Chapter 221: The Doll Training Plan
Chapter 221: The Doll Training Plan
Seeing the smile that appeared on the girl’s face, Lu Xin felt as if he had suffered some kind of impact.
It wasn’t a desire mixed with lust, but something else—a sudden, overwhelming feeling of seeing the most beautiful sight in this world. It triggered a deep, fundamentally human, genetically ingrained response, a profound yet delicate lift to his spirits…
Lu Xin remained silent for several seconds, captivated by this smile.
Then he spoke softly into the comms channel: “She nodded. It’s clear she really does think it’s good.”
“…Good.”
Chen Jing’s reply was restrained, but he could sense her excitement.
There came the faint sound of keyboard typing over the channel, then Chen Jing posed the second question:
“Ask her if she likes the abnormal incidents she usually helps us handle?”
“…”
Having navigated a similar question before, Lu Xin thought for a moment before turning back to the girl. He asked:
“Do requests from other people annoy you?”
“…”
Doll clearly paused, taken aback. Then she stared straight at Lu Xin, shaking her head slightly with a hint of nervousness.
“She’s not only unannoyed, she’s actually worried others might think she is annoyed?”
Lu Xin understood her answer and started to relay it to Chen Jing, but then a thought struck him.
He realized Doll might not have interpreted this as Chen Jing’s question.
She had taken it as his own question to her…
After a moment’s consideration, he clarified again: “I don’t mean me. I mean others, like before. When Satellite City No. 2 had that incident, they sent you to help us deal with it. Do things like that… make you feel reluctant?”
“…”
This time, the girl seemed to understand. Only after a long silence did she give a small, almost imperceptible nod.
Lu Xin finally got the answer he sought.
He reported back to the channel: “She responded, but it was very slight.”
“I don’t know exactly what things you usually have her deal with, but it seems at least some of them, she dislikes. Yet, judging by how subtly she expressed that dislike… it doesn’t seem like outright refusal…”
“It’s probably just that she dislikes certain parts of the work.”
“…”
Chen Jing noted this down, then remarked seriously: “I noticed you asked the question twice.”
“On the first attempt, did Doll interpret it as you, personally, asking her?”
Lu Xin was genuinely surprised. “You notice everything, don’t you…”
“And judging by her reaction…” Chen Jing pressed on, “does it mean she would agree to any request you personally make?”
“Well…”
Lu Xin was speechless for quite a while, then answered truthfully: “I’m not certain. But based on her reaction, it seems… more favorable?”
“Understood.”
Chen Jing didn’t comment further, simply made a note. “Then the third question.”
“Ask Doll if she has any other… desires?”
“…”
When Lu Xin heard this question, a peculiar feeling washed over him.
His spirits lifted a little.
If the first two questions had made it seem like the inquirer just wanted to understand this girl’s mind better, to better exploit her… then this third question being asked showed they did care about her, somewhat.
A small smile touched his lips as he looked at Doll and asked gently: “In your daily life, is it just… being here?”
“Is there something you’ve always wanted to do?”
“Not something others tell you to do, but something you yourself want? For yourself?”
“…”
Lu Xin asked this question with sincere care. Doll listened intently.
She seemed to struggle to grasp the meaning. Then her face lit up with a smile and she turned her gaze towards the pile of colorful plastic building blocks.
Lu Xin let out a soft breath. “What she wants to do… is play with those small plastic blocks.”
Chen Jing corrected dryly: “That’s called Lego.”
“…”
Lu Xin thought to himself, ‘Leader indeed. Knows everything.’
At the other end of the channel, Chen Jing’s voice remained silent for quite some time, seemingly busy organizing materials and transmitting them back.
During this process, Lu Xin could only continue idly watching television while picking up a small piece of pasty to eat.
Though this particular pastry was both expensive and not quite to his taste, it was… still edible after all.
…
“Well done. These three questions have been recorded and will serve as an important reference for our future care of Doll.”
“And now, I need you to help me communicate one most crucial question to Doll.”
Only after a while did Chen Jing’s voice come through, explaining to Lu Xin: “The negative impact of Doll is rooted in her inability to control her Psychic Energy. That is to say, she is an Ability User, yet her manifestation is the same as a Source of Contamination.”
“Moreover, her method of Contamination is the most dreaded visual contamination. This is the greatest manifestation of her instability…”
After finishing her explanation, Chen Jing spoke solemnly: “Could you ask her on our behalf—can she rein in her Psychic Energy?”
“This question…”
Lu Xin was somewhat surprised, but still slowly asked: “Can you control your Psychic Energy?”
The girl who had been fiddling with the Lego toy turned around. Though she thought carefully, her face remained blank with confusion.
…
“So she cannot control her Psychic Energy?”
After receiving the answer relayed by Lu Xin, a stir rippled through the Conference Room.
The sound of Lu Xin’s voice, transmitted directly into the Conference Room, and the words appearing on the screen both held a palpable weight. The issue clearly worried everyone the most.
Nevertheless, at that moment, Professor Chen slowly stated, “Perhaps it’s not a question of whether she can or cannot control it.”
Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he continued, “Doll simply does not understand the question. Due to her upbringing, she has had very little human interaction. Others haven’t been able to teach her anything, so she fundamentally cannot grasp these complex concepts.”
“For her, this natural emanation of Psychic Energy is simply the default state.”
“It’s akin to us… unconsciously stretching our bodies, or perhaps likened to us learning to walk upright.”
“Therefore, even though Lone Soldier can communicate with her, he cannot make her understand what ‘reining in Psychic Energy’ even means.”
…
As the people in the Conference Room pondered this answer deeply,
Mr. Su, seated at the head of the table, asked with concern, “So you’re saying there is still hope for eliminating her negative impact?”
“Yes.”
Professor Chen nodded affirmatively. “This initial contact can be considered remarkably successful.”
“At the very least, we’ve proven that Lone Soldier genuinely can communicate with Doll. We’ve also learned from this preliminary communication that Doll is a little girl with her own likes, dislikes, and Emotions. She’s just reclusive… just not very good at expressing herself.”
As he spoke, a sincere smile appeared on his face, and he concluded, “She is… like us. Human.”
Everyone could hear that Professor Chen was reluctant to even apply the term “reclusive” to Doll.
He was the one usually in charge of projects involving Doll, hence his affection for her ran deepest.
This was also, apart from those who had direct contact with her, perhaps the most natural sentiment.
He cared for Doll as he would his own granddaughter.
Hearing this, Mr. Su paused thoughtfully and asked, “How, then, do you intend to achieve the ultimate plan?”
“Lone Soldier’s assistance is crucial.”
Professor Chen thought for a moment, then said, “As Doll grows older, her Psychic Magnitude naturally increases. It’s already nearing the limits of what we can manage. Therefore, our most urgent task is for her to learn how to control her Psychic Energy. Theoretically, if she can converge her unconsciously emitted Mental Power, then she should be able to live like a normal girl…”
Here, he seemed to realize he was perhaps saying too much. He sighed softly before getting to the critical point:
“For her to learn to control her Psychic Energy requires our guidance and her own cooperation. That’s why the appearance of Lone Soldier is such a positive development. Since he can communicate with Doll, it means he can guide her in learning.”
“With our support, there is hope that Doll can learn self-control, thereby reducing the Risk of Loss of Control.”
“Then, Doll’s Second Stage…”
…
Minister Shen, listening to him, couldn’t help but interject, “But having Lone Soldier guide her would require him to know everything about Doll!”
“Doll’s secrets are Qinggang’s highest Class-S classified information!”
…
Facing Minister Shen’s concern, the Esoteric Specialist shook his head. “What’s the big fuss about?”
“Isn’t Lone Soldier also classified as Class-A?”
“They’re nearly on the same level…”
…
Anger seemed to blaze in Minister Shen’s eyes. “Is that how the classification system works?!”
“So classified information isn’t confidential between parties of the same rank?!”
…
“Alright, alright, ease up everyone.”
Professor Bai stepped in smoothly with a smile. “Lone Soldier is currently a Tier-Three Special Talent. Strictly speaking, he indeed lacks the clearance to access Doll’s secrets. But he could have his clearance elevated as a special operations member. Putting aside other unfounded worries for now, in terms of mission completion rates, Lone Soldier has consistently demonstrated outstanding performance data…”
“Isn’t that sufficient reason for us to trust him?”
…
Minister Shen frowned. Whenever the experts and professors spoke, he never seemed to win an argument.
Mr. Su, seated at the head of Conference Room, slowly inquired, “How long would this require?”
Professor Chen seemed to relax slightly. “That depends on the specific process; it’s still too early to estimate. All we can observe at present is that every sign points to things unfolding much more favorably than we anticipated. Ladies and Gentlemen, fright transformed into delight – isn’t that enough?”
“Hah…”
Light laughter, tinged with relief, filled the Conference Room.
Mr. Su chuckled along, before stating, “Submit a detailed application later for our review.”
Professor Chen nodded.
But just then, Chen Jing’s voice came through the loudspeaker phone that had been left on: “What about Lone Soldier? What do we do with him?”
“Have him stay with her for now!”
Professor Chen clicked his fingers with a smile and said,
“Judging from the current interaction, he really is the prime candidate to lead Doll’s support team…”
“Accompanying such a beautiful girl like Doll, he must be happy, right?”
“…Any normal person would be!”