Erin cried so sadly, the kind that can't be easily comforted.

In fact, even Yu Sheng couldn't help feeling a bit sympathetic seeing the four 66.6cm Erins standing in a row—although he was struggling to hold back a laugh too. Luckily, after some tough effort, he managed to keep a straight face.

"Why! Why!! Wh-y——"

The little puppet stood on the alchemy platform, launching a soul-deep (quadruple-voiced) interrogation. Her resentment at that moment, combined with her red-eyed puppet appearance, made her belong in a horror movie, chasing the main cast through six seasons and twelve specials, crawling out of the TV in the final episode. Even Hu Li subconsciously hid behind Yu Sheng, then poked his head out from behind Yu Sheng's arm, cautiously saying, "Well, you have my condolences..."

Hearing this, Erin's sadness deepened.

After quite a while, under the consolations of Yu Sheng and Hu Li together, the unlucky little puppet finally calmed down a bit—not crying but rather squatting at the edge of the platform facing outwards in a circle of self-confinement, all four bodies lowering their heads in existential doubt.

Yu Sheng watched this scene helplessly from the side, feeling a bit emotional: Actually, with an additional body, her self-confinement circle was noticeably more orderly than before...

But he didn't dare to say this out loud.

After who knows how long, Erin Pro Max (perhaps abbreviated as Pro Erin), who had just been created, finally lifted her head with a sigh, "So why exactly? There couldn't have been a mistake this time... The materials used are the highest quality, the Special Service Bureau's stock cannot be counterfeit... I drew the alchemy magic technique personally, not a single symbol wrong... I supervised the entire body shaping process, from the skeleton to stuffing everything was normal... So how can it shrink back..."

Yu Sheng stood by, listening to the little puppet rambling on. Several times he wanted to speak but couldn't find an opportunity, until finally, after some time, he hardened his resolve and stepped forward decisively, "Ahem, is it possible... that the current situation is related to a key material?"

Erin looked up, staring directly into Yu Sheng's eyes.

Being stared at by those scarlet eyes made Yu Sheng a little guilty, but since he'd come this far, swallowing his words wasn't an option, so he spread his hands, "Could it be related to my blood? Like, did I make a mistake with the scale the first time I shaped you, and then this error got bound to you, leaving a... how to put it, ancestral bug, in each subsequent body?"

After saying this, he steeled himself again, standing there without flinching or avoiding, fully prepared to be pounced on by four puppets, leaving him with imprints of their teeth on his head.

To his surprise, after waiting a long time, not a single puppet pounced.

Yu Sheng: "…Erin?"

"You think I hadn't suspected that!" Pro Erin glared, hands on her hips, "I've suspected since the third body was off!"

Yu Sheng: "…Uh, so you..."

"That's why I insisted on directly controlling the Spirit Injection Ceremony and overseeing the body shaping!" Erin's face was desolate, her small features radiating large sorrow, "Plus, when the soul entered the new body this time, I specifically kept a sense and three bystander views to confirm the entire process, just to understand at which moment it went wrong..."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng had a vague guess but didn't dare to conclude rashly, so cautiously asked, "Did you... discover anything?"

Erin's head drooped: "It started having problems after my soul entered."

Yu Sheng said nothing, the situation was much like what he'd expected.

Pro Erin walked to the edge of the alchemy table and sat down, elbows on knees, lost in thought.

Yu Sheng walked over as well, sitting next to Pro Erin.

"So, the problem lies with your soul?"

"Probably," Erin sighed, "but still, why? I really can't feel it, I feel... feel perfectly fine, I..."

Yu Sheng stayed silent, suddenly reaching out to grab the No.1 Erin from nearby, which was carrying a framed painting. He took the painting from the little puppet's back and studied it carefully.

The chair and teddy bear in the painting were as constant as ever.

The puppet wasn't in the painting, but the puppet never left.

"Then the problem must lie here," after a moment of silence, Yu Sheng shook the painting in his hand, "I've always suspected this, just didn't mention it for fear of making you sad..."

He had only spoken halfway when he heard the little puppet beside him mutter, "If one truly obtained freedom, why would they need to always carry a prison?"

"Uh, I thought you hadn't considered that..."

"I just have a bad memory, not foolish," Erin rolled her eyes at Yu Sheng, "And even if I understand this, so what? I can't undo this thing... Being able to carry it around now is already better than before, plus there are now several bodies that don't always have to carry the painting around, although each is just this tall."

She stretched out her arm and measured a height from the ground at the edge of the platform, looking helpless.

Yu Sheng reached out and pushed the little puppet's hand down a bit more.

"Be honest."

"You're a freaking human! I'm already this heartbroken!"

Seeing Erin baring her teeth and looking like she was about to bite someone, Yu Sheng knew the little creature was fine now.

Hu Li also came over at that moment. Although she didn't understand alchemy-related matters, she was quite smart and had already grasped what Yu Sheng and Erin were talking about. Sitting on Yu Sheng's other side, she thoughtfully spoke, "So, you suspect that because part of Erin's soul is still trapped in the painting, it causes defects in the body she newly created, right?"

"Yeah," Erin lifted her eyelids and glanced at Hu Li, "Do you have any ideas?"

"I don't understand this 'Alchemy' stuff, nor do I really get the 'Alice Puppet' thing," Hu Li replied honestly, "But if half your soul is trapped in the painting, wouldn't you usually feel something? Like... in my hometown, we'd say your primordial spirit is split and confined, shouldn't that be really uncomfortable? Yet you say you don't feel anything..."

"I don't feel anything," the little puppet said with resignation, "Looking at the situation, part of my soul is definitely sealed away. At the very least, the soul I can currently move with is definitely incomplete, but personally... I feel perfectly fine."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, "…Did that part of your soul rot inside the painting after being stuck for too long?"

"That's a damn soul! Not peripheral nerves!" Pro Erin jumped up and head-butted Yu Sheng's arm, "You're the one that's decomposed! Half your brain must be dead!"

Yu Sheng hurriedly tried to restrain this little thing, then hung the oil painting on No.1 Erin's back and stood up from beside the alchemy table after a light sigh.

"In any case, this body issue of yours seems like it won't be solved anytime soon," he said as his gaze fell upon the little puppet, "What about next steps? Planning to craft another new body to see how things go? We still have plenty of materials left..."

"No more crafting, no more crafting," the little puppet hastily waved her hands, "Making this one has exhausted me. Even if I make a new body next time, I won't do such a complex Spirit Injection Ceremony again; my head is spinning now."

"Alright then, let's tidy up the remaining materials for now and think about making a new body later." Yu Sheng nodded and beckoned Hu Li to clear the leftover candles, spices, and essential oils from the alchemy table. His gaze once again landed on Pro Erin, a look of contemplation.

The little puppet was immediately unnerved by his gaze, instinctively shrinking back: "W-What now?"

"How does this body feel to use right now?"

"Huh, how does it feel?" Erin was a bit confused, "Well, it's pretty good, moves quite flexibly, after all, it's newly made."

"I mean, given you've used so many high-grade materials, and topped it off with a perfect alchemy magic technique, plus the melting method I painstakingly learned from online videos—this body seems like a literal Pro max version, surely it's different from ordinary bodies?" Yu Sheng's face was full of scholarly spirit, "Although the size hasn't changed... surely it should have some golden text attributes, red suffix glowing features, or something? Can't be its only characteristic is being expensive, right..."

"Is that so?"

Erin tilted her head, seeming to think Yu Sheng made sense, then jumped to the floor, bounced in place, and ran two laps around the alchemy table like a little rocket, probably testing agility or speed. Finally, she came to Yu Sheng's side, crouched and took a pose she learned from who knows where, then Qi sinking into the core field and punched: "Take this—"

She punched right into Yu Sheng's shinbone.

The scene fell silent for two seconds, the little puppet hesitated, looked up at Yu Sheng: "Does it, does it hurt?"

Yu Sheng said, "...It's okay."

"I'm hurt!!" Erin shrieked and jumped up, clutching her fist and bouncing around, "It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts! Yu Sheng, is your leg a damn human leg? I ran into a cement wall last time and it wasn't this hard!"

Yu Sheng: "..."

What else could he do? Just keep comforting her.

After finally calming the little puppet down, he helplessly advised, "I think there's no need for you to insist on physical combat ability or physical prowess; after all, our conditions (66.6cm) are out here, trying to melee with a C-type with near 1.2m long legs is pointless, they'd kick you and you'd have to turn and run half a day... Let go, stop biting, let go, let go!"

Erin glared with crimson eyes: "Is this how someone gives advice?!"

"That's not what I meant, I meant you're an intellectual hero... Yes, intelligence, we're playing with skills," Yu Sheng rubbed his calf which had been bitten, awkwardly explaining to the little puppet, "Let's look at skills, okay? Show me those threads you usually use."

"What change can there be with threads, these are directly blessed by the Puppet Progenitor," Erin (Pro version) muttered, but still raised her hand and flicked her fingers toward an empty space, "Each puppet has its innate ability, it won't change just because the body is swapped..."

A dazzling blue beam "buzzed" out from her hand, directly cutting a hole in the thick stone wall Yu Sheng had temporarily erected for setting up the alchemy venue.

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