Inside The Black Mist

The young girl opened her eyes and saw Tianyang lost in thought. She waved her small hand in front of his face. "Hey, what's wrong with you? Did I say something wrong?"

Tianyang snapped out of it. Lacking much experience interacting with girls, he shyly said, "No, you were right. What you said is almost exactly what... an elder of mine once told me."

"Really? Then I'm truly honored."

The girl really lived up to her name, lively like a little bird, chirping non-stop. "Don’t you think it’s fate that brought us together? I fell down, and you just happened to catch me."

"Your name is Tianyang, and mine is Xiaoniao. Don’t little birds like to fly freely under the bright sunlight?"

As she spoke, the girl even mimicked the flapping of wings.

Blinking her eyes, Xiaoniao suddenly said, "Why don’t you marry me?"

Tianyang started coughing violently. He seriously doubted his ears were malfunctioning. If not, then this girl's courage was a bit too much, wasn’t it?

Xiaoniao burst out laughing. "I'm just teasing you. I need to go fix something. See you next time."

She picked up the small wrench that had fallen earlier, squeezed through a few strange trees, and climbed up the sturdy frame of the sensor tower.

Tianyang shook his head, seemingly infected by Xiaoniao’s optimism. The gloom he felt earlier had completely vanished.

His communicator buzzed, and he received a message from Adam. ”Where are you? Uncle Tie has fixed your gun. He's waiting for you at the dormitory.”

Tianyang quickly replied, ”I'll be back right away.”

He walked briskly toward the dormitory area and approached his own dorm. From a distance, he could already smell the strong scent of smoke.

A middle-aged man in dirty mechanic overalls was squatting by the door, smoking a cigarette.

At his feet laid the ”Death Knell.” This caught the eyes of passersby, who couldn’t help but glance at the exaggeratedly shaped handgun. However, they quickly coughed from the strong smoke and hurried away.

"Uncle Tie."

Tianyang called out, running over and opening the dormitory door. "Come in and have a seat."

Uncle Tie rolled his eyes, looked at him, and said nothing. He picked up the ”Death Knell” and walked inside. Fortunately, before entering, he stubbed out his cigarette, which was burnt down to the butt, and then stepped into the room.

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Once the door closed, the middle-aged man casually placed the ”Death Knell” on the table. "I managed to fix two of the damaged crystal slots. The last one is beyond repair. The materials and parts for this thing are pretty much obsolete. There's no extra material in this rundown place to fix that last crystal slot, so you'll have to make do."

"Also, I replaced some of the power components with newer developments from recent years. This should help you save about half of your star energy. I also adjusted the recoil. It should be much less now, so even with just one hand, you should be able to fire it."

Tianyang picked up the ”Death Knell.” The surface still had many scratches, but it felt like new. He tried infusing star energy into it, and sure enough, it only took less than half of his star energy to fill up a crystal slot.

"Thank you so much, Uncle Tie. This really helps me out. Do I need to pay you anything, like contribution points?"

Tianyang was so enamored with the repaired ”Death Knell” that if Uncle Tie wasn’t there, he would have run straight to the shooting range to test it.

Uncle Tie shook his head. "I don’t have many contribution points, but I have enough. No need for more. Just answer me one question, where did you get this thing?"

Tianyang was taken aback and quickly organized his thoughts before saying, "A friend gave it to me."

"You're lying!"

To his surprise, the middle-aged man roared, his eyes sharp and the veins in his neck bulging, clearly very agitated. "Adam was there that day, so I couldn’t say anything. But the truth is, I know this gun. Because I made it, and there’s only one in the entire fortress."

"It’s called Death Knell! Isn’t that right?"

Tianyang was stunned. He hadn’t expected that the ”Death Knell” was actually made by the middle-aged man in front of him.

Uncle Tie took a few deep breaths, then lowered his voice. "What’s your relationship with Su Lie?"

Another bolt from the blue.

Tianyang couldn’t help but ask back. "You know Su Lie?"

Uncle Tie snorted through his nose. "It’s hard not to. That bastard always stole things from me. Even this ”Death Knell” was something he took from me."

"That bastard even said he'd pay me back later. But then, he suddenly disappeared. Along with this gun, he vanished without a trace, and it’s been seventeen years now."

Uncle Tie rolled his eyes. "You still haven’t answered my question."

Tianyang gave a wry smile. "I don’t know what my relationship with him is, but apparently, he’s the one who gave me my name."

Uncle Tie narrowed his eyes slightly. "Could it be..."

He hesitated, then finally waved his hand. "Forget it. Seeing the ”Death Knell” again means I can finally put this matter to rest. It was the last gun I ever made, my final work. Since it’s in your hands now, use it well, and take down as many dark creatures as you can!"

Tianyang quickly replied, "I will, Uncle Tie."

Uncle Tie walked to the door. "If it ever breaks, you can always come to Yunxiang to find me for repairs, as long as I’m alive. But don’t mention Su Lie to anyone. Remember, don’t tell anyone you know Su Lie!"

At that moment, Tianyang could sense his goodwill. "I will, Uncle Tie."

The middle-aged man with graying hair finally left.

The next day, Tianyang bade farewell to the Yunxiang base and boarded the high-speed train back to Sky Fortress.

His injuries had mostly healed, and now, even if he had to fight, it wouldn’t be a problem. He had been away from Sky Fortress for about ten days or so, and it was time to return to his team.

As he boarded the train, Tianyang headed to the car indicated on his ticket, his thoughts wandering, recalling what Uncle Tie had told him yesterday.

As he passed through a section of the train, he accidentally bumped into someone.

The person he bumped into staggered a few steps back and snorted coldly. "Walking without looking? If you don’t need your eyes, why not donate them? They’re just a waste on you anyway!"

Although this person spoke rudely, it was Tianyang who bumped into him first, so he looked up and apologized. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to."

When they got a good look at each other, both exclaimed, "It’s you?"

It turned out the person he bumped into was Yunze's second brother, Yunfeng!

"Mr. Yunfeng, is everything alright?"

Several guards from the Yun family quickly approached, surrounding Yunfeng and casting hostile glances at Tianyang. Among them, an Ascender who wasn’t wearing protective gear took a step forward, exuding an oppressive aura.

This Ascender seemed to be at least a Rank 2, possibly even Rank 3. Although he did create some pressure on Tianyang, having once faced a high-ranking expert like Wang Liangyi, the pressure from this person was insignificant in comparison.

Yunfeng straightened his clothes and looked at Tianyang calmly, saying, "It's nothing; I just got bumped into by this kid."

The Ascender immediately barked, "Do you have any idea who Mr. Yunfeng is? His status is extremely noble. If you injured him, could you bear the consequences?"

Tianyang, feeling displeased, replied, "I already apologized."

The Ascender sneered, "Bumping into Mr. Yunfeng isn’t something an apology can simply resolve."

Tianyang raised his eyebrows and said, "So, what do you want to do about it?"

Yunfeng raised his hand and gently patted the Ascender on the shoulder. "Forget it, I’m fine. No need to make a mountain out of a molehill or people might think the Yun family is domineering and unreasonable."

The Ascender immediately lowered his stance and stepped back, "Understood."

Thinking the matter was settled, Tianyang nodded at Yunfeng and turned to leave.

"Stop." Yunfeng deliberately stretched out his words.

Before he could move, several guards blocked Tianyang's way.

With a smile, Yunfeng said, "I just said not to make a big deal out of it, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t hold you accountable. How about this? I noticed your handgun looks interesting. Leave it, and you can go."

Tianyang turned around and replied in a deep voice, "No way!"

The Ascender sneered, "A piece of junk, and you think it’s a treasure! Mr. Yunfeng taking an interest in it is your good fortune. Don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!"

A glint of silver shone deep within the young man's eyes as he said, "And what if I have no choice but to drink this forfeit today?"

"How dare you!"

The Ascender roared, and the carriage was immediately filled with an intense aura. "If you don’t hand over the gun today, I’ll take it myself!"

Tianyang met his challenge head-on. "Let’s see if you have the ability!"

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached, and a female guard hurriedly rushed in.

Yunfeng frowned, raising his hand to signal, and the Ascender immediately understood, withdrawing his aura to avoid harming the female guard.

The female guard ran straight to Yunfeng's side and whispered something to him, causing the expression of the second son of the Yun family to turn peculiar.

When she finished, Yunfeng forced a helpless smile and cleared his throat. "Well, it seems I’ve got something else to do. I don’t have time to tangle with him."

The Ascender, who was facing off with Tianyang, was stunned, thinking he must have misheard. He’d been with Yunfeng for some time now and had never seen him back down so easily.

"I said, let’s go! Are you deaf? Do you want to donate your ears too?" Yunfeng raised his voice slightly, snorted, and then left with a flick of his sleeve.

The Ascender could only glare at Tianyang begrudgingly and said, "Consider yourself lucky."

Tianyang responded with a smile, "My luck has always been good."

Annoyed, the Ascender rolled his eyes, and with that, Tianyang parted ways with the Yun family entourage.

Finding his seat, the young man plopped down and exhaled a little in relief.

Although he didn’t think Yunfeng would dare to deal with him recklessly on the train, it would have been troublesome. This outcome was the best possible, though he couldn’t understand why Yunfeng suddenly changed his mind.

Remembering the female guard, Tianyang thought it was likely they had received some important news and didn’t have time to deal with a minor character like him.

It seemed his luck was indeed pretty good!