The Gentleman at the End
Chapter 419 - Chapter 419 Chapter 418 Candle Puppet

Chapter 419: Chapter 418 Candle Puppet Chapter 419: Chapter 418 Candle Puppet The entire process of entering the city had fully piqued Yi Chen’s interest in Light City,

On his way to the Duke’s Chamber of Commerce, he slowed his steps, casually visiting some of the lantern shops he passed by to get an early understanding of the lanterns’ uses and, by chance, look for clues about firewood.

After browsing through several shops, he gained a general understanding of the so-called lanterns.

Here, the lanterns provided not only ordinary illumination but also supplied light to patients who required continuous daylight,

Another main function was to explore the ‘dark corners’ of the Old World.

Due to the fall of the Evil Sun in the Old World, a certain ecological balance was disrupted.

Dark Zones that were once suppressed by the Evil Sun began to inflame and ulcerate, undergoing uncontrolled pathological changes and worsening, slowly becoming an ‘Extremely Dark Land’.

There were even a handful of Extremely Dark Lands that had evolved into uncontrollable ‘Abysses,’ devouring any explorer daring enough to approach.

Even so, many still ventured into them to explore,

The reason was simple: scattered in the depths of the Extremely Dark Land were remnants of the war,

Besides the corpses and treasures of Old World patients, there were also the bones of foreign invaders and exotic treasures not from the Old World.

Once the first explorer brought back treasures from the Extremely Dark Land, an unprecedented wave of exploration fervor was unleashed,

Light City, being the largest lantern supply area in the Old World, naturally became the biggest beneficiary; a large number of adventurers would come here to purchase lanterns as the basis for exploring the Extremely Dark Land.

Having visited five stores, Yi Chen initially felt excited, but eventually, the excitement faded,

Although the lanterns varied in material and design,

Their essence was much the same, and the prices were not cheap either, ranging from dozens to several hundred Ancient Coins.

Moreover, the cost of wax oil was additional, and in order to explore the depths of the Extremely Dark Land, one had to prepare enough high-quality wax oil.

“Really expensive… However, the fact that so many patients still come to buy these costly items, even risking their lives to explore, means the potential returns must be immense.

The Extremely Dark Land, huh? If I get the chance, maybe I can have a look inside.”

After a rough understanding, Yi Chen no longer meandered and hastened his steps, ready to meet with the Duke.

As he was passing by a corner, he was suddenly drawn to a uniquely styled shop.

[The Candle Puppet’s Cottage]

The entire shop was in a retro gothic style, with closely arranged vertical columns interlocking to form the structure of the front entrance,

A gothic dress-wearing doll miss sat at the door, holding the shop’s sign without waving or smiling, just sitting there stiffly.

In contrast to the brightness and flowing crowd of other lantern shops, here there was only faint candlelight emanating, without a single customer heading inside.

What attracted Yi Chen was that this decor style was very similar to Zion’s.

“Let’s go in and take a look, it’ll be the last shop for today.”

As Yi Chen adjusted his tie and approached with his briefcase, the doll sitting at the entrance suddenly opened its mouth,

Perhaps due to years of disrepair, its entire jaw dropped off, and a rotting tongue stirred inside, making a strange sound:

“Welcome~to~our~shop.”

The moment he stepped foot into the shop, a wave of corpse wax odor rushed towards him, and the scene inside darkened Yi Chen’s expression even further.

There were no apparent lanterns but instead gothic style girl dolls, hanging from the walls by curved hooks inserted into their shoulder blades.

Although most of the dolls were made of metal, one could still see components of bone and flesh, especially the retained cervical vertebrae, which meant that the basic movements of these dolls still relied on living nerves and might even have retained consciousness.

And the price tags on these dolls were not low at all.

The lanterns he had seen before cost at most a few hundred coins, but here the cheapest doll was a thousand, and the most expensive even reached five thousand, not to mention the unexhibited premium dolls.

Just as Yi Chen was about to use his vision ability on the dolls,

A man with an extremely twisted face emerged from the depths of the shop,

One of his eyes was on his right cheek, the other on the upper left side of his forehead, his mouth stretched vertically across his face, and his nose stuck to the underside of his chin.

The entire face was covered in curved, wriggling lines,

All teeth from his mouth were gone, only a small piece of his tongue remained, and with the help of a mechanical amplifier embedded in the mouth, he produced a voice:

“Do you wish to purchase a Candle Puppet? If you’re just looking, please leave quickly.”

Meeting a shopkeeper who outright told customers to leave was a first for Yi Chen, but it only piqued his interest more.

Yi Chen placed his right hand against his chest and said very gentlemanly, “This is my first time coming to Light City, and also my first encounter with lamps from the Old World.

Seeing that the decor of your shop is very similar to the city I live in, I decided to come in and have a look.”

“Are you from Zion?”

Yi Chen was shocked, “Huh!? You know about Zion, shopkeeper?”

“Once, when I was out looking for doll materials, I met a guy who claimed to be a gentleman. Because he insulted my appearance, I turned him into a doll and shared his memories.

To my surprise, the city where he lived, called Zion, fascinated me. Later, I established this shop based on the architectural style of Zion, even taking inspiration for the appearance and attire of the Candle Puppets.”

Upon hearing this, Yi Chen became slightly more vigilant.

However, the shopkeeper explained in a low voice, “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t kill anyone in Light City… Seeing as you come from Zion, I’ll give you a brief introduction to my work.

There are fewer than twenty Candle Puppet Masters in the whole of Light City. Due to some personal issues, I couldn’t set up shop on the central street and had to use cheap or ordinary materials to make some affordable Candle Puppets for sale.”

“You call these cheap?”

“Don’t compare my Candle Puppets with the trash in the surrounding shops… They are alive and can provide enduring light and spiritual encouragement in the Extremely Dark Lands.

The fat inside their bodies is all refined from high-quality wax oil, capable of lasting an entire journey through an ‘Extremely Dark Land’ without needing replenishment,

Of course, if you want to go deeper, even gaze into the Abyss, you would need to equip additional fat bags.

Some of the more expensive dolls even have abilities like flight, quick evasion, and even assistance in fighting against evil entities in the dark.

If you take those pieces of junk from next door to the Extremely Dark Land, you’re essentially looking for death.”

“Can I see how they illuminate?”

The shopkeeper reluctantly took down the cheapest doll;

because of the low price,

her face wasn’t even fitted with effective visual eyeballs, with dried traces of wax oil crawling across the eye sockets, and her mouth sewn shut with threads to prevent oil from leaking.

There were no decorations on her neck, not even skin; it was just a neck vertebra connected to the head and body.

Her gothic attire was all tattered and worn, even the black and white striped socks were full of patches and even holes.

“This old model of Candle Puppet needs an open flame to start.”

The shopkeeper took out an old-fashioned matchbox from his pocket,

Striking it, a blue flame ignited on the match head, slowly brought close to the puppet’s eye socket, melting the wax oil covering it, and sliding down like teardrops.

As the entire match was inserted into the eye socket, the doll showed no reaction,

the lighting attempt failed.

Tsk–The shopkeeper, with a reluctant face, took out another match.

This time, he did not light it gently… Snap! He slapped the match into the eye socket to ensure it reached sufficient depth; he did not want to waste more matches on a trial piece.

After waiting for three seconds,

Crack–Crack–

The puppet’s body started to twist mechanically, and her finger joints began to snap into action,

Faint light seeped from the hollow eye sockets,

“That’s it?” Just when Yi Chen thought that was the extent of the Candle Puppet’s illumination, the puppet suddenly dug her fingers into her scalp and ripped it open, revealing a round hole on top of her head.

A huge white candle rose from within her skull, and as the scalp was filled back in, the candle appeared to stick on top of the head.

Judging from the brain groove patterns on the surface of the candle, the white candle must be the brain of the doll.

The small flame at the top of the white candle slowly grew larger, until it illuminated the entire shop, and even the blocked dark areas received light that crept into them like a reptile.

At this point,

The fully activated puppet curtsied to Yi Chen with her hands pinching the torn hem of her skirt.

“This Candle Puppet is one of my early works, and it has been repaired many times over, utilizing the most ancient ‘lighting mode’.

The newest models of Candle Puppets can be started directly by pressing a protruding spine on their back…”

Before the shopkeeper could finish, Yi Chen interrupted, “I’ll take this one.”

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