After fiddling with the big mirror for a while, he felt tired, mentally tired. After a long while, he cleared a place next to Xing Ye and sat down next to him.
In such a dark environment, it's nice to have someone... a mirror to keep me company.
The companionship made the night seem less scary, and the two dolls, one big and one small, finally waited until dawn.
Only then did Xing Ye see the whole picture of the house. It was a very simple wooden house, filled with miscellaneous items, such as pieces of wood and iron, as well as some tools, such as hammers and wrenches, all of which were worn out.
Like an abandoned warehouse.
At this moment, Xing Ye finally saw the face of the man in the mirror clearly.
The big mirror is a puppet made of two bronze mirrors, one large and one small. The small mirror on top is the head, and the big bronze mirror is welded to it with a copper bar in the middle as the body. The copper bar can act as a neck and can barely move, but it always gives people a feeling of about to turn around. There are four movable brackets on the big bronze mirror, which should be the limbs. There are two crystal blocks attached to the small mirror, which look like eyes. There is a copper piece protruding under the eyes, which seems to be the mouth, which can move and speak. It has no ears. There is a small spring behind the small mirror.
Recalling Lu Mingze who slept in the wheelchair like an angel, and looking at the current mirror man, Xing Ye wrote a big word "ugly" in his heart.
But he considerately didn't say it out loud, because if he did, the mirror would cry.
"Hahahahahaha, Xing Ye, you are so ugly!" The big mirror laughed like a gong beside Xing Ye.
The bronze mirror was a little blurry, but it was enough for Xing Ye to see what he looked like.
A very pure puppet, with a broken right hand, a spring on the right side of the waist, a neck, eyes, nose, mouth and ears, but no hair, so it's bald.
Well, he's bald down there too.
But the mirror was the same, and both of them looked at each other blankly and laughed "Hahahaha".
Xing Ye stood up, and his body made a "creaking" and "creaking" sound, a bit like a machine that needed to be oiled.
Looking at his body in the large mirror, Xing Ye said, "I'm already very old and need to repair my body."
The same goes for the big mirror. The spring on its head is green, probably because it is rusty. Copper rust is green.
I don't know how Master Benedict managed to make the mirror and the puppet move. Well, this is a fairy tale world after all. In the real world, who can give a puppet human nature and put their heart in the puppet before dying, so that life can continue.
"Let's go out and take a look." The big mirror suggested, "There's really nothing left in this room."
Xing Ye wanted to find some tools that could be installed on his right arm, but he didn't know much about the structure of his body and didn't understand how Master Benedict made the puppet move.
"Okay, let's go out and pretend to be puppets." Xing Ye agreed.
He was curious about the small town created by Benedict and wanted to know what it was like.
Pushing open the moldy wooden door, the sunlight shines on the large mirror, making it sparkle.
Hmm...it's time to dust the big mirror, Xing Ye thought as he looked at the dust that was particularly obvious in the sunlight.
The scene outside the door stunned Xing Ye and Da Jingzi. This turned out to be an extremely prosperous small city.
"Engine oil, engine oil, apply engine oil. We are having a promotion in the store now. Buy one get one free. For every puppet you apply, you get another one free!" A puppet man not far away kept shouting.
There is also a clockwork shop next to the oil shop. The advertising banner reads: The professional clockwork puppet made by Master Benedict will wind it up for you personally. You can enjoy master-level treatment. It is definitely more comfortable than winding it up yourself!
The text was not in Chinese, but Xing Ye and Xiao Jingzi were surprisingly able to understand it. It should be that the system input text information for the players.
A little further away is a clothing store with a banner in front: "Are you still naked? Are you still naked? Puppet Clothing Store, tailor-made to fit you perfectly. Wear civilized clothes and be a civilized puppet."
Xing Ye: "…"
Big mirror: "..."
They noticed that they were not wearing any clothes and were suddenly ashamed of their nakedness.
The big mirror quickly retracted into the wooden house. His body was too big and he forgot to turn sideways to enter the door, and he almost got stuck in the door. It was Xing Ye who helped him turn sideways, and the big mirror barely found the right angle to enter the house.
"What should we do? We don't have clothes..." The big mirror whispered to Xing Ye, "We are not civilized puppets!"
Xing Ye: "...Wait a minute, I'll look through the junk and see if I can find some cloth to cover it."
He took a deep breath... Oh, puppets don't need to breathe air, they just take a deep breath to relieve stress mentally.
Xing Ye once thought that the period after his parents' death was his most miserable time, but then he started wearing women's clothes; during the Claire period, he thought he couldn't be worse than this, but now he is a one-meter-tall disabled puppet, his home is a dusty pile of junk, and he is so poor that he doesn't even have clothes.
While rummaging through the pile of junk, Xing Ye suddenly realized a truth: Never think that you are terrible at the moment, because you will be worse off in the next second. Human beings can never see through the bottom line of fate.
The poor one-meter-tall disabled puppet had just come up with these philosophical words when he immediately encountered an even worse situation - after he rolled over twice, the pile of debris fell down and crushed the one-meter-tall disabled puppet underneath.
Xing Ye: "…"
This was the first time I felt how difficult puppet life was.
"Xing Ye!" The large mirror leaning against the wall escaped the disaster because it was flat, like a mirror attached to the wall, and was not touched by any debris.
"Crack!" The crushed puppet Xing Ye could only make such a miserable sound. The spring was stuck and he could not continue speaking.
The big mirror waved its two green, rusty copper arms, and with great difficulty dug the puppet Xing Ye out from the debris, helping him to remove the small iron block that was stuck in the spring.
"It's my fault." The one-meter-tall puppet looked at the pile of junk with a serious face. "My house has never been so messy. Auntie will clean it up."
"Me too..." Big Mirror looked at the pile of junk that looked like a mountain of garbage and said worriedly, "I'd get depressed living in a house like this."
"Come on, little by little, click." Puppet Xing Ye was so calm that his jaw dropped while he was speaking. Puppet Xing Ye calmly pushed his chin up and said, "Click."
The two puppets rummaged through the junk pile for a long time and finally found two pieces of linen, which they happily wrapped around themselves. Even though they were poor, they were civilized puppets.
With the clothes (linen) and cloth, Xing Ye felt much better. As calm as he was, he could not accept the other puppets looking at him with perverted eyes.
Sitting on the ground, the puppet Xing Ye said, "I just heard the little puppet in the motor oil shop shouting that they need a piece of ore for motor oil, which should be the currency of Puppet City. We currently need to remove rust, wind up the spring, buy clothes that normal puppets wear, and change the motor oil... We need to make money."
"We also need to find Cao Qian, your teammate. She is also a fate-defying player. We don't know where she is now. We must meet up with her as soon as possible." Big Mirror reminded.
"Yeah," Xing Ye agreed, "Original ore sounds like she's going to go mining. She's quite strong and can help us make money."
Although they have different concerns, they really need to meet up with Cao Qian now.
The two puppets walked out of the wooden house again. They were wearing linen and when they saw the puppets around them wearing the clothes of ordinary people in Western fairy tales, they could not help but lower their heads in shame.
The other puppets are commoners, they are beggars.
A one-meter-tall disabled puppet stood near the motor oil shop, watching the customers coming and going. Puppets don't need to sleep; they all get up with the sun. Even though it's only early morning, Puppet City is already bustling with activity.
A 1.7-meter-tall puppet with the physical characteristics of an adult male walked into a motor oil shop with his... I think his wife. He took out a piece of ore and said, "This is a piece of raw ore. My wife and I need some motor oil."
Xing Ye and the big mirror pricked up their ears and listened like thieves. Oh, the big mirror had no ears, only Xing Ye pricked up his ears.
"Okay, please come in."
The sounds of dismantling machinery could be heard from inside. About half an hour later, the adult male puppet and his wife walked out of the oil shop. He stretched his body and said with satisfaction, "Well, changing the oil is really good. My whole body feels better. My joints are easier to move now. They used to make a 'crunching' sound."
Xing Ye: "…"
Every time he moved, there was a loud creaking sound.
"As long as you are satisfied, please pay the balance, four pieces of ore." said the puppet in the motor oil shop.
"What!" The adult male puppet almost screamed out the sound machine in his throat, "You clearly said that if you only need one piece of raw ore, you can get one free. Why do you want four more pieces?"
"Sir, you can't just listen to the slogans, you have to read the price list inside!" the motor oil shop puppet said unhappily. "One ore is just the price of the oil. What about the service fee? One ore is two ore. This isn't buy one get one free. The normal price is three ore, but we're only charging five. That's quite a deal!"
"Swindler! Profiteer! I won't take this money!" said the customer puppet angrily.
"Huh? You want to use Overlord Motor Oil?" The Motor Oil Shop Puppet suddenly opened its belly, revealing a black stone. "A customer used Overlord Motor Oil. We can't do business anymore. I'm going to combust and die with you!"
"You, you actually carry coal with you? This is contraband! I'm going to sue you!" said the customer puppet angrily.
"We have a coal storage permit, so we're legally in possession! New Energy puppets are allowed to bring in a certain amount of coal. You're an out-of-touch country bumpkin!" the oil shop puppet said, holding a piece of paper. "Will you hand over the raw ore? If not, I'll burn the coal!"
"I, we'll just pay it..." The customer puppet got scared and took out four pieces of raw ore from his stomach and ran away.
Xing Ye: "…"
Big mirror: "..."
The mirror was two meters tall and couldn't bend down, so even whispering was impossible. He could only press the one-meter-tall disabled puppet Xing Ye against the wall, flattening his body and whispering as quietly as possible, "It's so barbaric here! I understand why Master Benedict wants Puppet City to return to its original state."
"Shh..." Xing Ye signaled Da Jingzi not to tell this to anyone else.
He waved at the large mirror and followed the customer puppet as if nothing had happened.
The customer puppet said angrily, "This is so infuriating! All my hard-earned money these days has been ripped off!"
The puppet in a skirt beside her said, "Don't be angry, husband. I just need to buy fewer clothes. Remember to go to the mine outside the city to collect raw ore today. We have an appointment to go to the clockwork tomorrow."
"Okay, for my wife, I will try my best!" The customer puppet kissed his wife, and the two gradually walked away.
It turns out that you can go outside the city to mine raw ore and exchange it for money.
After the customer puppet walked away, the nearby motor oil shop puppet suddenly shouted, "Swindler! He actually gave me fake ore as ore! Out of five pieces of ore, only one is real. Big liar, I'm going to sue him!"
The clockwork shop owner next to him advised him, "Don't be angry. He can deny it. The sheriff knows we all lie, and he can't tell who is lying. If you sue him, you have to pay two pieces of raw ore. You will lose money."
"Don't let me see him again!" The oil shop owner was so angry that steam came out of his ears.
The clockwork shop owner looked at him enviously. "Hey, the new steam puppets are great! They're protected by metal and can burn coal to heat water to generate steam for kinetic energy. Their strength and speed are much greater than our old-fashioned puppets. If we forget to wind them up for just one day, they'll become immobile. You're a dual-action clockwork and steam puppet. I'm so envious."
"Hey, it's my fault for being born late. You are my big brother." The oil shop puppet was so praised by the clockwork shop puppet that his eyes started to steam, and he walked into the room happily.
As soon as he entered the shop, the clockwork shop owner said, "Pah!" He said, "You make so much money every day but you're too reluctant to repair it. Sooner or later, the exposed wood will be burned by the coal. Our old-fashioned puppets are better. The clockwork ones are much safer."
Xing Ye: "…"
Big mirror: "..."
What a chaotic city it is. Everyone tells lies. I don't know how to find the only puppet who tells the truth, as well as my teammates and other players.
"Let's go mining outside the city," said Xing Ye, who only had one arm. "I have to remove rust and apply oil, otherwise I can't use the repainting pen. My fingers are very clumsy."
Not only were his five fingers inflexible, he couldn't even bend them.
Xing Ye's body is made of wood, but the joints are made of metal, which facilitates movement and lubrication.
The big mirror covered in linen looked at the clothing store with envy as it passed by. It saw the female puppet who had just said she would not buy clothes walk into the clothing store and pick out a new piece of clothing.
"How dishonest," the big mirror shook its head, "I can't even afford it, eh."
"We can't afford it either," Xing Ye said. "As long as we follow the people outside the city, we should be able to find a mine. I wonder if there are any rules for mining. I have a feeling Cao Qian must be very poor, so we might run into her at the mine. But Guan Ling might not be the same. A player who obeys fate can't be as poor as us."
As he spoke, he walked to the city gate, where many puppets of various kinds were gathered, waiting for the gate to open and for them to leave the city.
There are giant puppets five meters tall and flexible iron men thirty centimeters tall. They are all human-shaped, but their heights, weights and bodies vary. The materials also gradually change as Master Benedict's skills grow.
Those new versions of dual-kinetic puppets were very proud, each holding their head high and looking arrogant.
At this time, a skinny puppet was kicked out from the crowd by the other puppets. Someone shouted, "Bah, stickman, don't bring flammable materials into the mine and cause trouble for everyone!"
As the name suggests, a stick figure is a puppet made of large matchsticks. He... or maybe she was very thin, so the kick broke his arm.
He got up from the ground in a panic, covering his broken arm, and saw Xing Ye holding the severed hand in his left hand.
Just by looking at each other more in the group, I confirmed from the look in their eyes that they were both extremely unlucky.
The stickman drew a symbol in the air, and Xing Ye immediately drew the same symbol.
The code matched, the stick figure is Cao Qian!