Alien Hotel.

Chapter 479 This puppet is quite something.
After leaving the Secret Service, Yu Sheng did not go straight home, but instead strolled around the city center.

He hadn't been back for quite some time—although he could open the gate back to the Realm City at any time when he was in the Flying Feather Starfield, the series of events there left him with little free time. Even the one or two times he did come back were always rushed, and he would only make a brief appearance at the Special Operations Bureau before returning. He simply didn't have time to wander around here.

He was quite emotional about it—he vaguely remembered when he first arrived in this strange metropolis, everything here was so unfamiliar and dangerous to him. Even every street, every building, and every shadow seemed to have an indescribable eeriness and coldness in his eyes. But the days just passed by... and now, he had actually gotten used to living here.

Hidden in the shadows of those buildings are strange things invisible to the naked eye, but there are also busy people just trying to make a living. The city is like a huge and eerie living thing in the night, but its "living" part no longer bothers him. There are alien places, physical entities, and many inexplicable strange phenomena, but putting all that aside, there is a vibrant life flowing here.

Yu Sheng loved this vibrant place—he had always loved life, which is why he was so happy when he saw the valley turning green.

He first went to the supermarket to replenish the family's food and daily necessities, and also bought new fur care cream for the fox—he had to buy many bottles at once because caring for nine tails was really expensive, and that silly fox would apply half and eat the other half each time, so it was used up ridiculously fast.

After that, he went to the furniture market and picked out a few simple doors that were on sale for future "enchanting". He left the delivery address as the collection point next to No. 66 Wutong Road.

While he still had some time, he went to the mall to buy Eileen some small gifts.

He is now waiting at the counter to pay.

It was summer vacation, and the weekend, so the mall was bustling with activity. Everywhere you looked, there were young people out shopping during their break, and many of them looked like middle school students. Yu Sheng, feeling a bit bored standing at the back of the line, observed the flow of people nearby, wondering if he could catch the long-haired girl and Snow White who had run off to play.

Of course I didn't see it; after all, such a coincidence doesn't happen every day.

But just as he was looking around, Yu Sheng felt a gaze fall on him.

He keenly sensed the gaze, looked up, and saw that the owner of the gaze was standing not far away, making no attempt to hide, just standing a few meters away staring at him.

She was a young, unfamiliar girl—with long, black hair cascading down her shoulders, skin as white as porcelain, delicate and dignified features, and outstanding looks, even to the point of being somewhat…unreal.

Of course, if she were just a pretty girl, that wouldn't be a problem. After all, the nine-tailed fox at home is even prettier than this one. What Yu Sheng truly cares about is something else—

First, she was staring in their direction; second, despite the sweltering heat, this unfamiliar young woman was completely covered up, wearing a long black dress and even tall boots, along with long black silk gloves, leaving practically only her head exposed, making her stand out somewhat from the others; third…

She wasn't breathing, and her heart wasn't beating.

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow.

Having survived so many near-death experiences, and having Hu Li stew dishes to nourish his body every now and then, plus all sorts of strange and unusual things he usually "ate," his physique is now extraordinary, as is his perception ability—although it can't reach the level of Hu Li's externalized divine sense or Luna's radar-like scanning ability, it's still no problem for him to detect a "non-human" at such close range.

Especially features closely related to "vitality" such as breathing and heartbeat.

The elegant, porcelain-doll-like black-haired lady walked over to them. She had clearly noticed the change in Yu Sheng's eyes, but she remained composed as she approached and extended her hand: "Hello, Mr. Yu."

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, cautiously raising his hand while frowning: "Do we know each other?"

"We didn't know each other at first, but we got to know each other very quickly."

The black-haired woman smiled, the curve of which was so perfect, yet it seemed to lack the warmth of a living person.

Just then, Yu Sheng grasped the other person's hand, but was momentarily stunned.

Through the thin silk gloves, I felt the same body temperature as a normal person, and... the unique touch of the ball joint.

"My name is Marlene, and I come from Alice's Cottage."

Yu Sheng's eyes widened slightly, but just as he was about to say something, the black-haired woman in front of him vanished like a dream in a daze.

The next second, the noisy voices and music from the mall returned, and Yu Sheng belatedly realized that his surroundings had been in a strange state of stillness—it seemed that the entire mall had been put on "pause" the moment the black-haired woman walked toward him, but he hadn't noticed it at the time.

Yu Sheng blinked, snapping out of the daze of that brief dream dissipating. He subconsciously searched for the Alice doll who called herself "Marlene," but he could no longer see her, not even her breath.

But then he sensed something was wrong. Looking down, he found that he was holding something in his hand—a doll's hand wrapped in a long black glove.

Yu Sheng was completely dumbfounded. ...Wait, what's going on? What's happening? What does this mean?!
Three questions instantly popped into his mind: Why did a girl who resembled an Alice doll greet him and then disappear, only to leave him a gift as she vanished? Was there some deeper meaning behind it? Or was this part of Alice House's unique corporate culture? Like leaving a souvenir after a first meeting...?

But before he could figure it out, he was interrupted by the urging voice behind him. He quickly snapped back to reality and realized that no one around him seemed to have noticed what had just happened. He quickly stuffed his hand into his pocket and then took the things he had just bought to the cashier to pay.

……

At No. 66 Wutong Road, Yu Sheng pushed open the door and returned home.

Hu Li was sweeping the dining area with a broom, cleaning up her recently shed fur. Luna was nowhere to be seen; judging from the time, she should be farming in the valley. The sound of a television was coming from the living room, interspersed with the carefree laughter of a little doll.

As soon as Yu Sheng entered the house, Hu Li was the first to greet him, her tail whistling in the wind: "My benefactor is back! Has anyone...?"

She had barely finished speaking when Yu Sheng shoved a large bag of snacks into her hand.

The fox spirit girl's eyes lit up immediately. As she took the snacks, her tail swung like a whirlwind, instantly blowing all the dust and fox fur she had just swept up onto the ground again...

Yu Sheng rubbed the fox's head, both amused and exasperated, then turned and walked towards the living room—Eileen, who was on the sofa, had already heard the commotion, and immediately poked her little head out from beside the TV cabinet. The little doll's voice came from the direction of the stairs: "Yu Sheng, you're finally back! Let me tell you, this stone ball is amazing, it's incredibly durable..."

They mainly use a feint attack strategy, and she's everywhere.

At this moment, Yu Sheng was still thinking about the "Alice doll" he had encountered in the mall earlier, but seeing Eileen emerging from various parts of the house, he couldn't help but relax. He then smiled, bent down, and picked up the little doll that was clinging to his legs and climbing up—judging from its weight, it should be the one made of super light clay—and carried her to the sofa.

After a slight hesitation, he didn't mention the doll that called herself "Marlene" for the time being. Instead, he took a small box out of his shopping bag and placed it in front of Eileen.

"What's this?" Eileen looked at the box in surprise, then her joy was palpable. "...For me?!"

“Yeah, a smartwatch, the highest configuration I could buy,” Yu Sheng said with a smile. “Originally, I wanted to ask the Secret Service for a high-tech gadget similar to my phone, but Baili Qing said that so far there haven’t been any spirit detectives or investigators exploring other worlds wearing children’s smartwatches, so there’s no need for that…”

Eileen, however, was no longer paying attention to what Yu Sheng was saying. She quickly tore open the box and took out the contents to play with. The children's smartwatch was almost bigger than her hand, and the watch face was almost a third the size of her face, yet it was about the same size as a regular cell phone.

The little doll turned on the watch and poked around on the dial with her fingers. The touch screen icons, which were too small and even a bit inconvenient for adults, were just right for her.

After all, her fingers were as thin as slightly thick bean sprouts...

The little doll was delighted with its new gift.

Although her usual manners are questionable, she thanked him without hesitation: "Thank you, Mr. Yu, you're so kind! I like this!"

Yu Sheng smiled and reached out to pat the little doll's head. After hesitating for several seconds, he finally spoke: "There's one more thing."

Eileen was still fiddling with her smartwatch, not even looking up: "Hmm?"

"I met someone at the mall today; it was a doll."

Eileen looked up immediately: "...Huh?!"

"It's a doll that claims to be from Alice's Cottage and is named Marlene."

Eileen froze for two seconds, then the girl watching TV next to her suddenly jumped over: "Really? It really is a sister from the cabin!? Oh my god, finally someone came—and then? Did you tell her about me? Didn't she come with you?"

Yu Sheng raised his hand repeatedly as the little doll bombarded him with questions. He finally managed to interject, "Don't rush, let me tell you—she came over to say hello, but before I could even speak, she disappeared."

Eileen was stunned: "...Gone?"

"Yes, she's gone, but she had a backup plan, literally..."

(End of this chapter)