Chapter 508 - 208: The Puppet Dancing with God (Part 2)

He paused, then continued in a teasing tone, "But don’t you forget, you promised to do three things for me. Hmm, and they could be anything."

"Hmm." Clelia paused for a moment, turning to face him. Her bright eyes were clear and deep, and a pure smile appeared on her face, completely devoid of coquettishness. "I won’t forget!"

With that, she pushed the door open and left, the few Twilight Secret Cultivators following close behind.

CREAK... CLICK.

The sound of the door closing echoed across the stage and throughout the workshop.

Outside, Clelia’s smile vanished. She glanced at the three women at the dining table, who were now looking up at her, gave them a slight nod in greeting, and walked straight to her personal resting room.

’Sorry, Wei’en... Just give me a little more time...’

’Am I... am I really a queen?’

"What’s wrong with her? She seems so dispirited."

The perceptive Pavla noticed something was off with Clelia. She glanced uncertainly toward the workshop belonging to the Evil Mage. ’A girl that pretty, coming out with a look like that...’

"It’s nothing." Shawa lowered her head, returning her focus to the Gonzalez text on the table. "She’s probably just injured again."

"Injured?!" Pavla covered her mouth. "Was it the Evil... Was it Wei’en who hurt her?"

"Wei’en? No," Shawa said expressionlessly. "It’s always other people who hurt her. And every time, Wei’en is the one who heals her."

’Other people hurt her, and then he heals her?’

’She recalled the things she’d just passed—like mummified corpses wrapped in cloth strips...’

A look of recollection crossed Pavla’s face. ’Hadn’t I read a similar plot in some bestselling novel?’

’I remember it was about... sadism? No, self-harm and healing?’

’No wonder that beautiful woman had such an expression, and seemed so weak when she walked...’

’Ugh, I guess there’s a reason the rooms here are so soundproof.’

’Just as I’d expect from you, Evil Mage!’

Nearby, Tina lifted her head, her face devoid of expression. She stared at Pavla for a moment before lowering her head to study again.

’Tina... Wei’en... Is it really like that?’

Meanwhile, in the workshop, Wei’en was oblivious to the fact that in such a short time, Pavla had already cooked up a novel-length drama in her head about him and Clelia.

He had taken out the Era Relic again and was now staring pensively at the hexagram and the black gemstone on its cover...

’What exactly is Clelia’s secret?’

...

...

Meanwhile, on an island tens of thousands of kilometers from the *Leonard*, four colossal statues stood at the four cardinal points. Two beams of orange-yellow light shot out from the eyes of each statue, illuminating the city-state in the island’s center.

Even though night had fallen and the red moon hung high, the crimson glow it cast was still blocked out by those eight beams of light.

The city-state was divided into five concentric, square tiers of buildings. The houses on the outskirts were the lowest, with the architecture growing taller the closer it got to the center.

And at the very center was a tower several hundred meters high. Its golden coating reflected a faint golden halo under the light from the statues.

Each floor of the tower was ten meters high, and each had an open-air section, though the decor of these areas varied greatly.

Some were spartan, with just a few tables and chairs where several pirate-like figures sat talking. They would occasionally gaze out from the tower, as if admiring the view.

Others were lavishly decorated and set up like stages, where several scantily clad women danced, periodically drawing cheers from the onlookers.

Still other platforms were configured as fighting rings, where two or more Extraordinaries battled fiercely upon a stage enveloped by a Rune Array.

No matter how lively it was on the tower, not a single sound escaped. The entire tower must have been set up with a silencing Rune Array, isolating the sounds from within and without, as well as separating the sounds between floors.

Beyond the tower, the rest of the city was also brightly lit, bustling with people coming and going.

This was especially true of the outermost ring, where nearly every building had a golden wooden plaque by its entrance, bearing names like "So-and-so’s Tavern."

"I wonder when I’ll be able to enter that place..."

A sailor in a short yellow oilskin jacket, the insignia of his ship tattooed on his arm, looked toward the tower with envy. He was particularly drawn to the areas set up like stages, where beautiful, scantily clad women danced. The sight made him suddenly feel a bit disgusted with the thickly made-up girls in the taverns.

"What are you dreaming of? Our captain’s bounty is only one thousand gold pounds. He doesn’t even qualify to enter the second tier, let alone that tower."

Beside him, another sailor in the same attire sneered, "We finally made it to Avad Island. Why don’t you stop dreaming and find a practical way to take care of that two-month-old itch?"

"Just saying... Speaking of which, have you heard about that new Pirate Gang? The one that killed Captain Henrik."

"Red Hair? What about him?"

"When I went to take a piss just now, I heard he’s not actually called Red Hair. He’s the Mutated Mage, one of the masterminds behind that incident in the Caster City State."

"What?" the sailor said, astonished. "That guy? He’s out at sea now? And he killed someone from the *Black Pearl*?"

"That’s not all," the sailor in the oilskin jacket leaned in conspiratorially and lowered his voice. "I heard them say he killed a Judgment Knight from the Dawn Church a couple of days ago."

"Whoa, good for him!"

"Tell me about it. To rack up a record like that right after setting sail... His bounty is going to be sky-high, I bet..."