Chapter 137: Rain Curtain, Cabin, Story!

Although the rain still pattered ceaselessly against Andelie's cheeks, and the freezing river water had long since soaked through his clothes.

But Andelie, lying on the riverbank gasping for breath, felt that only now was he truly alive.

Just now, on the other side of the river, it had been far too dangerous.

Several of his teammates had all been dragged into the depths of darkness by those terrifying bizarre threads.

He had even thought they were going to be wiped out to a man.

In the end!

Taniru had delivered a desperate finishing strike.

Most of the people dragged into the darkness had also survived.

Looking at the deep, oppressive darkness on the other side of the river.

Andelie spat viciously.

"This damned Land of Ash."

"Captain… Captain Andelie…"

Before long, Andelie heard voices calling him from upstream through the dark curtain of rain.

"Over here!"

Rubbing his waterlogged belly, Andelie turned back to look at the rushing river.

"Tomorrow I definitely need to learn a Water-Walking ability, or at the very least something like an Underwater Breathing ability."

"Damn it, feels like I won't need to drink water for three days."

Soon, Susanna found Andelie.

"Captain, you really should learn a swimming-type extraordinary ability."

"I know." Andelie felt a wave of frustration in his heart.

"Then again, Captain, your swimming speed just now was genuinely fast—even if you sank fast too." Susanna couldn't help but laugh.

Having survived the brush with death, she finally relaxed her taut nerves.

"I even lost my armor to the bottom of the river, this damned river… when we came across, it barely reached my knees—who knew that once the rainy season arrived the river would swell so violently."

"What about Taniru?"

Andelie climbed up the riverbank and looked around; all that met his eyes were a great many Demon Hunters holding lanterns and propping up umbrellas against the rain.

But there was no sign of Taniru.

"I don't know, he should have… already left."

Glancing around, Susanna shook her head.

Although she had not witnessed the methods by which the Steam Wizard Taniru attacked.

But the captain had already told her about it.

"Perhaps… he isn't called Taniru!"

At this moment, two Vice Presidents came walking through the curtain of rain.

"Not called Taniru?"

Andelie's eyes narrowed slightly.

He had found it somewhat strange earlier—such a formidable fellow, yet when he had asked someone to look him up on the guild's magic network, there was no powerful extraordinary individual named Taniru at all.

"The Blasphemer Taku?"

Soon, a name that had been spreading like wildfire in Shenglande during this period.

A name that had even become known to everyone in Shenglande's Undercity, was brought to Andelie's mind.

"Very likely it's him." The one speaking was Vice President Mary Jo.

"I have a great deal of information about Lamore, about the Blasphemer Taku."

"Interestingly, this name Taniru was once associated with someone who had cooperated with Taku, and even… had taken the blame for some of Taku's misdeeds."

"For instance… killing the Dark Sun Church's Grade-A extraordinary genius was nominally Taniru's doing."

"In reality, it was Taku's doing."

"As far as I know, this Blasphemer Taku is most likely a Steam Wizard, and not high-leveled."

"On this point, this Steam Wizard called Taniru… also fits almost perfectly."

"Their appearances… are also quite similar…"

As Vice President Mary Jo elaborated.

Andelie gradually began to laugh, and laughed very happily.

"I'm guessing… his next stop is Shenglande, right!"

"Most likely so."

"Very good." Andelie looked toward the direction of Shenglande.

"The bloodkin and werewolves of Shenglande's Undercity have been running quite rampant lately."

"I think we'll be seeing that fellow again very soon."

"But… before that, I need to properly improve my strength as well… that fellow's methods… are truly somewhat baffling!"

…………

The curtain of rain, continued.

However, as they neared Shenglande, the rain was no longer so violent, so cold.

Holding up a shield and carrying a Night-Mare lantern, Taku drifted in Shadow Form about a meter above the muddy wasteland scrub, advancing at a leisurely pace.

Compared to other extraordinary individuals, Wizards were better able to adapt to all kinds of peculiar ecological environments.

Ocean! Sky, swamps, forests, underground!

In all kinds of environments, sorcerers could find a way to survive suited to themselves through sorcery bracelets, sorcery abilities, and so on.

At this time, Taku walked forward while carefully sensing the "puppet threads" wrapped around his fingers.

The most formidable aspect of a Puppeteer was their puppet threads.

When that Puppeteer died, a large number of puppet threads also shattered along with his death.

But Taku had severed a portion, preventing them from being affected.

Afterward, Taku used the extraordinary crystal of another Puppeteer, "Mark," obtained earlier, to host these puppet threads.

That Puppeteer "Mark" who had died inside the small world of the Foreign Domain Gate.

He was a fifth-rank Puppeteer, not weak in strength; although his extraordinary crystal had been partially purified by exorcism.

The greater part of it was still preserved, and the essential characteristics of a Puppeteer were retained.

And right now, what Taku was sensing and investigating was those rather wondrous "puppet threads."

Life veins were something everyone had and radiated at every moment.

But!

The Puppeteers' method of collecting them — one couldn't say it was inefficient, only that it was virtually nonexistent.

For Taku, however, it was somewhat different.

With his Origin Spirit Form and Precision · Correction, Taku could collect as many as he wanted.

Puppet threads could become entirely immaterial, as though they did not exist, yet could also serve as a powerful means to control enemies.

If he could make use of these puppet threads, then in the future when Taku built his own magical cabin, or even his extraordinary sorcerer's tower, he would also be able to employ means such as the "Steam Magic Web" to make the puppet threads produce astonishing effects.

After a long while, Taku finally wound the puppet threads around the puppet crystal, gathering them all up together.

"It is indeed a bit complicated."

"It requires a puppet ecosystem in an activated state to absorb life veins, which are then gradually processed through the operation of the Puppeteer sequence's ecosystem, and finally woven into puppet threads."

"It's almost like a giant... factory."

"There's still a great difference from a sorcerer's ecosystem."

"No rush — take it step by step, just study it slowly."

"After all, I don't need an entire complex system like a Puppeteer's to explore, absorb, and draw in life veins."

"I can see them, and I can casually draw in vast quantities of life veins — that's a considerable advantage."

While pondering, Taku looked toward the direction of Shenglande.

"First, I need to find a foothold in Shenglande, so that I can better develop, grow, and improve my own strength steadily in Shenglande."

…………

The closer to Shenglande's location.

The more extraordinary beings appeared.

Some people even approached with ill intent.

When astonishing booms and brilliant fireworks erupted from the direction of Black River Valley.

By the light, Bagins saw a considerable number of extraordinary beings on the wasteland.

There were still three days until the Gray Date.

Before the Gray Date, Shenglande would not open the Magic Long Bridge.

During this period, wandering the wasteland outside the Magic Long Bridge could easily result in robbery incidents.

Bagins wisely hid himself in a crooked-necked thicket on a small hill.

Rather than being out in the freezing cold, trembling with fear.

Wasn't it better to be inside the magical alchemy cabin, roasting by the fire, drinking wine, and eating meat?

Bagins had just lit the fireplace and changed out of his rain-soaked clothes.

When he heard a dull sound knocking against the trunk of the crooked-necked tree.

Someone had discovered his hiding place.

This immediately made Bagins nervous and angry.

When he picked up his Howl and observed through the Window of Projection.

He happened to see that familiar face on the other side of the Window of Projection, which also seemed to be observing him.

"Taniru! My old friend, we meet again so soon."

The elated Bagins opened the door and gave Taku a big hug.

This time Taku did not dodge away.

"Is the business at Black River Valley over?"

"It's over!"

Taku nodded.

"I'm guessing that huge explosion just now must have had something to do with you, right?"

"It was indeed related to me."

"Haha... then that's just wonderful." Bagins couldn't help but dance with joy.

An explosion of that level would absolutely cause Black River Valley heavy losses.

This perfectly avenged the extraordinary beings from Black River Valley who had been hunting him during this period.

"The fire in the hearth is already lit, and there's plenty of wine — I think I have enough time to listen to you tell of your exploits."

"My bunch of children, they love hearing adventure stories the most."

"Every time I go out, after I return, they pester me to tell them adventure stories."

Taku also laughed.

I'm extremely happy; I also happen to want to listen well to the matters of Holy Orchid Virtue.

Outside, the rain curtain continued to patter.

Inside the magical alchemy cottage,

In front of the warm fireplace flames, the two drank freely and chatted at length about Holy Orchid Virtue, Black River Valley, and even many stories of La Mo Er.