Chapter 35: Bad News
"Huff... huff..."
Ragged, desperate gasps echoed through the ruins of the harbor under the moonlight.
Mo Wen stood with his arms hanging limply at his sides, head bowed, breathing heavily. Had anyone been close enough to observe him in detail, they would have seen that his arms, along with his entire chest, had been completely puppetized. The area from his neck to his jaw was also largely covered in wood-grain textures.
At Mo Wen’s feet lay Evans, whom he had dragged to safety in a rush. The young Candle Guardian was now completely unconscious.
Lifting his head to stare at the black-furred demon hovering in the air, Mo Wen pulled his lips into a savage, twisted grin.
"You... damn you!"
*Whoosh!*
His body vanished from where he stood.
In the soft moonlight, faint threads could be seen weaving through the air—threads that blanketed the entire vicinity. These were the "Puppet Threads." They were not only used to control others but also to manipulate oneself, achieving a terrifying, supernatural speed within a limited range.
A streak of blood-red sword light magnified in the demon’s eyes. It watched Mo Wen’s assault with indifference. To it, this mere Black Iron ant—even with his altered form—was still just an ant. It could be crushed with a flick of a finger. As for what had happened a moment ago... that was merely a mistake. Now, it would erase that mistake with its own hands.
A massive black-furred palm reappeared, aiming to envelop both the blood-red sword light and the one who wielded it.
The sensation of striking something hard made the demon feel that something was wrong.
The next moment, the sound of tearing air came from behind it. It was Mo Wen, who had shifted position using the Puppet Threads.
"Thousand Wind Sword Technique, First Form: Gale Cut!"
The air around the crimson blade became viscous and distorted, then descended upon the back of the demon's neck. The "Sword of True Blood," forged from 19% of his total blood volume, did not disappoint in its sharpness. Aided by the "Gale Cut," the blade sliced through the demon’s skin and sank half a centimeter into its flesh.
*Boom!*
A violent shockwave sent Mo Wen flying.
Embarrassed and enraged, the black-furred demon let out a furious growl. It had never expected to be injured by a mere Black Iron ant. Even though it was just a scratch, it was a profound humiliation!
It transformed into a streak of black light, pursuing the retreating Mo Wen in a straight line.
The black fur surged like a tidal wave; it was easy to imagine how miserable Mo Wen’s fate would be if he were caught.
In mid-air, Mo Wen could feel his puppetized body fracturing across a large area. Even by pushing the power of the "Cursed Puppet" to its limit, the gap between him and the Gold rank remained far too vast. Managing to wound the demon with the Sword of True Blood was his absolute limit. Under the demon's subsequent counterattack, he had fallen into a critically wounded state.
At this moment, Mo Wen had exhausted all his trump cards and had no strength left to resist. But as the black-furred wave prepared to wash over him, there was not a trace of panic in his eyes.
If support hadn't arrived after he had stalled for so long, Mo Wen would have to question the true value of the Legendary rank.
When the black tide was a mere ten centimeters from his feet, a sudden sonic boom tore through the air.
Arriving even faster than the blast was a delicate-looking, seemingly harmless fist. Yet, this very fist punched through the air, creating a sonic boom that obliterated the entire incoming wave of black fur. It struck the demon behind the tide, causing it to shudder violently as its body erupted in a series of pops, blood spraying out in a radial pattern.
The demon was sent crashing to the ground with even greater force than it had used to attack, creating a crater several meters wide.
As his strength failed, Mo Wen felt himself being lifted into the air by a hand gripping his shoulder. He turned his head to look at the cold-faced Julia, feeling for the first time that her white lab coat was incredibly reassuring.
"Captain, you're finally here."
"Any later, and you would have been collecting our corpses."
Julia didn't even glance at Mo Wen, her lips parting to say, "Shut up."
"Understood." Mo Wen knew now was not the time for talk.
He looked toward the fallen demon, only to see it lying in the crater without the slightest intention of getting up. The demon stared at Julia, speaking for the first time since its appearance: "...Legendary... Heh... when my Lord descends... even a Legendary... will be nothing more than a slave..."
Blazing black flames suddenly ignited over its body. Amidst its mocking laughter, it vanished without a trace, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.
Did it die? Or did it escape?
As this doubt surfaced in Mo Wen’s mind, his system panel provided the answer.
—
[Assisted in the kill of "Inferior Black Rust Demon Manifestation (Degraded to Gold due to insufficient manifestation)," gained 500 Career XP (Black Beast Crewman)!]
[Rank]: Black Iron - Black Beast Crewman Lv.4 (410/800) → Black Iron - Black Beast Crewman Lv.5 (910/1600) — (10 points of which came from the previous assisted kill of the black broker, Keller.)
—
The black-furred demon—no, the Black Rust Demon—had committed suicide just like that?
Mo Wen’s eyes widened in shock. He turned to Julia, only to find her expression entirely unchanged, clearly having anticipated this outcome.
*Does the Captain know something?* Mo Wen wondered.
"Let's go back," Julia said. She raised a hand and reached out toward the distance, dragging the unconscious Evans toward them before returning to the *Black Beast*.
...
"Phew..."
Soaking in the pale blue star-fluid, Mo Wen let out a long, comfortable breath. After soaking for over ten minutes, he felt his injuries had fully healed.
Mo Wen was amazed. He hadn't expected the Dream-Entry Fluid to have such a miraculous restorative effect.
"If you're healed, get out. Come back tomorrow after dark; the experimental upgrade isn't finished yet."
At the laboratory table nearby, Julia said without looking up: "Your operation tonight, while it uncovered traces of the pollutant, caused such a commotion that as long as the Governor of Falling Star Port isn't an idiot, he will have guessed that the Candle Guardians have arrived."
"Our investigation will become much more difficult from here on out."
"Tell me, besides that monster, what other useful intelligence did you gather?"
Mo Wen recounted the night's events, concluding: "The pollutant might be in the hands of someone from the Tumotic family."
"Captain, do you know of this family?"
"In that case, the exposure wasn't entirely in vain," Julia nodded. "The Tumotic family is an old Viscount family from when Falling Star Port was first built, also known as the 'Black Snake Family.' It is said they have many ties to the Empire's great nobles."
"As for how we proceed, we wait for His Highness to decide. You go back and rest."
Mo Wen nodded. Tonight’s investigation had been full of twists and turns. Even with his body healed, his mind was exhausted, and he needed a good sleep.
...
Leaving the Dream-Entry Chamber and returning to his room, Mo Wen’s calm expression turned grim.
He looked at the Cursed Puppet in his hand.
After using the "Sacrifice" method once, the puppet's "Pollution Value" had skyrocketed from 0.1 to 0.9, rivaling the "Bloody Ring." The scale of the increase was terrifying, so much so that the expression on the Cursed Puppet's face had become vivid.
If it were merely an increase in the Pollution Value, it wouldn't have mattered much; in a sense, that value was just a metric for the strength of a pollutant or a sealed item. As long as it didn't exceed his control, it was harmless.
What made Mo Wen truly heavy-hearted was the increase in his "True Puppet Curse" conversion rate!
After his Physique reached 2.9 and his Spirituality reached 1.2, his conversion rate had dropped to 2%.
But now...
[Status]: True Puppet Curse (Current Conversion Rate: 22%)
By using the Cursed Puppet just once, his conversion rate had surged by 20%!