A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"You really dare to do that?!" Latis started punching him repeatedly.

Budsh’s face quickly swelled up, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

But Budsh, whose mouth was stuffed with stones, couldn't even shout.

"Thump! Thump!!!!" Bud Bush was a little dazed from being hit.

"I went to great lengths to wake you up, so don't you dare pass out on your own. I have a lot of business to discuss with you." Latis grabbed Badbusch by the collar and said fiercely. "Where is that doll?" Latis removed the magic crystal from Badbusch's mouth and asked expressionlessly.

"What do you mean, doll..." When Latis asked about the doll's whereabouts, Badbush's expression froze instantly.

However, he quickly concealed his expression and casually replied.

"You're telling me you don't know what a doll is?" Latis laughed, a laugh that sounded a little eerie.

"After you tied my parents up, you tortured and interrogated them bit by bit until they died because of that doll."

“Now tell me you don’t know?” Latis grabbed Budbush’s beard and slammed his head against a nearby pillar.

The pale pillars were stained crimson.

“I…” Budbush struggled to lift his eyelids and look at Latis.

He is now a prisoner, completely unable to resist, and can only continue to be subjected to violence by his opponent.

“Let me guess, is it that songstress Eorse?” Latis grabbed Badbush’s hair.

“Your imagination is too vivid. Eors is a living, breathing person.” Budbush seemed to have heard a joke, a smile appearing on his face.

“Aeolus is my daughter, not some doll as you describe.”

"Do you think you know nothing?"

“I am, after all, the eldest son of a puppet family, and I am quite familiar with family matters.” Latis continued to increase the pressure on his hands.

Creating "life" through technology has always been something that some people have longed to do.

Unlike Nick Porras's reasons for creating artificial intelligence, those people wanted to act as the ones who created it.

The Latis family of puppets once tried to create a puppet that was indistinguishable from a living person.

However, as we all know, creating such things is taboo, and the world would never allow it.

Therefore, the people in the Latis family, or more accurately, his parents, added a blank, fictional soul to the doll.

Something that resembles a soul, yet is not a soul, can be considered one of the three essential elements.

A blank soul starting from scratch allows the doll to learn and grow like a baby.

However, without one of the three essential elements—willpower—the final product still has flaws.

Although there is a big question here, which is how his parents' fictional souls came about and how they were put into the doll.

It seems that mortals simply cannot accomplish such an incredible feat.

His parents didn't tell him much about all this when he was young, but he'll probably find out the truth when he grows up.

But before Latis reached the age where he was old enough to know the secret, his parents were killed by Budbush.

The doll was naturally taken away by this man as well.

Latis had been wondering for a long time whether that Eors was the puppet.

Because the childhood memories are too distant, Latis cannot be certain without actually seeing Aeolus in person.

He only vaguely remembered that the doll was beautiful, so beautiful that it made his heart forget to beat.

Latis, now without knowing the truth, can only lie to Budbush.

“You actually knew all this…” Budbush looked at Latis in shock.

Latis gave a meaningful smile; it seemed he had really managed to trick them into revealing the truth.

"You really are a pervert, treating a doll like a daughter."

“I’ll say it again! Eorth is not a puppet! She’s alive!” The white-haired middle-aged man roared angrily, as if Latis’s words had touched a raw nerve.

"Heh." Latis just sneered; he didn't think puppets were alive.

In his view, Bud Bush was nothing more than a complete psychopath.

"No matter how beautiful, she's just a doll." Latis was much more clear-headed than Badbusch.

"Since you've implicitly admitted that Eors is the doll you stole, I'm now very curious about why you were willing to kill to take her away."

"Because it looks good? I don't want to hear that kind of idiotic answer." Latis pulled out a knife from somewhere and held it to Budbush's neck.

His razor wasn't for shaving Bud Bush.

"This is a very important question."

“…” Budsh was sweating profusely; he was genuinely afraid that Latis would cut him in half with a single stroke.

He could clearly feel the anger emanating from Latis, the rage and resentment that had been building up for over a decade, enough to give Latis a hundred reasons to tear him to pieces.

“I really just love how beautiful she is…” Budsh said, his eyes closed and his voice trembling.

"You bastard!!!" Latis's knife cut into Badbusch's skin, and some blood stained the cut.

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" Budsh cried out in terror, wincing in pain.

Contrary to his strong physique, Bud Bush was not a brave man; on the contrary, he was quite timid.

“Because this doll is a treasure! More precious than any treasure!!!” Budbush said quickly.

But Latis's knife not only didn't rise, it pressed down even further.

"The more famous Aeolus becomes, the more successful I will be when everyone finds out she's a puppet!"

That's why I'm training her!

"For fame, it's all for fame!!!" Bud Bush was no longer able to think; the coldness of the blade stimulated his nerves.

"I'm telling the truth!!!"

"Oh right, right, I'm still researching how to create a puppet like Aeolus!"

"It's gone, it's really gone!!"

"Is that all the reasons?!" Latis squeezed out the question through gritted teeth.

"That's all the reason! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I didn't kill your sister! I raised her!"

"Please let me go for the sake of this!" Bud Bush was almost in tears.

Upon hearing Budbush's words, Latis hesitated, and his grip on the knife loosened slightly.

Budsh was right...

His own sister, Tiggia, was raised by Bud Bush.

Without Budbush, Tiggia would have died long ago.

But how do we resolve the issue of his other family members being killed by Bud Bush?

For a moment, Latis was confused. He had finally found his enemy, but what was next...?

Kill Budsh, and then...

Moreover, Latis always felt that Budbush was hiding something from him, something quite important.

Unfortunately, just as Latis was struggling, the door to the room was kicked open violently.

"Colonel, that's why I said this guy is suspicious," Alice complained in a cold voice after kicking open the door.

"Captain Alice, you're right. I know he's suspicious."

“However, you can’t arrest someone based on subjective factors without solid evidence,” Eric said, spreading his hands helplessly.

"Do you know you let a murderer go free!" Latis roared at Eric, who was locked up.

“I don’t know the truth, but I’ll look into it.” Eric glanced at Latis and started eating his homemade popsicle.

Eric's popsicles are flavorless; their only advantage is that they are very cold.

"That guy killed all my family members! And now he's making my sister call her father's killer 'father'!" Latis's eyes were bloodshot.

“So, I don’t know the truth, but I will look into it,” Eric repeated patiently.

"The only thing I know is that if I had been a few seconds later, you would have been a murderer too."

"To be honest, life always feels worthless in this world."

“But murder is still a crime, do you understand?” Eric said to Latis seriously, his tone no longer flippant.

"..." Although Latis was still very angry, he couldn't refute him.

"Take him back. I have something to discuss with this suspect," Eric said, and then walked ahead.

The guards behind him quickly supported Latis and followed Eric.

As for Alice, she squinted her beautiful eyes and sized up Bud Bush, whose face was covered in blood.

"Thank you so much. If you had come any later, I might have been killed." Budsh wiped the blood from his face, deeply moved.

“You’re welcome, it’s just my duty,” Alice replied casually to Budbush.

Alice's tone was flat, and her answer sounded like a formula.

Today, Captain Alice has her blonde hair styled in an updo, making her look much more dignified than before.

Her aura is still so strong that it can make people feel suffocated.

"Anyway, thank you very much."

"As expected of the capital, the efficiency is truly high."

“If something happens to me, my daughter’s performance won’t be able to go on,” Budsh said to himself.

Today, Bud Bush is completely different from the discomposure he displayed when he was tied up by Latis; he now exudes the air of a successful man.

However, the scars on his neck and his swollen face made him look quite disheveled.

However, he tidied up the rest of the body very well, and brushed off all the dust.

"If possible, I would really like to invite you to perform in Eors."

"No need," Alice refused without even thinking, not even waiting for Bud Bush to finish his polite words.

"By the way, do you think it's better for you to prepare yourself mentally first?"

"kindness?"

"Although the colonel and I are only temporarily in this position, we are still considered to be working in this area."

“…” Bud Bush looked completely bewildered, not knowing what Alice was trying to say.

"We will investigate the matter, and the colonel loves meddling in other people's business across continents."

After saying that, Alice jogged to catch up with Eric.

As for Bud Bush, he still didn't understand what Alice meant in the end.

"Captain Alice, what did you say to that white-bearded guy?" Eric asked Alice, who had just arrived behind him.

"It was just a warning."

“What’s there to warn me about…” Eric licked his popsicle, then his voice trailed off.

"Captain, my tongue is stuck to an ice pop!" Eric's tongue was stuck to an ice pop, and he could only plead for help in a muffled voice.

The colonel's homemade popsicles had little flavor, but they were incredibly cold.

"Colonel, after we've dealt with Latis, we can move on to Badbusch." Alice completely ignored Eric's words and began to arrange the next steps.

“Captain Alice, I say my tongue is stuck together!” Colonel Eric said with difficulty.

His tongue was only freed after the popsicle melted.

But Eric couldn't wait that long; he wanted to get out of this predicament right now.

Unfortunately, Alice planned to teach Eric a lesson so that he wouldn't get bored and make popsicles for himself every time.

Alice had eaten Eric's tasteless popsicles, which were practically like drinking water, and she couldn't understand why Eric could eat them with such relish.

It took Eric a long time to see the popsicle surface soften a bit.