Perhaps his lie only counts for things he knows though. Also, in an alien society he would be the most valuable asset from another world since he can create infinite wood which is the rarest element in our solar system.
Ivory’s rarer than wood though
The key phrase is tell a lie not speak a falsehood. All the magic does here is reveal his honesty or dishonesty.
And since he eventually becomes either a real boy or ordinary puppet, it’s hardly an infinite source of wood.
~Excellent point that the only things worth invading Earth for are those things found only on Earth.~
There is a YouTube series about a lie detector like this.
Edit: here it is
This is a top-notch shower thought.
Seems kind of mean, cutting his nose off.
His infinite nose? What if it’s too heavy that he can’t lift his head. You’d be doing him a service…at least that’s how I’d justify the war crime. Talking about war. My god, what a tactical advantage.
Also, his nose would eventually collapse under its own weight. I imagine that’s more painful than a surgical, clean cut.
This makes me think of that Guinness World Records woman who is world-famous for donating almost 700 gallons of milk because she could not stop producing milk: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2024/11/big-hearted-mom-donates-record-levels-of-breastmilk-to-help-over-350000-premature-babies
