Star Forge Titan

"Get in the car." Alvin patted the car door and motioned for the two to get in.

"Me too?" Bryant asked in surprise.

"Is there any other place you can go?" Ivan asked with a smile:

"Well, I really don't have anywhere to go now." Bryant's face fell and he nodded helplessly.

The four of them got into the not very spacious magic car rental, which drove towards the Gate of Heaven with a trail of dust, intending to return to the downtown area along the way.

"Baron Lincoln is dead." Inside the carriage, Ivan said directly to the two people who came later:

"What?" Bryant was shocked.

"Hey." But Khayon just smiled softly, as if he was not surprised at all by this explosive news.

"Who is Baron Lincoln?" Diana didn't know him, so she just took it as ordinary news.

"He's a powerful nobleman in the city guards. He's the one standing behind that drug dealer, Sodozo." Ivan explained briefly.

"Good death." Diana said without hesitation:

"Well, it's a good death, but the way this guy died was not simple." Alvin nodded and took out a piece of white paper and a pencil from his pocket.

Then, he used only a few strokes to very intuitively depict the miserable death of Baron Lincoln.

"Have you learned sketching?" Ka Yang asked casually, as if he was not surprised. He already felt that it was not strange that this guy was good at everything, oh, except probably giving birth to children.

"Well, when I was a kid, I learned it for a few days with... the elderly people at home." Thinking of the peaceful daily life in the previous world, Alvin suddenly felt a little melancholy. It seemed like it happened many, many years ago, and he had even begun to forget the details and scenes.

"Isn't it another time to learn medicine from the Northern Shamans?" Ka Yang muttered to himself.

Then he turned his attention back to the pencil drawing on the paper, looked at it for a while, and gradually frowned.

"It looks like a curse, combined with something even more dangerous." The necromancer analyzed based on his expertise.

"This thing..." On the other side of the back seat, the hairy druid Bryant looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Seeing this, Ivan took the initiative to ask:

Bryant scratched his head. The picture made him guess something disturbing, but considering that he was now completely involved in this matter, he spoke very straightforwardly:

"He seems to be possessed by something."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the other two people became serious, except for Diana, who didn't know anything about the extraordinary people.

"Although I don't know much about curses, there are some parasitic animals in the forest that rely on breaking through the bodies of their hosts to complete the final stage of growth and development." Bryant continued.

Ivan's brows gradually furrowed, and the worst premonition in his heart might have come true.

"If that's the case, then the truth is probably the worst kind."

Chapter 92 Congratulations on Failure

Although the major powers in the Palladian world have different attitudes towards poppies, one thing is generally recognized.

The magical essence extract of this plant is classified as a Class A contraband in all countries. Any purification and extraction carried out privately without declaration will be immediately dealt with once verified.

The so-called magical essence extraction refers to the use of magic to purify a certain component from the original plant to the maximum extent. This is something that herbalists who are not extraordinary cannot currently achieve with ordinary tools.

Although players have tried to imitate real-life chemical laboratory instruments to improve the purity of the extraction, considering the existence of magic, an unrealistic supernatural variable in the world of Palladia, the extracts obtained by pure chemical means are still not as pure as those extracted by magic. To be precise, the part involving magic cannot be achieved by chemical means alone, which means that the essence extracted by this method is not as... dangerous as the former.

Yes, as a plant extract, opium poppy extract's primary effect is anesthesia and hallucinations. However, when its purity reaches a certain level, it can have a very strange and dangerous effect on the user's soul.

If the souls of mortals were originally passengers sitting in the ship, then after they take the high-purity opium poppy extract extracted from the essence of magic, they will step half a foot or even the whole person out of this ship traveling in the mortal world.

While this creates stronger and more realistic illusions, it also allows certain beings with extraordinary powers to more easily seize the souls of mortals.

If the purity reaches a certain level, even extraordinary beings will be affected by it, and may even be left with side effects that cannot be reversed by healing spells.

In other words, if there are large numbers of such items, it indicates that the hoarder has the ability to capture a large number of souls in a very short period of time.

Any clear-headed person in power should understand what this means.

Things are getting more and more wrong...

On the way back, Alvin sat in a chair and closed his eyes in thought.

While Kayon and Bryant were discussing the topic of biological parasitism, he seemed to get some inspiration from it.

Others might think that this was just the wizard's curiosity, but Alvin suspected that the guy had come up with a design for a new species of undead.

You know, judging from the talent Khayon showed in necromancy in the game, it wouldn't be surprising at all if this guy suddenly came up with a strange new experimental inspiration just because of a casual remark made by that hairy druid.

However, Alvin has no intention to stop Khayang's possible "runaway" experimental behavior.

Because, after considering several unusual events that had occurred recently, he vaguely felt that a huge conspiracy was gradually enveloping Lutetia and even the entire Linde Empire.

First, the cursed steam engine in the factory area, capable of unleashing a special curse upon its surroundings, possesses the uncanny ability to transform the environment and even the ecology of species on a large scale. It's unclear which school of black magician or cultist created this dangerous product, and even less clear is their purpose in creating it.

Secondly, the spreading opium poppy industry is a black industry that has appeared many years ago, but the people behind it should not be nobles or extraordinary forces with extraordinary heritage, at least not extraordinary forces that can treat a powerful baron as a pawn.

This is not a moral difference, and the status of aristocrat or extraordinary person does not mean that they are more moral than ordinary people.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the severity of the punishment. Compared to ordinary gang members, organizations with extraordinary heritage should know that this thing is one of the most untouchable things.

This is because once a transcendent who can extract the essence is involved in this industry, the rulers of any country will investigate thoroughly and would rather kill the wrong person than let him go!

For example, if ordinary gangs were involved, the danger level would probably be no more than that of a fireworks factory. However, if a supernatural power were involved, the danger level would escalate from a fireworks factory to a gunpowder factory or even an munitions factory, the kind capable of producing weapons of mass destruction.

Perhaps this analogy is a bit exaggerated, but the difference in threat level between the two is so huge.

Besides, Alvin hadn't forgotten the letter he'd received from the vampire pirates. It had invited them to attack the coast of Linde. This seemed like a joke. But if unrest broke out within Linde, an attack by the vampire pirates would likely cause even greater chaos.

To sum up, the forces that can accomplish all these things and unify them under the same huge conspiracy should not be underestimated.

This is really getting more and more troublesome...

Diana drove them back to the alchemy workshop and then left on her own. At night she had to go back to the orphanage to help Mother Theresa take care of the other children.

Since the workshop's living space outside of the lab was relatively limited, Bryant, who was temporarily employed by Ivan, was only given a loft on the workshop's top floor. However, he had no objection to this; as an adventurer, being able to sleep under a roof was already a good perk.

Khayang, who had obviously had some inspiration, was tinkering with something in the laboratory, while Ivan sat on the old sofa that was pushed into the courtyard during the cleaning a few days ago.

He was still thinking about the various possibilities related to those.

Then, the black-haired boy was somewhat surprised to find that he seemed to have inadvertently caused a lot of trouble for the mastermind whose true identity was still unknown.

After careful calculation, the vampire pirate king was killed by him.

The demonized factory owner was also killed by him.

In a sense, it can be said that Baron Lincoln, who secretly controlled the doping industry, was killed by him.

"Ha." Alvin suddenly laughed and shook his head.

"Should I say it's fate or destiny's choice?"

After connecting all the information together, the black-haired boy's originally confused eyes gradually became clear and sharp. He vaguely felt a clue, a clue hidden behind the chaos.

However, let’s not talk about the vampire pirates and the demon factory owners for now.

After the murder of Baron Lincoln, Alvin realized that he had probably been noticed by the other party.

However, his true identity will not be revealed for the time being, and what is revealed to outsiders is just a young extraordinary person who has just arrived.

In other words, the other party is likely to have a preconceived notion that he is an annoying troublemaker and may send people to deal with him, but they may not necessarily go all out to deal with him.

This leaves Alvin room to maneuver.

Many thoughts raced through his mind, and a smile slowly appeared on the black-haired boy's face.

"What's wrong? You are laughing so wildly. Are you thinking about something happy?" Ka Yang came to the courtyard with two cups of tea.

He placed a cup of tea on the broken coffee table with only three legs left next to Alvin, and took a big sip of another cup of strong tea.

"Huh, the black tea from the Great Wilderness Forest is indeed the most authentic. As expected, this is the commercially developed and perfect city of Lutetia. You can't buy such cheap tea in Avonmore. Damn the Genoese merchants, isn't it just a few hundred extra miles of travel? Is it really necessary to increase the price several times?" Ka Yang complained.

"As a businessman, this is normal." Alvin raised his teacup and took a sip.

"Hey." Seeing him drink the tea, Ka Yang couldn't help but chuckle.

"You dare to drink the tea brought by the necromancer?"

"Ah?" Alvin was stunned for a moment, then he remembered the other party's identity as a necromancer.

Afterwards, the Space Marine who had undergone the magical transformation of the 'Mysteries of Elrond' and the awakened Titan bloodline who had completed the first stage of the Great Mystery 'Foundation of the Original World', could not help but laugh so hard that he fell forward and backward on the old sofa.

"Ha, if you can use your second-level mage's strength to create something that can poison me to death, then I can only write 'submission' on the ground."

"Write '服', what a weird word?" Ka Yang rolled his eyes. Although he understood what the words meant, he still felt that the common language the other party had just spoken had a strange flavor.

After the joke, Alvin told Ka Yang the results of his analysis.

The more Ka Yang listened, the uglier his expression became.

Finally, the young necromancer held the teacup and looked up at the brilliant starry sky silently, with tears faintly running through the corners of his eyes, revealing a bleak expression that said, "You might as well shoot me to death."

"I only came here to learn some magical engineering, but how did I get involved in this mess again?"

"Hahaha." Hearing what Khayang said, Ivan laughed very unkindly.

"Don't worry, we've already made them fail at least three times."

Then, the black-haired boy picked up the teacup.

"To failure."

"..." Khayang glanced at him sideways, lowered his head, and raised his teacup to clink with the other person's.

"Well, here's to that damn failure!"

Chapter 93: Unwilling to Grow Old

"To failure."

Along with the old voice, bright red liquid swirled in the raised wine glass.

This is a new wine produced this year in the Portiana region. The ingredients used are all the first batch of grapes that mature in August every year.

Because grapes ripening at this time are closest to the vibrant spring and summer months, the red wine made from this season is believed to bring a youthful aura to those who drink it, earning it the name "Kiss of Spring." For this reason, production of this wine remains limited, prices remain high, and obtaining it often requires considerable effort.

At this moment, the vibrant red wine in the glass trembled, not because the drinker wanted to see the beautiful color as it swayed, but because the hand holding the glass was shaking uncontrollably. Several hoses connected to various injection potions were inserted into it, wrapping it like a fine spider web.

The wine that swayed from the side of the glass spilled out, wetting the white napkin tied around the drinker's neck. The spreading red color looked like spreading blood, and it also stained the long beard on the drinker's chin.

The withered long beard may have been filled with red wine, revealing a blood red color different from the pale white color of the past, as if the other party had grown a red beard stained with blood.

Although he shook out half a glass of red wine with trembling hands, the drinker still greedily sucked the glass at his lips until he drank half of the wine and shook out the other half.

At this moment, the dim sunlight shone into the room through the gaps in the curtains, and also illuminated Prince Louis's aging face that was all around him.

As if a weak stream of water finally flowed through a long-dried riverbed, the red wine flowed down along the layers of wrinkles on the surface of his skin, and finally soaked into the red beard.

Perhaps, the kiss of spring can really bring the breath of youth to people. After drinking the red wine, Prince Louis became a little more energetic, and his face covered with dark yellow age spots also showed some redness.

"Ha, the breath of spring." A sigh of satisfaction arose slowly.

"You really should try this, the new wine produced in Portilla this year." Prince Louis had a kind smile on his face and pointed at the red wine on the coffee table beside him with his still trembling fingers.

The red wine originally in the bottle had been poured into a swan-shaped decanter by the maid, and was now emitting an exceptionally fragrant and intoxicating aroma into the air.

"Oh, or I should say you." The prince muttered and smiled, then lowered his eyes like an ordinary old man. There was no sign that he was a complete person who had reached the fifth level.

In the shadows not far in front of him stood three figures of varying heights.

The man on the left was exceptionally tall, wearing a neatly-formed suit of armor, and was obviously a powerful warrior.

The man on the right was short, but he was holding a staff that was taller than the others, and looked like a wizard.

The man standing between the two was neither tall nor short, with a well-proportioned figure. His face was illuminated by the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains, revealing an exceptionally handsome appearance.

"It doesn't matter."

"us."

"Ru Ruo is a person."

Although a sentence was spoken by three different people, the tacit understanding between them was as if they were one. There was no interruption in their conversation, and it was almost impossible to tell that they were spoken by three different individuals.

"In other words, there's no need to prepare three cups for you." Prince Louis said softly in the old man's muddy accent:

"Hey, people should drink more when they are young." Then, he reluctantly poured another glass of wine with his trembling hands.

The shaking of his wrist caused most of the expensive wine to spill out, and only a small portion actually fell into the glass, but the old man didn't care at all.