âUm⌠why would his sonâs puppet be with Coco?â Guan Ling thought for a long time but still couldnât figure it out.
âItâs just a guess, but I donât think itâs a big deal.â Xing Ye said, âI hypothesized it from all the information you gathered earlier. The game worldâs still less complicated than real life.â
If this was in the real world, finding Benedictâs son would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. However, the game world had already arranged many obvious clues to guide the following fate players, so it was naturally much easier to guess.
Cao Qian asked, âIf we can guess Coco has Master Benedictâs sonâs puppet, shouldnât the following fate players have also guessed it?â
Xing Ye shook her head, âThey donât know about Benedictâs son, right? But they also couldnât have told us all their information. I suspect they already found something from Coco before trading their used information with us.â
âThen is it possible that theyâve already taken Benedictâs sonâs puppet and are planning to give it to Master Benedict?â Guan Ling said anxiously, âIâm not afraid of losing by myself, since losing one or two hundred points isnât a big deal. However, if they donât get the real ending, thereâs just too many points we would lose.â
âYou donât have to worry about that,â Xing Ye said leisurely, âRemember Randy? Heâs a reincarnation player, his goal isnât to get points, itâs to get the true ending. He already knows the two following fate players, so if they swapped information, heâll stop a simple surface ending like this from happening.â
Guan Ling released a sigh of relief. Cao Qian had been taking down notes the entire time. She stared at the relationship map and her notes on Xing Yeâs analysis for a long time before asking, âThen after Master Benedict gets his son and the surface ending is completed, will the city lord be instinctively forced to submit with his nature as a puppet, allowing Benedict to destroy the city and use the resources to create a new, perfect city? So what we have to do is help the city lord kill Benedict and protect the inhabitants of Puppet City?
Xing Ye didnât agree or disagree, instead saying, âItâd be good if things were really that simple. Right now, we donât have enough information. We donât have to rush. Tomorrow, weâll visit Coco and maybe we can find an answer there.â
He glanced at Guan Ling and suddenly asked, âSay, how many opposing fate players do you think can reach high level worlds? Wouldnât most players choose to be blessed by fate since itâd be easier that way?â
âNot necessarily,â Guan Ling said, âThereâs many people who think the opposite. Furthermore, we didnât know there would be such a big difference in luck values until after we picked our camp, so there shouldnât be a big disparity between the two camps.â
Cao Qian also added, âThe hardest part for opposing fate players is passing the novice world. As long as you can break through the novice world, itâs fine. Chaos worlds are PVE, so even if you donât have any long-term teammates and solo, you can team up with following fate players to pick up some points.
âAfter going through enough worlds, youâll reach 50,000 points and become a high level player. There might be less opposing fate players than following fate players, but itâs not like thereâs none at all.â
âSo itâs like that.â Xing Ye nodded and didnât continue.
He didnât tell Guan Ling about the fate of following fate players. It wasnât because he was worried Guan Ling would no longer want to be his teammate- Xing Ye wouldnât care about losing one or two teammates. He just didnât want this to make Guan Ling despair about something he wasnât quite yet certain about. There might still be a way to prevent it.
The next morning, they watched Randy and the two following fate players leave the city at a distance before quickly going to find Coco.
Just as the public security chiefâs son said, Coco was a very ordinary puppet. She was dressed in servant's garbs, quietly sweeping the floor.
Xing Ye lived in the business district, whereas this was the residential district. It was quite close to Cao Qianâs house, only two places down.
âMy sister, Linda, is being pursued by the sons of the city lord, Old Nect, the public security chief, and the richest puppet in the city. This setting makes it very easy for her to group with other following fate players. Even if they donât team up, Coco lives very close to my house so if Linda wanted to search for her, itâd be very easy to find this important clue.â Cao Qian said.
Unfortunately, Linda never cared about finishing the mission and just wanted to drift through her days, doing nothing.
âHello, could I please ask if youâre Coco?â Xing Ye knocked on the door.
Coco raised her head and looked at them before saying, âI donât know you guys.â
After that, she lowered her head again and went back to sweeping the floor. Xing Ye kicked Guan Ling, who quickly added, âIâm Old Nectâs son, Little Nect.â
Coco set the broom along the wall and asked, âWhat did you find me for?â
As expected, mentioning Old Nectâs name was useful. Guan Ling excitedly repeated what Xing Ye had told him to say, âMy dad had always wanted to help Master Benedict, but didnât know what he could do. Heâs been very happy recently because he finally found Masterâs whereabouts and wants to help Master fulfill his wish.â
âFulfill his wish?â Coco smiled, âHaa, he knows what Master Benedictâs wish is?â
âThisâŚâ
âWhy donât you come in?â Coco opened the door and cautiously checked to make sure nobody was following them, only allowing them inside after making sure. After they entered, she locked the door tightly.
A puppet that looked around fourteen years old was standing in the living room of Lindaâs house. He was pushing around a dust sweeper with his feet, cleaning the dust off the floor.
A rush of excitement passed through Guan Ling when he saw the puppet. He walked forward, wanting to grab it, but Xing Ye pulled him to a stop.
âIs he who Old Nect wanted?â Coco asked, âThis is the puppet Master Benedict made for his son. If Master Benedict has a wish, it would definitely be to take back this puppet that he still hasnât installed his sonâs heart in yet.â
Xing Ye stopped Guan Ling from agreeing and asked, âMaster Benedict can create countless puppets so why would he cling to this one?â
âBecause of the nucleus,â Coco answered, âIf you donât use human flesh to create the nucleus, thereâs no way to fuse it with the heart. Â A puppet without a heart would never become the true young master. After Master Benedict created Puppet City, he used the young masterâs corpse to create a puppet. However, before he had time to fuse the nucleus with his sonâs heart, he was forced to flee the city.â
âSo itâs actually like that. No wonder thereâs such a balance between the two.â Guan Ling frantically signalled Xing Ye with his eyes, wanting to take the puppet.
Xing Ye nodded.
Guan Ling said, âWeâve already found Master Benedict and know the heartâs there. Master canât enter the city due to the city lordâs pursuit and could only ask for the puppet to be brought out. Could you please give us the puppet so we can bring it to Master?â
âYes, as long as you can help him. I also hope the little young master can return to life soon.â Coco said obediently.
She called the little puppet over and hugged him, her voice gentle, âYoung master, go with these big brothers to find your Daddy, okay? This is your destiny.â
The little puppet didnât have consciousness and could only listen to other peopleâs orders. He obediently walked to Guan Ling.
Guan Ling was about to accept it when Xing Ye suddenly said, âIf I really take him to find Master Benedict, I wonât even know how Iâll have died.â
Coco suddenly choked, stammering as she said, âHow, how could that be? Master will definitely thank you. After all, he loves his son.â
âReally?â
Xing Ye had been carefully observing this room the whole time. He tapped the north wall before drawing out a QR code.
The QR code became a boxing glove. It was a replica of Cao Qianâs Glorious Boxing Gloves. Cao Qian equipped them, forcefully punching a hole in the wall.
Behind the wall was a hidden room. Inside, there were countless little puppets that looked exactly the same as the one in front of them. They were like abandoned dolls, tossed in the corner to collect dust.
âArenât you clever,â Xing Ye said to Coco, âIf anybody comes searching for Benedictâs son, you just have to give them a puppet. Then theyâll take these fake puppets to Master Benedict, enraging him and causing their own deaths.â
Coco said expressionlessly, âI donât know what youâre talking about. My duty is just to give these puppets Master made for his son to those who wish to help Master.â
Guan Ling looked at the pile of puppets, stupefied. If it was him, he really wouldâve foolishly taken the puppet and left. He never wouldâve thought such a gentle looking puppet would be completely full of lies!
âYou canât trust anybody in Puppet City. They all lie.â Xing Ye warned Guan Ling.
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Benedictâs son was an important prop for this world, how could it be found so easily?
âIs the reason why the two following fate players told us this information so easily yesterday because theyâve already found the little puppet, so Cocoâs information here isnât important anymore?â Cao Qian asked.
âProbably.â
Guan Ling pondered, âSo Cocoâs actually just a sign board. Her task is to distribute little puppets and the real little puppetâs hidden somewhere else?â
âNot necessarily,â Xing Ye looked towards the dusty heap of puppets, âThe most dangerous place is often the safest place.â
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