Forbidden Nightmare

Chapter 126 Listener

"He can win, right?"

The cunning rabbit looked at the choppy sea and asked as if seeking psychological comfort.

Nearly half an hour had passed since Li Nanke led the enemy into the sea and the old car turned back and stopped by the side of the road.

The sea surface was calm and there was no sign of the undercurrent surging underwater.

After both entered the water, the Rabbit and Pinocchio could only wait on the shore, praying silently in their hearts that the final winner would be Li Nanke.

However, judging from the gap in strength between the two, the chances of Li Nanke surviving in the end are almost zero.

"Of course, I believe that the boss will be able to defeat the enemy."

Pinocchio followed Li Nanke all the way and had a rough estimate of the boss's strength in his mind.

In terms of hard power, he knew that the boss was definitely no match for the enemy, but the two had fought side by side countless times, and no matter how powerful the enemy was, the boss would always be the final winner.

Whether it is fighting against an endless army of puppets or fighting against various giant special puppets.

He continued to grow stronger in battle after battle, but the boss grew stronger even faster than him. No matter how strong the enemy was, they would eventually fall down and become a stepping stone for the boss to grow stronger.

Pinocchio developed a trust in Li Nanke that was almost worshipful, which was absolute confidence built on repeated battles.

Suddenly, a head emerged from the sea, and the familiar figure climbed up the rocks and came to the side of the road.

"Sure enough, the final winner is still the boss."

As Pinocchio exclaimed, the cunning rabbit jumped into Li Nanke's arms in surprise.

He noticed that the boss seemed to be holding a palm-sized object in his hand. The object was blue and the overall shape was irregular. It looked like some kind of crystal or a mass of flesh and blood.

Pinocchio's eyes were fixed on that thing and he couldn't look away even a little bit, just like the north pole of a magnet meeting the south pole, creating a fatal attraction from the same source.

[Remnant Organization of God's Arm]

[Type: Props/Materials/Consumables]

【Quality: Excellent+】

[Rating: 76/100]

[Details: The only broken arm left by the 'Torn God', the flesh and blood tissue extracted from it was implanted into the body of 'Champion Victor', guiding him on the path of evolution while also bringing him more powerful power. The basic purpose of this item is to create alchemical items (relevant alchemy skills must be mastered), but it may also have some unknown functions. ]

The car started again and drove towards the distant city of Krat.

But Pinocchio's gaze seemed to be welded to the 'remnant tissue of God's Arm', and he was always staring at the palm of the boss's hand.

The rabbit in the driver's seat kept asking the boss how she defeated the enemy, but the boss was not interested at all, as if she had only done something insignificant. She asked the rabbit if she knew what "driving a Ferrari with one hand" meant, and wanted to show her...

Li Nanke noticed his gaze and turned over to the back seat of the car.

"Why, are you interested in this thing?"

The 'Remnant Tissue of God's Arm' was a trophy dug out from the heart of Victor, the autopsy champion, by Li Nanke.

However, according to the prop introduction, alchemy is needed to make the material prop work. He knows nothing about alchemy, so he thinks of going back to the hotel to find the yellow dog Philip to see if he can turn this thing into a useful prop.

Now Pinocchio looked like a prisoner who had been locked up and hungry for a long time and finally saw a delicious roast chicken.

The puppet boy couldn't take his eyes away.

Pinocchio took the 'Remnant Tissue of God's Arm', and as if he had received some kind of guidance from the unknown, he held the object in both hands and brought it close to his left chest.

But he suddenly stopped, raised his head and looked at Li Nanke, his eyes seemed to ask, "Boss, should I start?"

Seeing Li Nanke nod, he smiled gratefully and pressed the "Remnant Tissue of God's Arm" against his chest.

As soon as the crystalline flesh and blood tissue touched the metal chest, it turned into countless blue particles that penetrated the chest and poured into it.

Li Nanke clearly saw a blue light shining inside the puppet boy's body. Even through the clothes and the chest made of extraordinary metal, he could see the madly beating power heart inside.

It was a heart made of metal and flesh, with tiny pipes and gears on the surface, mixed with blue flesh.

At the same time, the puppet boy clenched his fists, and his whole body was filled with azure particles.

[Puppet P——Pinocchio]

[Type: Summoned/Growable]

[Quality: Rare → Rare+]

[Rating: 15→32]

Pinocchio opened his eyes, clenched his fists, felt the powerful force surging in his body, and said in surprise: "Boss, I absorbed that thing and it seems to have become stronger."

Li Nanke touched Pinocchio's head and ruffled his hair into a bird's nest.

But he thought to himself: Simon, the leader of the Alchemist Group, used the flesh and blood of God's Arm to evolve the champion Victor, and Geppetto, the father of the puppet, seemed to have secretly obtained some of the flesh and blood of God's Arm, and added some of it to the power heart when making Pinocchio.

This allows Pinocchio to absorb the flesh and blood of the God's Arm just like he absorbed Ego-Element, thereby greatly enhancing his own strength.

"This kid hasn't really acknowledged his master yet. Maybe the conditions for acknowledging his master are related to the God's Arm?"

If there is such a thing as favorability in the dream world, Li Nanke believes that his favorability must be the highest in Pinocchio's heart, but so far he has not received any synchronous prompts similar to recognition of the master.

He had never been able to figure out the so-called conditions for master recognition. Now that he saw Pinocchio absorbing the God's Arm, he couldn't help but associate the God's Arm with the conditions for master recognition.

That night, the three returned to the Kratt Hotel.

"What! All the pursuers died?!"

Sophia stood up quickly, her face full of disbelief.

A total of twelve trackers went to the cathedral area to carry out what Li Nanke called military training, but only three came back... Among the three survivors, puppet P was not counted among the twelve trackers.

This means that ten trackers were sacrificed during this clearing operation.

Now, apart from the Black Rabbit Gang, there are only two trackers, Green Snake and Yellow Dog, left in the hotel. It is no different from the complete annihilation of the army.

"Black Rabbit, what on earth do you want to do! You have used up all our strength just for what you call military training? Tell me, what are the results of the training now?"

Facing Sophie's questioning, Li Nanke said calmly: "There are casualty indicators in training. They failed and were eliminated." Sophie pointed at Li Nanke, her face flushed with anger, and she kept saying "you, you, you" for a long time without being able to utter a complete sentence.

"Ms. Sophia, I have answered your questions truthfully. I hope you can stop acting. Let's sit down and talk honestly with each other, okay?"

Sophia was stunned, and said with an unchanged expression: "I don't understand what you are saying. You are responsible for the death of the trackers!"

Sophia's true identity is definitely not simple. Li Nanke was just suspicious at first, but when he passed by the cathedral, he found the key evidence.

The other party claimed that he missed the last ship to escape the island because he had too many assets left in Krat City and wanted to transfer the assets.

But judging from Sophia's behavior, she is definitely not so greedy for money as to risk her life, so this excuse is a bit too untenable.

Through the red fox and the black cat, Li Nanke learned that the ego butterfly that awakened Pinocchio came from Sophia.

While in the cathedral, he met Ego Butterfly again, and with the help and guidance of the Butterfly, he finally found the notes of the alchemist Geppetto.

Therefore, Sophia is definitely not just a wealthy noblewoman. She must have other purposes for staying in Krat City.

Li Nanke looked at the butterfly ornament on Sophia's plump chest and said, "Okay, how do you want me to be responsible?"

He stood up, a bloody hammer appeared in his hand, and a raging flame ignited from the hammer.

The raging and hot flames created a surging heat wave, making Sophia's face burn, and she couldn't help but take a step back.

He stared into the other person's eyes, not hiding his threat at all.

Green Snake took a step forward without saying a word, standing in front of Sophia, tightly holding the dagger in his hand.

"Just her? She can't even block one of my moves."

"Ms. Sophia, although you have hidden a lot of things from me, you have also helped me at the risk of exposing yourself, right?"

"I don't want to use force to make you submit. I hope you will think it over carefully."

Sophia clenched her palms tightly, her knuckles turning white. She was silent for a long time, and finally sighed:

"Green Snake, take Ms. Cunning Rabbit and Doll P back to the room to rest... Mr. Black Rabbit, please follow me. It's not convenient to talk here."

Sophia took Li Nanke to the lounge on one side of the lobby, personally made a pot of coffee for him, and brought a plate of exquisite desserts.

"Tell me your true identity and your real purpose."

Sophia sat on the sofa next to the coffee table, her eyes slightly dazed. She did not answer immediately, but asked back:
"Mr. Black Rabbit, you got Geppetto's notes. You should have seen the word 'Listener' on it, right?"

The following is recorded in Geppetto's notebook: ...Simon is ultimately just a usurper of the throne. Even if he controls the daughter of the former leader Valentin, the only remaining listener in the world, he cannot change his failure.

This is the only paragraph in the notes regarding the listener.

On the contrary, the item description of the gold coin fruit has more records about the listener: the gold coin fruit tree transformed by the "listener", the gold coin fruit grown on it has the ability to manipulate the self-element to "make a wish"...

Sophia asked back, extending a white, slender finger.

The azure self-element condensed into dots out of thin air and turned into a beautiful butterfly, which landed on Sophia's fingers and slowly flapped its wings.

Li Nanke's eyes narrowed. "You are the Listener, the daughter of Valentin, the former leader of the Alchemist Corps."

"No, Geppetto's notes say that the former leader's daughter has been controlled by Simon, and you..."

Sophia raised her finger slightly, and the self-white butterfly fluttered into the air, then turned into countless points of light and disappeared.

"That's right, Mr. Black Rabbit. My father is the leader of the alchemist group, Valentin, and my late mother, Isabel, was also a listener."

"The Listeners are descendants of ancient humans. To be more precise, they are descendants of angels and gods. They are born with the ability to manipulate ego elements."

"The Listener can manipulate the Ego elements all over the world, listen to all languages, know all the secrets hidden in the shadows, and even use the Ego elements to perform some almost miraculous abilities, such as reading minds, retracing individual time, predicting the future, and so on."

"From the perspective of mortals, the Listener has inherited the power of the Stars and Angels, and possesses the great ability to fulfill wishes."

"That's not the case, and this ability has weakened with the iteration of my bloodline, and it no longer has the original power." Sophie sighed and said, "All I can do now is use my ego to transform into a butterfly and eavesdrop on some secrets."

"Simon killed my father for the 'Arm of God' and usurped the position of leader in order to satisfy his selfish desire for immortality."

"'God's Arm' is the remains of an angel, an immortal life form. Even though the angel is dead, the remains of 'God's Arm' still have powerful activity."

"But eternal life is a miracle that can only be achieved by making a wish. It is impossible to achieve it with mortal wisdom no matter how much research is done."

"Simon had been studying the God's Arm for a long time without making any progress, so he turned his attention to the Listener, that is, me."

"After all, the Listener is a descendant of angels and gods. It might be easier to start researching the rarer bloodline than directly researching the 'God's Arm'."

"He imprisoned me on the Alchemy Island, locked me in the Primordial Monastery, and stripped me of my flesh and blood for experimental research. I was already riddled with holes..."

Li Nanke was stunned and couldn't help but frown, looking Sophia up and down.

The blue-haired woman had a beautiful face, a blue coat covering her shoulders, and a pair of slender white legs under her white skirt. How could she look like she was in tatters?

Sophia seemed to know what he was thinking and smiled helplessly.

Then her whole body burst into blue light, and like the ego element butterfly, her body was actually made up purely of ego element.

The body fell apart and decomposed into countless points of light, then gathered together and transformed into a beautiful blue-haired woman.

"My original purpose was to awaken Puppet P, the puppet with infinite possibilities, to make him grow and become stronger, and eventually defeat the Puppet King and reach the Alchemy Island..."

"I wanted him to help me kill Simon and complete my revenge... But, Mr. Black Rabbit, your performance has changed my plan."

"I originally placed my hopes on Puppet P, but I discovered that you seem to be stronger than Puppet P. Whether in terms of your own strength or your potential to grow stronger, you are more suitable for completing my revenge plan."

"Most importantly, I can use my ego to listen to other people's voices, but I can't hear your voice, Mr. Black Rabbit."

"You are different from all the trackers and puppets. You don't fight with your own energy, but with extraordinary powers that I don't understand."

"You are like that fallen 'star', possessing a strange power that does not belong to this world..."

"Am I right, Mr. Black Rabbit?"

Sophia folded her hands on her knees and stared at Li Nanke.

(End of this chapter)