Puppet Notes (Wearing Book) - 204

 

| PN | Sky Stone | 204

The next day, the Alliance officially started implementing the puppet identity certification policy. 

Under various pressures, the puppet masters from the outside had no choice but to comply with the policy and go through the process of certifying their puppets one by one.

At first, they thought that this would be the end of it.

Later, they realized that this was just the beginning.

It was a trap!

After the puppets went through identity certification, the puppet masters hadn’t had time to relax when they discovered that they were now restricted in many aspects.

Tang Shan was a low-level puppet master from the former association.

He sighed as he took his puppet to the Alliance certification, then returned home with it.

The puppet he made was named Taotao. Although the name sounded cute, Taotao was actually a D-rank puppet.

After they returned home, Taotao sat on the sofa, shaking his head and looking around. He occasionally lowered his head to look at his fingers or hummed a song he didn’t even know where he had learned from, stumbling over the words.

"Father... Father."

As Tang Shan lay exhausted on the sofa, Taotao stuttered and called out. He staggered over to Tang Shan, his expression showing no clear emotion, but it was still possible to sense that he was feeling shy and nervous.

"Father, may I sing a song for you?"

Tang Shan ignored him. He was already drained from the unpleasant trip to the Alliance, and the last thing he had the energy for was listening to his puppet sing.

Taotao could tell.

Low-level puppets may have difficulty controlling their nervous systems and their minds may not be very sharp, but that doesn’t mean they can’t understand human emotions. 

On the contrary, they have a keen sense of the feelings of those they care about.

Taotao paused for a moment, but still began singing in front of his father. Unfortunately, Taotao's voice was quite unpleasant.

Tang Shan couldn’t help but feel some impatience.

He had said no. Why did Taotao still sing? Just as he was about to scold him, his optical brain suddenly rang.

Tang Shan lowered his head to check. It was an old client who had purchased one of his puppets years ago. 

Three years ago, he had given this client the first puppet he had ever made. Later, the puppet had died at the client's hands.

"Did you go to get your puppet's identity certified?"

The old client didn’t open the video but instead spoke via voice message. Tang Shan didn’t want to engage in a conversation with him; they weren’t close.

 But his curiosity about the client’s intentions got the better of him. After a few seconds of silence, he responded with a simple "Mm."

The old client didn’t seem to mind Tang Shan's coldness and quickly got to the point. "You know the Alliance has now banned private puppet transactions. It’s really none of their business. Now, I can only buy puppets from puppet masters I’ve dealt with before."

"Although the puppets they make are low-level and not very good-looking, they're tight-lipped and won’t pose a threat to me."

Tang Shan understood. His gaze shifted to Taotao, who was still singing, seemingly unaware of what was going on. Taotao continued humming a song for his father.

"Is that the sound of the puppet?" The old client remarked with an ambiguous chuckle. 

"Although it's off-key, it’s still quite endearing. What do you think? We can talk about the price."

If this had been before, Tang Shan might have agreed immediately. In the first lesson at the association, the instructor had taught them that puppets were tools, commodities, and should never be viewed as humans.

However, perhaps due to the recent shift in online discussions about puppets and the Alliance's continuous emphasis on cherishing them, Tang Shan hesitated when he heard those words.

"What's wrong? Not willing to sell?"

The old client’s temper wasn’t great, and he immediately sensed Tang Shan’s hesitation. He became noticeably displeased.

Because the voice was so loud, Taotao also realized that the person on the other side of the optical brain was scolding his father. 

The song he had been humming abruptly stopped, and his eyes fixed intently on the screen. 

Although it wasn’t obvious, it seemed like the puppet was upset.

Tang Shan noticed this and felt a bit conflicted. He quickly found an excuse to brush off the conversation, neither agreeing nor refusing.

"Who taught you the song you were singing?"

Tang Shan absentmindedly rubbed his nose with his fingertip, feeling strangely guilty as he tried to change the subject.

Taotao, who wasn’t very sharp, was easily distracted and stammered, "It was... the puppet... brother who helped with identity certification... he... he taught me."

Hearing Taotao’s words, Tang Shan muttered an "Mm," falling silent. Taotao was his second puppet.

He didn’t deny that he liked money more than anything—honestly, who doesn’t? 

But aside from money, his greatest fondness was for puppets. This might sound a bit hypocritical, but Tang Shan had spent four years making his puppets. 

How could he not care about the results of his four years of hard work?

Especially after finding out that the puppet he made was killed by that old client, he was so enraged that he fainted at the time.

When he woke up, he kept convincing himself that puppets were just commodities, just tools for making money.

 Moreover, the other puppet masters in the association were all doing the same, so even Tang Shan himself came to believe that he was not wrong and accepted the idea that puppets had no emotions.

But now, with both the Alliance and the Royal Family starting to elevate the status of puppets, the videos and discussions online about puppets having emotions hit him like a slap in the face.

Tang Shan watched as Taotao began singing for him again. His heart felt heavy, and he covered his eyes with his arm.

 He didn’t want to hand Taotao over to the old client anymore. He knew that if he did, Taotao would meet the same fate as his previous puppet.

But then, he couldn’t bear to part with the star coins. After all, he still had to eat.

Taotao’s singing continued to echo in Tang Shan's ears, and his mind was filled with conflicting thoughts—one moment he wanted to make money, the next he wanted to keep Taotao. 

Just as he was struggling with his decision, the doorbell rang.

Tang Shan walked over to open the door and was met with the sight of two puppets standing outside.

One had white hair and wore a mask, while the other had golden hair and blue eyes.

Tang Shan recognized the white-haired puppet as Li Bai, made by Qi Chao. He paused for a moment, then, somewhat confused, asked, “What’s going on here?”

“Uncle, sorry,” Li Bai said apologetically. “When you signed the contract, the puppet was switching shifts and forgot to tell you the important details!”

“We’ve already given him a good talking-to,” Li Bai continued. “Now, can we explain the details to you?”

Although Tang Shan found this troublesome, he remembered the puppet’s combat abilities and the Alliance’s influence behind them. 

After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded.

As Li Bai began enthusiastically explaining, Tang Shan's expression grew darker and darker.

What did it mean that if he wanted to trade a puppet, he had to go through Alliance procedures? 

And that if the other party had a history of beating or abusing puppets, the transaction would be blocked, and both parties would be blacklisted and put under special monitoring?

And what was this about taking the puppet to class five days a week? Was he supposed to send his puppet to kindergarten?

In fact, all of these details were written in the contract.

It was just that at the time, Tang Shan hadn’t bothered to read it carefully and had signed it immediately. 

Now, hearing all this, he felt as if he was about to cough up blood in frustration.

“Uncle, you can take a closer look at the contract,” Li Bai said. “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can call the puppet hotline. The Alliance customer service will be happy to assist you.”

As he spoke, Li Bai quickly became friendly with Taotao. “Dad says the law enforcement team is short on staff right now. If you’re interested, you can fill out an application form. You’ll earn 5,000 energy stones each month!”

Tang Shan saw that in just a few sentences, Taotao seemed to be tempted by the offer. He quickly interrupted their conversation and politely ushered them out, fearing that these two puppets would manage to convince Taotao to join them.

After sending the two troublemakers out the door, Tang Shan instinctively let out a sigh of relief. 

Meanwhile, Taotao looked at his father with a confused expression, not understanding why his father had acted that way.

Tang Shan looked at Taotao and casually said, “It’s fine, don’t worry.”

It really was fine now.

At this point, there was no need to worry about whether or not he would trade with the old client under the label of illegal transactions. Everything had been decided for him.

Tang Shan blamed everything on the Alliance, but because he no longer had to hesitate between choosing between the puppet or the money, his mood lightened considerably. 

Even when Taotao continued to sing for him, he found himself in the mood to be picky and give commands.

Like Tang Shan, many puppet masters hadn’t read the contract carefully, but there were few who could calmly accept the harsh terms outlined in it.

After all, with the association gone, the few ways they had left to make money through puppets were now severely restricted.

 Even the most reliable customers were now at risk of being blacklisted by the Alliance—this was cutting off their financial lifeline!

【Damn! How are we supposed to eat now?】

【What’s worse is that the puppets have to go to school! This is the first time I’ve heard of puppets needing to go to school!】

【I knew the Alliance had bad intentions!!! First, we can’t trade mother stones privately, and now we can’t even trade puppets privately. How are we supposed to survive?!】

Qi Chao and Shen Yuxi had both seen the related discussions online, but neither of them paid much attention to it. 

After all, puppet masters in the industry had always been a mixed bag, and with the new policies in place, it was clear that the Alliance was aiming to filter out the unscrupulous ones.

This was similar to when the association was first established many years ago.

However, the difference was that back then, the association was organizing the puppet master community for the first time, monopolizing information, and excluding less talented puppet masters from entering the industry.

Now, the goal was to exclude unscrupulous puppet masters from the industry.

Shen Yuxi looked at the forum posts, confirming that there were no reckless puppet masters cursing Qi Chao. 

Afterward, he left the forum and gently asked, "Are you sure you want to give up the law enforcement team’s positions to other puppets?"

"Mm." Qi Chao nodded and smiled. "Puppets can’t always be treated as mere toys."

From the moment he had the idea of establishing a law enforcement team, Qi Chao knew that if puppets wanted to gain respect, they needed the ability to live independently in the outside world.

Teaching them knowledge was one way, providing them with jobs was another. While their capabilities were limited, as long as this path was opened, sooner or later, the puppets would find their own way.

Shen Yuxi looked up at Qi Chao. Although Qi Chao made it sound easy, he knew that he had been pouring money into these efforts, and by now, it was impossible to say how much he had lost.

"Do you still have enough star coins?"

Shen Yuxi thought to himself that his savings were ample, enough to support Qi Chao in achieving his goals.

"Of course I have plenty," he replied.

As long as the Mother Tree remained alive and the Mother Stone veins continued to flow, the associated energy stone mines wouldn’t deplete either. Energy stones were essential for many machines, so Qi Chao certainly wouldn’t lack money.

He paused for a moment and then cautiously asked, "Is Brother Shen short on money?"

"No," Shen Yuxi quickly denied, shaking his head.

Qi Chao instantly understood: "I get it, Brother Shen, you’ve seen the posts about the Sky Stone being auctioned, right? I saw it too. That diamond is indeed stunning. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to get it for you."

Shen Yuxi: ...

What stone?

Never mind, it seemed like he truly wasn’t lacking in money. Shen Yuxi looked at Qi Chao, his peach blossom eyes filled with warmth and affection. 

He smiled softly and said in a low voice, "I’m looking forward to it."

Shen Yuxi wouldn’t refuse Qi Chao's gift.

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