Poison Pill
So that was it? Not bad.
The plan had worked almost too well. Still marveling at it, Fu Qian looked around.
A number of the dolls around the tower had been badly damaged, including the three that belonged to Xilaliya, the native.
Even the newly upgraded, lifelike version had completely dried out, its flesh like that of a long-weathered corpse. Only a faint glimmer remained in its eyes.
"You're in luck."
His gaze finally settled on Dorian, who looked as though he were about to breathe his last. Fu Qian gave him a mysterious smile, then gestured toward the extra doll on the ground.
"Remember to keep it somewhere safe. It'll do you good."
Before Dorian could voice his relief at surviving, Fu Qian abruptly ended his trip to Akons and returned to the Warehouse, settling back into his seat.
Looking down at his T-shirt and shorts, which had returned to normal, Fu Qian found that this outcome filled in a lot of missing pieces. He had more or less figured out how the task had been completed—
Preventing Bitter Fruit from maturing didn't necessarily mean destroying it. He only had to make sure it could never mature.
There was no doubt that the White-faced Man had been key to completing the task. It was also the element Fu Qian had been looking for: something that could affect Bitter Fruit's growth without passing through the glass.
But the way to do it wasn't simply to kill it, or to damage its essence through something like an Internal Organ Critical Hit. It was to leave it behind.
That was right. Becoming a doll was certainly a deeply restrictive state, but its most essential purpose wasn't destruction. It was to keep the visitor from far away from ever leaving.