WHOOSH—!

Dozens of razor-sharp bamboo leaves shot out from all directions, as fast as lightning.

The Magic Wand touched the ground, and a torrent of crimson flames erupted from beneath Zhou Chen’s feet. He used Jet Flame and Changing simultaneously, transforming some of the flames into a hurricane. Fire and wind merged into a high-speed vortex of Fiery Fire, which swept up the incoming storm of bamboo leaves and instantly burned them to ash.

The fiery vortex dissipated. Zhou Chen raised his Magic Wand and aimed it at the bamboo forest. A searing Jet Flame erupted from the Magic Wand, instantly igniting the picturesque, green bamboo forest.

The flames raged, burning a flat, scorched-black hole through the air. Through the hole, the distant, war-torn battlefield was clearly visible.

’I should be able to get out...’ Zhou Chen tapped the ground with his Magic Wand, and his figure vanished. When he reappeared, the surrounding scenery was no longer the bamboo forest, but a desolate, empty lot.

He looked back to see a huge picture frame standing in the empty lot. The painting within it depicted the very same green bamboo forest. Flames had ignited on the canvas, burning a scorched-black hole through it. In no time, the fire devoured the entire oil painting, reducing the artwork to ash. Only the expensive frame was left, still burning and emitting thick smoke.

Suddenly, Zhou Chen sensed a gaze from afar. He looked up to a small hill, where a woman with her face and clothes smeared with various paints sat behind an easel, giving him a polite smile.

The Painter was holding a pencil, sketching rapidly on a sheet of paper.

"How much wish value to brainwash the Painter?" Zhou Chen asked Eva.

[Wish Value Required: 79,999]

[Current Wish Value: 52,013/79,999]

[Wish Cannot Be Fulfilled]

’Damn it... The Painter knows Siegfried’s ability is brainwashing; she must have come prepared.’ Zhou Chen clicked his tongue in annoyance.

In those few short seconds, the Painter completed her sketch. A startlingly lifelike "Siegfried" appeared on the paper.

The Painter pulled out the sheet of paper and tossed it toward Zhou Chen’s position. A black-and-white "Siegfried" flew out from the paper, clutching a Magic Wand. This "Siegfried" was in a completely different art style from the real World, looking as if it had a "pencil filter" applied.

The pencil-filter Siegfried landed, raised its pencil-filter Magic Wand, and unleashed a pencil-filter Jet Flame at Zhou Chen. The flame was black and white, like a special effect drawn by a top-tier manga artist.

Facing the approaching black-and-white flame, Zhou Chen gave a light tap, and it transformed into a swarm of harmless black-and-white paper butterflies that fluttered away on the wind.

The pencil-filter Siegfried then tapped the ground with its Magic Wand, turning the earth to sand. Instead of sinking, Zhou Chen used his Magic Wand’s levitation ability to float in the air. He flicked his Walking Stick, and a searing Fireball shot out, hurtling toward the pencil-filter Siegfried.

The latter raised its Walking Stick and tapped, turning the Fireball into a glob of ink that exploded in midair, showering down black raindrops. It then flung out a black-and-white Fireball of its own.

Zhou Chen flicked his Walking Stick at the same time, meeting it head-on. The two Fireballs collided in midair, creating a violent explosion.

He had previously heard from the Sea Monster and the Joker about the Painter’s Ability. She could create a copy by sketching. The copy lasted for five minutes and had fifty percent of the original’s power. Her Extraordinary Abilities, however, couldn’t be fully replicated—she could only grant the copy Skills the original had previously displayed.

’The Painter has never seen Siegfried use "brainwashing," only his Magic Wand, so the copy can only use the Magic Wand’s Ability. However, for Extraordinary Artifacts like a Forbidden Object, as long as the Painter has seen it, she can replicate it perfectly. As a colleague of the Joker, she definitely knows all of the Magic Wand’s Skills, so the copied Magic Wand must have all of the original’s abilities.’

’But it’s not a big problem. It’s just a drawn creature—how strong can it be? The amount of Power a Forbidden Object can unleash depends on the strength of the Receptor!’

Just then, the Painter reached down, picked up a stack of paper from the ground, and tossed it into the air. The sheets scattered like a messy swarm of butterflies, and then, a series of pencil-filter figures flew out from them.

There were humans, beasts, Beastmen, and even bizarrely-shaped Abyssal Demons.

Eight, nine, ten... fourteen, fifteen... twenty-seven.

A total of twenty-seven drawn creatures. Twenty of them emanated Tier Two Essence Fluctuation, while the remaining seven emanated Tier Three Essence Fluctuation.

Zhou Chen’s expression stiffened for a moment before he immediately returned to normal.

’The copies only have half the power of the originals, so that’s a relief... And this place is very close to the Salvation Army’s position. They’ll definitely send support if they see something’s wrong...’

As these thoughts raced through Zhou Chen’s mind, the "Painter" on the hilltop stood up. She spoke from a great distance, yet her voice carried clearly, "Siegfried, with your talent, staying in the Salvation Army is a complete waste. You should join us in Fallen Paradise. We need fresh blood like you."

’Why is Fallen Paradise always trying to recruit me...’ Zhou Chen grumbled to himself. ’This is probably their standard procedure. Every time they meet a genius, they first try to recruit them. If they succeed, everyone’s happy. If they fail, it’s no great loss—they just destroy them instead.’

"If you’re recruiting, you should at least mention the benefits, right?" Zhou Chen said, doing his best to stall for time, hoping the Salvation Army would notice the situation soon.