Brain bloom

At this moment, E Wu was unaware that the other party was already waiting in front of him, and was even calmly discussing with others.

"How about it? The price is the gratitude from Silvermoon City after defeating Evil Mist." Silver Pattern still wanted to give this achievement away later.

"Why? Such a good thing—receiving benefits without putting in any effort—usually doesn't happen. What do you want? To hide your immense power, your glorious but bloodstained past, or something else?"

The words spoken by the ancient Demon King addressed everyone's questions.

"Yes, all of them," Yinwen replied calmly. "Make a decision; it won't do you any harm."

"Hmm... It's not an equal deal for me, so I'll decline. Fernanda, and the Four Seasons, do you want this achievement?"

Mori thought similarly to the owl. She looked at the dandelion, shook her head, and declined as well. In the end, however, the fearless Melia accepted it without hesitation.

"Then give it to me; it's a political favor I can use in the future."

"grateful."

"No need to thank me. As for you, since it's inconvenient for you to reveal your identity, how about coming to the Chaos Land? No one here is foolish enough to investigate your identity or anything like that. Everything is based on strength. The treatment is also very good. You can do whatever you like. You only need to spare a little effort to deal with the occasional Evil Mist attack."

Melia tirelessly sought to win over this mysterious powerhouse—a familiar practice, as the foundation of the entire Chaos Realm was practically built this way. While the deafening reputations of her father, mother, and Erlong were perhaps the most important factors in these powerful figures joining the Chaos Realm…

This method doesn't work very well on silver patterns.

"No."

"...Think about it!"

She didn't answer again, but instead twirled the thin needle in her hand, suddenly raised it, and plunged it into her own neck. This sudden action didn't frighten anyone, because in the last rays of the setting sun, her movement was clearly visible.

The needle stopped on the gear in her neck and rubbed against it a few times.

As the fine iron powder was carried away by the wind, the rough but sharp tattoo needle once again pointed at the ominous mist.

Everyone present stared wide-eyed, eager to see how the mechanical doll would deal with the Evil Mist, even as night fell. Sen Shi's desire was even stronger, after all, she wasn't even level 10 yet…

She made almost no preparations, merely slightly rotating her ball joints, and then she soared into the sky. Mori watched in astonishment; she wasn't blown away by magic, nor did she have any propulsion devices under her feet.

But it happened anyway.

The ominous fog was already sweeping in and would engulf her in a few seconds.

But before that—Silver Pattern's sigh echoed through the night sky, a heartfelt regret, as if he were lamenting for the enemy.

Because that thin needle will be used to send the enemy to their grave.

It stabbed out.

Stiff, weak, slow—it stabbed out.

It gently touched the ominous mist, instantly triggering an incredible scene.

The ominous fog that had obscured the entire night sky halted its unstoppable advance. Suddenly, like a building collapsing or a mountain collapsing, countless dark shadows trembled violently and scattered like rain.

But those black raindrops didn't go to the muddy earth; instead, they gathered together and were picked up and wrapped up by that needle.

The silver-patterned mechanical arm wasn't particularly agile, yet it could precisely wrap strands of Evil Mist together, layer upon layer. They resembled thin noodles rolled around chopsticks, forming a ball of yarn.

A few seconds later, the pervasive evil mist was enveloped into a ball the size of an egg, but covered with fine threads of evil mist.

"What...is this doing?" Melia asked, utterly bewildered. "And how did they do it?"

“It might be some kind of ancient technique… well, I can’t say for sure.” Fernanda couldn’t offer an answer either.

The Ancient Demon King whispered, "This is to preserve the... vitality of the Evil Mist, yes. She didn't blow away the Evil Mist with a single blow, but rather wanted the Evil Mist to devour the remaining nutrients."

Sure enough, after she landed back on the ground, she held up the small ball of thread on the needle.

"I'll take this with me."

"What do you want to do? There are still the soul power of a thousand people inside. Although they can't be resurrected, it's probably not a good thing for you to just take it like that."

The ancient demon king was extremely vigilant; it knew better than anyone how much power could be extracted from a so-called soul. Although it couldn't determine whether Silver Pattern was friend or foe, this mechanical puppet was definitely not simple.

"I just want to see a departed soul one last time, and to be at peace with what I'm about to do... it's harmless to the world."

She tucked the ball of yarn woven by the mist into her sleeve, straightened her neatly arranged clothes, nodded gracefully in affirmation, and silently departed. No one dared to utter a word to stop her, for it was her spoils.

But before leaving, Yinwen added a sentence.

"By the way, night has fallen, be careful in the dark."

……

The entire city of Silvermoon remains in a state of battle.

This day of dramatic ups and downs made many people forget what a smile is and what it means to cry.

Man used the magic he had just unleashed, sacrificing his own soul, to gather most of the city's population in one place: the Three Heroes Monument Square. The city's overly celebratory and intoxicated citizens finally sobered up.

Faced with the ominous fog, only by uniting could they resist; people deeply understood this principle. Though they wept, they did not forget to thank Man.

His soul was detached, and he stood with Lord Balzac beneath a towering monument, discussing how to deal with the situation.

"The true form of the Evil Mist has been suppressed by someone, so as long as we can deal with those Evil Mist puppets, we will have a chance to win."

"Man, are you sure? The Evil Mist has been suppressed?"

"Yes, perhaps it was the Demon Queen who made a move. Or... perhaps it was the Four Seasons? Do they still have a trace of gratitude for your favor back then? Or maybe they were just protecting their manor, who knows?"

Lord Balzac remained silent. Although his city was facing a great crisis and he gave instructions from time to time, some people had gradually noticed that, for some reason, this guy's performance had been mediocre from beginning to end.

Everyone knows he was once an adventurer worthy of being called great, yet he failed to demonstrate the strength or experience he should have possessed…

……

(But I remember all the holes I dug.)

Volume 1 #254 · Walking Side by Side

“Balzac,” Mann said.

"Oh?"

"Now, I can still protect this square for you, swearing in the name of the Magician of Circle."

Man looked up at the monument, but the three names engraved high on it were no longer visible, as night had fallen.

Besides him, another person hailed as a hero was fighting in the city against three exceptionally powerful puppets. He was a recluse from Silvermoon City who had tragically perished; he had originally intended to resolve the Calamity Mist, but instead was consumed by it and became its most troublesome problem.

As for the remaining one, we haven't been in touch for a long time, ever since he said he'd discovered new ruins and wanted to explore them himself...

If he were here, we wouldn't be in such a predicament.

Man felt powerless, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted: "Like the Rain Wizard, I won't be able to stay in this world for long either, how ironic. But at least I can help with this little thing, I'll protect this square."

"what do you mean?"

"Hey, you should go clean up the mess left by the Evil Mist! The Evil Mist's puppets are still wandering around the city! I can't gather everyone together, so there must be some I've missed. What if there are any babies left behind... they'll be eaten alive by those skeletons!"

"I'm thinking."

"What are you thinking about?" Man gradually felt irritated.

Lord Balzac said in a low voice, but could not hide his excitement: "There is an even simpler way, to make the entire square float up and fly to the end of the sky."

"Are you... insane? You're still thinking about this? You're so distracted because of this!?" Man gradually felt that the lord he served was becoming a stranger. "Where's the food? Where are we staying? When are we going back? And, the Evil Mist can fly."

He disagreed.

"Anyway, the vast majority of people have already been gathered here by you. Don't you think this method is very effective? At least the puppets left behind by the Evil Mist can't come up, and as for the Evil Mist itself, others are already dealing with it."

"You bastard..."

"As for us, let's focus on pursuing Eden Bank. All the nobles, laborers, and skilled workers of Silvermoon City are here. Once we reach Eden Bank, we can find a more beautiful and happier home than this cramped and disgusting little town."

He has been immersed in his own life ideals from beginning to end, and has now forgotten his identity as a "lord".

Eden Bank... what an enchanting name, it would be everyone's ideal place.

There must be gods there—

In a lush, verdant world, towering, majestic deities, clad in crimson robes, stand with their eyes closed. Their serene and wise faces inspire divine revelation simply by gazing upon them…

This is something Balzac learned from other people's accounts during his long and adventurous life; he never told anyone about it. The anonymous person who left these words must have visited the real Bank of Eden, because there were many strange seeds nearby.

For example, the watermelon, which is clearly recorded in mythology...

The pursuit of Eden Bank, from the moment he was born in the dark and cramped underground, has been etched deep into his soul. Eden Bank shouldn't be a bottomless, oppressive underground, but rather a boundless, free sky…

Now, he can't hold back any longer.

He ignored Lian Man's angry roar in his ear, only thinking about how long he would have to float up to reach a place higher than the sky.

Feeling helpless, Man had no choice but to leave the square and head to the surrounding battlefield.

Hundreds of skeleton puppets, swallowed by the ominous mist, are now searching. They unearth everything, from rats scurrying underground to swarms of cockroaches, drawn by the presence of life.

These puppets perfectly retain all their fighting abilities from when they were alive, and they are unaware of pain and fatigue.

Unless purified by an attack imbued with divine aura, it will be an extremely formidable foe. Contacting the Holy Coffin Kingdom for aid is impossible, and Man knows that his soul cannot withstand a battle.

He bypassed skeleton after skeleton, heading straight for the enchanting land of clustered grapes, hoping to seek the help of the Demon Queen. Unsurprisingly, she had already secretly assisted him, defeating the true form of the Evil Mist, but he still had to swallow his pride and ask for assistance.

Otherwise, if the three most powerful puppets were to enter the square and unleash an absolute massacre, the city would be doomed.

……

After Silverweave left, Finanda, the Ancient Demon King, and Melia all wanted to come up and talk to Mori.

The two large monsters in front wanted to ask Sen Shi for his opinion on Silver Pattern. Melia, on the other hand, simply wanted to return to her father's side and ask if the feud between her and Fernanda had been resolved.

But they all failed; there was another girl even closer.

"Mori Toki... Mori Toki, I made some braised veal... It was delicious, I bet you would have enjoyed it very much if you were here."

Dandelion hesitated, talking about a topic completely out of place with the current tense atmosphere.

“But I didn’t expect you to be at the ruins for so long, it’s a bit cold. But I didn’t sneak any food beforehand, so it’s still fresh thanks to magic. Shall we go have dinner together now? As for what happens to Silvermoon City, we’ll just leave it to fate.”

"Mmm, I want to eat." Sen Shi had been hungry all day, and his stomach and leaves were craving moisture.

Dandelion seemed very surprised and almost grabbed Senshi's hand to go home immediately, as they hadn't been able to spend much time together lately.

"Then, then I'll go heat it up..."

"Okay, you can eat it first once it's heated up. Don't go hungry. I'm going out."