Puppet

"What a mess, what a mess!"

"Isn't that the truth? The town's getting more and more chaotic. Those outsiders are getting so brazen. Last night, someone even blew up the Bright Lamp."

"Yeah, the Security Brigade searched all night."

"Did they find who did it?"

"No, but anyone could guess. It must have been those outsiders. A bunch of scummy horsemen, defiling the virtues of knighthood."

"What knights are they? They're just mercenaries."

Early in the morning, Duke came to buy breakfast and overheard people discussing the incident with the Bright Lamp being blown up last night, and how the Security Brigade had searched for half the night.

Duke had gone to bed early and hadn't heard a thing.

Even if the Security Brigade had come to search, he wouldn't have been afraid. The Desert Eagle, the murder weapon, was an Arcane Artifact, and no one would be able to find it if he wanted to hide it.

Perhaps a highly skilled Arcane Mage could see through the veil of mystery and track Duke down by following the Arcane Trajectory.

But the Black Snake Family didn't have any highly skilled Arcane Mages. Their only High Priest was a 2nd Ring Arcane Mage, but in the realm of Spiritual Arcana, a 2nd Ring was still considered just a beginner.

"So, it wasn't me who blew up the Bright Lamp. It was those mercenary outsiders," Duke said, eating his meat bun, feeling relaxed.

He walked through an alley towards the construction site on Third Vertical Street.

The entire construction site was tightly enclosed by sheet metal fences.

Peeking through the gaps in the sheet metal fence, one could see countless large and small, strange machines working busily.

There were even large machines that resembled mechs, with drivers inside mech-like shells, easily lifting multi-ton boulders.

Using boulders to solidify the foundation, then reinforcing the gaps with steel bars and pouring concrete, streets like these would allow even airships to land steadily.

Of course.

Such a solid foundation wasn't for landing airships, but to defend against potential underground invasions.

After all, spirit beasts weren't just birds in the sky, beasts on the ground, or fish in the water; there were also plenty of spirit beasts that burrowed underground. These subterranean spirit beasts rarely invaded human dwellings, but one couldn't be too careful. If they did invade, there would surely be heavy casualties.

Suddenly.

One of the humanoid mechs abruptly stopped, then its mechanical body swayed and it crashed to the ground.

"Unit 3 Giant Puppet malfunction, Unit 3 Giant Puppet malfunction! Puppet repair technicians, enter the site for immediate repair!" the person in charge of the perimeter shouted into a megaphone.

Immediately, a team of puppet repair technicians rushed towards the fallen Unit 3 Giant Puppet.

At this time, inside the cockpit of the Giant Puppet, the driver climbed out. His head seemed to have been hit and was bleeding profusely. "Damn it, this is the third time! Hurry up and contact the Boss. Let's get a new Puppet Core for Unit 3. This thing will kill me sooner or later!"

"How expensive is a Puppet Core? If the Boss were willing to replace the core, he might as well buy a new puppet," one of the puppet repair technicians quipped.

Outside the sheet metal fence.

Duke looked enviously at the Giant Puppet everyone was rushing to repair.

Like spirit cards, puppets were also extraordinary products of the Spiritual Arcana domain. The Tower of Erudition had promoted various puppets to the public.

Spirit cards were composed of spell models forming a card core, thus possessing various incredible powers.

Puppets, on the other hand, were composed of spell models forming a Puppet Core, which was then driven by a Spirit Gold frame, performing the functions of large-scale construction machinery.

Of course, the puppets on the construction site were all ordinary civilian models. Arcane Mages could also create Arcane Puppets, capable of anything, flying through the sky, moving through the earth, and churning the seas.

"I wish I had a Giant Puppet. This thing is way more powerful than bionic exoskeletons," Duke mused.

However, he couldn't afford one for now. Even the smallest model of a Giant Puppet cost at least several dozen gold dragons.

"That Spider Puppet isn't bad either."

He then looked at a spider-shaped puppet in the distance. This puppet was agile and could climb high, go low, swim in water, and burrow underground. Its main selling point was its versatility.

If he had a Spider Puppet, most of the farm chores could be completed by piloting it.

"Forget it."

"Can't afford it anyway."

Duke withdrew his gaze and left the Third Vertical Street construction site.

On his way back, he encountered more than one group of mercenaries. These mercenaries walked through the streets in groups, carrying prey like spirit beasts.

The smell of blood on them caused passersby to scatter.

Duke didn't want to provoke them either. He silently made way for them to pass first, and then turned into another alley – he knew all the alleys in Snakehead Town like the back of his hand.

After passing through two streets.

He saw someone climbing over a wall to get out of the alley, carrying a bundle. In a few steps, they disappeared around the corner.

"A thief... The town's security is getting worse and worse." Duke shook his head. Recently, the Snakehead Town Security Brigade had increased patrols, but the effect wasn't good.

Snakehead Town, though called a town, actually had a population of over 100,000, equivalent to a small county.

Now that the Pioneer Order had been issued, everyone who wanted to get rich or slack off had flocked here, and the Security Brigade simply didn't have enough manpower.

"This Emerald Sea Valley Pioneer War was initiated by Chen Jiao City. I wonder which Arcane Mage will be enfeoffed in the end."

Twenty to thirty years ago, the 3rd Ring Arcane Mage Mubia, after growing old, initiated the Black Snake Lair Pioneer War and was enfeoffed as the Black Snake Baron, with Snakehead Town as his family's fiefdom.

The Black Snake Baron Mubia has long since passed away, but the Black Snake Family has taken root in Snakehead Town.

Although no 3rd Ring Arcane Mage has been born since, they have developed vigorously relying on Snakehead Town, with their bloodline descendants flourishing.

Basically, every Pioneer War, especially small-scale ones, is initiated by an Arcane Mage who wants to establish a family. This is also the driving force behind the Seven Towers Federation's continuous expansion into the Savage Forest, where endless resources await.

When Duke returned home, it wasn't long before he heard someone knocking on the door.

Upon opening the door, it was Sally.

"Sister Sally?"

"Boss."

"Call me Duke. I'm not your boss anymore."

Duke invited Sally in and asked her why she had come. Sally hesitated for a moment before speaking, "It's about Levin."

"What happened to Levin?"

"He was fired. Luonka doesn't like him, thinks he's clumsy."

"Who is Luwanda?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Luwanda is the nephew of Boss Lucius. Boss Lucius doesn't personally manage Little Sam's Card Shop; he lets his nephew manage it." Sally shook her head. "Now Levin is unemployed. He plans to apply for work at the Spirit Mine Company, but that's too dangerous... so..."

Sally continued, "Duke, you bought a farm, right? I thought you might need to hire someone, so I came to ask if you'd be willing to take Levin."

"Levin wants to come to the farm?"

"Yes, he talks about you every day. You were always very good to Levin when he was at the shop, and he remembers it all."

Although Levin was clumsy, he was hardworking and never complained. Duke liked the big guy and had even considered bringing him along before.

Now that Levin had been fired, Duke naturally wouldn't refuse. "Where is Levin now? Sister Sally, have him come find me."

"Okay, Levin is staying at Sister Abby's place for now. I'll go find him now... we absolutely can't let him go down the mine. Sister Abby said if Levin goes down the mine, we won't see him again in a few months."