Chapter 286: A Bit Problematic

Erin was crying so heartbreakingly that no amount of coaxing could stop her.

In fact, even Yu Sheng himself, seeing four 66.6cm Ernins standing in a row, couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy—though alongside the sympathy, he also struggled to hold back a laugh; fortunately, after a difficult effort, he at least managed to keep his expression under control.

"Why! Why!! Wh-y-yy—!"

The small doll stood on the alchemy platform and issued a soul-searching question (in quadraphonic sound); the resentment she felt at that moment, combined with her image as a doll with bloodshot eyes, was of the level that could chase the protagonist team through six seasons of a horror movie, plus twelve extra episodes, and still crawl out of the television set in the final episode; even Hu Li instinctively ducked behind Yu Sheng, then poked her head out from behind his arm and cautiously spoke: "Um, please accept my condolences..."

Upon hearing this, Erin became even more sorrowful.

Then, after quite a while longer, under the joint comfort of Yu Sheng and Hu Li, this unlucky little doll finally calmed down a bit—she stopped crying, but instead squatted in a self-imposed circle on the edge of the platform with her back turned, all four bodies bowing their heads there, doubting life itself.

Yu Sheng watched this scene helplessly from the side, unable to help but feel a bit of emotion in his heart: To be honest, after adding another body, her self-imposed circle was much neater than before...

But he didn't dare say this out loud.

After being withdrawn for an unknown length of time, the newly created Erin Promax (perhaps simply called Pro Erin) finally raised her head and let out a sigh: "So exactly why is this? There's no way the steps went wrong this time... The materials used were the top-tier ones; the Special Bureau's stock couldn't possibly contain fakes or shoddy goods... The alchemy array was drawn by me personally, not a single symbol was wrong... I personally supervised the body shaping, and the entire process from skeleton to filling went perfectly normally... So how could it still shrink back..."

Yu Sheng watched the little doll muttering to herself from the side; several times he wanted to speak but couldn't find an opening; after a long while, he finally mustered his emotions, steeled his heart, stepped forward, and made up his mind: "Ahem, um, is there such a possibility... that the current situation is related to some most crucial material?"

Erin looked straight into Yu Sheng's eyes.

Yu Sheng felt a bit guilty under the gaze of those bloodshot eyes, but since he had already said so much, swallowing his words back wouldn't work either; he simply spread his hands: "Could it be related to my blood? For instance, maybe I messed up the scale when I first shaped you, and that error got bound to you, leaving a... how should I put it? A hereditary bug in every one of your subsequent bodies?"

After saying this, he once again steeled his heart, stood there without flinching or dodging, waiting for Erin's reaction, already mentally prepared to be pounced on by all four dolls at once and have his head covered in tooth marks.

But after waiting for a long time, not a single doll pounced.

Yu Sheng: "... Erin?"

"You think I never suspected it?!" Pro Erin shouted, hands on her hips, eyes wide, "I suspected it as soon as the third body started acting weird!"

Yu Sheng: "... Uh, then you..."

"That's exactly why I insisted on personally controlling the soul-infusion ritual and supervising the body-shaping process just now!" Erin wore an expression of utter despair, great sorrow rippling across her tiny face, "And when my soul entered the new body this time, I specifically reserved a portion of perception and three observer perspectives to confirm the entire process, just to figure out exactly at which moment the problem occurred..."

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng vaguely guessed something, but didn't dare draw a direct conclusion; instead, he cautiously asked: "You... discovered something?"

Erin let her head droop: "The problem started after my soul entered."

Yu Sheng said nothing; the situation was much as he had guessed.

Pro Erin walked to the edge of the alchemy platform and sat down, resting her elbows on her legs, wondering what she didn't know.

Yu Sheng also walked over and sat beside Pro Erin.

"So, the problem lies in your soul?"

"Probably," Erin sighed, "But still the same question... Why? I really can't feel it; I feel... I feel perfectly fine, I..."

Yu Sheng said nothing, but suddenly reached out, grabbed Erin Unit One who was carrying the picture frame on her back not far away, took the oil painting off the little doll's back, and placed it before him to examine carefully.

The chair and the teddy bear in the oil painting were as usual.

The doll was not in the painting, but the doll had never left.

"Then the problem must lie here," after a moment of silence, Yu Sheng shook the oil painting in his hand, "Actually, I've always suspected this, but I didn't mention it for fear of making you sad..."

He had barely finished half his sentence when he heard the little doll beside him muttering and speaking: "If one truly gained freedom, how could one still need to always carry a prison cell on one's back?"

"Uh, I thought you hadn't thought about it..."

"I just have a bad memory, I'm not stupid," Erin rolled her eyes at Yu Sheng, "And even if I figured this out, what would it change? I can't remove this thing anyway... Being able to carry it around everywhere is already much better than before; besides, now I have several bodies that don't always have to carry the oil painting around, even if each one is only this tall."

She extended her arm and traced a height against the ground at the edge of the platform, looking utterly helpless.

Yu Sheng reached out and pressed the little doll's hand down a bit further. "One must be honest."

"You're not even human! I'm this heartbroken!"

Seeing Erin's ferocious, teeth-baring, ready-to-bite appearance, Yu Sheng knew this little thing was fine now.

Hu Li also walked over at this moment; although she didn't understand matters of alchemy, she was very smart and had already grasped what Yu Sheng and Erin had just been saying; she sat down on Yu Sheng's other side and, deep in thought, spoke: "So, you suspect that because part of Erin's soul is still sealed inside this painting, the bodies she newly creates always have defects, right?"

"Yes," Erin lifted her eyelids and glanced at Hu Li, "Do you have any way to fix it?"

"I don't understand this so-called 'alchemy,' nor do I quite understand what 'Alice Doll' is about," Hu Li answered honestly, "But if half your soul is sealed inside the painting, don't you usually feel it? To put it in the words of my hometown, if the primordial spirit is split and imprisoned, shouldn't it be very painful? But you say you feel nothing..."

"I really feel nothing," the little doll said helplessly, "Judging from all the current circumstances, I should indeed still have part of my soul sealed; at the very least, the portion of my soul that can move outside is definitely damaged, but from my personal perspective... I just feel perfectly fine."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment: "... Did that half of the soul inside the painting rot away from being trapped for too long?"

"That's a soul, not a peripheral nerve!" Pro Erin jumped up and headbutted Yu Sheng's arm, "You're the one who's rotted! Half your brain is rotted!"

Yu Sheng hurriedly pinned down this little thing, then hung the oil painting back on Erin Unit One's back, let out a soft sigh, and stood up from beside the alchemy platform.

!

"Anyway, regardless, it seems your body problem can't be solved for the time being," he said, his gaze falling on the little doll, "What next? Do you plan to make another new body to observe the situation? There are still plenty of materials left..."

"No more making, no more making," the little doll waved her hands repeatedly upon hearing this, "Making just this one exhausted me completely; next time, even if I create a new body, I won't do such a complicated soul-infusion ritual; my head is dizzy and my brain is spinning right now."

"Alright then, let's just clean up the remaining materials for now; we'll talk about making a new body next time you want to." Yu Sheng nodded, then called Hu Li to clean up the remaining candles, incense, essential oils, and other items on the alchemy platform; afterward, his gaze once again fell on Pro Erin, his expression thoughtful.

The little doll immediately felt awkward under his gaze and instinctively shrank her neck: "W-what's wrong again?"

"How does this current body feel to use?"

"Ah, what do you mean how it feels?" Erin was suddenly a bit confused, "It's just, pretty good; movement is quite agile, after all, it's newly made."

"I mean, since so many high-grade materials were used, plus top-tier alchemy arrays, and the smelting method I painstakingly learned from online videos—your body looks like a literal Promax version; shouldn't there be some difference compared to your usual bodies?" Yu Sheng wore an expression of scientific curiosity, "Even if the size hasn't changed... there should at least be two golden attributes, red suffixes, glowing traits, or some kind of bonus, right? It can't be that the only feature is being expensive..."

"Oh, is that so?"

Erin tilted her head, seeming to think Yu Sheng had a point; she jumped to the ground, bounced in place, then ran around the alchemy platform twice like a little rocket, probably testing this body's agility and speed; finally, she came to Yu Sheng's feet, took a step, lowered her hips, assumed a stance she didn't know where she had learned, then gathered her qi in the dantian and threw a punch: "Heya—!"

She punched Yu Sheng's shin bone.

The scene fell silent for two seconds; the little doll looked up at Yu Sheng hesitantly: "Does it hurt? Does it hurt?"

Yu Sheng: "... It's okay."

"It hurts!!" Erin let out a shriek and jumped up, clutching her fist and hopping around on the ground, "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Yu Sheng, is your leg even human?! The last time I ran too fast and hit a concrete wall, it wasn't this hard!"

Yu Sheng: "..."

What else could he say? Just coax her again.

After finally calming the little doll down, he helplessly advised her: "I think you don't need to insist on things like direct combat power or physical attributes; after all, our conditions (66.6cm) are what they are, right? If you insist on engaging in close combat with that C-type who has legs nearly 1.2 meters long, it'll be pointless; she kicks you once, and you'll have to turn and run for a long time... Let go, don't bite, let go, let go!"

Irene glared with scarlet eyes: "Is that how you persuade people?!"

"That's not what I meant. I'm saying you're an intelligence hero... yes, intelligence. We rely on skills," Yu Sheng said awkwardly to the small doll while rubbing his calf, which had been bitten, "Let's look at the skills. Show us the silk threads you usually use."

"What changes could silk threads have? These are blessings bestowed directly by the Ancestor of Dolls," Irene (Pro Version) muttered, but still raised her hand as Yu Sheng instructed and flicked her fingers toward an empty spot. "This kind of thing is an innate ability unique to every doll; it won't change just because the shell is replaced..."

A blinding blue beam shot out from her hand with a "Voom," cutting a hole straight through the thick stone wall Yu Sheng had hastily erected earlier to set up the alchemy site.

(End of this chapter)