The Record of Unusual Creatures

Panda Novel

In more than 2,000 years of continuous construction and development, Twilight Capital had become a quirky and deformed behemoth.

Its predecessor was initially a city in the hinterland of Midgard. At that time, the city was not large. Even though several cities and their respective territories combined was only equivalent to a large modern city on Earth, the Twilight Shroud was enough to cover it. After the shroud was up, the survivors on this land could only build their homes within this shroud. As land space was limited, they could only build vertically.

They first connected several cities and developed every inch of the wasteland as much as possible in between the cities. When there was no more land available, they stacked the homes, utilizing some lost technology left behind by the gods of Vanir.

The resources collected from the dark wilderness were turned into steel and adhesives, filling up bit by bit every inch of space under the Twilight Shroud throughout two thousand years. Eventually, the city became a strange cone-shaped structure. Today, the upper city had almost reached the energy shroud that emitted a yellowish glow. Standing on the highest platform in the upper city, you would feel the Twilight Shroud was within reach. If you had enough arm strength to throw a small stone high enough into the sky, you would see the ripples on the shroud.

The city had run out of space to grow.

In the deepest part of this deformed stack of nests, the old steam turbines and pressure piping systems were still running slowly, like the visceral internal organs of an ultimate beast. With every turn of those components, which had been in existence for hundreds or even thousands of years, would make Twilight Capital groan in pain. Sometimes, even the entire upper city would feel the vibration, but the residents of the city were accustomed to this ominous sign.

The steam locomotive ground to a halt as it entered the station in the upper city. After disembarking, Hao Ren immediately felt a lot better. Riding on a steam locomotive used to transport miners and ore was nowhere near comfortable. To operate in the dark wilderness, safety rather than ergonomics was the priority of the steel monster. The wholly sealed compartment was not only dull but also full of the pungent smell of lubricant. It was a torment if staying onboard for a long enough time.

The air quality outside was not any better though.

They were now close to the highest point of the city, but standing here, Hao Ren did not feel it pleasing. The low Twilight Shroud above would only make people feel depressed. He looked to Wendell next to him. “Where are we going now?”

“The Lightseeker headquarters is in the lower city, near the temple of the Iron Throne. We have to go down through the large shaft, the Steam Assembly has control over it,” Wendell explained patiently. “The shaft lift runs once every hour, is open to ordinary citizens, but you guys would have a problem: you have no legal identity. So the most likely situation is, we must first accept the Steam Assembly—”

Lily suddenly interrupted the old man. “What is the Steam Assembly all about?”

A team of uniformed personnel boarded the station platform. They looked proud and confident. Their black-blue, tight-fitting uniforms adorned with silver trims, and insignia of gears, as well as valves, hung from their chests. Except for the leader, the other security officers carried a metal stick in their hands. The stick looked like a law enforcement gear but appeared as if a lengthened control lever.

As the team boarded the platform, they came straight towards them. Wendell’s face instantly darkened.

“It’s them, the security officers of the Steam Assembly.” The voice of the old man was somewhat depressed. “And the last thing I want to see…”

Feeling strange, Hao Ren looked at the old man, thinking that the discord between the Steam Assembly and the Lightseeker was deeper than he had imagined.

At this time, those security officers had come before them. Standing in front was a middle-aged man with short black hair and serious face. Ignoring Hao Ren and his teammates, the middle-aged man nodded to Wendell and deliberately said with a cold tone of voice. “Mr. Wendell, I’m very ‘happy’ to see you return safely from the darkness.”

Wendell bitterly said, “Yeah, I’m back, whether you like it or not.”

“I didn’t see the other Lightseekers. Can I assume that the outcome of this light-seeking journey is still the same?” asked the solemn-faced, middle-aged man with a piercing eye. “Only you make it back alive. The final light-seeking expedition has completely failed, just as expected.”

Wendell’s attitude changed, his voice was firm and forceful. “No! This time is different! I have found them!”

The middle-aged man seemed to be a little surprised by the hard-line attitude that Wendell suddenly showed. He curiously looked at Hao Ren. “These people?”

He received news that Wendell had returned to Twilight Capital and was taking the locomotive to the upper city. But the news came from the mining bureau in the outer zone; the report did not mention any outsiders.

“They come from outside Twilight Capital!” Wendell shouted, his eyes finally brightened up, which was the light in the eyes of the Lightseekers when their life effort finally came to fruition. “They come from Asgard. Look at them! Healthy and strong. The whole of Asgard is unpolluted; there is no need for Twilight shroud there as the whole kingdom is healthy!”

The security officers looked at each other. Some minor commotion rose among them. The middle-aged man was stunned a little, but he quickly calmed down.

“Nonsense!”

He glared at Wendell.

“You—” Wendell was angry, but before he could say anything, the middle-aged man in front of him waved his hand. “I don’t know where these people come from, but making this scam up is detrimental to the foundation of Twilight Capital! You have become mad finally. Take them away!”

The security officers hesitated a little, and the middle-aged man immediately glared at them. “What are you waiting for?”

A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder; Hao Ren looked at the officer in the eyes with a smile. “Listen, man. Every rational mind knows that you should not judge without first investigate. Is mood the basis of your action?”

The middle-aged man was caught unaware when Hao Ren came up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. He was shocked. When he finally realized what happened and looked around, he was surrounded by the strangers from Asgard while his security officers were all rooted to the spot.

Each of their shadows was being pulled and deformed, pointing in the direction of the little demoness, Y’lisabet. Two clusters of green flames flashed across her big eyes.

“What are all of you doing?”

“We have heard that the Steam Assembly is the government of Twilight Capital,” Hao Ren said. “You’ve managed, maintained, and developed this city for the past 2,000 years under such difficult conditions. Honestly, at first I pretty admired you, but you… your action’s fouling your own nest.”

“Spellcaster?” The middle-aged man was sullen, but he was not in a panic. He just shot Wendell a glance. “Are these the helpers you’re looking for to help you? Aren’t you afraid of having attracted a bunch of sorcerers?”

“I have no intention of correcting your misunderstandings and prejudice against me,” Wendell said with a plastic smile. “But you should not let this prejudice blind your judgment. Do you not want to believe that outside the shroud—”

“There is only darkness outside the shroud! It is as dark as your heart!” The middle-aged man glared at the old man. “I knew this when you first abandoned your wife and your son!”

At first, Hao Ren was thinking of giving this officer a lesson. But he froze when he heard what the officer said. It transpired there was a behind-the-scenes story.

Not only Hao Ren, Vivian, Lily, Nangong Sanba, Nangong Wuyue, Y’zaks and the rest were now showing great interest, waiting to hear more gossips.

Gossiping among Vivian, Lily and Nangong Wuyue was well understood. Their biggest hobby was watching dramas. But it was kind of hard to explain why Y’zaks was joining the bandwagon. Just imagine a king of a demonic kingdom having the hobby of prying into the affair of divorce of others. How weird is that?

The expression on Wendell’s face changed and eventually turned into a sigh. “This is my son, Hope.”

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