Dimensional Hotel
Chapter 322: Difficult Communication

Chapter 322: Chapter 322: Difficult Communication

Yu Sheng was greeted by a perplexing scene - Xiao Xiao and several children stood helplessly beside the vegetable garden, while the artificially intelligent Saintess was meticulously clearing weeds in the field. Her metallic exterior was covered with dirt and grass clippings, suggesting she had been busy for quite some time.

"Uncle Yu Sheng... Brother Yu Sheng!" Xiao Xiao had noticed the door opening and Yu Sheng entering, and hurried over to complain, remembering to change her address, "She took over our labor class assignment... Who is this big sister?"

Yu Sheng was still confused about the situation, but he coughed twice and rubbed Xiao Xiao’s head, "Umm, she’s a new guest... It’s alright, you all go play somewhere else for now, I’ll explain to Teacher Su later."

Xiao Xiao, half understanding, responded with an "oh" and led the other children away. Meanwhile, the iron puppet noticed the situation and slowly straightened up, turning her blank, smiling face towards Yu Sheng, standing motionless.

Yu Sheng stood on the opposite side, ten meters away, facing a silent steel puppet, as a "Reborn" who had been killed twice by her. Neither broke the silence, while the breeze blew from the valley, rustling the leaves along the road, and the occasional sound of children’s joyful play drifted along the farm road.

After a while, Yu Sheng attempted to speak to her, "Uh, hello... Can you hear me?"

He waited for a few seconds before the artificial Saintess gently nodded.

"Can you come over here?" Yu Sheng continued, "This plot of land was specially opened for the town’s children to take care of together—I know you want to help, but they don’t seem to want that."

There was another few seconds of awkward confrontation and silence before the artificial Saintess finally nodded again, stepping out of the vegetable garden. With some hesitation and caution, she approached Yu Sheng.

Her demeanor was still as elegant as when they first met, but Yu Sheng noticed her reactions seemed a bit sluggish.

With a thoughtful expression, he observed her closely, trying to discern some "human" warmth from the beautiful but empty shell, while curiously asking, "Do you remember me?"

The artificial Saintess hesitated for a moment, raised her hand, and pointed to Yu Sheng’s arm, then to his chest.

Yu Sheng: "..."

That was a bit awkward.

"Uh, right," Yu Sheng said sheepishly, rubbing his nose, realizing she indeed remembered him, albeit in a rather absurd way, "Two cuts, eight holes... Wait a minute, where’s your blade?"

He then noticed that the iron puppet’s hands were in their normal form, and her originally half-meter-long "Fingertip Blades" were missing for some reason.

Upon hearing Yu Sheng’s question, the artificial Saintess stood still for a moment, tilting her head slightly as if trying to understand. After a while, she seemed to finally get it, lowered her hands to her thighs, and with a slight mechanical click, the hidden compartments in her legs flipped open. Blades popped out and merged with her fingers.

She raised her hands, moving the sharp blades, earnestly showcasing them to Yu Sheng.

Seeing ten blades waving around in front of him, Yu Sheng was understandably cautious. He quickly gestured to stop, "Okay, okay, I get it, no need to show—your blades are detachable?!"

The iron puppet slowly nodded and retracted the blades, then continued standing quietly before Yu Sheng.

It was likely her body didn’t have the function to speak.

Yu Sheng gradually felt some pressure—mostly due to being unaccustomed.

After all, normally, just Erin alone had four voices, with little puppets able to chirp endlessly over the tiniest matters, and when joined by Hu Li, chaos ensued without a moment’s peace. The daily buzz at No. 66 Wutong Road was as lively as a bustling market, leading him to expect a chorus of four voices when he spoke (sometimes five with Hu Li), but now with someone not speaking and delayed reactions...

It’s like being used to ten-gigabit fiber-optic internet, suddenly switched to pigeon post. Facing the artificial Saintess in silence, he couldn’t help but suspect she might have already crashed...

Fortunately, just as this awkward situation of waiting for a response became increasingly uncomfortable, someone came to the rescue.

Accompanied by the sound of a gigantic animal approaching, a familiar cacophony emanated from afar, "Hey! Yu Sheng! Hu Li and I are coming! What’s going on, you suddenly said in the mental link the artificial Saintess woke up? Hey Hu Li, slow down, slow down! Oh my, slow down... Ah!"

Yu Sheng hurriedly turned to look, seeing a giant white fox kicking up dust as it raced from the direction of the Teleportation Gate platform. It seemed to realize it needed to slow down only when very close, so with a brace on its front paws, the entire body shifted sideways, nine tails like auxiliary thrusters swinging in an instant reverse braking—surprisingly effective; Hu Li came to a halt, while four Erin’s were catapulted into the air, flailing like thrown projectiles.

Luckily, Yu Sheng quickly dashed to catch the little puppet.

But he only managed to catch one, while the remaining three plunged headfirst into the vegetable patch, with Unit One flying the furthest due to her painting frame providing a gliding effect.

The scene was momentarily silent for two seconds. Yu Sheng lowered his head to glance at Erin in his arms, and Erin raised her head dazedly, their gazes meeting.

The next second, the doll in his arms sprang up with a cry, leaping to the ground and charging toward the White Fox, who was strolling over with leisurely steps: "Silly fox, you did it on purpose! Usually, you use your tail to shield him when you’re with Yu Sheng!"

Yu Sheng reached out to try to stop her but failed. At that moment, he caught sight of the Artificial Saintess, who had been standing motionless until now, suddenly becoming responsive—the Iron Puppet looked around, as if seriously contemplating something, then stepped toward the direction of the vegetable patch, pulling out the little dolls buried in the soil one by one, shaking off the dirt, and casually tucking the struggling little doll under her arm...

She soon returned, placing the three small dolls neatly on the ground in front of Yu Sheng.

For some reason, Yu Sheng thought of radishes stacked neatly at the corner of a field.

Except this pile of "radishes" cursed quite badly—the three Erins began jumping and swearing as soon as they hit the ground, while desperately shaking the dirt from their hair and clothes. After quite a while, they looked up at the C-shaped clasp standing beside them with a seemingly mocking smile on its face, which made Erin feel like her world was crumbling: "What humiliation! I, Alice’s living doll... Silly fox, I’m not done with you!"

Hu Li, in her demon fox form, walked over at this point. The only Erin caught by Yu Sheng was clinging to a tuft of fur from her chin, suspended in the air, making her a bit uneasy. Not daring to shake her head directly, she gently tapped the little doll trying to tug at the fur with her front paw: "Next time I’ll use my pocket money to buy you a new dress."

Erin instantly released her grip: "Alright then."

Thus, a grudge dissipated just like that.

As for Yu Sheng, within such a short moment, he felt the familiar atmosphere return, and the chaos buzzing around his ears made him feel alive...

He turned his head, seeing the Artificial Saintess still standing in place. The commotion created by the sudden appearance of Erin and Hu Li seemed to have elicited no reaction from her, but quickly Yu Sheng noticed her posture seemed slightly more constrained compared to earlier, possibly... at a loss? Or somewhat nervous?

By then, one of the Erins finally focused her attention on the Iron Puppet, walking over with pride, head held high: "Hey! C-shaped clasp!"

However, the other party had no response.

The little doll turned her head to Yu Sheng: "Yu Sheng, why is she ignoring me?"

Yu Sheng quickly explained: "She seems to respond somewhat slowly."

"Is that so?" Erin paused, then turned her head again, indeed seeing the Artificial Saintess lowering her head as if responding to her earlier greeting.

"Alright, maybe there’s some aftereffect? Might be related to mind splitting?" Erin, quite open-minded, muttered a couple of comments and then set aside these details, introducing herself to the other party, "My name’s Erin! I’m the second-in-command at ’the travel agency’! This big fox beside me is Hu Li, third-in-command at the agency — did you get that? Oh, and this here is Yu Sheng, our boss!"

The Artificial Saintess kept her head down and, after a while, slowly nodded, seeming to truly understand Erin’s meaning.

Erin then turned her gaze to Hu Li by her side: "Hey, silly fox, why are you still in this form? Aren’t you gonna change back?"

Hu Li did not respond, but seriously observed the Artificial Saintess a few more times, as if assessing something, finally letting out an "Oh" as a burst of radiance rose, transforming from the demon fox form into her usual human shape.

"Hello." She courteously greeted the Iron Puppet before her.

The Artificial Saintess nodded in response.

"Why haven’t you been speaking?" Erin finally noticed something amiss about the other party, "Can’t you talk?"

The Artificial Saintess hesitated for a moment, nodded slightly, and then shook her head.

Erin was momentarily stunned, turning her head to Yu Sheng: "Why is communicating so difficult?"

"That’s how it was earlier," Yu Sheng helplessly spread his hands, "Perhaps, as you said, it’s the aftereffect."

Saying this, he lifted his head to glance at the not-too-distant area.

The number of children watching the commotion was increasing.

"This isn’t a good place to talk; let’s head home and delve into it further."