Chapter 585 Visiting the "Garden"

Deep in the valley, the town remains unchanged.

In the open space in front of a small house near the castle, a golden-haired Algrid elf leaned against a small tree with his arms crossed, gazing absently at the distant mountains.

The sky overhead was bright and clear, with only sparse clouds. A row of bright, sparkling lights could be seen on the hillside, where Yun Qingzi was trying to teach the mass-produced puppets in the valley to fly on swords.

Occasionally, one could hear ethereal and beautiful singing coming from nearby, the mermaid humming, interspersed with the sound of splashing water, as the mermaid practiced her swimming skills in the pond behind her house—sometimes the singing would suddenly stop, accompanied by a brief cry of surprise, the sound of her sinking.

A golden tumbleweed leaped down from the nearby castle wall, and a bright, smiling face emerged from its flowing blond hair: "Lo! Let's go fishing in the river!"

"I'm not going." Luo waved his hand lazily, then leaned against the tree trunk in an even more decadent posture, looking like he had burned out his life.

She had changed out of her tattered silver-white dress and was now wearing a black dress and coat provided by the Secret Service. Combined with her current颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of listlessness, dejection, and a lack of motivation) demeanor, she looked utterly melancholy.

Rapunzel didn't seem bothered by the rejection. She tucked her hair down to her ankles and strode over, sitting on the swing next to Luo, swaying back and forth in mid-air. "How about we go pick mushrooms in the forest? I'll give you a pass. Let me tell you, there's a kind of pale blue mushroom with long stems over there; if you eat it, you'll see little people..."

"This valley is full of little people, why would we need to eat mushrooms?" Luo sighed, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw several mass-produced dolls carrying large baskets of vegetables for the canteen, running across the intersection on their short legs. Then she sighed again and glanced at the blonde girl beside her. "What, are you in charge of watching me today?"

“Why are you so pessimistic? There’s no such thing as being monitored,” Rapunzel tilted her head. “Let me tell you, nobody here really cares about you. I told you, as long as you don’t run outside, you can wander around the town area as you like. Anyway, you can’t beat anyone here. At most, you can bully kids below kindergarten age, but even those kids below kindergarten age will have at least two puppets with them—and you can’t beat those either.”

“…Then I thank him for his trust,” Luo’s lips twitched, but then he sighed again. “Forget it, the thought of losing all my belongings makes me lose all motivation to do anything…Besides, based on my understanding of the Special Operations Bureau and Baili Qing, the best I can expect in the future is probably long-term imprisonment, and I’ll most likely be transferred to an even more stifling place than here. I might as well get used to loneliness and boredom here in advance.”

Upon hearing this, Rapunzel's eyes lit up, and the next second she grabbed Luo's arm: "Then you should hurry up and enjoy yourself! What if you're locked up for life? You won't be able to find a place to slack off then, and it will be too late to regret it... Oh, let's go!"

To be honest, most people can't keep up with Rapunzel's energy, let alone someone like Luo who was deep in melancholy. She instinctively resisted a little, but even after twitching her arms a couple of times, she couldn't break free from Rapunzel's power that could tear demons apart with her bare hands. After all, she was just a scientist, and the mechanical structure she modified was only for the convenience of screwing in screws and brushing test tubes. So, unsurprisingly, she was dragged and pulled out of town on the spot.

Rapunzel didn't even notice Lo's resistance.

However, after they had only dragged and pulled each other for a few steps, Luo suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, followed by an involuntary shiver.

Rapunzel noticed her trembling.

"What's wrong? Did you catch a cold?"

“No, I don’t know,” Luo shuddered again, feeling for no reason that her spiritual intuition was warning her. However, she subconsciously looked around but didn’t see any threat in her line of sight. “I just feel like I’m being plotted against by someone—I had the same feeling when I did business with Baili Qing last time.”

"What are you scheming about? Your space station has already made my brother furious," Rapunzel, always good at comforting people, waved her hand dismissively. "You're just weak from being paralyzed for so long. I'll teach you how to stew mushrooms in fish soup later..."

Luo: "..."

She wanted to say something more, but Rapunzel pulled her close, and all her remaining words were lost in the wind.

...

Garden Network, access layer of upper consciousness.

The network data simulates a bustling city-state, and two figures are walking on an old street with a distinctively old-fashioned style.

One figure had long blonde hair and wore a black gothic dress, while the other wore a blue maid uniform with a decorative wind-up key slowly turning behind her.

Eileen, led by Maris, is re-entering the Garden Network. Unlike the "test connection" she made in the doll printing room, this time she is truly entering the "bustling area" of the network.

Maris raised her hand and introduced the scene before her to the guests beside her: "This is the 'Gathering Place' in the Garden Network—there are many similar gathering places, mostly located in the upper network, where Alice dolls rest, gather, or exchange information... Miss Eileen, are you listening?"

The blonde doll next to him was studying its own arms and legs, and only after a couple of seconds did it belatedly snap out of its daze and quickly nod: "Oh, I'm listening, I'm listening. The gathering place, right? You're eating here and then going out to hunt Elder Dragons, right..."

Maris stopped and looked at the blonde doll with some helplessness: "Miss Eileen, there are no ancient dragons, dark colossi, or small monsters that can be collected in spheres in the Garden Network—the Upper Network is a very safe and stable place, mainly used for communication and rest."

However, the blonde doll in front of her was clearly not listening—Eileen began to examine her hands and feet with great interest again, then bounced around as usual, and happily told Maris, "My height is normal here! Look, I'm 1.67 meters tall..."

Although Maris was a little helpless, she patiently explained: "You operate in the Garden Network in the form of a 'mental body'. The 'appearance' of the mental body is not affected by the physical body state, and it will only present the original form of the Alice doll."

“Oh, that’s great, I like this design,” Eileen said with a beaming smile. Ever since her “shrinkage” at the doll printing shop, she had finally found some solace in the Garden Network regarding her height. But then a question popped into her head, “Wait, what about you? Maris, you’re not an Alice doll…”

"I use simulated mind—to assist the owner, our series of servo robots has added a large number of adaptation expansion modules for garden networks. You can view relevant information on the official website of Universal United Industries. Ordering expansion modules through the Universal APP will enjoy ten years of unlimited replacement and free warranty..."

But Eileen's attention was diverted at this moment, and she didn't hear the advertisement that Marys was advertising at all—she was staring wide-eyed, looking around curiously at this "gathering place" in cyberspace.

This place appears to be a rather large city, but its style is unlike any other city she has seen, such as Jiecheng or Mocheng. Most of the houses she sees are crowded and towering, with mottled exterior walls that look as if they have been eroded by the sea wind and pointed black roofs. Huge steam pipes intertwine above the streets, and the wrought iron pillars on both sides of the road are equipped with gas streetlights with a rustic style. There are also steam-powered vehicles driving through the streets, and the shops on both sides of the old street have brightly lit windows, displaying goods that she doesn't even recognize in the warm light.

Further afield, one can see towering inner walls and cathedral-like buildings in the city center. Huge steam pipes rise from the city center, occasionally spewing out white plumes of steam. To the accompaniment of melodious steam whistles, the steam slowly merges into the simulated sky generated by the garden network.

A strange atmosphere permeates the city—warm and peaceful, stirring up inexplicable feelings of nostalgia in visitors. Dolls and their attendants move about the streets, while others run shops along the street for unknown purposes.

Eileen stared wide-eyed at the place, then belatedly recalled what Maris had just told her.

"...Is everyone active in the upper network? Also, I remember when you brought me in before, everything around me was blurry, and I couldn't see any of this..."

"Eighty percent of the access occurs in the upper network, which is the safest and most stable. The middle network is the maintenance layer. Depending on the situation, the Alice dolls' minds may also exchange information in the middle network or call on additional computing power to complete their own tasks. Below this is the deep network, but it is very dangerous there. Even the mistress must be fully prepared before she can infiltrate the deep network for a short period of time."

"The deep network contains all the dangerous and ancient data fragments, as well as intrusive contaminants that have been dismantled and exiled by the upper and middle layers of the network. The scavenger program periodically cleans up the deep area and also attacks Alice dolls that are not properly protected and have been inadvertently contaminated. I strongly advise against newbies like you approaching that layer."

"Oh..." Eileen scratched her head, not sure if she had heard anything, but her attention was quickly drawn to something else. "What's that over there? Why do so many of the girls bow or nod when they pass by?"

Marise looked up and saw a shop on the street corner in the direction Eileen was pointing.

The shop has a rustic and old-fashioned style, with decorations on the storefront featuring antiques and handicrafts. Warm lights fill the wide display windows, and you can vaguely see the somewhat tidy shelves inside, along with antique vases and various miscellaneous items casually placed on them.

In terms of style, this store is similar to the other shops along the street.

Unlike the surrounding open shops, the door of this corner shop was tightly shut, and a hazy light screen blocked the entrance. Eileen opened her eyes wide and saw several words floating around on the light screen:

"The captain and I are heading out! See you later!"

(End of this chapter)