Chapter 285: Erin Pro Max

After finishing the dishes, Yu Sheng took Hu Li and Erin directly through the door to the valley, arriving atop the teleportation platform.

This time, Yu Sheng brought all three Erins along.

This was because the small doll needed to personally complete several key parts of the ritual, including drawing the complex magical array, pouring in alchemical materials, and even some of the shaping work—with her current size, one body certainly couldn't handle so many complex tasks.

This time, Yu Sheng and the others wanted to maximize the "completeness" of the shaping, avoiding every possible source of defect.

"Still here?" Erin looked around, found the corner of the platform where her body had been shaped last time, and said, "This is quite suitable."

"Wait a moment, I'll raise a wall first to stop the wind from blowing out the candles," Yu Sheng said while concentrating, muttering as he controlled the platform to "grow," "I should have known not to tear down the wall from last time..."

"More than that, you should hurry up and build that 'temple' from your plans. I've long said we should build some kind of hub station here; now the platform is bare except for the gate, with not even a fence," Erin muttered, "I suggest you stop obsessing over those epic building photos you search for online every day; at least build a matchbox..."

Sweat beaded on Yu Sheng's forehead; he thought, no wonder that little doll always had a strange expression watching him whenever he searched for building photos—it turned out she had long guessed he was using them as references for building houses...

But sweat or no sweat, his work did not stop.

Accompanied by the sound of grinding rocks and a slight vibration beneath their feet, the surrounding ground rose and fell like a living creature and began to grow rapidly.

He built temporary walls to block the wind in the valley, then raised a suitably sized platform in the middle of the open space to serve as an alchemy platform, after which he had Hu Li place the required items one by one onto the platform.

Ritual candles, sacred oils, spices, crystal dust, ink... all requisitioned from the Special Operations Bureau.

These were all the highest-grade alchemical materials available in the Borderlands; some were even treasures supplied internally by the Special Operations Bureau, unavailable on the open market.

One had to admit, these high-end goods were nothing like the stuff bought at a five-yuan store—the packaging alone was on a different level; several ritual spices were even stored in gilded boxes with sealing effects, whereas Yu Sheng remembered having used a plastic bottle for his own purchase back then...

Various high-grade materials were lined up before their eyes; the little doll stared with wide eyes, then turned to look at Yu Sheng, her gaze filled with awe: "How the hell did you requisition so much?!"

"This is just the tip of the iceberg; there's still more in Hu Li's tail," Yu Sheng said with a smug grin, "Besides, you were there when I requisitioned materials last time; what's there to be surprised about now?"

Erin blinked, then belatedly scratched her head: "Oh, I guess so."

Yu Sheng: "..."

He suddenly cared less about whether the body made from these fine materials would have high physical stats; he was just curious if these things could make Erin's brain work a bit better...

Meanwhile, the little doll had already begun drawing the foundational parts of the alchemical array on that platform.

Compared to the simple spells taught to Yu Sheng before, the array she was now drawing was clearly a far more complex and profound high-level formation—dazzling runes formed every line of the spell; all spirit-infusion areas featured more intricate and delicate amplification, stabilization, and connection "nodes"; the circular base lines comprised four layers, becoming increasingly complex toward the core, enough to make one dizzy just looking at it.

Two Erins each held a dip pen, carefully drawing on the platform with special ritual ink; their faces were tense, appearing utterly meticulous, while the third Erin stood outside the array, checking the integrity and symmetry of the entire formation from a third-party perspective.

To be honest, her ability to have several bodies "construct" simultaneously while maintaining a third-party perspective to oversee the whole situation was truly suited for this; even Yu Sheng felt a bit envious watching.

He mused that if he could have several perspectives watching while he built houses, he would never again end up building something that looked like a scenic public toilet...

Erin was quite at ease while drawing the spells; the body responsible for supervision could watch the site and still find time to talk to Yu Sheng: "What material shall we use for the skeleton this time?"

Yu Sheng: "Actually, I think rebar would be quite good..."

Before he could finish speaking and before the little doll could start nagging, he immediately changed his tone: "But Hu Li just gave a new suggestion."

The supervising Erin paused, instinctively turning her head.

Then she saw Hu Li lift a tail, shake it, and with a tremendous clang, shake out a huge lump of iron, tossing it onto the ground.

The little doll's eyes went blank: "... Holy crap?!"

Yu Sheng quickly spoke up: "Don't make that face; this is very likely the highest-grade material we can find. According to the Special Operations Bureau, its mystical value is maxed out; its capacity and conductivity for spiritual energy are even stronger than a living human's—the Special Operations Bureau's own warehouses can't find anything better than this. Just think, they even have to source supplies from us..."

Erin was stunned by Yu Sheng's string of words, her eyes showing she was being swayed into believing it, but suddenly she remembered something and reacted: "Wait a minute! This thing can develop a machine soul! Even a hammer can develop a machine soul! If you use it to make my skeleton, won't it come alive on its own? Will I have to consult my own bones before doing anything?"

"No," this time Yu Sheng hadn't even spoken before Hu Li beside him shook her head and patiently explained, "Spiritual Fox Black Iron is not an evil object that actively seizes the human mind; it only manifests spiritual awareness when crafting ordinary artifacts. But if used to shape bones and forge the body, it will only resonate with the master's will. In my homeland, there are merchants from foreign planets who specialize in buying our Black Iron; although they cannot forge artifact spirits, they manufacture 'implants' specifically for use inside the human body, and there have never been any problems."

"... Your homeland has everything..." Erin muttered, but ultimately dispelled her doubts, though she still looked curiously at the large iron lump beside Hu Li, "But how do you plan to turn something like this into my skeleton? Won't we need to set up a foundry or something to melt it first?"

Yu Sheng wore a smug expression: "Oh, that's simple. I'll first carve a groove in the ground nearby shaped like a skeleton, then Hu Li will melt this iron into liquid and pour it in..."

As he spoke, he walked to an open space at a safe distance from the alchemy platform, raised his hand and guided the process for a moment; a groove shaped like a doll's skeleton writhed into existence on the ground, with the size and proportions of a real human skeleton. Then Hu Li approached the groove, raised her hand, waved it, chanted a spell, and that "Black Iron" floated before her, beginning to melt gradually under the circling fox fires...

Yu Sheng even introduced this to Erin: "I learned this technique from watching online videos of people pouring iron railings on the ground..."

Erin: "..."

The little doll's not-so-bright brain felt that the scene before her was somewhat strange.

On her side, two bodies were still bent over, outlining complex alchemical spells; those profound runes and related alchemical knowledge all came from the ancient inheritance among dolls.

On the other side, Hu Li was smelting a Black Iron ingot with flames imbued with spiritual power; those flames and spells came from mysterious arts and fox immortal techniques from a distant otherworld.

And the key to combining the two was that Yu Sheng had dug a groove in the ground, a technique mainly learned from the craft of casting iron railings at a small workshop in the village...

Actually, the cast result looked quite presentable—Yu Sheng had dug that groove quite evenly...

Moments later, the fox fires faded; Hu Li temporarily set aside the remaining iron ingot, then retrieved several large buckets of water from her tail and splashed them on the ground. After a brief cooling, she dug out the cast "skeleton" from the ground and placed it, still steaming, in the center of the alchemical array Erin had just drawn.

"The material serving as 'flesh and blood' is still the soil and rock from the valley," Yu Sheng said from the side, "This material is currently the best fit for your requirements: 'soil that writhes like a living creature.' We have nothing higher-grade on hand."

"Alright, at least it's not lotus root powder," Erin sighed, "Then you handle the basic shaping; I'll help you refine the details."

Ritual essential oils and spices were thrown into the flames; the soil and rock writhed, enveloping the surface of the skeleton filled with spiritual power. The doll's body began to take shape rapidly. Yu Sheng used the blade of the "Artificial Saintess" to cut a wound on his own hand, pouring his blood into the writhing, deforming soil and stones, completing the most critical step of the entire ritual.

Erin then took charge of guiding and refining the details of this process, ensuring the new body could receive the soul in the most perfect state.

The spiritual steel was gradually awakening.

Life began to emerge within the soulless rocks and soil.

The surface of the gray-white doll roughcast took on the texture of skin.

Yu Sheng, Hu Li, and Erin gathered around the alchemy table, watching this scene with tension and anticipation.

Its chest began to rise and fall.

It was attempting to learn how to breathe.

Its hands and feet were taking shape and trembling slightly.

It was waiting for someone to call its name...

"Erin—"

Yu Sheng spoke softly.

Thus, she was granted life.

A magnificent and elegant black Gothic long dress covered the newborn doll's body; her originally stiff and crudely made face instantly became lively and full of vitality. Erin's consciousness entered this new shell, and the next second, Yu Sheng saw—

This body began to shrink.

In no time, with a "swish," it went from one meter sixty-seven to one meter twenty, then immediately shrank from one meter twenty down to 66.6 centimeters.

He and Hu Li were both stunned: "……?"

On the alchemy platform, the newly born Irene Promax (66.6 cm) sat up in a daze, staring blankly at her other three bodies.

Two seconds later, she burst into tears with a "wah."

(End of this chapter)