The two walked very fast and gradually started running down the long street. Da Yu said, "Hopefully the puppeteer can be attracted by those gods and Buddhas, so that there will be less guard in the manor."
After traversing eight streets from the fourth district, Da Yu could already see the outline of the Chen family manor in the distance.
He glanced at the time: "Wait, wait another 8 minutes."
Eight minutes later, while the first batch of gods and Buddhas were still fleeing, Da Yu had already taken out a shroud from his spatial ring, inside which were 25 scrolls that had been completely renewed!
He twisted it to pieces again!
On the other side of the city, the three remaining flying goddesses were traversing the steel jungle when they crashed into a giant holographic projection in the sky. The surging blue holographic waves crashed against the buildings next to them and collided with the dazzling purple light bands on the buildings.
They suddenly disappeared, like a drop of water merging into a wave.
The paintings of the Chen family painters are connected to their spiritual will, and each one is unique in the world. Therefore, when Da Yu re-manifests a new painting on the other side, the previous one no longer exists.
At this moment, a dense swarm of drones patrols the holographic image, but has lost its target.
...
...
At the same time, in Chen Yu's residence, 12 painters were sitting around an antique clock.
They were completely absorbed in their painting, while outside, puppets continuously brought in rare pigments: green from powdered Qingshan stone, red from cinnabar from Yunding Mountain, yellow from gold powder, and blue from Zhongshan jade.
The antique clock pendulum was two meters tall and was once one of Chen Yu's most important forbidden items. It had no containment conditions because it gave off a negative 'halo' within a ten-meter radius.
Within 10 meters, time flows at ten times the speed of the outside world. Ordinary people will age rapidly after getting close. Even Chen Yu doesn't use it often.
However, for the puppeteer, this became the most suitable forbidden object after Chen Yu left.
As for whether the puppet's lifespan would be shortened, that was not even within his consideration.
The moment the drone lost its target, all 12 Chen family painters simultaneously stopped painting, looked in the same direction, and laughed in unison: "Trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain and fish in troubled waters? Looks like they still won't give up. Humans are always dragged down by useless kinship and love. Even the smartest people can make the wrong choices."
The next second, an artist stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked outside. Outside, a puppet was waiting in a car, inside which were all of the artist's scrolls.
His scroll paintings even required a special vehicle to transport them!
The remaining artists continued to paint with their heads down, no longer affected by anything.
It seems that no matter who the puppeteer's enemy is tonight, one painter is enough.
Chapter 969: Sand becomes a sea
In the darkness of night.
Outside the Chen family manor, Da Yu manipulated 25 paintings to sneak in, only to discover that the garrison troops here had been transferred away at some point!
The entire Chen family manor appeared exceptionally deserted in the darkness, as if one had entered a haunted mansion.
Da Yu stood there, stunned: "Why is there no defensive force?"
“Stop dwelling on these things. No matter how many doubts you have, you’re going to break in eventually,” Zard said.
The two of them charged into the manor. The head butler, who had served the Chen family for 36 years, stood by the roadside, smiling at Da Yu and Zard: "Good evening, young master. Welcome home."
Da Yu sneered, "A person who has already been turned into a puppet still wants to put on an act here?"
The head butler smiled and said, "Do you two really intend to be my enemies? It's truly a pity."
The head steward showed no intention of making a move, and Da Yu did not want to kill the person who had taken care of him since childhood, so he continued to fight his way inside in search of his mother, Chen Ningzhi.
As Da Yu and Zard charged in, the head butler stood alone in the darkness of the manor, watching their backs.
He was like an NPC in a game, quietly watching everything.
Strange.
Along the way, Da Yu encountered more than thirty familiar faces: maids, cooks, gardeners, and guards.
They stood by the roadside, smiling eerily, each repeating the same phrase: "Do you two really want to be my enemies? What a pity."
Zard's hair stood on end: "Why is this guy like a ghost, haunting me? What is he trying to do?"
"Ignore him, find my mother and leave!" Da Yu said.
Qingchen has a syringe, but because it is a highly forbidden item for puppeteers, it cannot be lent to Da Yu and must be kept in the safest place.
Therefore, what Dayu needs to do is, regardless of whether his mother Chen Ningzhi has become a puppet, as long as he can forcibly take his mother away, there is still hope.
Upon arriving at the villa in the center of the manor, Da Yu used the Swift to scout the way, only to find that the entire villa was deserted, except for the Chen family patriarch, who was holding Chen Ningzhi hostage and standing in the center of the villa with a smile.
Da Yu didn't have a deep affection for this grandfather. The grandfather was focused on seizing power from Chen Yu and didn't particularly care about family ties.
But Chen Ningzhi, the mother, was different. While others were still fighting for power, she accompanied young Dayu away from City No. 7. They traveled a lot, saw many mountains and rivers, and got to know many rare animals.
In summer, we catch cicadas; in winter, we build snowmen; in spring, we fly kites; and in autumn, we pick fruit.
Da Yu had a happy childhood.
His life was unlike that of those struggling in secluded mansions; it was exceptionally fulfilling and free.
So when faced with a choice, he ultimately chose to return to the Chen family manor and take the risk.
Da Yu knew this decision was wrong, but the world doesn't necessarily need one person to make the right decision every time.
The Chen family head, now a puppet, smiled and said, "Do you want to take your mother away? How about we make another deal? Kill Zard next to you, and I'll return your mother to you."
"Is this kind of game fun?" Da Yu said coldly, "I think I understand now. It's because you yourself are not a real human being, you have no humanity, so you also hope to see humans like you, right?"
The head of the Chen family paused for a moment: "This viewpoint resonates with my mindset."
Da Yu said, "But not all bionics are like you. The bionic of Qing Zhen, the ancestor of the Qing clan, was full of humanity."
The head of the Chen family shook his head: "When he was created, he obtained the blood of a god, so he was already in his complete form."
“No, whether you have humanity or not has nothing to do with whether you have obtained the blood of a god,” Da Yu said. “I’m pretty sure my mother is already your puppet, but it doesn’t matter, we have a way to heal her.”
The head of the Chen family exclaimed, "Qing Chen is indeed the biggest hidden danger; he actually managed to obtain such a forbidden item."
When Qing Chen rescued Qin Shuli's puppets earlier, he used a syringe. The puppeteer could only feel his puppets disappearing in large numbers and then reappearing.
At that time, he suspected that Qingchen had a forbidden object that could restrain him, but he was not sure yet.
Da Yu stopped wasting words with the puppeteer: "Zard, you stole my mother, let's fight our way out!"
But Chen Ningzhi smiled and said, "Today's little episode was particularly lively and interesting, but it's probably not very likely that the two of you will be able to break out."
They suddenly turned around and looked outside, only to see an elderly Chen family painter slowly walking into the manor, followed by a car.
But then we saw the painter Chen take out scrolls from the car and twist them into pieces one by one, actually twisting 200 scrolls into pieces in one go!
The Chen family painter, who had become a puppet, laughed and said, "In order to keep the two of you, I will offer 200 paintings as a sign of respect."
The next moment, two hundred flying goddesses, draped in red silk, floated in the air, swaying gracefully, their figures exquisite.
These are two hundred A-grade paintings. How could Da Yu and his group possibly defeat them?
In the blink of an eye, Da Yu's 25 A-grade paintings were surrounded by the Flying Goddess.
In the span of just three breaths, the opponent crushed him with almost ten times the number of people—a gap that even a shroud could not erase.
Da Yu's pupils suddenly contracted. He suddenly realized a problem: the paintings were all disposable. If the other party could take out two hundred paintings and use them all at once, he probably had more than ten times that amount left.
Even dozens of times.
Just as Qing Chen predicted, infiltrating the Chen family was the best option for a puppeteer!
Once Qingchen and the Roosevelt Kingdom are both severely weakened, this puppeteer will become the biggest winner. At that time, he can continuously 'create weapons' through the Chen family's painting tradition and then control the whole world.
Da Yu sighed, "Zard, I've dragged you into this. We shouldn't have come back."
But just as he was feeling discouraged, Zard said, "We have to get back alive. We have to get the news from here to the boss. He needs to know there are other hidden dangers. Also, you absolutely cannot let the shroud fall into the hands of this puppeteer."
The buildings around Zard are gradually turning into sand, and the entire villa is like a sandcastle. Sand is falling in a flurry, and the roof is gradually disappearing.
His spirit and will are constantly merging with the world, striving to break through to the top.
Zard's hair turned red strand by strand, but not everyone could cross the threshold of demigodhood, and his hair turned back to black strand by strand.
"Charge out!" Da Yu roared.
Zard unleashed a massive sandstorm, forcefully separating the Chen family head and Chen Ningzhi.
A giant sand hand emerged from the sand, grabbed Chen Ningzhi, and thrust her in front of Da Yu: "Run!"
Chen Ningzhi had already fainted. Da Yu took out the Black Leaf Plain vine from his spatial ring, wrapped it around his mother's hands, and carried her outside.
Zard used the sandstorm as a screen behind them to block the view of the more than two hundred flying goddesses.
The two ran frantically toward the third district, where the key gate of the parent-teacher association was waiting to meet them!
However, as they fled, they saw the head steward of the Chen family standing by the roadside, smiling.
Seeing their disheveled escape, the other party simply smiled and said, "Judging from the direction you're heading, you two must be on your way to the Third District to find the Key Gate, right?"
Da Yu realized something was wrong; the other party actually knew about the existence of that key door!
He shouted to Zard, "Forget about the third district! Use the backup plan Qingchen gave us, and charge straight out of the city!"
The two broke out of the manor and merged into the bustling city.
Two hundred flying goddesses broke through the sand curtain and suddenly dispersed, forming a large net in the sky that enveloped Da Yu.
The city's residents saw two hundred flying goddesses traversing the city, chasing their target and crashing into one holographic projection after another.
When the enormous holographic projection appeared, they seemed to be traveling through a world where mammoths, blue whales, magic, and fireworks coexisted, a magnificent and dazzling spectacle.
Da Yu led Zard through the crowd and suddenly disappeared into a building.
They quickly arrived at the underground parking lot and ran towards B2 with practiced ease.
The underground parking garage of Cyber City No. 7 is almost a continuous whole, with load-bearing columns supporting the ground, making the city more efficient in its use.
This created a maze-like underground parking garage, and the Flying Goddess lost her open view, so she could only follow them into this maze.
"B14 direction!"
"C38 direction!"
"F13 direction!"
As Da Yu ran, he held a piece of paper in his hand and looked for signs for the underground vault, freely navigating the interconnected garage passages.