Chapter 2540 Tea Tea <TOC> Chapter 2452 Leaving Princess Town
Translator: SumTLMan
Little Tom’s performance in answering questions didn’t differ much from the other talents. If lucky enough to get a multiple-choice examiner, he could occasionally guess three answers correctly and earn a spot in the Zodiac Palace. However, most of the time, his luck was poor, and the chance of being punished was quite high.
Unlike the others who would scream non-stop during punishment, Little Tom remained silent from beginning to end.
Sometimes, after the punishment, he would ponder for a long time, seemingly savoring the experience.
This made him stand out among the talents.
“Hat hat… he…” Daus initially wanted to comment on Little Tom but suddenly realized: “I can talk again!”
The green hat had vanished, and ten minutes had passed.
“Stop messing with me, I promise I’ll be quiet!” Daus quickly said to Tea Tea.
Despite saying that, he secretly reached out to Angel via the mental connection. Since they found him noisy, he’d communicate with Angel through the connection instead.
However, Angel declined the connection.
Daus gave Angel knowing glances, but Angel pretended not to see. Eventually, Daus could only sigh; Angel and Tea Tea were in cahoots, leaving him to fight alone… How infuriating.
After that, Daus forced himself to stay silent and simply watched.
But upon seeing the confusion, he couldn’t hold back anymore and broke his silence, asking: “Little Tom must have found something, right?”
At that time, Little Tom had been stumped by the questions from the Sour Zodiac Palace’s examiner. He got all the answers wrong and could only face the punishment. This time, he didn’t resist at all. He didn’t even reach the second stage before turning into bones under the acidic rain. Then, he resurrected and continued his journey to the next Zodiac Palace.
Not resisting and dying directly was faster than the approach taken by those trying to train in the Zodiac Palace.
Angel shrugged: “Who knows? With high mental power, perhaps he could indeed detect some clues in the illusion. But even if he did, death, injury, and dismemberment still cause real pain. We can only say Little Tom has high tolerance.”
“But relying on dying to pass each challenge doesn’t build much strength. We should impose some limits.”
After hearing Angel mutter, Daus couldn’t help but remark: “So you did design these secret rooms just to torment them, to watch them struggle. You’re definitely a twisted…”
Before he could finish, Angel shot him a glance. Rabbit Tea Tea immediately understood and plopped the green hat back on Daus’ head.
Daus muttered: “Hat hat hat…” You power-crazed fool!
Ignoring Daus’ angry glares, Angel conversed with Tea Tea for a moment. Although Tea Tea was quite unhappy about Angel meddling with the Zodiac Palace’s questions, Angel was, after all, its creator. It nodded in agreement with Angel’s idea.
So, when Little Tom arrived at the new Blossom Zodiac Palace, Madam Fragrant, who served as the questioner, began:
“Salted fish, your actions are under the watchful eyes of Tea Tea. Relying on death to swiftly pass won’t work.”
“From this point onward, if you fail, you’ll need to survive the punishment to move to the next Zodiac Palace. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck in this one.”
Little Tom thought he had found a shortcut to the finish, but the loophole was immediately fixed. He had no choice but to follow the rules.
Madam’s questions all related to flowers that weren’t found in the Southern Region. Unsurprisingly, Little Tom was defeated beneath the fragrant hem of her skirt.
Punishment came as promised.
In the sea of poisonous flowers, reaching the tower in the center was only the first phase.
The fragrance effects of the toxic flowers varied: some caused fever and itching, some made people shed skin, some drove people insane, and others were lethal…
Finding a reasonable path was crucial for Little Tom.
However, he lacked meticulousness in planning and paid little attention to details. His method was to charge through and experiment with his own body to find the best route.
Thus, he died repeatedly.
In the end, Little Tom’s face turned pale.
Occasional death could be tolerated, but continuous deaths piled up psychological pressure, leading to breakdowns.
Now, Little Tom dared not die again. If he died one more time, he would likely lose his mind.
Fortunately, his previous deaths helped him identify a relatively safe route, and despite some stumbles, he finally reached the central tower.
Watching Tom’s progress, Angel nodded with satisfaction. Without relying on death to cheat, his performance was no different from other talents, and he needed no special attention.
Besides, it was time to focus on something else.
Angel turned around and looked at Aubrey, who emerged from the rabbit hole slide with a warm smile: “You’re the first one here. Welcome.”
Aubrey glanced around and then looked at Angel, somewhat overwhelmed.
“Hasn’t Ms. Melo arrived yet?”
“I told you, you’re the first to arrive,” Angel said, motioning for Aubrey to sit while introducing her to rabbit Tea Tea.
Aubrey blushed slightly: “I-I didn’t really rely on myself. It was…”
“I know, the Crowned Parrot. But it’s your summoned creature, and since you’re a summoner, the summoned creature is part of your strength.”
Aubrey thought for a moment and realized he was right, but the Crowned Parrot seemed unaware of its status as a summoned creature. At this moment, it was already uncontrollably running around.
When Aubrey looked up, she saw the Crowned Parrot flying over to the rabbit, Tea Tea, curiously looking left and right.
Aubrey quickly whispered for the Crowned Parrot to come back, but the big-shot bird completely ignored her.
Fortunately, rabbit Tea Tea didn’t seem to mind and continued sipping tea with a cheerful smile.
“Are you interested in Tea Tea?” Angel asked.
The Crowned Parrot was relatively friendly towards Angel. After all, Angel’s presence had prevented Red Sword Daus from threatening it. So, upon hearing Angel’s question, the Crowned Parrot pondered for a moment and said:
“What a peculiar creation, it feels somewhat familiar.”
Angel’s eyes narrowed slightly: “Oh? What familiar aura?”
The Crowned Parrot recalled briefly: “It seems like the aura of a Mysterious Spirit, but very, very faint. Maybe I sensed it wrong? Nonetheless, it’s truly a strange creation, like a living being but without the aura of life.”
The Crowned Parrot’s answer made Angel’s heart skip a beat.
Although he didn’t show it on the surface, he now regarded the Crowned Parrot’s origins more highly.
Previously, he hadn’t paid much attention to the origins of the Crowned Parrot. What did it matter if it had once been a summoned creature of a Great Wizard? But now, he had to take it seriously. After arriving at the rabbit hole, the Crowned Parrot had immediately revealed the truth.
Rabbit Tea Tea indeed possessed a mysterious aura. Angel had used some special methods, combined with Tea Tea’s unique characteristics, to almost completely shield this aura. Daus’ indifference toward Tea Tea indicated that he hadn’t detected the mysterious aura either.
Who would have thought that this unremarkable Crowned Parrot would point out the truth so directly?
Yes, Tea Tea is a creation with a mysterious aura. It all stems from a “mistake” by Angel.
Not long ago, in the secret chamber, Angel had set up a magic formation and an illusion. Perhaps influenced strongly by the book —Dance of the Metals—, Angel created a variety of imaginative things. It was likely the first time he had truly let his creativity run wild.
The final effect worked but seemed somewhat incoherent.
So, Angel reconsidered or, rather, expanded on his imaginative ideas. He retracted all the illusion nodes he had already placed and then crafted a central object based on the current magic formation.
Angel integrated all the illusion nodes into this core item, which was not only connected to the magic formation but was also an alchemical creation and an illusion generator.
Up to this point, everything was still normal.
But Angel couldn’t contain his creativity. From his bracelet, he took out the long-dormant Mysterious Object.
——The Mad Hatter’s Coronation.
This Mysterious Object would work as long as it was placed within an alchemical tool and inscribed the “transformation” rune bearing corner. Coincidentally, the core object of the magic formation had a “transformation” rune bearing corner.
At that time, Angel thought about a white hat coronation to optimize the magic formation. This would make the formation stronger, capable of holding out for three to five days even against a true knowledge wizard.
However, Angel didn’t expect things to go awry.
Instead of a white hat coronation, it was a black hat.
According to Mr. Feng: “The Mad Hatter’s Coronation,” this Mysterious Object, is supposed to have a 99% chance of producing a white hat, with only a slim chance of a black one.
Yet, after only a few uses, the black hat appeared twice for Angel.
The first time was with the Sunlight Sanctuary rune scroll, which we won’t discuss for now. This time, the black hat directly crowned the core of the magic formation.
The effect of a black hat is entirely different from a white one. When it appears, whether on alchemical items or rune scrolls, a transformative effect ensues, always resulting in something unique.
Though this uniqueness can vary, good or bad, it inevitably bestows a mysterious aura on the item.
Even if its effects are somewhat inferior to a half-step Mysterious Object, when used correctly, it’s no less than those objects.
The transformative effect of the black hat on the core of the magic formation led to the emergence of rabbit Tea Tea.
Whether Tea Tea is real or not is beside the point. Tea Tea is indeed a creation with intelligence.
After Tea Tea appeared, a mental connection was established with Angel, who immediately understood Tea Tea’s abilities——
Tea Tea has the power to master the magic formation and control the illusions set up by Angel.
At first, this seemed trivial to Angel. However, when Tea Tea expanded the magic formation’s intricate runes into a vast space out of a small chamber, Angel fell silent.
This was not just mastery of the formation; it was transforming the formation into Tea Tea’s own domain.
After learning about Tea Tea’s abilities, Angel saw that Tea Tea understood its purpose.
To shelter friends and expel foes.
This duty became Tea Tea’s unwavering belief and the rule of its existence. Thus, Tea Tea began contemplating how to achieve it.
Angel came up with an idea.
The Zodiac Palace was born.
Angel’s suggestion was purely for fun, but Tea Tea took it seriously and did an impressive job.
Apprentices could consider it a trial. As for enemies intruding and facing the penalty, it meant real death.
That is the whole journey of Tea Tea’s creation.
It was both the result of Angel’s wild imagination and a product of serendipity.
Angel did not expect that the others, including Daus, would all miss the truth about Tea Tea, while the Crowned Parrot was the first to notice something unusual.
Now, Angel was almost certain. The origin of the Crowned Parrot was not simple; not just anyone could casually speak about Mysterious Spirits.
However, although the Crowned Parrot was accurate, Angel did not dare casually continue this topic. Instead, he calmly said: “Tea Tea is indeed a special creation, but directly speaking about this in front of her is a bit rude.”
As soon as he finished, a fluffy rabbit-ear hat dropped onto the Crowned Parrot’s head.
In the next second, the Crowned Parrot transformed into a rabbit like Tea Tea, except this rabbit had a crown made of a few strands of hair circling the top.
At first glance, it was rather cute.
“Whoa, it can transform me! Is it an illusion? Seems like it’s not,” the Crowned Parrot muttered, hopping around on the table and heading to the water basin to check its reflection: “Quite cute, but I can’t fly.”
The Crowned Parrot didn’t seem to mind the change, but Daus grew annoyed: “Why can it still talk? Mute it too! It’s even chattier than I am, and its words are toxic and rude. Put a green hat on it already!”
Rabbit Tea Tea lazily glanced at Daus: “Because it’s better-looking than you.”
The moment he heard that, Daus was immediately furious.
He didn’t dare speak directly to rabbit Tea Tea and instead started verbally sparring with the Crowned Parrot.
Though the Crowned Parrot had become a rabbit, this didn’t affect its ability at all, and Daus could only barely keep up.
Still, since he had prepared for this, Daus wasn’t nervous. He waited for gaps in the Crowned Parrot’s speech to interject and seize the upper hand!
But Daus’ plans hadn’t even succeeded when he was struck down by outside intervention.
“So noisy, shut up.”
As Tea Tea’s words fell, a green hat once again rested on Daus’ head.
Meanwhile, the Crowned Parrot remained unaffected.
Daus angrily glared at rabbit Tea Tea, whose response was the same: “It’s pretty; you’re ugly.”
Daus’ eyes widened in disbelief.
Across from him, the Crowned Parrot, wearing a strange smile, walked up to Daus.
A new round of verbal sparring began, and this time, Daus found himself utterly overwhelmed.
He sought Angel’s help, but Angel pretended not to notice. Drawing the Crowned Parrot’s attention to Daus was far better than letting it focus solely on Tea Tea…
So, Daus had better fend for himself.
Chapter 2540 Tea Tea <TOC> Chapter 2452 Leaving Princess Town