In the counterfeit shop I encountered, there was also a doll who exchanged stories for goods.
"Mr. Mischief? Oh, old friend, but that guy is really annoying sometimes. I have nothing to do with the counterfeit shop. The dolls used here are definitely first-rate."
Seeing that this sentence was true, Jenkins didn't think much about it. Because he didn't know whether the other party wanted a story that had never appeared in this world, he didn't choose it in "The Stories of Strangers", but told the story of the Lanke who watched chess.
The metal doll was pleased with the story, or so Jenkins thought, and when he had finished, the doll asked him:
"What would you do if you found out that thousands of years had passed in the real world after you left here?"
"Don't observe anything, to prevent history from being fixed because of my observations. Then use rituals to call the time paradox, and then make a deal with the master of time, let him send me back to a thousand years ago."
Jenkins replied without thinking.
"Have you really thought about this question?"
"Of course, the world is so magical after all... Okay, can I vote? I don't have much time."
"Of course, I can only give you part of the tickets, but for the sake of this good story, you can choose whatever you want."
It handed all the tickets to Jenkins and commented:
"That's a really nice story."
This metal doll is different from the previous metal snake and metal skull, not in their shape, but in their attitude towards Jenkins.
The metallization of the three shows that they have been infected by the power of the difference engine, so they should all have great malice towards Jenkins. The first two fully demonstrated this point. The metal snake would not hesitate to sacrifice itself to wake up the sleeping groundfire worm, and the metal skeleton violated the basic rules of the host of the paradox. He shot.
But the metal doll in front of him didn't seem to have that kind of malice towards Jenkins. This is not just random guessing by Jenkins. As a god and a high-level bestower, he is very sensitive to malice, and he doesn't have to wait for others to do something to him before he can know how others treat him.
Although the puppet in front of him also had bad intentions, there was a limit to this kind of bad intentions, which was similar to those in the strange worlds he had experienced in the past. Even after he finished telling the story of the Lanke people, the malice subsided a lot.
This made him unable to help but suspect that this strange place hadn't been infected much by the power of the Difference Engine at all. When the difference machine tampered with these nine deceits, it was definitely not a real disaster beast, so it could not completely transform the deceptions, and the degree of infection of different deceptions should be different.
And the current third paradox is probably the one in which the power of the difference machine is rarely revealed.
Thinking of this, he didn't look down at the slippery notes made of unknown materials, but asked the metal puppet:
"Speaking of which, am I the only audience here?"
It means to ask if there are other outsiders, that is, the power of the beast of disaster.
"Of course there is only you. We are committed to serving only one customer at a time. Please don't doubt our attitude."
"I'm not doubting... Are you sure, except for me, the others here are creatures that already existed in the theater?"
"I don't know how you define living things, but I can guarantee that, except for you and the pile of garbage you brought..."
It should refer to Jenkins' backpack and two metal cocoons.
"All entities and non-entities here have already existed here."
These words are also true, which makes Jenkins can't help but wonder, maybe the difference machine didn't even place the beast of disaster in this strange place. This is not impossible, after all, no one said that every layer has the power of a disaster beast.
And if his guess is correct, then it would be great. If there is no third floor, maybe there is no fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. This is probably the best news so far.
Under the urging of the metal doll, Jenkins finally began to bow his head and choose a ticket. The tickets were not too different in size from ordinary opera and concert hall tickets that Jenkins had seen, but they were definitely not paper. He also maliciously guessed whether it was human skin, but it didn't feel like leather either.
The reverse of the note was black, with three silver ancient runes that Jenkins could not decipher. On the front is the common language, which is used to introduce the performance represented by each ticket.
""The Doll Under the Bed", "Meat and Wine at the Banquet", "The Flycatcher", "The Maiden of the Black Forest", "Pleasures of Flesh and Blood", "The Celestial Bells Toll"... "
He whispered the names of the puppet shows marked on the ticket, feeling that each of them looked dangerous, and it was best not to choose any of them.
Of course, in fact, he can't choose three at random, because each ticket is printed with "show time", that is, the number of shows.
There were 13 tickets for the first session, and he wanted to choose one out of thirteen. For the second session, there were 8 tickets, and he wanted to choose one out of eight. The third session had the most tickets, with 29 tickets.
"Can I choose the first show and choose another show in the middle of the show?"
He raised his head and asked, and the metal doll replied:
"Of course you can, but you'd better respect the actors who perform for you and don't get too distracted during the performance."
Jenkins nodded. There was no difference between the tickets in his hand except for the text. He could only choose the safest one based on those descriptions. After hesitating for a moment, he took out one and handed it to the puppet:
"Then for the first scene, please arrange this play."
The puppet accepted Jenkins' choice, and after seeing the face clearly, the red spots in the eyes suddenly lit up:
"The perfect choice."
It boasted that "Magic Girl" was shown on the face of the ticket.
Without wasting any more time-wasting nonsense, the metal puppet folded and put away the tickets selected by Jenkins, and then the curtain was pulled back again.
This time, the oil painting is still used as the stage background, and the content of the oil painting shows an ordinary family bedroom. In the center of the oil painting is a four-poster bed with curtains, surrounded by dressing tables, tables, vases and other decorations. The door is on the far left of the oil painting, and the window is on the far right. There is also a birdcage on the windowsill, but there are no birds inside, only a few messy white feathers.
There is nothing peculiar about the decoration style of the bedroom shown in the oil painting, but judging from the appearance of gas lamps and some metal objects, this should be similar to the current time point of the material world. This not only makes Jenkins wonder whether this third paradox is the same as the first two, but also related to reality.
The painting style used in the oil painting is biased towards children's paintings, and it appears here, which has an element of treachery and horror.
Jenkins let out a long breath, leaned back on the soft seat and waited for the opening. He doesn't know what he will encounter next, but this paradox has been too comfortable so far. Although he will not relax because of this, he still has a moment in his heart because he guessed that the difference engine will have little impact on this place. easy.
And this ease quickly disappeared because of this drama.
The "doll" as the protagonist of the performance also fell from the top of the stage to the stage in the way of "falling from the sky". This doll looks exactly the same as the one introduced in the rules, only the style of the clothes and the paint on the face are different. In other words, these are all dolls of the same style.
Upbeat music came from the back of the stage, and dolls in dresses began singing in female voices. There is nothing wrong with the music, but the singing voice is hard not to remind people of characters like "Old Witch".
This voice is not just ugly, it contains power, which is enough to distort the spirit of ordinary people. Jenkins has learned from Hathaway how music believers fight, so he has a good understanding of the means of using sound to cause attacks.
"It's a good thing I didn't bring any chocolate."
He endured the sound while secretly rejoicing that Chocolate's ears were "delicate" and couldn't bear this kind of sound.
"A good day starts with a good breakfast. I am more beautiful today than yesterday."
The puppet sang while spinning on the stage, and finally stopped at the position in front of the dressing mirror on the oil painting. But instead of facing the mirror in the painting and facing away from Jenkins, it faces Jenkins facing away from the mirror:
"Mirror, mirror, am I the prettiest girl in the world?"
The puppet looked at Jenkins and asked, but Jenkins didn't react at first, and when the music continued and the puppet stopped singing, he realized that the stage and the audience were actually interacting.
"Didn't it mean that during the performance, as an audience, I can't make noise?"
He turned his head to look at the metal puppet sitting next to him, whose head was turned ninety degrees, and his face was facing him and showing him a weird smile.
"Mirror, mirror, am I the prettiest girl in the world?"
The puppet on the stage sang along with the melody again, but this time there was obvious impatience in the tone. Jenkins understood that there must be no delay. If the puppet show could not continue due to his own reasons, he doubted that the metal puppet sitting next door would directly pull out a dagger and stab it.
Find the exact opening of the melody of the music, and start singing with the melody. Jenkins is actually not good at singing, neither in the past nor in the present, neither the original owner nor him. Even though Hathaway tried to teach Jenkins some singing skills, such as the way of breathing and the difference between throat and chest and abdomen exhalation, Jenkins is still not good at it.
But fortunately, there is no one he is familiar with here, so even if he doesn't sing very well, no one will know:
"Oh, yes. You shine like a star, and you are as delicate as a flower in early spring."