Chapter 23
The Floating Chicken Talisman
"Huh? What chicken charm? Dad, didn't you say it was embedded in the shield? The Black Hand Gang took the shield, how could the chicken charm be with me..."
"Still pretending with your old man? I'm just old, but I'm not blind! I saw a little rascal sneaking into my room and taking the shield! I don't believe that, with your knowledge of talismans, you've had the shield for so long without doing anything!"
"What do you mean by 'with my understanding of talismans'... Okay, okay, Dad, don't look at me like that, I'll take it out..."
When Riley was greeted by his father's sudden greeting, his heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively shook his head in denial, trying to keep the little gadget in his hand.
But after his father, who seemed to have known Riley for a long time, gave him a rude scolding and, seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Riley had no choice but to pretend to take something out from behind his back, transfer the chicken talisman from his system space to his palm, and show it to everyone.
"Is this a magical talisman? But I can't see anything special about it..."
"Uh... Uncle Long, why don't you look down at yourself?"
"Hmm? Xiaoyu, what do you mean by that... Ughhhhhhh—?!"
Of course, the chicken talisman does look quite ordinary. At first glance, it doesn't even appear as finely crafted as a glittering golden shield.
Uncle Long, who was secretly wondering about this, looked down after being reminded by Xiao Yu. He was shocked to find himself floating in mid-air. He immediately exclaimed in surprise and instinctively tried to return to the ground by paddling like a swimmer.
"Calm down, Uncle Long. What you're feeling right now is the power of the Chicken Talisman. It's about controlling the movement of objects using the user's will."
Fortunately, this strange phenomenon only lasted for a few breaths before Uncle Dragon slowly descended after Riley's explanation, until he was able to stand firmly on solid ground again.
Riley then levitated, simultaneously launching webs. Using the momentum of the webs, he achieved true free flight for a short time, much like Superman.
"Of course, if you do it like I do, applying forward propulsion while maintaining a suspended state, you can even achieve the effect of flying with the help of the chicken talisman."
"Such a small talisman can have such a magical effect... This... This is simply too unscientific! Ouch! Dad! Why did you hit me again!"
"Ouch! You won't learn your lesson unless I punish you! Your father already told you, this is magic, do you understand magic? Of course, it can't be explained by so-called science!"
After Riley demonstrated the power of the Chicken Talisman, Uncle first raised his hand in exasperation, then smacked Uncle on the head.
Only after Riley landed safely did he point to the talisman in Riley's hand and continue speaking with reason and evidence.
"In short, since there are twelve zodiac animals, there should be eleven more talismans like these besides the rooster talisman Riley has. So, whatever the Black Hand Gang is up to, we must find the remaining talismans before they do and keep them safe. We must prevent these powerful magical items from falling into the hands of bad guys."
"It sounds like our interests are aligned, old friend. I can use the resources of District 13 to help you find the remaining talismans. All you need to do is help deal with the Black Hand gang when you encounter them, and bring them to justice. How about it?"
Although Sheriff Black still thought the idea of magic was utterly absurd, and Riley's demonstration was likely just some kind of trickery used by charlatans, it was completely unconvincing.
But after his father finished speaking, realizing that this was a good opportunity to recruit Uncle Long and work together to combat the Mafia's criminal activities, Sheriff Black quickly spoke up and proposed to Uncle Long.
"Of course, once you find other talismans, you can also store them in District 13. After all, there is no place in the world safer or more suitable for storing these strange and dangerous little gadgets than District 13."
As he spoke, a hint of pride and self-satisfaction inevitably appeared on Sheriff Black's face when he mentioned District 13, which he had meticulously managed for many years.
"Hmm, the safest place, right? I don't think so..."
Unfortunately, before Sheriff Black could even gloat for a few seconds, Riley remembered that in the original story, the so-called "safest" District 13 was actually unstoppable by anyone.
Let alone Jade, even Valmont's weakest trio can come and go as they please in District 13; they can't be contained at all.
So much so that the thought of having security measures comparable to those of the 13th District of the Land of Light in the neighboring Okubo to safeguard these dangerous talismans is quite daunting.
Riley shrugged, ruthlessly shattering Sheriff Black's fantasy, then reached behind him with the chicken charm, using his body to conceal it as he hid it back in the system's built-in storage space.
"It may be rude of me to say this, but... Sheriff Black, until you strengthen the security of District 13 until the situation where kids like Jade and I can easily break in is no longer possible, I think it would be safer for me to keep this chicken charm."
"...Okay, I admit you're right, it was indeed our dereliction of duty and negligence."
Of course, if it were Black Egg instead, he would definitely take action right now and fight Riley for ownership of the talisman.
But Sheriff Black, with his kind and easygoing nature, after a flash of embarrassment and disappointment in his eyes, honestly admitted his mistake.
Then, adhering to the principle of official business, he asked Riley in a gentle and soft voice.
"How can I entrust something so important to a child like you?"
"The answer is simple. First, given District 13's intelligence-gathering capabilities, you must have already thoroughly investigated my background and know where I live. So, even if I were truly plotting something, you could easily take my parents hostage to force me to comply. Second, I believe that my brother and I possess a certain level of self-defense ability and can ensure that the talisman won't be taken away by others, just like this."
Sheriff Black's actions greatly increased Riley's goodwill towards him, and Riley was happy to patiently reason with him and gradually dispel Sheriff Black's doubts.
Halfway through his sentence, he simply used a spider web to retrieve a pistol, holster and all, from the waist of one of the detectives who had accompanied Sheriff Blake there.
Before anyone could even feel nervous, Riley, holding the gun in one hand, easily twisted the metal gun into a pretzel, as if kneading a lump of clay.
After a performance, using pure force to successfully persuade Sheriff Black, Riley, who had been busy running around, seized the opportunity to strike while the iron was hot and revealed his true goal.
"Finally, if possible, I'd like to bring Peter along to learn martial arts from Uncle Long. With Uncle Long personally overseeing him, I'm sure Sheriff Black can feel at ease, right?"