[HEQrC]

75

Chapter 75: Nucleus Control Device

After the mine owner's son and the public security chief's son stole the little puppet from Xing Ye's group, they went to the warehouse where the rest of the puppets were stored.

They stared at the pile of puppets worriedly. "Which one is the real one? They all look the same." The mine owner's son said.

"I don't know either... We don't have any QR codes that can force other players to tell the truth. Do you think the one we got from them is the real one? Do they have some ability to identify the real puppet?" The public security chief's son asked back.

"To be honest, I don't really trust their judgement. We could be ruthless and break all these puppets one by one in front of Coco tomorrow. The one she tries to protect the most should be the real one, right?" The mine owner's son suggested.

The public security chief's son shook his head, "We could, but if Coco discovers our intentions, she might just rather the puppet be destroyed than tell us. What would we do then? Nobody in Puppet City can be trusted. We can't just destroy all the puppets. The real one has to be here somewhere."

"Then how about tomorrow, we take a mining car and bring all the puppets here to Master Benedict so he can identify the right one. You're the public security chief's son, so they won't check our car when we leave the city." The mine owner's son said.

The public security chief's son nodded, "Not a bad idea."

The two both had very high statuses in Puppet City, so it was easy to smuggle a car out. Early morning the next day, they drove a car out to the mines. This steam powered vehicle was remodelled by the smiths of Puppet City under the city lord's lead using Benedict's foundation.

Benedict was truly brilliant, but he only focused on creating puppets and didn't care about anything else. The city lord believed that to make the puppets of Puppet City happier, they needed to enrich their lives with new items and tools. After all, puppets didn't need to worry about filling their stomachs and often just spent the day idling about. All the smiths researched and even Old Nect helped tear open a few machine type puppets to help them study. After countless tries, the city lord finally created the steam powered car.

With a vehicle, they were much faster. It only took three hours to reach the mines.

When they were leaving the city, the city lord and public security chief also had a group about to leave loading their cars. They used the public security chief's connections to jump in queue and leave the city early.

When they arrived at the entrance, the two puppets first used the communications device Benedict gave them to call him. A mechanical robot cleared the path for them so they could directly drive the car in.

Not long after they entered, hiding in a cave near the mines, Xing Ye immediately activated Wrongly-Used Projector.

He had touched the two when they stole the puppet earlier, allowing the projector to be used on them.

Guan Ling couldn't help but sigh once more, "Cao Qian's actual projector and Glorious Boxing Gloves haven't been used once, but look at all the times we've used the fakes! Redrawing Pen is just too strong! Man, what a pity, if only Boss could've seen Puppet's Play's QR code."

"It doesn't matter," Xing Ye said, "It's a side quest, so it shouldn't influence the main plot. Losing that QR code just means it'll be a little harder for us to clear it, but with this projector, we can learn more about Benedict's strength. Know yourself, know the enemy, and you'll win countless battles." 

"If we have phones in the next world, I'll show Boss the moment I get them!" Guan Ling said, vexed.

While they were talking, they saw the two players hand over the pile of puppets to Benedict. Benedict knew just how exquisitely he made the little puppet and his face immediately darkened when he saw the puppets. However, he bore his anger and still checked them one by one.

When Benedict raised a puppet and found it wasn't real, he directly threw it into the smelting machine rolling unceasingly beside him. That was where he dealt with failed goods and discarded puppets. Benedict used to throw his failed puppets into the moat by the mines, but the city lord managed to use that to find Benedict's whereabouts. After that, he just built a giant melting pot and smelted down everything that could float in the river.

Although these puppets weren't the real little young master, they were still carefully made by Benedict all those years ago to amuse his son. Each one was meticulously crafted, yet now, they were being casually destroyed by Benedict himself.

Xing Ye couldn't help but say, "Benedict's really changed. He's no longer that great master that treasures his own creations. He's definitely ruthless enough to destroy Puppet City."

Benedict's face grew uglier and uglier as the two following fate players grew more and more afraid. The mechanical puppets heaved their weapons and pointed their guns at their heads.

Benedict destroyed the last puppet, his face dark. "This is the second time, this is already the second time you've played me for a fool!"

"N-no, it's not our fault," The mine owner's son stammered.

"It's all because Coco and Little Nect tricked us! They must've taken the real little puppet and hid it somewhere!" The public security chief's son said hastily, "Master, give us another chance, this time we'll definitely bring back the real one!"

"Enough, I've already lost patience." Benedict waved his hand angrily and the mechanical robots directly fired, attacking the two players.

Regardless of everything, the two players were still strong and had the means to protect themselves. They didn't activate any QR codes, but a transparent barrier formed around their bodies, blocking the mechanical robots' attacks. They tried to explain to Benedict as they resisted. It was their last chance.

"It should be one of their starting abilities," Xing Ye said, "It's probably like Randy's. It can guard against physical attacks, but not special ones."

Guan Ling said happily, "My Losing the Family Fortune skill's still the best, a one time absolute defense, blocking the other players' attacks no matter what for three minutes. Three minutes is enough to change the tide of a battle."

Xing Ye glanced at him sympathetically, choosing not to tell him his little mirror was beautiful enough to make the opponent completely lose their fighting spirit for an hour and didn't need any points to use Truth Eye. The differences between people were just too wide. Plus, Lu Mingze truly was beautiful to the point where others simply couldn't bear to harm him. 

He exchanged a glance with the little mirror and laughed soundlessly. They had a tacit understanding.

"Huh?" Benedict saw the two puppets could actually block their attacks and couldn't help but reveal a look of amazement. He reached out and pushed a button on the remote beside him. They didn't know what the machine was doing as it turned on, but even all the way in the caves, Xing Ye's group felt uncomfortable, their minds turning stiff.

The two players in front of Benedict immediately fell under the machine's control. They couldn't even use their starting abilities, directly shot into sieves by the mechanical robots.

But the mechanical robots only aimed to restrain and didn't harm their nucleuses. Once Benedict saw the two couldn't resist, he directly took his tools and disassembled their bodies.

"How strange, they don't have any special modifications, so how did they create that barrier to block attacks? They couldn't have learnt some sort of magic, right?" Benedict said doubtfully.

He didn't ponder for too long, directly tossing their bodies together with their nucleuses into the smelter as he mumbled, "It doesn't matter. As long as they're still affected by the nucleus control machine, this is enough to destroy Puppet City."

Since the two players were destroyed, the projector lost their target and disappeared.

After a while, the uncomfortable feeling faded away. Only the little mirror didn't seem affected at all and was even staring at the three curiously, not understanding why they suddenly froze.