Following Jinlu, Zane quickly took an elevator and arrived at the puppet manufacturing factory.
Inside the dimly lit workshop, dozens of mechanical puppets were casually thrown to the side, crooked and twisted, their limbs bent at unnatural angles.
Basically, just one glance was enough to make someone's sanity plummet.
And on top of that, puppets plus artificial intelligence… the horror movie buffs were fully stacked.
Noticing Zane looking around, Jinlu casually asked, "Rover, what are you looking at?"
At that moment, a slightly weathered voice came from not far away. "He's observing the layout here."
Zane looked in the direction of the voice. A man wearing a strange mask and a white researcher's coat stood at the control platform, looking down at them from above.
"Nice to meet you, Rover. I am Dollmaker."
After greeting Zane, Dollmaker gestured for Jinlu to leave. Jinlu bowed to Dollmaker, then turned and left.
Only after Jinlu's figure disappeared in the elevator did Dollmaker slowly speak again.
"I wonder who it is that the famous Rover wishes to see?"
Dollmaker crossed his arms, putting on the air of a superior.
In his eyes, everyone was just an experimental subject to revive his master and his master's wife. Even the famous Rover, to him, was merely a special test subject.
"No rush on that." But to Dollmaker's surprise, Zane waved his hand. "Compared to reviving my friend, I think we can talk about a bigger plan."
Hearing this, Dollmaker couldn't help but feel curious. He hadn't met the Rover (Zane) immediately because he wanted to observe his attitude toward puppets first.
If Zane showed resistance toward puppets, then Dollmaker wouldn't have met him at all, and would have found a way to deal with him.
But after three days of observation, he found that Zane not only didn't look at these puppets, who might even trigger overclocking, with any strange eyes, but instead actively approached them and even locked himself in a room with them.
It was like a normal person knowingly inviting someone with some very strange illness to play poker together.
'Could this be love?'
Of course, Dollmaker didn't know that Rover in front of him wasn't the one he thought he was.
"Then I'm all ears."
But Zane didn't rush to explain his grand plan. Instead, he tilted his head and looked toward the shadowed area behind Dollmaker.
"Before I talk about my plan, shouldn't you call out our 'friends' first? Cooperation isn't something the two of us can handle alone."
Hearing Zane's words, Dollmaker was momentarily stunned, and a trace of surprise arose in his heart.
He did have backup.
To prepare for this meeting, he originally wanted to call Yinlin back. But she said Jinzhou had been under strict inspection recently and she couldn't leave.
Left with no choice, he had to hire Exiles to protect him.
At the same time, these Exiles also served as his customers and bodyguards.
As for why Zane knew there were Exiles hidden here… don't ask. The answer is that Zane's "Sonar Radar" picked them up.
Who could resist free Sonar delivered to their doorstep?
But in response to Zane's words, Dollmaker only shook his head slightly. "These Exiles have all fallen into an overclocked state. For safety, it's better to keep them confined."
"In that case…" Zane paused. Dollmaker only felt his vision blur, and Zane's figure suddenly appeared less than two meters away from him.
"Your puppets can carry the souls of the dead?"
"That's right." As Dollmaker spoke, a trace of pride appeared in his narrow eyes.
Everyone treated him like an outcast, yet he had accomplished something no one else could.
After receiving Dollmaker's confirmation, a mysterious smile appeared on Zane's face. He leaned closer and spoke in a low voice, "In that case, why don't we produce enough puppets? Then we can connect the souls of fallen soldiers to them."
"Use those soldiers' souls to give the puppets combat abilities. Then we contact the Exiles and have them provide us with enough weapons and ammunition."
"At that point, we'll have an endless army of super soldiers, experienced in combat, unable to feel pain, unafraid of death, immune to losses, and even capable of triggering overclocking in enemies."
"While we're at it, we can also get in touch with the Fractsidus. They control Tacet Discords, we control puppets. Let the Tacet Discords clear the way while the puppets act as the main force."
"When the time comes, the two of us will unify Solaris. You'll be the emperor, I'll be the retired emperor. Wouldn't that be perfect?"
Watching Zane's originally cheerful face suddenly reveal a cruel smile, even someone as experienced as Dollmaker couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
He only wanted to revive his master and mistress, not overthrow a regime.
"N-no, that's not…" Dollmaker suddenly realized the young man in front of him was not someone to mess with. He swallowed hard, but before he could speak, Zane interrupted him.
"You don't need to say it, I understand."
Zane looked grief-stricken, clenching his fists tightly as if he had suffered great injustice, shouting indignantly, "Are kings and nobles born that way? Solaris has been divided for too long. It's time to unify everything, same tracks, same script!"
Hearing Zane's bold declaration, Dollmaker instinctively wanted to escape this place of trouble, but Zane grabbed his sleeve, forcing him to stop.
"Don't rush. I've already planned how to take down Jinzhou. We'll start with the spiritual pillar of its people, the Magistrate of Jinzhou."
Dollmaker, 'I'm trying to escape!'
But Zane didn't care what Dollmaker was thinking.
"If the Magistrate just dies in battle, it won't damage morale. Instead, it'll turn them into a heroic symbol, strengthening their resolve to fight to the death.", Zane spoke confidently while Dollmaker was drenched in sweat.
In just a dozen seconds, Dollmaker's back was already soaked.
Exiles robbing civilians was just small-time trouble; the Fractsidus scheming in the shadows was just unrealistic ambition.
If you really wanted to cause chaos, it had to be Zane.
"Why don't we start with the people around Jinhsi? Break down the psychological defenses of Jinzhou step by step. Let them watch their loved ones die one by one while being completely powerless."
"We'll start with that Zane who commits all kinds of evil, bullying men and women alike. He loves going outside the city, so we just need to ambush his return route with a few hundred puppets. With their self-destruction, we can take him down with them!"
Zane spoke without a hint of embarrassment, calmly laying out his battle plan.
Looking at the shock in Dollmaker's eyes, Zane clicked his tongue in disdain. "Tch, with this little courage, what can you even accomplish?"
"Or are you worried the plan won't succeed? No need to worry. We can use the puppet factory as bait to attract young people from Jinzhou to come explore."
"Then we claim the puppets went berserk and those who entered went missing. The Jinzhou patrol will definitely come investigate."
"We take that chance to wipe out another batch of patrol officers. At that point, they'll mobilize in full force. Then we strike while Jinzhou is empty and completely take over the city."
As Zane spoke, he hooked an arm over Dollmaker's shoulder, making a fist with his other hand.
But to Dollmaker, it didn't feel like Zane was gripping his fist, it felt like he was gripping his lifeline.
He was still a law-abiding citizen.
Just a law-abiding citizen who made puppets.
Okay, maybe he had committed a few small crimes…
But how did he end up tangled with a terrorist like this?
Even madness should have its limits.
Just as Dollmaker was about to refuse, two hurried footsteps came from the factory entrance.
"Dollmaker, I didn't expect you to be this insane, actually planning to attack Jinzhou!"
Dollmaker, 'He's the one planning it! Not me!'
Now with witnesses present, and looking at Zane still slinging an arm around his shoulders, Dollmaker suddenly felt like dying.
"N-no, I'm just someone who sells puppets. My greatest wish is only to revive my master and mistress. Rover is the one trying to overthrow the regime!"
Zane tried to cover Dollmaker's mouth, but he was still a step too late. Dollmaker blurted out everything about him impersonating Rover.
The girl standing beside Yinlin raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms, and shot Zane, who was quietly trying to sneak away from the scene, a half-smiling glance.
"Oh wow, you're out here doing bad things using my name?"
At that moment, Zane seemed to feel a sense of shared suffering with Dollmaker.
"Well… the one doing bad things is Rover. What does that have to do with me, Zane?"
Dollmaker, 'Who's sharing your suffering!? I'm the innocent one! So who exactly is the villain here!?'