A dazzling blue beam shot forth with a humming buzz. It was so sudden that neither Yu Sheng nor Foxy could react—and Irene herself had no clue what just happened.

The 66.6-centimeter Irene Pro Max stared blankly upward at the neat, round hole burned into the distant wall. Several seconds passed before she realized she’d caused it herself. She glanced down at her fingertip, then back up at the wall, repeating this motion several times. Finally, her bewildered gaze settled on Yu Sheng.

“Holy—”

Yu Sheng snapped out of his daze and stared wide-eyed at the little doll. “Don’t ‘holy’ me! How’d you manage that?!”

“I have no idea!” Irene exclaimed, waving her arms frantically. “I just did what you said! I tried releasing a thread, flicked it out like this, and then…”

Seeing her gestures, Yu Sheng instinctively jumped aside. “Talk with your mouth, not your hands! Those things are basically regulated weapons now!”

Meanwhile, Foxy darted toward the damaged wall. She stood beneath the hole, studying it carefully before flying up to examine the burned edges. After a thorough inspection, she returned with a puzzled expression. “Benefactor, this seems similar to Fox Fire—but it’s really strange. I’ve never seen anything exactly like this before.”

Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched. He turned his head toward Irene, who was now staring at her own fingers, counting and muttering under her breath, “Light beams are threads, too… How did I do it earlier…?”

After a few moments, Irene appeared to figure something out. She looked toward the sky, struck a dramatic and mysterious pose—like charging a super move—shifting her stance and gathering momentum. She thrust both hands upward:

“Hiyah—!”

An even thicker blue beam pierced the heavens with a buzz, splitting the clouds and leaving behind a bright, lingering trail.

Irene’s eyes widened, sparkling with excitement as she jumped up and down. “Whoa—!”

“Did all your ‘threads’ turn into this?” Yu Sheng finally asked, after watching quietly for a long while. “Or is it just this body?”

“Only this one!” Irene’s enthusiasm remained high. She continued fiddling with her fingers, investigating further. “The other bodies still just produce regular threads. Only this one shoots out like a laser!”

Excitedly, she fired several more beams into the sky, each accompanied by delighted shouts. Then, bouncing happily over to Yu Sheng like a child who’d found her favorite new toy, she said, “Yu Sheng, Yu Sheng! This is awesome! Whoosh, biubiu—I feel super powerful now! I bet this beats that C-type Buckle doll for sure! No matter how fast she is, can she outrun light? Next time I see her, I’ll poke her full of holes!”

Watching Irene’s joyful face, Yu Sheng knew she had already completely forgotten their earlier conversation. Concepts like the “Blessing of the Ancestor of Dolls” or “Alice Doll’s innate thread skill” were undoubtedly tossed aside by her forgetful brain.

As he quietly marveled at this fact, Yu Sheng’s mind returned to the clues Foxy had provided earlier.

“…Could this have something to do with the ‘skeleton’ we used this time?”

Irene didn’t catch his meaning right away, turning to him with a blank stare. “Huh?”

“I mean your new power might be related to the ‘skeleton’ material we used in this body,” Yu Sheng said thoughtfully. “Foxy said your beam seems similar to Fox Fire. Your current skeleton was refined from her Spirit Fox Dark Iron—which, according to her, has a kind of spiritual essence…”

Irene stared blankly, visibly straining to comprehend. Eventually, she clapped her hands, eyes lighting up in realization: “Oh—!”

Then she giggled happily, waving her arms around. “Anyway, this body’s super strong now, right?”

Yu Sheng sighed, giving up on complicated explanations. “…Yes.”

He sometimes genuinely envied Irene’s carefree attitude toward life. Her thoughts ran on such a low-power mode (she didn’t even have a brain, technically). The little bit of intelligence she possessed was entirely devoted to ensuring she stayed cheerful.

Deciding to let Irene return to counting fingers again, Yu Sheng moved closer to Foxy, lowering his voice, “Is this normal?”

“I really don’t know,” Foxy honestly admitted, shaking her head. “We didn’t have dolls like Irene back home. There were mechanical beings, sure, but I’ve never heard of one gaining the ability to shoot Fox Fire like lasers just because its skeleton was made from Spirit Fox Dark Iron…”

This question clearly wouldn’t have a quick answer.

Yu Sheng shook his head, no longer overly concerned. After all, the number of inexplicable things surrounding him already outnumbered the stars. One more doll suddenly gaining laser-beam fingers hardly mattered. At least Irene was happy, and this exceptionally expensive body seemed to possess considerably higher combat abilities.

Overall, it was definitely a good thing.

A dazzling blue beam shot out with a low hum. Forget about Yu Sheng and Foxy—even Irene herself was stunned, unsure what had happened.

This Irene Pro Max (measuring 66.6 cm) raised her head blankly, staring at the perfectly round, scorched hole melted into the distant wall. It took several long seconds for her to realize she’d caused it herself. Then she lowered her head, glanced at her fingertip, looked back up at the wall, repeating this motion several times. Finally, she settled her bewildered gaze on Yu Sheng nearby.

“Oh my mom—!”

Yu Sheng also finally reacted, wide-eyed, staring at the little doll. “Don’t ‘oh my mom’ me! How’d you manage that?”

“I—I don’t know!” Pro Irene stammered, eyes wide as she gestured frantically. “I was just doing what you said! I was gonna release the thread and flick it out, and then suddenly…!”

Yu Sheng shook his head, approached Pro Irene, and gently rubbed the little doll’s head. “All right, stop trying to figure it out, and don’t blast any more holes in my walls. I’ll clear away this temporary barrier and come up with a plan to build a full roof for the platform. Later, when we have some time, I’ll make a dedicated training area for you in the Valley—targets and everything—so you can biu all you want.”

Irene immediately brightened, nodding excitedly. “Yes, yes! That’s great!”

Yu Sheng smiled, waving his hand. The sturdy gray-white stone wall around them trembled, softening like wax, retreating into the ground and becoming part of the Portal Platform again.

Just as the walls vanished, Yu Sheng noticed several familiar figures standing outside on the platform, staring at him, Foxy, and the four Irenes with wide eyes.

The Long Haired Girl princess had King perched on her shoulder, Snow White stood nearby with a group of Doll Heads, and Cinderella and Little Mermaid were there too—all gazing blankly at the spectacle before them.

Yu Sheng blinked in surprise. “Why are you all here?”

“We saw the commotion from far away,” said the Long Haired Girl princess, still astonished. “There were lasers shooting into the sky, so we came to check. Then a random wall went up, and I figured you must be up to some new invention again.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Snow White pointed directly at the four dolls behind Yu Sheng. “But… why is there another one?”

Yu Sheng had expected this reaction. Laughing lightly, he casually replied, “Oh, she just grew out of the ground.”

He had just tossed out a silly explanation, but Little Mermaid immediately believed it, exclaiming in surprise, “Really?!”

Yu Sheng put on a serious face. “That’s how our Hotel works. If you leave it alone long enough, dolls start sprouting up from the ground…”

“Don’t believe his nonsense!” Irene finally exploded, shouting indignantly with all four voices at once. “I just made a new body! It’s combat-ready!”

Proudly, Pro Irene leaped out from behind Yu Sheng and marched up to the Fairy Tale group. “Let me tell you, I’ve finally got my own tactical version now! This right here is my ultimate battle form—wait, what’s with that look? You think I’m small? Let me show you what I can do…!”

Excitedly, the little doll began to posture dramatically, hopping from foot to foot, twisting and turning for extra flair—although she clearly didn’t need any buildup. For style’s sake, she ended up performing something like military martial arts before finally striking a flashy energy blast pose toward an empty area.

“Ha—!”

A tiny, matchstick-sized blue flame flickered weakly at her fingertip for a brief moment before quickly vanishing.

Irene stared at her fingers, dumbfounded. She tried again but failed completely this time.

“What the…?”

She mumbled to herself, attempting to turn back toward Yu Sheng—only to discover her neck suddenly felt as stiff as rusted metal. Then, limb by limb, her joints froze and grew heavy until she couldn’t move a single finger.

Only her mouth remained functional.

“Hey, hey, hey! Yu Sheng! Help, help, help, help—! Something’s wrong! My new body broke down! I can’t move anymore!”

Yu Sheng, thinking Irene was just fooling around again, soon realized something was genuinely wrong. He rushed forward immediately and scooped her up, but she was as stiff as a plaster sculpture.

The little doll was on the verge of tears. Her other three bodies quickly crowded around Yu Sheng, pulling at his sleeves, tugging his trousers, climbing onto him noisily.

“What do we do now?! I didn’t even do anything!” “No! I finally got a decent body!” “It can’t possibly be disposable, right? We used so many high-quality materials!”

Yu Sheng felt his head about to explode from all these noisy dolls. Just when he couldn’t think clearly, the rigid Pro Irene in his arms suddenly twitched slightly.

Irene immediately felt it too. “Hey, Yu Sheng! This body seems to be able to move again! My hand moved!”

Yu Sheng stared blankly at this bizarre situation before finally turning his gaze toward Foxy.

The Demon Fox Maiden had clearly been thinking. She’d been observing Irene thoughtfully the whole time, ears twitching slightly. Now, she turned seriously to Yu Sheng and said, “She might’ve run out of spiritual energy.”

Yu Sheng blinked in confusion. “…?”

“She was using so much power earlier,” Foxy continued helplessly, sighing softly. “She’s small. It makes sense she doesn’t have enough power.”

Yu Sheng lowered his head, glancing at Irene Pro Max in his arms.

Sure enough, the little doll was about to cry again.