sighed, "Forget it, whatever."

Seeing Angel somewhat frustrated, Lady Baoxiya’s smile grew even brighter.

However, this smile didn’t last long, as Angel voluntarily began discussing Qi Li’s situation, and Lady Baoxiya’s expression gradually returned to calmness.

"...That’s how it is." Angel repeated Qi Li’s story simply.

Lady Baoxiya smiled faintly: "Similar to what Regina said... You really care about Qi Li, don’t you?"

Angel merely smiled and did not respond.

He was too familiar with such topics; once a "senior" starts discussing women with you, nine times out of ten it’ll lead to sentimental topics.

If it were Rhein, he’d already be thinking about matchmaking.

And for a fun person witch like Lady Baoxiya, it’d likely be a quest for gossip.

As soon as Lady Baoxiya hears even a bit of gossip, she’d be capable of turning three points into nine at a Tea Party.

So it’s better to remain silent and not answer.

He’s willing to listen to others’ gossip but doesn’t wish to be the subject of gossip himself.

Lady Baoxiya also didn’t push Angel. Seeing him not answer, she smoothly shifted the topic: "Regarding how to help Qi Li out of her current plight, I already have some thoughts. But let’s discuss that later; I want to talk about something else with you."

Angel: "Alright."

At this moment, he appeared calm, but inside he was subtly saying: What’s meant to come, has indeed arrived.

Lady Baoxiya had conveyed through Regina that she wanted to meet Angel; she definitely had matters to discuss. Likely, she wanted to undertake some form of exchange concerning Qi Li.

Considering Lady Baoxiya’s recent activities, it’s certainly related to Life Alchemy...

Just as Angel was pondering this, Lady Baoxiya softly said: "I want to ask you to refine a hat for me."

"Sorry, I haven’t yet..." Angel was about to say he hadn’t found the magic pattern yet, but stopped mid-sentence.

"A hat?" Angel looked up puzzledly at Lady Baoxiya.

Hmm, why doesn’t this match the script he envisioned? Wasn’t Lady Baoxiya supposed to inquire about Life Alchemy’s magic pattern?

Lady Baoxiya nodded: "Yes, I would like you to refine a hat for me... Why, do you seem surprised?"

Angel hurriedly shook his head: "Not surprised, I’m just taken aback that Lady Baoxiya would request me to make a hat. As far as I know, Master Matthew and Master Ancient Ciro are both in Sky Mechanical City; if you need a hat refined, you could seek them out."

"Alchemist" Matthew and "Moonlight Silver" Ancient Ciro are both members of the Research Institute and are masters of the Metallography blending school. In terms of alchemical proficiency, they are certainly among the top in the Southern Domain.

Although Angel is also a member of the Research Institute, claiming his alchemical skills definitely surpass those of Matthew and Ancient Ciro would be impossible.

This is a consensus within the current alchemy circle.

How old is Angel? And how old are Matthew and Ancient Ciro? Just in terms of accumulated knowledge, Angel surely falls short of the latter two.

That’s why Angel found it puzzling that Lady Baoxiya approached him for alchemy. Could there be some unknown discord between Lady Baoxiya and Matthew or Ancient Ciro?

Portia: "I have considered who to ask for crafting."

In other words, she had considered Matthew and Ancient Ciro, but ultimately chose Angel.

Angel frowned and asked, "Can you tell me the reason why you want me to craft?"

The reason he wanted to know was to understand what Portia valued. Portia asking him to craft surely meant she had a certain inclination, but what could that inclination be?

Moreover, not just Portia, even with other close friends who asked him to craft items, he would inquire about the reason.

This was a matter of basic principle.

Portia: "I can, but the answer I give might be absurd."

"Absurd?" Angel: "So it’s false?"

Portia shook her head: "No, this is the real reason; it just might sound absurd."

Angel did not interrupt, but watched Portia quietly, waiting for her explanation.

Portia held a folding fan and tapped between her brows, seemingly pondering words, before she spoke after a while: "The hat I’m asking you to craft isn’t for me, but for someone else. This person, you should have met her, she’s called... Dong Liz."

Dong Liz? Angel was taken aback, with the image of a young girl wearing a large hat flashing through his mind.

Angel had indeed met Dong Liz and had even spoken with her. To be precise, Dong Liz had proactively approached Angel.

At that time, it was during the New Star Competition stage.

Angel, as a judge, didn’t attend every match. When not judging, he would occasionally choose a few matches to watch.

Once, while waiting for the match to start with his brother Lyon and Serum in the audience, a young girl wearing a flamboyant Ceylon hat came over.

This person was Dong Liz, who was also one of the contestants of the New Star Competition.

Perhaps because Dong Liz hailed from Shaloo Ridge, her overall vibe was very contradictory.

Clearly showing the most innocent expression and purest appearance, yet often spitting out the most venomous and cruel words.

Her gazes always flickered with sanguine colors, cheeks flushed, lips slightly curved in an elusive smile, seemingly mocking the world.

A completely deranged appearance.

Exactly like the personality of the head "Basket Witch" from Shaloo Ridge.

Dong Liz came to find Angel because he mentioned the "Shadow Goose Girl" Si Man during a chat with Serum.

And this Si Man was from Shaloo Ridge.

Dong Liz looked at Angel coyly: "Sir is very curious about Si Man? I have some insider information about her, I can provide it to you~"

Of course, Dong Liz didn’t provide the information for free, she was looking for a trade with Angel.

Dong Liz pointed at the hat Angel was wearing at the time: "All I want is one of your hats. If my sister wore it, she’d certainly look wonderful."

Then Dong Liz said some odd things, like her sister’s dream was to establish a hat museum, and her sister’s wish was her wish.

Dong Liz also pointed at the vacant seat beside her, claiming she would introduce her sister to Serum, but there was no one beside Dong Liz, including this so-called "sister."

It was as if she’s living in her own world, creating an imagined sister, and her sister instructed her to scour hats everywhere.

If it were just collecting hats, it wouldn’t be a big deal. However, Dong Liz tended to decapitate her opponents along with their hats since in her view... the hat museum must have mannequins to hold the hats, and human heads are natural mannequins.

It can be said Dong Liz was one of the most ruthless contestants in the New Star Competition.

Of course, Angel ultimately declined Dong Liz’s trade request.

The mention of "Shadow Goose Girl" Si Man was purely because he saw her in the audience, giving a casual explanation to his brother Lyon. He had no desire to know more about Si Man, hence there was no need to trade with Dong Liz.

After that, Angel practically forgot about Dong Liz.

Who’d have thought, after all this time, he’d hear Dong Liz’s name from Portia. Moreover, last time Dong Liz approached Angel for a hat trade and he refused, but now it’s Portia?

"Does Lady Portia know Dong Liz?"

Having interacted with Dong Liz, Angel roughly guessed her yearning for hats, but what puzzled him was why Portia would help Dong Liz?

Portia: "I’ve only met Dong Liz a few times, but I’m quite acquainted with her mentor."

"Her mentor..." Angel: "You mean, the ’Basket Witch’ Shaloo Witch?"

Portia nodded: "Indeed, it seems you’re not too unfamiliar with Dong Liz?"

Angel: "Dong Liz once tried to purchase a hat from me, but I refused. Her reason for wanting the hat was her desire to establish a hat museum... Lady Portia previously mentioned your answer might be absurd, could ’hat museum’ be the answer?"

Portia: "No, but it is related to her sister."

"Her sister?" Angel was surprised: "Does she actually have a sister?"

Portia shrugged: "I don’t know either, I haven’t seen her. But both Dong Liz and Shaloo Witch claimed she has a sister, so let’s assume she does."

Angel frowned, wanting to ask something but unsure where to start, so he continued to watch Portia, waiting for more.

Portia: "The story starts with Shaloo Witch..."

As Portia narrated, Angel roughly pieced together the context of the whole matter.

Simply put, Portia had a matter to ask Shaloo Witch to help with, and the condition Shaloo Witch set was for Portia to prepare a hat for Dong Liz.

To Portia, preparing a hat seemed trivial, especially for an apprentice, it was even simpler, so she agreed.

But later, when Portia negotiated with Dong Liz, she realized the direction of the matter was a bit off.

Shaloo Witch said to prepare a hat for Dong Liz, but Dong Liz claimed the prepared hat was for her sister.

Furthermore, Dong Liz stated that her sister hoped the hat craftsman would be Nail Granny or Angel.

Setting aside who to ask for crafting,

Currently, what perplexes Portia the most is she absolutely cannot perceive Dong Liz’s sister, even when Dong Liz claimed her sister was right beside Portia, she couldn’t see her.

Portia thought Dong Liz was lying, but discovered Dong Liz was telling the truth when she used Truth Spell.

Portia wouldn’t find it unusual if Dong Liz requested a hat for herself, but when she insisted her sister wanted the hat, it left her speechless.

Moreover, Dong Liz stated she hoped to communicate with her sister prior to crafting the hat.

Communication before alchemy is very normal. But crafting a hat for an invisible "sister" and communicating with said entity, even Portia found this reasoning absurd.

Yet, this was the genuine reason.

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