Chapter 302 The Mischievous Tree Spirit <TOC> Chapter 304 Bass's Request
Translator: SumTLMan
Angel furrowed his brow as the wails of the lost souls persisted in his ears for nearly two minutes. Although the howling seemed to have no negative effects, no one would be happy after listening to screams for that long.
“What’s going on? Did the alchemy fail?”
As Angel hesitated, the dark clouds in the sky vanished at a visible rate, transforming into a column-shaped “black tornado.” Shadows swirled within, and the “black tornado” eventually fell into a small courtyard at the edge of the apprentice town, disappearing from sight.
The phenomenon was witnessed by all the wizard apprentices who were paying attention. Instantly, the secluded courtyard became the center of numerous gazes.
“Isn’t this an alchemical omen? Why didn’t it appear in the forest cave? Could it be that Master Promi isn’t the one performing the alchemy this time?” Those in the know were puzzled at this moment.
Alchemy omens were not particularly special events. Although rare in the Savage Grottoes, they occurred two or three times a year. Moreover, Promi had previously crafted intermediate-level items, and the omens that appeared then were still fresh in everyone’s memory. Thus, the majority of wizard apprentices understood what this phenomenon was.
Only Angel, who was at the center of the vortex, had not considered this. It wasn’t that he didn’t know about alchemy omens; although they were mentioned in books, he had never seen one before, so he didn’t think about it.
“Could it be a newly emerged alchemist?” Some people’s minds began to churn at this thought.
As the outside world speculated, Angel, who was in the underground laboratory, broke into a smile.
The dark clouds vanished, and the phantom shadows formed a black tornado that fell into the courtyard. At that moment, Angel saw the revolving pistol in his hand absorb numerous phantom shadows, followed by the emission of a warm silver radiance.
When the radiance subsided, an intricate pattern swept across the surface of the silver revolving pistol, reflecting a restrained luster.
“It’s done!” Angel could already feel the enchanting power of the “Prelude of Death.”
The pistol grip featured a cross and skull, while the barrel was adorned with silver engravings of rose vines. Angel gave it a slight twirl in his hand. Then, imitating the boy from —D.Gray-man— who used a gun to fight demons, he stylishly spun the pistol and channeled his magic into it, gently pulling the trigger—
In an instant, the magic array on the gun’s surface flickered with brilliance, and a faint silver beam shot out of the barrel.
As the light burst from the gun muzzle, it transformed into a semi-circular high-frequency sound wave, spreading 180 degrees forward from the shooter. Eventually, the circular airflow hit the wall and disappeared. By the time it reached the wall, its range had expanded to several meters.
Then, Angel flicked the upturned end of the gun’s tail and fired another shot. This time, the sound wave did not spread but instead focused on a single point and surged into the distance.
Angel’s eyes sparkled; just as recorded, the “Prelude of Death” could target both individual and groups of undead. Not only could it clear a large area of undead, but it could also perform targeted attacks on weak points. The effect would change depending on the amount of magical power supplied.
“The underground laboratory is too small for detailed testing. It’s unclear how much range it can cover during a group attack and how many meters it can travel in a single-target attack. Also, we need undead to obtain the final data.”
His time was too tight, and these tedious tests were too time-consuming. Therefore, Angel did not plan to test the data himself but decided to hand it directly to Promi.
Angel pocketed the revolver engraved with the Prelude of Death, left the laboratory, and prepared to go to Promi’s cave.
As he opened the door, Angel frowned, his face showing a hint of confusion. A group of people had inexplicably appeared outside his small courtyard.
These people leaned against walls, trees, or washed their feet by the river, seemingly occupied with their tasks. However, Angel felt that their gazes were all glancing at him.
At that moment, the crowd outside suddenly became noisy.
A gray-robed young man appeared at the end of the rarely visited road. Unlike the idlers at the gate, his eyes were blatantly staring at Angel.
“Good day, Mr. Pat. May I come in for a chat?” The gray-robed youth lifted his hood, revealing a handsome but aggressive face.
“Good day,” Angel replied, not knowing what was going on, and subconsciously keeping a straight face: “Who are you? What do you want?”
“Bass Edward. Congratulations, sir.” The gray-robed young man bowed to Angel, his hand on his chest.
Congratulations? Before Angel could understand his meaning, he was attracted by his name—Bass, a name that was well-known to him. Standing at the pinnacle of the Savage Grottoes’s wizard apprentices, he was considered one of the strongest geniuses of his generation alongside Nanaki. Not yet 30 years old, he had already reached the peak of wizard apprenticeship. According to his progress, he was on the verge of becoming a full-fledged wizard.
However, the reason Angel was familiar with Bass was not only his talent but also another factor—he was Red Butterfly’s lover.
After Angel killed Red Butterfly, David warned him that Bass might come looking for trouble. However, David later said that Red Butterfly was just exploiting Bass’s reputation, and they had only had a brief affair. Red Butterfly pretended that Bass was her backer, but in reality, Bass didn’t care about her at all.
Later, David mentioned Bass several times, expressing a mix of admiration and apprehension, resulting in complex emotions.
When Angel had just learned an illusion spell, he once tricked David using Bass’s appearance, but since he had never seen Bass at the time, he created an image of a fat man, which David saw through immediately.
“So it’s Mr. Edward, I’ve heard your name,” Angel quietly speculated on his purpose. Was it really for revenge on behalf of the Red Butterfly? According to David, it didn’t quite add up. Or was he sent by the Twilight faction to assassinate him? This also didn’t make sense, as he had Sanders behind him; anyone from the Savage Grottoes would at least consider Sanders’ relationship before trying to kill him.
“Mr. Pat has heard my name? That’s truly an honor,” Bass remained humble and polite, but his eyes fixated on Angel, “Sir, would you be willing to have a conversation with me? If the timing is not right, I can come back another time.”
Angel thought for a moment. Toby’s injuries had almost healed, and he had his weapon and illusions at his disposal. Moreover, with so many people around, Bass probably wouldn’t do anything outrageous, and even if he dared to act, Angel had the ability to counter.
With this in mind, Angel nodded, “Please come in.”
He opened the courtyard door and welcomed Bass. Just as Angel was about to close the door, two more people squeezed in.
Bass frowned, about to scold them, but then heard Angel laughingly greet them, “How did you two get here too?”
The newcomers were Nausica and Shalem. After entering, they carefully pulled Angel aside.
Shalem whispered into Angel’s ear, “Don’t worry, we’ve got your back!”
With that, Shalem pulled the speechless Nausica along, giving Angel a “we are your solid support” expression.
On the other hand, Bass, a top-tier third level apprentice, could not possibly have missed Shalem’s whisper. He also showed an exasperated expression but said nothing out of respect for Angel.
“Mr. Edward, I hope you don’t mind my friends being present?” Angel said apologetically to Bass.
Bass smiled lightly, “I’ve come to see Mr. Pat in good faith and don’t mind others being around.”
Angel: “In that case…”
“In that case, could we also sit in on the conversation?” Alongside Angel’s words, another voice chimed in.
Everyone turned to see a man in a purple robe adorned with luxurious jewelry, grinning as he walked from the end of the road. Behind him was a freckled teenager wearing large goggles, secretly waving at Angel.
“It’s Master Promi. Since you’re aware of my request, there should be no problem,” Bass said.
Thus, what was originally a simple conversation unexpectedly turned into a gathering of multiple people.
It was the first time Angel had so many visitors since renting the small courtyard. There weren’t enough cups for serving water to the guests, so everyone decided not to drink and just sat down for the discussion.
Angel and Promi sat on one side, with Bass sitting across from them. The rest of the people were leaning or standing around.
Upon sitting down, Angel immediately asked, “May I ask how Mr. Edward learned my name?”
Bass smiled and said, “After that incident just now, quite a few people should know Mr. Pat’s real name by now, and I’m one of them.”
What incident? What happened? Angel looked puzzled, not understanding Bass’s meaning.
It was David who leaned in and whispered the previous dark cloud suppression incident into Angel’s ear. Angel suddenly realized that an anomaly had appeared in the outside world when the undead had screamed earlier?!
Angel furrowed his brow. According to David’s description, the anomaly had spread for thousands of kilometers, and almost everyone in the apprentice town had seen it. In other words… was he being watched by countless people now? No wonder there were so many people outside when he opened the door earlier.
Bass placed a piece of paper on the table, “This is the information from the Butterfly Bar, Mr. Pat can take a look.”
Bass openly shared how he had gone to the Butterfly Bar to inquire about Angel’s identity. Normally, this kind of background check would make anyone feel uncomfortable, but Bass’s forthrightness made Angel respect him more.
Angel picked up the paper and started reading.
The information provided by the Butterfly Bar was consistent with what Angel had shown in his daily life, such as his mentorship, address, and evaluation. It specifically mentioned that Angel was an alchemist who had taken alchemy tasks at the mission hall and had a completion rate of 100%.
At the end of the paper, the Butterfly Bar included an appendix: “According to speculation, Angel Pat’s nickname in the Sky Tower is Milk Baron, who once…”
“Bonus information: Milk Baron seems to be the murderer of Red Butterfly and the Shepherd.”
Milk Baron’s identity was exposed? Angel put down the paper, and his worry had materialized… He had caused quite a stir at the Twilight Auction, and not only the insiders and outsiders, but thousands of people had seen his relationship with Toby.
Considering Milk Baron’s competition record in the Sky Tower and the fact that Toby appeared in almost every match later on, it was natural to deduce that he was actually Milk Baron.
Exposing his identity was not a big deal, as he didn’t care much about what others thought of his peculiar name now. However… Angel pinched the bridge of his nose with both hands, feeling a headache coming. Milk Baron’s reputation was not good, or rather, it stunk.
With so many Parasite Mother’s face powders around, Angel estimated that it would be impossible for him to keep a low profile when going out in the future.
Chapter 302 The Mischievous Tree Spirit <TOC> Chapter 304 Bass's Request