the last gentleman

Chapter 419 Candle Puppet
The whole process of entering the city completely filled Yichen's interest in this lamp city,

On the way to the Duke Chamber of Commerce, I also put down my footsteps, randomly visited some passing lighting stores, learned about the purpose of the lighting in advance, and tried my luck to see if I could find clues about firewood.

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

In addition to providing conventional lighting, the lamps here provide supplies for some patients who need continuous sunlight,

Another major role is to explore the 'dark corners' of the old world.

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

Those dark areas that were once suppressed by evil yang began to become inflamed, gangrene, etc., and were undergoing deteriorating lesions that were not controlled by the original pathogen, and gradually became a kind of "extremely dark place".

There are even very few extremely dark places that have evolved into "abysses" that are completely uncontrollable by pathology, devouring any explorers who dare to approach.

Even so, there are still many people who go to explore it,

The reason is simple, because in the depths of the Darkest Land are scattered the remnants of the war,
In addition to the corpses and treasures of some sick people from the old world, there are also the bones of outsiders who invaded the old world in the past and otherworldly treasures that do not belong to the old world.

When the first explorer brought out the treasure from the extremely dark place, an unprecedented upsurge of exploration was set off.
As the largest lighting supply area in the old world, the City of Lights has naturally become the biggest beneficiary. A large number of explorers will come here to purchase lighting as a basis for exploring the extremely dark place.

Yi Chen visited five stores, and was a little excited at first, but gradually calmed down.
Although the materials and shapes of lamps and lanterns are different,

But they are all similar in essence, and the price is not cheap, ranging from dozens to hundreds of ancient coins.

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

"It's really expensive... However, there are still a large number of patients who come to buy such an expensive item, even risking their lives to explore it, which means that the benefits must be huge.

Is it an extremely dark place?If you get a chance, maybe you can go inside and take a look. "

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

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

【Candle Puppet's Hut】

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

A doll lady in a gothic dress sitting at the door was holding a shop sign, without waving or smiling, just sitting stiffly.

Compared with the brightness and the flow of people in other lighting stores, there is only weak candlelight coming out here, and no customer goes to it at all.

The reason why Yi Chen is attracted is because this decoration style is very similar to Zion.

"Go in and have a look, it's the last store."

When Yi Chen adjusted his tie and came forward with his suitcase, the puppet sitting at the door suddenly opened his mouth,

Perhaps due to years of disrepair, the entire jaw fell off, and a rotten tongue stirred inside, making a weird sound:
"Welcome~welcome~light~come."

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

There are no intuitive lamps here, but a gothic girl doll, which is hung on the walls on both sides by hooks inserted into the shoulder blades.

Although most of the dolls are made of metal, the bones and fleshy components can still be seen, especially the bones of the cervical spine are preserved, which means that the basic actions of this doll still rely on biological nerves, and may even retain consciousness.

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

The lamps I have seen before cost more than 300 coins at most, but the cheapest doll here costs [-], and the most expensive even reaches [-], not to mention some rare dolls that are not on display.

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

A man with an extremely distorted face came out from the depths of the store,
One eye is on the right cheek, the other is on the left side of the forehead, the mouth runs lengthwise across the face and the nose is glued to the chin.

The entire face is covered with curved and twisted stripes,

All the teeth in the mouth are gone, and only a small piece of the tongue is left. It makes a sound with the help of a mechanical loudspeaker embedded in the mouth:
"Do you need to buy a candle puppet? If you just want to see it, then leave immediately."

This is the first time Yi Chen has seen the boss who immediately chased him away, and it actually aroused his interest.

Yi Chen put his right hand on his chest, and said very gentlemanly: "This is the first time I have come to Lantern City, and it is also the first time I have come into contact with lamps in the old world.

Seeing that the decoration style of your store is very similar to the city I live in, I came in to have a look. "

"Are you from Zion?"

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

"When I was looking for raw materials for dolls outside, I met a guy who claimed to be a gentleman. Because he was rude to my appearance, I made a doll and shared his memory.

Surprisingly, the city he lived in called Zion fascinated me very much. Later, I founded this store based on the architectural style of Zion, and even the shape and clothing of the candle puppets were also used for reference. "

As soon as this remark came out, Yi Chen also became a little vigilant.

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

There are no more than [-] candle puppet masters in the entire Lantern City. Due to some personal problems, I can't open the store in the central street. I can only use some cheap or ordinary materials to make some cheap candle puppets for sale. "

"It's still cheap?"

"Don't compare my candle puppets with the rubbish 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 persist in an ordinary trip to the "Extremely Dark Land" without resupply midway.
Of course, if you want to go to the depths, or even stare into the abyss, you need to install additional fat bags.

Some of these expensive figures also have the ability to fly, dodge quickly, and even assist you in fighting evil entities in the dark.

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

"Can I see how they are lit?"

The boss reluctantly took down the cheapest doll,
Due to the cheap price,

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

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

The gothic clothes on his body were also tattered, and even the black and white striped socks were full of patches and even holes.

"These old candle puppets require an open flame to start."

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

Crack~ The match head ignited a blue flame, and slowly approached the doll's eye sockets, the wax covering it was melted and slid down like tears.

With the whole match stuffed into the eye socket, the puppet did not respond,

Ignition failed.

Tsk~ The boss took out a match again with a look of reluctance.

This time no more soft ignition... Crack!The match was slapped directly into the eye socket to ensure that the match reached a sufficient depth. He didn't want to waste more matches on the trial product.

After waiting three seconds,

kaka~
The doll's body began to twist mechanically, and the finger joints began to bounce

There is a little light in the hollow eye sockets,

"That's it?" Just when Yi Chen thought that the lighting of the candle puppet was only this level, the puppet suddenly grasped the scalp with ten fingers and tore it open, revealing the circular opening on the head cover.

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

Judging from the brain grooves on the surface of the candle, this white candle should be the doll's brain.

The faint flame at the top of the white candle slowly enlarged until it illuminated the entire storefront, even in the dark areas that were covered, the light could penetrate into it like a reptile.

At this time,

The fully activated puppet bowed slightly to Yi Chen with both hands twisting the broken skirt.

"This candle puppet is an early creation of mine and has been repaired many times, using the oldest 'ignition mode'.

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

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

(End of this chapter)