Heavy Mech Alahato

"What's wrong? Do you have a problem, student?" Welt Yang saw Li Ming frozen in place, eyes wide with surprise, and muttered softly, "Am I that famous?"

After being called by Welt, Li Ming suddenly snapped back to attention. "Oh, no, it's just that you're too young, Teacher. I was a bit surprised."

"Is that so?" Welt Yang rubbed his chin. "I'm not that young, you know. If you want to talk about real geniuses, you should look at the Aeronautical Engineering department. I heard there's a fifteen-year-old girl who independently published an international paper this year."

"Ah, that, amazing, truly amazing." Li Ming scratched his head, a little dismissively. Welt Yang seemed to notice his perfunctory response and asked, "What, do you know each other?"

"Uh, well, sort of." Li Ming scratched his cheek. Welt Yang smiled at this point. "Never mind, I'll take you to get the paperwork done first."

And so, Li Ming followed Welt to complete the procedures. Meanwhile, Himeko encountered a minor issue. Ryusuke had come to see Himeko's living space, but a phone call suddenly rang. After answering, Ryusuke left in a hurry.

"Sorry, Himeko, I have something..."

"I know, I know, it's work again, right? Fine, fine, go ahead. I know Dad is busy with important matters."

Ryusuke felt a pang of guilt but didn't have time to say more. He quickly booked his flight and left.

Himeko's smiling expression suddenly vanished. She sat alone on a roadside bench, looking a bit dejected.

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

Himeko felt a bit deflated. Her phone suddenly vibrated. The two-inch screen flickered with a faint light. "A 'Heavy Mech Alahato' movie is out? I never have time to watch it. Hmm, I'll go see it today."

"Hey, Himeko, what are you doing here? Where's Mr. Ryusuke?" Li Ming had just finished completing his paperwork with Welt Yang. However, Welt Yang had declined Li Ming's invitation for a meal, as they had only just met, and Welt Yang still needed to inform Ein about this.

Good news, well, sort of good news.

Himeko looked up at the person in front of her. He wore a black short-sleeved shirt and black wide-leg capris, smiling brightly. The moment she saw him, Himeko felt an urge to punch him.

"What are you doing here? Weren't you busy with something?"

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

"Alright then, you can accompany me to the movies!" Himeko stood up as Li Ming said this and pulled him out. Li Ming didn't even have a chance to properly tour Caltech. "Stop looking, you'll have plenty of opportunities to visit later."

Pulled along by Himeko like that, Li Ming was completely disoriented. All he could say was, a hero's downfall in a gentle embrace.

But there was no helping it. Li Ming still couldn't refuse a beautiful girl's request, presenting himself as ready to be plucked.

Then, as they arrived at the cinema, Himeko suddenly thought, Are we too early to be watching a movie? Is something wrong?

"Mhm, mhm." Li Ming wasn't really listening, just vaguely agreeing.

"Huh?" Himeko felt something was off. She turned around and saw Li Ming with a lecherous grin on his face.

A shiver ran down her spine. She quickly let go of Li Ming's hand, unconsciously wiping her own, as if she had just touched something unclean.

Li Ming also snapped awake. Wait, what was I just doing? How embarrassing! I saw so many beautiful girls in the Elysian Realm and didn't act this way. What's going on? Is it because of the system update?

But even so, I shouldn't be making such a fool of myself every day. It's embarrassing to this extent. It seems like ever since I met her, I've been losing my composure. Could it be...

Li Ming's mind raced. While he didn't suspect Himeko was involved, a sense of vigilance arose within him. He activated the mental energy technique Su had taught him.

Instantly, the hazy feeling in his head vanished. His mind cleared, and he felt as if something had been broken. Li Ming also sensed a feeling of being watched.

He scanned his surroundings but found nothing. However, he knew it wasn't an illusion. Although Li Ming, who rarely practiced mental energy, used it very crudely, the sensation was distinct. Moreover, that power seemed to pose no threat to Himeko.

"Hey, stop spacing out. Do you want popcorn or not?" Himeko looked at Li Ming with a helpless expression. Dude, are you a sleepyhead or what?

"Ah, whatever works for me," Li Ming replied with a smile. Himeko felt that something was off about Li Ming, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. Li Ming looked at the ticket Himeko handed him. Alahato?

To be honest, Li Ming had heard of this anime. Yae watched it, and Li Ming would sometimes watch it with her when he had nothing else to do. It was quite interesting, similar to Gundam and EVA. But for children, the most captivating aspects were undoubtedly the smooth movements and cool mechs.

After all, when you're a kid watching Power Rangers, who pays attention to how pretty the girls are? Everyone just wants to see the armor and fight monsters, right?

"You watch this too?" Li Ming asked Himeko, his tone filled with surprise. He hadn't expected Himeko to be the type to watch such shows.

Sensing his unusual tone, Himeko glared at him. "What, I can't?"

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

Himeko, holding the popcorn, huffed. "My dream is to be like my dad and participate in the space industry. I loved things like Alahato when I was a kid."

Hearing Himeko's words, Li Ming muttered softly, "When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. My grandparents were so happy. They gave me my favorite 'Seven Wolves' stir-fried meat."

"What are you talking about!" Himeko turned around, as if she had heard Li Ming's mutterings. But Li Ming just kept shaking his head, refusing to admit anything. Himeko couldn't exactly interrogate him. They had only met yesterday, and going to the movies together today was already quite forward, wasn't it!

"Let's go, the movie's about to start!" Himeko pulled him and ran towards the cinema. At this moment, Li Ming felt that sense of being watched again.

He spun around abruptly but saw nothing. He finally gave up and was pulled into the cinema by Himeko.

At this point, a small, fist-sized furball suddenly appeared. Despite being just a fluffy-looking little creature, it had limbs, which was quite strange.

The furball patted its belly, or what he presumed was its belly, and sighed. "That was close. How did Ryusuke's daughter run into someone like that? She could actually detect my mental interference. Oh well, she doesn't seem dangerous. I'll go back and tell Ryusuke."

A blue wormhole opened in the air, and the furball jumped straight in. The people around seemed not to notice.

Destiny Institute 7308

Ryusuke Murata was driving back to the institute when a black hole-like anomaly appeared on his shoulder. The furball jumped out. Ryusuke didn't even look at it and asked, "Mint Candy, why are you back? Didn't I ask you to look after Himeko?"

"She's with that kid you met this morning. That kid seems unusual; he could detect my mental interference. I sensed no danger from him, so I came back." Mint Candy sat on Ryusuke's shoulder, opened its mouth, and swallowed a candy. As it opened its mouth again, a large, scarlet eye appeared, its origin unknown.

"You sensed no danger?" Ryusuke's eyes narrowed slightly, but he smiled. "Then you can go play over there too. I'll cover your expenses. And while you're at it, protect Himeko. I'm still a bit worried."

Mint Candy seemed surprised. "Huh? Don't you need my help here? Didn't you say there was a mech invasion at your institute?"

"They only reported an invasion, and the one attacked wasn't here, but a combat base closer to the Americas. And I suspect it has something to do with the Sky People." Speaking of the Sky People, Ryusuke's tone became serious. Clearly, the Sky People posed a significant threat to him, but he still tried to sound relaxed. "Besides, isn't it good for you to get some extra rest?"

"Fine, fine, then you have to protect yourself," Mint Candy said no more, re-entering the wormhole. With a flash of the blue wormhole, it disappeared.

When Himeko and Li Ming entered the cinema and watched the movie, they felt a bit bored. It wasn't that the movie was uninteresting; the plot and animation design were top-notch, after all, coming from our great Welt Yang. However, for Li Ming, the story was about the male lead having a sudden outburst because the female lead was injured, piloting Alahato to fight desperately against the villain.

It's a shame if things were really that idealistic. Besides, our leader Welt isn't an idealist. So, later, when the male lead's Alahato was defeated by the villain and he fell unconscious, his senior, to save him, piloted an older model mech to hold off the villain for him.

Unfortunately, the older model mech couldn't contend with the villain and was directly blown to pieces. The awakened male lead could only watch his senior's mech turn to ashes in the sky like fireworks.

With a surge of adrenaline, he forcefully piloted Alahato to fight the villain, but mechs don't have adrenaline; they can't just power up.

The male lead, even after getting up, was beaten badly. Seeing this, the female lead, dragging her injured body, went to the command center and piloted the male lead's external armor to support him. In the end, the external armor merged with the male lead's mech, Alahato, transforming into Heavy Mech Alahato. The upgraded male lead naturally crushed the villain.

Working together with the female lead, they directly destroyed the villain's mech. Unfortunately, they didn't eliminate the villain, who managed to escape. However, the female lead, due to her severe injuries and forced piloting of the mech, caused her wounds to reopen and bleed profusely, resulting in the amputation of her right arm.

Although it was a close call, the female lead was saved, but she would have to wear a prosthetic from then on.

It was a relatively happy ending, but the villain didn't die, and there weren't any major casualties in the plot. Both the male and female leads survived, only the male lead's spiritual leader—his senior—died.

What the heck, so it's a world where only the senior got hurt?

The senior expressed his frustration and sent a telegram of greetings.

Moreover, Li Ming felt that this movie contained some personal messages, but unlike our Archbishop Otto, who openly inserted his personal feelings, it wasn't as blatant as writing "I love Kallen" all over the book.

However, after recalling that this movie was produced by Anti-Entropy, Li Ming's mind suddenly flashed with the image of a certain telegram scientist.

It shouldn't be.

Li Ming thought uncertainly. At this moment, Li Ming turned to look at Himeko. Himeko's eyes were already red, and she was using the tissues Li Ming had just bought to wipe away her tears.

Li Ming glanced at the tissues. A new pack was almost completely used, and crumpled tissues piled up in the finished popcorn bucket. He could only say, "I acknowledge your combat power."

However, Himeko was wearing a plaid short shirt today, with a ribbon tied around her neck like a bow. She wore a pleated skirt with white knee-high socks on her lower half. With her light makeup today, her crying made her look so pitiable that Li Ming was left speechless.

Li Ming admitted that he probably had feelings for Himeko, but there was a way to deal with his thoughts in this place, and it was effective. There was nothing he could do; Li Ming could only feel indignant inwardly.