Forbidden Nightmare

Chapter 107 Father and Son

Li Nanke chuckled and said:

"Ms. Sophia, aren't you taking it for granted?"

Sophia was a little confused, but Li Nanke continued, "You want this child to replace the 'Flame of the King' to calm this crisis, but have you ever asked him what he thinks?"

Li Nanke reached out and touched Pinocchio's head. The boy suddenly felt very resistant for some reason and subconsciously tried to avoid him, but Li Nanke grabbed him and forcibly pulled his hair into a bird's nest.

Sophia remained silent.

There are four rules in the Puppet Contract. Rule No. 1: All puppets must obey human orders; Rule No. 2: Puppets must not harm humans; Rule No. 3: Puppets must protect and serve humans and the city of Krat; Rule No. 4: Puppets must not lie.

As long as the underlying logic of the Great Contract still exists, theoretically the puppets will not be able to riot, and under the constraints of the Great Contract, the puppets will only stand on the side of humans.

The reason why the puppets rioted was because of the ego element, because the ego element made the puppets develop basic consciousness, thus breaking free from the constraints of the big contract.

Pinocchio is a special puppet that has just awakened. He has not been disturbed by external factors yet, so it is impossible for him to "riot" in a short period of time. To put it bluntly, Pinocchio is just a child at this stage. Even if he has a rudimentary self-awareness, he can be made to help humans willingly with just a few words of persuasion.

Li Nanke smiled slightly and continued:
"If you want to solve the crisis, there's no need to go through so much trouble. I can just go to the puppet factory and kill that 'Flame of the King', right?"

Sophia frowned, and her expression seemed to say, what are you daydreaming about?

It is true that Black Rabbit is quite powerful, but she is not the top one among the trackers. Even if Black Rabbit is the top tracker, even if she summons all the trackers she can to help Black Rabbit go to the factory to carry out the beheading mission, it is impossible to succeed.

The puppet factory is a gathering place for countless puppets. Rather than going deep into the tiger's den, it is better to use the hotel's favorable terrain to defend and wait for the enemy to attack.

The solution proposed by Li Nanke was even less reliable than her first solution.

After Li Nanke finished speaking, he walked to the front desk on his own. Under the gaze of the butler Albert, he took out a crystal stone that emitted a bright glow from the drawer.

"I don't need the hotel's protection. This Ego Ore is my commission. Is that okay?"

Sophia took a deep breath and advised:

"Mr. Black Rabbit, the hotel will provide you with shelter no matter what, but if you insist on going to the puppet factory, I will not summon other trackers to help you, because that will only send them to die in vain."

"Also, if you want to go to the puppet factory, you cannot take puppet P with you. I will hire other trackers to make puppet P grow as much as possible within a limited time, so as to implement my second plan."

Li Nanke shrugged and said, "It's up to you. I want to get a room and have a good sleep."

"Mr. Black Rabbit, I hope you can give it some thought and give me a satisfactory answer tomorrow morning. I don't want the hotel to lose another tracker."

Sophia motioned to Albert to take him upstairs. Seeing Li Nanke dragging the puppet P along, she wanted to say something, but in the end she did not object.

It seems that Puppet P is not disgusted with Li Nanke. At least his attitude towards him is much better than towards himself. If Li Nanke can eventually change his mind, then he will be the best person to train Puppet P.

On the second floor of the hotel, the room is covered with soft carpet and there is a large velvet bed under the crystal chandelier.

Only Li Nanke and Pinocchio were left in the room.

The short and thin boy suddenly raised his head and said expressionlessly:

"You lied to me. You are not my father. You brought me here just to complete the commission."

Li Nanke nodded, clapped his hands and praised: "Although you are a little young, you are still very smart."

"Why?" asked Pinocchio.

"what why?"

"Why did you go to the puppet factory? To fight that unbeatable puppet? You knew that you would die."

Li Nanke said to himself, if it wasn’t for the crappy mission on the other side, I wouldn’t want to go either.

He thought so in his heart, but he put on a carefree expression on his face: "You are too young to understand. The biggest difference between humans and machines is that machines only obey orders, but humans have their own hearts."

“People know what they should do and what they shouldn’t do, and they also know what they should do even though they know they can’t do it, even if they have to sacrifice their lives for it.”

Pinocchio asked, "So, you are willing to sacrifice your life for those humans?" Li Nanke shook his head, "I'm not doing this for those people... If I don't go, you will have to take the place of the 'Flame of the King'. Your shoulders are too weak to carry such heavy burdens. If the son can't carry it, then of course the father will carry it."

"You are not my father," Pinocchio corrected again.

"Who is your father?"

Pinocchio was stunned and stammered: "They...they said it was Gippetto."

Li Nanke sneered: "Do you know Gipetto? You only know the name Gipetto, and you heard it from someone else."

Pinocchio opened his mouth, but could not utter a word to refute.

Indeed, he knew nothing about Gippetto except his name, and he had never even seen what Gippetto looked like.

"Yes, I deceived you, but ask yourself, did I abandon you or hurt you?"

"And what about Geppetto? He was your creator, but he didn't even want to see you, and abandoned you in a dark corner of the carriage... Is he worthy of being your father?"

Pinocchio remained silent. Li Nanke woke him up from his long sleep. Even if it was just to complete the commission, it did not do anything bad to him.

He also took him to fight all the way, intentionally training him and making him grow stronger.

Now, Li Nanke even wanted to go to the puppet factory alone for him, just because he didn't want him to become a substitute for the "Flame of the King". Even though he knew that he would be in danger of death if he went there, he didn't hesitate at all.

"Boy, I will teach you one last lesson. Don't just listen to what others say. Feel it with your heart. In my eyes, you are not a puppet. You are a human being. You have a heart of your own."

Pinocchio stood there completely stunned, with a complicated expression on his young face.

I am not a puppet, I am a human being... From the beginning to the end, others have always called me Puppet P. In their eyes, I am just a mechanical puppet.

He was the only one who called me child and boy, and gave me a human name "Pinocchio". He was the only one who truly treated me as a human being.

Compared to that unknown Geppetto, he is very nice to me, and can even be said to be the best person in the world to me.

And now, for a stranger whose name I had only heard of, I had to push him away and watch him die tomorrow.

Do I hate him for cheating on me?
It’s not hatred, I’m just sad. Sad that the warm embrace was fake, sad that the father I thought of was also fake.

But what he is doing now, risking his life for me, isn't that enough to prove that he is more of a father than Gippetto ever was?

"Okay, I'm going to bed early. I have to go out to work early tomorrow morning. Go find Albert and get another room to sleep in."

Pinocchio did not move. He stood there for a long time. Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he raised his head:
"I don't need to sleep... I'll go with you tomorrow."

Li Nanke stretched out his little finger and scratched his ear: "Who are you referring to?"

"Black Rabbit."

"Who? Say it again."

Pinocchio stammered and uttered the two words for a long time.

Li Nanke didn't force it, he just said, "Call me boss."

"Boss." Pinocchio said obediently.

Li Nanke nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, but you still have to sleep next door."

Before Pinocchio could even ask "why", a graceful woman wearing a rabbit mask opened the door and came in.

He was a little confused and was pushed out of the room by the cunning rabbit.

Before the door closed, Cunning Rabbit said to him, "Your father and I have something important to do. Remember not to knock on the door~"

(End of this chapter)