Chapter 419 Candle Puppet

The whole process of entering the city completely piqued Yi Chen's interest in this city of lights.

On the way to the Duke Chamber of Commerce, I also put my foot down and randomly visited some passing lighting stores to learn about the uses of the lamps in advance and try my luck to see if I could find any clues about firewood.

 After visiting several stores, I have a general understanding of the so-called lamps.

In addition to providing regular lighting and supply for some patients who need continuous sunlight, the lamps here also provide

 Another main function is to explore the "dark corners" of the old world.

 Due to the fall of the evil sun in the old world, a certain ecological balance was broken.

Those dark areas that were once suppressed by the evil yang begin to become inflamed, gangrenous, etc., and undergo deteriorating lesions that are not controlled by the original pathogens, and gradually become a kind of "extremely dark place".

 There are even a handful of extremely dark places that have evolved into "abyss" that are completely beyond the control of pathology, swallowing up any explorer who dares to approach.

Even so, many people still go there to explore.

The reason is simple, because in the depths of the darkest place are scattered the remnants of the war.

In addition to some corpses of sick people and treasures from the old world, there are also skeletons of outsiders who invaded the old world in the past and treasures from other worlds that do not belong to the old world.

When the first explorer brought out the treasure from the darkest place, an unprecedented craze for exploration was set off.

As the largest lamp supply area in the old world, the Light City has naturally become the biggest beneficiary. A large number of explorers will come here to purchase lamps as a basis for exploring extremely dark places.

Yichen visited five stores. He was a little excited at first, but then it gradually calmed down.

 Although the lamps are made of different materials and shapes,

 But they are essentially the same, and the price is not cheap, ranging from dozens to hundreds of ancient coins.

 And wax oil has another cost. If you want to explore the depths of the extremely dark place, you must prepare sufficient and high-quality wax oil.

“It’s really expensive... However, a large number of patients still come to buy such expensive things, and even risk their lives to explore them, which means that the benefits must be huge.

 A place of extreme darkness? If you have a chance, maybe you can go inside and take a look. "

 After a general understanding, Yi Chen stopped strolling and increased the frequency of alternating steps to prepare to meet the Duke.

Just when he passed a corner, he was suddenly attracted by the special style shop on the side.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

The whole building is in retro Gothic style, with closely arranged vertical column structures spliced ​​together to form the front door structure.

A doll lady wearing a Gothic dress was sitting at the door, holding a store plaque. She didn’t wave or smile, she just sat stiffly.

 Compared with the brightness and bustling crowds of other lighting stores, there is only weak candlelight coming from here, and not a single customer goes there at all.

 The reason why Yi Chen is attracted to it is that the decoration style is very similar to Zion.

 “Let’s go in and take a look, it’s the last store we’ll visit.”

Yi Chen straightened his tie and came forward with his suitcase, when the puppet sitting at the door suddenly opened his mouth.

Perhaps it was in disrepair, and the entire jaw fell off because of it, and a rotten tongue stirred inside, making a weird sound:

 "Happy~welcome~guang~coming."

The moment he stepped into the store, a smell of corpse wax hit his face, and the scene inside made Yi Chen's expression darken.

There are no intuitive lamps here, but a Gothic-style girl doll, which is inserted into the shoulder blades through hooks and hung on the walls on both sides.

Although most of the dolls are made of metal, the bones and flesh components can still be seen, especially the bones in the cervical spine. This means that the basic movements of this doll still rely on biological nerves, and may even retain some. consciousness.

Moreover, the prices attached to these dolls are not low at all.

The lamps I have seen before only cost more than 300 coins at most, but the cheapest doll here is only 1,000, and the most expensive is even 5,000, not to mention some rare dolls that are not on display.

Just when Yi Chen was about to see through the body of the doll,

A man with an extremely distorted face walked out from the depths of the store.

 One of his eyes is on the right cheek, and the other eye is on the left side of the forehead. His mouth runs lengthwise through his face and his nose is stuck to his chin.

 The whole face is covered with curved and twisting strips.

All the teeth in the mouth have been lost, and only a small piece of tongue is left. The sound is made with the help of a mechanical loudspeaker embedded in the mouth:

 “Do you need to buy a candle puppet? If you just want to look at it, then leave quickly.”

This was the first time Yi Chen had seen a boss who would immediately chase people away when he met him, and it piqued his interest.

Yichen put his right hand against his chest and said very gentlemanly: "This is my first time coming to the Light City, and it is also my first time to come into contact with lamps from the old world.

I saw that the decoration style of your store was very similar to the city where I live, so I came in to take a look. "

 “Are you from Zion?”

Yi Chen was shocked: "Huh!? Boss, do you know Zion?"

“Once when I was looking for raw materials for dolls, I met a guy who called himself a gentleman. He made rude remarks about my appearance, so I made a doll and shared his memory with him.

Unexpectedly, I was very fascinated by the city called Zion where he lived. Later, I founded this store based on the architectural style of Zion. Even the shape and clothing of the candle puppets were also borrowed. "

As soon as these words came out, Yi Chen became slightly wary.

The boss explained in a low voice: "Don't worry, I won't kill people in Lamp City... Since you are from Zion, let me introduce my work a little bit.

There are no more than twenty candle puppet makers in the entire city. Due to some personal issues, I am unable to open a store on Center Street. I can only use some cheap or ordinary materials to make some cheap candle puppets for sale. "

 “Is this cheap?”

“Don’t compare my candle dolls with the garbage in the surrounding shops... They are alive and can provide long-lasting light and spiritual encouragement in extremely dark places.

  The fat in their bodies is all refined from high-grade wax oil, and they can sustain an ordinary journey to the "Dark Place" without replenishing supplies midway.

Of course, if you want to go deep, or even stare into the abyss, you will need to equip additional fat bags.

Some of these expensive dolls also have the ability to fly, dodge quickly, and even help you fight evil bodies in the dark.

If you take the garbage next door to a dark place, you are basically asking for your own death. "

 “Can I see how they are lit?”

 The boss reluctantly took down the cheapest doll.

 Because the price is cheap,

Her face was not even equipped with effective visual eyeballs. The eye sockets were covered with traces of dried wax oil, and her mouth was sewn shut with needle and thread to prevent oil leakage.

There is no decoration on the neck, not even skin. There is just a cervical vertebra connecting the head and body.

The Gothic clothes on his body are also in tatters, and even the black and white striped socks are full of patches and even holes.

 “This older type of candle requires an open flame to be activated.”

 The boss took out a box of old-fashioned matches from his pocket.

　　咓~The match head ignited a blue flame, and slowly approached the doll's eyes. The wax oil covering them melted, and fell like tears.

 As the whole match was stuffed into the eye socket, the puppet did not respond.

 Ignition failure.

Tsk~The boss reluctantly took out a match again.

 No more gentle ignition this time...pop! He was slapped directly into the eye socket to ensure that the match could reach enough depth. He did not want to waste more matches on the trial product.

 After waiting for three seconds,

ˆ˜Caka~

 The doll's body began to twist mechanically, and its finger joints began to bounce.

 There is a little light shining between the empty eye sockets,

“That’s it?” Just when Yi Chen thought that the candle puppet’s illumination could only reach this level, the puppet suddenly clasped its scalp with its ten fingers and tore it open, revealing the circular opening on its head.

 A huge white candle rises between the skull, and as the scalp refills, the candle seems to be stuck to the top of the head.

 Judging from the groove patterns on the surface of the candle, this white candle should be the brain of the doll.

The weak flame at the top of the white candle slowly enlarged until it illuminated the entire store. Even in the dark areas that were blocked, the light could penetrate like a reptile.

 At this time,

 The fully animated puppet twisted the broken skirt corners with both hands and bowed slightly to Yi Chen.

“This candle puppet is an early work of mine and has been repaired many times, using the oldest ‘ignition mode’.

The latest type of candle puppet can be activated directly by simply pressing the protruding spine on the back..."

Before the boss could finish speaking, Yi Chen directly interrupted: "I bought this."

 (End of this chapter)