A Core Ship From The Start

However, when they arrived in this area under the guidance of Merlot, they were somewhat surprised.

“This is Puppet Zone,”

Merlot, with a sniper rifle on his back, casually introduced to everyone.

“Puppet Zone?”

Duanmu Huai looked questioningly at the area in front of him. All he could see were puppets wandering around on the streets. The materials, looks and shapes of these puppets were all different.

“Please come over and take a look, we have the latest mechanical models on sale! A discount of 10%! Don’t miss your chance!”

A wooden puppet dressed in sales clerk attire was loudly shouting, trying to attract customers. Above its head, a mini aerial vehicle with a futuristic sci-fi aesthetic and two large bulbs protruding from its back whizzed by, heading to the end of the street.

“Woof, woof, woof!”

On the ground, a little metal dog was running about, barking and carrying something in its mouth. They even saw a woman ride by on an auto-balancing four-wheeler… Well, with the medieval-style buildings around, this place did give off a peculiar vibe. It felt like a mishmash of high tech and old-world civilization – no one could guess how it had developed to its current state.

Well, if you regard all these puppets as robots, then this place can be seen as a leap straight into a future of mechanical artificial intelligence civilization level.

“What…the heck?”

Gazing at the scene in front of them, not only was Duanmu Huai greatly surprised, even Lorena was quite shaken. She stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the spectacle unfolding before her. Meanwhile, Merlot strolled into the area while explaining.

“Quite a few puppeteer masters and mechanicians have taken up residence here due to their interest in our doctrines. We allow them to live here in service of exploring the mysteries of mechanics. However, these technologies can only be used for peaceful purposes. If it is true as you say that someone here has violated orders and made a puppet that kills, we won’t let them get away with it!”

“But with so many puppets… How are we going to find…?”

Lorena’s scalp tingled at the prospect and Duanmu Huai frowned with concern. They had thought that finding the white-haired puppet would be quite straightforward till they encountered this unexpected development. Current estimates put the number of puppets in the zone in the thousands. To track down the puppet they were after would be quite a task. No wonder the elusive puppet had made its way here – it sure knew where to blend in and hide.

“Follow me, I have a plan,”

Merlot declared as he led the way. The rest followed him to a shopfront bearing the sign “One Shot, One Kill”. Merlot pushed open the door and walked straight in, followed closely by Duanmu Huai and the rest.

The shop seemed to be a gun store, with various styles of guns of different sizes hanging on the walls. But for some reason, paired with the shop’s decor, it gave an overall adorable vibe.

Just as they entered the shop, a bubbly voice rang out.

“Welcome to ‘One Shot, One Kill’. How may I… Ah! Merlot!”

Accompanying the voice, a girl wearing all white with a low ponytail appeared from behind the counter. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Merlot, and she sprang up from behind the counter, grabbing Merlot’s hand with a giggle.

“Long time no see! How have you been? How’s your gun? Does it need maintenance? But I thought it was just serviced… Could it be broken? I’ve come up with a new improvement plan recently, would you like to try it? I think it could significantly upgrade your firepower…”

The girl chattered on like a skylark, spouting a barrage of words non-stop like a machine gun – leaving everyone confused. Luckily, it seemed like Merlot was familiar with her style and promptly cut her off.

“Kukulu, I’m not here for gun maintenance today, it’s about him…”

As he said this, Merlot pointed towards Duanmu Huai. On noticing him, the girl named Kukulu jumped back in surprise.

“Wow, it’s huge! Where did you get such a big mecha doll, Merlot? Do you want to install weapons on it? It’s not easy to make weapons for a mecha doll this big…”

“I’m not a puppet,”

Duanmu Huai interjected resignedly, interrupting Kukulu. On hearing his reply, Kukulu looked puzzled and leaned closer to Merlot.

“Merlot, is the thinking logic of your mecha doll broken? I’ve heard of some puppets not recognizing themselves as such due to logic issues. Do you want me to introduce you to a puppeteer to fix it?”

“…………”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes in frustration, removed his helmet, and lowered his gaze to Kukulu.

“You see now, I’m not a puppet.”

“Eek—————!!!”

On seeing Duanmu Huai, Kukulu screeched and leaped back behind the counter. She cautiously peeked back up at Duanmu Huai, eyes wide with unease.

“Hey? Hey? Is it a human?”

“Of course, I’m a human.”

Duanmu Huai spoke as he put his helmet back on. Seeing this, Kukulu breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh… oh, I see, you’re a customer. My apologies, I was rude. Do you want to order a gun? I’m sorry, I don’t have experience making guns for someone as tall as you…”

“Kukulu, he’s not here to order guns.”

Thankfully, Merlot brought the conversation back on track.

“We’re here to ask for some information.”

As she said this, Merlot turned her gaze back to Duanmu Huai and the others.

“This is Kukulu, just like you heard, she’s a gun designer, mainly in charge of providing design, production, and maintenance services for customers. She’s very familiar with this place, so we might be able to get some clues from her.”

“Of course, I’m very familiar with this place. What do you want to ask?”

“It’s nothing serious.”

As Duanmu Huai spoke, he pushed Ogis forward.

“We’re looking for a doll that looks very similar to her, have you seen one?”

“A doll that looks like her?”

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s question, Kukulu stood up and carefully inspected Ogis.

“Hmm… I’ve never seen one. It’s rare to see a doll as finely crafted as this around here. If I had seen it, I would definitely remember.”

Indeed, as Kukulu said, Duanmu Huai and his team had seen many dolls along the way, but the appearance of each doll varied greatly. The design of the joints were especially diverse and strange. There were even some dolls that had human-like limbs, but their bodies were just a piece of cloth hanging over a wooden stick.

This was completely unimpressive.

“I see…”

With no clues to follow, the group felt somewhat disappointed. It was then that Duanmu Huai had an idea. Snapping his fingers, a puppet appeared by his side.

“Have you seen this doll before?”

“Huh?”

Looking at the suddenly appearing doll, Kukulu was surprised momentarily, but quickly started to carefully inspect it, thinking for a while.

“Ah, I’ve seen a similar doll with Mr. Liam.”

“Liam?”

“Yes, that gentleman is also a Puppeteer Master, but he mostly stays in his studio by himself and is seldom seen by others…”

“Where does Liam live?”

“Um… in the backstreet…”

“Take us there!”

Having locked onto their target, Duanmu Huai immediately turned and left. The doll he’d just summoned was one of the dolls previously crafted by the Puppeteer Master. According to Kukulu’s statement, each puppeteer crafted dolls with different features. Therefore, it was obvious that a doll similar to the one in hand was connected to the person they were looking for!

Seeing Duanmu Huai in high spirits, Kukulu felt a bit anxious, but she agreed to lead the way under Merlot’s persuasion. Soon, Kukulu led Duanmu Huai and his team to a warehouse in the backstreet of the Puppet Zone.

“It’s here. I only remember that when he moved in, he used similar dolls to carry his luggage. Whether he’s still living here now, I’m not sure.”

“We’ll know soon.”

Duanmu Huai took off his helmet, stepped forward, and knocked on the door. Soon, a weary voice came from the other side of the door.

“Who is it? Go away! Don’t disturb me! I’m busy!”

“Delivery service, Mr. Liam, your delivery has arrived.”

“Delivery? What delivery?”

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s words, the person inside hesitated for a moment, and after a while, the tightly closed warehouse door opened, and a man with slicked back hair, wearing glasses, a white lab coat, and looking like a researcher came out.

“I didn’t order any delivery, you guys…..”

But before he could finish his sentence, when he saw Ogis standing beside Duanmu Huai, the man’s face instantly changed.

“Gavi?!”

At that moment, the man hurried to close the door. However, Duanmu Huai grabbed the door panel, swung it open, and with a quick grab, held the man’s head and lifted him off the ground!