The Creators: From Night City

Page 299

It's not their fault; the entire Palico race has a somewhat eccentric art style.

The three Palicoes clearly sensed that their style didn't quite match their surroundings, so they quickened their pace, placed the two-meter square stone brazier at the feet of the 'Black King' statue, and then stealthily scurried back into the crevice, not even bothering to check if the stone brazier was properly placed.

Indeed, it wasn't properly positioned.

So, under everyone's watchful eyes, Krag stepped forward and extended a slender, long arm, moving the thousand-kilogram stone brazier to the center. Immediately, everyone suppressed any distracting thoughts in their minds.

"That great flame has been lit, like the sun that shines on everything. As His followers, you should inherit this flame of creation."

The inheritance between sorcerers is somewhat similar to the inheritance of blood relations. The flame, which is the embodiment of the soul's origin, represents the most core information of an existence. Therefore, Klara can influence Jiang Bing through the inheritance of the flame, and Jiang Bing, who ignited the etheric fire, can influence Klara from a higher dimension.

Under everyone's gaze, the progenitor of sorcery spread out her hands, and a tiny, golden, chaotic flame ignited from them.

Klara placed the fire in a stone brazier made of wedge-shaped stones, and the flames flowed into it like water, burning quietly.

But this flame was just a trigger.

The next moment, Klara turned to look at the solemn and dignified group of 'Black King Apostles' and said softly, "Next, let us call upon His name together, so that He may turn His gaze here."

Then the sound of metal gauntlets striking chests rang out in unison, followed by prayers of "Black King above" in various tones.

The ability to know everything that is said is a common ability among gods. Although Jiang Bing's status has not yet reached the point where anyone who thinks of Him will know, no matter how far away they are, it is difficult for him not to notice when dozens of people are shouting at him in front of the megaphone (the idol), and someone has lit a 'beacon' for him. Moreover, he is currently in the nearby city of Saint Denis.

Then, in the next instant, a large burst of golden flames suddenly surged out from the faint chaotic flames and burst into flames, instantly filling the wide stone brazier and sending the flames soaring tens of meters high.

The flames of ether were thus ignited.

To be honest, Jiang Bing now has at least nine ways to 'divinely descend', at least nine, but he only transmits his gaze and power here and does not choose to show himself.

Simply put, it was too awkward.

If dozens of people prayed to him face to face, he would surely feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Pass on this flame, his apostles."

Klara stared blankly at the flames in the basin, as if she were thinking of Izaris, except this time, the master of the flames had succeeded.

The first to step forward was 'Flying Eagle,' the leader of the 'Black King Apostle.' He had grown from a reckless, impulsive, and hot-blooded youth into a qualified man and a composed warrior.

He walked silently to the brazier, only to be surprised to find that the blazing flames did not transmit any heat at all.

"Seek forth this great flame." With Klara's murmur, the eagle reached into the brazier, and a flame wrapped around his fingers, spread to his arm, and then climbed up his entire body.

The flames roared up in an instant, turning the eagle into a golden torch.

He is being tempered by the fire of creation, that great flame will reshape his body, his flesh, his soul, burning away useless burdens and filthy information, opening the true 'gate of ascension' for him.

He was able to share in the faint flame emanating from a great being.

Clara watched with her quiet eyes as the warrior named Eagle knelt silently on the ground, watching his soul be ignited by the flames, turning into a ball of flame that never ceases to burn, watching his body detach from ordinary flesh and blood, his form gradually growing like the three witch sisters.

The strength of the soul (constituting strength) will ultimately be reflected in the physical body in the real world. The most typical reaction is the increase in size. The weak witch sisters, the strong Azure Vision, the cartographer of this era Acacia, and even the ancient Father of the Oak Tree, all manifested in the physical world with increasingly larger physical forms. This is the reason why.

In fact, if the three witch sisters were to fully unleash their chaotic nature, their height and size could reach at least four or five meters. And if Jiang Bing, as the [Forger], were to completely unleash his power and origin in the material world, it wouldn't be difficult for him to go toe-to-toe with Taro.

As the eagle's body grew, the armor he wore quickly became too tight. Reluctantly, this warrior, enduring the transformation from the inside out, from his very essence to his outward appearance, had to remove his armor piece by piece to free himself from the growth of his physique.

By the time the flames died down, he had grown to be over 2 meters tall.

Of course, this is not the limit of the other party's growth. After completing the 'fire-passing' ritual, he has, to some extent, inherited Jiang Bing's minor position and powers, and unlocked certain higher-dimensional limitations.

Simply put, he is currently a pseudo-craftsman, a youthful version of the most beggar among beggars, and he can also achieve comprehensive enhancement and growth of his origin and inner self through behaviors related to fulfilling the concept of creation.

This will also cause his body size to grow larger and larger as his soul becomes stronger. Until he reaches a certain level, he probably won't be able to actively intervene in the material world to compress his body size using the origin of composition, like the three witch sisters or Jiang Bing.

Therefore, reaching a height of over two meters is not the end, but only the beginning.

After the flames had fully unleashed the eagle's potential, they gradually disappeared into its body.

"Congratulations on completing the torch-lighting ceremony." In an atmosphere reminiscent of a mythical epic, Krana walked to the side of the flying eagle.

"Next, we will test your soul qualities."

People are always different from one another. Perhaps when the original creator constructed the underlying logic of the world, he especially favored humans, or used the human race as a baseline for the special preferences of the soul. The individual trait preferences of the human species are like a huge random system. The base number is huge, but when it comes to individuals, they are all kinds of different. The differences between people are greater than those between humans and dogs.

Chapter 598 A Warning to Others

This means that the human race cannot be as naturally as some elemental or magical races to be extremely compatible with certain traits. However, the advantage is that sometimes diversity is not a bad thing, especially when the human population is large enough.

As daughters of Izalith, the three witches are not human. In a sense, they can be seen as demons, personifications of chaotic flames. The pyromancy legion established based on them naturally requires an affinity for concepts such as fire and soul manipulation.

A faint flame of magical energy ignited in Klara's hand and poured into the palm of the eagle she had lifted.

The flames, imbued with soul-attacking properties, instantly triggered an automatic reaction within Flying Eagle's body, originating from the [Forger] Jiang Bing. Golden flame patterns involuntarily began to appear on Flying Eagle's body, protecting him from the invasion from a higher dimension.

Fortunately, Klara's flames were intricately connected to it, and under the combined influence of Flying Eagle and Jiang Bing's thoughts, the golden flames gradually fell silent.

"Please feel the leaping flames carefully and try your best to keep them burning."

Krana is taking a test to qualify as a sorcerer. The principle is quite simple: keep the faint flame burning as long as possible so that it doesn't go out. The higher the affinity with the concept of fire, the longer it can be maintained.

Unfortunately, Eagle clearly lacked this talent. Even though the 'Etherfire' granted him a stronger affinity for fire than ordinary people, he still couldn't meet the recruitment requirements for the Spellcaster Legion set by Klara and Jiang Bing.

After all, this legion was originally designed to correspond to the mage unit of the 'Black King's Apostles', making it a special force selected from the best of the best.

Fortunately, the eagle was not discouraged. The fact that he was not compatible with fire did not mean that he was lacking in other talents. This is one of the reasons why the original creator favored humans. The talents and preferences of the entire human group can be said to cover all special traits, which also endowed the human race with extremely high potential and adaptability.

Unable to lead the Spellcaster Legion, he could only return to being the commander-in-chief of his 'Black King Apostle'.

........................

Prince Jiang Bing has returned to his loyal Night City.

This time, the meeting place with Mr. Blue Eyes was finally a more upscale venue.

Kabuki district, Ritz Bar, first floor lobby, booths against the wall.

The hall was filled with upbeat dance music and flashing neon lights, but there were hardly any dancers.

While sitting in the seat, my whole body was twitching quite a bit.

"I thought you would choose a clean place," the blue-eyed man said, arriving looking travel-worn.

Jiang Bing placed a data cube on the opposite side.

"What you want."

"You're the only one who can do this." The blue-eyed man picked up the Rubik's Cube and looked at it from all angles, as if he had grabbed the black wall by the sore spot and was reluctant to let go.

"The mess at Crystal Palace is quite significant; the ESA staff are almost driven mad."

Jiang Bing, leaning on his cane, surveyed the newly renovated Ritz Bar, a "small-scale" scene.

With the support of anti-entropy, Ritz Bar has become increasingly popular and bustling. Every day, the place is packed with people, and the private rooms are filled with the sounds of gunfire. They even need to use three extra buckets of water just to mop the floors every day.

"The venue is good, and of course, business is good too." Mr. Blue Eyes was in a very good mood after getting what he wanted.

"Desire is the primary productive force," Jiang Bingxin's incisive comment.

"Ha~" Mr. Blue Eyes laughed and shook his head.

"I need information about Arasaka and military technology's troop presence in Night City and its surrounding areas. I know you definitely have it." Jiang Bing suddenly blurted out this sentence, startling the blue-eyed man so much that he almost froze.

"Governing troops?! What are you trying to do, start another corporate war?"

"Of course not, just tell me whether you'll give it to me or not."

Mr. Blue Eyes looked at Jiang Bing suspiciously, his eyes darting around several times before he finally agreed.

"I have a rough idea of ​​the whereabouts of Arasaka's armed forces, but I can't guarantee their accuracy. As for military technology, the ones they sent to this city are all rats, digging holes deeper and deeper, with no systematic approach. I only have a few idiots and fringe people."

"What did these two companies do to offend you? I advise you to be careful and not go too far. Don't cause a fifth corporate war. Night City can't afford a second nuclear explosion."

Jiang Bing, who had long considered Night City as his own, naturally did not want the war to destroy this pearl of the West Coast. Otherwise, he would have already engaged in a head-on battle with the two companies.

In reality, although friction between major corporations in 2076 was still intense, their methods had become much more restrained, and the confrontations between them shifted from large-scale wars to economic and special forces confrontations.

"To conquer a city is inferior; to conquer a heart is superior. You don't need to tell me that," Jiang Bing stated his position.

"Could it be because of that mess at the North City Industrial Park?" Mr. Blue Eyes, his eyes always bright, quickly searched through all the recent information in Night City and finally pinpointed the most fitting incident.

Jiang Bing remained silent.

“I don’t think it’s worth it. Besides, it’s not necessarily Arasaka who’s behind that resurgent Uzumaki gang. After all, Anti-Entropy has been so popular lately, and there are quite a few envious forces,” the blue-eyed man advised.

"Do you know how to quickly tame a group of wild beasts that are jumping around?" Jiang Bing picked up the glass on the table, downed the latest batch of fruit wine produced by [Anti-Entropy] in the Red Dead Redemption world in one gulp, smacked his lips, and was fairly satisfied with the quality.

“Deterrence?” Mr. Blue Eyes tried to follow Jiang Bing’s train of thought.

"Find the strongest of these beasts, hang it up, and whip it."

"So just because the Vortex Gang blew up [Anti-Entropy]'s newly renovated Dance of Death, you're going to indiscriminately wield a big stick to intimidate them?"

“Isn’t this the most direct and effective way?” Jiang Bing retorted with a smile. “Besides, I have the ability, so why wouldn’t I do it? After all, Arasaka isn’t exactly a good person.”

"Aren't you afraid that old fox Saburo Arasaka will resort to desperate measures and send his aircraft carrier to Night City?"

"What a coincidence," Jiang Bing said with a smile. "I'm really not afraid."

………………

If you say the old captain is the best middleman in Santo Domingo, some fringe travelers might object, but if you say the old captain is the best second-hand car dealer in Santo Domingo and even the entire Night City, the vast majority of people would agree.

The remaining group of people who disagreed were all used car dealers whose business he had taken away.

Chapter 599 The Old Captain's Past

As a middleman whom half of the working class in Santo Domingo would turn to in case of trouble, he had made a lot of money. However, the situation had changed a lot in recent months because the entire Coronado Farm was now in the hands of the 'Workers' Mutual Aid Association'. If any working class got into trouble and needed to bail someone out, they would first consider asking the 'Mutual Aid Association' for help.

After all, Old Logan has countless talented people under his command, and he doesn't charge money for most things; you just need to pay a membership fee.

Only those who are in the wrong or want to do bad things secretly will approach the old captain and ask him to find some fringe figures to help them. However, in most cases, the old captain will keep things very discreet and try not to go against the 'Mutual Aid Society' because he knows how much power they really have.

More importantly, he knew the other person was doing the right thing.

He understood that the people's rights should ideally return to the people.

As a Santo Domingo resident, he had witnessed firsthand how much the 'Workers' Mutual Aid Society' had done for Coronado Farm. To say that people didn't pick up lost items and didn't lock their doors at night would be an exaggeration; Coronado Farm's recent security was definitely better than other districts of Night City.

So despite his income declining significantly, he still had no other ideas.

Of course, this is also largely due to the fact that selling cars is his main business.

As a well-known used car dealer, the old captain himself drives a Herrera GTS sports car known for its 'low profile'. Of course, this low profile is in comparison to the Sword in the Stone and the Sword of the Lake.

This luxury sedan, made in Spain, is one of the most unique and popular models on the market. As one of the few models still handcrafted by the world's top engineers, there may be fewer than 1000 of them left in the world, and no more than 10 in Night City. It is an absolute rarity. Of course, apart from its high price due to its luxury and quality, its main drawback is that it is easy for car thieves to target it.

Therefore, it also has a nickname in the underworld: 'Thief's Dream'.

Of course, the old captain wasn't afraid of any of that, after all, he himself was the biggest car thief in Santo Domingo and even Night City.

The car drove along the outer wall of Kendall Park, past a huge inverted Ferris wheel, and stopped in front of a five-story building.

The sign for the 'Workers' Mutual Aid Association' was nailed to the door, but the doorman didn't look like a worker at all.

The security guard at the gate was over two meters tall, with bulging pectoral muscles almost matching those of the Animal Gang. His bright uniform and equally bulging waistband certainly didn't contain any swimming rings, but rather a bunch of ruthless weapons.

"Um, I am Muammar Reyes, known in the underworld as the Old Captain. I have an appointment with Mr. Sabur." Facing the sharp eyes of the two burly men, the Old Captain did not dare to be frivolous at all. He honestly stated his identity and purpose, after all, he came to ask for help, not to cause trouble.

As a 'workers' mutual aid association,' it naturally has the most workers among its members. These workers are clearly divided into two groups: one group consists of unemployed or jobless people who come here to find work, and the other group consists of employed people who come here to resolve their problems.

As for troubles, from minor issues like harassment by thugs and unpaid wages to major issues like missing persons, workers' compensation, being shot, and even fainting and dying from excessive overtime, the workers' mutual aid association will take care of them.

After all, the membership fees aren't paid for nothing.

However, the old captain had long since resigned from the company and was no longer considered a worker. As a self-sufficient "freelancer," there was no place for him in the lobby for the time being. Fortunately, his destination was not here, but the top floor.

As the elevator slowly ascended, even the old captain, who had weathered many storms, couldn't help but feel his heart pounding.

'Ding'

The elevator doors opened automatically, and the old captain took a deep breath and walked to the office door. Before he could knock, the door opened by itself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sabur."

Jiang Bingzheng stood by the window, gazing at the towering garbage mountain outside the city. Several Zeta Technology's 'Huagai' garbage disposal drones were carrying several huge metal garbage bins and were slowly flying towards the garbage mountain outside the city.

"The advancement of technology has allowed machines to replace manual labor. A long time ago, when parents disciplined their children, they would tell them to be obedient and concentrate on their homework, otherwise they would have to sweep the streets in the future. But now, they don't even have the chance to sweep the streets anymore." Jiang Bing turned his head and looked at the thin old captain, and said a joke.

“Muammar Reyes, I learned of your previous invitation to cooperate from Logan. It’s hard to imagine that a middleman would be willing to provoke Arasaka, only to save some children who have nothing to do with him.”

Jiang Bing gently raised his hand, and a glass of whiskey on the table slid automatically to the other person's side without any wind.

"I must say, old captain, you've made me look at you in a completely new light."