The Record of Unusual Creatures

The shroud was still the same as ever. It was always the same Twilight Capital of yesterday. The same was for the steampunks and the Twilight Guards. Of course, these people had somewhat changed since they first met. Now they had a bandage on their heads. Some of them had dressing from the head right down to the hip. Hao Ren sighed. They should have just gone home instead of giving Galazur a standing ovation.

To Galazur, this was not a big deal. She was a dragon queen and an inspector with thousands of years of experience. What was it like having thousands of years of experience? “Veteran” was not a good enough word to describe him. Hundreds of Twilight Guards, injured and resentful, lined up on both sides of the avenue as Galazur and Anthony Alfonso strode past them. They praised the guards, who they had beaten black and blue only a while ago. “Not bad, young man. You fought well.”

“You are all brave men. My respects to you.”

“Good job, soldiers!”

“Young man, you look very talented. Are you interested in learning magic from me?”

Odin had woken up from his hundreds of years of unconsciousness. This great Ancient Sage had regained control of the city very quickly as the Twilight Guards had now returned to the Iron Throne. After a simple conversation between Hao Ren and Odin, they returned to the city through the main entrance of Twilight Capital. The Steam Assembly was enthusiastic and welcoming– whether it was voluntary or not was an entirely different matter. City’s guards lined up on the railway track to meet the foreign heroes returning from Niebelungen. The railway track was used to be via where the Lightseekers set off their journey. On both sides of the track, army of steam chariots and armored soldiers gathered and stretched out into the distance. Residents living in the outer zone peeked from behind the buildings, cautiously watching what was going on the avenue. These miners, who had been living a monotonous life and had never seen a scene like this, felt helpless.

Looking at Galazur and Anthony Alfonso walking past and talking to the Twilight Guards without the slightest sense of awkwardness, Hao Ren felt a little embarrassed. He pulled the sleeve of the dragon queen from behind and asked, “Don’t you feel it weird to suddenly get so close to them whom we beat up just not long ago?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Galazur said. “I am sincere. Though these guys are a bit indiscriminate, they are tough. I have been through many battles, and yet I have never seen anyone like them. They didn’t flinch a bit even when I came down in my dragon form. Hey, they are a bunch of good soldiers.”

Listening, Hao Ren did not say anything but pout. He then looked at the old magician, who was raring to recruit his next apprentice, he suddenly felt that Galazur was so much more down to earth.

Among those who were ordered to attend this welcome ceremony were Steam6 and the robotic spiders. These large and fearsome black-iron machines tucked their robotic arms and crouched on both sides of the steel rails like small fortresses. Their multiple pairs of compound eyes were flashing in red light, cautiously watching Hao Ren and his entourage passing in front of them. These elite special forces did not take full orders from the Steam Assembly. Their only mission was to protect the city from jeopardy. These massive machines remained cautious of these ‘invaders.’

One of the spider robots was suddenly stunned and stepped back when seeing a little guy in Hao Ren’s team walking past it. Its significant movement had caught Hao Ren’s eyes. He glanced up. The robotic leg of the spider was new. Not far behind him, the little demon Y’lisabet smirked as she walked next to Y’zaks, holding a complex mechanical sphere, which was a gyroscope she had removed from the belly of the spider robot. As for the robotic leg that the little girl had plucked earlier, it remained in Hao Ren’s dimensional pocket.

Nangong Wuyue covered her face with her hand and sighed, “I feel like we owe them an apology.”

“Nonsense,” Nangong Sanba said with his arms crossed. “We were here to help. They were attacking us.”

The half-baked demon hunter was the only one injured in the last battle. He was caught up in her sister’s tail and smashed to a pillar. He was still full of resentment now.

Coming to the end of the welcome lineup, Hao Ren saw a small group of people, many of whom were in the uniforms of the Steam Assembly and seemed to be high-level officers. The others were wearing a black robe with a thorny crown on their heads. No doubt, they were Odin’s spokespersons, the caregivers.

, There had been a power transfer in the city judging from the composition of this small group of people. But the power transfer completed in such a short time could have involved much internal power play unknown to outsiders.

Lily stretched her neck, looking at the Steam Assembly members and then said regretfully to Wendell, “Old man, your bad son is not here.”

Wendell just smiled back helplessly. “Hope is just a small fry security officer, not eligible to appear here. And I guess he doesn’t want to see me too.”

“Oh, I know how it feels when the understanding of the world suddenly turns upside down,” Lily said. “I was devastated when I first learned that I was a husky. Losing sleep for pretty much the first half of the night, but I quickly forgot about it in the second half.”

Wendell was struck dumb.

“Angelica,” Hao Ren called out as he came before a small group of people and found an acquaintance. “I didn’t expect the ancient sage to get things done so quickly. I thought he would need a day or two to negotiate with the Steam Assembly.”

Angelica smiled gently. She did not give him a direct answer. “The ancient sage is the foundation of the city.”

Lily could not help but sniffle as she approached the caregiver. There were a few weird caregivers behind Angelica, all wearing black steel masks on their faces, black robe on their bodies, and the crown on the head was not thorn but a spear tips-like decoration. Lily had sensed a hint of blood on them.

Hao Ren also smelled it. He looked at Steam Assembly members around Angelica but did not know how the former members looked. If he did, he would have known that one-third of the former high-ranking members were not here.

Though he did not know what was going on inside the Steam Assembly, he had guessed something.

After hundreds of years of silence of the ancient sage, members of the Steam Assembly had forgotten who the real ruler of the city was. That was the nature of humanity. In the eyes of the short-lived human being, a king that had never spoken for a few hundred years was an ancient legend already. If not for the Twilight Shroud that was still glowing above their heads, people would even question the existence of the ancient sage. This tendency was not only confined to the general public but also in the Steam Assembly.

Those people in the Steam Assembly with this tendency were even more stubborn: they had the power in their hands, which made them even more reluctant to take orders from the ancient sage who woke up out of a sudden.

Human beings were as fickle as the weather.

But no matter what, rationality still prevailed in most people. The same was right in the Steam Assembly. The city was entirely back to the control of the ancient sage and its caregivers before Hao Ren, and his team returned from Niebelungen. Odin had paved the way for Hao Ren.

A bright light suddenly came out from behind Hao Ren. It circled them before strolling around the place while mumbled, “This place looks different seeing from another angle.”

Members of the Steam Assembly was shocked by the sudden appearance of this unknown being. People here had not yet fully recovered from the aftershock since the ancient sage woke up. Hao Ren quickly said, “Don’t be alarmed by the soul of the World Tree. Whitey, don’t run around. This place is full of steam engines. I wouldn’t be able to find you if you fall into the steam.”

Nangong Wuyue sighed, “The soul of the World Tree has become Whitey.”

The leader of the Steam Assembly was a middle-aged woman with a serious face named Lavinia.

“The weather will clear up in twenty-four hours. When that happens, be prepared, the city will soon be inhabitable.”