The final gentleman

The whole process of entering the city completely piqued Yi Chen's interest in this city of lights.

On the way to the Duke Chamber of Commerce, I also stopped and randomly visited some passing lighting stores to learn about the uses of lamps in advance and try my luck to see if I could find any clues about firewood.

After visiting several stores, I have a general understanding of the so-called lamps.

In addition to providing regular lighting and supplies for some patients who need continuous sunlight, the lamps here also

Another main function is 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 broken.

Those dark areas that were once suppressed by the evil yang began to become inflamed, gangrenous, etc., progressing to worsening lesions that were not controlled by the original pathogens, and gradually turned into a kind of "extremely dark place".

There are even a handful of extremely dark places that have evolved into "abyss" that are completely beyond the control of pathologies, swallowing up any explorer who dares to approach.

Even so, many people still go there to explore.

The reason is simple, because there are things left over from the war scattered in the depths of the darkest place.

In addition to some sick corpses and treasures from the old world, there are also skeletons of outsiders who invaded the old world in the past and treasures from other worlds that do not belong to the old world.

When the first explorer brought out treasures from the Darkest Place, an unprecedented craze for exploration was set off.

As the largest lamp supply area in the old world, the Light City has naturally become the biggest beneficiary. A large number of explorers will come here to purchase lamps as a basis for exploring extremely dark places.

Yi Chen visited five stores. He was a little excited at first, but then he calmed down.

Although the lamps are made of different materials and shapes,

But they are essentially the same, and the price is not cheap, ranging from dozens to hundreds of ancient coins.

Moreover, wax oil has another cost. If you want to explore the depths of the extremely dark place, you must prepare sufficient and high-quality wax oil.

"It's really expensive... However, a large number of patients still come to buy such expensive things, and even risk their lives to explore, which means that the benefits must be huge.

A dark place? If you have a chance, maybe you can go inside and take a look. "

After a general understanding, Yi Chen stopped strolling and increased the frequency of alternating steps to prepare to meet the Duke.

As he passed a corner, he was suddenly attracted by a special-style shop on the side.

【Candle Puppet's Cabin】

The whole building is in retro Gothic style, with closely arranged vertical column structures spliced ​​together to form the front door structure.

A doll lady wearing a Gothic dress sitting at the door was holding a store plaque. She didn't wave or smile, she just sat stiffly.

Compared to the brightness and bustling crowds of other lighting stores, there is only weak candlelight here, and not a single customer goes there at all.

What attracted Yi Chen was that the decoration style was very similar to Zion's.

"Let's go in and take a look. This is the last store."

When Yi Chen straightened his tie and came forward with his suitcase, the puppet sitting at the door suddenly opened his mouth.

Perhaps due to years of disrepair, the entire jaw fell off, and a rotten tongue stirred inside, making a weird sound:

"Welcome to you."

The moment he stepped into the store, a smell of corpse wax hit his face, and the scene inside made Yi Chen's expression darken.

There are no intuitive lamps here, but a Gothic-style girl doll, which is inserted into the shoulder blades through hooks and hung on the walls on both sides.

Although most of the dolls are made of metal, the bones and flesh components can still be seen, especially the bones in the cervical spine. This means that the basic movements of this doll still rely on biological nerves, and may even retain some. consciousness.

Moreover, the prices attached to these figures are not cheap at all.

The lamps I have seen before only cost more than 300 coins at most, but the cheapest doll here costs 1,000, and the most expensive one even costs 5,000, not to mention some rare dolls that are not on display.

Just when Yi Chen was about to see through the body of the doll,

A man with an extremely distorted face walked out from the depths of the store.

One of his eyes is on his right cheek, and the other eye is on the left side of his forehead. His mouth runs vertically across his face and his nose is stuck to his chin.

The entire face is covered with curved and twisting strips.

All the teeth in the mouth are gone, and only a small piece of tongue is left. The sound is made with the help of a mechanical loudspeaker embedded in the mouth:

"Do you need to buy a candle puppet? If you just want to look at it, then leave quickly."

This was the first time Yi Chen had seen a boss who would immediately chase people away when they met, and it actually aroused his interest.

Yi Chen put his right hand against his chest and said very gentlemanly: "This is my first time coming to the Light City, and it is also my first time to come into contact with lamps from the old world.

I saw that the decoration style of your store was very similar to the city where I live, so I came in to take a look. "

"Are you from Zion?"

Yi Chen was shocked: "Huh!? Boss, do you know Zion?"

“When I was looking for raw materials for dolls, I met a guy who claimed to be a gentleman. He made disparaging comments about my appearance, so I made a doll and shared his memory with him.

Surprisingly, I was very fascinated by the city called Zion where he lived. Later, I founded this store based on the architectural style of Zion. Even the appearance and clothing of the candle puppets were also borrowed from it. "

As soon as these words came out, Yi Chen became slightly vigilant.

The boss explained in a low voice: "Don't worry, I won't kill anyone in Lamp City... Since you are from Zion, let me introduce my works a little bit.

There are no more than twenty candle puppet makers in the entire city. Due to some personal issues, I am unable to open a store on Center Street. I can only use some cheap or ordinary materials to make some cheap candle puppets for sale. "

"Is this cheap?"

"Don't compare my candle dolls with the garbage in the surrounding shops... They are alive and can provide long-term light and spiritual encouragement in extremely dark places.

The fat in their bodies is all refined from high-grade wax oil, and they can sustain an ordinary journey to the "Dark Place" without replenishing supplies midway.

Of course, if you want to go deep, or even stare into the abyss, you'll need to equip yourself with additional fat bags.

Some of these expensive dolls also have the ability to fly, dodge quickly, and even help you fight evil bodies in the dark.

If you take the garbage next door to a dark place, you are basically asking for death. "

"Can I see how they're lit?"

The boss reluctantly took off the cheapest doll.

Because the price is cheap,

Her face was not even equipped with effective visual eyeballs. The eye sockets were covered with traces of dried wax oil, and her mouth was sewn shut with needles and thread to prevent oil leakage.

There is no decoration on the neck, not even skin. There is just a cervical vertebra connecting the head and body.

The Gothic clothes on his body are also in tatters, and even the black and white striped socks are full of patches and even holes.

"This older style of candle puppet requires an open flame to be activated."

The boss took out a box of old-fashioned matches from his pocket.

Cha~ The match head ignited a blue flame and slowly approached the doll's eyes. The wax oil covering them melted and fell like tears.

As the whole match was inserted into the eye socket, the doll did not respond.

Ignition failed.

Tsk~ The boss took out a match again with a look of reluctance.

This time no more gentle ignition... snap! He was slapped directly into the eye socket to ensure that the match could reach enough depth. He did not want to waste more matches on the trial product.

After waiting three seconds,

Kaka~

The doll's body began to twist mechanically, and its finger joints began to bounce.

A little light shines through the empty eye sockets,

"That's it?" Just when Yi Chen thought that the candle puppet's illumination could only reach this level, the puppet suddenly clasped its scalp with its ten fingers and tore it open, revealing the circular opening on the head cover.

A huge white candle rose up between his skull, and as the scalp refilled, the candle seemed to be stuck to the top of his head.

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

The weak flame at the top of the white candle slowly enlarged until it illuminated the entire store. Even in the dark areas that were blocked, the light could penetrate like a reptile.

At this time,

The fully activated puppet twisted the broken skirt corners with both hands and bowed slightly to Yi Chen.

“This candle puppet is an early work of mine and has been repaired many times, using the oldest ‘ignition mode’.

The latest type of candle puppet can be activated directly by pressing the protruding spine on its back..."

Before the boss finished speaking, Yi Chen interrupted directly: "I bought this."