Chapter 74 The Dolls It turns out, even if you don't lock them up, they won't...

The documentary's immense popularity, along with the spread of various "rumors," has made Shi Wei even more popular than Sklag II himself. Meanwhile, everything in Shi Chuan's life on Mercury is on track.

It was precisely because of the high level of attention that the discussion about Shi Wei reached an unprecedented level after the news of Decari's suicide was revealed.

Shi Wei was cornered by reporters during an outing, which was both unfortunate and something they had anticipated.

When questioned by a reporter: "Ms. Shi, please explain why you were placed under A-level surveillance by the Security Bureau! Was the First Secretary's accidental death related to you?"

Because there was no concrete evidence to prove that Dekari had committed treason, the journalists, though sharp in their language, still characterized Dekari's death as accidental.

Shi Wei couldn't possibly have anything to do with this matter, so she could only brazenly ask in return, "First Secretary? Is it the former First Secretary? I'm sorry for his unexpected passing, but I never knew him. I don't understand why you're asking this?"

"There are rumors that you and he were on the same flight, just three days before his death," the reporters persisted.

Shi Wei helplessly spread her hands: "I really don't know this first secretary you're talking about, nor do I know what flight you're referring to."

Just kidding, if anyone could produce the flight passenger records from that day, the security bureau should just disband on the spot.

The reporter realized that the other party would not admit to this issue without evidence, so the topic was brought back to the first question, because they did indeed have a certificate stating that Shiwei was rated as an A-level regulator.

Leaving aside how the data was leaked, that's a much easier problem to solve.

Shi Wei revealed a hint of sadness as she answered the reporter: "At this time last year, I had a fight with His Majesty and wanted to return to my motherland. However, once I left Manla, my safety would be difficult to guarantee, so I was placed under surveillance."

The reporters, sensing a juicy gossip, perked up. What did "this time last year" mean? What did "safety was hard to guarantee" mean? The reporters didn't believe this flimsy explanation. How could this young, ignorant Omega dare to say anything? Wasn't this just smearing their Emperor?

This isn't an explanation at all; it's just a deliberate attempt to promote themselves. Do they really think everyone is part of their game? What kind of forced regulation is this, driven by love turned to hate? Do they think they're Asta?

Faced with the doubts, the Omega from another country, ignorant and fearless, said: "Yes, I was indeed an S-level supervisor before."

The press corps was in an uproar.

The intelligence they received indicated that the Security Bureau had designated this Omega as an A-level supervisor, but she herself claimed it was an S-level supervisor. Please, even if you're just trying to ride on His Majesty's coattails, do you really have to try and ride on the coattails of Queen Mother Asta?

After this interview was released, there were many more attacking comments about Shi Wei.

There's nothing we can do about it. Shiwei's team has discussed how to deal with this situation. If the two issues hadn't been raised at the same time, they could have explained them one by one. But the trouble now is that the two major issues of Dekali's betrayal and Shiwei being placed under supervision have been exposed one after the other.

If it cannot be clearly explained, it is easy for people to make connections once the two things attract attention at the same time.

Therefore, we can only deny the former, acknowledge the latter, and try to draw attention to the latter.

Being accused of using a trending topic to create a scandal is still better than being seen as a spy.

The Alliance will not let such a huge scandal as Manra go unpunished, because just this month, Similan invaded and occupied Dawnstar on the Alliance's western front, which is extremely dangerous for the Alliance—Dawnstar, as its name suggests, is a strategic fortress for the Alliance.

At this time, Decali's betrayal was exposed, and it was obvious who was behind it.

Shi Wei began to appear frequently in the media, and a large number of photos and short videos that appeared to be "showing affection" were forwarded on her social media account, which had been converted into a personal account.

Although the official verification of this account has been removed, it still has a large fan base, and these photos are very popular.

The latest set of photos shows a desk with a photocopy of Asta's Journal on it. A sentence is circled in pen on the open page:

"The best way to destroy an Omega is to tie his every move to another Alpha, and blame everything they gain or lose on the Alpha's blessing, whether they succeed or fail."

This seemingly plausible statement has left many people puzzled as to why Shi Wei circled it.

In fact, Asta was just venting back then, but Shi Wei was not. Manipulating public opinion is not an easy task and can backfire.

Secretary Wang has advised her to reduce her attention to public opinion, believing that it could affect her emotions and lead to misjudgment.

Of course, there's a hidden detail in these photos. While many people were discussing whether Wei had been scolded and was posting these emo reading notes, or whether she had been dumped, many noticed a doll on her desk.

"Damn, that doll looks kind of familiar."

"If you don't say anything, I won't say anything either. I thought none of you had noticed."

"It's so cute, it seems like it can still move. The expression is even different in the third and sixth photos..."

"What's there to be afraid of? It's just a toy that looks a lot like His Majesty. @Starose, are you there? Let's give one away, don't be so stingy."

Shi Wei saw this message, thought for a moment, and replied: "I won't draw any more. I only succeeded in making this one."

This reply was instantly flooded with a large number of comments:

"Damn, you actually read the comments?! Girl, what's your relationship with His Majesty?!!"

"Since we're already here, why not try our luck and pick one? They're kind of cute~"

"What?! It's handmade?! Do you have the pattern? I want to order one too!"

After reading these comments, Shi Wei felt much better. She wanted the blueprints? Hmph, she wouldn't give them to her. This was her one-of-a-kind, adorable version of "Your Majesty."

To Shi Wei's surprise, the doll received a lot of attention. Perhaps because no one had ever seen one before, it was very novel. After all, not everyone can make such a thing for fun. Some people even tried to replicate it, but these posts disappeared quickly.

So Shiwei posted a video, giving everyone a full look at the adorable "Sclag II"—he can run, jump, and talk. Although his voice is childish, it is indeed synthesized using His Majesty's voice, making him a young version of His Majesty.

"Wow, so cute... Can I pick one, beautiful lady? Please pick one, please."

"Can we order a custom-made one? Yiwu Star, why aren't you starting to step up your game yet? I'll pay for it, okay?"

"Which toy factory would dare to make this? Forget about it. If you really want it, you can make one secretly yourself, but be careful of the security bureau agents!"

However, many people still believe that Shi Wei is trying to gain attention, because Sklag II has never publicly acknowledged her identity.

During this month's live stream, these people were fed a mouthful of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).

Perhaps inspired by Shi Wei, during this video call, seven or eight adorable, running and jumping dolls appeared on His Majesty's desk.

However, because Shi Wei refused to provide voice recordings, she felt too ashamed, so the dolls didn't speak.

Shi Wei, who was watching the live stream, was very glad that she did it. She was already too ashamed to watch the group of dolls that looked just like her running around.

I never really thought much of them when I saw them before.

The viewers in the live chat were stunned. This is no way to show affection!

"I'm really fed up. How many are there on this table? Can't you do something about them? Some of them are constantly running around, and I can't even get a full screenshot."

His Majesty chatted with the host while keeping an eye on the dolls. Although he appeared very serious and was discussing important national affairs, the way he casually grabbed back a few dolls that were trying to escape made the atmosphere strange.

Many viewers in the live chat were saying, "Your Majesty, you have so many, it wouldn't be too much to give one to us, would it?"

Although many people were just following the trend and making jokes, after seeing it so many times, King Sklag II coldly said, "Don't bother seeing me out."

Comments: ...

A pair of stingy AOs.

When it came time to answer questions from the live chat, King Sklag II even refused to answer questions about the dolls, considering them "irrelevant," and only answered other questions.

Even worse, he would take time to play a game of tossing paper balls with those little dolls.

Slacking off at work? Your salary will be docked!

After the online connection ended, a large number of identical couple dolls appeared on the interstellar shopping platform, but unfortunately, they were all removed from the shelves because they looked too much like a certain unspeakable emperor.

...

On the distant planet Undying, several similar dolls appeared on Yi Lan's desk, packaged in a beautiful transparent container. They were sent by his subordinates, who claimed they were the same dolls as those worn by King Sklag II.

At first, he was a little annoyed. If they couldn't get the real thing, they'd just try to fool him with this fake.

But watching those cute little creatures running around reminds him of Shi Wei, with whom he had spent a brief period of time.

Her face was bright and lively; she was clearly very happy.

Why not choose yourself?

Yi Lan knew that his mental energy was starting to become disordered, which was not a good sign. His mental energy could be said to be the strongest in the universe today, and it was improving rapidly, but the aftereffects were also obvious. When he was in a bad mood, his mental energy would become disordered, and in severe cases, it would attack everything indiscriminately—his own brain and all living beings around him.

But he couldn't control himself.

He didn't even want to control himself. He felt so tired. After the anger was washed away by the cruelty of reality, what remained was a deep weariness and pain. This pain almost overwhelmed him when he was alone.

"Why won't you choose me?" Yi Lan picked up the little doll with the white dress and black hair. She stared at herself blankly, seemingly puzzled as to why he had suddenly spoken.

Yi Lan was about to throw it into the trash can, but after thinking about it, she gave up and put it back into the pile of small toys, watching them run around freely in the container.

A red-haired version of "Shi Wei," with the exact same hair color as him, saw that he hadn't closed the lid and, stepping on the decorations inside, huffed and puffed as she climbed out.

Yi Lan just stared at it in silence; he was in an extremely bad mood.

He thought that if it dared to climb out of the table, he would tear it to pieces.

Then he saw the red-haired little girl run up to him, stand on the edge of the table, tilt her head and look at him for a while, then look down at him for a while, as if she was wondering whether to step over.

He reached out and pushed it inward.

“If you fall, you’re dead,” he said, but spared it this time because they had the same hair color.

Then the little red-haired creature followed his hand, stepped on his arm, and climbed all the way up to his shoulder—then gently hugged his head and softly stroked it.

Yi Lan was stunned. He thought that this most lively and active creature must be trying to escape, but he didn't expect it to come to comfort him. It was standing on the edge of the table, wondering how to get over.

But the red-haired doll found that her attempts to comfort it were completely ineffective; the man in front of her, whose hair was exactly the same color as hers, actually started crying.

It felt frustrated, but the newly written program for the system had no instructions on how to deal with it.

After a while, it saw the man open the container and pour out all the remaining dolls.

Its sisters ran around the table curiously. The one with black hair and a white dress jumped onto Yi Lan, grabbed the decorations on his uniform, climbed all the way to the top of the man's head, and sat on his head, shaking her head and humming a song.

The red-haired doll then climbed up as well. The two dolls held hands, sat on Yi Lan's head, swayed their soft little legs, and sang an unknown song.

It turns out that they won't run away even if they're not locked up.

It turns out that both the red-haired and black-haired ones are adorable.

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The author's note: His Majesty's favorites are these two. The red-haired one is lively and active, and quite clingy, while the black-haired one in the white dress has a worse temper and likes to climb high.

Lanlan, my unlucky Lanlan, sigh...