What malicious intent could NPCs possibly have? C34.2

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Chp34. part2

The Queen continued speaking to Mosh, her voice filled with disappointment. “Late at night, you finally managed to trick me into this containment dome, and this is all? You plan to kill me alone? Where are your Imperial Brotherhood comrades?”

Ning Ge and Pei Han exchanged a glance.

The Queen clearly knew who Mosh was.

“I alone am enough.”

Mosh sneered.

“I originally planned to poison you slowly, weakening your spiritual power day by day. To avoid detection, it would have taken ages. But then I discovered you upgraded this dome this year—it now blocks even your Thought Silk.”

Mosh’s face lit up with satisfaction, his eyes narrowing.

“What good are your puppeteering skills inside this dome? Those foolish puppets can’t help you. Any man with a knife could kill you.”

In his hand, he held a delicate, razor-sharp dagger.

The Queen glanced at the dagger, then at him, remaining seated and unmoving.

“I’d imagined,” she said languidly, “that the ‘elites’ leading your Brotherhood would have infiltrated the Royal Palace together and acted as one.” She sighed. “I didn’t expect their courage to be smaller than a mouse’s. They hid outside, daring only you to come alone.”

Mosh’s handsome face, usually full of charm and deference, now held a cold, unyielding gaze as he stared at the Queen.

“Are you stalling for time? Even if you are, no one will come to save you. It’s night, everyone’s asleep, and the Wooden Puppets won’t wander up here by accident. I’ve already issued orders forbidding them from ascending the stairs. Do you regret teaching me puppeteering? Giving me control over those foolish Wooden Puppet Guards?”

Mosh lightly weighed the dagger in his hand, exuding an air of confident, unassailable victory as he advanced on the Queen.

“Not at all,” the Queen replied casually. “I find this rather amusing.”

The countdown continued its frantic pace.

As Mosh prepared to strike, Social Bro grew anxious and whispered to Ning Ge, “What do we do? Should we rush in?”

Ning Ge shook her head.

The Queen’s composure only strengthened her suspicions.

Mosh had reached the Queen’s throne and raised his dagger. “Your reign ends now, Your Majesty.”

“Is that so?” The Queen smiled playfully at him.

Suddenly, the situation changed.

Mosh’s arm, wielding the dagger, suddenly went limp as if its tendons had been severed. In less than half a second, it shot back up, twisting to press the dagger’s blade against his own throat.

The force was immense, the pressure brutal, drawing blood.

Mosh’s face paled with panic, utterly bewildered. “What’s happening?!”

Only then did the Queen rise from her throne. “What’s happening? Don’t you understand yet? My dear Mosh, my precious, what do you usually call me?”

Mosh’s arm remained unresponsive, the dagger pressing even harder against his throat.

He stammered in panic, “My Queen…”

The Queen’s patience wore thin. “With a knife at your throat, is your mind going dull? Not that.”

Mosh: “…The Empire’s finest… Puppet Maker and Puppet Master?”

This time, the Queen’s face lit up with satisfaction.

“Yes, that’s right. The Empire’s best Puppet Maker and Puppet Master. My dear Mosh,” the Queen said softly. “Just imagine it.”

Imagine it.

Mosh really did imagine it.

His eyes widened, his face contorted in terror.

“Impossible,” he stammered. “How could this be?”

“The evidence is right before your eyes. How could it not be?”

The Queen tilted her head, a playful smirk on her face as she looked at him.

Mosh’s hand loosened, and the dagger clattered to the stage. Immediately, his arms sprang up as if dancing, spinning him in an elegant circle.

His body was completely beyond his control, like a marionette on strings.

The Queen made him dance, twirling him in a series of graceful circles. Satisfied with her display, she spoke again.

“My dearest Mosh, do you know why I love you so much? Because you are my most outstanding creation to date. It’s a pity I’m the Queen and can never enter the Puppet-Making Competition to compete with Xiya and the others. I can only admire you for my own amusement.”

“Look at you, how perfect you are.”

The Queen circled him, appraising him with delight.

“Your face is beautiful, but it has flaws—wrinkles, imperfections.

“Your personality is complex—hypocritical, cunning, two-faced, and full of lies. You possess every flaw a human could have.”

“Your body is incredibly lifelike—soft, beautiful, and capable of eating and drinking. You look exactly like a human. Not a single Wooden Puppet Servant in the Royal Palace could tell you apart from one of them, and even after all this time in the Brotherhood, no one has noticed you’re not real. You’re practically flawless.”

“I used the latest materials, the Empire’s finest workshops, and assembled the most skilled artisans. Countless effort and money went into creating the most realistic you possible. Unlike those wooden puppets, you’re perfect from head to toe, without a single flaw.”

The Queen waved her hand, signaling him to lower his arm and stand obediently.

“The idea of you joining the Brotherhood was mine. The suggestion that you should give me slow-acting poison? That was my idea too. Even the poison itself, that was my preparation, my dear Mosh.”

“Think about it. Why were you able to complete the Brotherhood’s difficult tasks so smoothly? Why were they so eager to deliver you to my side? Because your master—me—was always helping you.”

The Queen gazed at him warmly.

“Even if we destroy the Imperial Brotherhood, new ones will inevitably emerge. So I’ve been thinking, why not keep this largest one and firmly control it myself?”

“Who would have thought that the Brotherhood’s most capable operative, their most promising recruit, would actually be my puppet? Mosh, rest assured, with my full support, one day you’ll sit at the very top of the Imperial Brotherhood.”

The Queen yawned.

“I’m tired,” she said.

She turned to Mosh. “Never mind. I just said that to amuse myself. Forget everything that happened here today. Go back and tell them you couldn’t find an opportunity to assassinate me. Now, open the barrier. I want to go to bed.”

A blank expression spread across Mosh’s face as his memory was instantly erased. He obediently walked to a corner of the stage and pressed a switch.

The transparent dome slowly rose.

Mosh gently offered his arm to the Queen, descending the stage steps with her, still the most handsome and attentive male companion.

Only then did the Queen raise her voice. “Xiya?”

Ning Ge gestured for everyone to hide. A figure emerged from behind the door and bowed to the Queen.

The Queen smiled. “Well, did I win? Even though Mosh can’t compete in tomorrow’s Puppet-Making Competition, he’s the one who truly deserves the Gold Medal as the King of Puppet Servants, isn’t he?”

Ning Ge said sincerely, “Yes. I lost. You are the Empire’s greatest Puppet Maker and Puppet Master.”

The Queen’s face lit up like a child’s. “Everything’s fine here now. You should go back to sleep. I’m going to bed too.”

Ning Ge glanced at her bracelet.

With this cutscene complete, she had nine minutes of Sprint Time remaining.

“Your Majesty,” Ning Ge asked, “may I borrow Mosh for a few minutes? I want to examine your masterpiece up close.”

The Queen waved her hand. “Of course. Borrow him for as long as you like. I’ll go to bed now.”

She instructed Mosh, “Do whatever Xiya asks you.”

With that, she left the hall and returned to her room.

Pei Han and the others emerged from their hiding places, unable to resist staring at Mosh. He looked utterly realistic, indistinguishable from a real person.

Owen blurted out, “So Mosh is the Anchor Point?”

“It seems so,” Ning Ge replied.

Mosh stared at them, utterly bewildered, unable to understand a word.

This matched Ning Ge’s suspicions from last night and Pei Han’s shared guess that morning: they needed to come to the top floor to find Mosh—the true, perfect Puppet Servant.

All the clues so far pointed to Mosh.

The medal for the Puppet-Making Competition featured a prominent anchor shape engraved with the words “Puppet Servant, the most loyal assistant, a masterpiece of the world,” hinting at the connection between Puppet Servants and the Anchor Point.

And Mosh was the ultimate creation among Puppet Servants.

As the Queen’s most beloved Puppet Servant, he deserved the Gold Medal for winning the Puppet-Making Competition. This entire plot clue had bluntly revealed Mosh’s identity as a Puppet Servant.

With only a few minutes left on the countdown, Owen immediately raised his wrist, aimed it at Mosh, and initiated a scan.

However, the bracelet responded coldly: [Not an Anchor Point. Please continue your efforts.]

The group froze in surprise.

Ning Ge glanced at the stage.

Around the throne of the King of Puppet Servants, countless puppet-controlling threads radiated outward in all directions, like rays of light from the sun.

The shape was strikingly similar to the apron pocket where Iron Puppet Granny had stored her medal, as if it were a deliberate hint, an emphasis.

“Mosh,” Ning Ge said, “go sit on the throne on the stage.”

Having received the Queen’s command to obey Xiya, Mosh immediately turned and obediently ascended the stage, taking his seat on the throne of the Puppet Servant champion.

Owen scanned him again.

Still no result.

Something was wrong. The countdown continued, and Ning Ge’s heart pounded wildly.

Something was wrong.

The Anchor Point wasn’t Mosh.