Chapter 159: Chapter 144: Prodigious Hunter-Mechanical Puppet
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
‘Ta-ta-ta!’
‘Ta-ta-ta!’
The horse’s hoofs hit the floor. It made a uniquely crisp sound.
Richard looked out from the glass window while he sat in the carriage.
Prosperous, spectacular, and fantastic.
It was his most straightforward impression of Templar City.
He quietly left the stronghold and went to the street to hire a carriage after he collected all the troops into the Tibetan soldier card. He headed to 17th Street.
Although he did not know whether Knowles was living in the Black Oak Manor, Ferguson said this name at the last moment, so it must be someone trusted.
The Templar City was worthy of the status of the King’s City.
The main street was 100 meters wide. On both sides stood three to five-story, 10 to 20-meter tall dome-shaped buildings.
The style was simple and elegant, full of dignity and elegance.
They embossed images of angels and dragons on most of the empty spaces on the walls. Each wall seemed to be the most precious piece of art.
The stained-glass windows of the houses shone under the morning sun. It scattered different bright colors that added a bit of atmosphere to the street.
This place was surprisingly bustling.
On both sides of the street, shops sold all kinds of goods. The crowd surged, and all of the items were dazzling to the eyes.
The pedestrians were bustling with activity. There was not only one race of humans: the elegant and arrogant elves, the short and sturdy dwarves, and the orcs with beast heads… All kinds of strange races came into his sight from time to time.
And the players who attracted Richard’s attention the most were those with especially obvious temperament.
These guys would occasionally ask some high-level NPCs next to them if they needed help.
The elves with good looks were especially popular.
It was also Richard’s first time experiencing so many players around him. It was quite a novel feeling.
However, he didn’t have any thoughts about experiencing this method. High-level players naturally had high-level ways of playing.
Richard came back to his senses after observing for a long time. As if he had thought of something, he opened his mouth and asked the coachman in front of him.
“Sir, do you know the situation of the Black Oak Manor?”
The young coachman seemed to have held back for a long time when he heard this and muttered.
“Sir, why are you going to that Manor?” There lived a creature who liked alchemy and machinery… The last time I helped it bring in a batch of goods, it kicked me out without even giving me a mouthful of water. Moreover, it didn’t even pay me the bill. The second time I went, it only gave me the last salary!!
“God of justice, even if you are his friend, I have to say, that creature is simply the most stingy guy in the world!!”
Richard was stunned. It was a little different from what he had thought.
“Alchemy and machinery… What kind of alchemy machinery?”
“Who knows? No one can enter its manor…”
The driver seemed to often help in bringing goods and didn’t even keep his mouth shut.
“The goods he needs are similar to the ones I sent to the other mages. The only difference is that there are many more machines…”
Richard asked for many details, but in the end, he only got unlikely information from the coachman.
The thing coachman mentioned the most was that it wouldn’t pay him. It made Richard not know whether to laugh or cry.
“My Lord… we have arrived at the Black Oak Manor.”
The young coachman’s call woke Richard up.
After he paid the carriage fee with gold coins, the other party even reminded him.
“If you are here to complete your bounty missions, you must hand over the money and the goods. Otherwise, that old miser will steal your goods!”
Richard could not help but laugh. After thanking the coachman, he got off the carriage.
The Black Oak Manor came into view.
It was a medium-sized manor. The courtyard wall was seven to eight meters high, almost like a city wall.
When Richard looked, he could see the towering oak trees inside.
But unlike ordinary oak trees, the trunks of these oak trees were all pitch black.
It seemed to be the origin of the name of the manor.
He stepped and pressed the conspicuous magic doorbell in front of the giant door that seemed to be for giants.
Richard waited for a long time, just when he thought the doorbell was defective.
‘Yeah!’ The manor’s door finally moved.
However, an angry voice came out first before the door opened.
“Damn bastard!! Who disturbed me while doing my experiment?… If there is no proper reason, trust me, I will shove your head into your butt!!”
The door made of black oak opened a crack.
A dwarf who was about 1.4 meters tall appeared in Richard’s sight. It had messy hair, and body proportions were vastly out of place.
The dwarf’s bright red nose made it look like a clown. Its appearance was especially comical.
It was a race similar to dwarves, but they did not have strong muscles like dwarves. They were more famous for their protruding heads.
They were a member of the Fortress Faction.
“You’re the one who rang the damn doorbell? Human, tell me why you’re here!! Otherwise, I’ll let you know, Master Knowles’ fist!!”
Richard looked down at the angry dwarf as it waved its fist, and the corners of its mouth twitched.
‘Why did this guy look a little unreliable?
‘Was Ferguson sure that I did not find the wrong person?’
He opened the attribute panel.
[Knowles]
[Hero Unit]
[Level: 19]
[???]
[???]
[???]
Richard’s pupils constricted. ‘Another level-19 hero?’
And this dwarf was not like Ferguson, who was heavily injured.
Its strength was at its peak.
Even if the opponent was a dwarf, its level-19 strength was enough to blow up a giant rock with one punch.
As Richard’s thoughts spun, his tone was solemn.
“Are you Knowles?
“Sir Ferguson has entrusted me to look for you.”
The dwarf frowned.
“That idiot Ferguson asked you to look for me? Impossible! How could it recruit an outsider… Could it be that something happened to him?”
Its eyes were fixed on Richard as it spoke. At this moment, its gaze became incomparably sharp.
The aura it unintentionally emitted instantly made Richard feel like a giant dragon was targeting him.
Its tone became a little lower.
“Sir Ferguson was seriously injured on the way. We encountered a traitor when I escorted him from the stronghold outside the city to the inner city.
“The traitor lured Sir Ferguson into the teleportation array for the demons to snatch it away… And they disappeared without a trace.”
After he said this, Knowles’face suddenly froze. An immensely paralyzing pressure on its body was like the collapse of a high mountain.
It pressed firmly on Richard’s chest.
At this moment, the body of the dwarf seemed to have given birth to a giant abyss beast!
“What did you say?!!”
Richard took a deep breath and said slowly.
“The demons took away seriously injured Ferguson lured by the traitor. Its life and death are unknown!”
As Richard spoke, energy rose from his body and enveloped his entire body.
He lost all traces in his opponent’s eyes.
“The Concealment Power?!”
Knowles sensed this scene and quickly withdrew the pressure spreading out.
Its gaze fixed on Richard, who had lost all traces.
“This is that idiot’s skill! Unless it was willing to teach it. There can not be a third person who knows it!”
“I agreed with Ferguson. There are two versions of the power of concealment. The first was the one that taught if one has to. But there’s an obvious flaw in that skill.”
“But you used the other version. I also gave a lot of suggestions for this skill. Otherwise, how could that idiot have developed it?!”
The hostility on the dwarf’s face disappeared after it sensed something for a moment.
The Concealment Power on Richard’s body eased up with a wave of its hand.
The dwarf’s gaze softened a little.
“Human, who are you? How did you gain Ferguson’s trust?”
Richard’s tone was neither servile nor overbearing.
“The Lord of Twilight City, Richard. Sir, shall we talk at the door?”
Knowles turned its head to look behind him. After it made sure there was no one behind Richard, it nodded and signaled for him to come in.
They entered the main door.
‘Yiya!’
There were two immensely crude-looking giant puppets behind the main door. They looked like someone had randomly piled up them with rubbish. They slowly pushed the main and closed the door.
Richard didn’t pay much attention to them at first, but out of curiosity, he opened the attribute panel to take a look.
The next second, his eyes immediately narrowed.
[Glorious-2 stars, Level 11…]
After he saw these two attributes, he immediately felt this dwarf was not easy.
It was made casually but had reached a glorious level.
Combined with the information of the coachman, he instantly had a rough assessment of Knowles.
This dwarf was oddly remarkable.
They entered a vast green grassland in front of the manor. A prodigious black oak tree trunk in the central area was particularly striking.
Knowles did not bring Richard into the main building in front. Instead, they went around the backyard and entered an inconspicuous house.
Richard’s breathing stopped when the dwarf pushed the door open.
There were dozens of three-meter-tall mechanical puppets inside. Each of them was a Glorious 3-stars and was level 14.
‘This dwarf has something…’
He was relieved that Ferguson did not trick him.
He saw a basement entrance in the central area when they passed through these cold and rapacious puppets.
“Kid, don’t touch the things inside…”
Knowles turned its head to warn Richard and signaled him to follow.
Richard slowly walked down with the dwarf in front of him as they followed the wide metal stairs.
They arrived at the mysterious area after hundreds of steps.
Richard looked around and saw a shocking scene.
It was an enormous underground space with a diameter of more than 500 meters.
There were a lot of mechanical puppets around, almost filling up the space.
It was no worse than the Arcana Hall used to produce magic puppets in the ancient ruins of the Resplendent Wizard Tower.
And in the center area.
A 15-meter-tall giant mechanical puppet that looked like a prehistoric beast stood in the center.
To his surprise, the chest of the mechanical puppet was open. It revealed a space that could accommodate adults.
‘That was… The cockpit?!
‘Humans can drive this mechanical puppet?!’
Richard immediately opened the attribute panel after he returned to his senses.
His heart started beating faster in the next second.
This dwarf was astounding.
[Extraordinary Hunter-Mechanical Puppet]
[Level: 20]
[Characteristics: Can be operated in battle]
[???]
[???]
[???]
[Level 20… Prodigious Hunter]
Although he couldn’t see the specific attributes, just the level of level 20 was enough to explain everything.
‘F*ck! If I moved this astounding dwarf back from the dungeon..? Wouldn’t I be able to fly into the sky???