The actions of Xu Huo and his group were not smooth. No matter which direction they went, people would come up to block them periodically. Although most of them were not trying to kill them, they also attempted to communicate with these puppets through various means. Yet, just like fixed roles, these people could only utter fixed lines, unable to say or write anything more even under the threat of death.
After several attempts, Xu Huo tried to teleport the shop owner who was originally active around the store to a distant place. However, when this puppet reached the street, it was directly stopped. The path of the Portal Space was blocked, and the puppet just stood by the roadside.
"Do the puppets have their own activity range? Could it be the same for us?" Dai He said, "Are those puppets stopping us because we stepped out of their fixed range?"
They already knew that the puppets could replace each other’s roles, although they were unsure of the exact pattern. When new people join in, the original puppet positions might be substituted.
"Do we need to find substitutes for those puppets to get out?" Qi Cong suddenly thought.
The people present looked at him inexplicably. Do you even listen to what you’re saying? Get out? You think this is some dungeon? Or are you saying the Suitcase Man is a real good guy?
Besides, everyone had seen how those puppets that were killed looked; once dead, they were just gone along with the Props, absolutely no possibility of getting out!
But Qi Cong wasn’t concerned about all that and just said, "If that’s the case, maybe Little Yu’er can get out too."
This was also a concern for Xu Huo. If Yan Jiayu was also stuffed into a puppet suit, then it would be troublesome.
"Although we can still move around in Circus City, the puppets might only be able to act along predetermined paths. Circus City is too vast to keep searching piece by piece." He said.
"What are you planning to do?" Qi Cong immediately asked, but then added, "As long as you don’t use me as bait!"
"You don’t even have the qualifications to be bait." Xu Huo pointed to the huge balloons floating in the sky not far away. "There’s a warehouse a kilometer away where balloons are stored. Release some and first find a way to notify Yan Jiayu that we’re here. If she still has the ability to act, she’ll also find a way to come to us."
"Sunflower is the mark, all of you wear sunflower decorations."
Dai He and the others were primarily there to help find people. With just them, escaping would be difficult, so they cooperated enthusiastically with Xu Huo.
"The longer we take, the worse it is for us." Xu Huo added, "You guys go release balloons at the warehouse. I’ll go find the Battle Dolls. There are two Sweet Towers near the warehouse. If you get separated, wait near the Sweet Towers. I can find you within that range, don’t go too far. Just because the dungeon venue doesn’t have interference devices, doesn’t mean it can’t interfere."
Dai He and the others didn’t waste words, "Mr. Xu, be careful."
Xu Huo nodded, taking the Girl in the painting straight to a transfer station a kilometer away.
Circus City, this dungeon venue, is different from other dungeon venues. Besides its dazzling array of shops, it lacks the basic conditions a city requires.
For instance, the streets; the levels differ between streets, with steps connecting many places, and the left and right sides are intentionally staggered. Such streets are neither aesthetically pleasing nor add significant value to the overall city.
Moreover, this city doesn’t seem to produce any household waste; there’s no dedicated garbage transport, nor residential and city underground pipelines. Although shops selling food can be seen everywhere, no special vegetable market is set up. Apart from items for entertainment and leisure, everything else in this city is hidden away.
Not to mention public service facilities like schools and hospitals.
However, the city’s electrics are well-laid. Even little decorations in corners are connected to power. Besides the food and toy shops, there are dedicated clothing stores, performance venues, and prop vehicles. The Sweet Tower previously discussed is a ten-meter-high tower made of sweets, stacked with various fake desserts and drinks, with a fake fountain made of colored paper.
It’s not that there’s no water; rather, it’s centrally supplied. Each street has only one rather concealed water point to facilitate puppets who need water as performance props.
The goods transfer station Xu Huo found is actually a warehouse storing recycled worn-out puppet suits and some machines needing repair—Battle Dolls were responsible for both the city’s safety and repairing this junk.
At that moment, two Battle Dolls were busy in the transfer station, sorting through machines and puppet suits separately. One was repairing machines, and the other was mending the worn puppet suits and hanging them up. Although these mended puppet suits weren’t filled, they seemed to regain life, swinging feebly on the wall, trying to break free from the pushpins. If one struggled too much, the mending Battle Doll would step forward, cut open the stitches, rip apart the puppet, and sew it again.
Generally, puppets sewn a second time behaved more obediently, but if still disobedient after the second sew, the Battle Doll would throw them aside.
At this moment, the other Battle Doll would stuff the abandoned puppet into a machine, and when they came out, they were changed into colorful scraps, which were then collected into a big box—inside that box, it was full of such colorful scraps.
Not only in the box; such colorful scraps fluttered all over the city.
After observing for a bit, Xu Huo gestured to the Girl in the painting on the other side, whose frog head nodded, then she lunged into the transfer station, heading straight for the back of a Battle Doll. Her intention was to grab the Battle Doll’s head, but unexpectedly, a defensive barrier popped out from the Battle Doll with some distance still between them.
However, this Spatial Barrier appeared only for a moment before being pierced by the Psyche Force Materialization. Her hand then tore open the puppet’s head barrier, first blinding the puppet’s eyes, then cutting down its disguised sensor ears.
"Boom!" Despite the Girl in the painting already being fast enough, she was still blown away by the sudden airwave from the Battle Doll. She didn’t linger, turning to pluck the puppets hanging on the wall. With quick reflexes, she grabbed a few, then provocatively tore two in front of the Battle Doll and ran toward the transfer station exit.
Battle Dolls are not human, their behavior model supported by mechanisms. Thus, after assessing the Girl in the painting as not posing a significant threat, the puppet with the destroyed "eyes" chased her alone. The other puppet, after completing its inspection, returned to its original position to continue working.
However, it froze mid-action. The interference conflict among the instruments made its head repeatedly turn side to side. At the same time, black Psychic Power enveloped its entire body.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter