Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2478: Chapter 2479: The Black Room

Wang Wang thought about the wording and slowly said, ”From the beginning, I haven’t been separated from the master...”

Wang Wang’s experiences differ entirely from Angel’s.

To put it simply, Angel was undergoing a single-player puzzle-solving game, while Wang Wang sat in the surveillance room watching others attempt an escape room.

The ”others” referred to, of course, are Gluz Deward, Polo Ye, and the poor, implicated Observer.

According to Wang Wang, after being swallowed by the Dalmatian, the place it appeared in was a black room. In this room, apart from itself, there was also the Dalmatian.

Upon seeing the Dalmatian, Wang Wang was overjoyed, and after various praises and commendations, it started to inquire about the whereabouts of Gluz Deward and the others.

Then, with a step of the Dalmatian’s foot, the floor of the black room turned transparent, clearly revealing that beneath the black floor was a colossal pure white room.

And Gluz Deward and the others were imprisoned in the pure white room below. This pure white room is a space that nullifies magic and spiritual power.

”A magic-nullifying pure white room, there’s such a space inside the Dalmatian?” Angel exclaimed.

Wang Wang: ”I asked the master, and the master said it was just created.”

Just created... Angel choked for a moment, such a place where even a Legendary Wizard can’t use magic or spiritual power was created offhandedly by Wang Wang? This feeling is akin to casually and comfortably narrating the creation of the world’s end.

Angel now no longer doubts the Dalmatian’s power.

It makes sense, the Dalmatian even simulated the Illusion of the Thief of Time and snatched the Thief’s blood. This itself proves the Dalmatian’s might.

Such a Dalmatian, creating a confinement room for Legendary Wizards is no trouble.

”Go on,” Angel decided not to interrupt this time, nor be startled, exposing his ignorance. After all, in the Dalmatian’s eyes, he is that Lady Sha Wa; is this little thing worth astonishment? – Angel silently answered in his heart with two words.

”The master said the promise made to me is fulfilled, and now it’s up to me to handle the rest.”

Next, Wang Wang began contemplating how to deal with these people.

From the start, Wang Wang’s goal was clear, which was Gluz Deward and Polo Ye. It wanted to learn from them where its fellow Illusory Spirits of Phantom Spirit City were and find a way to rescue them.

As for how to rescue them, Wang Wang still didn’t have a plan. The best would be to exchange captives, to use them to exchange for its own kind.

However, that’s for later. Before that, they needed to start talking.

Though Gluz Deward and Polo Ye were magic-nullified at this moment, their physical strength remained immense, and Wang Wang wasn’t capable of extracting any information from them under these conditions.

Thus, Wang Wang requested help from the Dalmatian, asking if it could tire their bodies and wear down their will.

The Dalmatian thought for a bit and eventually placed the mysterious fruit from atop No. 03’s head in the center of the white room.

The powerful attraction and pull continuously wore down the blood and will of Gluz Deward and Polo Ye. Meanwhile, Wang Wang lay on the black room’s floor, observing their movements at all times.

”That’s what I experienced in that black room.”

Angel: ”I didn’t expect you to be with the Dalmatian the whole time. Did it mention me?”

Wang Wang: ”Initially, finding you absent from the black room, I asked the master where you were.”

”What did the Dalmatian say?”

Wang Wang: ”Nothing was said.”

Wang Wang paused slightly when saying this. The Dalmatian indeed said nothing, but it could feel that the Dalmatian’s silence was simply because it didn’t want to tell.

The feeling was like Wang Wang and the Dalmatian belonged to servant and master, whereas the Dalmatian and Angel were on the same level of existence. How could a servant inquire about the matters of the master?

Angel wasn’t aware of Wang Wang’s thoughts, but he found it normal that the Dalmatian, when involving its matters, would start feigning cluelessness and bark foolishly. The most critical part was that the dog’s barking was absurd, a blend of perfunctory and deception. Therefore, the Dalmatian not discussing its affairs seemed quite normal to Angel.

Angel: ”So, how did you show up here later?”

Wang Wang: ”This starts from when the master left.”

According to Wang Wang, initially, everything was fine, with the Dalmatian and Wang Wang staying in the black room, but suddenly, the Dalmatian jumped up and barked towards a certain direction.

Then, the Dalmatian vanished.

Wang Wang: ”I didn’t know what happened at the time. However, before the master left, its eyes reflected a golden clock.”

Upon hearing this, Angel roughly guessed that it was likely during the eye contact with the Thief of Time when a twisted time-space created a mysterious interaction beyond the Dalmatian’s expectations, prompting its barking.

With its barking, the illusion of Clock Forest vanished, and the Illusion of the Thief of Time disappeared too, leaving only a whisper lingering in Angel’s ear.

Next came Angel’s long wait in the void.

Perhaps, at that point, the Dalmatian’s disappearance was in fact to confront the Thief of Time? Angel speculated in his heart.

Wang Wang: ”Then I waited quite a while in the black room, before being suddenly kicked out by the master, ending up here with a drop of golden blood in front of me.”

Angel, understanding, nodded: The appearance of the golden blood might well be the result of the ”confrontation”?

Angel: ”Does this drop of golden blood attract you? So you swallowed it?”

Wang Wang shook its head: ”Indeed, the golden blood is alluring, but its aura is too terrifying for me to touch it. The reason I swallowed it was due to receiving some information when kicked from the room by the master.”

This information wasn’t the usual dialogue but rather a vast data flow, highly complex with many untranslated parts within.

This information pertained to the golden blood.

Firstly explaining the origin of the golden blood... however, due to the complexity of the information and many parts unreadable, Wang Wang could only skip this section.

Next, explaining the role of the golden blood... likewise complex in nature, Wang Wang didn’t comprehend it, only understanding one sentence: If given to the Minister of Arms, it can be used for weapon creation.

Finally explaining the ownership of the golden blood... this section was clear, but Wang Wang didn’t understand it. It stated that the golden blood should be given to Lady Sha Wa, though due to the blood containing an unknown substance from a certain existence, to prevent being spied on by that existence, it should be stored within Wang Wang first.

Above summarizes Wang Wang’s entire experience.

After hearing all, Angel roughly figured it out.

To simplify, this drop of blood is meant for Angel. The referred Lady Sha Wa should indeed be him.

As for the uses of this drop of blood, others aside, it should be for Alchemy, shown from the Dalmatian’s statement ”if given to the Minister of Arms, it can be used for weapon creation”. However, the grade of this blood is extremely high, and potentially contains some trickery left by the Thief of Time. If directly given to Angel, with Angel’s current level, he might be spied on by the Thief of Time.

Thus, the blood is temporarily entrusted to Wang Wang.

Angel speculates, possibly because the Dalmatian knows Wang Wang has a special ”high altitude” within its body. Only in this high altitude might the Thief of Time be unable to spy.

In the future, when Angel is strong enough or when something refined needs the golden blood, then it can be retrieved from Wang Wang.

That concludes Angel’s interpretation, feeling pretty close to the truth.

However, Angel was still a bit puzzled. He didn’t know why the Dalmatian was so keen on giving him benefits. Was it because Shava had a good relationship with it, or was it planning to ”fatten him up before slaughter”? Nevertheless, it wasn’t something he could understand for the time being, so he would have to set it aside.

Angel shared his interpretation.

Wang Wang listened, then looked at Angel with a strange expression: ”So, Lady Sha Wa is referring to Mr. Pat?”

Angel: ”... You can think of it that way.”

Wang Wang was silent for a moment, then shifted the topic: ”Lady, does this word have a prestigious meaning?”

Angel: ”It’s just a title; whether it has a prestigious connotation depends on the context.”

Wang Wang gave Angel a deep look and didn’t pursue the topic further. Yet, it vaguely understood Angel’s significance to the master.

”That drop of golden blood should stay with you. You’re lacking in means of dealing with enemies. That blood can let you unleash a presence similar to the Thief of Time, at least intimidating enough to scare some foes.” Angel said.

Angel himself didn’t have much yearning for the golden blood. Though it could be used as alchemy materials, who knows where to use it? Besides, the golden blood carried significant aftereffects. He didn’t want to be constantly remembered by the Thief of Time, so handing it over to Wang Wang was suitable.

Moreover, compared to the golden blood, what Angel cared more about was the two-minute space essence he saw earlier. Speaking of benefits, compared to material possessions, Angel valued this kind of knowledge more, for knowledge can’t be taken and is beneficial for a lifetime. The two-minute gain could significantly outweigh Angel’s twenty years or more of arduous study and research.

”By the way, your high space can store other things, right?”

Wang Wang paused for a moment: ”It can.”

”Then I’ll store some things in your high space another day?”

Wang Wang had a face full of refusal: ”... I’m not a storage box.”

Angel: ”Just a small amount.”

After a brief silence, Wang Wang nodded: ”Storing a small amount is fine, but only a small amount.”

Angel immediately beamed with sunlight. He had many objects he couldn’t be seen with, and many of them had hidden dangers, like—Lord of the Flameless’s avatar remains.

Previously there was nowhere to put it, so he’d make do by keeping it close. But since Wang Wang’s high space could even block the gaze of a great presence like the Thief of Time, putting it there would be fail-proof.

Angel mentally calculated that if there were other unseen things in the future, they could also be stored with Wang Wang. As for Wang Wang’s ”small amount of storage,” he directly ignored it.

...

Angel looked around, still surrounded by pitch-black void.

”Even if this is a checkpoint game, there should be a map guide.” Angel sighed inwardly. Without any landmarks or guides around, are they supposed to wait silently in the void?

”Can you contact the Dalmatian now?” Angel turned to Wang Wang.

He couldn’t rely on himself; even if he tried, the Dalmatian would only act cute and play dumb in front of him, so he’d have to rely on Wang Wang.

Wang Wang shook its head.

Angel: ”Then what should we do now? Just stay here and wait for the Dalmatian to remember us and spit us out?”

Wang Wang: ”How about we return to the black room first?”

Angel’s eyes brightened: ”You know where the black room is?”

Wang Wang nodded: ”I do, I have the coordinates for the black room, we can go there. However, traveling through space within the master’s body requires his approval.”

Angel: ”Did the Dalmatian agree now?”

Wang Wang shook its head: ”I don’t know either.”

Angel: ”No matter the case, let’s try first.”

Wang Wang pondered for a moment and agreed with Angel’s suggestion. If the master didn’t agree, they couldn’t traverse through space anyway.

Then, Wang Wang took Angel to try spatial traversal.

There were no hurdles.

After a sensation of weightlessness, when Angel reopened his eyes, they had left that void and found themselves in a room with a pure black background.

”Indeed, it’s possible.” How could a checkpoint game have a blocking section? If one gets blocked, it surely meant the teleportation NPC wasn’t found.

Wang Wang appearing at the right time and place was evidently acting like a tool.

So now the checkpoint had changed from escaping the void to ’escaping the black chamber’?

Angel thought silently, then turned to examine this black chamber, prepared to see if there were any ”puzzles” he had to solve.

Then, he saw the Dalmatian obediently squatting in one corner.

Indeed, besides Angel and Wang Wang, the Dalmatian was also in this black room.

Angel and the Dalmatian stared at each other wide-eyed.

”Looks like I misunderstood; there’s no ’escape the chamber’ section—it’s already the grand finale.” Seeing the Dalmatian, Angel knew the checkpoint game was over.

Angel walked to the Dalmatian, squatted down, lowered his head, and looked into the Dalmatian’s eyes: ”You arranged for Wang Wang to pick me up, didn’t you?”

The Dalmatian puppy looked at Angel with its moist and innocent eyes: ”Woof woof woof?”

”The Thief of Time was also your doing, right?”

Continued in an innocent tone: ”Woof woof?”

”The golden blood and space essence, those are benefits you gave me, right?”

”Woof woof?”

Angel: ... Just as expected, whenever he meets the Dalmatian, this guy starts playing dumb.

Angel sighed, but he was used to it.

”If you don’t answer, I’ll take that as a yes.” Angel put away his helpless expression, smiling broadly at the Dalmatian, extending his hand.

Little puppy stared at the large hand placed before it, hesitated for a while, then placed its little paw over it.

Angel leaned forward to touch foreheads with the little puppy.

”Thank you.”

The Dalmatian’s goodwill was remembered in Angel’s heart. No matter how much it acted dumb or cute, Angel would still thank it.

”Woof woof?” Dalmatian tilted its head, still looking clueless, but its gaze was brighter than before.