| PN | Cooperation | 201
In the relationship between a puppet master and their puppets, the puppet master is in a position of power because puppets are innately inclined to have a strong affection for their creator.
This affection is even stronger than the bond between human children and their parents.
However, this does not mean that puppets must remain under the control of their puppet masters.
Love is mutual.
No relationship can be sustained without effort, and the bond between puppets and puppet masters is no exception.
Puppets are naive.
If they are hurt from the moment they are brought into existence and cannot comprehend their experiences, they might endure the harm indefinitely.
But if they learn to protect themselves, even if a puppet masters attempts to harm them, they will not passively accept it.
What Qi Chao wanted to achieve was to persuade Elliton to include a new provision in the law.
Every puppet, upon creation, would need to be certified by an official institution and undergo nearly a month of education.
“If puppets possess the will to protect themselves, those unqualified puppet masters will no longer be able to harm them at will,” Qi Chao paused for a moment and continued, “Unqualified puppet masters will find that puppets are no longer as easy to control as before. They will also be unable to sell puppets freely. Over time, as there is no profit to be made, they will gradually leave the puppet master profession altogether.”
Of course, there are many loopholes in this plan—for instance, what exactly would the certification institution be, who would be responsible for the puppets’ education, how would puppets protect themselves when harmed, and what measures would be taken if puppet masters failed to comply.
Shen Yuxi tilted his head slightly. "These measures don’t seem sufficient to stop puppet masters from privately selling puppets."
Unlike S-class puppets, low-grade puppets have almost no ability to protect themselves.
Although Qi Chao envisioned that the puppets would awaken a sense of self-preservation, as Qi Chao himself acknowledged, there were indeed many loopholes.
"That’s true."
Qi Chao didn’t deny it. Instead, he smiled and said, "That’s when our family’s children will step in."
Or rather, it wasn’t just their own children—those puppets who had collaborated with Xiang Yue and the others would likely be more than willing to handle these tasks as well.
Shen Yuxi raised his head to look at Qi Chao. He wasn’t entirely sure what Qi Chao intended the puppets to do, but he figured it wouldn’t stray far from the usual.
Thinking it over, he didn’t press further and simply asked, "Shall we discuss this with the children now?"
"Yes, let’s talk to them when we go downstairs later."
Shen Yuxi nodded in agreement.
He knew that if the puppets learned that their dad had something to entrust them with, they would likely be thrilled. After all, their initial collaboration with those other puppets was all for the sake of helping Qi Chao.
Meanwhile, downstairs, several puppets were analyzing their dad’s attitude toward them earlier.
“Dad praised us, he thinks what we’re doing is right,” Lan Luo said, sitting on the sofa and swinging his legs, his smile radiant.
Although he spent his days rescuing injured puppets and forming alliances with them, Lan Luo was different from Li Bai and the others. He rarely empathized with the puppets who had suffered harm.
Only when he received praise from his dad did he feel a sense of motivation to continue.
None of the puppets present were unhappy.
Huddled in the corner of the sofa, Qi Yang observed the scene. As thick-skinned as he usually was, even he felt a bit hesitant. The puppets seemed to be having some kind of meeting.
Should he excuse himself?
But almost immediately, Qi Yang dismissed the thought.
After all, he had joined these puppets before to ambush others with sacks over their heads. Listening in wouldn’t be a big deal. So he casually continued lounging on the sofa.
The puppets around him didn’t seem to treat Qi Yang as an outsider—or perhaps they simply didn’t care about his presence.
“Do we have any tasks coming up?”
Li Bai glanced at Ayu. The reason they were able to locate trapped puppets so quickly was primarily due to Ayu's ability.
Ayu shook her head and adjusted her naval cap upward slightly to get a clearer look at the puppets around her. “We haven’t found any puppets who meet the criteria for now.”
Though there were many puppets who had suffered abuse, the overall number of puppets was small, making it challenging to find ones that fit the conditions.
“All right then.”
Li Bai nodded. Dad had told them to take a break, so they might as well rest now.
Agu, lazily leaning against Xiang Yue, cheered at the news. “Yay! Agu can stay home and watch the projector!”
Xiang Yue pushed Agu’s head away and calmly turned to Moss. “Let Cheng Qi and the others know that we’ll communicate through the lightbrain for the next few days and won’t be meeting them in person for now.”
Moss responded with a quiet acknowledgment. “Got it.”
Sitting next to Moss, Xing Yu looked slightly displeased—Xiang Yue had no right to assign tasks to Moss.
Noticing Xing Yu’s annoyed expression, Agu smiled mischievously, clearly ready to start another argument with Xing Yu.
Just as the tension between the two puppets was about to explode, Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi came down the stairs.
Agu and Xing Yu exchanged a glance and, with tacit understanding, both quietly sat back on the sofa.
“You weren’t up to anything, were you?”
Qi Chao sensed something was off, but all the puppets in the living room were keeping to themselves. Qi Yang was still engrossed in his lightbrain, and everything seemed as usual.
“Not at all,” Agu said cheerfully, a wide smile on his face.
If anyone else had said that, it might have been believable. But coming from Agu, it was open to doubt.
Seeing this, Qi Chao chose not to press further. It didn’t seem like anything serious had happened. After pausing for a moment, he began to share his thoughts with the puppets.
“Dad means we’re going to work with the alliance?” Xiang Yue’s dog-like ears on top of his head twitched slightly.
"That’s one way to put it," Qi Chao added, "but if you don’t want to, that’s fine too. This is just an idea."
Qi Chao didn’t want to force his children into anything.
There were plenty of alternatives. If the kids didn’t want to get involved with the alliance’s affairs, there was no need to push them.
“Of course we can!”
An opportunity to help Dad was something the puppets wouldn’t pass up.
From the very beginning, Xiang Yue and the others had been rescuing puppets and forming alliances precisely to help Dad.
Now that he needed them, they were naturally overjoyed.
“Dad, we don’t need to rest,” Xiang Yue said, the tail behind him swishing slightly. His usually calm red eyes now gleamed noticeably brighter.
They weren’t tired at all. The physical endurance of S-class puppets far surpassed that of humans, not to mention how effortless it had been for them to rescue other puppets before—it was as easy as drinking water.
"Yes!" Li Bai raised his hand in agreement.
Even Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian, sitting quietly on the sofa, nodded to indicate they didn’t need a break.
Qi Chao couldn’t help but chuckle. He walked up to them and ruffled a few of the puppets’ heads. “If I tell you to rest, then rest. While things aren’t certain yet, you’ll probably all have plenty to do soon enough. When that time comes, you might not even have the chance to rest. Got it?”
“Fine,” they replied reluctantly.
Having convinced the children, Qi Chao dropped the subject. The next day, he and Shen Yuxi headed to the palace.
Since Elliton had obtained the first mother stone from Qi Chao, he had set aside time every day, outside of his governmental duties, to work on creating a puppet shell.
When Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi arrived, Elliton had just finished a discussion with the council members and was preparing to return to his workshop to continue working on his child.
Upon learning of their visit, Elliton dismissed his subordinates and led the two of them into the room.
Elliton had dark circles under his eyes from staying up late, but his spirits were high. His gaze was much brighter than before. Clearly, the newfound possibility of reviving his children had given him a renewed sense of hope.
“The alliance will soon take over the association’s responsibilities. Are you prepared for that?”
“Yes. You Zhao and the others have been busy with those matters lately, so there’s no need for us to step in for now,” Qi Chao said.
Then he continued, “This time, we’re here to discuss with you how to curb the rampant creation of puppets by puppet masters and how to protect puppets from being harmed by their creators or adopters.”
“Do you have a solution?”
Elliton’s curiosity was piqued. As a puppet master himself, he was well aware that some puppet masters in the association treated puppets horribly—so much so that they were unworthy of the title.
Likewise, he knew that some guardians of puppets were utterly unfit to have them.
Elliton had long wanted to improve the status of puppets on Blue Star, especially after discovering the potential for the revival of some of the puppets he had created.
He became even more determined to create a better environment for those children.
Yet, when it came to taking concrete action, he often found himself at a loss.
“It’s just a suggestion,” Qi Chao said, carefully organizing his thoughts before continuing. “Not long ago, I mentioned to you that the puppets in my family often take actions outside to help me, didn’t I?”
“Yes, I remember,” Elliton replied.
Elliton had a vivid impression of those lively puppets. With a smile, he asked, "Have they achieved something notable?"
Qi Chao felt a bit proud at the question, though he didn’t mention their efforts in dismantling the black market. Instead, he simply replied, “They’ve formed alliances with no fewer than a hundred other puppets.”
No fewer than a hundred puppets?
Elliton was momentarily stunned. He hadn’t expected the children in Qi Chao’s family to rally such a large group of puppets. Hesitantly, he asked, “They’re indeed impressive, but what can puppets do?”
“There’s a lot puppets can do,” Qi Chao responded firmly.
He then laid out his entire plan.
Shen Yuxi, standing quietly by his side, hadn’t anticipated that Qi Chao would entrust the puppets with such responsibilities. However, faced with Elliton, he showed no surprise and maintained his usual gentle demeanor.
It was very much Qi Chao’s style.
Shen Yuxi’s smile remained unchanged as he thought to himself.
The three of them continued their discussion in the workshop until evening. After Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi left the palace, Elliton wasted no time. He immediately gathered the officials and council members for a meeting.
Since the association president had been revealed as the true murderer of the former emperor, the council members who had any connection to the association were all worried about being implicated.
When the emperor brought up the issues of puppets and puppet masters, everyone in the room, fearing that they might get into trouble, immediately agreed.
After all, it was just about puppets and puppet masters—what could be more important than their own positions and lives?
Driven by this mentality, the officials and council members rarely voiced opposition. Elliton’s proposed legislation sailed through, and within two or three days, a massive reform for puppet masters began.
【What does this mean? What’s the puppet enforcement team?】
【I don’t know, but maybe it’s something like a neighborhood committee? When puppets are wronged, do they go to the enforcement team to complain?】
The new law clearly stated that the alliance was the only organization authorized to certify the identity of puppet masters, and the puppet enforcement team was an affiliated organization of the alliance. Its primary role was to conduct puppet identity certification, provide ideological education for puppets, and protect them.
Every puppet created by a certified puppet master would have to undergo this kind of education.
【No way, are we really treating puppets like humans now? Education and learning? Ugh, fine, I just won’t certify as a puppet master anymore, I can privately sell puppets, right? Damn it.】
【No, are you crazy? Before the association was gone, puppet masters who weren’t certified weren’t protected by the law. You could spend months creating a puppet, only for it to be seized and sold off cheaply by force. How many times has that happened before?】
This was the reason why everyone was eager to join the association. Of course, everyone also knew very well that with this new law, it would become much harder to illegally trade puppets under their noses.
【Emm, just asking, I’m not a puppet master, but can I join the enforcement team? I really love those cute puppets, I’d definitely work hard to protect the little angels!】
【+1.】
【There are more and more crazy people, don’t you think the whole puppet enforcement team thing is strange?! Protecting toys? Are you out of your mind?!】
Netizens who had always viewed puppets as mere tools couldn't help but comment below.
However, the negative comments were quickly downvoted, and another comment became even more popular, appearing earlier in the hot section.
【You can't join because the members of the Puppet Enforcement Team are all puppets.】
Upon seeing this message, the netizens were: …
The members of the enforcement team are puppets?! Are you trying to take us for a fool?!
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