Duanmu Huai moved so decisively that no one reacted at first. It wasn't until he slammed the man's head hard against the wall that everyone around finally realized what was happening.
"Sir Knight, what are you doing?!"
"This guy is definitely hiding something."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai drew his mechanical sword and with a click, drove it into the wall beside the man's neck, the blade pressed firmly against his chin.
"W-Who are you?! What do you want?!"
"Talk. Are you the one who made the killer doll? What were you trying to do?"
Duanmu Huai had no interest in wasting time with him. If this were his old game character with maxed-out charm stats, he could've solved this through conversation and persuasion. But his current build lacked the [Persuasion] ability and only had [Intimidation], so this was the only method left. Actually, his old main also had [Intimidation], but Duanmu Huai rarely chose that option.
While [Intimidation] could get answers through a check, the tradeoff was a drop in [Favor]. Duanmu Huai used to avoid that outcome… but now, he couldn't care less about such details.
"What? Killer idol? I don't know anything! I swear! Let me go!"
The man struggled desperately, but Duanmu Huai remained motionless, pressing the blade against his neck.
"She looks exactly like this girl—a white-haired doll who's been wandering around town killing people. You're not seriously going to say that has nothing to do with you."
"I-I don't know…"
Vrrrroooooom—!!!
At that moment, the chainsword roared to life. Duanmu Huai coldly stared at the man and spoke.
"That's fine. You can keep playing dumb. I'll just start by cutting off both your arms… then your legs… then I'll split your body open… and finally, I'll turn you into one of your favorite dolls... How's that sound?"
"Ugh… uhh…"
The man turned pale from Duanmu Huai's threat. He trembled violently, gasping for breath. Duanmu Huai didn't hesitate as he shifted the chainsword, aiming at his shoulder...
"Okay! Okay!! I'll tell you everything!!"
At last, the man could no longer withstand Duanmu Huai's pressure and surrendered completely.
"Alright, talk. What's going on?"
"Fine… I'll explain…"
Soon, the man laid out the full story for them.
To their surprise, this man—named Liam—was not only a puppeteer, he had also been the apprentice of the same puppeteer who originally created Olgis.
When Liam learned that his master had used a magic puppet to destroy a nation, he rushed back immediately. Amidst the national chaos, he secretly escaped with his master's notes and research. As he pored through the materials, he became fascinated with the concept of "a puppet with a heart." Thus, he began walking the same path as his master, trying to create a puppet with a soul.
"I believe the essence of a puppet isn't just in mimicking the human form—it's in being a friend who can soothe the human spirit. If I could succeed, maybe I could bring people some comfort…"
With that belief in mind, Liam followed the records in the notebook and eventually created… Javey.
However, Javey turned out to be nothing like the "puppet with a heart" he had envisioned. As Duanmu Huai and the others had already seen, her mind was dangerously unstable—bordering on madness. A puppet like that, one that resembled a lunatic, could never be a human's friend, let alone provide emotional support. Liam considered the experiment a failure.
"She should've been a success… so why?! Why did Javey fail?! I followed all the steps! How could it go so wrong?!"
As he spoke, Liam stared intently at Olgis, his eyes burning with obsession. Olgis, sensing his gaze, instinctively stepped back. Seeing that, Liam became even more agitated.
"That's it! That's exactly the kind of puppet I dreamed of! Why?! Why her and not mine?!"
"Well… even if you ask that…"
Duanmu Huai frowned slightly. He could more or less guess where Liam had gone wrong. The puppeteer who gave Olgis to him had intended for Duanmu Huai to travel the world with her, to let her experience life. In the beginning, Olgis had been no different from a robot. But after everything they had gone through together, she had gradually started to express emotion.
In other words, the original puppeteer had given Olgis a self-learning personality AI—one that would grow through experience, absorbing data and evolving to develop deeper emotional responses.
It was a logical, step-by-step AI learning model.
But Liam, somehow misunderstanding the process, had tried to jump straight to the end by directly instilling "heart" and "emotion" into his puppet from the start.
"Enough. Don't ramble. Why is she killing people?"
Duanmu Huai cut off Liam's self-reflection without hesitation. He had no intention of turning this interrogation into a tech lecture on puppet design.
"Ugh… it's not that complicated. Since she was a failed product, the only use left for her was as a weapon. That was all she was good for. So I repurposed her as an attack-type puppet, specializing her for killing…"
"And sent her into the city to murder people? Why would you do that?!"
At that, even Lorena couldn't hold back. She clenched her fists and glared furiously at Liam, demanding an answer. Liam panicked and shouted in reply.
"No! That wasn't my order! I already gave her to someone else! She has nothing to do with me anymore!!"
"To who? Who did you give her to?"
Duanmu Huai immediately pressed him. Liam hesitated, but when he looked at Duanmu Huai's face, he quickly gave in.
"Ivel! It was him! He gave me special power—the ability to create puppets however I want! I didn't need that failure anymore! I can make perfect puppets now, anything I want! I'm the greatest puppeteer in the world… hahahaha!!!"
But before he could finish, a violent gust of wind suddenly erupted from the rear of the warehouse, tearing the entire structure—and Liam—apart in an instant. Duanmu Huai dropped what remained of Liam's head and quickly stepped back. At the same time, Olgis stepped forward and raised her right hand. Thin threads snapped together in front of her, forming a shield to block the raging windstorm.
A flicker of sparks danced briefly in the air, then vanished. The group looked up—and there, standing atop the wreckage of the destroyed warehouse, was the white-haired puppet, staring down coldly at them.
"I never expected you to betray our master, Father… what a disappointment. But you're useless now. And Master said… useless pieces must be discarded."
"So you're Javey?"
Duanmu Huai donned his helmet and asked in a low voice. But…
"You don't get to say my name!!"
With a furious scream, the white-haired puppet suddenly thrust out her hand—and behind her, a massive puppet lunged straight at Duanmu Huai—only to be intercepted by the guardian puppet summoned by Olgis.
"Tch!!"
Clicking her tongue in frustration, the white-haired puppet—Javey—leapt away and dashed off in the opposite direction.
"We're going after her!!"
Duanmu Huai shouted the order without hesitation.
After all the trouble they'd gone through to find her—there was no way he was letting her escape again!!
(End of Chapter)