The Master of the Strange Realm

Putting the ritual silver dagger in front of his mouth and praying in a low voice, Jenkins activated the ability of [Flexible Legs] and rushed towards the old man. The black lines broke immediately with a wave of the dagger.

He immediately retreated, only to see that the old man was entangled with the stranger again. Without the restraint of the black line, the stranger was obviously no match for the old man.

"Be careful!"

Jenkins suddenly warned, and he saw the yellow object in the stranger's pocket suddenly glowed.

In a flash, a strange ballad suddenly sounded in his ears. The singer seemed to be a young woman, with a low, light and strange voice, but like a poppy, it had a different attraction.

The old man fell to the ground in response, and Jenkins, who was dizzy, had no choice but to rush over there again, with both fists:

[Simple boxing! ]

He didn't want to kill the stranger so easily, but just wanted him to retreat so that he could have a chance to save the old man.

But he didn't expect that as soon as the two fists touched, a huge force came from the opposite side, and Jenkins flew back and collided with the old man's body.

"My right arm is broken!"

The singing continued, but the severe pain made Jenkins sober up a little.

The stranger ignored him and walked towards Mr. Brown's body, so Jenkins had the opportunity to use his left hand to touch a small piece of metal from the gap of his shirt.

"Explosion spell!"

He roared in his heart, desperately injected spirituality, threw it out at the moment when the metal piece was hot, and then hugged his father and fell to the ground.

After a loud bang, he knew nothing.

After a short coma, Jenkins woke up in a heat wave. All the surrounding buildings were on fire. The surroundings had turned into a sea of ​​fire, and there was a huge charred pit at the location of the stranger and Mr. Brown's body.

"Damn shoddy products, didn't they say the effect was discounted?"

Jenkins didn't care about scolding the profiteers, and immediately got up and returned to the burning house. In the sea of ​​fire, he hurriedly dug out a thing wrapped in rags from under the floor in the corner of the wall and stuffed it into his arms. Very good, judging from the soil, this thing should have been buried there for a long time.

After restoring the scene, he returned again to try to wake up his father.

"What happened?"

He woke up quickly and was also shocked by the surrounding environment.

"The cultist wanted to check Mr. Brown's body, and then the body exploded!"

Jenkins said in horror.

"Go, our identities cannot be exposed!"

The panting old man asked Jenkins to help him up, picked up Jenkins' silver dagger and drew a strange symbol on the ground, took out a paper bag folded into a triangle from his arms and threw it on the symbol.

"May the goddess bless you!"

He bit his finger and pressed the symbol and shouted softly, and then the paper bag spontaneously combusted and disappeared in the strange blue flames.

"Okay, the news has spread!"

Using the silver dagger to scratch the things on the ground again, the old man asked Jenkins to find the "still intact" things in the charred corpse pit. Then the two supported each other and escaped from the fire with difficulty.

The alleys nearby are very complicated, and coupled with the chaos caused by the fire, no one cared about the two men whose clothes were scorched.

Jenkins helped the old man walk forward while using his ability to treat the two.

This was the first time he was thankful that his ability was healing, because when the two of them passed by the water storage wagon trapped at the entrance of the alley, they could both walk normally.

Section 36 Chapter 35 Subsequent Impact

"Will many people die because of this fire?"

It took a while to completely leave the fire scene, and Jenkins felt a little guilty. He lowered his voice and asked his father. At this moment, passers-by watching the excitement, residents fleeing, and the municipal fire brigade wearing black fireproof clothing completely blocked the intersection.

"Don't worry, that area belongs to the residential area of ​​the dock. At this time, the residents must go out to work to support themselves, but there are also...May the goddess bless them."

Jenkins looked back at the rising smoke column and the noisy crowd. He did not regret what he did just now. If he did not throw the spell, the cultists who got the things would definitely not let him go.

But...

His left hand has been in his arms since just now, where he picked up a metal harmonica and a wrapped wooden sculpture from the explosion crater.

The former was the prop that the cultist used to make strange singing sounds, and the latter was left by Mr. Brown, who was dead and mutilated.

"Adapt to this world."

Jenkins sighed to himself sadly, then followed his father silently, got out of the crowd at the intersection, left the people who were yelling, crying, and roaring behind him, and disappeared at the corner of the street.

The sky, which was already dim, became even darker at this moment because of the long-lasting smoke.

Captain Binsey stood in the ruins that were burned to white, bent down, and stroked the communication traces on the ground that were crossed out by Oliver's father.

The firefighters had not left yet. They set up a cordon outside the fire scene to completely prevent the dark fire from rekindling. The police could not come. Not to mention that this is a slum, even if they came, such a big fire could destroy all traces.

"I heard that your people found something extraordinary?"

The man in black clothes with a black cross embroidered on his chest asked.

He had a unique calm temperament, staring at him, as if staring at a quiet coffin.

"Yes, the statue of the [Lord of Billions of Glory] passed down from the previous era has been temporarily sealed. The local gang smuggled it in as an ordinary antique. As a result, the believers of the evil god came after hearing the news and happened to be together with Our guys bumped into each other.”

Captain Binsi explained, stood up, clapped his hands, and walked with the man in black to the crater left by the explosion.

"According to the report and the results of the current on-site investigation, the unregistered gang leader should be carrying items that will explode as soon as the owner dies. These desperate guys always do this... But fortunately [Tricks], [Supernatural], and [Gifts] cannot be destroyed by ordinary explosions.”

"A normal explosion?"

The man in black stood beside Binxi, and several groups of law enforcers from the Zhengshen Church appeared near the fire scene. Everyone was active in Nolan and knew each other, so they simply said hello to each other.

"What kind of explosion can cause such a result? Damn it! Did that gangster carry twenty explosive charms with him? Or did he stuff a steam bomb into his vagina?"

The man in black cursed angrily.

"I don't know, that statue is very strange, and all the backtracking and divination have led to outrageous results."

Binxi looked around the fire scene. The poor people who were suffering from losing their homes or family members were stopped outside the fire scene, watching all this with numb expressions.

"The statue of the evil god was recovered by our people. The cultist [Flesh Puppet] who was on the wanted list with a reward of 1,000 pounds was also killed. We even followed the clues and found a stronghold of the [Light Chaser Club] in this city. . It’s a very good result…”

"Huh, more than 30 people died or went missing because of this fire, and at least 200 people lost their homes. The amount of gold pounds that the municipal government needs to pay for the aftermath is unimaginable."

The man in black showed sarcasm on his face.

"yes."

Binxi nodded and turned to look at the requiem man from the [Death and End of the World] Church with an expressionless face:

"Are you mocking me? But it's not our fault. Moreover, the two heroes who intercepted the statue and killed the cultists donated most of the reward, and the church was responsible for appeasing these people who lost their property. . Although it cannot guarantee that everyone’s losses will be compensated, it can at least ensure that they can survive this winter safely.”

There was silence.

It's always like this in summer. Unexpected raindrops fell on the face of the requiem man. He shook his head calmly and whispered:

"May the deceased be in peace and see the end in death!"

"May the sage bless you and your light illuminate the way forward for mankind!"

This whole thing was like a dream to Jenkins. He experienced the first battle between the Gifters, the first killing, and the first fire in a densely populated area, but the result was only two harvests. He just handed over an item, and the subsequent events had nothing to do with him.

He later learned that the stranger who could withstand bullets was called the "Flesh Puppet" and was a member of the "Light Transformer Club" who believed in the evil god "The Lord of Billions of Lights". Through an ancient evil ritual, he turned his body into a puppet, and his soul controlled the body like a machine. This method caused him to be stuck at level four for a long time and could not be promoted. But even if his strength is not high, because of his near-immortality and ruthless methods of killing people, he has been on the wanted list of the Zhengshen Church three years ago.

It was thanks to "Brown's bomb" that he was able to kill him this time.

This is the conclusion reached by Dad and everyone. Since the divination results were interfered with and many traces were destroyed by the fire, they had no idea that the truth of the matter was just a poor-quality explosion spell.

Although the [Flesh Golem] was not killed by Jenkins and Father Oliver themselves, the bounty was still placed on their heads.

Dad felt that he had just pestered the cultist for a while, and Jenkins felt guilty, so the two discussed it and donated most of the bounty.

The church does this for you, so you don’t have to worry about donations going unused.

The Orthodox Church offers a reward of 1,000 pounds for the cultist, plus the police department offers a reward of 300 pounds for the murderer. Dad left 20 pounds for himself as nutrition expenses for his recovery, but Jenkins didn't ask for a copper penny.

He returned home uninjured that evening, and the fracture in his right arm was healed after the two returned to Dad's Antique Shop. The specific steps were that Dad reset Jenkins' broken bones, and then he used his abilities to directly treat it. This was considered the best news of the day.

There are also gains, not just the eradication of cultists and the seizure of evil items. The thing he had stolen away was still in his arms.

Section 37 Chapter 36 Book Discussion

Jenkins carefully examined the object one night. It was a black metal block with silver lines on its surface, forming 54 small grids on six surfaces. If it weren't for the inability to turn, Jenkins might have thought it was a Rubik's Cube.

He was disappointed to find that he had no idea what a standard cube of metal could do. It is hard to imagine that in this era, such a standard cube can be seen. Jenkins even felt that it was not an exaggeration to say that this was a standard laboratory aid.

He could only hide the cube under his bed together with [Mr. Hunter's fruit plate] and the unknown blue feather, hoping to find clues from the church's information in the future.

As for the remaining two [Micro-effect Explosion Talismans], he still carried them carefully.

"Goddess, please don't let these shoddy props explode by themselves!"

No one noticed that something was missing from the scorched earth. The fire and explosion destroyed many clues, including the traces left by Jenkins in a hurry.

He still didn't know what the statue that was being fought over was used for, but three days later, Dad informed him that the name of the confiscated harmonica had been found in the data, B-05-3-0123, [The Last Chant of the Suicide]. The large library under the church can be partially opened to him, and once he is promoted to a first-level gifter, he can immediately choose a divine power exclusive to the church. This made Jenkins vaguely guess the value of the statue, but the thing that caused the disaster had nothing to do with him anymore.

Life calmed down again. As a secret non-combat sequence semi-civilian staff member under the church, Jenkins had nothing to do with cultists, illegal associations, etc. He and Dad were just the initiators of this incident, and the subsequent events had nothing to do with them.

The matter off the coast of Nolan has not been resolved, and the fighters of the Orthodox Church in this city have not returned; the evil spirits of the Nolan Fifth Public Hospital have been temporarily trapped, and the support from the capital is still on the way; the big octopus that appeared at night has caused panic among the citizens. Although they don't know the truth, the population disappearance rate in Nolan City at night has risen rapidly, which is an obvious thing.

Jenkins has been troubled by the weather not clearing up recently, so there is no way to talk about gatherings. So he completely calmed down. On the one hand, he carefully experienced some indescribable strange feelings when copying tadpole characters, which made his accumulation of spirits smoother; on the other hand, he followed his father to learn antiques and mysticism knowledge, both of which are very complicated.

It has been a week since the fire in the dock slums. This incident did not cause much waves in this city. The death of dozens of poor ghosts was not enough to shock this city.

This day, Jenkins took a carriage to his father's antique shop as usual, and his father brought him two good news.

First, following the clues found in the incident a week ago, the church completely destroyed the local base of the Light Chaser Club, and the identity of the man shot by Jenkins was also clarified, so he received another 100 pounds reward - the body of the man was burned like a matchstick before, and no one knew who it was.

On the other hand, the bookseller that Dad contacted finally got a result.

Although the identities of the two could not be exposed, the neighbors around knew that Oliver in the antique shop was a believer of the Heritage Sage, so even if he used his connections to find the bookseller, it would not arouse suspicion.

"This is Mr. Bro of the Mockingbird Publishing House."

Dad introduced Jenkins, and the well-dressed publisher politely extended his hand and shook it, and then the two went to the lounge on the second floor of the store to discuss the specific details.

"Mr. William, I admire talented young people like you very much."

Mr. Bro took the lead, and his white teeth were more dazzling than his shiny hair.

Because the church was the guarantor, the discussion between the two did not last long. After a few pleasantries, they went straight to the point.

Mr. Bro said frankly that he thought Jenkins' fairy tales were "very interesting" and was willing to print 300 copies in advance and distribute them in Norland. As a publisher, he not only owns his own printing house, but also has connections with bookstores in the city. Even a new writer like Jenkins can get a certain amount of recommendation.

Jenkins also knew that he was a new writer and that being published was a good thing, so after bargaining, he was willing to pay 30 pounds as an initial investment for publishing, but the first batch of prints had to be increased to 500 copies, and at the same time, there had to be illustrations in the book.

This was unreasonable in Mr. Bro's view, as the cost of making illustration engravings might be higher than the cost of movable type printing plates. This was not an unhealthy reading under Jenkins' bed, which could print four figures at a time, so it was only a small amount for Jenkins.

Because of the need to print illustrations, Jenkins also had high requirements for the quality of paper, so the final price of the published books would inevitably not be very cheap. In this way, the readers who might buy storybooks would only be the middle class and above groups with spare money and children at home. No one knew whether Jenkins' books would be liked by them.

But in Jenkins's view, fairy tale books without pictures have no future. Anyway, now that he has money again, he finally proposed to pay for the engravings himself, but the books must be paid for in the form of a share of the copyright.

"Okay, okay, this way the risk I take is much smaller."

Mr. Bro nodded helplessly.

He quickly contacted several professional painters, and Jenkins even asked his father for half a day off to meet them. One of them turned out to be a young man who came to sell rings on Jenkins' first day at work.

"He is really a student of the Art Academy, Dad guessed wrong."

Jenkins thought, but did not choose him. Because his painting style tends to be abstract and curious, it is the kind that normal people have to do mental tests after looking at it for a long time, and the asking price is a bit high, which does not meet Jenkins' requirements in any aspect. If one day Jenkins is not afraid of being wanted by the church and wants to write a Cthulhu-style storybook, he will consider this one.

The person who finally reached a cooperation with him was an old painter Grant, who was a painting teacher of a noble lady. Because his unpromising child was deeply involved in the casino, he came out to earn some extra money to supplement the family expenses.

He liked Jenkins' fairy tales very much, and he could easily understand Jenkins' requirements of "warmth, innocence, childishness, and not biased towards realism". The most important thing was that the price was reasonable.

It took the two of them several days to finally decide to match a picture for each story. This seemed crazy to Mr. Bro, but who asked Jenkins to pay for it himself?

Section 38 Chapter 37 Sewer Black Market

This behavior greatly increased the cost of the book, but the old painter Grant felt that this was a real fairy tale book. He and Jenkins got along very well, and even thought that Jenkins had the qualities to become a great artist. He promised Jenkins that after the book was published, he would promote it to his students, which at least ensured that the fairy tale collection would not be ignored.

The publishing issue was resolved in this way. Not only did Jenkins not get a penny, but he ended up paying 50 pounds.