Heavy Mech Alahato

"What, is there a problem, student?" Seeing Li Ming standing frozen in place with his eyes wide in shock, Welt Yang muttered softly, "Am I that famous?"

After Welt called out to him, Li Ming suddenly snapped back to his senses. "Oh, no, it's just that you're so young, Professor. I was a little surprised."

"Is that so?" Welt Yang stroked his chin. "Actually, I'm not that young. If we're talking about true geniuses, you should look at the School of Aeronautical Engineering. I heard that this year, a fifteen-year-old girl has already published an international paper on her own."

"Ah, that? Impressive, very impressive indeed." Li Ming scratched his head, sounding somewhat perfunctory. Welt Yang seemed to notice it and asked curiously, "What, do you know each other?"

"Uh, yeah, more or less." Li Ming scratched his cheek. At that moment, Welt Yang smiled. "Forget it. I'll take you to finish the paperwork first."

And so, Li Ming followed Welt to handle the paperwork. Meanwhile, Himeko ran into a small problem. Ryusuke had come to properly see the place where Himeko lived, but then his phone suddenly rang. After answering it, he hurriedly left.

"Sorry, Himeko, something came up..."

"I know, I know. Work again, right? Fine, fine, go ahead. I know Dad's busy with important things."

Ryusuke still felt a little guilty, but he had no time to say more. He hurriedly booked a plane ticket and slipped away.

Then the smile on Himeko's face suddenly vanished. She sat alone on a bench by the roadside, looking a little dejected.

"Forget it. I'll go eat something good. Oh, right, Li Ming seems to have come to the institute too, but I wonder what he's here for."

Himeko sighed in disappointment when the phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated. A faint light flickered across its two-inch screen. "Has 'Heavy Mech Alahato' gotten a movie? I usually never have time to watch it. Hmm, today's the perfect chance."

"Hey, Himeko, what are you doing here? Where's Mr. Ryusuke?" Li Ming had just finished the paperwork with Welt Yang. However, Welt Yang had not agreed to Li Ming's invitation to eat together. They had only just met, and besides, Welt Yang still needed to tell Einstein the news.

Good news. Well, it counted as good news.

Himeko raised her head and looked at the person before her. A black short-sleeved shirt paired with black wide-leg shorts, and a dazzlingly bright smile—just looking at him made her want to punch him.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you have things to take care of?"

"I'm done. The professor handled it quickly."

"Then good, come watch a movie with me!" Hearing that, Himeko stood up and dragged Li Ming outside. Li Ming did not even get the chance to properly look around the California Institute of Technology. "Stop looking. You'll have plenty of chances to visit later."

With Himeko pulling him along like that, Li Ming instantly lost all sense of direction. Truly, the gentle embrace was a hero's grave.

But there was nothing he could do. Li Ming simply could not refuse a beautiful girl's request, wearing an expression of complete surrender.

Then, when the two reached the cinema, Himeko suddenly thought of something. "Isn't there something weird about us coming to watch a movie this early?"

"Mm-hmm." Li Ming had not heard a word. He just nodded foolishly.

"Hmm?" Himeko felt that something was off. When she turned around, she saw Li Ming wearing a lecherous grin.

A chill immediately ran through her body. She quickly let go of his hand and unconsciously wiped her own, as though she had just touched something dirty.

Li Ming also snapped back to his senses at that moment. Wait, what had he just been doing? How could he embarrass himself so badly? He had seen so many beautiful girls in the Elysian Realm without losing his composure like this. What was going on? Could it be because of the system update?

But even so, he should not be acting like a lovesick fool every day, humiliating himself to this extent. Ever since meeting Himeko, he had been losing his composure so often. Could it be that...

Li Ming's thoughts stirred. Though he did not suspect that Himeko herself had anything to do with it, a trace of vigilance still rose in his heart. He began circulating the mental-energy method Su had taught him.

At once, the muddled feeling in Li Ming's head vanished, and his mind cleared. At that moment, he felt as if something had been broken. He also sensed a feeling of being watched from all around him.

He immediately swept his gaze across the surroundings, but found nothing in the end. Still, he could tell it was not an illusion. Although Li Ming, who rarely trained his mental energy, used it rather crudely, that feeling had been obvious. Yet that power seemed to harbor no ill intent toward Himeko.

"Hey, stop spacing out. Do you want popcorn or not?" Himeko looked at Li Ming helplessly. What was with this guy? Was he some kind of daze hero?

"Ah, whatever's fine." Li Ming came back to himself and smiled. Himeko felt that something about him was a little different now, but she could not put it into words. Li Ming looked at the ticket Himeko handed him. Alahato?

To be honest, Li Ming had heard of this anime too, because Yae watched it. Whenever he had free time, he would watch it with her. It was quite interesting, somewhat like Gundam and EVA. But for children, the most appealing part was naturally the smooth movements and cool mechs.

After all, when watching Armor Hero as a child, who paid attention to how pretty the girls were? Weren't they all there to watch the armor slice up monsters?

"You watch this too?" Li Ming looked at Himeko, his tone full of doubt. He had not thought she was the type to watch something like this.

Hearing the odd tone in his voice, Himeko glared at him. "What, I can't?"

"No, no, no. I'm just a little surprised." Li Ming hurriedly waved his hands.

Himeko hugged the popcorn. "Hmph. My dream is to take part in the space program like my dad. I loved things like Alahato when I was little."

Hearing Himeko's words, Li Ming muttered softly, "When I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut. Grandpa and Grandma were so happy that they made me my favorite dish: stir-fried meat with Seven Wolves."

"What did you say?" Himeko turned back, seeming to have caught something he had said. But Li Ming only kept shaking his head and refused to admit anything. There was nothing Himeko could do. They had only met yesterday, and dragging him out to watch a movie together today was already abrupt enough!

"Hurry up, the movie's about to start!" Himeko pulled him and ran toward the theater. At that moment, Li Ming felt that sensation of being watched again.

He abruptly turned around, but saw nothing. In the end, he could only give up and let Himeko drag him into the cinema.

At that moment, a small ball of fluff no larger than a fist suddenly appeared. It looked like a little furball, but it had hands and feet, making it extremely strange.

The little furball patted its belly—well, it could be considered a belly—and sighed. "That scared me to death. How did Ryusuke's daughter run into someone like that? He could actually detect my mental interference. Forget it, he doesn't seem dangerous. I should go back and tell Ryusuke."

A blue wormhole opened in the air, and the furball jumped straight into it. The people around it acted as though they had seen nothing.

Saint 7308 Research Institute

Ryusuke Murata was driving back to the research institute when something like a black hole suddenly appeared on his shoulder. The furball jumped out of it. Without even looking at it, Ryusuke asked, "Mint Candy, why are you back? Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on Himeko?"

"She's with that kid you met this morning. That kid seems unusual. He could detect my mental interference. I can tell he isn't dangerous, so I came back." Mint Candy sat on Ryusuke's shoulder and opened her mouth to swallow a piece of candy. Yet when she opened her mouth, a huge scarlet eye appeared inside it. No one knew what it was.

"Doesn't seem dangerous?" Ryusuke's eyes darkened slightly, but he smiled. "Then you should go have some fun over there too. I'll cover the expenses. And protect Himeko while you're at it. I'm still a little worried."

Mint Candy looked surprised. "Huh? You don't need my help here? Didn't you say a mech had invaded your research institute?"

"The report only said there was an intrusion. Besides, the place that was attacked wasn't ours, but a combat base closer to the Americas. And I suspect it has something to do with the Sky People." When he mentioned the Sky People, Ryusuke's tone grew solemn. They were clearly a grave threat to him. Still, he forced a relaxed smile. "Besides, isn't it good to let you rest a little longer?"

"Fine, fine. But make sure you protect yourself." Seeing that he had made up his mind, Mint Candy said no more and reentered the wormhole. The blue wormhole flashed once, then disappeared.

After Himeko and Li Ming entered the cinema, Li Ming watched the movie with a faint sense of boredom. It was not that the movie was uninteresting. Its plot and animation were both first-rate, after all, since it was the work of the great Welt Yang. But for Li Ming, the part where the male lead suddenly erupted because the female lead was injured and drove Alahato to desperately fight the villain...

It would have been nice if things really worked through sheer force of will. Besides, their Alliance Sovereign Welt was not some idealist. So later, when the male lead's Alahato was defeated by the villain and he fell unconscious, his senior piloted an older-generation mech to hold the villain back so the male lead could be saved.

Unfortunately, the older-generation mech could not contend with the villain and was beaten apart outright. When the male lead woke up, he could only watch his senior's mech turn to ash in the sky like fireworks.

His adrenaline surged, and he forcibly drove Alahato into battle against the villain. But what did a mech have to do with adrenaline? It simply could not suddenly power up.

The male lead got back on his feet, only to be beaten senseless again. Seeing this, the female lead dragged her injured body to the command center and piloted the male lead's external armor into battle to support him. In the end, the external armor merged with the male lead's Alahato, transforming into Heavy Mech Alahato. Naturally, the upgraded male lead crushed the villain.

Working together with the female lead, he smashed the villain's mech to pieces. Unfortunately, they did not eliminate the villain, who managed to escape. Meanwhile, because the female lead had forcibly piloted the mech despite her severe injuries, her wounds split open and she suffered massive blood loss. Her right hand had to be amputated.

Though it had been perilous, the female lead was still saved. She would just have to wear a prosthetic limb for the rest of her life.

It could be considered a fairly happy ending. Still, the villain had not died, there had not actually been any massive casualties in the story, and both the male and female leads survived. Only the male lead's spiritual mentor—his senior—had died.

Ah, so this was a world where only the senior got hurt?

The senior probably felt utterly screwed over and sent a telegram of greetings.

And Li Ming kept feeling that the movie had slipped in some personal indulgence. Yet it was not like Bishop Otto, who did it openly and blatantly, practically writing "I love Kallen" across every page.

But after recalling that the movie had been produced by Anti-Entropy, a certain telegram scientist suddenly flashed through Li Ming's mind.

Surely not.

Li Ming thought uncertainly. Then he turned to look at Himeko. Her eyes were red, and she was using the tissues Li Ming had just bought to wipe away her tears.

Li Ming glanced at the tissues. A fresh pack had almost been completely used up, and crumpled tissues filled the empty popcorn bucket. All he could say was, he acknowledged her combat power.

Still, Himeko was wearing a plaid short-sleeved shirt today, with a satin bow tied around her neck. She wore a pleated skirt and white thigh-high socks, along with light makeup. Now that she was crying, the pitiful sight made Li Ming unable to say a word.

Li Ming admitted that he probably liked Himeko. But acting on those thoughts here could land him in prison. There was nothing he could do but grumble inwardly.