Brain bloom

The tattoo parlor on that shady street was the same—

"No business today...," said a woman's voice, as cold, hard, and emotionless as cast iron.

"Ah."

The female elder sister, who was actually a phantom dragon, was sitting next to her, nodding in response to the shopkeeper's words.

The smoke in the tattoo shop had thinned a bit.

The shopkeeper, dressed in her own flamboyant attire of an unknown ethnicity, faced Huanlong with her back to him. She was wiping a pipe, a finely crafted instrument made of jade and silver, which she rarely used.

The purpose is to use it to take a puff of my treasured tobacco.

After all, the war affected her guests, and she wanted to carve patterns on other people's skin for the rest of her endless life. Now that the war issue was resolved, she felt a little happy.

"Phantom Dragon, you'll be busy soon," she added.

"why?"

"Some people will come wanting to get Lord Balzac's name tattooed on their bodies. After all, that lord is quite interesting; there will always be people who admire him..."

"Really? Is that so?"

Big Sister Huanlong nodded, not caring about such things, and silently chewed on the silver coins she usually couldn't bear to eat.

Her silver coin was also special; it was newly minted and taken directly from the mint. Unlike those that had passed through countless hands, it tasted very clean. Although she felt indifferent to the war, everyone around her was celebrating, so she joined in and ate one of her treasured coins.

In this way, it feels as if I will become happy as well.

"Phantom Dragon, after you've finished eating, please apply some lubricant to my lower limbs." After saying that, she glanced outside the door.

"Okay okay."

"The precision of this body has decreased again. Sigh, it's so inconvenient. A mechanical body is too stiff; even if it houses my soul, it can't become agile—but there are advantages too; at least it lets me forget the taste of pain..."

With a mix of nostalgia and sorrow, she fed the tobacco into the pipe. It was rolled tightly, yet with gaps to allow for airflow. There were no matches or flint nearby; instead, she raised her mechanically forged prosthetic leg, rubbed her index finger and thumb together, and snapped her fingers.

A few sparks flashed by, igniting the tobacco leaves, and the silky smoke rose gracefully.

She swallowed the first puff of smoke, carefully savored the taste, and exhaled before speaking—

"A guest is looking for you, Huanlong."

"Me? Am I here to get Lord Balzac's name tattooed? Even though I'm still an apprentice, all I have to do is, like the shopkeeper, make a few bloody marks on my body and then sprinkle the paint in... right?"

She was about to get up to check when she immediately felt an immense pressure descend upon her. For a moment, she thought her body, and the entire shop, would be crushed...

This feeling is familiar. Could it be the pressure from a higher-level dragon species?

"—What a weak phantom dragon! Shameful! And... it's actually gnawing on metal." The sudden voice was clearly filled with anger, and a sense of oppression burst forth from it.

"...Who...who are you? Where are you?"

Big Sister Huanlong felt a sense of familiarity, but also instinctively felt a sense of obedience and fear.

The store manager glanced at it and casually said to Huanlong, "It's your elder who's here."

Just as she said, what came here was that ancient phantom dragon.

After hearing what Mori had said, it finally moved its rear end and came from the demon realm, where it had been living in seclusion, to the human world. Amidst the long-awaited sunlight and the chatter of humans, it came to see its junior.

But to everyone's great disappointment, just as Sen Shi had said, this phantom dragon caused the noble and proud dragon race to lose face.

"You should prostrate yourself before me in respect! I am the pinnacle of the current Phantom Dragon species, having survived since ancient times! My friends who know me call me 'Grey Tear'."

"...You...you're also a Phantom Dragon?"

"Indeed, you should tell me your name, you underdeveloped little phantom dragon."

"I have no name..."

"Alright then, let's teach you how to name yourself first."

“Naming is troublesome... Why not just call him Phantom Dragon? If you choose an ugly name, people will laugh at you.”

Gray Tears didn't answer, which made Big Sister Phantom Dragon a little anxious.

She thought she had managed to get rid of the senior colleague she had finally met. But the next moment, the shop manager, who had been hiding his back, moved—

Her pipe had been put down at some point.

Instead, he held a long, thin, needle-like sharp instrument. It was a tool he often used to draw or write on people's skin, but now it was pointed at empty space, with a hint of hostility.

"Honorable ancient phantom dragon, it's time to stop. Although your phantom form has no shape, your dragon might can affect my body."

Silently, the oppressive aura emanating from the phantom dragon dissipated.

The store manager was straightforward; he simply dropped his hostility and continued enjoying his tobacco.

"Thanks, but my body is very complex and it would be very troublesome to repair."

"You're welcome. It was my fault for affecting you. I only meant to teach the younger generation a lesson. I'm also quite curious... can you taste the tobacco? An unknown ancient soul."

"I can't taste it." The shop manager's face, mechanically rendered, was stiff and rigid, without any change in expression. "But I can't give up the habit either."

"The human world is really interesting; Silvermoon City is inhabited by guys like you."

"I'm just a boring machine, but there are a few interesting old guys. Alright, I roughly know what you're here for. It might be good to guide this phantom dragon."

"Hmm." The gray tears remained invisible.

The voice was right next to her, which made Big Sister Huanlong feel uneasy.

"Are you here to force me to eat the book?"

"No, it's to take you to the realm of demons, where I'll teach you the sweetness of knowledge and help you purify the metal accumulated in your body."

The name of the place terrified her: "...I...I'm not a devil."

"Then you'll die if you stay here," Gray Tears replied dismissively. "When I arrived, I saw the Evil Mist quietly devouring the residents of Silvermoon City, and I'll be here soon."

Volume 1 #231: The Rampaging Mist

"The Peda Empire must be feeling pretty bad, haha. They've come all this way only to find our cities gone... They're in the sky, out of their reach."

"Yeah... but if you use that stupid brain and think about it seriously, flying in the sky is still a bit troublesome, even though it's quite romantic."

"That's true, if it flies into the sky... maritime trade will be finished. Is this city going to decline? It's a pity there's nowhere else to go."

Deep within the winding side streets, a place where young people gather. These guys, almost all of them, sneaked into the cargo holds of passing merchant ships to come to Silvermoon City and stayed there.

Unfortunately, no one can do well.

They lacked proof of their status as residents of Silvermoon City, and could only barely support themselves by engaging in less-than-honorable activities. However, their living conditions were much more spacious, as they were situated in the outskirts of the city, in remote mountain passes where people congregated and lived.

Today, some young people are chatting here, but they all have bottles of liquor in their hands. Although the liquor is cheap homemade grain wine and doesn't taste good, it can still get people drunk.

In high spirits, one of them casually tossed aside the empty bottle of wine.

But the rough glass didn't shatter on the ground; instead of the celebratory sound of breaking glass, there was none. The man immediately ducked his head, worried he might have hit someone, but he hadn't.

Instead, it was swallowed up.

He rubbed his eyes, finding it hard to believe. What had swallowed the bottle was a dark, indistinct mass, vaguely and erratically lurking in the deepest part of the street. That place connected to the sewers, the dirtiest place.

"...Is it noon now?" He felt a chill and couldn't help but step out of the shadows into the sunlight.

"Yeah, what's wrong? Did you drink yourself silly?"

"Hey, what's that? Seaweed...?"

His companion glanced over impatiently, but was also taken aback, squinting as he examined it for a while. It looked like a cloud of mist; burning trash always produced this color of smoke, but nothing had ever sent chills down his spine.

One of them had a slightly broader perspective and came from an independent city-state by the sea; he seemed to have heard of similar things before.

"Fog...that...fog."

"fog?"

"Could this thing... be that ominous mist? We're in big trouble!"

"Evil Mist?"

Their expressions turned panicked; they had at least heard of that terrible name before, and they immediately took several steps back. But the ominous mist, the size of a human head, had unknowingly grown much larger, reaching half a person's height.

It's gushing out of the sewer pipes.

Although part of its body was purified by the sacred object, some parts remained. It escaped from the clutches of the Four Seasons and, following the sewage pipes flowing from the seaside, finally arrived in the city and found its prey.

Although its two prey escaped, it was not anxious.

More mist was billowing out, and only after it condensed into a human-shaped form did it slowly move its body. Compared to these humans who could only move on foot, it was much faster.

They caught up with them before they even ran out of the street.

With just a light touch to their skin, the two, who were slightly tipsy just a moment ago, had their souls corroded and were brought to their deaths. The evil mist was overjoyed with its success and burrowed into their bodies through their ears, nasal cavities, and mouths.

The soul was nourished by the evil mist, turning into even more evil mist.

Before long, it grew into a large area, and two strong human puppets appeared, their faces grotesque as they were enveloped in mist.

There are many, many more easy prey to catch on this street.

The ominous mist no longer hides or fears, for here no one can stand in its way. After such a long period of silence, it has finally been liberated and deserves a good feast.

By the way, once we've grown stronger, let's go find the Four Seasons to take revenge.

No... never mind.

……

The same thing was playing out on the other side of the sea. The first time the island rose, the ominous fog it escaped was much stronger, and coupled with centuries of confinement, it became anxious and volatile.

It was smarter and realized that the area was the territory of the Four Seasons, and that there were demigod banshees that it couldn't handle, so it simply risked its life to cross the sea.

The ominous mist continued to fall, but it arrived before it was completely dissipated.

In a small, unnamed fishing village within the sea god's cult area surrounding Silver Ring City.

The ominous fog, masquerading as a dark cloud, descended upon the fishing village. It was lucky; there were many strong fishermen there, a good place to replenish their strength. Only a mediocre apprentice mage posed no threat.

There are strong traces of evil here, but that's not surprising, because people in such hellish places always summon demons to keep themselves away from suffering and live a good life.

It began to devour, initially targeting fishermen armed with weapons who intended to fight the monster on the beach. Although it suffered several cuts, the long-lost taste of souls made the Mist forget the pain.

Gradually, some people in the fishing village realized that this was not a dark cloud.