Chapter 2551 Death Scent <TOC> Chapter 2553 The Black Count’s Secret
Translator: SumTLMan
Deep Black Market, Kael’s Cave.
Although it was annoying for Angel when his alchemy was interrupted mid-process, the blank of the dagger had already formed, and precipitation also needed time. Moreover, Dangros had been using fire efficiently and also needed a moment to rest.
Thus, there was just enough time to meet with Daus, who had suddenly sought him out for an urgent matter.
Yet, even so, Angel’s mood was still rather sour.
Upon meeting Daus and Kael and listening to Daus’ guilt-ridden narrative, Angel’s mood grew even more sour.
“Adding another person? Who is Vai? I don’t even know him, and you want him to join us?” Angel rubbed his throbbing temples, already exhausted, now even more mentally fatigued.
It was absurd that before exploring the ruins, without any forewarning, he had sought someone to predict if there would be danger, only to end up being entangled with that person.
What kind of team was this?
“Vai is an old friend of mine; I understand his character. He himself doesn’t want to go, mainly because of the Black Count behind him…” Daus sighed helplessly.
“Leaving aside Vai and the Black Count for now, I just want to ask you, I know you have a strong wizard’s premonition, your spiritual perception often comes into play, but don’t you think it’s utterly bland to rely on spiritual perception for everything?”
“When you followed me to Princess Town and Princess Castle, I thought you were quite fearless. I didn’t expect you to become a coward once you lacked your premonitions.”
Daus shook his head: “I’m not afraid of dying. Even if my spiritual perception tells me this time is extremely dangerous, I would still go. It’s only by testing the boundaries of death that one can find the opportunity to breakthrough. That’s always been my belief.”
“This time, it’s actually the sudden loss of my spiritual perception that feels odd to me, which is why I sought out my old friend Vai. By using his Death Scent, we’re trying to see if there’s something wrong with my spiritual perception.”
Daus’ explanation was very sincere, and Angel believed him somewhat: “So, did you figure out what the issue was?”
“Vai also smelled the scent of our blood mixture, and he couldn’t detect any scent either. This means that his talent and my spiritual perception are experiencing the same situation, so it’s likely not a problem with my spiritual perception, but rather that there might be something unusual with the ruins we plan to explore this time.”
“Perhaps it’s also because of this that Lord Black Count discovered something, which is why he has allowed Vai to join the exploration.”
Daus presented his conjecture.
After listening, Angel was somewhat convinced by Daus’ words. At least on the surface, there seemed to be no problem, and logically, it also made sense.
Daus, feeling guilty, said: “Even if I refuse Vai, now that the Black Count knows about this, he has other ways to follow up. This is my fault.”
“I asked Vai for a day to think about it and came to discuss it with you.”
“With the variable of the Black Count in play, perhaps we should just cancel this trip. Forget the alchemy, I will compensate for all the materials.”
Daus thought that as long as Angel didn’t go, any plot or scheme would be hard to carry out, since no one else knew the specific location tied to the dagger.
Moreover, since the dagger hadn’t even been crafted yet, it could be canceled midway.
Daus had previously discussed with Kael outside, and Kael had agreed to Daus’ proposal to compensate for the materials. Now, if Angel also agrees, then this matter could be considered settled.
As if nothing had happened.
Angel pondered for a moment. If this had been proposed earlier, Angel might have accepted it. After all, it was just an alchemy mission, and as long as the reward was right, not doing the alchemy would be fine too.
But now, he discovered that this mission might involve the space behind the wall in Nightfall City, and Angel couldn’t help but feel intrigued.
He really wanted to see if the real Nightfall City also had that wall and what was behind it.
However, the current sudden situation forced Angel to consider other variables.
The Black Count… Angel didn’t know much about this wizard, only that he was a super bigwig, the kind who stood at the pinnacle of the pyramid. Even his mentor Sanders would address him with respect.
Now that the Black Count had set his sights on this affair, even though it was just one of the Black Count’s descendent apprentice involved, it was still under the Black Count’s influence.
This made the exploration likely to encounter some unforeseen events.
“You guys go out first, I need to think for a while before making a decision,” Angel said silently after a moment, to Daus and Kael.
Although Daus still had more to say, after thinking it over, he realized he had said all that needed to be said. Everything now depended on Angel’s own decision. He nodded and temporarily exited the cave with Kael.
Meanwhile, Angel stood up, picked up Dangros, who was lying on the quenching liquid, and placed him near the dagger blade blank.
He instructed Dangros to keep an eye on the precipitation process. If the precipitation accelerated, to slow it down by applying some heat. This way, he could buy himself some more time to do other things.
Seeing Dangros patting its “chest”——which was actually its “palm”, Angel felt for the first time that this little fellow seemed quite reliable.
With Dangros guarding, Angel didn’t hesitate and sat directly on the couch, entering the Wilderness of Dreams.
After a long half-day, Angel met Iron Armor Granny again.
This time, however, Iron Armor Granny was alone, sitting in the airborne rose garden of the New City, overlooking the increasingly wondrous city.
“It’s rare to see Granny not at the tea pavilion.” Angel’s voice came from behind Iron Armor Granny.
Iron Armor Grannt turned her head: “Besides the tea pavilion, this place is also where I often come. Watching this extraordinary city being built bit by bit, it’s an indescribable feeling.”
In the Southern Region, establishing an extraordinary city requires an uncountable amount of wealth. For example, the Sky Mechanical City took many years to perfect bit by bit. Even Mesomiya, the famous Sandtrap City, was established by the silent efforts of multiple super wizard families and organizations.
And now, their Savage Grottoes, thanks to Angel’s connection, almost cost nothing to build an extraordinary city. Moreover, this city is not inferior to any in the Southern Region, using the most luxurious materials and having a very unique style.
For Iron Armor Granny, it’s an unspeakably joyful thing.
Even though this is in the Wilderness of Dreams, not the real world. But the potential of the Wilderness of Dreams, as seen by Iron Armor Granny, could indeed become a second world.
By then, it could still become a city as dazzling as any in the real world.
“If you want to build such a city, we can do it anytime, Granny can design one next time.” Angel, however, didn’t share Iron Armor Granny’s sentiment, nor could he understand the significance of an extraordinary city to a wizard organization.
Iron Armor Granny just smiled and shook her head, not picking up the conversation. Angel is still young, his future has no limits, and it’s best for him to focus on the distant future, leaving sentiments like these to us old bones.
“You say it’s rare for me to come here, but I rarely see you come to find me twice in such a short period.” Iron Armor Granny smiled and said: “What is it, another problem? Speak, and if I can answer, I will tell you.”
Angel felt somewhat embarrassed; running to the Wilderness of Dreams whenever there’s a problem seemed a bit like relying on it as Daus does using his “spiritual perception.”
“It’s not about Princess Town, there are already wizards from the organization there.”
Angel shook his head: “It’s not about Princess Town, I want to ask Granny if you know about the Black Count?”
Iron Armor Granny was stunned for a moment, she had imagined every possible question Angel could ask but hadn’t expected him to suddenly mention this person.
“Do you mean ‘the Black Baroness’ or ‘the Black Count’?” Iron Armor Granny asked.
Angel: “Not Lady Adelaya, it’s the Black Count of the Noah family.”
After confirming she hadn’t misheard, Iron Armor Granny’s expression turned strange: “The Black Count is a very…”
Iron Armor Granny pondered for a long time, seemingly considering her words carefully, before continuing: “Let’s say, mysterious, he’s a mysterious and strange wizard.”
“The domain where the Noah family resides almost always sees various mysterious events. And mystery seems to also be a personal pursuit of the Black Count.”
She paused and said: “As for this person, I don’t know what aspects you want to know about him, nor is it easy to describe.”
Angel replied: “I also don’t know how much I should understand, so I’ll tell the whole story to Granny, and perhaps she can analyze it for me.”
Since Angel had already discussed his plans to visit the ruins with Iron Armor Granny, there were no issues in discussing it further.
After hearing Angel’s account, Iron Armor Granny pondered for a moment and asked: “So, you actually do not want to stop exploring that potential ruin, but now that Vai, a descendant of the Noah family, has joined, you worry about the variables?”
Angel nodded.
Iron Armor Granny thought for a moment and said: “I’m not very familiar with the Black Count, but he and Rhine are friends. Let me log off and ask Rhine for you.”
Rhine is friends with the Black Count? It was the first time Angel had heard about it, but it wasn’t surprising considering that they were among the few at the top of the Southern Region pyramid, and it was normal for them to have relationships.
“But didn’t Granny say that Lord Rhine is currently out on business?”
Iron Armor Granny replied: “I’ll have Tree Spirit send a message; he has an avatar that stays with Rhine.”
With that, Iron Armor Granny slowly disappeared from sight, obviously having logged off.
Angel mulled over Iron Armor Granny’s words——having Tree Spirit send a message?
Angel was somewhat familiar with the abilities of Tree Spirit. The range that his main body and avatars could cover did not extend beyond the Paramjit Plateau.
Does that mean that Lord Rhine was actually also on the Paramjit Plateau?
Previously, Granny mentioned that something had happened on Rhine’s end involving a spy infiltrating, and Rhine had gone to take care of their den. These spies’ den, were they also on the Paramjit Plateau?
Wasn’t the Savage Grottoes the dominant force on the Paramjit Plateau, aside from the Star Pool Ruins? What spy den required Rhine’s personal involvement?
Angel had a feeling that this matter might not be as trivial as Granny had mentioned.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, Iron Armor Granny and Lord Rhine logged on together, and Angel, sensing this, changed Rhine’s entry location to the sky bridge’s rose garden.
“Sorry to disturb you, Lord Rhine,” Angel quickly bowed.
Rhine waved his hand: “No worries, the matters of the outside world are just troublesome to deal with at the end, but it doesn’t matter whether I’m involved or not.”
Angel curiously asked: “Troublesome to deal with? What exactly happened outside?”
Rhine chuckled: “Didn’t Granny already tell you? Let’s not worry about it. It’s not a big deal. Let’s talk about your matters instead.”
Hearing Rhine say this, Angel realized it definitely wasn’t a trivial matter, especially since he was specifically told not to worry about it, and it might even involve him.
Angel pondered in silence, but Iron Armor Granny couldn’t help but cast a stern glance at Rhine. Angel was no fool; the more secretive things were kept, the more it bothered him.
Rhine, however, was indifferent about keeping the secret from Angel, only because Angel was initially the target of the Bud Devotees. But now, with various powers intervening, Angel, the “unknown pawn,” had been completely forgotten by the devotees of the Bud. They were now engaged in a game of wits with these various forces.
At this point, whether Angel knew or not didn’t matter anymore.
Rhine was actually looking forward to Angel asking more, but it seemed Angel had guessed something already and didn’t inquire further about the Paramjit Plateau. Instead, he brought up the situation with Vai and Noah.
Rhine: “Granny has roughly told me what happened on your end. I’m well acquainted with the Black Count, and I can usually guess what his descendants are up to when he sends them out.”
“It’s simple, really. Black Count has sniffed out the scent he loves.”
Angel questioned: “The scent he loves?”
Rhine nodded: “You mentioned to Granny earlier that Daus said Vai is a person who dislikes going out. It’s not just Vai; it’s a characteristic of the Noah family in general. The Black Count is also a lazy man. He created his ‘consciousness’ simply because he was too lazy to go out himself, so he had others carry parts of his body.”
Angel: “… I guess that’s a secret.”
Rhine: “I’ve said too much, and it doesn’t really relate to this matter. Anyway, don’t worry about Black Count coming after you personally. Even if a Demon God descended, he probably wouldn’t bother to leave his house. It’s just an organ, and it’s the ‘nose,’ not hands or feet, so it’s easier to deal with.”
“Is the Panic World Demon you bought last time from the Profane Wings Merchant Group still around?”
Angel nodded: “Eremy is still here.”
“If that nose really tries something, using Eremy against that nose should be enough, and if you add your abilities and Red Sword Daus, you might even destroy it.”
Rhine’s explanation sounded simple and seemingly easy to handle. But the nose of a third level pinnacle realm wizard being comparable to Eremy, a wizard of true knowledge, was already a frightening thought. If it were Black Count’s hands or feet, Eremy might not withstand it.
“I understand, but right now, it’s not about fighting, but whether it’s good or bad to let Vai go with them. Lord Rhine, previously you said you knew Black Count’s purpose, but what exactly is it?”
Chapter 2551 Death Scent <TOC> Chapter 2553 The Black Count’s Secret