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Lan Luo tilted his head up and nodded gently.

Although the little doll had nodded, he didn't look happy at all. Qi Chao was a little puzzled. He walked over, ruffled the doll's fluffy golden hair, and asked, "What's wrong, kid?"

Lan Luo looked quietly at Qi Chao.

"Is Lan Luo a good boy?"

"Of course you are!" Qi Chao said without hesitation. "My Lan Luo is definitely a good boy!"

Satisfied, Lan Luo seemed to think of something and emphasized, "Master has to tell my brothers about this."

Tell them what? Qi Chao didn't understand at first, but then he realized what Lan Luo meant. So the kid wanted to show off in front of his brothers?

How could he be so adorable?

Qi Chao laughed.

"Of course, no problem!"

Hearing that, Lan Luo became even happier. As though a worry had finally been resolved, he turned and ran back to the sofa to continue watching cartoons.

Meanwhile, a spacecraft traveling from Blue Star's Ganfen District to Linjing District was slowly making its way through the sky.

Ganfen District was the poorest region on Blue Star, while Linjing District was the wealthiest. The spacecraft's passengers could be said to be starkly divided: the rich, dressed in splendid clothes, sang and danced in luxurious private cabins, while the poor huddled in cramped communal bunks. Though they were on the same spacecraft, they seemed to inhabit two different worlds.

The wealthy ladies had gathered for a tea party. The spacecraft's grand hall was lavishly decorated, and delicate pastries covered the pearly white silk tablecloths.

"Mrs. Gray, your C-Rank Doll is truly adorable." The plump brown-haired woman gave a meaningful, soft laugh.

Following Bailey's words, the other ladies also glanced toward the doll kneeling in the corner.

The doll had exquisite features and looked only seven or eight years old. With black hair and green eyes, he resembled a noble, clingy Persian cat as he knelt on the floor, easily stirring a woman's maternal instincts.

Several ladies covered their mouths and laughed. Everyone present knew that Bailey's family had recently acquired an adorable A-Rank Doll. Her words were clearly meant to mock Mrs. Gray.

Hearing her rival's jab, Mrs. Gray's expression darkened. She yanked hard on the chain in her hand, dragging the doll from the corner over with a stumble.

"Did you hear that, darling? Aunt Bailey says you're cute. Hurry up and give her a kiss." Mrs. Gray's tone was gentle, as though she were speaking to her beloved child.

C-Rank Dolls were not as lively as S-Rank Dolls. He nodded stiffly, the long chain around his neck dragging behind him. The ladies watched as he walked up to Bailey. He had barely risen onto his tiptoes before he could kiss her when Bailey kicked him several meters away.

"Doesn't Mrs. Gray think she's going too far? Using such a piece of trash to humiliate me?" Bailey's chest heaved, clearly furious. Her narrow eyes brimmed with displeasure.

Mrs. Gray lifted her chin slightly and took a sip of black tea, visibly feeling much better. The other ladies, having enjoyed the spectacle, exchanged glances and eagerly began smoothing things over. The tea party returned to its superficial harmony.

The ladies laughed and chattered one after another, making the gathering exceptionally lively. No one cared about the doll who had been kicked to the floor.

The black-haired doll climbed to his feet with empty eyes, dragged his long chain behind him, and knelt beside his master. Like a pet, he cowered in the corner. From beginning to end, Mrs. Gray never once looked at her doll.

Dolls had been made to entertain the wealthy. Whether their masters treated them as pets or toys, they could only accept it. That was a doll's fate.

The tea party grew even livelier. This was their playground, where they could freely complain about their husbands and lovers. Yet the ladies, immersed in the cheerful atmosphere, did not know that every movement they made had been watched from beginning to end by a strange eye.

That pitch-black, vacant eye was unnaturally large. Its pupil moved from side to side within the socket like the eyeball of some monster, horrifyingly strange. Anyone who met its gaze would surely have nightmares.

"Ah, I'm bleeding." One lady daintily held out her hand. A round bead of blood was seeping from her index finger, and the other ladies hurried to comfort her.

As the ladies murmured their gentle reassurances, a shower of white powder suddenly drifted down through the spacecraft's grand hall. Yet the women seemed completely unable to see it. The powder landed on their skin and vanished instantly, as if seeping into their flesh and blood.

The strange eye monitoring everything from beyond several walls narrowed slightly. Once he confirmed that the task had been successfully completed, he withdrew his gaze and rubbed his sore eyeball with his hand, immediately feeling much better.

The owner of the eye was nearly 1.6 meters tall, with the build of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy. He stood in the spacecraft corridor wearing a black suit, his entire body wrapped in bandages, including his head, like a patient covered in burn wounds.

Whenever people passed by, they looked at the strange-looking man with odd, disgusted expressions, then all detoured around him, afraid that he carried some disease that might infect them.

After an unknown amount of time, the spacecraft gradually arrived. Moss got off with the crowd, carrying a briefcase. Unlike the packed stream of passengers, there was always an empty space around him. No normal person wanted to get close to this strange man.

Following his father's instructions, he needed to find Lan Luo's master.

Moss had no idea where to find him.

If Lan Luo's master had not taken the initiative to offer to pick him up, he could have crossed through a spatial rift and arrived directly at his destination.

After leaving the spacecraft terminal, Moss followed the crowd to a public aircraft stop.

The weather in Linjing District was bad today. Dark clouds hung overhead as though they could come crashing down at any moment.

Quite a few people stood before the stop. A cold wind blew past, and the voices of old and young alike mingled into an irritating clamor.

Moss stood in what he considered an inconspicuous corner, keeping his distance from the humans as he thought about how to find Lan Luo's master.

However, that supposedly inconspicuous corner existed only in Moss's imagination. Wrapped head to toe in bandages, he was far too strange-looking, practically a walking center of attention. Not only did he draw constant whispers from the people nearby, he even frightened a three- or four-year-old child into tears.