Chapter 72 The Doll City
In the dimly lit shop, there was no light, only countless glass vertical coffins neatly arranged.
The exquisite glass reflected the afterimages on the ground, and each coffin contained an abnormally exquisite doll, lying as if asleep like a human.
…”…”
“There are so many dolls…”
Lonis had naturally heard of the uncanny valley effect, knowing that many people would feel fear when seeing lifelike dolls.
But as a little maid, she felt rather indifferent to this feeling…
After all, she had seen so many anime girls that she had become somewhat accustomed to it. Moreover, compared to the dolls outside, the dolls here were all wearing very gorgeous clothes and were exquisitely crafted, possessing collectible quality.
Their delicate features and petite bodies easily evoked unwarranted associations, and precisely because they were dolls, people felt that anything could be done to them.
However, worried about Elus’s safety, Lonis did not dwell on the dolls for too long.
She carefully observed the entire shop, searching even the stairs, but not only did she not find any trace of the black-hearted girl, she didn’t even find any information.
“Strange… Did I misread it, was that signal not left by Elus?”
“No, Warrior Lonis, have you discovered anything special about this place?”
“Special place…”
“Well, although the whole shop looks big, there isn’t even a restroom.”
“!”
“Moreover, there is an extra room here that was not originally needed.”
“A room that was not originally needed…”
Lonis looked around, and after a moment, she finally trembled as if she had discovered something.
It was a fitting room!
Since this is a comprehensive doll shop, why would it need a fitting room?
So, this means…
This store is not actually for people to buy dolls, but for dolls to buy substitute bodies?!
And if that’s the case…
“Lian Lan, the original purpose of this store was not to imitate humans? But to serve these dolls?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“””!!!”””
Lonis gasped, and although Lian Lan’s reasoning was sound and well-founded, there was still one point that was difficult to grasp.
If it was to serve dolls, why did the dolls outside look so crudely made?
Their clothes were all the same, and even if their body parts were damaged, they wouldn’t come to this store for replacement…
No, rather, who controlled those dolls? Were they robots, humans, or monsters?
Just as Lonis was feeling confused, with a “ding dong,” the shop door was suddenly pushed open.
Lonis wanted to call out, but Lian Lan quickly grabbed her, pulling the silver-haired girl under a hidden sofa.
“Huh, Lian Lan…”
“Don’t make a sound for now, let’s see who this is.”
…
Due to the limited space under the sofa, the girls could only see the visitor’s lower body.
Undoubtedly, this was a very gorgeous beautiful girl.
She was wearing Lolita’s leather shoes, and her pure white stockings were printed with a new pattern. The skirt had 5 layers of pleats and was divided into three tiers.
Lonis had been bullied by Elus before and had been forced to wear a Lolita dress.
But the visitor’s attire was even cuter than her own at that time.
“This is…”
“She doesn’t seem to be human, but also a doll.”
“Huh?”
“Lonis, did you see her footsteps? This indicates that her weight is only about 15 kilograms. If she were human, she couldn’t be so light.”
“!”
Lonis was stunned, not expecting Lian Lan’s observation skills to be so sharp.
The girl did not stay in the doll shop for long. She just went to the counter to pick up something, then seemed to tidy up a bit, and left shortly after.
She did not say a word during the entire process.
“Well, she’s gone… Lonis, we can come out now.”
“Ah, that person just now.”
“It seems like she was replacing body parts, Your Highness Warrior, look quickly, there’s an arm here that looks a bit damaged.”
“R-really!”
Lonis was surprised, and only then noticed that the hand of a doll model had been replaced.
The originally smooth wrist had become slightly damaged, and seeing this, Lonis suddenly remembered something.
“Lian Lan, let’s hurry and follow her? I think this doll is very special, and it might be a clue left by Elus for us.”
“Okay!”
…
When they ran out of the shop, Lonis found that the doll girl had already gone some distance away.
But thankfully,
The girl’s beautiful figure was very conspicuous among the crowd, making it easy for the two to follow.
…
…
Walking in a city full of dolls was indeed a very unique experience.
Because the passers-by all looked so ordinary, Lonis and Lian Lan were like the out-of-place heroines in a painting, feeling very discordant.
But?
These passer-by dolls were just minding their own business.
They walked in an orderly manner, and even when Lonis accidentally bumped into one, the other did not react at all.
The doll girl they were following also had no special reaction, only her path was slightly more varied than ordinary dolls.
Her head occasionally glanced at the display windows beside her, as if contemplating whether to browse.
Her body occasionally spun, turning suddenly.
But she never stopped, showing slight hesitation like ordinary people—and her pace was as stable as the passer-by dolls, with the same distance between each step.
This behavior did not seem like that of ordinary dolls, but rather like…
“Miss Lian Lan, do you feel…”
“Yes, Lonis must also know, about the video games in the previous epoch.”
“Yes.”
“I think this doll girl is very much like a player in that world? Although she can decide what to do herself, the data like body movements and speed cannot be decided by herself.”
“Yes, that’s how I feel.”
Lonis could clearly feel that this girl also had her own thoughts… but her limb movements were almost the same as ordinary NPCs.
It was as if someone was remotely controlling this doll.
And as Lonis was thinking carefully, the girl suddenly started to run as if she had discovered something.
“Miss Lonis, we need to run quickly.”
“Okay.”
Although the doll was wearing cake shoes, her running speed was very fast.
In a short while, she disappeared at the street corner, seemingly having shaken off the girls—this made Lonis extremely dejected. She thought the other party could only walk, but who knew she could run?
The clue was lost, what should she do? Should she go back to the comprehensive doll shop to find new clues?
Just as Lonis was hesitating…
“Lonis, our companions are signaling us.”
“Huh?!”
The girl looked up and found that everyone was on the Time Shuttle, using light to shine the way forward for her!
(By the way, everyone is in the sky, so they should be able to see where that girl went.)
Thinking this, Lonis quickly ran with Lian Lan in the direction of the light.
However, the two did not expect…
The place the girl finally entered was the city’s hospital.
