In a rented house deep along Wutong Road in the Old Town, a burly man nearly two meters tall was squeezed into an armchair that looked far too cramped for his frame, his head bowed as he meticulously maintained his gear.
It was a beam dagger. Small teardrop-shaped crystals were embedded in its dark red hilt, aligned in a streak running through the weapon's casing. The grip had clearly been custom-tailored to its wielder, fitting with absolute ease in the man's massive palm.
The burly man flicked his wrist, spinning the dagger a few times in his hand before casually activating it. With a low hum, a brilliant, pale-blue beam blade instantly sprang to life, tracing a searing arc through the air.
"Take it easy. Don't scratch up the coffee table—I'd have to file a report with the Bureau to pay for it," Li Lin said, fiddling with a pocket watch as he glanced up at Xu Jiali across from him. "...That thing looks pretty slick."
"Slick, right? Traded my life for it," the burly man chuckled smugly. "I pulled an Algrade astral noble out of 'Windmill' at Depth L-3—single-handedly. He gave it to me afterward. Custom-made, finest forge masters, best radiant gold crystals. In Algrade territory, you could practically use it as a knight's medal."
Li Lin grew curious. "What perks does it get you?"
"...No waiting in line for intra-atmospheric transit tickets, priority lane at the hospital, free admission to the zoo—holidays only."
Li Lin stared blankly for a second. "That's... remarkably practical. I figured those superstitious, ritual-obsessed Algrades did everything with a pile of symbolism and ceremony."
"They are pretty superstitious normally, but no matter how out-there they are, they've still got to live everyday lives, haven't they?" Xu Jiali shrugged, then grumbled slightly. "Man, operating in the boundary zone is a hassle. So much gear isn't allowed through. I even had a chainsword, but before coming here it got flagged as a hazard risk, and now it's locked away in a customs locker..."
Li Lin pondered for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, he sensed something, and an instant later, both he and Xu Jiali—who felt it as well—turned toward the window.
Under the gathering twilight, a figure had appeared on the windowsill without either of them noticing. It was a petite girl in a dark red coat, leaning against the window frame in a rather precarious posture, one leg dangling over the sill.
She eyed the two men inside with curiosity. "So, you two are the 'special agents' in charge of this block for now?"
"You're..." Li Lin frowned, having a vague guess as to her identity.
"Just call me Little Red Riding Hood," the girl perched on the sill said with a wave. "From 'Fairytale.' Your Bureau hired me to help you out in this sector for a while."
"Oh, then I know who you are." Just as he thought. A polite smile surfaced on Li Lin's face. "The team leader's been mentioning you a lot these past couple days, along with your investigation of this area. I'm Li Lin, field operative with the Council Special Affairs Bureau's Second Unit."
On the other side, Xu Jiali sized up the girl on the windowsill and spoke in a deep voice. "There might be a 'big guy' hiding around here. I thought you guys would send Snow White over, or 'the King.' Of course, not that I'm questioning your wolf pack."
Unlike Li Lin, who was relatively new, Xu Jiali had clearly crossed paths with Little Red Riding Hood before.
"Snow White's destructive potential is a bit excessive for this place—and it's not even guaranteed we'll run into a high-risk entity," Little Red Riding Hood said casually. "I've been operating in this district all along, and I've been looking into the anomalies on Wutong Road lately, so I know the lay of the land better. Don't worry. Snow White can rush over in no time anyway. If a real 'big guy' shows up, she's on call."
As she spoke, the girl rose from the windowsill and gave the two men a wave. "I just dropped by to say hello. You should both have my contact info. Call if anything happens. Bye~"
The next second, the girl's figure suddenly dissolved into a melting shadow vaguely shaped like a wolf. Leaping from the sill, it melted away into the night in the blink of an eye.
Leaving Li Lin and Xu Jiali to exchange glances in the rental.
...
After finishing dinner, Yu Sheng sat on the sofa resting with his eyes closed, listening to the pitter-patter of footsteps scampering between the living room and the dining area. First to the right, then to the left, and then circling the sofa round and round.
He opened his eyes to see Irene running back and forth between the two rooms. The 66.6-centimeter-tall doll carried an oil painting frame almost as tall as herself strapped to her back, darting across the floor as fast as a little rocket.
When Irene began her fourth lap around the sofa, Yu Sheng finally couldn't take it anymore. "Can't you take a break? Give your shoes a rest too."
Irene scurried over to Yu Sheng in a flash, her face practically glowing with excitement. "No way! I can't stop at all! I can run around now, run around! Look, I can even climb onto the coffee table and jump down from it!"
Before the words were fully out of her mouth, the doll dashed off again. She ran half a lap around the sofa, scrambled onto the coffee table in front of Yu Sheng using both hands and feet, took a running leap from the tabletop onto his lap, and just as he raised a hand to grab the scurrying creature, Irene nimbly darted forward, hopping from the sofa down to the floor...
Next, she zipped over to the TV stand in the living room, scrambled up with great effort, stretched upward on her tiptoes, and successfully hit the power switch on the television.
The little doll cheered, turning back to beam excitedly at Yu Sheng. "I can reach the TV switch too! From now on, when you're not home, I can cut the power and restart the TV all by myself!"
Yu Sheng rolled his eyes and tilted his head back in resignation. "Fine, fine, congratulations. You're amazing."
The next second, he caught a flash in the corner of his eye—Irene had already sprinted back from the TV stand. Gripping the sofa slipcover with one hand and Yu Sheng's pant leg with the other, she clambered up the sofa in a couple of swift motions and plopped down next to him.
The petite doll, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, was smaller than a throw pillow.
The oil painting propped against her back looked practically like a wall in proportion.
Yet Irene had grown accustomed to the frame's presence with astounding adaptability. Whether running with it on her back, climbing up and down, or sitting on the sofa, it didn't hinder her movements in the slightest. There were occasional, unavoidable bumps and scrapes, but the doll didn't seem to mind in the least.
It left Yu Sheng thoroughly amazed.
"Don't you find it inconvenient lugging that around?" he couldn't help asking curiously. "To be fair, if I had to run around all day with a door strapped to my back, I probably wouldn't adapt anywhere near as fast as you have..."
"I think it's pretty good," Irene said, happily rocking back and forth on the couch. Though the TV was on, her attention was clearly nowhere near it. "Sure, it was a tiny bit awkward at first, but after a couple of laps I got totally used to its weight and size. Besides, how should I put it..."
The doll suddenly paused, as if searching for the right words, before hesitantly speaking up after a few seconds: "There's this... feeling of security. With it on my back, I feel safe, like my back is protected. Have you ever felt that? Like when you go to sleep, you have to press your back against a wall, or lean against a pile of blankets or something."
"I get what you mean, but it still seems... unbelievable," Yu Sheng said, looking at the little doll beside him. "I thought you'd resent this painting. After all, it kept you sealed away for all those years, and now you have to haul it everywhere."
"A little, yeah," Irene admitted with a gentle nod after a moment's thought. But soon her smile bloomed again. "Still, how does that saying go? 'Since you're here, make your heart cheer.' As long as today is better than yesterday, there's nothing to complain about!"
"'Make the best of where you are,'" Yu Sheng corrected.
"Same difference." Irene waved it off breezily. She seemed to have finally settled down from her running frenzy, and her mind turned to serious matters. "All right, I'm pretty much used to my new body now. Time to talk about that fox..."
Yu Sheng nodded, though his brow soon furrowed as he looked down at the little doll, who only reached his knees now. "You still plan on coming with me?"
Irene looked at him as if it were obvious. "Of course! We agreed on it."
"In this state?" Yu Sheng tried to soften his words, but finding no tactful way to put it, he was blunt. "Can you even fight? If you want to kick my knee now, you literally have to jump..."
"I'll kick your knee to pieces! What's wrong with being small?!" Irene bristled instantly. "Who told you I can't fight like this?!"
Seeing her flare up, Yu Sheng hurried to placate her.
Fortunately, Irene's temper flared fast and vanished faster. She calmed down quickly, leaning back against the sofa with her arms crossed over her chest. "Then again, you have a point. The way I am now... direct combat is definitely a bit hampered. You can't expect a doll barely over sixty centimeters tall to take a bullet for you, can you..."
At that, she shook her head and her tone shifted. "Don't worry, though. Direct combat isn't all a doll is good for. I've got plenty of other tricks up my sleeve—even with only this much 'freedom,' there's still a lot I can do."
She raised a hand before Yu Sheng as if to put on a display.
Wisps of pitch-black thread extended from her fingertips like eerie spider silk, winding and growing through the air as if possessing lives of their own, weaving into a web.
"A doll's capabilities are greater than you think!"
Irene looked thoroughly proud of herself.
Chapter 42