Hearing the scream, the toy soldiers outside immediately brandished their giant swords and charged in aggressively, rushing straight at Wildmutt.
Startled, Wildmutt quickly leaped onto a train and sped off into the distance.
The toy soldiers jumped after him and landed on the train as well. Clumsy as they looked, their jumping ability was surprisingly good.
Two toy soldiers managed to catch up, while the others failed to board the train.
"Gwen, use your magic to knock them off the train," Lucian said calmly. These lackeys weren't worth him making a move.
"Got it!" Gwen said, launching two earth spikes.
The toy soldiers raised their arms to block the spikes, but the powerful impact knocked them backward. Unable to keep their balance, they stepped into empty air and plunged into the endless abyss below.
Boom!
A fist suddenly shot out from beneath the train car under Wildmutt's feet, instantly blasting everyone away and sending them tumbling into a pile of gift boxes.
Beep!
Right then, Wildmutt's transformation ended, and he changed back to normal.
The group landed in the pile of presents, looking a little worse for wear.
"Elsgood, you know perfectly well I don't allow my little dwarves to think for themselves!" Mr. Jingles strode over, glaring furiously at them.
"Mr. Jingles, I'm sorry," Elsgood said, lowering his head.
"Get lost. Who are you calling your little dwarves?" Lucian said coldly.
"Hahaha, you are!" Mr. Jingles laughed, then raised both hands and shouted, "Little dwarves, what's the motto of our Christmas Resort?"
The little dwarves stopped what they were doing and shouted in unison, "Busy little dwarves are the happiest!"
"Loser, I'm gonna punch your teeth out!" Ben said as he tried to transform, only to find the Omnitrix glowing red.
Mr. Jingles waved a hand and beckoned over two toy bears.
Their enormous bodies, each at least four or five stories tall, hemmed Lucian and the others in.
"Alright, little dwarves, time to get back to work," Mr. Jingles said with a grin.
"Oh." Lucian pressed the Omnitrix, and a ghostly green light burst forth.
"Ghostfreak!"
Pale skin. Cracks all over his body. A chilling ghostly aura seeped out from him, making him look terrifying and grotesque.
"Y-you... what kind of monster are you?!"
Mr. Jingles had never seen anything like this before. Terrified, he staggered back, goosebumps crawling all over him.
"Hehe~ You're not scared of old Ghostfreak, are you~"
As Ghostfreak spoke, that ghastly face drifted closer to Mr. Jingles, his single purple eye eerily fixed on him.
"Ah! A ghost!" Mr. Jingles turned and ran.
"Hehe, the game's just getting started."
With that, Ghostfreak vanished from where he stood.
At that moment, Mr. Jingles kept running while glancing back over his shoulder to see whether Ghostfreak was chasing him.
But in the next second, he slammed into something ice-cold.
Mr. Jingles whipped around at once, every hair on his body standing on end. He nearly died of fright.
An upside-down skull. A vicious, horrifying face. Filthy, jagged teeth. Torn, ruined skin that exposed ribs and a tail. It looked even more evil and terrifying than the ghost from before.
This was Ghostfreak with his skin peeled open.
Already scared out of his mind, Mr. Jingles wet himself on the spot. This time, he didn't even have the strength to run. His legs gave out, and he collapsed weakly to the floor.
His eyes were full of terror and shock. This creature was far beyond anything Mr. Jingles could understand.
"Let my grandpa go." Ghostfreak extended a claw and pressed it against Mr. Jingles's neck.
He looked ready to crack his head open at the slightest disagreement.
"O-okay, okay, I'll let him go right now." Mr. Jingles didn't dare resist. He hurriedly pulled out a remote control and pressed it.
On the balcony, a chair automatically rolled out from inside the room. Sitting on it was a Santa Claus dressed in red.
Ghostfreak glanced over. It really was Grandpa Max.
"Destroy the Ding-Dang Heart," Ghostfreak ordered.
"Oh no, no, I can't! The Ding-Dang Heart can't be destroyed. If it is, I won't be able to deliver presents all over the world anymore!" The moment the Ding-Dang Heart was mentioned, Mr. Jingles panicked, as if it were his lifeline.
"Mr. Ghostfreak, the Ding-Dang Heart is that huge machine!"
At that moment, Elsgood stepped forward and pointed at a machine not far away.
Ghostfreak looked in that direction and saw a towering machine shaped like a heart standing there.
It looked remarkably like a real heart, and several openings in it emitted multicolored light as countless presents were continuously transported out from inside.
This was the core of Christmas Resort, the Ding-Dang Heart.
It had cursed the little dwarves, given life to the toys, and created this frozen world.
Its magic was undeniably powerful.
But all of that was about to end.
Ignoring Mr. Jingles's attempts to stop him, Ghostfreak charged straight at the Ding-Dang Heart. The openings were too small, so he simply phased through the icy shell and entered the interior.
Inside the Ding-Dang Heart were countless gears and mechanisms, but for Ghostfreak, with his phasing ability, it was nothing.
Very soon, he reached the end.
Ahead of him stood a huge tree stump, and cradled in its branches was a golden star radiating dazzling light.
"Ding-Dang Heart, your mission ends here."
Ghostfreak tore open his chest and unleashed a fierce purple beam, pouring it wildly onto the golden star.
Crack... crack...
Cracks began to spread across the golden star, growing more and more numerous until it finally shattered.
An invisible shockwave burst out instantly and swept across the entire Christmas Resort at astonishing speed.
All the living toys immediately went limp. The light faded from their eyes, and they slowly collapsed to the ground, motionless.
That included the two giant blue bears. Just as they were about to grab Ben, their bodies stiffened, and then they crashed to the floor.
"Oh yeah!" Ben cheered. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"
"But the Ding-Dang Heart's already been destroyed. Why hasn't the curse been lifted yet?" Gwen asked, looking at the little dwarves around her.
"Because now no one can feel the joy of Christmas anymore! You have to help me make more toys. More perfect toys!" Mr. Jingles screamed like a madman.
Just then, Santa Claus walked over.
"The joy of Christmas doesn't come from perfect toys. It comes from the spirit of selfless giving," Grandpa Max said with a smile.
"But the Jingle Star is destroyed, and my reindeer can't fly anymore. Even if I want to deliver presents all over the world, I can't do it!" Mr. Jingles cried.
"With the alien bug Stinkfly around, who needs little reindeer?" Ben said righteously. "Leave it to me!"
...
A moment later, Stinkfly had a red rope tied around him, with a carriage trailing behind.
"You done yet?" Stinkfly asked, drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Lucian, Gwen, and Grandpa sat in the carriage, while Mr. Jingles stood beside it outside, teaching them how to use it.
"As long as you adjust the controls, it can take you anywhere in the world. This is the Ding-Dang Heart's backup power source. Once it's used up, that's it," Mr. Jingles said.
"Got it."
"Let's go!" Stinkfly beat his wings and shot into the sky, heading out to deliver Christmas presents around the world.
Beneath the bright white moon, a giant flying insect dragged a carriage through the night sky, scattering gifts under the moonlight.
After leaving Christmas Resort, Lucian deliberately took a look at the buildings in other countries and noticed that their architecture all looked very old, basically matching 1932.
"So we didn't just travel to the Christmas Resort of 1932. We traveled to the world of 1932," Lucian said slowly.
Otherwise, the moment they flew out of Christmas Resort, they should have returned to their original time.
Stinkfly took them to many places.
For example, China, Sakura Nation, Grizzly Nation, and so on.
Stinkfly's transformation time was limited, so Lucian would occasionally turn into Big Chill to help share the load.
By the time they returned to Christmas Resort, it was nearly midnight.
They got out of the carriage and began to rest.
Ding-dong.
A moment later, the clock struck twelve right on time.
A powerful wave of magic swept through the area once more, lifting the little dwarves' curse.
At the same time, the entire frozen world began melting away at incredible speed. Without magic to sustain it, the ice and snow could no longer remain.
The night sky instantly turned to day.
Everything around them, except Lucian and the others, began to disappear. Toys and little dwarves alike faded away into the river of time.
When everyone came back to their senses, they found themselves standing beside the exit to Christmas Resort.
The air around them was warm, filled with laughter and cheerful voices. It was no longer that freezing world. Plenty of tourists were walking in with their children, chatting and laughing.
Nearby, a snow machine kept spraying out snow, but covering the entire village with it was clearly a bit of a stretch...
"Oh yeah, this place is back to normal!" Ben laughed.
"It's not normal at all, child." A white-haired old man strolled over with several grandchildren and smiled. "I've come here every year since 1932."
"Grandpa Elsgood, let's go to the hot cocoa fountain!" one of the grandchildren pleaded.
"Run along. I'll be there in a moment," the old man said with a kindly smile.
"Elsgood?" Ben froze. Wasn't that the little dwarf from before?
Grandpa Elsgood gave Ben a wink, then followed after his grandchildren and began enjoying another year at the resort.
"Looks like we've returned to the normal timeline." Lucian stroked his chin, then continued, "Because we broke the curse of the Ding-Dang Heart, Elsgood was never trapped."
"You could say we changed the history of Christmas Resort and brought all of this to an end."
After hearing Lucian's words, Gwen nodded thoughtfully, but then asked, "Then what happened to Mr. Jingles?"
"The answer might be right here."
At that moment, Grandpa Max was standing in front of a statue.
The statue depicted Mr. Jingles and Elsgood hand in hand, both smiling brightly.
Below the statue, some English words were engraved:
[Founder of Christmas Resort, Mr. Thomas. Established in 1928. The spirit of Christmas comes from our selfless giving.]
"I feel like I've heard that somewhere before." Gwen covered her mouth and laughed.
Grandpa gave an awkward smile. "Alright, kids, time to head back!"
[Successfully lifted the curse of Christmas Resort.]
[Obtained a random Scrapped Hero Chest.]
"Open it," Lucian said inwardly.
[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully unlocked a new Scrapped Hero.]
[Kringl the Summoner!]