Chapter 1315: Summary Report
Jasmine felt that she should have been afraid, but she found it
difficult to have much strong emotions facing the female police officer
in front of her. She felt like her body and mind had unknowingly settled
down after crying for a long time.
She looked at her parents who had a complicated expression and asked
hesitantly, "Okay, what questions do you have?"
The female policeman with the rank of superintendent pointed at the door
and said, "Let's talk inside."
She didn't get Jasmine's parents to leave. She only ordered the two
police officers with her to guard by the door.
After closing the door, she pulled a crude round stool over and sat down
without standing on ceremony, looking very relaxed.
This immediately made Jasmine and her parents less tense.
"You may call me Ma'am Grey." The officer introduced herself and pointed
at another chair and the bed. "Have a seat."
When everyone in the room found their seats, she smiled at Jasmine and
said, "I received a report saying that there were some incomprehensible
things happening around you. For example, a male's desire for committing
sexual assault had far exceeded normal standards. This doesn't mean that
there are no bad people or criminals among them, but the ratio is too
high, so high that it's strange."
At this point, she swept her gaze across Jasmine's face.
"From what I know, you were seriously injured during the fire and was
permanently disfigured. But now, I can't tell any of that. What do you
have to say about this?"
Jasmine's heart tensed up again. She didn't dare hide anything and said
in a panic, "I went out tonight to the municipal square to attend the
carnival. While I was passing by a particular street, I encountered a
wandering magician who called himself Merlin Hermes. He said that he had
invented a machine called 'the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.' All I
had to do was insert a penny, softly state my wish, and turn the wrench,
then my wish would be granted.
"He said that I was the first user, so I could experience it for free
once. Th-then, I was restored to my original state, having all my
injuries healed.
"Officer, that's what happened. You must believe me."
With that, she glanced at Mrs. Grey and her assistant before looking at
her parents, trying to get their approval.
However, her parents clearly said:
"How is this possible?
*"How can there be a machine that can automatically grant the wishes of
others?*
*"How can there be something as good as granting a wish cost only a
penny?*
"Besides, the first user experienced it for free!"
Grey and her assistant didn't show any obvious expressions, making
Jasmine unsure if they believed her or not.
"Continue." Seeing her pause, Grey nodded encouragingly.
Jasmine hurriedly mentioned how she returned home to get some coins
before recounting in full how she wished for her parents to regain their
health and how she wanted to become beautiful. Finally, she said, "I was
indeed very beautiful. Even I couldn't move my eyes away. This made me
experience a lot of kindness, but later on, the surrounding men started
to frighten me...
"In addition, Daddy and Mommy didn't recognize me and chased me out of
the house. I was scared, very scared. I returned to the machine and made
a third wish. Yes, that Mr. Merlin Hermes said that the first wish was
free, and wasn't part of the three wishes. In short, I returned to my
original appearance and met you."
Upon hearing these words, Jasmine's parents instantly thought of the
beautiful "burglar" from before.
Then, they realized that their bodies were indeed much healthier than
before. Their vision had recovered and their arms had sufficient
strength. Everything seemed different.
They began to believe Jasmine's description, but they felt even more
terrified. It was as if they had encountered a demon, exactly the same
as those stories in folklore.
Grey nodded gently.
"I've seen many matters that are beyond your imagination, but this is
the first time I've heard of something like a Fully Automatic Wishing
Machine.
"Compared to a wishing lamp or wishing pool in folklore, this is too
modern."
After a pause, her expression turned serious.
"As an experienced law enforcer, I'll give you three suggestions.
"First, don't believe in such things again from now on. Under most
circumstances, the easy granting of wishes brings about a huge disaster.
There's nothing wrong with describing it as the temptation of demons."
Jasmine nodded heavily, indicating that she wouldn't dare to do it
again---that final experience still left her feeling afraid.
"Secondly, go to the cathedral as soon as possible and repent to the
bishop. Get him to purify you." Grey looked around and said, "Your
entire family must go."
Seeing that Jasmine and her parents were about to say that they already
had this in mind, Grey turned to Jasmine.
"My department still lacks some staff. You can consider joining us. This
way, I can monitor your situation at any time and deal with any
abnormalities in time. As for the salary, trust me, it's about the same
as a civil servant."
*The salary is about the same as a civil servant's... I can be
protected... There's something that nice?* Jasmine asked in
disbelief, "What department is it?"
Grey smiled and said, "I'll give you an address. Come to my office
tomorrow, and I'll fill you in on the details."
"...Alright." Jasmine was in a state of panic and unease. She would grab
a life-saving straw the moment it appeared.
A week later, Jasmine officially joined the Nighthawks in Limon City and
became a civilian staff member.
"Captain, the telegraph device has broken down," she said carefully as
she knocked on Grey's door.
Grey put down the documents in her hand and rubbed her temples.
"Report this to the police station and let them handle it.
"Seriously, I could've gotten the help of the Machinery Hivemind in the
past. It was done in a quick and effective way. Now, sigh..."
By the time Jasmine left, Grey picked up the documents and began to read
them carefully.
This was a piece of information that the Nighthawks had gathered
regarding the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.
After Jasmine, this happened more than once!
After flipping through the documents, Grey spread out a piece of paper,
picked up a fountain pen, and began writing the official document for
the Constant archbishop and the Holy Cathedral:
"There have been many supernatural incidents in the city in the past
week. It involves a special machine called 'the Fully Automatic Wishing
Machine.' According to the intel, it was created by a wandering magician
who calls himself Merlin Hermes, but we haven't ruled out other
possibilities. At least, I think that Merlin might be an illusion
created by this machine, so as to lure people into making wishes...
"This machine is of a brass color embedded with opaque glass. Its
surface has gears, bearings, rivets, metal pipes, and other components
exposed on its surface. It seems to be a product of modern
industrialization...
"Case 1: A young girl who was disfigured by a fire, had met the Fully
Automatic Wishing Machine at the municipal square... Her first wish was
to revert back to her original appearance, and it was granted
normally... Her second wish was to restore her parents' health, which
was also granted normally... Her third wish was to become, extremely,
extremely, extremely beautiful. Then, she no longer looked like herself,
and she had an irresistible charm to the men around her...
"She claimed that she was the first user of Fully Automatic Wishing
Machine, which allowed her to have one free wish. With that, she
canceled her third wish...
"Case 2: A retired soldier who participated in the war to defend Limon
was left with serious mental damage. He met the Fully Automatic Wishing
Machine by the river... His first wish was to restore his mental state
to a state before the war, and it was granted normally... His second
wish was to become a little more handsome so as to reach the standards
of the male models on magazine covers. He also had it granted
normally... His third wish was to obtain 100,000 pounds and become a
tycoon. Then, he caught the fancy of the owner of the Limon United Steel
Company who wished to marry him---a lady with a wealth of nearly 200,000
pounds...
"This retired soldier didn't wish to accept her with her having a weight
of more than two hundred pounds and her shorter-than-average height.
Furthermore, she's a violent middle-aged woman. He prepared to leave
Limon and head south. If there comes a day when he doesn't want to work
hard anymore, he can easily obtain the rights to a wealth of 100,000
pounds... In a sense, his wish was granted, but he's unwilling to accept
it...
"Case 3: ...
"Case 4: ...
"Case 5: A public school teacher met the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine
near a Storm cathedral... Her first wish was to make herself look
better, and not be ostracized by her students because of her looks or be
spurned by her colleagues. This was granted normally... Her second wish
was to obtain a better position, which was also granted. As her teaching
standards were high enough and she was no longer restricted by her
looks, she quickly became the most popular teacher among the students
and began taking on the duties as vice principal...
"Her third wish was to have a husband with impeccable looks, family
background, personality, and ability. Finally, she got a doll who could
speak, move, and have a certain level of intelligence. It had living
characteristics and looked rather handsome. It was carved by the best
master and could have any personality one wanted. It was very capable in
every aspect. Other than not being human, it really had no flaws...
"Case 6: ...
"...
"Summarizing these cases, we have obtained some preliminary guesses.
"The Fully Automatic Wishing Machine can appear anywhere in Limon. It's
extremely random, and there's temporarily no discovered pattern for
it...
"Most of the wishes that are made can be fulfilled normally. However, a
small portion will be distorted, and the latter is basically
concentrated on the third wish. Of course, it's also possible that the
person will let themselves loose by the time they make the third wish
and thus, make excessive demands...
"The wishes it granted were mostly related to appearance, but it covered
a wide scope. It was almost omnipotent...
"The frequency of its appearances is also irregular...
"This is a classic example of a mystical item that needs to be sealed.
Furthermore, it clearly exceeds the grade of a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact.
I hope the archbishop and high-ranking deacons will personally deal with
it, or give an effective sealing method..."
On the steam locomotive out of Limon, Klein observed his digestion of
the Miracle Invoker potion.