Alien Hotel.

Chapter 480 This whole thing is...
Beyond the barrier maintained by a series of "boundary markers" at the edge of the border area lies the physical border of this place where time and space converge. Beyond that hazy light curtain and large areas of desolate and dark land, the last outpost established by the Secret Service can only see as far as large areas of fragmented floating island-like land floating in the chaotic mid-air.

Aurora-like streams of light flowed between countless broken floating islands, small space stabilization devices were everywhere, and starlight from the outer universe would occasionally penetrate the randomly appearing cracks between the floating islands, reflecting on the sky above those islands that were either barren, lush, or like phantoms.

On one of the islands, where the material structure and existence are relatively stable, an old villa with a mysterious atmosphere stands quietly, surrounded by a lush garden.

Some faceless doll artisans with wooden and ceramic-like surfaces are busy in the garden. Two wind-up guards wearing red and blue smocks stand guard in front of the mansion. Another wind-up doll, dressed in a maid's uniform and made entirely of alloy, ceramic, and bionic skin, stands motionless at the door, as if waiting for someone to return.

Suddenly, a "ding" sound came from the silent, standby wind-up doll, and the mechanical device started operating softly. She took out a pocket watch from her skirt pocket and saw the hands on the dial spinning rapidly, pointing to the cell marked "Doll Printing Room".

The wind-up maid tilted her head, turned around and went back to the mansion. She walked briskly through the long front hall and the dimly lit corridor, and came to a secret room deep inside the mansion.

The lights in the sealed room had automatically turned on, and a silvery-gray liquid was surging in the water tank in the center of the room. The nanobots were rapidly printing new doll shells in it. A moment later, a body stiffly sat up from the silvery-gray liquid, and its surface was quickly stained with a skin color like that of a living person. Then, half a minute later, the doll that had been sitting there stood up sluggishly and walked out of the water tank.

She moved every joint in her body, as if checking herself, rotating those joints to a degree that would break an ordinary person, and then quickly putting them back in place. Only after doing all this did she reach out to take the clothes handed to her by the wind-up maid.

But then she suddenly stopped moving, looked down at her empty right wrist with a somewhat blank expression.

The doll's expression gradually became vivid and lifelike. She frowned, bent down, and put her right arm into the printing slot. The silver-gray nanomachines immediately surged and formed a new palm on her wrist.

But as soon as she took her arm out of the printer, her hand instantly dissolved into a pool of silvery-gray liquid, uncontrollably falling back into the sink.

The doll-like woman frowned, slowly stood up, and glanced at the wind-up maid who was still holding the clothes and waiting nearby.

“Marilyn, help me get dressed—I’ve lost my right hand.”

"Yes, Miss Marlene."

The clockwork maid stepped forward and began skillfully helping her mistress change into her clothes, asking curiously as she did so, "Why did you come back from the printing room? Did you miss the Dimensional Train?"

“…I accidentally glanced at something I shouldn’t have, triggering an emergency evacuation,” Marlene said, her voice slightly muffled. “But to be honest, maybe I set the trigger threshold a little too sensitive…”

“Caution is your strength,” the clockwork maid said, her voice devoid of emotion, with a strange, mechanical tremor. “A higher evacuation rate ensures a higher mission completion rate—which happens to create a delicate dynamic balance with the extra printing material you usually consume.”

“...Marie.”

"exist."

"Clear the database of lame jokes."

"Access is locked. This is a unique feature of this device. If you insist on disabling it, we recommend that you subscribe to a Gold Crown SVIP Diamond Card annual membership. If you do not object, it will be considered as your agreement, and the system will automatically deduct the fee in ten seconds. 3, 2..."

"Okay, I understand. No need, thank you."

“Yes, Miss Marlene.”

Marlene sighed, but still stubbornly reached her arm into the printing slot.

The right hand still didn't come back.

“You look a little troubled, Miss Marlene,” the clockwork maid said quietly, looking at her mistress. “It seems this ‘loss’ is quite serious.”

“...Yes, my right hand was taken away,” Marlene slowly stood up, her gaze fixed solemnly on the gradually calming printer tray. “It seems I still have to pay a visit... Hopefully, I can get my hand back.”

"Would you like to speak with Director Baili Qing again? She might be able to offer some advice on your future contacts."

"...No, that would be embarrassing."

“Yes, Miss Marlene.”

……

Yu Sheng and Hu Li sat on either side of the coffee table, staring wide-eyed at the motionless doll-like hand.

Eileen sat cross-legged on the coffee table and curiously reached out to touch the fingers of that hand.

The knuckles made a slight clicking sound, then quickly returned to normal, as if a remnant of life was still running within them.

The three of them had been staring at the hand for a long time, but they couldn't figure it out. At this moment, Yu Sheng stroked his chin and couldn't help but ask, "...What does this mean?"

No one spoke, so he turned to the small doll on the coffee table: "Do you do dolls have this custom? Like, when you meet for the first time, you break off some parts to give as a gift..." "How could there be such a custom!" Eileen stared with bloodshot eyes, but then became somewhat uncertain, "Um... but maybe? After all, I haven't been back for a long time. Perhaps there are some new trendy gadgets. After all, it's a trend for each generation to be more abstract..."

The little doll suddenly stopped talking, looked up and stared into Yu Sheng's eyes: "Wait, did you pull it off because you were too strong?! You even ripped it off along with your glove..."

Yu Sheng was both angry and amused: "I'm not a pervert. Why would I presume to be a level-five disabled person the moment I meet a girl? Even if I really did rip her off, it must be because her wrists aren't strong enough."

Eileen thought for a moment, then remained silent. She simply turned the doll's hand over and used her own hand to gesture on it.

The same ball joint, the same delicate, porcelain-like texture yet with the warmth and elasticity of human skin, only the size is several sizes different.

The little doll sighed, its voice tinged with sadness: "If I had hands that big, I definitely wouldn't have missed that wave of minions last night..."

Hu Li raised her hand and poked Yu Sheng's arm: "My benefactor, the doll who called herself 'Marlene' left you with one hand and then left, right? Did you see clearly how she left?"

“I didn’t see it clearly. I suspect it was a very clever teleportation and illusion technique,” ​​Yu Sheng said solemnly. “I was even a little dazed at the time—that’s why I think this ‘Alice doll’ is mysterious and eerie. She must have a deeper meaning in doing this.”

"What deeper meaning could there be? They must be here to see me!" Eileen tilted her head back, a smug expression on her face.

She was in an extremely good mood because not only did an Alice doll appear in Boundary City today, but she also received the "gift" she had been longing for.

Meanwhile, another Eileen was sitting on the sofa, still enthusiastically fiddling with the phone watch that Yu Sheng had given her.

Halfway through fiddling with it, the little guy muttered thoughtfully, "I just don't know why she left again, without even leaving a contact number... Hey, you can ask that expressionless guy! That Alice doll you met might be a 'messenger' that my hometown has recently sent here. As long as she entered the country legally, she must be registered with the Secret Service."

Yu Sheng thought about it and felt it made sense, so he got up, went to the kitchen, and dialed Baili Qing's phone number.

She probably wasn't asleep yet at this time... right?

The phone rang twice, and then that familiar, calm, and slightly magnetic voice came from the other end: "Mr. Yu? What's up?"

“I met a doll named Marlene today. She claimed to be from Alice’s Cottage,” Yu Sheng said, glancing back at the living room—one Irene was still fiddling with that hand, another was playing with her phone watch, another was pushing the Nightmare Star around, and yet another was watching TV. The little dolls were busy, seemingly oblivious to his commotion. “But I feel something’s off…”

He briefly recounted the strange events he had encountered that day to Baili Qing, especially emphasizing the scene where the other party suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, leaving him with a bizarre "gift".

“…I called you to confirm this ‘Marlene’s’ background, whether she really is from Alice’s Cottage, after all…you know about Eileen’s situation,” Yu Sheng said at the end.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone; Baili Qing's silences were always deafening.

After nearly ten seconds, Yu Sheng heard a hesitant voice from the other party: "Marlene... is indeed the envoy recently sent to the border by Alice's Cottage. She just helped us solve a minor problem a few days ago. She's not a suspicious person."

"But the situation you described... seems a little different from what I expected."

"I'll go check, wait for me a moment."

Bai Liqing hung up the phone, and Yu Sheng waited patiently.

He didn't have to wait long; the other party called back in about ten minutes.

But for some reason, the usually aloof and calm female director's voice sounded strained at this moment.

"We got in touch with her, but it seems like something... happened on her end."

"What's the situation?" Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow. "Is she alright?"

"...It's nothing serious."

"Oh...you know what a mess this is. Everything was fine when we met, no wonder you ran off in such a hurry, without even leaving your contact information," Yu Sheng smirked. "Well, later..."

“The border of Jiecheng is now closed, and she will pay you a visit tomorrow,” Baili Qing said calmly. “Do you still have the ‘thing’ she left for you?”

Yu Sheng glanced back and saw Eileen waving the doll's hand around on the coffee table—the little doll's behavior was as usual, with unclear and abstract motives.

“It’s still there,” Yu Sheng turned around. “She still wants it?”

"...Yes, I want more."

(End of this chapter)