The entire process of entering the city fully aroused Yi Chen's interest in this city of lights.
On the way to the Duke's Chamber of Commerce, I slowed down and randomly visited some lighting stores I passed by to learn about the uses of the lamps in advance and try my luck to see if I could find any clues about firewood.
After visiting several stores, I got a general understanding of the so-called lamps.
In addition to providing regular lighting, the lamps here also provide supplementary lighting for some patients who need continuous sunlight.
Another major use is to explore the 'dark corners' of the old world.
Due to the fall of the evil sun in the old world, a certain ecological balance was broken.
Those dark areas that were once suppressed by the evil yang began to become inflamed and gangrenous, and were undergoing deterioration that was not controlled by the original pathogens, slowly turning into a "place of extreme darkness."
There are even a few extremely dark places that have evolved into "abysses" that are completely out of pathological control, swallowing up any explorers who dare to approach.
Even so, many people still go there to explore.
The reason is simple, because in the depths of the Dark Land are scattered the remnants of war.
In addition to the corpses of some sick people and treasures from the Old World, there are also the skeletons of outsiders who invaded the Old World in the past and treasures from other worlds that do not belong to the Old World.
When the first explorer brought out treasure from the darkest place, an unprecedented wave of exploration was set off.
As the largest lighting supply area in the Old World, the City of Lights naturally became the biggest beneficiary. A large number of explorers would come here to purchase lamps as a basis for exploring the darkest places.
Yi Chen visited five stores. He was a little excited at first, but gradually he became calm.
Although the materials and shapes of lamps are different,
But they are essentially the same, and the prices are not cheap, ranging from dozens to hundreds of ancient coins.
Moreover, wax oil has a separate charge. If you want to explore the depths of the Dark Land, you must have enough high-quality wax oil.
“It’s really expensive… However, a large number of patients still come to buy such expensive items, and even risk their lives to explore, which means that the benefits must be huge.
The Dark Place? If I have a chance, I might go take a look inside."
After a general understanding, Yi Chen stopped strolling and increased the frequency of his pace to prepare for meeting the Duke.
Just as he passed a corner, he was suddenly attracted by a shop with a unique style on the side.
Candlestick House
The overall style is retro Gothic, with closely arranged vertical columns spliced together to form the front door structure.
A doll girl in a Gothic dress was sitting at the door, holding the shop sign. She didn't wave or smile, but just sat there stiffly.
Compared to other lighting stores that were bright and bustling with people, there was only faint candlelight coming out from here, and there was no customer at all.
The reason why Yi Chen was attracted to this place was that the decoration style was very similar to Zion.
"Let's go in and take a look. This is the last store we'll see."
As Yi Chen was adjusting his tie and walking forward with his suitcase, the puppet sitting at the door suddenly opened his mouth.
Perhaps due to years of disrepair, the entire jaw had fallen off, and a rotten tongue was stirring inside, making a strange sound:
"Welcome."
The moment he stepped into the store, a smell of corpse wax hit him in the face, and the scene inside made Yi Chen's expression even more gloomy.
There are no visible lamps here, but rather Gothic-style girl dolls hung on the walls on both sides with hooks inserted into their shoulder blades.
Although most of the puppets are made of metal, you can still see the bones and flesh, especially the bones of the cervical vertebrae are preserved, which means that the basic actions of this kind of puppet 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 had seen before were worth at most three hundred coins, but the cheapest doll here costs one thousand, and the most expensive even goes up to five thousand, not to mention some of the rare dolls that are not on display.
Just as Yi Chen was about to see through the puppet's body,
A man with a very distorted face walked out from the depths of the store.
One of his eyes is on his right cheek, the other is on the left side of his forehead, his mouth runs vertically through his face, and his nose is attached to his chin.
The whole face is covered with curved and twisted lines.
All the teeth in his mouth had fallen out, and only a small piece of his tongue remained. He used the mechanical loudspeaker embedded in his mouth to make a sound:
"Do you want to buy some candle figurines? If you just want to look at them, leave now."
This was the first time Yi Chen had seen a boss who would chase people away as soon as they met, and it actually aroused his interest.
Yi Chen placed his right hand on his chest and said very gentlemanly: "This is my first time in the City of Lights, and this is also my first time seeing the lamps of the old world.
I saw that the decoration style of your store is very similar to the city where I live, so I came in to take a look. "
“Are you from Zion?”
Yi Chen was shocked: "Huh!? Boss, you know Zion?"
“Once when I was out looking for materials for dolls, I met a guy who called himself a gentleman. Because he said something rude about my appearance, I made him into a doll and shared his memories.
Surprisingly, I was fascinated by the city called Zion where he lived, and later I established this store based on the architectural style of Zion, and even the appearance and clothing of the candle dolls were inspired by it.”
After these words were spoken, Yi Chen became a little alert.
The boss explained in a low voice: "Don't worry, I won't kill anyone in the City of Lights... Since you are from Zion, let me introduce my work a little bit.
There are no more than 20 candle puppet makers in the entire Lantern City. Due to some personal issues, I cannot open a store on the central street. 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 dolls to the garbage in the surrounding shops... They are alive and can provide long-lasting light and spiritual encouragement in the darkest places.
The fat in their bodies is all made from high-grade wax oil, so they can sustain an ordinary journey to the "Dark Land" without any need for mid-way replenishment.
Of course, if you want to travel to great depths, or even gaze into the abyss, you'll need to equip yourself with additional bags of fat.
Some of these more expensive figures have the ability to fly, dodge quickly, and even assist you in fighting evil spirits in the darkness.
If you take those rubbish from next door to the Dark Place, you're basically courting death."
"Can I see how they light it?"
The boss reluctantly took down the cheapest doll.
Due to the low price,
Her face didn't even have working eyeballs, her eye sockets were covered with traces of dried wax, and her mouth was stitched shut with needle and thread to prevent oil leakage.
There was no decoration on the neck, not even any skin, just a cervical vertebra connecting the head to the body.
The Gothic clothes he was wearing were tattered, and even his black and white striped socks were full of patches and holes.
"This old-fashioned candle puppet needs an open flame to start."
The boss took out a box of old-fashioned matches from his pocket.
Observe~The match head ignited a blue flame, slowly approaching the doll's eye sockets, and the wax on it melted and slid down like tears.
As the whole match was inserted into the eye socket, the puppet did not react.
Ignition failed.
Tsk~ The boss took out another match reluctantly.
This time he didn't light the match gently... Bang! He slapped the match directly into his eye socket to make sure it reached a sufficient depth. He didn't want to waste more matches on the test product.
After waiting for three seconds,
Kaka~
The puppet's body began to twist mechanically, and its finger joints began to move.
A little light shone through the empty eye sockets.
"That's it?" Just when Yi Chen thought that the candle puppet's lighting was limited to this extent, the puppet suddenly grabbed its scalp with its ten fingers and tore it open, revealing a circular opening on the skull.
A huge white candle rose in the skull, and as the scalp filled up again, the candle seemed to be glued to the top of the head.
Judging from the grooves on the surface of the candle, this white candle should be the brain of the puppet.
The tiny flame at the top of the white candle slowly grew larger until it illuminated the entire store. Even in the dark areas that were blocked, the light could penetrate into them like a reptile.
At this time,
The fully animated puppet picked up the torn hem of her skirt with both hands and bowed slightly to Yi Chen.
"This candle doll is one of my early works and has been repaired many times. It also uses the oldest 'ignition mode'.
The latest model of candle puppets can be activated directly by pressing the protruding ridge on the back... "
Before the boss finished speaking, Yi Chen interrupted him and said, "I bought this."