Chapter 42: Excited Eileen

In the older district of the city, inside a rented apartment deep along Wutong Road, a muscular man nearly two meters tall was curled up in a single-fauteuil that seemed somewhat cramped for his frame, his head lowered as he meticulously maintained his equipment.

It was a beam dagger. Its dark red hilt was embedded with tiny, teardrop-shaped crystals connected in a continuous line that ran the entire length of the chassis. Clearly custom-tailored to the user's specifications, the hilt looked exceptionally fitting in the giant's broad palm.

The man flipped his hand, spinning the dagger in his palm a few times before casually activating it. Accompanied by a faint humming sound, a pale blue, brilliant blade of light suddenly ignited, tracing a scorching arc through the air.

"Take it easy, don't scratch the coffee table—otherwise I'll have to file a report with the bureau for compensation," Li Lin said, pulling out a pocket watch to fiddle with it before glancing up at Xu Jiali opposite him. "...That thing looks pretty cool."

"Cool? I traded my life for it," the brawny man chuckled, a look of smug satisfaction on his face. "I rescued an Arglaid astral noble from the 'Windmill Mill' in the L-3 depth—single-handedly. He gave it to me afterward. This thing is custom-made, crafted by the finest artisans using the best glowing-gold crystals, and it can even pass for a Knight's Medal in Arglaid territory."

Li Lin was slightly curious: "What does it do?"

"...Intra-atmospheric transport tickets without waiting in line, fast-track access at hospitals, free admission to the zoo—holidays only."

Li Lin listened in a daze: "That's rather... practical. I thought those mystical, rambling Arglaid people made a big fuss over rituals and symbolism for everything they did."

"They certainly ramble on about mysterious things most of the time, but no matter how mystical you are, you still have to live your life, right?" Xu Jiali shrugged, then complained a bit, "Sigh, operating in the Borderlands is still a bit of a hassle. They won't let us bring a lot of equipment over. I even had a chainsword, but it was classified as a hazard risk before I came, and now it's still locked up in the customs locker..."

Li Lin thought for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, he suddenly sensed something. Right after that, sharing the same intuition, both he and Xu Jiali turned their gazes toward the window of the rented room.

Beneath the gradually darkening night sky, a figure appeared on the windowsill out of nowhere—it was a petite girl wearing a dark red coat, leaning against the window frame in a rather perilous posture, with one leg dangling outside the windowsill.

She looked curiously at the two men in the room: "So, the two of you are the 'special commissioners' in charge of this neighborhood for this period, huh?"

"You are..." Li Lin frowned, vaguely guessing the other's identity.

"Just call me Little Red Riding Hood," the girl sitting on the windowsill waved her hand. "From 'Fairy Tale.' Your bureau hired me to come help you out in this area for a while."

"Oh, then I know you," Li Lin thought to yourself, *as expected*, a polite smile immediately blooming on his face. "I've often heard our captain mention you over the past couple of days, as well as your investigations into this sector. My name is Li Lin, an operations agent from the Second Task Force of the Council's Special Investigation Bureau."

On the other side, Xu Jiali looked the girl on the windowsill up and down before speaking in a muffled voice: "There might be a 'big guy' hiding in this place. I figured you'd send Snow White or 'The King.' Of course, I'm not questioning your wolf pack."

Unlike Li Lin, who was still something of a newcomer, Xu Jiali clearly wasn't meeting Little Red Riding Hood for the first time.

"Snow White's destructive power is a bit off the charts for this situation—we aren't necessarily going to run into a high-danger entity right away," Little Red Riding Hood said casually. "I've been operating in this district all along, and I've been investigating the anomalies on Wutong Road recently, so I'm more familiar with it. Besides, Snow White can get over here quickly anyway if we really run into a 'big guy'; she's on call."

As she spoke, the girl rose from the windowsill, waved at the two men in the room, and said, "I just came by to say hello. You should all have my contact information. Call me if anything comes up. Bye~"

The next second, the girl's figure suddenly dissolved into a melting shadow. The shadow vaguely took the shape of a wolf as it leaped from the windowsill, vanishing into the night in the blink of an eye.

Leaving Li Lin and Xu Jiali staring at each other in bewilderment inside the rented room.

...

After finishing dinner, Yu Sheng sat on the sofa, closing his eyes to rest while listening to the pattering sound darting back and forth between the living room and the dining room—now on the right, now on the left, then circling round and round the sofa in loops.

He opened his eyes to see Eileen running back and forth through the living room and dining room. The 66.6-centimeter-tall doll had a canvas painting strapped to her back that was almost as tall as she was, scurrying across the floor as fast as a little rocket.

After Eileen began her fourth lap around the sofa, Yu Sheng finally couldn't help it: "Can't you take a break? Give those shoes of yours a rest, too."

Eileen dashed up to Yu Sheng, her face full of excitement: "No way! I can't stop at all! I can run everywhere now—everywhere! Look, I can even climb onto the coffee table and jump down from it!"

Before she finished speaking, the doll dashed off again. First, she ran half a circle around the sofa, then climbed hands and knees onto the coffee table in front of Yu Sheng, took a few running steps to leap from the tabletop onto Yu Sheng's lap. Just as he wanted to raise his hand to catch the scurrying creature, Eileen agilely darted forward and leaped from the sofa onto the floor...

Immediately after, she scurried under the living room's television cabinet, labored to climb up onto it, stood on tiptoe, stretched upward with all her might, and successfully pressed the television's power switch.

Miss Doll let out a cheer, turned her head to look at Yu Sheng with boundless excitement: "I can even reach the TV switch! From now on, when you're not home, I can turn off and restart the TV all by myself!"

Yu Sheng rolled his eyes and helplessly tilted his head back: "Fine, fine, congratulations. You're amazing."

The next second, he caught a flash of movement at the corner of his eye—Eileen had darted back from the television cabinet once more. Grabbing the sofa cover with one hand and Yu Sheng's trouser leg with the other, she scaled the sofa in two or three moves and sat down right beside him.

The tiny doll, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, wasn't even as tall as a throw pillow.

That oil painting jutted out behind her, looking proportional to a veritable brick wall.

Yet Eileen had adapted to the presence of the painting frame with astonishing adaptability. Whether running with it on her back, climbing up and down with it, or sitting on the sofa with it, it didn't hinder her movements in the slightest—though there were occasionally some inevitable bumps and scrapes, the doll didn't seem to mind at all.

This left Yu Sheng feeling quite amazed.

"Don't you find it inconvenient carrying that around?" he couldn't help asking out of curiosity. "Frankly speaking, if you made me carry a door panel around all day, I probably wouldn't adapt as fast as you..."

"I think it's all right, though," Eileen swayed her body happily on the sofa. Though the television was on, her attention was clearly entirely elsewhere. "Though it felt a little awkward at first, after running a couple of laps, I completely adapted to its weight and size. Besides, how should I put it..."

The doll suddenly stopped, seeming to search for the right words, before speaking hesitantly after a few seconds: "It gives me a sort of... grounded feeling. When I carry it on my back, my back feels very safe and secure. Have you ever had that feeling? Like when you're sleeping and your back has to lean against a wall, or be propped up against a pile of quilts."

"I know what you mean, but it still feels very... incredible," Yu Sheng looked at the little doll beside him. "I thought you'd be quite resistant to that painting, considering it sealed you away for all those years, and now you still have to carry it on your back all the time."

"There is a bit of that, too," Eileen thought for a moment, nodding gently, though a smile quickly bloomed on her face again. "Still, how does the saying go? 'What's here, make peace with it.' As long as today is better than yesterday, there's nothing to complain about."

"It's 'What comes, take it in peace...'" Yu Sheng corrected.

"It practically means the same thing," Eileen waved her hand dismissively. She seemed to have finally calmed down from her earlier bout of running-induced excitement, and now remembered the business at hand. "All right, I've almost gotten used to my new body. It's time to discuss that fox..."

Yu Sheng nodded, though he quickly furrowed his brow slightly, looking at the little doll who only reached his knees: "Do you still plan to come with me?"

Eileen wore a matter-of-fact expression: "Of course. We already agreed on it."

"In this state?" Yu Sheng tried hard to phrase his words as tactfully as possible, but no matter how he thought about it, there was no way to be polite, so he simply spoke bluntly: "Can you still fight? You'd have to jump up just to kick me in the knee now..."

"I can kick you to pieces! What's wrong with being small!" Eileen bristled instantly. "Who told you I can't fight just because I'm like this now?!"

Seeing this, Yu Sheng hurriedly offered a flurry of placating words.

Fortunately, Eileen's temper always flared up quickly and died down even faster. She soon quieted, leaned back against the sofa, and crossed her arms: "Still, you have a point. Being like this... my head-on combat capability is bound to be affected to some extent. You can't expect a doll just over 60 centimeters tall to block bullets for you, right..."

At this, she shook her head, her tone suddenly shifting: "Don't worry, though. A doll's capabilities aren't limited to frontal combat; I have plenty of other skills—even with just this level of 'freedom,' there's still plenty I can do."

She raised her hand, lifting it before Yu Sheng as if to showcase something.

Wisps of pitch-black thread spread from her fingertips, like eerie spider silk, as if possessing a life of their own, winding and growing in the air to weave into a web.

"A doll's tricks are many!"

Eileen wore a look of utter triumph.