Chapter 29

“I seem to have discovered a perpetual motion machine!”

“Give me a drop of blood, and I’ll give you a gold coin.”

As he watched the blood letters slowly appearing on the note, Lynn raised an eyebrow.

Curious, he picked up the note from the box and examined it carefully.

After a moment, he tried tearing it apart or crumpling it.

But no matter how he attempted to destroy it, it seemed indestructible.

Clearly, this ancient cursed item had a high ranking in terms of power.

According to the original setting, ancient cursed items that are indestructible often possess terrifying and dangerous traits.

However, compared to the apocalyptic ancient cursed items in Lynn’s memory, this one seemed to fall into the safe category.

From the words on the note, it could be inferred that this thing likely operated with its own internal logic and rules, much like that doll from earlier.

As long as you didn’t break the rules, there seemed to be no danger.

With this in mind, Lynn glanced at the doll lying on the ground.

Having been shot twice in the head at close range, it now resembled a lifeless body.

Yet, due to its partial human physiological characteristics, blood was oozing from the bullet holes in its head.

Lynn’s eyes lit up.

After all, it didn’t specify whose blood it had to be.

Thinking this, he put the note back in the wooden box, then grabbed the doll by its wooden leg and lifted it upside down.

Moments later, a drop of blood fell into the box.

Having completed this, Lynn watched the ancient wooden box intently.

Thud!

Accompanied by a flash of brilliant gold, the drop of blood disappeared from the box.

In its place was a brand-new imperial gold coin, embossed with the likeness of Sixth Saint Roland.

What the hell?

Lynn gaped in surprise, quickly stuffing the coin into his pocket.

At the same time, his gaze towards the box grew profound.

Sure enough, things were far from over.

As this “transaction” concluded, the blood letters on the note slowly faded away.

Shortly after, a new line of blood letters appeared.

“Give me two drops of blood, and I’ll give you a gold coin.”

Such a con artist.

Looking at the blood letters, Lynn instinctively mocked.

But still, he shook the doll’s body vigorously and managed to drop two more drops of blood into the box.

Since this wasn’t a real human body, it felt quite light in his hands, so Lynn estimated that it wouldn’t take long before he ran out of blood.

Thus, he needed to make a good haul before that happened.

Thud!

Before long, another brand-new gold coin popped out of the box.

Lynn stuffed it into his pocket again.

“Give me three drops of blood, and I’ll give you a gold coin.”

Thud!

Ten minutes later.

Looking at his pocket stuffed with coins, Lynn couldn’t contain his grin.

He was getting rich! But on the flip side, the note’s demands were gradually escalating to a terrifying extent.

“Give me a thousand drops of blood, and I’ll give you a gold coin.”

At first, the demands increased in a simple arithmetic progression, but after a few transactions, the box’s appetite for blood showed an exponential rise.

Clearly, a doll this size would never suffice.

Staring at the motionless doll, Lynn suddenly felt an urge to use it like a yo-yo, spinning it around and squeezing every bit of value out of it.

But after thinking it over, he restrained himself.

From how the box functioned, it was evident that this kind of transaction probably had no end.

Human limits do exist, and it’s impossible for anyone to actually kill every living thing in the world to meet the box’s demands.

Thus, Lynn’s next goal was to find out what would happen if the box’s conditions exceeded his capabilities.

Since he was using the doll’s blood and the transaction only concerned that thing, it wasn’t his problem.

So, he set the doll aside and waited quietly for the result.

Time ticked away.

Just as Lynn felt that a minute had nearly passed, the unexpected occurred!

“Pffft—!!”

With a muffled pop, Lynn watched as the already shriveled doll suddenly collapsed like a deflated balloon, quickly becoming unable to deform and then cracking silently into pieces.

Lynn silently mourned for the doll now shattered into a pile of parts.

Then, he turned his gaze back to the note.

A new line of blood letters slowly emerged.

“Give me a drop of blood, and I’ll give you a gold coin.”

As expected, his guess was right. It all boiled down to the same old rules of a debt collector.

Having read many web novels in his past life, he knew too well how these setups worked.

If you failed to complete the transaction as stated on the note, the magic box would forcibly extract repayment.

Once you exceeded your limit, it was out with the old life and in with the new cycle.

Just like the doll, unable to provide a thousand drops of blood, it was forcibly drained by the magic box, resulting in its shattered fate.

If it were just that, it might seem a bit dull.

Lynn rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

Just as he was pondering in silence, the scattered parts of the doll suddenly stirred, drawing his attention.

Under an invisible force, the broken pieces of the doll began to reassemble.

Not only that, but even the damaged areas seemed to rewind time, restoring themselves without a hint of a seam.

Before Lynn’s eyes, the doll gradually regained its shape and fullness.

He suddenly remembered that the doll had once mentioned it would revive even if it died after ten minutes.

He gasped, and his eyes sparkled.

I need to take back what I said before.

This could never be a boring thing!

Watching the doll regain its ability to move, Lynn wanted to shout at his former self.

“Report organization, I seem to have discovered a perpetual motion machine!”

Feeling someone’s greedy gaze, the just-revived doll trembled, not yet grasping the situation.

“Y-You trash believing in ‘Art of Deception’, what are you trying to—”

Before it could finish, and even before its supernormal abilities could activate, Lynn seized its head and hoisted it up again.

Then he slammed it against the wall.

“Oh no…”

In the observation room, watching Lynn’s devilish actions, Morris gasped.

This dude seemed to really have shown mercy to him that night? Remembering what had happened then and connecting it with the blood spattered across Lynn’s face and his sparkling innocent eyes, he felt his legs give way.

Had he unwittingly brought a potential serial killer back to the manor? Meanwhile, Milani was laughing uncontrollably, covering her flat belly.

“I knew it, this kid is absolutely a genius! Hahaha!!!”

It seemed Lynn’s behavior tickled her funny bone, as she wiped her tears while laughing.

Nobody had expected this at all.

After all, to them, the Deadly Magic Doll was more like a means of sealing.

Feeling the differing emotions from the two beside him, Rhine’s face turned ashen.

Originally, Rhine had just wanted to make the dude bleed a bit.

But it appeared that not only did it cause no trouble for Lynn, but it also let him pocket dozens of coins for free.

“Don’t celebrate too early,” Rhine said darkly, “things are far from over.”

“You should know, this box possesses self-awareness.”

“D-Don’t kill me! I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Won’t I do whatever you want?!”

After the fifth resurrection, the doll seemed to finally break down, hugging its head and crouching on the ground, letting out unprecedented wails of despair.

At this moment, Lynn’s table was already piled high with gold coins.

“Please, it can’t end like this!” Lynn smiled devilishly, “You’re a strong guy, just break through your limits here!”

With that, he hoisted the doll up again.

“I-I know about the hidden information on ‘Prisoner of Fate!!!”

The doll, seemingly very afraid of pain, shut its eyes and exclaimed.

Lynn paused his movements.

At that moment, the doll’s gambling rule finally kicked in, as an invisible force completely prohibited all supernormal phenomena surrounding them.

Seeing this, Lynn tossed it into the corner of the room.

He wasn’t truly captivated by money, so he decided to let this guy off.

After all, information regarding a potential divine existence was worth far more than money.

As the doll was thrown into the corner, Lynn and the ancient wooden box escaped the rules.

After all, its influence only extended five meters.

“You stay put in that corner, don’t move.”

Lynn commanded.

Upon hearing this, the doll actually complied, hugging its knees in the corner and spiraling into self-isolation.

Meanwhile, it mumbled blankly to itself: “I’m so stupid, knowing all along that the ‘Art of Deception’ believers are a bunch of perverts, yet still…”

Seeing this, Lynn rolled his eyes and turned his gaze back to the wooden box.

Once again, blood letters reappeared on the note.

But unlike before, this time the blood letters had a new twist.

“Give me a drop of Lynn Bartleon’s blood, and I’ll give you a gold coin.”

Looking at this line of blood letters, Lynn chuckled.

Exactly, now that’s interesting.