Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 575: Shrinking

The mysterious data "black box" occupying vast memory space, the abnormal calculation task continuously running at the base of the mind, the interfered mind thread—Yu Sheng did not expect that behind that seemingly silly, unrefined little puppet who chattered all day, there would be hidden so many confounding mysteries, and all of this happened after the World Bridge Crisis had already been resolved.

Even though the final fusion with the Omen Goddess was completed, why was there still such a large mystery left behind? What’s contained within that immense data structure?

Not even Marin could provide an answer.

But one thing is certain—Erin said that after churning out a large batch of manufactured bodies, her mind feels a bit more "enlightened"... is true.

Yu Sheng truthfully conveyed this situation to the living doll lady before him.

Marin nodded immediately: "That makes a lot of sense."

Upon saying this, she herself suddenly felt a bit awkward—since when could she naturally regard "an Alice Puppet making four batches of manufactured bodies for herself would make her smarter" as a rational thing?

With a question in mind, she furrowed her brows, but after taking a glance at Yu Sheng in front of her, she instantly dispelled that bit of inner conflict—well, existence is rational, especially when it involves the "Travel Agency." These people use blood, clay, and 502 to repair Alice Puppets, what can she say? It’s best to show reverence and compliance to reality...

Yu Sheng, however, did not notice Marin’s change in expression, he merely pondered while stroking his chin and said: "Initially, I was worried that the Omen Goddess would lose control with Erin, so I had her pause the expansion of the puppet army, but now the threat of the omen has been lifted, and it seems the more manufactured bodies she makes, the lower the mental pressure, so after this, she can continue producing manufactured puppets. However, this means they will need a larger area in the valley for those manufactured puppets... the hub is getting too cramped."

At this point, Yu Sheng waved his hand, realizing these are matters to consider later and not necessary to discuss too much with Marin, but he suddenly had another question: "Can Erin, carrying such large-scale ’abnormal data,’ still smoothly access the ’Garden Network’? She’s been longing for this..."

"Maris has already completed preliminary testing and guidance, I believe there is no problem," Marin’s fingers brushed across the holographic projection in mid-air, the demonstrative model in the projection resumed its dizzying diagram and data flows, "The abnormal data structure in her memory space is encapsulated with an extremely sturdy ’shell’, and fundamentally won’t interact with the outside world. I will have Maris construct an additional safety barrier outside that shell to further ensure that nothing goes wrong..."

She paused briefly here, gently exhaled, and a soft smile spread across her face.

"Rest assured, I understand the significance of ’going home’ for a lost puppet. As long as it doesn’t harm the Garden Network, I will do my utmost to bring Erin back among us. ’Alice’s Cottage’ always endeavors to help every sister seeking to return home, no matter how much she has changed or forgotten."

From the words of the living doll lady, Yu Sheng sensed sincerity, but looking at the gentle and proper smile on her face, he couldn’t help but waver, mainly because he suddenly remembered—it’s true that Erin had been longing to return to "Alice’s Cottage," but her eagerness to reconnect with the Garden Network might not be solely for returning to the tribe...

Because recently, she’s had intense confrontations with silly internet users, her social account and game account have pretty much entered the ban cycle—thus, Yu Sheng strongly suspects Erin may have her own unique understanding and requests for the Garden Network...

...Darn it, thinking about taking Erin into the Garden Network might shake the entire universe’s Alice Puppets.

"Do you have any other questions?"

Marin’s gentle voice came from across, snapping Yu Sheng out of his wild thoughts. He looked up at this elegant Alice Puppet before him, hesitated for a long time but ultimately didn’t voice the concern that "Erin’s quality might bring a different kind of pollution to the Garden Network."

After all, it’s a long-standing ancient organization, having witnessed various things in the universe, Alice Puppets presumably wouldn’t be shaken just because the network adds an automated trolling patrol... right?

"Ahem, I don’t have any more questions for now," Yu Sheng coughed twice to cover the awkwardness on his face, then glanced at the holographic projection next to him, "Has Erin’s check concluded?"

Marin nodded: "It could have concluded long ago, we only spent extra time to understand the ’abnormal data’ in her memory."

"Alright then," Yu Sheng stood up from the tea table, "We should go get her—Erin isn’t the patient type, if we delay further, she might start having doubts."

The group then left the lounge, but before returning to the "Puppet Printing Room," Yu Sheng paused again in the corridor.

"Regarding those ’abnormal data,’ we can only maintain the current situation for now, but..."

"I understand," Marin nodded slightly before Yu Sheng could finish speaking, "Maintaining the status quo is a temporary measure, we will eventually need to thoroughly understand what exactly that is—I and Maris will continue analyzing that mysterious ’data package’ and see if we can find a way to crack its shell, and I will also seek help in the Garden Network to see if any other sisters can come up with a solution."

Then she paused, gazing into Yu Sheng’s eyes: "Before that, do you plan to tell Erin the truth?"

Yu Sheng thought seriously for a moment and nodded: "...I still need to tell her."

"Aren’t you worried she might..."

"She’ll be anxious, might overthink for a bit, but she’ll quickly accept and return to normal, as long as she knows I’m trying to help her, along with others," Yu Sheng said. "In comparison, if Erin finds out we kept such a big thing from her one day, she’ll be even more upset."

Marin mused, "Is she really that kind of person..."

"Yeah, yeah," Hu Li nodded repeatedly beside them, "Erin is actually quite simple—just don’t lie to her. Aside from that, she’ll quickly recover from anything, no matter how major."

Luna: "Yeah, right."

The door to the Puppet Printing Room opened.

Yu Sheng followed Marin into the room and immediately spotted the bored blonde puppet sitting on the platform—Erin still had that data cable in her mouth, maintaining her initial immobile pose, yet with a somewhat hopeless expression, evidently having sat there long enough.

Meanwhile, her 66.6-centimeter-high body was circling around Maris, muttering incessantly:

"When’s it getting done? When’s it finished? Was the space I just went to the Garden Network? When can I go there myself... Are those shadows greeting me other sisters? How do I leave a contact for them? If I want to gather people for a game, can I use the Garden Network to recruit them? Do other Alice Puppets go to the Border Communication forum? By the way, where did you buy that spring key on your back... Which way do you turn it? Can I turn it? If not, that’s fine, Yu Sheng said not to mess with other’s things... When’s it getting done?"

Just listening to this for a moment as he entered the door, Yu Sheng felt his brain was about to boil over, and when he looked at Maris’s face—he hadn’t expected to see such a hopeless expression on a robot’s face.

Luckily, Erin finally saw Yu Sheng who had just pushed open the door.

"Ah! Yu Sheng!" The little puppet’s eyes immediately lit up, and she ran over, skillfully climbing onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder. "Yu Sheng, let me tell you, Maris is so boring. She didn’t let me touch her spring, always spoke with a serious face, and didn’t tell me the check-up results... But the Garden Network is pretty interesting! She took me for a tour around the upper network; there were so many people over there! All Alice Puppets! I even greeted them..."

The little puppet rambled on, then started to reach out and fiddle with Yu Sheng’s hair, her lively energy leaving Marin beside them a bit dumbfounded.

"The check-up is complete," Yu Sheng said, adeptly dealing with the little claws messing with his hair, smiling at Erin, "Your body is fine, just after merging with the Omen Goddess, your mind has something ’special.’ Let’s talk at home."

Erin instantly cheered up, "Okay!"

Then the blonde girl on the platform swiftly spat out the data cable she was holding and jumped to the ground to approach Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng smiled and extended his hand to her.

The next second, the blonde Erin shrank a few centimeters in height.

At first, no one reacted, only Luna tilted her head quizzically, but soon, under everyone’s gaze, the puppet’s body suddenly shrunk several more centimeters—such a significant change was impossible to miss, and even Erin herself paused in confusion.

She tilted her head, noticing that her perspective was changing.

Just that small movement, she’d become just slightly over a meter tall.

"...What the hell!" The little puppet (blonde) finally reacted, screaming as she lunged at Yu Sheng, "Yu Yu Yu... Yu Sheng! I’m shrinking—what the hell—"

A petite body crashed into Yu Sheng, and then slipped down like an octopus hanging from his leg, unmistakably familiar in its muscle memory.

Yu Sheng looked down and saw a little blonde head looking up at him, eyes full of bewilderment.

Yu Sheng was taken aback, and even without a ruler at hand, he was instantly sure that the little thing hanging onto his leg was approximately 66.6 centimeters tall.

"Wait... What’s going on here?!" Even he was confused, "She was fine just now, how did she shrink within a few steps?!"

Erin stared wide-eyed at Yu Sheng, then looked at the silly fox and C-shaped buckle beside her, lowered her head to gather her emotions, and burst into tears.