Chapter 1990: First evidence
Chapter 1990: First evidence
Darkwood City-City Lord Office
A black-haired, middle-aged man dressed in a city lord official uniform was seated behind the desk. Right now, he was going through the reports.
He is the City Lord of Darkwood City. His name is Bryan. He is a Supreme Wizard.
He seemed overly cautious but extremely calm. If one looked closely, they would find something wrong in his neck area.
Dark veins could be seen clearly. The dark energy was unusual.
From time to time, the middle-aged man touched the dark veins. His eyes flashed with a glint. He didn’t dare to show any suspicious signs.
At this time, a red smoke entered through the room’s window. The red smoke moved around before going to the side of City Lord Bryan.
Buzz!
He was doing his work. Right then, his device buzzed. He picked up the device and saw that the City Gate Captain was making a call.
Bryan answered the call. The next second, he heard important news from the captain.
"Powerful wizards," he uttered.
"Where are they staying?" he asked.
He didn’t panic. He continued to listen to the captain.
"Alright, I will take care of it. Continue to watch the city gate," Bryan said, and then ended the call.
He was not nervous. Looking at the current affairs, he had expected strong wizards to visit a neutral city like theirs.
He then calmed his heart before taking out a magic artifact. The artifact looked like a small bird-shaped puppet. It was made of real bird skin. It looked ominous.
The Zero puppet, in the form of the red smoke, continued to observe everything. It analyzed that the bird-shaped puppet was dangerous. It made the decision not to get closer.
Bryan poured his mana into the puppet. The next second, the bird puppet became active.
Cuckoo!
The bird puppet made a sound. Its two eye sockets flickered with a blue light.
"What happened?" a rough voice sounded from the bird puppet.
Hearing that, Bryan broke out into a cold sweat. He controlled his nerves, because the dark veins in his neck squirmed when the voice sounded.
He was feeling a heart-wrenching pain. In his heart, he was chanting some mysterious magic spell. As he chanted, the throbbing pain reduced.
The black veins stopped squirming. He felt relaxed right now.
He said, "Powerful wizards have entered the city. They may be connected to the Magic City."
"He... He... He... it’s time for them to come. They will first try to inspect you. Continue to chant the verse of the magic spell. The dark veins won’t be visible to others," the voice sounded.
"What if there is a Magic Lord or a Forbidden Wizard?" Bryan asked.
"He... He... He... no living person will be able to see the dark veins except for us and the victims," the rough voice sounded.
"Let them stay in the city. If you do anything to obstruct them, they will find it suspicious," the voice said, and then it ended.
The blue lights disappeared. The bird puppet was deactivated. It returned to normal, looking like a statue.
Bryan then collected the bird puppet into his storage bracelet.
The Zero puppet, in its red smoke form, collected the information and stored it inside its database.
The puppet made the preliminary analysis that the enemy forces are on the powerful side. They have strong evil magic which makes the puppet like an actual living puppet.
The Zero puppet itself was made as a result of the Star puppet inheritance. Its form was able to change because of the two beads.
They are living artifacts. But it was the first time the Zero puppet had seen another puppet creation that involved a different kind of magic.
It also made a second analysis that City Lord Bryan was compromised. The City Lord was under the influence of some magic spell.
The Zero puppet then continued to wait.
City Lord Bryan made the decision not to visit them. They could be some wizards from the major families. He should not do anything unless he received orders from the higher-ups.
The Zero puppet waited for another few minutes.
After confirming that City Lord Bryan was not moving from the place, it exited the room through the window.
Even the City Lord wouldn’t have expected that he was exposed completely.
Meanwhile,
Inside the hotel room, I told the members not to go outside the city right away. We can explore the city in the evening.
Everyone agreed to do that. On the other hand, I waited for the Zero puppet to come. I returned to my room.
Not long after, a red smoke entered the room. It reverted to its original form. The black steel-clad puppet appeared in front of me.
"Master, I have completed the task," the Zero puppet said.
Hearing that, I told the puppet to be quiet. Then I walked up to the puppet and brought it inside the Gregor Mansion.
I didn’t want the conversation to be heard by anyone. Even if the system said that the place was safe, I still wanted to hear it inside the Gregor Mansion.
We appeared in the hall. Then I sat on a chair. I told the puppet to sit. It sat opposite me.
"Tell me," I said to the puppet.
The Zero puppet began to explain the intel to me.
As time passed, my expression turned solemn. My gaze became sharper.
"The bird puppet appeared to be lifelike," the Zero puppet said.
My heart stirred. Now I began to realize what was meant by the unknown evil force. They must have a complete Inheritance.
I had never heard of a lifelike puppet before. I had only come across two types of puppets. One was the Star Puppet in front of me.
Another one was the ancient magic warrior puppet. It was my first time hearing about a lifelike puppet.
"The City Lord was under the influence of some spell. The enemy side had a magic verse to ease down the pain," the Zero puppet said next.
Hearing that, I nodded my head. I had only suspected it, but I didn’t expect the City Lord to actually be compromised.
Therefore, I should first collect the bird puppet from him as evidence.