Chapter 408

Chapter 409: The First Mass-Production Unit

At Hotel Valley’s Portal Nexus, on the terrace linked to the outer gallery of the great Pyramid’s second floor, the eternal rain and neon-lit night of Sentinel Silence had been novel, but staying too long in a place that never stopped raining felt gloomy. Back in this bright valley, Yu Sheng felt his mood loosen at once.

Standing at the edge of the Pyramid’s terrace, he drew in a deep breath of the valley’s clean air and looked around with delight. [This is more like it.]

Not far away, Fairy Tale Town basked in daylight. There seemed to be more whimsical buildings than before. The King’s Knights patrolled between the town and the Forest. Little Red Riding Hood’s Wolf Pack chased each other through the wilds. Sleeping Beauty trimmed the thick rose bushes by her house. A silver-gray drone crossed above the town, flying straight toward the End Web at the far end of the valley. A full basket of snacks and a brand new axe hung beneath it, clearly gifts for the Hunter and the Squirrel in the Forest.

In the fields between the town and the Portal Nexus, Luna led a group of Dollheads, teaching them to recognize the crops. She still wore the “nun outfit” she got in Sentinel Silence and seemed to like it. The little Cursed Children around her had clearly gotten used to this odd-looking “sister.” They ran around her, laughing in delight.

On the nearby terrace, Foxy had just set up a long clothes rack. In the clear light and soft breeze, the Fox Maiden hummed a tune and happily hung up her freshly washed tails. Eight fluffy fox tails swayed gently, with a small dress for a doll clipped between them.

Fresh from a bath, Irene sat cross-legged on a pillar cap along the terrace rail. She had changed into new clothes. Her hair was still damp. When the wind blew, she tilted her head up to meet it, squinting in pleasure, a goofy smile spreading across her face.

“I still like sunny days,” the little doll turned and told Yu Sheng very seriously: “Over in Sentinel Silence it rains nonstop. I feel like, in that kind of weather, my joints will grow mold sooner or later.”

Yu Sheng laughed and ruffled Irene’s hair.

“Rest is about done. Time to get to work,” he said.

“Okay!” Irene cheered, hopping from the pillar onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder. She waved hard at Foxy as she called: “Silly Fox!”

Foxy had just finished hanging the tails and was admiring her work. At the call, she rushed over, excited: “Coming, coming! Are we making Irene a new body?”

“Let’s go,” Yu Sheng nodded, flicking his fingers. “Time to stock our Hotel with some fighting power.”

The three left the terrace, entered the Pyramid’s inner gallery, and soon reached the alchemy lab Yu Sheng had opened inside this “wonder building.”

Given that Yu Sheng couldn’t do any other Alchemy besides making dolls, the place doubled as a doll workshop just for Irene.

The lab sat on the Pyramid’s second floor. Even without counting the corridors, storerooms, and prep rooms, the remaining space was jaw-droppingly large. The main Alchemy work area felt like an indoor plaza. When he first built it, Yu Sheng had a moment of regret, wondering if it was wasteful to keep such a big space just for doll-making, but now it seemed his oversized plan had turned out just right. [Good call, past me.]

Bright lights filled the lab. The three walked straight to the Alchemy Bench at the center of the work zone. Yu Sheng steadied himself and began the familiar prep for crafting a doll.

First, he laid out the various ritual materials he had “plucked” from the Special Affairs Bureau. Then he had the Alchemy Bench generate a Spirit-Infusion Alchemy Array. At the same time, he drew rock and soil from the ground near the Portal Nexus and routed it here for use.

While Yu Sheng worked, Foxy started on a new “skeleton” for Irene. The Fox Maiden reached into her tail and pulled out a lump of Spirit Fox Dark Iron. A bright flame bloomed at her tail tip, and she began cutting and casting the metal with argon-fox welding.

Yu Sheng shaped grooves in the floor beside the Alchemy Bench for pouring the skeleton. He frowned, trimmed the grooves smaller, then smaller again, and reminded Foxy: “Use less. No need to make it as solid as last time. This is a mass-production unit. Keep the cost down.”

Watching wide-eyed, Irene finally couldn’t help herself after seeing him shrink the casting slots three times: “Stop shrinking it already! You’ve turned the thigh bone into wire! It still has to fight, so keep some basic strength!”

Foxy added: “Benefactor, if we use too little Spirit Fox Dark Iron, we’ll hurt the storage capacity. In a fight, it might run out after a dozen beams.”

Yu Sheng hesitated. He had thought a mass-production unit didn’t need to last long. If it could fire a few rounds with the main body or act like a power bank for the main body, that would be fine. But then he saw Irene’s pleading look, and he also knew more firepower was safer, so he adjusted the size back up a bit.

“We’ll make one sample first,” Yu Sheng said, rubbing his chin as he watched Foxy pour the skeleton. “Then Irene can control it in the ‘low-bandwidth’ mode you mentioned. We’ll test how well a mass-production body runs with only simple commands. If it passes, we’ll start batch production.”

Irene had climbed onto a nearby Alchemy Bench, elbows on the surface and chin in both hands, watching the two of them work with a thoughtful look. After a few minutes, her eyes lit up and she asked: “Want to add a self-destruct?”

Yu Sheng was in the middle of thinking how else to shave costs. He didn’t react at first, then realized what she meant and said, shocked: “You’re serious?”

“It’s a mass-production unit,” Irene said, still propping her chin as she analyzed. “If it gets wrecked in a fight, it’s no big deal. And since its performance is limited, if it goes alone on a scouting job and gets caught, it probably can’t get away. Better to add a self-destruct and give the enemy a surprise. Also, I think it’s pretty cool.”

Yu Sheng was amazed by the little doll’s idea, then instantly very interested. He leaned in to whisper with Irene: “How would it blow? Stuff a couple bombs in the belly? We can ask Dorothy. She has lots of weapons. Or borrow some firebombs from Little Match Girl? Make it self-destruct and set fires?”

“Feels weak. How many could we fit? The power won’t be enough,” Irene said.

“Ask Immortal Yuan Hao? He forges things. The Immortals have all kinds of wild tech. Many of them hit really hard,” Yu Sheng said.

“I’m not putting Spirit Bricks in my belly,” Irene said.

“Then we need innovation in the body itself,” Yu Sheng said, rubbing his chin. “See if we can integrate a device inside the torso that overloads and releases the energy in Spirit Fox Dark Iron all at once.”

“I have an idea,” Irene said, eyes shining. “From my time squeezing out Lightning Orbs, if you mess one up, it does explode.”

Their thoughts opened up on the spot. They chattered away with glee about how to hide a big blast inside a mass-production Irene. Neither of them felt anything odd about the topic until they both stopped at the same time. After a pause, Yu Sheng spoke first, thoughtful: “I feel like this is a little too twisted.”

Irene copied his pose, rubbing her chin as she said: “Kind of, yeah.”

“No, the self-destruct plan is not safe,” Yu Sheng decided after careful weighing. He shook his head and said: “These mass-production units will be moving around the valley. This is our base. If a bunch of mass-produced dolls with bombs run around here and one goes off, we’ll be in big trouble, and there are a lot of kids here.”

“True,” Irene said with a small nod.

“But you did remind me,” Yu Sheng said seriously. “We can add some features to these mass-production units. Before, I made you bodies just to serve as shells. I never thought along these lines. Now I have an idea.”

Irene blinked and asked with suspicion: “What idea?”

“Do you remember my portable Wutong Road 66?” Yu Sheng asked.

Irene tilted her head: “What?”

“This thing might be built into a mass-production unit,” Yu Sheng said.

…

Moments later, a newly adjusted doll skeleton was moved onto the Alchemic Platform.

From there, Yu Sheng’s hands moved with practiced ease.

Under his control, stone and soil were given a brief false life. They wriggled and wrapped the skeleton to form a body. A single drop of blood mixed into the shell became the key medium for bearing spirit. Incense for the Spirit Infusion Ritual was fed into the candle flames. As the fire leaped up, true vitality slowly appeared.

Color touched the stone-and-soil body. False life turned into real breathing and a mimic heartbeat. Then, at the right moment, Yu Sheng gave the empty shell its name.

“Irene,” he said.

The Spirit Infusion Ritual finished in a blink. On the Alchemic Platform, Irene (mass-produced) slowly opened her eyes. [It worked.]