GRMFBS CH111

17L:
Speaking of which, where did Artisan go? Boss Lingyu is absent because of the recent incident with the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, but what about Artisan?

Scrolling past this comment, Zhan Yan suddenly remembered something.

Right! Artisan specializes in crafting all sorts of items. I wonder if he could make an item specifically designed to track down Candle Dragon remnants! I could spend some points to commission a custom piece from him and test it out.

Although he didn’t plan on entering a Candle Dragon remnant right now, he could prepare in advance.

He poked Artisan in a private message to ask.

Artisan didn’t reply; he was probably busy.

Having processed most of the threads, Zhan Yan stretched lazily.

Sigh, I ate such a huge piece of gossip today. Too bad it involves demons, so I can’t share it with Sis. Eating gossip without sharing takes away half the flavor.

After tossing and turning, Zhan Yan still couldn’t resist. He poked his sister and asked:

“Sis, have you ever seen a couple where one person is willing to donate their organs to the other?”

“You have a new message notification from the chaofan forum.”

The puppet butler lay flat on his back on the workbench, his upper body bare. The outer plating of his abdomen was open, exposing the intricate mechanical structure within, yet he still dutifully reported the notification.

“Shut up,” Zhan Suiru snapped in annoyance.

With her sleeves rolled up past her elbows, she held tweezers and a fine brush, meticulously cleaning the inside of the puppet butler. “You managed to swallow clay into your internal components while making a sculpture. You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

The puppet butler shut up.

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

The puppet butler kept his hands perfectly still by his sides. “You just told me to shut up.”

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

Puppet butler: “No.”

Zhan Suiru: “Hmm?!”

Puppet butler: “I do not hate making sculptures.”

“Then explain to me how you managed to swallow clay. Were the sculpting tools not enough for you to express yourself?” Having finished cleaning the abdominal cavity, Zhan Suiru began working on the chest cavity.

The puppet butler’s structure and shielding were incredibly comprehensive. Even if he swallowed clay into his mouth, it shouldn’t have fallen into his internal mechanical components. Otherwise, if something this astronomically expensive broke just from eating, wouldn’t that be a joke?

Xiao Ran had absolutely done something himself.

The puppet butler stopped talking again, the gears in his pupils whirring and hitching.

Zhan Suiru didn’t have the energy to keep interrogating him. She focused all her attention on cleaning his chest cavity.

This was the puppet butler’s core.

Unlocking layer upon layer of intricate locking arrays revealed an antique-bronze, semi-transparent icosahedron filled with crystalline flakes. It floated silently within the space created by the locking arrays, rotating rhythmically. When the light hit it, it refracted into a dazzling display of brilliant colors.

This was Yang Ran’s supernatural core.

Zhan Suiru reached out and gently nudged it with her finger.

The core spun. The puppet butler’s entire body jerked, and his pupils dilated sharply. “Ugh… please don’t…”

“The core is fine.” Zhan Suiru resealed the locking arrays.

Just like always, it remained utterly incapable of accepting any power—not even his own original supernatural ability.

Back then, when Yang Ran forcibly expelled his own supernatural power, his core had turned into this state, filled with cotton-like crystalline flakes. It could no longer accept any other power, becoming nothing more than a ruined, empty shell.

The puppet butler, however, seemed to not have fully recovered yet. Hitching and stuttering, he raised a hand, trying to press it against his chest where a profound sense of wrongness still lingered.

Zhan Suiru grabbed his forearm and pressed it back down. “Stop moving around.”

His chest cavity is still open, what is he trying to touch?

After cleaning out all the clay, Zhan Suiru began applying oil to his components.

The puppet butler remained hitched for several minutes before suddenly blurting out, “You have a new mission invitation message from the chaofan forum.”

Zhan Suiru: “…You’re never going to stop, are you? Tell me why you ate the clay first!”

Whether that little nudge had flipped a switch in his head or not, the gears in the puppet butler’s eyes spun a few times before he answered, “To elevate my aesthetic sense.”

Zhan Suiru: “Huh?”

Her brain whirled for a moment before she remembered she had previously told him to elevate his aesthetic sense.

Closing the outer plating of his chest cavity, Zhan Suiru gave it a slap. “You’ve even learned how to gaslight me now!”

The puppet butler sat up from the workbench, put on his clothes, and silently buttoned them up.

No gaslighting.

The sculptures were ugly.

Wanted to make them look good.

Felt like something was missing.

Didn’t know what was missing.

Stared at the sculptures on the shelves for a long time. The gears spun very sluggishly.

Was not provided with an aesthetics module.

What was missing had to be filled.

In the chest.

Couldn’t open it. Couldn’t take it out. Let the clay in.

No gaslighting.

The simulated midsummer sunlight from outside the window streamed in. Dappled, broken gold filtering through the leaves danced across his incredibly realistic simulated skin. The texture of the skin, the wrinkles on the knuckles, the slightly flushed fingertips… and even the fine peach fuzz on his face were enveloped in a soft halo of sunlight.

It looked as though warm blood truly flowed beneath that layer of skin, as if a heart of flesh and blood beat vigorously within his chest cavity.

It looked as though he were truly alive.

Zhan Suiru quietly stared at the flawless illusion she had so meticulously crafted.

She reached out and pulled free the hair tucked into the puppet butler’s collar. “Alright, go play by yourself. I’m going to rest for a bit.”

Puppet butler: “You have one mission with a deadline in three days, one mission with a deadline in eight days, and one mission with a deadline in a month…”

Zhan Suiru: “Stop! I remember perfectly well that I never installed a workaholic module in you.”

Did the repair go wrong? Why did he suddenly turn into a hardcore workaholic?

The puppet butler stopped.

He indeed didn’t have a workaholic module. But for some reason, when Zhan Suiru nudged his core just now, it felt as though something had been activated. Manufacture, manufacture. He needed to manufacture more things, manufacture more, research more useful things, only then could he… could he… could he what?

The puppet butler hitched for a moment before the gears started spinning again.

Puppet butler: “You have a new message notification.”

Zhan Suiru: …I can’t catch a break at all.

Whatever, let’s see what the messages are first.

Approaching Science‘s private message wasn’t urgent, so she left it for later.

Seeing that her brother was looking for a casual chat, Zhan Suiru clicked on it immediately.

Organ transplant… Zhan Suiru’s fingers paused.

Zhan Suiru: [Did you read some touching social news story? Is it a kidney transplant or a liver transplant?]

Zhan Yan: [A heart transplant.]

Zhan Suiru: […That makes it a legal news story, not a touching one.]

[What kind of melodramatic novel did you read this time?]

After chatting casually with her brother for a bit, Zhan Suiru lay back lazily on the sofa, only to have one of her hands unexpectedly taken by the puppet butler.

Zhan Suiru turned her head to look at him. There was some un-wiped maintenance oil on the back of her fingers. The puppet butler knelt on one knee beside the sofa and wiped it away with a handkerchief.

Her gaze drifted toward the puppet butler’s chest.

A heart.

To a supernatural ability user, a supernatural core was equivalent to a second heart.

Puppet butler: “You have a mission…”

Zhan Suiru: “…I know, I know! Let me go chat with the 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 break through.

This was perfectly normal. There were no mental-type supernaturals in this world; how could they possibly study a seal she created?

The Bureau’s approach was fundamentally flawed. Zhan Suiru could teach them how to adapt her seal-making method into something they could replicate, but she had a condition.

Artisan: [I want the remains of the ‘Apocalyptic Fragment’ that were left behind after it was purged.]

Ji Yueming was currently undergoing examinations at the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.

She had just stepped out of a diagnostic machine and was now starting to fill out a stack of evaluation forms.

The room for filling out forms was arranged very cozily. Massive floor-to-ceiling windows made of new materials allowed one to enjoy the snow scenery while ensuring perfect insulation; the glass inside was even warm to the touch.

A thick rug covered the wooden floor, and a faux fireplace radiated heat by the wall. The rocking chair was piled high with soft cushions, and a cup of hot cocoa sat on the table.

Sitting cross-legged and curled up in the rocking chair, Ji Yueming’s face was filled with impatience, proving that she was utterly unmoved by these sugar-coated bullets.

Ever since she took action on New Year’s Eve, she had been required to undergo an examination at the Bureau every three days. Ji Yueming herself felt it was entirely unnecessary and tried to brush it off whenever possible.

Since Ning Xi didn’t have the time to watch her personally, he arranged for Nie Yu to do it, ordering her to keep a hawk’s eye on Ji Yueming and ensure she didn’t just randomly make things up on the forms.

Although Nie Yu worshipped their Captain, she was even more worried about the Captain’s health—and their Captain was notoriously unreliable when it came to this sort of thing.

After filling out just two pages, Ji Yueming lost her patience. She pushed the rocking chair back, turned to Nie Yu, and said with a gentle, amiable smile, “Little Yu, are you tired? Go have some snacks.”

Nie Yu was even gentler than her. “Captain, are you tired? Come, have a cup of hot cocoa, or milk tea works too, they’re all freshly brewed. Once you finish drinking, let’s continue filling out the forms, okay?”

Ji Yueming: “…”

She leaned back against the chair and stood her pen upright next to the stack of evaluation forms. The stack was fully half as tall as the pen itself. “Look at this. Not even a high school senior’s winter break homework is this thick.”

Nie Yu: “If you knew the consequences were severe, you shouldn’t have used your ultimate move without a second thought!”

The lightning on New Year’s Eve had scared her half to death!

“It wasn’t that severe! You’ve just been brainwashed by Ning Xi!” Ji Yueming tilted the young girl’s chin up. “Weren’t you happily shouting everywhere about how cool your Captain is just a little while ago?”

Nie Yu’s face instantly turned red. “T-t-that… how was I supposed to know you were forcing it back then!”

She had assumed the Captain had used artifacts to assist her. Over the years, specifically to address the Tianshi’s condition, the Bureau had developed quite a few artifacts to aid her in combat, minimizing the impact unleashing her lightning had on her.

Ji Yueming rubbed the kid’s head.

Using artifacts to assist wouldn’t have been enough to obliterate the Infinite fragments.

Nie Yu: “A-anyway, you need to properly rest and recuperate!”

“Aiyah.” Ji Yueming twirled the pen in a flourish. “I’m in great spirits right now, but I’ll feel terrible if I finish filling out these forms!”

Just as she was trying to wriggle her way out of it, her communicator suddenly chimed.

Like a student dodging winter break homework, Ji Yueming opened it instantly.

“Artisan is looking for me, official business,” Ji Yueming said, putting on a stern, serious expression.

Unable to do anything about their Captain, Nie Yu had no choice but to wait on the side, her lips pursed in a pout.

After reading Artisan’s message, Ji Yueming raised an eyebrow. It really was a rather serious piece of official business.

The fragment of the small world left behind by the Apocalyptic Fragment was still in her possession. Nie Ling had brought people to inspect it; the item didn’t hold much research value. While it was undeniably precious, it couldn’t be analyzed or smelted down. Having been purified by the Tianshi’s lightning, it could no longer be used as material to form a world either.

In the hands of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, its only remaining value was that it was “sturdy.” But because it had been eroded by Infinite’s power for so long, after the lightning purification, the remaining piece was incredibly tiny—not even big enough to serve as a heart-protecting mirror.

Since the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was currently in a chaotic state, they had simply left it with the Tianshi for the time being.

It wasn’t surprising that Artisan knew about the Apocalyptic Fragment. With so many days having passed, it was inevitable that some news regarding the Infinite Research Institute would leak out. However, the fact that he knew the Apocalyptic Fragment had left something behind was highly unusual.

Normally, anyone would assume the Apocalyptic Fragment had been completely obliterated into nothingness by the lightning, just like the rest of the Infinite fragments.

Unless… Artisan had witnessed a similar situation in the past.

Tianshi: [What do you want this for?]

Artisan: [That is my world.]

Ji Yueming froze.

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau had deduced long ago that Artisan had come out of Infinite. But they had always assumed Artisan was a player.

Artisan: [According to the players’ terminology, I am an ‘NPC.’]

Those three letters, “NPC,” struck Ji Yueming with a horrifying realization. The Apocalyptic Fragment was a piece of a real world. If they had lost twenty-six years ago, who would have become the new NPCs of Infinite?

A profound sense of sorrow welled up within Ji Yueming.

Zhan Suiru typed on the screen with one hand, while the puppet butler pampered the other.

Cleaning, moisturizing, massaging, trimming the nails…

“Hands are the most important part of a creator,” the puppet butler told her with absolute solemnity.

After finishing maintenance on one hand and switching to the other, the puppet butler asked considerately, “How does it feel?”

Zhan Suiru: “Very good.”

Puppet butler: “I shall assume you have finished resting. You have a mission…”

Zhan Suiru: …I can’t feel sad at all!

There is absolutely zero time left for sorrow!