Chapter 219: Doll’s Room

The leader told him to wait a bit longer, so Lu Xin had no choice but to stay put.

He watched as the girl called Doll shed the black, rather heavy and bulky outer skirt she was wearing, tossing it directly onto the floor. Underneath, she wore black thermal underwear that perfectly outlined her figure. The exquisite lace-up Roman boots on her feet were also kicked aside, revealing fair, delicate feet.

She did all this in front of Lu Xin with complete naturalness, not at all like she was facing a stranger.

Especially a strange man.

After taking off her boots, she walked towards Lu Xin. Just as he felt a flicker of nervousness, she passed by him and sat down on the sofa draped in European court-style fabric. Hugging a plush pillow, she quietly started watching TV.

On the television, a man with a serious expression stared out from the screen, posing a soul-searching question: “Please face yourself.”

“What do you want to do right now?”

…

“Mr. Lone Soldier, please continue reporting your observations.”

Less than a minute had passed before Chen Jing’s voice came through the channel again, asking, “What is Doll doing now?”

Lu Xin replied, “She’s watching TV. An advertisement, actually…”

“Phew…”

Chen Jing audibly sighed in relief. “Then there’s no problem.”

After that, a long silence fell over the channel.

“What do you mean, no problem?”

Lu Xin couldn’t help but ask.

He was still holding his bag, unsure where to even put it. The room was too clean, almost unnervingly so, as if no one actually lived there. Every object had its distinct style, making Lu Xin feel utterly out of place. He didn’t know where he should sit, and the room’s owner clearly wasn’t the type to invite guests to make themselves comfortable.

Feeling extremely awkward, Lu Xin finally asked, “What should I do now?”

“Right now…”

Chen Jing’s voice returned after a moment, tinged with uncertainty. “Try and see if you can leave.”

“Is that it?”

Lu Xin considered this, glanced at the girl hugging the pillow and watching TV, then turned to walk out.

But after just a few steps, he stopped.

Turning around, he saw the girl had already stood up.

She was still hugging the pillow, seemingly reluctant to put it down, her eyes still glancing towards the TV, but she was following right behind him.

Lu Xin felt a sense of resignation. He reported into the channel, “I don’t think I can leave.”

Chen Jing’s voice came back after a pause, “Why not?”

Lu Xin looked back at the girl, sighed deeply, and said, “She’s quite clingy…”

…

…

“Quite clingy…”

Chen Jing seemed momentarily baffled by Lu Xin’s response.

Then, after a slight pause, she said, “Alright, stay there for now. Wait for Headquarters’ decision.”

“Oh… okay.”

Since the leader had said so, Lu Xin could only agree.

Seeing that he didn’t seem intent on leaving anymore, the girl who had gotten up and followed him to the doorway looked up at him. Then, she slowly returned to the sofa, sat down, hugged her plush pillow, and quietly watched TV again.

No one spoke on the channel, and the owner of the room wasn’t paying him any attention.

Lu Xin started to feel bored.

After standing for a while, he walked to the side and dragged over a soft, cotton ball-like object.

It looked like a seat. Lu Xin put his bag down and sat…

…He hadn’t expected the cotton ball to be so soft. He immediately started falling backward. Thankfully, Lu Xin instantly borrowed his sister’s body control ability. Just as he was about to hit the floor awkwardly, he arched his back, his body contorting into an exaggerated pose as he narrowly managed to stand up again.

The movement was a bit dramatic. Lu Xin’s expression turned slightly embarrassed.

The girl on the sofa turned her head to look at him. Lu Xin could only offer her an awkward smile.

The girl’s face remained expressionless. After a moment of silence, she gently shifted aside, leaving some space for him.

“Is she… asking me to sit on the sofa?”

Lu Xin was somewhat surprised.

The girl turned her head, looked at Lu Xin again, and shifted a little further.

Lu Xin surveyed the room. It was quite spacious and had many items, but there really wasn’t anywhere else for a second person to sit.

It seemed the owner of this room wasn’t expecting any guests. Aside from her bed and the sofa—which looked soft but was at most a meter and a half long—there were no other chairs.

Just standing there felt awkward, so Lu Xin sat down beside her.

Seeing him sit down, the girl scooted slightly closer to him, continuing to hug her pillow and watch TV quietly.

Lu Xin didn’t know what to do, so he watched the TV as well.

The TV had no sound, but there were subtitles. A middle-aged man wearing glasses and looking quite refined held a bottle of Brain-boosting Kidney-nourishing Pills, passionately addressing the audience: “Do you think I don’t know what you want to do?”

“In the Red Moon world, everyone is under pressure.”

“Working during the day, earning money, supporting the family, contributing to construction… Not enough energy at night? What do you do when your wife complains?”

“The gospel for men everywhere! The source of happiness and bliss! Only ninety-eight…”

…

Lu Xin turned to glance at Doll. Her large eyes stared blankly at the TV, as if she were watching intently.

Lu Xin suggested, “How about… we change the channel?”

Doll turned her head to look at Lu Xin, her face devoid of expression, then turned back.

“Looks like she doesn’t really want to communicate with me…”

Just as Lu Xin was thinking this, he saw her turn towards him again, holding something white and fluffy.

It took Lu Xin a moment to realize it was a remote control covered in a white plush sleeve.

“Thanks.”

Lu Xin quickly said, taking the remote and slowly starting to flip through the channels.

Nowadays, besides reruns of pre-Cataclysm movies and TV shows, the television only featured some local Qinggang news reports. The rest were various advertisements, many mimicking the style of pre-Red Moon world ads, and some were quite well-made.

Lu Xin flipped through several channels, finally landing on a cartoon channel, and turned the volume up slightly.

“Oh lokana ohdoodoyo…”

On screen, a man was speaking with a deadpan expression.

Lu Xin thought watching this was better than watching ads, but unsure of the owner’s preference, he cautiously glanced at her.

He then noticed that the owner of the room wasn’t watching the TV screen. After handing him the remote, she had lowered her head and was meticulously using her fingers to comb through the tassels hanging from the plush toy, as if trying to straighten every single strand.

Her fingers were slender, fair, and slightly chubby like a baby’s, but her movements had a strange sense of emptiness.

“I remember Gecko once said… she was simple-minded?”

Lu Xin thought to himself, looking at the girl who seemed almost flawless.

But she actually seemed quite normal, except for the inexplicable feeling that she existed in another world.

After watching cartoons in this room for a while, this feeling deepened for Lu Xin.

In about half an hour, he hadn’t heard the girl speak a single word.

She just sat there quietly, combing the tassels on her plush toy.

After nearly half an hour of this repetition, she suddenly stood up. Just as Lu Xin felt a flicker of hope for some change, she silently got up and went over to a structure built from small plastic blocks of different colors.

With a touch of her finger, she pushed the small house over, then picked up the plastic pieces one by one and slowly began to assemble them again.

She had what seemed like a small mountain of these plastic building blocks.

Barefoot, she squatted on the floor, piecing them together bit by bit, as if she could continue doing this forever.

Lu Xin watched her do this for over half an hour, shook his head, and muttered, “This is really boring…”

…

…

Lu Xin’s voice wasn’t loud, but the girl suddenly turned her head to look at him.

Her small face seemed a little unhappy.

Lu Xin paused, then pointed at the TV, “I meant him.”

The girl turned her head back and continued picking up small plastic pieces, putting them together one by one. If one didn’t fit, she tossed it aside.

Just when Lu Xin felt he might die of boredom, a voice finally came through the channel.

“Mr. Lone Soldier, can you hear me?”

…

Lu Xin immediately sat up straight. “Yes, I’m here.”

Chen Jing’s voice on the channel sounded very serious. “Are you experiencing any unusual feelings right now?”

Lu Xin focused his senses for a moment. “It’s quite stuffy in here.”

Chen Jing’s voice immediately responded on the other end, though it sounded like she was talking to someone else: “Is this emotion normal?”

Lu Xin quickly heard another voice, seemingly farther away, say, “As long as he doesn’t have improper thoughts about Doll, it’s normal.”

“Oh!”

Chen Jing’s voice came through again:

“Mr. Lone Soldier, listen carefully. Doll is Qinggang’s most powerful Ability User, but she also has significant problems. When she first appeared in Qinggang City, she was only about five or six years old, yet she nearly caused chaos throughout the entire city…”

“Back then, almost half the city wanted to harm her, while the other half wanted to protect her at all costs…”

“It was Professor Bai’s appearance, using special parasitic items, that protected her.”

“Since then, she has existed as Qinggang’s special Ability User, helping us solve many problems.”

…

Lu Xin nodded, then turned to look at the girl again.

She didn’t look very old, giving off the impression of being sixteen or seventeen.

But whether it was Gecko’s casual mention or Chen Jing’s current account, both indicated she should be a veteran Ability User.

“You met Doll once before in the Second Satellite City and received her file.”

Chen Jing continued, “But what I need to tell you now is that as Doll grows older, both her ability and the uncontrollable negative influence she exerts are increasing. Furthermore, they are nearing an uncontrollable level. Therefore, whether staying at Headquarters or out on missions, Doll needs to remain in an isolated space.”

Lu Xin nodded, somewhat confused as to why Chen Jing was telling him all this.

“Normal people cannot communicate with Doll, but they can make simple requests to her. Doll usually complies with these requests and performs tasks like rescues and pollution cleanup very well. However, she is currently incapable of deep communication with anyone.”

“And you are the first person observed so far who can communicate directly with her.”

“This indicates you can influence her, and such influence is often mutual.”

“Now, please answer a question seriously for me. When you look at Doll, what kind of feeling do you get?”

…

“Feeling…”

Hearing Chen Jing’s words, Lu Xin’s first instinct was to consider using ‘Mom’s vision’ to observe her.

However, he quickly dismissed the thought. He could sense from the attitude of Chen Jing and the others just how important this girl was to Qinggang. Considering this, it was best not to provoke her with any ‘ability’-related actions.

So, he simply followed Chen Jing’s request and looked intently at the girl.

She continuously picked up different small plastic blocks, glanced at them, put them aside, and then picked up another.

She repeated this repetitive action over and over.

Her whole demeanor seemed mechanical and dull, making it difficult to understand her thoughts and mindset.

But after watching her for a long time, a slight stir occurred in Lu Xin’s heart, and he slowly began to speak:

“I feel… she’s very lonely!”