Lord of Prayer

Chapter 425: Chapter 274: Arriving at the World’s Most Chaotic City (Part 2)

3. Within a ten-kilometer range, the wearer can sense the other Secret Silver Bracelet. The two wearers can freely teleport to each other’s side.

Manufacturing Workshop: Alchemy Workshop of the Laine Kingdom’s Royal Knight Order.]

After reading the bracelet’s description, Zhou Chen froze. ’There’s another Secret Silver Bracelet?’

’Another Artifact that comes in a pair?’

Beside him, Li Xiye, who had leaned in to see what gift Erin had sent, suddenly smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Congratulations. Now you’ve even got a bracelet. Why not work a little harder and get a Jade Pendant next?"

That smile sent a chill down Zhou Chen’s spine.

Li Xiye picked up the Secret Silver Bracelet and toyed with it, clucking her tongue. "Honestly, when I first met Erin, I thought she was one of those girls who pretends to be all pure and innocent, but is actually rotten to the core. After spending a few days with her, though, I realized she’s just a little white rabbit... The problem is, this little white rabbit is so naive. She has no idea she’s already fallen into a trap dug by the big bad wolf, and she’s only sinking deeper. I bet it’s only a matter of time before she’s eaten all up."

Then, feigning confusion, she asked, "Zhou Chen, who do you think this big, bad, *bad* wolf could possibly be?"

Zhou Chen boomed in reply, "I have no idea!"

Li Xiye scoffed. "In that case, you don’t get any dinner tonight. And not just tonight, but tomorrow, and the day after, until you figure out the answer."

With that, she placed the Secret Silver Bracelet back in its box and went to sort through the things she had bought.

Only then did Zhou Chen dare to breathe a sigh of relief. With trembling hands, he put the item away in his Storage Waist Bag, cleared his throat, and went over to help Li Xiye sort the supplies.

"Xiye, you must be tired after being out for so long. Go get some rest... And don’t worry about dinner, I’ll take care of it. What would you like to eat?

Braised wolf dick? What kind of dish is that? Never heard of it... How about I make you some braised pork belly instead..."

·

「Late at night.」

「The basement.」

Zhou Chen began his Forging project.

First up was modifying the form of the C-220·Bloodthirsty Chainsaw.

There was a well-known law in both the Forging and Alchemy Realms: the Abilities of a Forbidden Object could not be changed.

For example, wielding the Bloodthirsty Chainsaw would make the user homicidal, while wearing the Blindfolded Sunglasses would cause loss of sight... These Abilities, whether positive or negative, were immutable. The only thing that could be altered was the Forbidden Object’s physical form.

However, altering a Forbidden Object’s form came with limitations: the new form had to be consistent with the object’s inherent nature.

Take the Blindfolded Sunglasses, for example. No matter how it was modified, it couldn’t be changed into something outside the category of "eyewear." After all, the Ability of the Blindfolded Sunglasses was fixed. If its form were changed into a teacup, how could it even be used?

Someone had once conducted a similar experiment, modifying a Forbidden Object’s form into something completely incompatible with its Ability. The result was that the Forbidden Object automatically reverted to its original state.

The change Zhou Chen planned to make, however, was clearly not an issue. A Chainsaw Sword was perfectly in line with the characteristics of the Bloodthirsty Chainsaw.

The Forging process was surprisingly smooth, taking less than a minute. It was simple and brutal.

—He took out the Bloodthirsty Chainsaw, brought out the Hammer of Forging, and simply hammered the chainsaw until it took on his desired shape.

It sounded fucking ridiculous, but that was the nature of Authority—it defied all logic. Especially now that the Hammer of Forging had recovered a great deal of its Power, remodeling a Forbidden Object’s form was a piece of cake.

And just like that, a vicious-looking Chainsaw Sword was forged.

The saw-toothed blade was as sharp as a razor, its edge glinting menacingly. When activated with an infusion of Essence, the Weapon let out a furious roar as its teeth spun at high speed. A single swing produced a piercing shriek, easily capable of tearing through thick Steel Battle Armor.

’And if it were flesh and blood...’

Zhou Chen licked his lips, finding himself already missing the sensation of cutting through flesh and bone.

He then put away the C-220·Bloodthirsty Chainsaw Sword and moved on to his next task.

—Human Body Refinement.

The required materials: 30 liters of water, 20 kilograms of carbon, 4 liters of ammonia, 1.5 kilograms of lime, 800 grams of phosphorus, 250 grams of salt, 100 grams of saltpeter, 80 grams of sulfur, 7.5 grams of fluorine, 5 grams of iron, 3 grams of silicon...

Zhou Chen could conjure these materials out of thin air, so that wasn’t an issue.

’But there’s another problem. A body Forged this way is just an ordinary physical form. With North Carolina in such chaos, there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t get killed by a stray bullet from God knows where... At the very least, it needs to be on par with a Tier One Ascender, right?’

The stronger the constitution of the Forged body, the more materials and time it required. Zhou Chen didn’t have that much time, so he opted to first Forge a body at the peak of human physical limits, and then use a wish to grant it the physique of an Ascender.

’Maybe I could add some cybernetic enhancements?’

Zhou Chen mulled it over for a moment before deciding against it. ’My main purpose in sending this Clone to North Carolina is to find traces of the B-Level Forbidden Object, B-025, the Wish Box. I don’t plan on trying to snatch it right away, so the Clone doesn’t need to be incredibly powerful.’

’All Forbidden Objects classified as B-Level are extremely dangerous items capable of destroying an entire city. One can only imagine the strength of the Ascender who managed to contain it.’

’If the current owner of the Wish Box is a Tier Two or Tier Three, that’s one thing. But if they’re a Tier Four... then Zhou Chen would have no choice but to play the long game. He’d wait until he leveled up himself before thinking about getting his hands on the Wish Box.’

Reining in his thoughts, Zhou Chen opened his palm, and a pale white Molten Fire ignited within it.

—The Forging begins!

·

·

In the distant North Carolina Republic lay Rusted Iron City, once hailed as one of the most chaotic cities in the World.

In a desolate scrapyard, a Space Gate suddenly shimmered into existence.

A man in a scavenger’s trench coat stepped out. He didn’t linger, scurrying away from the scrapyard as quickly as a sewer rat.

’Even though I used a wish to mask the fluctuations from the Space Gate’s opening, it’s still better to be cautious. I don’t want to run into North Carolina’s Crowned King the moment I arrive. If that happened, my only choice would be to self-destruct this body, and trying to sneak back in later would be much harder.’

After a walk of over thirty minutes, Zhou Chen arrived in Rusted Iron City from the suburban scrapyard.

Rusted Iron City was bleak and oppressive, perpetually shrouded in a gloomy haze. The streets were littered with the grim aftermath of riots, and the air was thick with the stench of gunpowder and filth. In some areas, fires still burned in deep pits, incinerating the corpses of Crystal Disease victims.

As he walked the streets, he could clearly feel countless malicious gazes fixed on him from the shadows.

"Hey, you! Where’d you come from? Don’t you know this is the Fierce Tiger Gang’s turf? You gotta pay the protection fee to be here!"

Suddenly, several thuggish gang members blocked Zhou Chen’s path.

This Clone of his had the face of a typical North Carolinian man: around twenty-five years old, with brown hair, a high-bridged nose, and thin lips. He looked completely unremarkable, like an ordinary passerby—the type who would fade into a crowd.

’Walking down the street, if there were a lot of people around, the odds of him getting mugged were low. But if there was no one around... Heh, when there’s no one around, you’re going to get mugged no matter what you look like, right?’

Yet, running into muggers right off the bat, Zhou Chen was quite satisfied. He took a deep breath of the North Carolina air.

He could smell the chaos, the violence, the blood, the death.

’Now this is more like it.’

’If there weren’t any muggers, I would’ve thought I’d come to the wrong place.’

"Fuck, I’m talking to you! You deaf or something?" The hot-tempered gang member swung an iron pipe at him. There were obvious crystalline protrusions on his arm; he was clearly a victim of the Crystal Disease.

Yet the speed and strength of his swing far surpassed that of a normal person. He was nothing like a Crystal Disease victim who could drop dead at any moment.

’These people have undoubtedly adapted to the Crystal Disease. Their bodies have even grown stronger because of it.’

It was for this reason that many in the slums of North Carolina now viewed the Crystal Disease as a form of evolution. Those who weren’t yet infected would actively seek it out, hoping to enhance their own Power or even achieve an extraordinary awakening.

Facing the incoming iron pipe, Zhou Chen casually sidestepped and threw a swift, precise straight punch.

BAM—

The gang member’s head exploded, splattering blood and brain matter everywhere and stunning his companions into silence.

Zhou Chen clenched and unclenched his fist, getting a feel for this body’s Power. The constitution of a Tier One Ascender was more than enough to deal with these thugs.