After Xing Ye finished speaking, he did not search among the puppets. Instead, he said to Kirk, "What if someone discovers that the puppet is fake, escapes from Benedict's hands, and comes to you to settle the score?"
Kirk waved his hand and said, "I'm just a maid serving the young master. How should I know?"
Xing Ye winked at Cao Qian, who punched Cork in the side of the face, breaking another piece of the wall behind her.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" Kirk said quickly, frightened. "It was in the hands of the mine owner. He was able to take the mine from Master Benedict because he hid the young master's puppet."
"Very good," Xing Ye nodded, "I'll just look for it in this pile of dust."
Guan Ling: "…"
If you don't believe her, why ask?
But he was just thinking about it in his mind. During this time together, Guan Ling realized that everything Xing Ye did had a reason behind it, and nothing was superfluous. He felt that he was doing useless work because he was too stupid and didn't understand the deeper meaning behind it.
The three of them searched around in the small dark room, and Cork's eyes were rolling around in anxiety.
There were at least thirty bodies in the small dark room, each of them very old and lifelike.
"These puppets must have been made by Master Benedict himself," Xing Ye said. "Each one is so realistic that you can't find them unless you take them all away."
Cao Qian and Guan Ling were so dazzled that they couldn't tell the difference between the dozens of puppets.
"No, every puppet is different," the silent mirror said. "Look at this one. Its nose is pointed. And this one. There's a small hole in its finger. It smells like ink. A pen should pop out of its fingertip."
Cao Qian and Guan Ling looked at the mirror. They were curious about the existence of the mirror, but they didn't dare to ask because of Xing Ye.
Guan Ling sometimes couldn't help but look at the mirror, but Cao Qian didn't even look at it, for fear of making Xing Ye angry.
Only when the mirror spoke did they dare to look directly at the mirror.
Xing Ye knew that the mirror's observation ability has always been strong, and it is not just the power of the Eye of Truth.
An ability that can be activated without any points is definitely not obtained by luck. According to Xing Ye's understanding of the system, the ability to activate skills for free is because even without the system granting this skill, the mirror can still see through the disguise of things.
The mirror turned around in the dark room, stood in front of a most inconspicuous puppet, reached out and picked it up, and said with a hint of smile in his voice: "You are the young master."
"How did you find out?" Xing Ye asked.
"Look at the surface of this puppet and compare it with the other puppets. Do you see any difference?" asked the mirror.
Xing Ye and the other two shook their heads, unable to tell.
The mirror sighed and said, "It's smooth. The other puppets are also made with great care, but some parts have burrs. The fingertips of the dust-absorbing puppet outside are a little rough from the friction caused by constant housework.
This puppet, however, looks as if it has been meticulously polished by hand, without a single flaw. Someone must have meticulously cared for it after making it. Just looking at it, you can feel the love it has lavished on you. This is a puppet crafted with great care."
Xing Ye looked left and right but couldn't see where love was. Fortunately, he trusted the mirror's ability, so he said to the other two confidently: "Well, this is it."
Kirk got really nervous this time. She blocked the door and said, "You can't take it!"
"Don't you want your young master to have a heart?" Xing Ye asked, "You've taken so much trouble to protect it, isn't it because you love it?"
Kirk said nothing, but her attitude was firm.
"Guan Ling, restore the house that Cao Qian destroyed." Xing Ye suddenly said, "Hide that secret room so no one else can find it."
The two players who obeyed their fate should be able to escape from Benedict. When they come back here, if they don't repair the house in time, the existence of the secret room will be discovered.
Guan Ling used his skill to restore the room. He placed his hand on the wall and the room suddenly became as good as new.
"We need to talk." Xing Ye placed the puppet in the mirror's hand and sat down in front of Cork. "Even the most liar will reveal their true nature in times of crisis. I believe you care about the young master. Can you tell me why you didn't let Benedict install a heart for your son?"
Kirk said nothing.
"If you don't tell me, we will take the young master to see Benedict immediately." Xing Ye threatened.
"No!" Kirk shrieked, "Young Master can't leave Puppet City. Master Benedict wants to install a heart for his son, and he must have it installed in Puppet City!"
Xing Ye narrowed his eyes slightly, and the small mirror found a clean rag and was wiping the body of the wooden puppet. It was covered with dust, but there were no scratches or rust. It was obvious that someone was taking good care of it, but pretending to look old.
Xing Ye originally thought that Kirk was left behind by Benedict to protect the Pinocchio, and the security captain was her accomplice. They worked together to hide the Pinocchio under the city lord's nose, waiting for Benedict to send someone to take the puppet, but it turned out not to be the case.
Xing Ye pondered for a moment, then understood. He said to Kirk, "The fact that Benedict left a message for Old Nick before leaving means he wasn't in a hurry. He didn't run away, but left on his own. If he didn't run away, why didn't he take the Pinocchio with him? It seems I was wrong before. The city lord never threatened Benedict with the Pinocchio. It was you who hid the Pinocchio!"
Benedict created you to take care of Pinocchio. He trusted you so much that he ordered you to take the Pinocchio with him out of the city. But instead of leaving the city, you hid the Pinocchio here, where even Benedict couldn't find it.
And someone conspired with you, the captain of the police, you betrayed Benedict!"
"I didn't want to!" Cork cried nervously after being exposed. "I didn't betray the Master. I was created for the sole purpose of loving the Young Master. The Master wanted me to love the Young Master with the same affection as a mother. This is my nature, and I can't resist my nature. Even though I know I'm just the Young Master's byproduct, existing only to serve him, I still love him! This is a feeling that is integrated into my core, and I can't refuse it."
The mirror stared at Kirk and said to Xing Ye, "She's telling the truth. If it weren't for love, Pinocchio wouldn't have been so agile after all these years."
When Xing Ye first arrived in this world, the puppet's original owner, a manager, was in dire health. Even managing himself was such a mess, and the puppet, with no self-care abilities, was so agile. Keke truly had a lot of heart; such dedication wouldn't be possible without emotion.
"Since you love him, why do you stop Benedict from installing a heart for him?" Xing Ye asked.
"Because I don't want to die," Kirk said painfully, "The captain of security saw the master's diary. He wanted to take Pinocchio away, destroy all the puppets in Puppet City, and rebuild an ideal country suitable for the young master to survive. We puppets are all failures.
The security captain, the city lord, and I all want to protect Puppet City. We are human beings. When we are sad, our core will ache. When we are happy, our core will feel comfortable. We will be afraid when we think about being destroyed. We don't want to die..."
Kirk's feelings are so contradictory, yet so real.
Benedict can create a paradise for his son, but he can also destroy it because of dissatisfaction.
But what about the puppets? If they lacked humanity, it would be fine. Simple machines would not realize how terrible death is.
But Benedict gave the puppets humanity, and they understood the feeling of fear. How is this different from killing people?
Parents give birth to children. Should they kill their children just because they don't grow up according to their wishes?
That doesn't make sense.
So in order to protect themselves, the few insiders in Puppet City persuaded Kirk to hide the real young master. Only after Benedict left Puppet City did he discover that the puppet was a fake.
At this time, the city lord had closed the city gates, preventing Benedict from coming back to look for the puppet.
If the ending is really as shown, after Benedict gets the real Pinocchio, Puppet City will face a catastrophe.
"It seems the true ending is to kill Benedict and restore peace to Puppet City." Guan Ling said, "Luckily I followed the boss, otherwise I would have gotten the wrong ending again."
"Not necessarily." Xing Ye shook his head. "You have to remember one thing: what is our mission?"
Cao Qian promptly answered the teacher's question: "Find the only puppet that tells the truth and fulfill his wish. But who is the only puppet that tells the truth?"
There is not a single puppet in this puppet city that can be trusted. They are all big liars who tell lies without blinking an eye!
"That's him," the mirror said, holding the little Pinocchio. "The only Pinocchio without a heart, the only one who hasn't been given humanity."
After saying that, he found the spring on the puppet and started to turn it.
"It's him?" Guan Ling said in disbelief. "How can a puppet without humanity have any demands?"
The mirror said nothing. After winding it up, it placed the puppet on the ground.
The little Pinocchio blinked twice, opened his eyes, and wandered around the room blankly. When he saw Kirk, he smiled happily, stretched out his hand, and said to Kirk, "Mommy, hug me."
Kok's voice was filled with tears. She said to Xing Ye, "Let me hold him for a while. Don't take him away from me. The master's wife died shortly after giving birth to the child. The master was still obsessed with studying puppets. When the young master was a child, I was the one who took care of him. When he was alive, he always secretly called me mother."
Xing Ye nodded, and Cao Qian let go of Keke. Keke squatted down, holding the little wooden puppet in his arms, and said happily and sadly: "My little master, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
She loves the young master and, like Benedict, hopes that he can be resurrected and live happily in Puppet City. But at the same time, she also doesn't want Puppet City to be destroyed.
Between the safety of the young master and Puppet City, Kirk chose Puppet City. She has always felt regret and apology towards the young master.
When the little wooden puppet heard Kirk's voice, he reached out his little wooden hand and touched Kirk's face, and said in a very mechanical voice: "Mom, don't cry, don't cry."
"That's it." Xing Ye suddenly said.
"What?" Guan Ling was so immersed in the relationship between Pinocchio and Kirk, thinking of his divorced wife and children, that he almost cried. Of course, he wouldn't cry, because there were no tears in Puppet City.
The mirror said with relief: "Pinocchio's wish, the task we have to complete, is to say 'Mommy, don't cry.'"