Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 663 - 662: A Bit of Distance from Others

Regarding Yu Sheng, the restriction of facility size is easily solved; this valley has plenty of space and there are also many "subsets" and "secondary spaces" connected to the valley. Allocating a special area for Erin to carry out production is an easy task.

But material constraints pose a big headache.

The materials needed for mass-producing puppets are mainly divided into two parts: conventional and unconventional. The conventional part is clay (or any moldable base material) and alchemy materials, the former can be found abundantly in the valley, and the latter can be bought in any desired amount from outside, which is not a problem. However, the unconventional part consists of the Spiritual Fox Mysterious Iron for the puppet skeleton and spiritual blood as a "catalyst," and the "supply" of these two things has long been an issue.

In comparison, the problem with Spiritual Fox Mysterious Iron is actually not severe. One reason is that Hu Li can produce ample amounts of it as long as she is well-fed, and everyone knows Hu Li's appetite when it comes to food. Another reason is that the amount used is actually not large; small amounts of Mysterious Iron in the skeleton do not actually provide structural support for the puppets but only serve to grant them "spiritual power," allowing them to emit Erin's Beam and have a certain degree of growth potential (such as learning Sword Flight from Mr. Yun).

A puppet only requires a tiny bit of Spiritual Fox Mysterious Iron, and if it's really impossible to supply it, Erin can produce a "No Spiritual Ability Version" without the Mysterious Iron skeleton. These mass-produced shells only lose remote capabilities and growth potential, but they can still manipulate threads. Such mass-produced puppets can still act as auxiliary units or "worker bees" in the valley.

But if the blood supply for the "catalyst" is insufficient, there's no solution.

After all, this isn't something that can be achieved by mere effort...

Another Erin just completed repairs and climbed up from the Alchemy Platform, a small puppet sitting on the edge of the platform, arms crossed, with a serious and contemplative expression, emitting an aura of having many ideas but not understanding them.

Honestly, Yu Sheng did not expect this little thing to come up with any ideas, but he still curiously (and out of politeness) asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

He didn't expect Erin actually had an idea: "Do you think we can exploit a bug...?"

Yu Sheng looked baffled: "Exploit what bug?"

The small puppet seriously replied: "You know, the blood that flows out of your body, isn't it still your blood?"

Yu Sheng: "...I'm starting to have a bad feeling about this."

"Let's do this: first, match you with a blood type, then find a suitable blood source from outside—over at Shuji, there are definitely countless people willing to line up to donate blood for you—then, transfuse into your left hand while simultaneously releasing it from your right hand, just like this it passes through your body..." As the little puppet spoke, it clapped its hands, "Hey, doesn't that establish a production cycle?"

"A production cycle—are production cycles used like this?" Yu Sheng found the little thing's idea astonishing, but he felt a bit out of sorts, "Did you learn this craft from those con artists who make fake talismans then claim they were blessed by Immortals after a trip to the bottom of Qianfeng Ling Mountain?"

Erin crossed her arms, "So, is this a good idea or not!"

"...I suggest we think of something else," Yu Sheng's eye twitched twice, "Don't even mention whether your self-deceiving process would work; I'm also not too sure if my blood type match is even compatible outside—I still have some self-awareness regarding that."

Erin quietly uttered a "tsk," then crossed her arms and resumed pondering. But it seemed the previous idea had exhausted her thread, and this time she couldn't come up with any other plan.

Yu Sheng, on the other hand, seemed inspired by the open-mindedness of the little puppet, and after a moment of thought, he suddenly came up with his own idea: "Maybe we can exploit another bug...?"

Erin opened her mouth: "There's another bug?"

"I remember we summarized the pattern of my blood and death, right?" Yu Sheng said while recalling, "Normally, when I die, my body will 'reset,' and any direct 'traces' related to my death will also be wiped out, like the blood left at the scene and the memories of on-site witnesses..."

Erin listened intently, with a somewhat subtle expression: "That's true, but what exactly do you want to say?"

"Blood left at the scene of my death will disappear, but in two circumstances, the blood that flows out of my body will not be affected by such 'retrospect' effects," Yu Sheng shook his head ponderously, "One situation is when the blood was released before the 'death event' began, because this blood is not causally linked to my death event, so it isn't affected by the 'trace removal' effect. The blood stored in the blood tank is preserved this way, and the other situation..."

Yu Sheng touched his chin, seriously contemplating.

"The second situation is when it is 'used up' or 'transformed' before the death event ends," he slowly began, "For example, when I died, I happened to spread the fungal carpet—just like back at Black Stone Space Station, where I died on the spot, but my blood had already infiltrated the environment, and although that death event was erased later, my infiltration effect on the space station did not disappear. This is how used blood won't be retrospectively erased but preserved as an established fact."

Admittedly, this topic is somewhat eerie, but Yu Sheng was not bothered due to his regular experiences, and with no one in attendance possessing a normal worldview able to challenge him, his flexible thoughts began to expand unabashedly.

Erin's expression became increasingly peculiar: "What exactly are you trying to say—"

"Connect a tube to my body and direct it towards that thing, does it have any chance?" Yu Sheng raised his hand, pointing at the Diffusion Device in the corner of the hall, "Then you go all out on production, and I'll just blood-let till I die... making a point of blood already used won't return or refund."

Erin: "..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

The two of them started staring at each other, neither speaking.

Half a minute later, the little puppet finally exclaimed, "Are you a human?!"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, nodded, "I think I am."

Erin: "And you can still kill on the spot every thirty minutes!"

"...When you put it that way, it does sound a bit weird," Yu Sheng touched the tip of his nose, his scattered thoughts slowly gathering, then he spoke just like Erin did earlier, "But just say if this is a good idea or not!"

"Then I also suggest we think of something else," Erin's little face scrunched up, she sat by the alchemy platform, arms crossed, swinging her little legs, "Even if you hang a couple of bags of saline the next time you let blood."

As soon as she finished speaking, Luna slowly nodded beside her, "Finally heard, a living idea."

Yu Sheng said nothing more, after that unsettling brainstorming session, he seemed to suddenly... transcend a mental block deep in his mind. Some previously subconscious doubts arose from the depths of his heart. After a brief distraction, he looked up, his gaze falling again on that diffusion device in the corner of the wall.

Thin wisps of blood-red mist were emanating from the device, slowly drifting in the air.

It looked like blood, smelled like blood, it was warm and red when it flowed out of the body.

Vibrant yet symbolizing death, blood.

Yu Sheng raised his hand in front of his eyes, quietly staring at his palm, as if his gaze penetrated the skin, seeing something crimson flowing inside, like liquid life, flowing death, an amorphous cycle of life and death.

"...What on earth is the principle here?" he muttered, "What on earth is this thing?"

Suddenly, Erin heard some vague sounds, those sounds had no source, as if reverberating directly in her mind. She saw Luna also suddenly raise her head, as if hearing the same sounds, and immediately after, she noticed Yu Sheng's figure becoming a bit blurred—inside that human shell, it seemed something else was overlaid.

Dark, like a pitch-black shadow.

A black shadow slowly seeped out from around Yu Sheng's silhouette, diffusing in the air.

But suddenly, that death-like black thing disappeared instantly—along with the memory of witnessing it also fading from the puppet's mind. Yu Sheng only stared blankly for a few seconds, quickly coming to his senses, lowered his hand and shook it.

"Alright, this isn't something I can figure out right now," he said casually, "For now, the issue with raw material constraints can't be completely solved, but there are ways to mitigate it... at worst, like you said earlier, mix some saline into it, since not much is needed anyway."

The little puppet swayed back and forth on the platform, exaggeratedly lamenting, "Oh, in the future, I'll only be able to use diluted materials to build my mass-production machinery."

Yu Sheng felt that little thing's tone and actions were particularly provocative—but with so many of her around, he's probably outmatched...

"Ahem, let's first check out the Black Forest area," he touched his nose, "Go pick a site for your Puppet Town, and finalize the location for the new 'Puppet Production Center'."

"Alright!"

A moment later, near the Black Forest, Yu Sheng stood on a large tree stump with a mass-produced Erin on his shoulder, hands on his hips, looking at the open terrain ahead.

Strictly speaking, this open terrain was also part of the Black Forest—it had forcibly expanded a large area on a corner of the original valley, and the terrain was flat, perfect for construction.

In fact, the children of Fairy Tales had already built a logging and sawmill facility at the edge of this open terrain on the side near the Black Forest, and the timber they used to build their houses was mostly transported from here.

A hard road ran through the middle of the open terrain, passing by the logging and sawmill facilities, and continued into the Black Forest, ending at the cottage where Hunter and Squirrel lived, while its other end led to Fairy Tale Town in the center of the valley.

Additionally, there was an intersection in the middle of this main road, leading to the Star Port.

The terrain was open and flat, with existing roads, backed by rich forest resources, and close to the Star Port, allowing Puppet Town's power needs to be directly solved from the Star Port—provided you have Sun pull a cable.

"Here it is," Yu Sheng clapped his hands, "Let's get started!"

Erin: "Alright!"