The whole process of entering the city completely filled Yi Chen's interest in this city of lights.

On the way to the Duke's Chamber of Commerce, I also put down my feet, randomly visited some passing lamp shops, learned about the use of lamps and lanterns in advance, and tried my luck to see if I could find clues about firewood.

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

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

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 has been broken.

The dark areas that were once suppressed by the evil sun began to become inflamed and scab, and the deterioration of the lesions that were not controlled by the original pathogen slowly became a kind of "extremely dark place".

There are even a handful of Darklands that have evolved into "abysses" that are completely out of pathological control, devouring any explorer who dares to approach them.

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

The reason is simple, because in the depths of the Darkest Lands are scattered the remnants of war,

In addition to some sick corpses and treasures of 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 unearthed the treasure from the Darkest Zone, an unprecedented craze for exploration was set off.

As the largest supplier of lamps in the Old World, the City of Lights naturally became the biggest beneficiary, and a large number of explorers would come here to buy lamps and lanterns as a basis for exploring the Darkest Lands.

Yi Chen visited five stores, and was a little excited at first, but slowly calmed down.

Although the materials and shapes of lamps and lanterns are different,

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

In addition, there is an additional amount of wax oil, and if you want to explore the depths of the Darkest Places, you must have enough and high-quality wax oil.

"It's so expensive...... However, such an expensive thing still has a large number of patients coming to buy it, and even risking their lives to explore, which shows that the benefits must be huge.

The Darkest Places? If you have the chance, you might want to take a look inside. ”

After a general understanding, Yi Chen stopped wandering, and raised the frequency of alternating steps to prepare to meet the duke.

As he passed around a corner, he was suddenly attracted by the special style of the shop on the side.

【Candle Puppet's Cottage】

The whole is a retro Gothic style, with tightly arranged vertical column structures spliced into the front door structure.

A puppet lady sitting at the door, dressed in a gothic dress, was holding a shop plaque, not waving or smiling, just sitting stiffly.

Compared to the brightness and crowds of other light shops, there is only a faint candlelight coming from here, and not a single customer is there.

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

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

Yi Chen arranged his tie and stepped forward with a suitcase, when the puppet sitting at the door suddenly opened his mouth,

Perhaps it was due to disrepair, and the entire jaw fell out as a result, and a rotten tongue churned inside, making a strange sound:

"Joy ~ welcome ~ light ~ come."

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

There are no visual lamps, but a gothic girl's doll that hangs on the walls on either side by hooking into the shoulder blades.

Although most of the dolls are made of metal, the bones and flesh can still be seen, especially the bones of the cervical vertebrae, which means that the basic movements of the puppets still rely on biological nerves, and may even retain consciousness.

Moreover, the price attached to these dolls is not low at all.

The lamps I have seen before are at most more than 300 coins, and the cheapest doll here is 1,000, and the most expensive even reaches 5,000, not to mention some rare dolls that are not on display.

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

A man with a distorted face walked out of the depths of the storefront,

He has one eye on the right cheek and the other on the left side of his forehead, with his mouth running longitudinally across his face and his nose sticking to his chin.

The whole face is covered with curved and twisted stripes,

All the teeth in the mouth are gone, and only a small piece of the tongue remains, and the sound is made with the help of a mechanical megaphone embedded in the mouth:

"Do I need to buy a candle puppet? If you're just looking at it, leave as soon as possible. ”

The boss who drove people directly when he met, Yi Chen saw it for the first time, and it piqued his interest.

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

Seeing that the decoration style of your store is very similar to the city where I live, I came in and took a look. ”

"Are you from Zion?"

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

"Once, when I was out looking for doll materials, I met a guy who claimed to be a gentleman, and because he was rude to my appearance, I made a doll and shared his memory.

Surprisingly, I was fascinated by the city where he lived called Zion, and I later founded the shop based on the architectural style of Zion, and even the shape and clothing of the candle puppets were also borrowed. ”

As soon as these words came out, Yi Chen was also a little vigilant.

The boss explained in a low voice, "Don't worry, I won't kill people in the City of Lights...... For the sake of you from Zion, let's introduce a little bit of my work.

There are no more than 20 candle puppeteers in the whole light city, and I can't open a store on Center Street due to some personal problems, so I can only use some cheap or ordinary materials to make some cheap candle puppets to sell. ”

"Is this still cheap?"

"Don't compare my candle puppets to the garbage in the surrounding shops...... They are alive and can give light and spiritual encouragement for a long time in the darkest places.

The fat in their bodies is all refined from high-grade wax oils, and they can stick to an ordinary trip to the "Darkest Places" without needing to be replenished halfway.

Of course, if you want to go to the depths, or even gaze into the abyss, you will need to equip additional fat pockets.

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

If you take the garbage next door to the darkest place, you're basically killing yourself. ”

"Can I see how they are lit?"

The boss reluctantly took off one of the cheapest dolls,

Due to the cheap price,

Her face was not even equipped with effective visual eyeballs, her sockets were crawling with dry traces of wax, and her mouth was stitched together with needles and threads to prevent oil from leaking.

There is no ornament on the neck, not even skin, just a cervical vertebrae that connects the head to the body.

The gothic costume on his body was also in tatters, and even the black and white striped socks were full of patches and even holes.

"This old candle puppet needs to be activated with an open flame."

The boss took out a box of old-fashioned matches from between his coat pockets,

Boom~ The blue flame ignited on the match head, slowly approaching the puppet's eye socket, and the wax oil covered with it was melted and slipped down like tears.

As the whole match was stuffed into the eye socket, the puppet did not react,

Ignition failed.

Tsk~ The boss reluctantly took out a match again.

This time there is no more gentle ignition...... Syllable! He slapped the match directly into the eye socket to make sure the match reached enough depth, and he didn't want to waste more matches on the sample.

After waiting for three seconds,

Click~

The puppet's body began to writhe mechanically, and the knuckles of the fingers began to bounce

There is a slight glimmer of light between the hollow eye sockets,

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

A large white candle rises between the skull, and as the scalp refills, the candle seems to stick to the top of the head.

Judging from the groove lines on the surface of the candle, this white candle should be the brain of the puppet.

The faint flame at the top of the candle slowly amplifies until it illuminates the entire storefront, allowing light to penetrate like a reptile into even the dark areas that are obscured.

Then

The fully activated puppet twisted the corners of the broken skirt with both hands and bowed slightly to Yi Chen.

"This candle puppet is one of my early creations and has been repaired many times in the oldest 'ignition mode'.

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

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

(End of chapter)