Chapter 10: "Gathering Storms"
Now that he had made up his mind, Angel did not take the public carriage to the steam train station in Tingen City as originally planned, but directly found a hired carriage parked on the corner of the street.
"Let's go to the Dragon Bar in the dock area." She said to the driver who was sitting in the driver's seat with his legs crossed waiting for work. The dock on the outskirts of the city had the largest underground trading market in Tingen City. Before dealing with Mrs. Sharon, she had to be fully prepared.
"It costs 12 pence to get to the dock area from here. If you want to take a carriage back, you might as well charter a carriage. It costs 2 soli an hour and you can go wherever you want." The coachman gave a quote.
Without hesitation, Angel booked the carriage. Now she had to race against time and she had no time to find another carriage to go back.
Looking at the street scene outside the window moving rapidly backwards, Angel closed his eyes and planned his next move.
Originally, her plan had required at least two weeks of preparation to deal with Madam Sharon. Not only would she have to transform her otherworldly knowledge and skills into combat power, but she would also need the cooperation of multiple official Beyonders, and a sneak attack would be necessary to have a chance of success. If a direct battle ensued, with her current Sequence 9 strength, injury or even death would be a high possibility.
Now that the preparation time has been shortened to 24 hours, the success rate has undoubtedly dropped significantly.
Angel wasn't sure when his words at St. Selina's Church would reach the ears of the official Beyonders. Perhaps they had already started to act, and he would be pinned to the ground by a group of big men as soon as he returned to Daffodil Street and opened the door. Perhaps those slow-witted people would not react until he arrived at Mrs. Sharon's house on time for the appointment.
All she could do was to increase her strength as quickly as possible.
It was definitely too late to continue raising his Sequence. Perhaps after a successful promotion, Cole Granger, who was at Sequence 7, could eliminate the higher-Sequence Madam Sharon in one fell swoop with a surprise attack, but now he was just a Sequence 9 "Assassin".
Besides, Angel didn't intend to use the precious lives of ordinary people as his upgrade experience like Cole did according to the name of the "Assassin" potion.
In this case, we can only arm ourselves with external objects to increase our combat capabilities.
…
Crossing the entire city of Tingen, from the church in the north district to the dock area in the south of the city, the number of people on the streets gradually thinned out, and the number of gas lamps lit on the streets also became fewer and fewer.
If Angel hadn't remembered that Cole Granger had come to buy extraordinary materials several times, she would have almost thought that the coachman was taking her somewhere else with some strange intention.
It wasn't until the low, cramped buildings disappeared from the window and the Tussock River, reflecting the crimson moonlight, appeared that she was sure she had arrived at the dock area.
The driver parked the carriage beside a small path by the river. At the end of the road were large dock work areas and cargo warehouses. During the day, there was a busy scene of loading and unloading goods and selling commodities, but at night it was unusually quiet.
"Ma'am, the security here is not very good at night. If you want to go to that bar... well, forget it." He kindly reminded Angel who got out of the car and put on her hood again, but saw her pat the holster tied on her leg and immediately shut up.
The "Dragon Bar" is the only entertainment facility at the Tingen City Pier. During the day, it is crowded with workers who come here to have a drink in their spare time. After nightfall, it is also lingered by drunkards who are reluctant to leave. There are also dog-catching and rat-gambling games like the "Wild Heart" inside, but the rough men at the pier prefer fist-fighting matches.
Pushing open the heavy door, a whistling sound mixed with a strong smell of alcohol came. Two shirtless men on the boxing ring were swinging their fists vigorously to attack each other. The collision of fists and flesh caused cheers. More than a dozen drinkers around were waving their glasses to cheer for the players they supported. No one noticed Angel's arrival.
She walked around the boxing ring and came to the billiard room at the back of the bar. Two people were playing billiards inside, and several others were gathered around the table, talking and chatting. When they saw her enter, they immediately quieted down.
Angel explained his purpose, and they looked at each other and quietly made way for a secret door deep in the room.
She pulled the candlestick by the window to open the secret door, then walked through several empty rooms and came to a large area.
This is a warehouse behind the Dragon Bar, which is rented out as an underground trading market. Now is the peak trading season. There are people setting up stalls everywhere, standing or sitting, waiting for customers to come. More people are walking between the stalls, exchanging ideas and comparing prices.
Most of the items sold here don't actually possess Extraordinary properties; they're simply common occult items, such as prayer candles, spices used in various rituals, real or fake, and crystals and minerals that look more like ornaments than materials. The buyers are primarily occult enthusiasts, purchasing these items simply to satisfy their own needs or those within their small circle, without any involvement in Extraordinary events.
Of course, extraordinary people like Cole Granger also mingled among the buyers. Auxiliary materials needed for various potions, materials for divination or curse rituals, and base materials for making extraordinary items can all be found here.
After walking around the market and listening to a few transactions, Angel chose the items he needed.
She first bought most of the reagents from a vendor who sold prepared chemical solutions, and also bought the lined and handle-lined wooden boxes he used to store the reagents.
Then she picked up the wooden box and walked around the stalls, quickly filling it with materials such as luminous lizard scales and screaming grass. Finally, she put a piece of star crystal weighing about ten grams in a cloth bag and put it in her shirt pocket.
Declining the market guard's offer to help with the carrying, Angel carried the box back along the same route to the billiard room, passed the bustling boxing ring, and returned to the hired carriage waiting for her on the roadside.
"Let's go to Daffodil Street... No, let's go to Iron Cross Street first." She told the driver her destination. Before going home, she must first pick up the ladies' pistol that she had dropped there a few days ago. Any weapon is precious now.
Regardless of the dirtiness of the wooden box, Angel carefully placed it on her thighs and stood on tiptoe to isolate herself from the bumps of the carriage. This was an important guarantee for her survival tomorrow night.
…
When he pushed open the door of No. 6 Daffodil Street, a note warning of intruders fell to the ground. Angel didn't know whether to feel regretful or relieved.
When she came back in the afternoon, she casually threw a paper bag containing bread, potatoes and celery on the living room table. Now she had no mood or time to cook, so she just picked up a loaf of bread, tore off half a piece and took a bite, then carried the wooden box to the basement.
The mutton thrown down there two days ago had begun to emit a strange smell, successfully covering up the faint smell of blood, but now she regretted doing so, because she would have to spend the next night in the basement with this unpleasant smell.
"If the study wasn't full of flammable materials, I wouldn't come here to work."
Holding his nose, Angel walked into the basement, lit a candle, looked around, and finally decided to endure this discomfort. After the fire was lit, the temperature in the basement would rise, and the chimney effect would remove most of the smell.
She sorted the materials she bought on the stone table, lit the stove next to it, preheated the crucible she picked up from the kitchen, and then used the alchemical tools left by Cole to process the materials.
The surface of the lizard's scales was scraped off with a knife and soaked in nitric acid in a test tube. The essence of the screaming grass was extracted with alcohol. The calcium carbide was ground into powder, resinified and placed next to the crucible to keep warm. The star crystal was cut into small pieces of equal size...
As her movements became more skillful, Angel seemed to be back in the days when she made her own combat equipment in the Knights Templar. Recalling the past memories, her eyes became sore and she almost shed tears.
Ah, it turns out that it was caused by the vapor of the etching liquid. It’s okay then.
He heated each brand-new 0.45-inch pistol bullet slightly to melt the adhesive, removed the bullet head, and poured out the propellant. Angel picked up the carving knife, concentrated his energy, and focused his spiritual power on the tip of the knife, gushing out.
He carved the first spell with mechanical precision.
"Gathering Storms" is the easiest to make among the five special ammunitions originally mastered by the Church of Light on Earth. By repeatedly hitting the same position, it can accumulate higher and higher damage. Even if used alone, its penetrating power is far stronger than that of ordinary bullets.
Due to its ability to stack damage with repeated hits, "Storm Gathering" is usually used on automatic weapons. However, in the Kingdom of Loen, automatic and semi-automatic weapons such as automatic rifles and six-barreled machine guns are all military-controlled equipment, and Angel has no way of getting them. So she can only make revolver bullets, using the "assassin's" body coordination ability to try to aim at the same part of the body to trigger the bullet's characteristics.
The construction of the "Gathering Storm" requires intricate patterns to be engraved on the shell, which is then filled with spiritually rich materials. The bullet is crafted from mithril mixed with crystal powder. The soft tip reduces ricochets and focuses the impact. The treated bullet is also more likely to shatter upon impact, releasing powerful energy. These properties become even more pronounced after receiving the Goddess's blessing through prayer.
While the markings representing the characteristics of various bullets were based on physical principles and should be universal in this world, Angel wasn't sure how effective the markings would be given, as they were separated by an entire world and prayers clearly couldn't receive the Goddess of Light's blessing.
The original formula of materials could not be used. Instead, Cole Granger used degraded substitutes of the same type from this world due to his limited knowledge of mysticism. The bullet could only use lead with a lower melting point. Fortunately, the star crystal was rich in spirituality, which improved the grade of the bullet.
Angel engraved marks all over the shell, further processed it with resin and etching solution, and filled it with the essence of screaming grass. The lead block was melted in the crucible and star crystal was added. It was poured into an iron mold to make a new bullet. After cooling, it was reloaded and it became a completed "Storm Gathering" bullet.
Her skills were not rusty. After calculating the time it would take, Angel estimated that she could deal with all the bullets on hand before dawn. But before that, she planned to try to see if the prayer blessing would work.
Holding the shell tightly in her hand, she used one finger to draw a circle with four points in front of her chest, silently chanting a prayer, asking for blessings from the Goddess of Light.
As expected, the bullet had no effect.
Sighing secretly, Angel opened his palm. The brass shell reflected the dim light of the candle in his hand, which was no different from before.
Such an incomplete "Storm Convergence" only has the characteristics of the material and the imprint itself, and its lethality to Beyonders will be greatly reduced.
Although she felt disappointed, this was within Angel's expectations. She hadn't expected to receive help from the gods on Earth through prayer in this other world. Picking up another bullet casing, she prepared to replace the divine power marking with a regular marking, which would at least increase the physical damage.
As she was about to finish engraving the bullet, she suddenly remembered the strange events that happened in St. Selina's Church tonight and the words spoken by the mysterious voice.
“Those who dare to move forward will be rewarded.”
After all, Cole had been a follower of the Goddess of Night before his death... With a try-it attitude, Angel replaced the original inscription that prayed to the god for divine power with the symbol of the Goddess of Night that she had seen in the church before—a crimson moon surrounded by stars. After handling the second shell in the same way, she followed the previous prayer ritual, holding the shell in her hand, drawing the crimson moon on her chest, and praying to the goddess:
"Goddess of the Night, higher than the stars, and older than eternity.
"You are the Crimson Lord, the Mother of Secrets, and the Queen of Misfortune and Terror.
"Lord of sleep and silence..."
This was the prayer from the Church of the Evernight Goddess in Cole Granger's memory. He had once been a less devout follower of the Evernight Goddess, but ever since he became an "assassin" and had his hands stained with the blood of innocent people, he had never dared to set foot in the church again.
“I pray that you…
"I pray that you will bless this item...
"Give it the power to fight against evil and injustice..."
The body of the apostate, the soul of the pagan, is such a prayer really useful?
Angel finished his prayer silently and opened his eyes, a hint of crimson showing through the gaps between his clenched right fingers.
She opened her palms in surprise, and red electric light leaped and flowed in the originally dim engravings. The brass shell emitted a dazzling crimson light as if it was ignited, which lasted for a long time before dissipating.
There was no doubt that this was a complete "Storm Gathering" bullet imbued with the power of prayer. Even without testing, she could be sure that it was no less powerful than the standard ammunition mass-produced in her original world.
Prayer... worked?
Angel took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if this was really a blessing from the gods, or if the production method was in line with the laws of this world, which is why it was able to successfully reproduce the complete bullet effect.
But this does not prevent us from expressing our gratitude to the Goddess of Night.
She pointed four times on her chest, outlining a crimson moon. Compared to the ritual performance at St. Selina's Church, this prayer was more heartfelt.
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