Early the next morning, Yu Sheng moved a chair, hugging Erin, and sat at the entrance of No. 66 Wutong Road. Hu Li and Luna stood beside him like two guardian deities on either side, all four of them (or possibly none of them, being human) eagerly waiting by the roadside for the Alice Puppet who claimed to be Marin to visit.

Erin kept fiddling with her smartwatch—Yu Sheng helped her remove the strap and tied a colorful string to wear it around her neck—the little doll opened and closed several apps, anyone could see she was a bit nervous.

But whenever Yu Sheng spoke up to ask, she would immediately deny it, stubbornly saying she was just bored.

This time, no one exposed the little creature's clumsy excuse.

Yu Sheng glanced at the time, then looked up at the end of the road, his mind still on the phone call with Baili Qing the day before, and the things he had entrusted to him.

...Hopefully, Baili Qing had accurately explained Erin's situation to the "Alice's House Messenger" and conveyed his thoughts.

When Hu Li finished eating the twelfth pancake, those waiting at the door heard the sound of an engine—a black luxury car appeared at the end of the road.

Yu Sheng glanced at the demon fox girl beside him, seeing her squint her eyes with satisfaction: "They drove here! Savior, you have to help me brush my tails tonight!"

Yu Sheng clicked his tongue, frowning, "…Why aren't they riding an electric scooter? It doesn't fit the usual style of people coming here."

Hu Li earnestly replied, "Riding an electric scooter with one hand is unsafe..."

Erin, hearing the commotion beside her, finally couldn't hold back, "Aren't you two bored!"

Yu Sheng chuckled listening to this, and just then, as they spoke, the car had already come closer and steadily stopped at No. 66 Wutong Road.

The car door opened, but instead of the Alice Puppet Yu Sheng had seen yesterday, a short-haired woman dressed like a maid, yet with obvious mechanical structures, got out first—after she got out, she opened the rear car door, allowing the proclaimed "Marin" the Alice Puppet to come into view.

At the same time, Yu Sheng noticed that not only did the short-haired "maid" driving have obvious non-human mechanical features, but near her lower back, there was a large spring structure—a silver-white spring key stuck decoratively like a bow in a complex lock hole, with occasional soft clicking sounds emanating from it.

Erin's eyes were immediately drawn to the large key on the "spring-loaded maid's" back, and heaven knows what neuron fired in her little head, she began wriggling her arms and shouting, "Hey hey, Yu Sheng! I want that! The spinning one!"

Yu Sheng was just getting up to greet Marin, but hearing the beep from the little thing in his arms, he didn't react at first. It took him two seconds to understand what Erin meant, looking instantly annoyed: "What do you mean you want that—you don't even have a keyhole!"

Just having gotten off the car, Marin, walking over with a faint smile, for some reason slightly paused her steps and looked at Erin before quickly regaining her composure, continuing unhurriedly to Yu Sheng, with that flawless smile: "It's nice to meet again, Mr. Yu—I'm sorry, my abruptness yesterday, I hope it didn't cause you any inconvenience."

"Ah, ah?" Yu Sheng instinctively seemed a bit stunned, not quite understanding the overly formal and courteous demeanor—after all, he was used to folks around being either elusive or highly strung; he hadn't thought much of Marin's sudden departure yesterday, so he found it a bit hard to adapt, "Oh, no worries, I heard from Baili Qing that you had something urgent yesterday, it's understandable..."

As he spoke, he extended his hand to her, thinking it more polite to take the initiative this time.

Then there was a two-second silence at the scene.

Yu Sheng switched to his left hand.

Marin's reaction was a bit subtle; the doll lady responded to Yu Sheng's handshake quite cautiously, and after a moment of hesitation, she spoke softly: "Mr. Yu, I accidentally left something behind yesterday..."

"It's here." Yu Sheng nodded eagerly before she could finish, then gave Hu Li a look.

The demon fox girl promptly brushed off the pancake crumbs from her hands, wiped them against her tail, and reached into her storage tail, pulling out a doll hand and a glove, handing them to the Alice Puppet in front of her.

"Thank you."

Marin meticulously expressed her gratitude, took her hand, placed it on her wrist, and with a "pop" sound, the ball joint reset. She turned it back and forth a bit to ensure a proper connection, finally letting out a sigh of relief, carefully putting on the long glove.

"Hey, we studied it all night, totally confused," Yu Sheng was still marveling on the side, "didn't know what it meant for you to leave a hand behind so suddenly..."

"My hand joints aren't very secure, that's part of my 'blessing'," Marin said, her gaze then fell on the little doll in Yu Sheng's arms. She quietly scrutinized, and though her flawless porcelain-like face showed no genuine emotion or thought, after a while, she nodded lightly, "Erin, right?"

"Yes, yes!" The little doll had been staring at Marin since the beginning as if recalling her own height of 1.65 meters when looking at this proportionately normal living doll, but kept her mouth tightly shut, not daring to speak. When Marin greeted her directly, she hurriedly replied, "I'm Erin! Erin from Alice's Cottage! I... I don't know you... do you know me?"

As she spoke, her voice suddenly grew smaller, as if carrying a hint of trepidation, then turned and climbed onto Yu Sheng's shoulder, tightly hugging his head.

This was her habitual reaction when feeling nervous or scared outside.

Marin did not immediately answer Erin's question, the "big doll" just carefully examined the little doll again, then turned to Yu Sheng, "It's not quite suitable to talk here, may I..."

"Oh, oh, let's discuss it inside," Yu Sheng immediately responded, turned around and took two steps to open the door at No. 66 Wutong Road. "I forgot, you probably can't see my house."

Marin and the spring doll beside her momentarily widened their eyes slightly in astonishment, staring at the door that suddenly appeared before them and the living room opposite it, which looked simple yet full of life.

A moment later, the two guests were led into No. 66 Wutong Road and seated on the sofa in the living room.

Marin stared blankly at the other three Erin sitting neatly on the sofa.

"...What on earth is going on?"

"These are all my extensions, made by Yu Sheng!" Erin immediately explained, with a hint of pride. "Number One, Number Two, Number Three... There's no particular order; whoever grabs the painting in the morning gets to be Number One!"

Marin listened in confusion, clearly not understanding. She turned her head to Yu Sheng, "Are you an alchemy master then? You even know how to make living dolls?"

Yu Sheng hurriedly waved his hand, "No, no, no, my skills are quite rough; it was Erin who taught me the basics."

Marin stared blankly again at the row of little dolls, "...Are there more?"

"Yes," Yu Sheng nodded with a smile, "I have a whole troupe in the backyard."

Marin: "?!"

Why does the Alice Puppet have an entire troupe of extensions?!

Erin tugged at Yu Sheng's sleeve, leaned over, and muttered quietly, "Now there are two troupes."

Yu Sheng was shocked, "...When did this happen?!"

"Discovered during yesterday's evaluation," Erin stuck out her tongue. "Last time I gave them a looped production command while making dolls and forgot to stop. I only got an error message after all the blood you left in the alchemy workshop ran out. Counting them, I found there are now two troupes."

Yu Sheng: "..."

He fell silent for a moment, while Marin on the opposite side seemed somewhat numb. This Alice's House Messenger, who had just been sent to Boundary Land, probably hadn't encountered such a situation before. Only now did she somewhat understand the meaning of the widespread acclaim "Boundary Land abounds with talented people," and also understood Baili Qing's well-intentioned advice before she came, "Keep your mind calm around Yu Sheng." Just then, she noticed another unusual item.

There was a peculiar grayish-white stone ball that kept circling around one of Erin's heads.

"What's that thing?" she asked curiously.

"That's Erin's satellite," Hu Li said offhandedly.

Marin: "...?"

Why does the Alice Puppet even have a satellite?!

She turned slightly and met the somewhat vacant gaze of the spring doll Maris.

"Maris," she called out in telepathic communication.

"Here, Miss Marin." The voice of the spring-loaded maid responded from the depths of her mind.

"Is there a possibility," Marin murmured internally with a peculiar tone, "that this little one is the real Alice Puppet, and I'm actually the fake one?"

"Please remain calm. I fully understand the jealousy that arises when you see other dolls with high-end accessories, but this bumpy ball doesn't quite suit your hairstyle."

Marin's eye twitched slightly. Noticing the several gazes that had been resting on her from across the sofa, she coughed twice and refocused on Erin.

And on the strange painting Erin had behind her back.

"As you can see," Yu Sheng's voice sounded, "Erin's situation now... is rather special. Although she has several bodies, part of her 'essence' is likely still bound by this painting. Until today, she has been trying to contact Alice's Cottage but has had no progress. Now that you've arrived -- we are eager to know, what exactly is Erin's situation?"

Marin pressed her lips together; following a few seconds of solemn silence and contemplation, she extended her hand toward Erin (the one closest to her).

"At least one thing is certain," she said with a slight smile on her face, "you truly are our sister -- although, it seems there has been a bit of a situation."

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