It took China a moment to remember the connection that existed somewhere between Dex's comment and reality, but remember it she did. Ravel was with Fletcher when they picked up Merlin from her library. Ravel had, unsurprisingly, told Vex. Either one or both of them had drawn the ridiculous conclusion.

It was a moment longer than China would have liked to make such an obvious connection, but she was still recovering. It was only to be expected. More importantly, while she didn't dignify Vex's comment with a response, Solomon almost seemed to take personal offense by it. It was enough to make China wonder whether Christ himself had put in an appearance as well. Either that, or Wreath really was going to convert. These days, nothing would surprise her.

"Perhaps." To be honest, China wasn't overly interested in how the statues were used. She was more interested in how they performed; what the Council of Elders did with them after that wasn't any of her concern. "But unless you hired masons to mass-produce these statues, I'll still need to do each one individually. The slightest imperfection in the stone could become a problem if I tried a one-size-fits-all solution. They'll need to be able to fight." She stepped towards the first one with a sigh. "This was why I preferred the Cleavers. Every one was the same. Simple. Elegant. I didn't keep getting asked to create more."

Because she knew that would be the price here. Statues would get destroyed or defeated in their line of work, and she'd be expected to keep up with the demand. The demand in a Cradle of Magic. The demand in Ireland, where Skulduggery Pleasant was the Sanctuary's Prime Detective.

"Vex?" She favoured the man with a radiant smile. "Would you be a dear and lay this statue on the ground for me? I need access to its base."