Eileen's Excitement

Inside a rented apartment deep within Wutong Road in the old town, a burly man nearly two meters tall was hunched over on a single sofa that seemed a bit too small for him, meticulously maintaining his gear.

It was a beam dagger. The dark red hilt was inlaid with tiny, teardrop-shaped crystals that connected in a line, running through the entire body. The hilt was clearly custom-made for the user, fitting perfectly into the man's large palm.

The burly man flipped his hand, twirling the dagger a few times in his palm, then casually activated it. With a faint hum, a bright, pale blue light blade suddenly ignited, slicing a searing arc through the air.

"Take it easy, don't scratch the coffee table—I'll have to file a report with the Bureau to pay for it later," Li Lin said, pulling out a pocket watch and fiddling with it. He glanced up at Xu Jiali, who was opposite him. "...That thing's pretty cool."

"Cool, right? Bought it with my life," the burly man chuckled, a hint of pride on his face. "I saved an Argraidean Astral Noble from the 'Windmill Mill' at depth L-3—single-handedly. He gave it to me afterward. This thing is custom-made, the best craftsman, the best golden crystal, and on Argraidean territory, it can even pass as a Knight's Medal."

Li Lin was a bit curious. "What's it used for?"

"...No queuing for tickets on atmospheric transport, green channel at hospitals, free admission to the zoo—holidays only."

Li Lin listened, a little stunned. "That's quite... practical. I thought those mystical Argraideans were all about rituals and symbolism for everything."

"They are usually quite mystical, but they still have to live, don't they?" Xu Jiali shrugged, then added with a hint of complaint, "Ugh, operating in The Crossroads is a bit troublesome. A lot of equipment isn't allowed. I have a chainsaw sword too, but it was classified as a hazard before I came and is still locked up at customs..."

Li Lin thought for a moment, about to speak, when he suddenly felt something. He and Xu Jiali, who had also sensed it, turned simultaneously towards the apartment window.

Beneath the gradually darkening night sky, a figure had appeared on the windowsill at some point—a petite girl in a dark red coat, leaning against the window frame in a rather precarious pose, one leg dangling outside the sill.

She glanced curiously at the two men inside. "So, you two are the 'specialists' in charge of this street district during this period?"

"You are..." Li Lin frowned, vaguely guessing the other person's identity.

"Just call me Little Red Riding Hood," the girl sitting on the windowsill said, waving her hand. "From 'Fairy Tale.' Your Bureau hired me to help you out in this area for a while."

"Oh, then I know you," Li Lin thought to himself, a polite smile appearing on his face. "My captain has mentioned you a lot these past couple of days, along with your investigation of this area. I'm Li Lin, an operational agent from the Second Brigade of the Council's Special Operations Bureau."

Xu Jiali, on the other hand, sized up the girl on the windowsill, then spoke gruffly, "This place might be hiding a 'big one.' I thought you'd send Snow White, or the 'King.' Of course, I'm not questioning your wolf pack."

Unlike the relatively new Li Lin, Xu Jiali clearly wasn't meeting Little Red Riding Hood for the first time.

"Snow White's destructive power is a bit overkill for this situation—we might not even encounter a high-risk entity," Little Red Riding Hood said casually. "I've been operating in this district and investigating the anomalies on Wutong Road recently, so I'm more familiar with it. Don't worry, Snow White can get here quickly anyway, and if we really run into a 'big one,' she'll come whenever we call."

As she spoke, the girl got up from the windowsill and waved to the two men inside. "I just came to say hello. You should all have my contact information. Call if anything comes up. Bye~"

The next second, the girl's figure suddenly turned into a melting shadow, a shadow vaguely shaped like a wolf. It leaped from the windowsill and vanished into the night sky in the blink of an eye.

Li Lin and Xu Jiali were left in the apartment, looking at each other.

After dinner, Yu Sheng sat on the sofa, resting with his eyes closed. He listened to the pattering sounds darting around the living room and dining room, sometimes to his right, sometimes to his left, then circling around the sofa again and again.

He opened his eyes and saw Eileen running back and forth between the living room and dining room. The 66.6 cm tall doll was carrying an oil painting frame almost as tall as herself, darting around the floor like a little rocket.

When Eileen began her fourth lap around the sofa, Yu Sheng finally couldn't stand it anymore. "Can't you rest for a bit? Give those shoes a break too."

Eileen quickly ran to Yu Sheng, her face full of excitement. "I don't want to! I can't stop! I can run everywhere now, everywhere! Look, I can climb onto the coffee table, and I can jump off it too!"

Before she finished speaking, the doll had already run off again. She first ran half a circle around the sofa, then scrambled onto the coffee table in front of Yu Sheng with her hands and feet, then took a few steps to jump from the tabletop onto Yu Sheng's lap. Just as he was about to reach out and grab the little one darting around, Eileen nimbly darted forward, jumping from the sofa back to the floor...

Then she scurried under the TV cabinet in the living room, struggled to climb onto it, stood on tiptoe, and managed to press the TV's power button.

The doll girl cheered and turned to Yu Sheng, her face beaming. "I can even reach the TV switch! Now I can power cycle the TV myself when you're not home!"

Yu Sheng rolled his eyes and tilted his head back helplessly. "Alright, alright, congratulations, you're amazing."

The next second, he felt something flash in the corner of his eye—Eileen had quickly run back from the TV cabinet. Holding onto the sofa cover with one hand and Yu Sheng's trouser leg with the other, she climbed onto the sofa in a few swift movements and sat beside Yu Sheng.

The small doll, even with her legs crossed on the sofa, was still smaller than a throw pillow.

The oil painting frame behind her looked like a wall in comparison.

But Eileen had adapted astonishingly well to the presence of the frame. Whether running with it on her back, climbing up and down with it, or sitting on the sofa with it, it didn't seem to affect her movements at all—occasionally there were unavoidable bumps and scrapes, but the doll didn't seem to mind them.

This amazed Yu Sheng.

"Don't you find it inconvenient carrying it?" he couldn't help but ask curiously. "Honestly, if you asked me to carry a door panel around all day, I probably wouldn't adapt as quickly as you..."

"I think it's fine," Eileen said happily, swaying her body on the sofa. Although the TV was on, her attention was clearly not focused on it. "It was a little uncomfortable at first, but after running around for a bit, I got completely used to its weight and size. And, how should I put it..."

The doll suddenly stopped, as if searching for the right words. After a few seconds, she hesitantly said, "It gives me a... sense of security. When I carry it, my back feels very safe and reassuring. Have you ever felt that? Like when you sleep, you have to have your back against the wall, or propped up by pillows or something."

"I know what you mean, but it still feels very... incredible," Yu Sheng looked at the little doll beside him. "I thought you would be resistant to this painting, after all, it's been sealing you for so many years, and now you have to carry it around."

"There's a bit of that, too," Eileen thought for a moment and nodded gently, but quickly beamed again. "But as they say, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.' As long as today is better than yesterday, there's nothing to complain about."

"It's 'When in Rome, make yourself at home...'," Yu Sheng corrected.

"It's pretty much the same meaning," Eileen waved her hand nonchalantly. She seemed to have finally calmed down from her earlier excitement of running around. Now, she remembered the important matter. "Alright, my new body has adapted quite well. We should discuss that fox matter..."

Yu Sheng nodded, but then his brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the doll, who was now only up to his knees. "Are you still planning to go with me?"

Eileen looked at him as if it were obvious. "Yes, we agreed."

"In this state?" Yu Sheng tried hard to phrase it delicately, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't. He had to be direct. "Can you still fight? You have to jump to kick my knee now..."

"I could shatter your leg with one kick! What's wrong with being small!" Eileen immediately bristled. "Who told you I can't fight like this!"

Seeing her reaction, Yu Sheng quickly tried to placate her.

Fortunately, Eileen's temper was always quick to flare and quick to subside. She soon quieted down, leaned back on the sofa, and crossed her arms. "But you're right. In my current state... frontal combat is somewhat affected. You can't expect a doll over 60 centimeters tall to take a bullet for you, right..."

As she said this, she shook her head and her tone suddenly changed. "But don't worry, dolls aren't just about frontal combat. I have many other skills—even with this limited 'freedom,' there are still many things I can do."

She raised her hand, as if to show something, and held it in front of Yu Sheng.

wisps of inky black threads spread from her fingertips, like eerie spider silk, as if possessing a life of their own, winding and growing in the air, weaving into a net.

"Dolls have many capabilities!"

Eileen said proudly.