Chapter 412

Chapter 413: New Residents in the Valley

The Valley welcomed new residents, and clearly, there would be a lot of long-term ones.

The mass-produced Irene dolls.

Groups of Gothic Dolls appeared around the Portal Nexus and in Fairy Tale Town. Following orders from the “host,” they explored their new home, and their numbers kept growing.

These slightly blank-faced little ones quickly drew the attention of the town’s dollheads and caused a decent bit of chaos. Thankfully, Little Red Riding Hood used her grown-up authority to shoo the rowdy cursed children home, or the town would have seen the spectacle of dozens of Human kids chasing dozens of Irene dolls.

The first batch of dolls was sent to the power station. The next two batches went to the Black Forest logging camp and Youth Formport. Because everything happened so suddenly and the mass-produced dolls had just stepped off the “factory floor,” Yu Sheng didn’t have them take over complex work right away. He had them learn the layouts first and meet the current maintenance crews.

Swapping out maintenance teams is complicated and has to go step by step. Considering their height, even once the Irenes could help, they wouldn’t replace Human workers quickly. At the start, Yu Sheng planned to have them do basic tasks-cleaning, managing storerooms, and lending a hand-then move up to harder jobs after they got used to things.

On the Castle roof at the end of The End Web in Fairy Tale Town, Red Hood perched on the eaves watching the mass-produced dolls walking around below, then sighed to Yu Sheng beside her: “You really do things the moment you think of them. Shouldn’t something like this be planned long in advance, coordinated with lots of people, and only then carried out?”

Yu Sheng’s smile stiffened, but before he could answer, the Irene on his shoulder piped up: “You’ll get used to it. When Yu Sheng gets an idea, he can’t hold it in. He once dragged a whole spaceship down next to the Black Forest without telling anyone. That was huge. I even suspect he only learned about the mass-produced doll plan one day earlier than you all did.”

Rapunzel’s eyes lit up as she said: “Oh, I’ve heard that saying. Most authors only know the plot one day earlier than their readers. Bro really is a writer.”

Listening to them chatter right by his ears, even Yu Sheng’s thick skin started to crack. He protested: “That’s not fair. I usually have careful, well-thought-out plans.”

No one believed him.

After watching the mass-produced dolls for a while, Red Hood asked curiously: “Where do these mass-produced Irenes live?”

Irene answered easily: “I told them to return to the Pyramid to wait when they don’t have tasks. The top four levels of that big Pyramid are empty, with tons of space. Yu Sheng built it that big purely for the vibe, and now it’s useful.”

Yu Sheng added at once: “If the Pyramid ever gets full, we’ll build a ‘doll town’ near the Nexus or on the edge of town. These little ones don’t take much space. Putting up lots of small houses will be much easier than molding another Pyramid.”

Red Hood hugged her knees and tried to picture a whole town filled with mass-produced dolls only 66.6 centimeters tall. After a long struggle, she just scratched her hair and said: “I still can’t imagine what that would look like. But anyway, I think it’s great. The Valley will get livelier. A place this huge felt kind of empty with just us.”

Yu Sheng only smiled at her muttering. He said nothing, stretched long, and lay down on the Castle roof, eyes half closed.

Irene climbed nimbly onto his chest the instant he lay down, found a comfy spot, and flopped down too.

Foxy, halfway through a roast chicken, glanced back, tilted her head, then scooted over and lay beside Yu Sheng, draping a bundle of tails over him and Irene.

Farther away, outside the town, Luna finished her work in the fields. She lifted her head to see six Irenes standing neatly on the path, staring blankly at her. The saintess looked a little confused.

At Youth Formport by the Black Forest, Engineer Sun held a cigarette and stared dazedly as a group of Irene dolls ran all over under the antenna tower. The smoke almost burned his fingers before he noticed.

In the Activity Room at the southwest corner of Fairy Tale Town, Teacher Su smiled helplessly at the little dolls who volunteered to help with cleaning. She searched for a long time but couldn’t find brooms or mops small enough for them. Before the mass-produced dolls can really help, the first job will be making tools that fit their size.

On the edge of the Black Forest, the loggers Summoned by the King stood awkwardly on the Open Ground. The Hunter stood among them with the Squirrel on his shoulder. Everyone stared at the Gothic Dolls running around with huge axes on their shoulders.

They didn’t understand what “logging” meant yet. That would take guidance.

The Squirrel whispered on the Hunter’s shoulder: “They’re pretty strong.”

The Hunter whispered back: “But their bodies aren’t even as tall as an axe. I don’t think they’re fit for logging. We’ll teach them to pick mushrooms and berries instead.”

The Squirrel’s eyes lit up as it said: “And collect hazelnuts and acorns!”

The Hunter nodded and said: “Right, hazelnuts and acorns.”

The Squirrel laughed happily and hopped from shoulder to head among the Hunter and the loggers.

In the distant Pyramid, more mass-produced dolls opened their eyes on the Alchemic Platform. Knowledge and skills from the early individuals flowed through their shared spirit. The Irene matrix, in that newborn haze, began to touch and understand the world. One small figure after another stepped out of the Pyramid. In the bright daylight, the Irenes all widened their eyes in wonder.

The “host Irene’s” first welcome echoed in every simple mind, even if they could not fully grasp it yet. It was the first sentence Irene said to every mass-produced unit, and only she and the Irenes knew the words:

“Welcome to your home. It’s a good place!”

The new mass-produced dolls still had a long way to go before they could smoothly handle their “jobs.”

But one thing was certain: the Valley was going to get lively.

Sadly, Yu Sheng didn’t have much time to enjoy his farm-life vacation in the Valley. Luna handled the farm. He handled the “life.” That counted as a farm trip too.

There were more important matters on Featherwing 13b.

High beyond Sentinel Silence in deep orbit, a silver-white glow slid across the darkness of Deep Space.

Foxy slipped past stations and satellites, avoided monitored lanes, and accelerated toward the space beyond Sentinel Silence.

Yu Sheng rode on the huge Nine Tailed Fox with Irene perched on his shoulder and Luna at his side. The three of them set out for a nearby planet.

Because there might still be hidden Black Robed Cultivators or Hermitage Order watchers on Sentinel Silence, they left Ink City in secret. The method was simple and rough. Yu Sheng opened The Door straight to outer space. The exit point matched a near-star coordinate that the Otherworldly Hotel recorded during its approach to Sentinel Silence.

No matter how vast the Divine Powers of Yun Qing Zi and those Hermitage Order believers might be, they would not detect this route.

Xuan Che and Immortal Yuan Hao stayed in Ink City to keep investigating and to report any movements on Sentinel Silence to Yu Sheng.

Zheng Zhi stayed with Xuan Che for safety. His “observation” was excellent, but his body was fragile. Until they understood the situation at the destination, he should remain in the rear.

Xuan Che’s voice came through the phone with the basics of the destination: “The place you’re headed to is officially called ‘Garrison-3.’ It’s the third planet orbiting this sun. Compared to Sentinel Silence, Garrison-3 is even more desolate. It has no valuable ores and shows no Earth Veins reaction, so it’s not fit for development or settlement. Aside from a few Heavenseeker Pavilions at the poles to boost superluminal communication, the planet is uninhabited and stays wild everywhere.

“The site where Yun Qing Zi once fought an unknown enemy lies in the southern hemisphere. There’s an impact crater visible from space. It’s easy to find.

“No one has visited for many years. Be very careful.”

Listening to the careful warning, Yu Sheng grew curious and asked: “Shouldn’t a place where a great one fought and fell be important? You just leave it alone and no one manages it?”

Xuan Che sounded puzzled: “Manage… how?”

Yu Sheng said offhandedly: “Set it as a protected zone or a restricted area. Or make it a famous forbidden ground. That’s how novels do it. Where a mighty one dies, there must be some special chance left behind. Maybe a blessed land, maybe a fierce place, but there’s always something like that. There’s also a hidden sect that guards it for generations. Anyone who comes gets blocked and tested, and during the test no one talks like a normal person.”

He rambled as his writer’s brain spun up, leaving Xuan Che quiet for a few beats. Then Xuan Che chuckled helplessly and said: “What you describe sounds like stories from old books. In ancient times our pollution-handling was poor. When a great one died, the aftermath and remains polluted heaven and earth. Without isolation, passersby could die. We no longer have those fears. Every sect has complete funerary methods. Even a thousand years ago, after Yun Qing Zi died, people went to Garrison-3 to handle matters properly.

“If we didn’t, then every time a great one fell, a ‘forbidden ground’ would appear. Countless have fallen through the ages. No matter how vast the Featherwing star region is, how many habitable worlds would be left if we kept doing that?”

Yu Sheng fell silent: “…”