GRMFBS CH111

17L:
By the way, where did the Artisan go? Ling Yu is absent because of recent business with the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, but what about the Artisan?

When Zhan Yan scrolled to this post, he suddenly remembered something.

Right! The Artisan is skilled at making all sorts of props. I wonder if he can create a prop specifically for finding the Candle Dragon’s Remnant Shadow! He could offer points to have the Artisan custom-make one to try.

Although he didn’t plan to enter the Candle Dragon’s Remnant Shadow now, he could prepare in advance.

He sent a private message to the Artisan to ask.

The Artisan didn’t reply, probably busy.

Having dealt with most of the posts, Zhan Yan stretched.

Sigh, I got such a big scoop of gossip today, but it’s a pity it involves monsters, so I can’t share it with my sister. Gossip not shared is only half as tasty.

Zhan Yan tossed and turned but couldn’t resist. He poked his sister with a message:
“Sis, have you ever seen a couple where one is willing to transplant their own organs for their lover?”

…

“You have a new message notification from the Chaofan Forum.”

The Doll Butler, lying flat on the workbench with his upper body bare and the outer panel of his abdomen open to expose the intricate mechanical structure within, still dutifully gave the reminder.

“You shut up,” Zhan Suiru said irritably.

Her sleeves were rolled up above her elbows, and she held tweezers and a small brush, carefully cleaning the Doll Butler. “How can you swallow clay into your insides while making a sculpture? Did you do it on purpose?”

The Doll Butler shut up.

Zhan Suiru cleared out the clay jamming the gears, wiped it clean with a soft cloth, and then applied oil with the brush. “I’m asking you! Do you hate sculpting that much?”

The Doll Butler’s two hands rested properly at his sides. “You just told me to shut up.”

Zhan Suiru glared at him. “Oh, so you know how to be obedient now, is that it?”

Doll Butler: “No.”

Zhan Suiru: “Hmm?!”

Doll Butler: “I do not hate sculpting.”

“Then explain to me how you swallowed the clay. Weren’t the sculpting tools enough for you to work with?” Zhan Suiru finished cleaning the abdominal cavity and started on the chest cavity.

The Doll Butler’s structure and protection were very comprehensive. Even if he swallowed clay, it shouldn’t have fallen into his internal mechanical structures. Otherwise, being so expensive, it would be a joke if he broke down just from eating something, right?

Xiao Ran must have done something himself.

The Doll Butler fell silent again, the gears in his pupils turning with a stutter.

Zhan Suiru didn’t have the energy to keep questioning him. She began to concentrate fully on cleaning the chest cavity.

This was the core of the Doll Butler.

After opening layer upon layer of intricate locks, a bronze-colored, translucent icosahedron was revealed inside, filled with crystal-like flakes. It floated quietly in the space formed by the locks, rotating rhythmically. The light fell into it, refracting a magnificent brilliance.

This was Yang Ran’s ability core.

Zhan Suiru reached out and gently flicked it.

The core spun, and the Doll Butler’s whole body trembled. His pupils dilated abruptly. “Ngh… please don’t…”

“There’s nothing wrong with the core.” Zhan Suiru closed the locks again.

As always, it was unable to accept any power, not even his own original ability.

Back when Yang Ran forcibly extracted his own ability, his core had become like this, filled with cotton-like crystal flakes, unable to accept any other power, turning into a useless, empty shell.

The Doll Butler, however, seemed not to have recovered, raising a hand haltingly, wanting to press on his chest which still felt very strange.

Zhan Suiru grabbed his forearm and pushed it down. “Don’t move.”

His chest was still open, what was he touching randomly for?

After cleaning all the clay, Zhan Suiru began to oil him.

The Doll Butler, after being stuck for a few minutes, suddenly piped up again: “You have a new mission invitation message on the Chaofan Forum.”

Zhan Suiru: “…Are you ever going to stop? First, tell me why you ate the clay!”

Perhaps that flick just now had knocked something loose in him. The gears in the Doll Butler’s pupils spun a few times, and he said, “To improve my aesthetic sense.”

Zhan Suiru: “Huh?”

Her mind spun for a couple of rounds before she remembered she had previously told him to improve his aesthetic sense.

Zhan Suiru closed the outer panel of his chest and slapped it lightly. “You’ve even learned to turn the tables on me!”

The Doll Butler sat up from the workbench and began to silently button up his clothes.

I am not turning the tables.

The sculpture is not good-looking.

I want to make it look good.

I feel something is missing.

I do not know what is missing.

I looked at the sculpture on the shelf for a long time, the gears turned very sluggishly.

You will not install an aesthetics module.

What is missing, must be filled.

In the chest.

Cannot open, cannot take out. Let the clay go in.

I am not turning the tables.

The virtual midsummer sunlight shone in from the window, and the dappled gold filtering through the tree shadows fell on his incredibly realistic simulated skin. The texture of the skin, the wrinkles of his knuckles, the reddish fingertips… and the fine hairs on his face were softened by the sunlight.

It was as if warm blood truly flowed beneath this skin, and a heart of flesh and blood was beating vigorously in his chest.

It was as if he were truly alive.

Zhan Suiru quietly looked at the meticulously crafted illusion she had created.

She reached out and pulled out the hair the Doll Butler had tucked into the back of his collar. “Alright, go play by yourself. I’m going to rest for a bit.”

Doll Butler: “You have one mission with a deadline of three days, one mission with a deadline of eight days, one mission with a deadline of one month…”

Zhan Suiru: “Stop! I don’t remember installing an overachiever module in you.”

Did the repair go wrong? Why did he suddenly become so competitive?

The Doll Butler stopped.

He indeed did not have an overachiever module. But for some reason, it seemed that when Zhan Suiru had flicked his core just now, it had activated something. Create, create, I need to create more things, create more, research more useful things, only then can I… can I… what can I do?

The Doll Butler got stuck. After a moment, he started up again.

Doll Butler: “You have a new message notification.”

Zhan Suiru: …Not a chance to rest at all.

Fine, let’s see what these messages are.

A private message from “Approaching Science,” not important, I’ll leave it for now.

Her brother was chatting with her. Zhan Suiru tapped into it immediately.

Organ transplant… Zhan Suiru’s fingers paused.

Zhan Suiru: “Did you see some touching social news? A kidney transplant or a liver transplant?”

Zhan Yan: “A heart transplant.”

Zhan Suiru: “…Then that becomes a legal news story.”

“Did you read some trashy novel?”

After chatting nonsense with her brother for a while, Zhan Suiru lay lazily on the sofa, when the Doll Butler unexpectedly took one of her hands.

Zhan Suiru turned her head to look at him. There was some un-wiped nursing oil on the back of her hand. The Doll Butler knelt on one knee by the sofa, wiping it for her with a handkerchief.

Her gaze shifted to the Doll Butler’s chest.

Heart.

For an ability user, the ability core was equivalent to another heart.

Doll Butler: “You have one mission…”

Zhan Suiru: “…I know, I know! I’ll go talk to Tianshi first.”

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau wanted to study the seal she had custom-made, but they had hit a wall they couldn’t overcome.

This was perfectly normal. This world had no mental-type superpowers, so how could they study the seal she made?

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s approach was wrong. Zhan Suiru could teach them how to modify her seal-making method so they could also produce it, but she had conditions.

Artisan: “I want what was left behind after the ‘Apocalypse Fragment’ was cleared.”

Ji Yueming was undergoing a check-up at the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.

She had just come out of one testing instrument and was now filling out a stack of assessment forms.

The room for filling out the forms was decorated very warmly. A huge floor-to-ceiling window made of new materials allowed one to enjoy the snow scene while ensuring thermal insulation; the glass was even warm to the touch.

A thick carpet was laid on the wooden floor, and a fake fireplace emitted heat by the wall. The rocking chair was piled with soft cushions, and hot cocoa was on the table.

Ji Yueming sat cross-legged on the rocking chair, her face full of impatience, showing that she was not moved by these sugar-coated bullets at all.

Ever since she made her move on New Year’s Eve, she had to undergo a check-up at the Bureau every three days. Ji Yueming herself felt it was unnecessary and would fudge it whenever she could.

Ning Xi didn’t have time to personally supervise her, so she arranged for Nie Yu to do it, telling her to watch Ji Yueming closely and make sure she didn’t just make things up.

Although Nie Yu greatly admired their great captain, she was more worried about the captain’s health, and their great captain was not a reliable person in this regard.

Ji Yueming got impatient after filling out two forms. She pushed the rocking chair and turned to Nie Yu, saying gently, “Little Yu, are you tired? Go have some snacks.”

Nie Yu was even gentler: “Captain, are you tired? Come have a cup of hot cocoa, or milk tea is fine too, they’re freshly made. After you finish drinking, let’s continue filling out the forms, okay?”

Ji Yueming: …

She leaned back in her chair and stood her pen next to the stack of assessment forms. The thickness of the forms was a full half of the pen’s length. “Look at this, even a high school senior’s winter homework isn’t this thick.”

Nie Yu: “If you know how serious it is, then don’t just unleash your ultimate move without any regard!”

The thunder on New Year’s Eve scared her to death!

“It’s not that serious! You’ve just been brainwashed by Ning Xi!” Ji Yueming lifted the young girl’s chin. “Weren’t you happily shouting ‘Captain is the coolest’ everywhere before?”

Nie Yu’s face turned red instantly: “Th-th-that’s because I didn’t know you were forcing it!”

She had thought the captain had used a magical artifact for assistance. The Bureau had developed many artifacts over the years to assist Tianshi, which could reduce the impact of unleashing her thunder.

Ji Yueming ruffled the kid’s hair.

Using an artifact for assistance wouldn’t have been able to wear down the Infinite fragments.

Nie Yu: “In-in any case, you must rest well!”

“Aiya,” Ji Yueming spun the pen skillfully. “I feel great right now, but I won’t after I finish these forms!”

As they were going back and forth, her communicator suddenly rang.

Ji Yueming tapped it open immediately, as if escaping winter homework.

“The Artisan is looking for me, it’s official business,” Ji Yueming said with a grave and serious expression.

Nie Yu couldn’t do anything about their great captain, so she could only pout and wait on the side.

After reading the Artisan’s message, Ji Yueming raised an eyebrow. It really was no small matter.

The small world fragment left from the Apocalypse Fragment was still in her hands. Nie Ling had led people to investigate it. The research value of this thing was not great. It was precious, yes, but it was unanalyzable and could not be smelted. After being refined by Tianshi’s thunder, it could no longer be used as material to form a world.

In the hands of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, its only value was being “sturdy.” But it had been eroded by the power of the Infinite for too long, and after being refined by thunder, the remaining piece was only this tiny. It wasn’t even big enough to be a heart-guarding mirror.

It just so happened that the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was in a bit of a mess right now, so it was simply left in Tianshi’s hands for the time being.

It wasn’t strange that the Artisan knew about the Apocalypse Fragment. So many days had passed, it was inevitable that some news about the Infinite Research Institute would leak out. But that he knew something was left of the Apocalypse Fragment, that was unusual.

Usually, people would just assume that the Apocalypse Fragment, like those Infinite fragments, had been completely annihilated in the thunder.

Unless… the Artisan had seen a similar situation before.

Tianshi: “What do you want this for?”

Artisan: “That was my world.”

Ji Yueming froze.

The Artisan came from the Infinite; the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau had long deduced this. But they had always thought the Artisan was a player.

Artisan: “According to those players’ terms, I was an ‘NPC’.”

The three letters “NPC” were shocking to Ji Yueming. The Apocalypse Fragment was a part of a real world. If they had lost twenty-six years ago, who would have become the new NPCs of the Infinite?

Ji Yueming couldn’t help but feel a sense of sorrow and pity.

Zhan Suiru typed on the screen with one hand, while her other hand was being cared for by the Doll Butler.

Cleansing, moisturizing, massaging, trimming nails…

“The hands are the most important part of a creator,” the Doll Butler said to her in a deadpan tone.

After finishing one hand, he switched to the other. The Doll Butler asked considerately, “How do you find it?”

Zhan Suiru: “Very good.”

Doll Butler: “I assume you have finished resting. You have one mission…”

Zhan Suiru: …Can’t even feel sad for a second!

There was simply no time left for sadness.

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