I Am Your Natural Enemy

”One needs to be very patient and follow very meticulous steps to achieve this,” Zhang Qihui said. He motioned for a young woman to come over and lift her arm. As she did, distinct skin textures were visible on her elbow. When she lowered her arm, the texture remained, yet it wasn’t stiff. Upon closer inspection, it was still quite difficult to tell she wasn’t a real person.

”This technique, I recognize it. I’ve tried it myself; it’s too troublesome, and the failure rate is high.

”Only a small circle of about a dozen people know this technique.

”Actually, there are better alternatives. This technique is purely for showing off.”

”Awesome.” Wen Yan gave a thumbs-up. He now understood why his Temporary Ability was no longer needed. Ever since he saw the doll and thought of Zhang Qihui, he realized he truly didn’t need it anymore. The hardest part was merely finding this person. Wen Yan didn’t believe the other party could conjure up a Gundam, could they? If that were the case, they wouldn’t be called a Doll Master.

”So, based on the details, I’ve ruled out twelve individuals, leaving only three possibilities,” Zhang Qihui said, pointing at the ground beneath his feet. ”I’ll just check who this pair of eyeballs was sold to, and then I’ll know. They came from here; I recognized them at a glance. It just so happens I’m one of the owners here.”

Zhang Qihui removed the doll’s eyes, then took out his phone and snapped a picture of them. ”Each pair of eyes is unique. There’s no serial number, but in reality, the iris pattern *is* the serial number because iris patterns are completely random; no two are identical.”

He took out a tablet, transferred the image, and began his search.

Within seconds, a result popped up. ”This pair of eyeballs was sold to one person, a big shot with his own studio who creates custom models for movies.”

”Do you have the address?” Wen Yan asked.

”Yes, it’s in Harbor City.”

”Thanks for your trouble.”

”No problem. Need any help?”

”Not for now.”

”Oh, well, if you’re not busy, come pick out a pair of eyes first. I have some ready-made ones here, all top-quality items I’d usually keep for myself.”

Wen Yan selected a pair of eyes that looked particularly vibrant.

Zhang Qihui insisted they were a gift, saying that paying would be looking down on him.

Wen Yan still insisted on paying, explaining it was a gift for someone else and he had to pay for it himself, whatever the price.

After leaving the factory compound, Wen Yan asked Tong Si, ”Did you notice anything?”

”Nothing. This place seems normal, and there’s nothing connected to that doll.”

”Let’s go. To Harbor City.”

Wen Yan, along with his companions, sped towards the outskirts of Harbor City. They emerged from a barren mountain range and hurried towards the address Zhang Qihui had provided.

The location was a four-story villa by the sea, nestled against a mountain with a superb ocean view—an idyllic setting.

Indeed, one couldn’t afford such things without significant wealth. High-end materials, coupled with a niche appeal, meant prices started in the tens of thousands.

When Wen Yan appeared on the mountainside, overlooking the villa below, Tong Si spoke up.

”Over there... it seems there isn’t a single living person. There are so many lines—lines everywhere, tangled into a complete mess.”

In Tong Si’s perception, the area was almost entirely a chaotic tangle of lines. These lines extended from each ’person’, interlacing with one another in utter disarray.

However, Wen Yan, looking at the rooms and the yard, could already count more than ten of these figures just within his line of sight.

He hadn’t expected that among so many ’people’, not a single one was alive; they were all incredibly lifelike dolls. In terms of realism, they seemed even more advanced than Zhang Qihui’s Pink Taoist Soldiers. No matter how one looked at them, these dolls appeared to be living beings; even an infrared camera would show them radiating heat.

”This is the place, no doubt about it,” Wen Yan said. ”Look closely again. Are you sure there isn’t a single living person?”

”None,” Tong Si confirmed. ”Even the one sweeping outside the house is a fake.”

Wen Yan was secretly astonished. Such incredible control! To manage so many dolls, yet he himself couldn’t spot anything amiss. Each doll’s movements and expressions were perfectly natural. They even conversed with each other, muttering about something. Unless they were dissected, it would probably be impossible to discover they weren’t real.

”Can you see where those lines originate?” Wen Yan asked.

”They’re everywhere here,” Tong Si replied. ”The most tangled area is inside that house, but those lines extend from there to every place within my sight. I don’t know their ultimate source.”

Wen Yan nodded, a glimmer of understanding in his eyes. This place is likely just one layer of the Doll Master’s nesting doll scheme. Even that ’big shot,’ well-known in his small circle, is probably just a puppet controlled by the Doll Master. And this ’big shot’ puppet is then used to control other puppets, layer upon layer, endlessly nesting to conceal the true self. The more elaborate this setup, the more it points to one thing: his true body must be incredibly vulnerable, a weakling that would perish if exposed.

Wen Yan stood on the slope, gazing at the courtyard below. With my current power, abilities, and resources, how can I find this person? he pondered.

After a long moment of contemplation, he said, ”Follow me, Tong Si. Watch carefully now.”

He descended the slope and, upon reaching the bottom, swiftly grabbed the ’woman’ who was sweeping the path leading to the sea.

The instant he touched her, Wen Yan was certain: this was a fake. The tactile sensation was identical to the doll from before.

Simultaneously with grabbing her, Wen Yan extended a hand. With a burst of power from his Explosive Great Sun, and following his intent, he bestowed a Blessing of Yang Energy onto the doll.

The instant the immense Yang Energy took effect, Wen Yan thought, Since this network is so tangled and hard to trace back to its source, I’ll just create a new ’vine’ to follow.

Tong Si, standing nearby, immediately widened his eyes.

In his vision, he saw the massive surge of Yang Energy travel up the lines connected to the doll, flowing backward along them at a terrifyingly fast speed. In an instant, all the lines within his sight transformed into conduits for this reverse flow of Yang Energy.