Joining Alahato?!

Li Ming, unconscious, vaguely saw a figure approaching him. Smiling, the figure said, "Don't worry. We'll meet again soon, hehe!"

After the figure vanished, Li Ming felt as though his entire body had been soaked in water, swollen and bloated.

He groggily opened his eyes and saw Tesla and Welt watching beside him. Once they saw that he was awake, they drew a large tube of blood and left.

"Where am I?"

Looking at the needles stuck all over his body, with pale blue fluid still slowly being injected into him, he did not dare move.

"An inhibitor. It was developed from the serum extracted from your body and the inhibitors we already had. It isn't as potent as the serum, but it can be mass-produced."

After operating the equipment to remove all the needles, Welt handed Li Ming his clothes and reminded him, "Get dressed, then come find me."

As Welt left, Li Ming's medical suit instantly fell apart, leaving him completely exposed. "Ah, I—!"

Li Ming hurriedly caught his clothes and pulled them on. While dressing, he carefully checked the spots where the needles had been inserted. They were only slightly swollen, with no serious issues. They must have been treated already.

Once he was properly dressed, he saw Welt waiting outside the moment he stepped through the door. Tesla was nowhere to be seen. "Um, Welt—no, Executive Officer, what do you need me to do?"

"Follow me." Welt said only that before taking the lead. Li Ming had no choice but to follow behind him, though he also took the chance to observe where they were. After all, he had been unconscious the entire way here.

Thinking of that made Li Ming's head hurt again. He stared resentfully at Welt's back.

After leaving the laboratory, the two of them walked through the corridors. Only their footsteps and the sound of ventilation fans echoed through the passageway. Welt finally stopped when they reached the end.

He looked at Li Ming and smiled faintly. "Since you've joined Alahato, I'll provide you with the appropriate technical support. Aren't you looking for leads on H&K Company? Take out your mobile phone."

He raised a hand toward Li Ming's phone. A red light flashed in his eyes, then he withdrew his hand. "The locations of all H&K Company branch bases have been sent to your email. Also, here is my phone number. Call me if anything comes up. Let's go. It's getting late, and it's time to head back. We're quite far from California."

Welt pushed open the manhole cover above them. When Li Ming climbed out, he realized that he was no longer in California. "This is... Houston?"

He looked at Welt in utter shock. Seriously, man, how much time had passed? How had he gone from California to Houston?

But Welt Yang did not respond. He quietly gazed toward the horizon. The night was growing darker, and the moon already hung high in the sky.

Li Ming looked around instead. The buildings were fairly low, there were no streetlights, and the structures were sparse. This was probably the outskirts. If not for the road sign nearby, Li Ming would not even have known this was Houston.

After waiting a while, a black Porsche stopped in front of them. Once Welt got in, Li Ming followed.

"Where to, sir?"

The driver wore black from head to toe and sunglasses as well. At a glance, he did not look like a good person.

But Li Ming only needed to follow Welt now. After the serum injection, the bumpy journey, his physical discomfort, and going an entire day without food, he lay quietly in the back seat and eventually fell asleep without realizing it.

After Li Ming fell asleep, Welt merely smiled and told the driver, "Stop up ahead."

"Yes."

Without another word, Welt carried Li Ming out of the car when they passed the intersection ahead.

"Hm, where am I?" Li Ming abruptly sat up in bed. A beige silk blanket covered him, and the room's decor was completely different from his apartment.

After cautiously getting out of bed, Li Ming folded the blanket and walked out of the room. He happened to see Mr. Welt, wearing an apron and glasses, holding a spatula and—cooking?!!

"Um, where are we now? Professor Welt, what are you..."

Looking at the abnormal lump of blackened mush in the pan, smoking ominously, Li Ming raised an eyebrow. Yeah, that was something.

"Oh, this is an apartment assigned to me by the academy. We're inside the academy now. I was trying to make Shenzhou-style fried rice, but it seems to be rather difficult to master." He pushed up his glasses, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Grilled meat would have been fine. There was no need to make things so complicated."

Though he said that, Li Ming still went over for a look. One glance nearly made him explode. The rice in the pan had turned into a charred black lump, stuck so firmly that it could not even be scraped off. In the end, Welt had to replace the entire pan.

Neither of them mentioned that pan afterward.

After examining the items in the kitchen, Li Ming realized that Welt had not paid attention when buying rice and had purchased glutinous rice instead. Coupled with some improper handling, that had resulted in the ruined pan.

Li Ming thought for a moment, feeling troubled. There were only carrots, meat, and eggs here.

"I can't even make potato balls!"

But Welt Yang seemed inspired. "Meatballs, right. Why not just make meatballs?"

With that, he immediately got to work, following the recipe book.

First, Chef Li tenderized the meat, then took up the knife and minced it.

Next, they added minced ginger, salt, light soy sauce, egg, cooking wine, sugar, and flour to the minced meat in order.

Meanwhile, Chef Li soaked the glutinous rice in advance.

Welt Yang Transcendence, unfinished version, made reasonable use of his Authority to construct a mold and dice the carrots.

Then they added the diced carrots to the minced meat, mixed everything evenly by hand, and rolled it into little meatballs. They rolled the meatballs through the soaked glutinous rice, coating every last bit of their pristine surface with it.

Then Welt constructed virtual Heavenly Fire. Once the water came to a boil, they put the meatballs inside and steamed them for fifteen minutes.

To enhance the aroma, Li Ming also sprinkled on some chopped scallions.

"Although they don't look quite like the recipe, they should still taste pretty good. Here, Li Ming, give them a try."

Without another word, Welt served Li Ming a bowl, then scooped a small bowl for himself.

Looking at the strange and rather unattractive glutinous rice meatballs in front of him, Li Ming did not dare claim they tasted good, even though he had helped make them himself.

After swallowing nervously, he still could not resist after being hungry all day. He speared a meatball and put it into his mouth.

"Mmm, so good!" Li Ming's eyes immediately lit up. He speared one meatball after another and stuffed them into his mouth until his cheeks were full.

Welt knew that Li Ming had not eaten anything all day yesterday, so he made some traditional American grilled meat as well. Large, sizzling pieces of meat were piled together, accompanied by the fragrant scent of olive oil and the crisp freshness of carrots.

This plate of grilled meat looked far more appetizing than the meatballs they had just made.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Ming was no longer curious about why he was here. Welt had taken him all over the place, so he must have had his own reasons.

But Li Ming still had some questions. "Um, Professor Welt, since I've joined... Alahato, are there any rules?"

Welt Yang had given him the leads last night far too readily, and Li Ming had not yet adjusted to it. There were inhibitors and maps and everything else. Even selling himself would not have been excessive payment, yet all they wanted was for him to join them. They had not even made him sign a contract.

The more he thought about it, the more terrified Li Ming became.

He had a system, but that did not mean he could take on the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy in front of him head-on.

Thinking about it, his system really was pathetic. Even AI Big Cabbage had not come online to chat with him in ages.

While his thoughts drifted, Welt had just finished thinking—no, organizing his words before speaking to Li Ming. "Ahem. Alahato's main duty is to protect this world from destruction. Organizations like H&K Company are clearly harmful to the world, so we purged H&K Company a few days ago."

"Then, that strange robot was...?" Li Ming asked, pretending not to know.

At that question, Welt Yang secretly wiped away some sweat. "That was a new weapon we developed, like the humanoid machines in the film Heavy Mech Alahato, but it's still in the testing phase. Its performance is still very unstable."

"Oh~ All right, then."

"However, your condition is still rather dangerous, so we installed a tracking system beneath the surface of your skin. It's beside that strange tattoo on the left side of your neck. Does it hurt a little when you press there?"

Welt pointed to where Li Ming's Commandment Mark was located. Li Ming tapped it twice, and sure enough, he felt a faint twinge of pain.

"If you encounter trouble you can't handle or need help, tap your tracking chip six times. Alahato personnel will come help you. But you'll need to pay. It costs fifty thousand US dollars each time, so you'd better prepare yourself mentally."

Li Ming, who had been about to try it, was instantly frightened. He did not even dare move his hands and quietly drew them back.

Welt pretended not to notice and said casually, "There are still two days left of vacation. You can rest properly or go out and spend time with Himeko and the others. But it's best not to engage in strenuous exercise lately. The inhibitor will greatly suppress your adrenaline secretion and the normal operation of some of your bodily systems. This is a report I just reprinted based on your current condition. You can take a look."

"Mild kidney deficiency, slightly high blood sugar... No, if this gets out, how am I supposed to face anyone? Professor Welt, can't you phrase it differently?"

The moment he saw the line about kidney deficiency, Li Ming completely panicked. Anything else would have been fine, but not kidney deficiency! Once that was confirmed, it would be a lifelong humiliation!

Welt smiled brilliantly. "Hehe, no. All right, let's go. I need to get to work, and you need to leave!"

Without giving Li Ming a chance to refuse, Welt left on his own. Li Ming could only follow him out, but he still clutched the polished report tightly in his hand and carefully put it away, afraid someone else might see it.