In the old district, in a rented house deep within Wutong Road, a nearly two-meter-tall strong man was curled up on a single sofa that seemed a bit cramped for him, carefully maintaining his equipment with his head down.
It was a beam dagger. The dark red hilt was inlaid with tiny teardrop-shaped crystals. The crystals were connected in a line, running through the entire body. The entire hilt was clearly customized according to the user's situation, and it looked particularly suitable in the strong man's large palm.
The strong man turned his palm, spun the dagger in his palm a few times, and then casually activated it. With a slight buzzing sound, a light blue bright light blade suddenly lit up, drawing a scorching arc in the air.
"Take it easy, don't scratch the coffee table—I'll have to file a report with the bureau to pay for it later," Li Lin took out a pocket watch and fiddled with it, then looked up at Xu Jiali opposite him. "…This thing is pretty cool."
"Cool, right? I traded my life for it," the strong man chuckled, with a look of pride on his face. "I saved an Arglaide celestial noble from the 'Windmill Mill' in depth L-3—single-handedly. He gave it to me after that. This thing is custom-made, with the best casting craftsmen and the best brilliant gold crystals. It can even be used as a knight's medal in the territory of the Arglaide people."
Li Lin was a little curious. "What's it for?"
"…You don't have to queue for tickets for transportation within the atmosphere, you can use the green channel in hospitals, and you get free admission to the zoo—only on holidays."
Li Lin was a little stunned. "It's quite… practical. I thought those mysterious Arglaide people would have a bunch of rituals and symbolism for everything they do."
"They are usually quite mysterious, but no matter how mysterious they are, they still have to live, right?" Xu Jiali shrugged, and then complained a little, "Sigh, it's still a bit troublesome to operate in the borderland. There's a lot of equipment that's not allowed to be brought over. I also have a chainsword, but it was rated as a hazard before I came, and now it's still locked in a cabinet at customs…"
Li Lin thought for a moment and was about to speak, but he suddenly felt something. Then, along with Xu Jiali who also felt something, he looked at the window of the rental house.
Under the gradually darkening night sky, a figure appeared on the windowsill at some unknown time—it was a petite girl in a dark red coat, leaning against the window frame in a rather dangerous posture, with one leg dangling outside the windowsill.
She looked at the two men in the room with curiosity. "So, you two are the 'special commissioners' in charge of this area for this period of time?"
"You are…" Li Lin frowned, vaguely guessing the other party's identity.
"Just call me Little Red Riding Hood," the girl sitting on the windowsill waved her hand. "I'm from 'Fairy Tale.' Your bureau hired me. I'll be helping you in this area for this period of time."
"Oh, then I know you," Li Lin thought to himself as expected, and a polite smile appeared on his face. "I've often heard our captain mention you these past two days, as well as your investigation of this area. My name is Li Lin, an action agent of the Second Brigade of the Council's Special Operations Bureau."
On the other side, Xu Jiali looked the girl on the windowsill up and down, and said in a muffled voice, "There might be a 'big guy' hidden in this place. I thought you would send Snow White over, or the 'King.' Of course, I'm not questioning your wolf pack."
Unlike Li Lin, who was still a newcomer, Xu Jiali had obviously met Little Red Riding Hood before.
"Snow White's destructive power is a bit over the top here—we might not necessarily encounter a high-risk entity," Little Red Riding Hood said casually. "I've been active in this area all along, and I've also been investigating the abnormalities on Wutong Road recently, so I'm more familiar with it. It's okay. Anyway, Snow White can get here quickly. If we really encounter a 'big guy,' she's on call."
As the girl spoke, she got up from the windowsill and waved at the two people in the room. "I just came over to say hello. You should all have my contact information. Call me if anything happens. Bye~"
The next second, the girl's figure suddenly turned into a melting shadow. The shadow vaguely had the shape of a wolf. It jumped down from the windowsill and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.
Leaving Li Lin and Xu Jiali to look at each other in the rental house.
…
After dinner, Yu Sheng sat on the sofa with his eyes closed to rest, listening to the pitter-patter sound of running around between the living room and the dining room, sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left, and then circling around the sofa.
He opened his eyes and saw Irene running around in the living room and dining room. The 66.6 cm tall doll was carrying an oil painting frame that was almost as tall as herself, and she was running around on the ground as fast as a small rocket.
After Irene started her fourth lap around the sofa, Yu Sheng finally couldn't stand it anymore. "Can't you take a break? And let your shoes rest too."
Irene quickly ran to Yu Sheng, her face full of excitement. "I don't want to! I can't stop at all! I can run everywhere, run everywhere! See, I can also climb onto the coffee table and jump down from the coffee table!"
Before her voice had even finished, this doll had already run off again. First, she ran half a lap around the sofa, then she climbed onto the coffee table in front of Yu Sheng with her hands and feet. Then she took a few running steps and jumped from the coffee table to Yu Sheng's lap. Just as the latter was about to raise his hand to catch this guy who was running all over the place, Irene nimbly dodged forward and jumped from the sofa to the floor…
Then she ran to the TV cabinet in the living room, climbed up the TV cabinet with great effort, and stood on her tiptoes, trying to reach up. She successfully pressed the TV's power button.
The little doll cheered, turned her head, and looked at Yu Sheng with an excited face. "I can also reach the TV power button! From now on, I can also turn off and restart the TV by myself when you're not at home!"
Yu Sheng rolled his eyes and looked up helplessly. "Alright, alright, congratulations. You're amazing."
The next second, he felt something flash in the corner of his eye—Irene had run back from the TV cabinet again. She grabbed the sofa cover with one hand and Yu Sheng's pants with the other, and climbed onto the sofa in a few moves, sitting next to Yu Sheng.
A small doll, after sitting cross-legged on the sofa, was not even as big as a cushion.
The oil painting was propped up behind her, and in proportion, it looked like a wall.
But Irene had gotten used to the existence of this frame with amazing adaptability. Whether she was carrying it and running or carrying it and climbing up and down, including when she was sitting on the sofa with it, it didn't affect her actions at all—occasionally there would be some unavoidable bumps, but the doll didn't seem to care at all.
This made Yu Sheng feel very surprised.
"Don't you find it inconvenient to carry it?" he couldn't help but ask curiously. "To be honest, if you asked me to carry a door panel around all day, I probably wouldn't adapt as quickly as you…"
"I think it's fine," Irene happily swayed her body on the sofa. Although she had turned on the TV, her attention was obviously not focused on the TV at all. "Although it was a little uncomfortable at first, I completely adapted to its weight and size after running two laps. And what can I say…"
The doll suddenly stopped, as if she were looking for the right words. After a few seconds, she said hesitantly, "There's a kind of… reassuring feeling. When I'm carrying it, I feel very safe and at ease with my back. Have you ever had that feeling? Like you have to sleep with your back against a wall, or a pile of quilts or something."
"I know what you mean, but I still feel it's very… incredible," Yu Sheng looked at the little doll next to him. "I thought you would be very resistant to this painting. After all, this thing sealed you for so many years, and now you have to carry it all the time."
"There is a bit of that," Irene thought for a moment and nodded lightly. But soon she smiled again. "But as the saying goes, if it comes, then be open-minded. As long as today is better than yesterday, then there's nothing to complain about."
"It's 'if it comes, then be at ease with it…'." Yu Sheng corrected.
"It means about the same thing," Irene waved her hand casually. She seemed to have finally calmed down from the excitement of running around just now. At this time, she remembered the serious matter. "Alright, my new body is almost adapted. It's time to discuss that fox's matter…"
Yu Sheng nodded, but soon he frowned slightly and looked at the little doll who was only as tall as his knee. "Are you still planning to go with me?"
Irene looked at him as if it were a matter of course. "Yes, it's all been agreed."
"In this state?" Yu Sheng tried to say it tactfully, but he couldn't think of a way to be tactful, so he had to say it directly. "Can you still fight? You have to jump up to kick me in the knee now…"
"I'll kick you to pieces! What's wrong with being small!" Irene was a little angry. "Who told you that I can't fight like this!"
Seeing this, Yu Sheng quickly comforted her.
Fortunately, Irene's temper had always come and gone quickly. She soon quieted down, leaned back on the sofa, and crossed her arms. "But you're right. In this state… my frontal combat ability is still somewhat affected. You can't expect a 60-centimeter-tall doll to take a bullet for you, right…"
Speaking of this, she shook her head and suddenly changed her tone. "But don't worry, dolls have more than just frontal combat power. I have many other skills—even with only this level of 'freedom,' there are still many things I can do."
She raised her hand, as if to show something, and held it in front of Yu Sheng.
Strands of black silk spread out from her fingertips, like strange spider silk, with an independent life, winding and growing in the air, weaving into a net.
"The skills of a doll are great!"
Irene looked proud.