Chapter 114: The Masked Puppet King

Pinocchio, while once again deploying a "Pulse Discharge" to maintain crowd control, sprinted toward Li Nanke and hoisted the crumbling boss onto his back. Seeing Venigni’s pleading expression, Pinocchio could not help but ask, "Boss, should we bring him along?"

Li Nanke hung his head, his face deathly pale, and replied weakly, "If you can carry him, bring him; if not, leave him behind."

The mental exhaustion caused by the continuous use of "Flame Torrent" left him feeling as though he were dying of fatigue; he yearned to simply lose consciousness and sleep. Yet, because they had not yet escaped the perils of the factory, he had to force himself to stay awake.

Pinocchio was, at heart, a kind-hearted youth, far friendlier than a cold-blooded man like Li Nanke. He grabbed the back of Venigni’s collar with his right hand and transformed his left hand into a chain hook. With a violent swing, the chain hook latched onto a support beam near the factory ceiling.

By now, several high-level guard puppets had broken free from the electrical interference, swarming toward them alongside a giant engineering puppet. Pinocchio tightened the chain on his left hand, and with Li Nanke on his back and Venigni in tow, the three of them surged upward, leaping onto the steel beams as a terrified Venigni shrieked. The youth burst through the corrugated metal roof, whisking the other two away as they made a swift escape from the factory.

However, a dense army of puppets poured out of the factory in pursuit. Pinocchio, small and slender, found his speed significantly hampered while carrying the two men. At this rate, it would not take long for the puppet legion to overtake them.

"Venigni, this factory is your turf. If you can't provide us with any effective help, do you want to guess whether I'll have Pinocchio toss you aside?"

Facing Li Nanke's intimidation, a traumatized Venigni snapped to his senses and hurriedly blurted out, "Don't leave me behind! I can help—I have a car parked right at the edge of the factory grounds."

Following Venigni’s directions, Pinocchio soon found the "car." Venigni’s vehicle was less of a car and more of a horse-drawn carriage chassis stripped of its horses and fitted with a high-powered engine; it was a makeshift transport, and an open-top one at that. Venigni gripped the steering wheel and started the engine. Powered by Ergo, the engine roared with strength, and they soon left the puppet army far behind in a cloud of dust.

Seeing that they were safe, Li Nanke finally allowed his taut nerves to relax, and his head slumped as he drifted into unconsciousness. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on a velvet bed in a hotel.

***

Black Rabbit and Pinocchio were both guarding the bedside. When they saw him wake up, the woman’s concern turned to joy; she dove into Li Nanke’s arms and planted a loud kiss on his cheek.

"How long have I been asleep?"

Waking from his slumber, Li Nanke felt refreshed, the exhaustion of his mental fatigue completely wiped away. Furthermore, it seemed his mental strength had even grown slightly as a result of recovering from such severe depletion. A day and a night had passed since their excursion to the puppet factory.

His awakening stirred Sophia, the hotel manager. She knocked gently and entered the room. "Mr. Black Rabbit, you are awake. That is wonderful news."

At first, she had been quite dissatisfied with Li Nanke’s decision to ignore her advice and take Pinocchio away without permission. However, she had not expected the pair to return with Venigni, the owner of the puppet factory. According to Venigni, the powerful supervisor puppet, "King of Puppets," had been slain by Li Nanke, and Pinocchio was clearly much stronger than when he had left the hotel.

Sophia’s original plan had been to nurture Pinocchio until he was strong enough to replace the King of Puppets and quell the puppet army’s assault. Since Li Nanke had claimed he would finish off the King and had successfully done so, she had no reason to harbor any further resentment.

Sophia sat on a chair by the bed, her tone tinged with apology. "Mr. Black Rabbit, I must apologize for my previous lack of trust in you."

"Your strength far exceeded my expectations. Not only did you successfully slay the 'King of Puppets,' but you have also made Puppet P even stronger. This is excellent news for us."

"However..." Her expression turned even more apologetic. "I have heard from Mr. Venigni that my intelligence and judgment were flawed. The assembly and offensive plan of the puppet army actually originated from the King of Puppets himself. Merely eliminating the King of Puppets will not stop the army's advance."

Li Nanke’s heart skipped a beat. "Ms. Sophia, how much do you know about the King of Puppets?"

Key Node Three involved heading to the exhibition to seize the so-called "Alchemical Teleportation Array" from the King of Puppets.

Sophia shook her head. "I was unaware of the existence of the King of Puppets until Mr. Venigni told me. He said that on the eve of the puppet riots, a mysterious masked figure visited the factory."

"The masked figure claimed to be an incredibly powerful special puppet, capable of becoming the leader of all puppets—the King of all puppets."

"But the King of Puppets was not satisfied with its current state, believing it had certain defects. It needed the mass production data of the puppet factory to help perfect itself."

"Mr. Venigni scoffed at this and rejected the masked figure’s demands. Although a small number of puppets had recently begun to exhibit behavior outside of their programming, they had not yet awakened basic self-awareness. To Mr. Venigni, the masked figure was nothing more than a swindler trying to steal trade secrets."

"The rejected masked figure did not get angry. It simply said that it did not matter if he refused, as Venigni’s puppets would deliver the data to his hands themselves the next day..."

"The very next day, all the puppets revolted, and the vast amount of data and blueprints stored in Mr. Venigni’s filing cabinet vanished. Therefore, Mr. Venigni concluded that all of this was caused by the King of Puppets."

Sophia sighed. "I am sorry, Mr. Black Rabbit. Mr. Venigni only knows this much, and I do not know where the King of Puppets is currently located. However, I have already summoned some stalkers to search every district of the city. I believe we will have relevant intelligence soon."

Li Nanke pondered this. "Ms. Sophia, how much do you know about the exhibition?"

Sophia was startled but immediately replied, "The exhibition is held at City Hall. It is a temporary site for displaying special puppets, meant to attract merchants and investors from other cities."

"The exhibition was supposed to proceed as planned, but it was terminated due to the puppet riots. City Hall has now become the most dangerous place in Krat."

"Mr. Black Rabbit, do you suspect the King of Puppets is at the exhibition?"

Li Nanke did not commit to an answer, simply looking into Sophia’s eyes. "Madam, you should believe in my abilities by now, shouldn't you? Do you still have any objections to Pinocchio coming with me?"

Sophia smiled helplessly. "Mr. Black Rabbit, you joke. I have never intended to control Puppet P; from beginning to end, I have only wanted to quell this disaster."

"Krat is an isolated island city. We, the surviving humans, can only do our best to save ourselves."

"Now that you have proven your formidable strength, and proven that Puppet P can only grow rapidly by following you—and perhaps that only you have the ability to end this catastrophe—what right do I have to stop you?"

Li Nanke nodded with satisfaction and turned to the Black Rabbit nearby. "Has the Strange Rabbit been brought over? Take me to see it."

He had already reached the third node, but the hidden node had yet to be unearthed, and information regarding the "Angel" had never surfaced. Li Nanke wondered if he should change his route; besides the ubiquitous puppet enemies, Krat held another powerful threat—humans who had transformed into living corpses due to Petrification Disease.