Chapter 413: New residents in the valley |
The valley welcomed new residents, and by all signs there would be a great many long-term ones.
The mass-produced Irene dolls.
Groups of gothic dolls appeared around the portal hub and in Fairy Tale Town, familiarizing themselves with their new home according to orders issued by the “host,” and their numbers kept growing.
These slightly vacant-looking little ones soon drew the attention of the town’s gang of ringleader kids and even caused a bit of commotion. Fortunately Red Hood asserted her parental authority in time and shooed the brats away, preventing the town from descending into the spectacle of dozens of human younglings chasing dozens of Irene dolls.
The first batch of dolls was quickly sent to the power station, the next two batches to the Black Forest logging camp and the starport. Of course, since this came up suddenly and the mass-produced dolls had just walked off the production line and were far from ready to take over complex work, Yu Sheng did not send them straight into the job. He had the little ones get to know the environment first and made sure to notify the maintenance personnel currently assigned to each facility.
Replacing maintenance staff is a complex process that must be done step by step. Considering the height limitation of the Irene dolls, even when they can contribute it will be difficult for them to fully replace human labor in a short time. So at the beginning, Yu Sheng only intended to have the mass-produced dolls do the most basic tasks: cleaning, managing storerooms, lending a hand. Once they were proficient, he would consider giving them slightly more complex assignments.
“You really do make it up as you go,” Red Hood said helplessly to Yu Sheng as they sat on the castle roof at the edge of Fairy Tale Town, watching the mass-produced dolls walking around below, “shouldn’t something like this be planned far in advance, with lots of coordination, and only then implemented?”
Yu Sheng’s face showed a hint of embarrassment as he listened, but before he could speak, Irene perched on his shoulder had already started chirping as she said: “Oh, you’ll get used to it. Yu Sheng cannot hold it in when an idea hits. Back then he dragged a starship over and planted it beside the Black Forest without so much as a heads-up. That was a huge deal. I even suspect that he knew about mass-produced dolls only one day earlier than you did.”
Princess Rapunzel, sitting on Red Hood’s other side, brightened as she said: “Oh, oh, I’ve heard that most authors only know the plot a day before the readers. No wonder he writes books.”
No one listened.
After watching the mass-produced dolls for a while, Red Hood suddenly asked with interest: “Where do these mass-produced Irenes live day to day?”
“I instructed them to return to the hub pyramid and wait when they have no task. The top four floors of that big pyramid are empty, and there is a ton of space,” Irene said casually, “Yu Sheng built that place that big purely for the vibe, and now it’s finally useful.”
“If the pyramid cannot hold them in the future, we will put up a doll town near the hub or on the edge of town,” Yu Sheng added at once, “those little ones don’t take up much room. Building a bunch of small houses for them is a lot easier than putting up a pyramid.”
“I really can’t picture what that would look like,” Red Hood hugged her knees and tried to imagine a doll town full of 66.6-centimeter-tall mass-produced dolls. After thinking for ages, she could only scratch her hair as she said: “But anyway, I think it’s great. The valley is about to get lively again. Otherwise, with such a huge place and only us living here, sometimes it still feels empty.”
Hearing the girl’s murmurs at his side, Yu Sheng only smiled. He said nothing, stretched in a long lazy arc, then lay back on the castle roof and half-closed his eyes.
The instant he lay down, Irene nimbly climbed onto his chest, found a comfortable position, and lay down as well.
Foxy, gnawing half a roast chicken, turned to look, tilted her head to think, then scooted over to Yu Sheng’s side and draped a bundle of tails over him and Irene.
Farther away, outside town, Luna had just finished her work in the fields. She looked up and saw six Irenes standing in a neat line on the path, staring blankly at her.
The saintess was a little bewildered.
On the starport by the Black Forest, Sun Gong held a cigarette between his fingers, staring in a daze as a group of Irene dolls scurried under the antenna tower and ran everywhere. The smoke nearly burned his fingers without him noticing.
In the activity room in the southwest corner of Fairy Tale Town, Teacher Su watched a few little dolls who had volunteered to help with the cleaning and, half amused and half helpless, could not find brooms or mops that fit their size. It seemed that, before putting the mass-produced dolls to use, the more important task was to get them tools suited to their scale.
At the edge of the Black Forest, the lumberjacks summoned by the King stood awkwardly in the clearing. The hunter stood among them with Squirrel perched on his shoulder. Everyone’s gaze was on the gothic dolls darting around with giant axes.
They did not understand what logging meant. It would take a bit of guidance.
“They’re pretty strong,” Squirrel muttered on the hunter’s shoulder.
“They’re shorter than the axes, though,” the hunter muttered back, “I don’t think they’re suited to logging. Let’s teach them how to gather mushrooms and pick berries instead.”
Squirrel’s eyes lit up as she said: “And collect hazelnuts and acorns!”
“Yes, and collect hazelnuts and acorns.”
Squirrel beamed and hopped around on the hunter’s shoulders and the lumberjacks’ heads.
Meanwhile, in the distant hub pyramid, more mass-produced dolls were opening their eyes on the alchemy platforms. Knowledge and technique from the early individuals flowed through their shared spirit. The Irene matrix, in the newborn haze, came to know and understand the world in a dazed way. Then small figures, the ones who call themselves “this small one,” stepped out of the pyramid one after another. In the bright daylight, the many Irenes widened their eyes in curiosity.
The host Irene’s initial message echoed in each doll’s simple mind, even if they could not fully grasp its meaning yet. It was Irene’s first sentence to every mass-produced individual, and only Irene and the Irenes knew the words: “Welcome to your home. It really is a good place!”
The newborn mass-produced dolls had a long road ahead if they were to adapt smoothly to their “jobs.”
But whatever the case, it was clear the valley was about to get lively.
It was a pity that Yu Sheng did not have much time to go on enjoying his countryside leisure in the valley. Luna handled the farming, he handled the fun. That, too, was a kind of country life.
There were more important matters in Featherwing.
High above the orbit of the planet Sentinel Silence, a ribbon of silver-white light slipped across the blackness of space.
Foxy skipped past the stations and satellites in those orbits, skirted monitored traffic lanes, and accelerated away from Sentinel Silence.
Yu Sheng carried Irene (Rebar) on his shoulder, Luna sat at his side, and the three of them rode on the back of the giant nine-tailed demon fox, setting out for a nearby planet.
Considering that more black-robed cultivators or agents of the Hidden Order might still be lurking on Sentinel Silence, they slipped out of Ink City in secret. The method was simple and blunt: Yu Sheng opened a door to outer space, the exit set to a near-star coordinate recorded during the Hotel’s approach to Sentinel Silence.
Even if Yun Qing Zi and those acolytes of the Hidden Order possessed great powers, there was no way they could detect such a route.
Xuan Che and Immortal Yuan Hao remained in Ink City, both to continue their investigation and to relay any developments on Sentinel Silence to Yu Sheng.
Zheng Zhi was also left at Xuan Che’s side for safety, because while the big nephew’s “powers of observation” were exceptional, his constitution was very fragile. Until they understood the basic situation at their destination, it was best for him to stay in the rear.
“The place you’re going is officially called ‘Garrison-3,’ the third planet orbiting this sun,” Xuan Che’s voice came through the phone as he briefed Yu Sheng on the destination, “compared to Sentinel Silence, Garrison-3 is even more desolate. It has no valuable mineral deposits and no response from any ley lines, so it is not suitable for development or habitation. Other than a few Ask-the-Heavens Pavilions built at the poles to amplify superluminal communication signals, the entire planet is uninhabited and remains in a wild state.
“The site of Yun Qing Zi’s battle with an unknown foe lies in the southern hemisphere of Garrison-3, a location marked by an impact crater visible from space. It’s easy to find.
“No one has gone there for many years. No one knows the exact situation. You must be exceedingly careful.”
Listening to Xuan Che’s careful reminders, Yu Sheng grew curious as he asked: “Shouldn’t the site where a great cultivator fought an unknown powerful enemy and fell be important? You just leave it alone and nobody manages it?”
Xuan Che seemed not to grasp his point at first as he said: “Manage… what?”
“You’d at least cordon it off as a protected zone, right?” Yu Sheng said casually, “or turn it into a famous forbidden land. That’s how it always goes in novels. Where a great cultivator falls, there must be opportunities. It’s either a blessed land or a fierce one. There has to be something like that. There’s also a hidden sect guarding it for generations. Anyone who comes along gets stopped and tested, and during the test no one speaks like a human being.”
He rambled on, his occupational habit taking over and his thoughts running wild, leaving Xuan Che on the other end momentarily dumbfounded. After a while, Xuan Che recovered and said, half laughing, half crying: “What you’re describing sounds like what is recorded in ancient books. That was because in ancient times our pollution-disposal technology was underdeveloped. After a great cultivator fell, the lingering aftermath and remains would contaminate heaven and earth. Without proper isolation, passersby could be harmed. We have no such concerns now. Every sect has very advanced funerary techniques. Even a thousand years ago, after Yun Qing Zi’s death, specialists went to Garrison-3 to handle the aftermath.
“If we did not do so, and every time a great cultivator fell a ‘forbidden land’ sprang up, then with the number of fallen experts across the ages, even if the Featherwing star domain were vast, how many habitable planets would be left?”
Yu Sheng said: “…”
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