"ME Corp's building? Isn't that owned by Mei's family?!" Kiana exclaimed in surprise. "Could it be that all these robots belong to Mei's family? But these robots have already gone beyond ME Corp's scope of operations, haven't they?!"
"I don't know either!" Mei Raiden shook her head and said sadly, "My mother died when I was very young. My father was always so busy that he never came home, and I barely ever saw him. Although I might look like ME Corp's princess, I have no idea what ME Corp is actually doing."
"Then, two years ago, my father disappeared. The last place he was seen was Changkong City, so I came here to look for him." Mei Raiden's expression dimmed as her longing for her father welled up again.
"Mei, you came to find your father too." For the first time, a sorrowful expression appeared on Kiana's delicate face, leaving Yu Luo stunned. "My irresponsible father also vanished after leaving behind just one sentence. I came to Changkong City to find him."
Yu Luo could not stand this sorrowful atmosphere. He wanted to see the two of them smiling instead. Perhaps it had something to do with his own past, so he spoke up to interrupt their memories. "Since we've come to your family's place, Mei, let's take a look around. Maybe we'll find some clues about your father."
"Th-..." Mei Raiden was about to say something, but Yu Luo had already walked ahead. Watching his back, Mei Raiden put away her heavy expression and smiled. She grabbed Kiana's hand beside her and whispered, "Thank you, Yu Luo."
Yu Luo had not yet canceled his transformation, so his sharpened senses naturally caught Mei Raiden's words. The corner of his mouth could not help curling upward—then, in the next instant, he stumbled and fell flat on the ground. His angry voice echoed through the hangar. "Which idiot designed stairs here?!"
"Pfft!" Kiana laughed at Yu Luo without restraint. "Serves you right for walking around with your nose in the air and not watching where you're going!"
In the end, the three found an elevator at the very back of the hangar. Kiana searched around inside for a long while but could not find any floor buttons. As ME Corp's princess, Mei Raiden understood what was going on the moment she saw it.
"An express elevator for internal personnel? I wonder which floor it leads to."
"Who cares which floor it goes to? As long as there are enemies, this young lady will beat every last one of them!" Kiana energetically flexed her bicep. Of course, Yu Luo could only see her fair arm, not the slightest trace of muscle.
"Are you the legendary Mizuki, who killed Niu Nana with one punch?"
"What kind of nonsense name is that? Who's that?!" Kiana asked irritably. Yu Luo put on a nostalgic expression. "She was one of the industry's big three, the goddess of my heart. Of course, someone like you wouldn't understand!"
"Tch!" Kiana clicked her tongue maliciously. Fortunately, the elevator chimed at that moment, and the doors slowly opened. All three tensed up, weapons in hand as they rushed through the doors at once, ready for a possible attack.
To their surprise, what greeted them was a luxurious office. It was spotless, and everything had been arranged neatly. "This is..." Mei Raiden's gaze grew unfocused. The hazy scenes in her memories gradually became clear, beginning to overlap with what lay before her.
"This is Father's office..."
"Then let's hurry up and look for clues about your father's disappearance!" Kiana said earnestly, already searching through a filing cabinet nearby. Mei Raiden shook her head. "I already searched this place once when I came to Changkong City two years ago. I didn't find any clues."
Yu Luo's gaze swept across the desk. Curious, he picked up a photo frame lying face-down on it. Inside was a damaged photograph, its jagged missing edge clearly torn off by someone. In the remaining half was a smiling middle-aged man who bore some resemblance to Mei Raiden.
"This is your father, Ryoma Raiden?" Yu Luo handed the photo to Mei Raiden. She looked at the man in the picture and nodded. "This was taken when I was kidnapped. Father took it with me. During that time, he stayed by my side the whole time. Those were the happiest days of my life."
Yu Luo nodded without saying anything else. Beside them, Kiana clumsily rummaged through the cabinet, accidentally knocking the entire thing over. Papers scattered across the floor like snowflakes.
"Kiana, are you okay?!" Mei Raiden anxiously helped Kiana up from the floor. Kiana rubbed her sore backside without any regard for her image while curiously examining the overturned cabinet. "There's a hidden compartment here!"
"Hm?" Yu Luo and Mei Raiden exchanged a glance and curiously leaned closer. Kiana felt around inside the compartment with her right hand and pulled out a diary. A cherry blossom bookmark slipped out from inside, and Mei Raiden excitedly picked it up from the floor.
"It's the bookmark I gave Father when I was little!"
"Then this diary belongs to Mei's father!" Kiana immediately opened the diary, and Yu Luo leaned over as well, clearly very interested in reading someone else's private affairs.
The entire diary recorded Ryoma Raiden's longing for Mei Raiden, along with several passages that had been blacked out. It also mentioned many embarrassing things from Mei Raiden's childhood, which Kiana read with great interest.
Yu Luo sneaked a glance at Mei Raiden's expression and found that she did not look too pleased. He hurriedly snatched the diary from Kiana's hands.
"What are you doing?!" Kiana asked indignantly.
"You've been reading the useless parts for so long. Don't you know time is precious?!" Yu Luo replied righteously. Then he began skimming through it at a glance, skipping every unimportant part. Only when he reached the diary's final pages did he find something unexpected.
"Mei, look, there really is a clue!" Yu Luo hurriedly held the diary out before Mei Raiden. She took it and looked through it, only to see familiar handwriting written inside:
"[Crossed out] This is getting more and more outrageous. They actually want to restart that plan. I must protect Mei! Mei's birthday is coming soon. I hope I can return by then and give her that thing I'm making in the laboratory as a present. It's my life's greatest work!"
"Father!" Mei Raiden cried out as she hugged the diary, tears finally falling with a patter. Yu Luo stroked his chin and pondered. "My father-in-law disappeared after writing this diary entry. In other words, the gift he left for Mei is very likely still in the laboratory!"
"Did you just call him your father-in-law?!" Kiana stared at Yu Luo vigilantly. Keeping a straight face, Yu Luo brushed it off. "No. You heard wrong."
Feeling Mei Raiden's grief, the will of the Third Herrscher lurking within her body also began to grow unstable. It started tempting her. "Do you know why your father disappeared? It's because you're too weak. If you accept my power, not only your father, but everyone you care about will never leave you!"
"Come, accept me. We were one body to begin with. This power should have been yours from the start!" The seductive words echoed endlessly beside Mei Raiden's ears.
"In your dreams!" Mei Raiden rejected the temptation without hesitation. She looked at Kiana and Yu Luo, who were still sulking at each other beside her, and said firmly, "I believe I'll definitely find Father. And I promised Kiana that I would never let you control me again. It's also for him, the one who reached out his hand to me in the darkness!"
"Tch. You'll need me someday." The will of the Third Herrscher scoffed at Mei Raiden's words, then fell silent again and settled down.
"Mei, let's go find the gift your father left for you! It should still be in the laboratory and hasn't been taken away!" Kiana excitedly grabbed Mei Raiden's hand.
Seemingly infected by Kiana's mood, Mei Raiden raised a hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes and smiled at her. "All right. I still remember the way to the laboratory, and I have access clearance for all of ME Corp. I'll take you there. While we're at it, I can get you both some more useful weapons."
"Thanks, Mei!" Kiana thanked Mei Raiden with a beaming smile. Yu Luo, meanwhile, sighed repeatedly. "It's great to be rich!"
"Yeah, it's great to be rich!" The system also spoke up with a rare sigh. "Why did I choose someone as poor as you to be my host back then?"
"You think it's such a hardship having me as your host?" Yu Luo absolutely could not tolerate the system's disdain. "I know every Heroic Spirit inside out. I can bring out the system's full potential."
"You're poor!"
"I'm a handsome six-footer with long legs!"
"Putting aside whether that's true, you're poor!"
"I..."
"You're poor!"
"Get lost! I'm uninstalling you, you trash system."
"You can't uninstall me!"
Before you continue