Chapter 548: Fox Charge

Luo's movements were dazzling. Behind her, a cluster of mechanical limbs simultaneously carried out complex procedures that would normally have required several people. Irene stared wide-eyed from behind but couldn't make heads or tails of it. After holding it in for a while, she blurted out, "So all those mechanical arms are just for tightening screws?"

After "fighting side by side" this whole way, Luo had gotten used to this doll's vulgar way of speaking. At this point, she couldn't be bothered to respond and just kept working.

But Irene was someone who couldn't stay quiet. Seeing that the golden-haired elf wasn't reacting, she rolled her eyes and came up with a new question. "I mean, is this really necessary? Sticking a bunch of self-destruct bombs in your own home, and then a whole backup chain... If something like a Bleak Angel incident actually happens, these bombs don't seem to be of any use, do they?"

"These bombs aren't for blowing up a Bleak Angel—they're just to blow ourselves up. Though if possible, it'd be better not to blow up," Luo said without turning her head. "It's a necessary safety measure..."

"Why?" Irene blinked.

"Why what?"

"If it's so dangerous, why still make them? I heard you guys just study a bunch of freaky stuff—subspace, black psionics—Pioneer Lab blows up two big ones a year. Not only do you treat other people's lives like nothing, you don't even care much about your own..."

Luo was silent for a moment, while also feeling a bit puzzled. For some reason, even though the red-eyed little shorty behind her kept talking disrespectfully and kept bothering her the whole way, chattering noisily and annoyingly, at this moment... she actually couldn't help but want to answer her question.

"Because I'm curious," the elf finally broke the silence.

Irene: "Huh?"

"Curiosity. I'm curious about the world we live in—the secrets left by the ancient spirits, the fractured histories and Old Era technologies of the various races, the stories of the Deep Sea Age, the things beyond the world, everything outside our sight, the unknown. I want to see it all. It's that simple. That's just me, though. My 'colleagues'... might have more complicated attitudes toward this world."

Irene was stunned for a moment, then dragged out her tone: "Woah—"

"Don't you have any curiosity?" Luo finally turned her head slightly, but her hands never stopped working.

Irene thought carefully, then her little face suddenly lit up. "I do! Yu Sheng has a folder on his computer that he never lets me see. He even put a password on it. I asked C-Buckle to help crack it, but she always says she's too busy. I'm so curious..."

Luo thought for a moment, rubbing her chin. "That really is curious... Could it be important research data or something? I can help you later..."

But before she finished speaking, a terrifying, beastly growl—"Wrooooar"—came from beside her. She looked up and saw Hu Li staring at her with a furious, threatening expression. The fox girl's fangs were bared, and flames flickered on her tail. "Master's stuff! Outsiders not touch!"

"Right, that's also a problem," Irene looked up at Hu Li. "This silly fox guards Yu Sheng's stuff really tightly. She'll really kill you."

Luo instantly shuddered, turning back to work while muttering, "What kind of people are these, all nuts..."

But Irene didn't react to that comment—normally if someone said one thing, she'd respond with ten, but at this moment, she suddenly tilted her head, and a look of confusion and hesitation appeared in her eyes.

She looked at Luo's busy back, blinked, and saw the figure transform into a strange, blurry outline—the outline was prostrating devoutly on the ground, like a faithful believer, surrounded by many similarly blurred shadows, seemingly speaking to her.

She blinked again, and saw a tall tower floating in the depths of the void, where she herself was prostrating on that tower, surrounded by many grotesque shadows that were entrusting things to her.

Irene looked up in confusion.

Tall temple columns surrounded her, and the high walls and banners were covered in web-patterned reliefs and decorations. A voice came from somewhere, hoarse and low: "Lord, the universe's mass is insufficient..."

Irene shook her head vigorously. Her gaze passed through the temple gates, and she saw a figure standing at the entrance, holding one of her hands, with a tone of grievance, a very familiar voice: "When it's come to this, how come..."

Irene was dazed for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Yu Sheng, huh..."

"Done!" Luo's voice came from the side, sounding relieved. "The last one! Once this is dismantled, we won't have to worry about the big shield blowing up..."

"Great, then it's time to find Yu Sheng!" Irene struggled half of her body out of Hu Li's arms and said happily, then pointed in a certain direction. "We need to go this way!"

"Huh?" Luo was taken aback. "Didn't we say we'd evacuate after dismantling the space station's self-destruct device? You said Mr. Hunter could open a door and go back on his own..."

"But the plan has changed. Yu Sheng is nearby now," Irene interrupted Luo unceremoniously. "We're going to find him next."

Hu Li and Luna both nodded at this. This was the only thing on which they could quickly agree with the noisy Irene.

Luo's expression turned subtle and conflicted. She looked around at the severely damaged space station, whose internal environment was completely unsuitable for ordinary people to survive. She just wanted to get away from this place that could spawn new dangers at any moment as soon as possible. But after hesitating for a few seconds, she gritted her teeth. "Alright, I'll go with you..."

But she didn't expect that as soon as she said that, Irene tilted her head. "What are you following for?"

The little doll said, pointing at herself, Luna, and Hu Li. "I have a bunch of spare bodies. C-Buckle, when she's injured, has some kind of recall skill that automatically teleports her to that iron coffin of hers. Plus, she's really tough. And this one here—Yu Sheng was afraid this silly fox would get stuck somewhere and not be able to go home, so he stuffed over two hundred portal cards and several prefabricated doors into her tail. The three of us can just turn around and go home if we run into danger—what are you joining the fun for?"

Hu Li nodded vigorously and kindly reminded Luo, "If you die, you really die..."

Luo's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could, she saw several mass-produced Irenes wrapped in Hu Li's tail jump to the ground. One of them walked over and waved at her, then directly opened a spatial rift out of thin air. With a dizzying spatial twist, the doll's body quickly reorganized and in the blink of an eye transformed into a slightly trembling door.

Luo stared in shock and subconsciously said, "W-Wait..."

Before she could finish, Irene waved at her. "Wait my ass! The mass-produced units' door opening time is very short—"

As she spoke, several mass-produced dolls ran behind Luo, then took a few steps of a running start and jumped in unison, sending several kicks directly into the elf's body.

"In you go!"

Luo instantly screamed, "Wait, this thing looks unstable! You mother—"

And then the dolls beat her into the portal.

Irene, lying in Hu Li's arms, clapped her hands with a smug smile.

"Go find... Master?" Luna said somewhat haltingly from the side.

"Is Master in the space station?" Hu Li looked doubtfully in the direction Irene had pointed, her large ears swiveling. "My spiritual sense didn't find him."

"I can't explain it clearly, but he's somewhere around here. He just suddenly appeared a moment ago, probably in the direction of the lab," Irene waved quickly, squirming restlessly in Hu Li's arms. "He might need help. We need to hurry—"

The little doll suddenly stopped, looked up with some hesitation. "Silly fox, do you still know the way?"

"No, I didn't memorize it."

Irene was dumbfounded. "Hey, no! Your nose is always sharp! Isn't navigation your strong suit?!"

"But the path we took kept collapsing as we went along," Hu Li said a bit helplessly. "And the surrounding area is full of exhaust fumes. It stinks. I haven't breathed for half an hour..."

"You and your timing..." Irene was about to cry. "I should have kept that pointy-ear here! She definitely knows another way!"

Hu Li's eyes rolled as she listened. "Actually, not a big problem."

Irene: "Ah, what do you mean?"

Then the little doll saw Hu Li, while still holding her, confirm the general direction of the lab and lower her head slightly. "Irene, you're sure this is the direction, right?"

"It's this direction for sure... Wait, silly fox, what are you going to do?"

Hu Li bent at the waist, lowered her head, and took a slight step back into a starting sprint posture.

Irene finally screamed, "Big silly fox, what exactly are you—"

"Boom!"

A fox-fire-assisted explosion interrupted the doll's words. The fox girl performed a fire fox headbutt, crashing through the nearest wall and charging straight toward the laboratory, followed by a series of explosive roars and the screeching sound of tearing metal. The path was a blaze of fire and shaking ground, punctuated only by the little doll's faint, almost inaudible screams:

"Ah, Mom! Put me down first!... Agh, dammit!... Oh crap, that's a beam! I want to go home! I'm not playing anymore!... Aaah, big silly fox—"

Luna stood there watching Hu Li crash through walls and run off. She had been wanting to speak since earlier but couldn't get the words out. She raised her hand and waved it a few times before finally stammering out a few words, "I-I actually have... a navigation function... forget it."

Most of the space station's internal partitions weren't very sturdy. After a moment, following a path of blazing fox fire from the outer zone straight to the core, the last interior wall was quickly melted and smashed through. Hu Li, head lowered, charged into the lab, only to hear Irene yell, "Stop! Stop! Wall! We're here! Wall—"

In the little doll's despairing scream, Hu Li's head slammed into the black wall that had already filled the entire lab.

This one couldn't be budged.

"Owww..."