Chapter 2541 The Black Hat Reappears <TOC> Chapter 2543 Kael as a Person
Translator: SumTLMan
When the perplexed Old Porter and Ms. Melo arrived at the rabbit hole, ready to seek explanations from Angel, they encountered this scene——
A rabbit with curly hair that resembled a crown was furiously berating Daus, who wore a green hat and had an extremely unpleasant expression, his fists clenched tightly, yet he dared not strike the rabbit.
Here was the noise of the human world, while there was contentment on the other side.
Rabbit Tea Tea sat high atop a teapot, sipping tea and watching the projections of the talents. Angel, too, occasionally commented, relaxed and comfortable.
As for Aubrey, who had arrived before them, she was now huddled in a corner, shivering and watching the curly-haired rabbit with worried eyes…
This bizarre scene deterred Old Porter and Ms. Melo from speaking freely; they exchanged glances and tiptoed past Daus to Angel’s vicinity.
Angel raised an eyebrow: “You’re here, sit down.”
Old Porter and Ms. Melo did not dare disobey and took their seats on some odd mushroom stools.
As soon as they sat down, they were immediately stared down by a pair of deep eyes.
Looking up, it was the rabbit sitting on the teapot, eyeing them with anticipation.
Unsure of the current situation, they could only seek help from Angel with their eyes.
Angel explained: “This is rabbit Tea Tea, who will henceforth be the central core of this secret chamber, controlling everything here. You may think of it as a ‘spirit.'”
“Is it a spirit of the Savage Grottoes?” Ms. Melo immediately asked, concerned it might be as rebellious as the snake spirit in Princess Castle.
Angel clarified: “I only meant for you to regard Tea Tea as a ‘spirit.’ It itself is not a spirit but a creation as a result of alchemy… possessing basic intelligence.”
Hearing that it was a creation of Angel, Ms. Melo breathed a sigh of relief. Since it was an alchemical creation, even if it possessed intelligence, it would undoubtedly obey Angel, posing no risk of rebellion.
“Old Porter, if you plan to stay here, you might occasionally chat with Tea Tea. A creation based on foundational logic, its intelligence will grow with its knowledge.”
As Angel was speaking, Tea Tea looked up and said: “Cheater, you’ve said enough, get to the main point.”
“Cheater?” The others immediately caught onto the word but dared not inquire further.
Angel, looking annoyed, retorted to Tea Tea: “I’m only responsible for introducing you; what you want, you must ask for yourself. I’m not here to explain for you.”
After a moment of silence, Tea Tea waved a carrot stick, and a white hat appeared out of thin air.
The white hat landed directly on Aubrey in the corner, who involuntarily stood up and, like a marionette, began walking step by step towards the others.
When Aubrey arrived nearby, her eyes were filled with sheer terror, a natural response for anyone suddenly losing control over their actions.
However, Tea Tea showed no intention of understanding Aubrey’s fear, instead pointing directly at Ms. Melo and the others, instructing Aubrey: “Explain to them about the reward for passing the challenge.”
Against her will, Aubrey’s mouth opened, and she spoke deliberately: “The Zodiac Palace’s challenge reward involves mixing ingredients that are then given to Tea Tea, who will grant rewards based on how tasty the concoction is.”
After finishing her explanation, Aubrey’s hat vanished into thin air, and she collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by her fear.
Meanwhile, the Crowned Parrot, busy with its own concerns, noticed Aubrey’s condition and couldn’t help but comment disdainfully: “To think you could get so frightened over this; it’s embarrassing to say I’m your summoned creature. If you keep acting like this, don’t blame me if I kick you away.”
Aubrey bowed her head in silent agreement.
Ms. Melo wanted to interject but decided against it, sensing from the tone of the fluffy rabbit that it must be the Crowned Parrot speaking. The parrot’s remarks weren’t entirely unjustified; indeed, Aubrey needed to change her attitude.
“So, these bizarre rewards are meant to be tea ingredients, huh? But what exactly do you mean by ‘mixing’?” Old Porter, ignoring Aubrey’s distress, was curious about the tea-making process.
Tea Tea responded: “There’s tea over there. Mix however you like.”
After speaking, Tea Tea pointed towards a nearby hole marked “Tea Room.”
Hesitant at first, Old Porter and Melo approached the hole and slid down like on a slide.
After a while, they climbed back out from another rabbit hole nearby, each holding a cup of tea.
Tea Tea tasted each one.
“This is Nightwind Black Tea with a whole spoonful of sugar. Are you trying to kill me with sweetness? Added sugar and then sweet milk, and then a whole Bitter Stone tossed in? It’s a complete mess, not acceptable.”
“This is Epoch White Tea with a bit of Bitter Stone powder and brewed with three pours of hot water. The taste is quite nice. However, it’s still not acceptable, as you added an extractive plant that isn’t part of the Zodiac Palace’s rewards.”
The former was Old Porter’s creation, and the latter was Ms. Melo’s.
“So if they’re both not acceptable, does that mean there’s no reward?” Old Porter asked, looking woefully at Angel. The twelve signs of the Zodiac Palace seemed quite interesting, and he wondered if the rewards were too.
“None, but whether you get a reward doesn’t really matter. The reward here is the right to reside in the rabbit hole.”
“…Is that reward a bit perfunctory?”
Angel replied: “If you find it perfunctory, spend more time chatting with Tea Tea and negotiating. Maybe one day it will listen to you and change the reward.”
Although neither Old Porter nor Melo received a qualifying reward, their experience here gradually made them more familiar with the place.
It must be said that Angel’s creations are truly extraordinary. Even a cramped secret chamber could be turned into this state, something Old Porter could never have imagined.
Even Daus, though he didn’t say it out loud, was filled with astonishment and admiration for the changes here.
However, what they didn’t know was that Angel himself was also surprised…
…
After the honey trap, the milk hell, and the brown sugar volcano… the talents had finally come to the rabbit hole.
At this point, their expressions were quite bewildered; after all, they were still ordinary people, and having gone through these experiences, they inevitably carried some shadows.
Angel gestured for Ms. Melo to settle them down.
Ms. Melo gladly went, this sudden ordeal allowed her to see several previously underestimated promising candidates, she now somewhat understood why Sanders sought many talents and used the Nine Cabin Blood Duel method. Despair and death are the greatest aids to unleashing potential.
Old Porter was also curious about this rabbit hole, and though he couldn’t stay in the luxurious cave, he followed Ms. Melo on a tour of the place.
At the end of Daus’ punishment, the green hat on his head was gone. However, he did not challenge the Crowned Parrot, probably because after ten minutes of being unilaterally abused, he had recognized the gap.
“The trial has ended, you’ve also arranged for them, shall we leave now?” Daus’ voice was a bit weak, and he certainly didn’t mention the Crowned Parrot, showing that his heart was truly traumatized.
Angel: “Wait a moment, I have a few more words to say with Tea Tea.”
With that, Angel walked over to Tea Tea.
Although Angel and Tea Tea were talking in the same spot, there was a circle of electric magic formation around them, combined with the interference from Speedling, that blocked any sound from spreading.
After a while, Angel walked over to Daus: “Let’s go.”
Daus glanced at the distance, where Tea Tea was quietly watching Angel, with complex emotions flickering in its eyes.
“Is this Tea Tea really an artificial creature? To what extent has its intelligence and computing reached?” Daus couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“Why are you suddenly concerned about this?”
Daus: “If you can really create a quasi-sentient creature, it would be an unprecedented feat.”
Angel smiled softly: “Probably because… it’s incomplete, Tea Tea’s underlying thought processes have flaws, which prevent it from having creativity; everything it does is based on existing behavior patterns, and emotions are also passively simulated. So, it’s not really intelligent, more like a finely-tuned alchemical puppet.”
“What’s incomplete?”
Angel: “You heard wrong.”
Daus looked skeptically at Angel, convinced that he hadn’t misheard but rather that Angel was hiding something.
“By the way, since it lacks creativity, what’s the deal with the twelve Zodiac Palaces?” Daus squinted at Angel.
Angel remained silent.
“It really is your doing, isn’t it? You just want to see those talents struggle, don’t you? And you’ve even created a made up kingdom; I bet all those answers, true and false, are manipulated by you!” Daus wore a look of seeing through it all. “Admit it, you just like to build your happiness on others’ pain, you freak…”
Angel: “I haven’t created a made up kingdom, this kingdom does exist, and it’s also the homeland of Rabbit Tea Tea. It’s called…Teapot Kingdom.”
“So, this belongs to rabbit Tea Tea’s inherent knowledge, and has nothing to do with me.”
“By the way, you mentioned earlier, creating a creature with quasi-spiritual intelligence was an unprecedented achievement. I can clearly tell you, someone has already created such a creature, and not only is it highly intelligent and powerful, but that person is still in the Southern Region.”
Naturally, Angel was referring to Gloria.
However, his speech was evasive, touching briefly on various topics, essentially to divert the conversation.
Daus could tell, but didn’t delve deeper, because… he was the same kind of person.
After chatting with Daus about topics that were unlikely to reveal the truth, merely beating around the bush, they had already reached the entrance of the rabbit hole.
“How do we leave? Do we have to break into the twelve Zodiac Palaces?” Daus asked.
Angel didn’t reply but fixed his position nearby and found a weak spot in space, opening the Gateway of Fantasy directly.
“Let’s go.”
Daus squinted: “An instant space magic, is it a spell position?”
Angel couldn’t be bothered to reply and simply stepped through the Gateway of Fantasy. The gate behind led to a corridor outside the secret chamber.
After Daus stepped out, he found Angel pushing open that secret chamber.
When the secret chamber was opened, however, it was no longer the vast twelve Zodiac Palaces but had returned to the original narrow small space.
“What’s going on here?” Daus asked curiously.
“If it’s meant to be concealed, it must be done to the extreme. There’s a special way to enter Tea Tea’s space.”
Daus: “What’s the method?”
Angel didn’t answer but simply handed Daus a piece of parchment, a drafted contract was on it.
The contract’s content was simple: from today, Daus voluntarily joined the Savage Grottoes, and betrayal would be subject to various punishments…
Daus tore up the contract expressionlessly.
Angel wasn’t bothered: “If you want to know the way, joining us is the only option.”
Daus gritted his teeth: “Can’t you tell me as a friend?”
Angel: “When you bring Little Gold’s offspring to me, I’ll acknowledge you as my friend. But even then, I can’t just reveal information to you.”
Daus: “So, the friendship of Red Sword Daus isn’t as important as Little Gold offspring?”
Angel looked at Daus strangely, showing an expression that it was only natural.
Daus took a deep breath, finally accepting the reality. Little Gold’s offspring it is then, at least he had made contact with the genius Angel.
After leaving the secret chamber, they left the tavern directly.
“Are you just going to leave without telling them?”
Angel: “I thought you, a fierce advocate for freedom, would be the type to leave without saying goodbye.”
Daus held back his anger: “It’s not about ties; it’s about courtesy.”
Angel: “Oh, no need to inform them. We can meet anytime, and besides, I’ve already told Tea Tea about leaving, it will inform them.”
Daus: “Was that what you were discussing with Tea Tea just now?”
Angel: “Of course not.”
Before Daus could ask further, Angel had already taken out a newly drafted contract and handed it to Daus.
“You really know how to seize the opportunity. How many contracts have you drafted?”
“Guess.”
Daus: “…” No time to play guessing games.
Daus didn’t bother with Angel anymore and walked straight into the main street, preparing to leave Princess Town.
Angel just smiled and followed.
His earlier private conversation with Tea Tea was not just to ask Tea Tea to help pass the message. The main topic was how to… self-destruct.
Yes, self-destruct.
Although Tea Tea seemed invincible in its own space, if it encountered an enemy as strong as Sanders, defeat was still possible. And once defeated, the magic formation’s bearing corner might be discovered, exposing the Mysterious Rune within.
Once the Mysterious Rune was exposed, Angel reckoned he would become a target. So, his last words to Tea Tea were about how to destroy that bearing corner.
Chapter 2541 The Black Hat Reappears <TOC> Chapter 2543 Kael as a Person