Join [Arahanto]?!

In his unconscious state, Li Ming vaguely saw a figure approach, smiling as they said, "Don't rush, we'll meet again soon, heh!"

After the figure disappeared, Li Ming's entire body felt swollen, as if he had been soaked in water.

He groggily opened his eyes to see Tesla and Welt watching him. As soon as he woke up, they drew a large tube of blood and left.

"What is this?"

He looked at himself, covered in needles, with a pale blue liquid slowly being injected into his body, making him afraid to move.

"An inhibitor. It's a drug developed from the serum extracted from your body combined with our existing inhibitors. It's not as potent as the serum, but it can be mass-produced."

After operating the machine to remove all the needles, Welt handed Li Ming his clothes and instructed, "Once you're dressed, come find me."

As Welt left, the life-support suit on Li Ming instantly disintegrated, exposing him completely. "Ah!"

Li Ming fumbled to grab his clothes and put them on. While dressing, he carefully examined the needle puncture sites, finding only slight swelling with no major issues. It seemed they had been treated.

Once fully dressed, he stepped out and saw Welt waiting for him. Tesla was nowhere in sight. "Uh, Welt, no, Executor, do you have any instructions for me?"

"Follow me," Welt simply said, leading the way. Li Ming had no choice but to follow behind him, observing his surroundings since he had been unconscious since arriving.

Thinking of this, Li Ming's head began to ache, and he looked at Welt ahead with a disgruntled expression.

Leaving the laboratory, the two walked through the corridors, the only sounds being their footsteps and the hum of the exhaust fans. Welt stopped at the end of the passage.

He looked at Li Ming and smiled slightly, "Since you've joined Alahato, I'll provide you with the corresponding technical support. You're looking for clues about H&K Company, aren't you? Take out your mobile phone."

He raised his hand towards Li Ming's mobile phone as Li Ming took it out. A flash of red light appeared in his eyes before he retracted his hand. "All of H&K Company's branch bases have been sent to your email. Also, here's my phone number; call me if you need anything. Let's go, it's getting late, and we need to head back. This is quite a distance from California."

Welt pushed open the manhole cover above them. As Li Ming emerged, he realized they were no longer in California. "This is... Houston?"

He looked at Welt, his face full of surprise. Seriously, how long has it been? I went from California to Houston?

However, Welt Yang didn't reply, quietly gazing at the horizon. Night deepened, and the moon hung in the sky.

Li Ming observed their surroundings. The houses were low, there were no streetlights, and the buildings were sparse. This must be the outskirts. If not for the road signs nearby, Li Ming wouldn't have known they were in Houston.

After waiting for a while, a black Porsche stopped in front of them. Seeing Welt get in, Li Ming followed.

"Where to, sir?"

The driver, dressed all in black and wearing sunglasses, didn't look like a good person at first glance.

However, Li Ming just needed to follow Welt. After the serum injection, the bumpy ride, and feeling unwell, coupled with not having eaten all day, he eventually lay down in the back seat and unconsciously fell asleep.

Once Li Ming was asleep, Welt chuckled and said to the driver, "Stop up ahead."

"Yes."

Without further ado, Welt got out of the car at the next intersection, carrying Li Ming on his back.

"Hmm, where am I?" He suddenly sat up in bed, covered by a beige silk comforter. The interior of the room was completely different from his apartment.

He carefully got out of bed, folded the comforter, and walked out of the room. He saw Mr. Welt, wearing an apron and glasses, holding a spatula and... cooking?!!

"Where are we now, Teacher Welt? What are you...?"

Looking at the abnormal, black smoke-spewing mush in the pot, Li Ming's eyebrows shot up. Well, that's something.

"Oh, this is an apartment assigned to me by the academy. We're currently at the academy. I was just trying to make Schicksal's fried rice, but it seems I'm not very good at it." He adjusted his glasses, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"We could have just had roast meat; there was no need to go through all this trouble."

Even so, Li Ming came over to take a look. But one more glance and he almost exploded. The rice in the pot had turned into burnt crust, stuck to the bottom and impossible to remove. Welt eventually had to switch to a different pot to finish.

Both of them tacitly avoided mentioning the ruined pot.

After examining the contents of the kitchen, it turned out Welt had mistakenly bought glutinous rice instead of regular rice when he went shopping. Combined with some improper cooking techniques, this led to the earlier disaster.

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

"I can't even make potato balls!"

But Welt Yang seemed inspired. "Balls, right! We can just make them into balls."

He immediately got to work, following a recipe.

First, he handed the meat over to Master Li to tenderize and then chop it into mince.

Next, ginger paste, salt, soy sauce, eggs, cooking wine, sugar, and flour were added to the minced meat in sequence.

Meanwhile, Master Li soaked the glutinous rice in advance.

Welt Yang, utilizing his abilities beyond the unfinished recipe, constructed a mold and diced the carrots.

Then, the diced carrots were added to the minced meat, mixed thoroughly by hand, and rolled into small balls. The balls were then rolled in the soaked glutinous rice, ensuring every inch was coated.

Welt then virtually constructed a heavenly fire. Once the water was steaming, the balls were placed in it and steamed for fifteen minutes.

To enhance the flavor, Li Ming sprinkled some chopped scallions.

"Although it looks a bit different from the recipe, the taste should be quite good. Here, student Li Ming, try some."

Welt unceremoniously served Li Ming a bowl, then served himself a small one.

Looking at the strange and unappetizing glutinous rice balls in front of him, Li Ming, despite having made them himself, didn't dare to claim they were delicious.

Swallowing hard, he couldn't resist the temptation after not eating all day and picked up a ball, putting it in his mouth.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" Li Ming's eyes lit up as he speared one meatball after another, stuffing his mouth until it was full.

Welt knew Li Ming hadn't eaten all day yesterday, so he made some more traditional American barbecue. The greasy, large chunks of grilled meat were piled high, complemented by the fresh aroma of olive oil and the crispness of radishes.

This plate of barbecue looked much more appetizing than the freshly made meatballs.

After eating his fill and drinking his fill, Li Ming no longer wondered why he was here. Anyway, Welt always had his ways when he took him places.

However, he still had some questions. "Um, Teacher Welt, I've joined... the [Alahato], but do we have any rules?"

Actually, Welt Yang had given him the clues too readily last night, leaving Li Ming feeling a bit unaccustomed. Considering he was given inhibitors and a map, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he'd sold himself, yet all they wanted was for him to join, and they didn't even have him sign a contract.

The more Li Ming thought about it, the more his heart pounded with fear.

Even though he had a system, it didn't mean he could go head-to-head with the leader of Anti-Entropy right in front of him.

He thought about how truly useless his system felt. Even the AI cabbage hadn't logged on to chat with him in a long time.

As his thoughts drifted, Welt had just finished, or rather, organized his thoughts to speak to Li Ming. "Ahem, our [Alahato]'s main duty is to protect this world from destruction. Organizations like H&K Company pose a clear threat to the world, so we settled accounts with H&K Company a few days ago."

"Then, what was that strange robot?" Li Ming asked, pretending ignorance.

When asked about that, Welt Yang secretly wiped some sweat. "That's a new type of weapon we've developed, similar to the humanoid mechs in the movie [Heavy Mech Alahato]. However, it's still in the experimental stage, and its performance is quite unstable."

"Oh~ Alright then."

"However, your condition is still quite dangerous, so we've installed a tracking system on the surface of your skin. It's next to that strange tattoo on the left side of your neck. Does it hurt a little if you press it?"

Welt pointed to the location of Li Ming's [Precept] Imprint. Li Ming tapped it twice, and indeed, he felt a slight pain.

"When you encounter trouble you can't handle or need help, tap your tracking chip six times, and we at [Alahato] will come to your aid. However, it costs money – 50,000 US dollars per use, so you'd better be prepared."

Li Ming, who had been considering trying it out, was instantly terrified. He didn't dare move his hands and meekly pulled them back.

Welt pretended not to notice and said casually, "You have two more days of vacation. You can consider resting well, or go out and play with Himeko and the others. However, it's best not to engage in strenuous activities recently. The inhibitor will greatly suppress your adrenaline secretion and the normal operation of some of your functional systems. This is a report I just reprinted based on your current physical condition. You can take a look."

"Slight kidney deficiency, blood sugar is a bit high. No, if this gets out, what face will I have left, Teacher Welt? Can we rephrase this?"

When he saw the "kidney deficiency" section, Li Ming was completely flustered. Anything else was fine, but kidney deficiency was unacceptable! If this were confirmed, it would be a lifelong shame!

Welt smiled brightly. "Heh heh, no. Alright, let's go. I need to get to work, and you should leave too!"

With that, without giving Li Ming a chance to refuse, Welt left on his own. Li Ming had no choice but to follow, but he still clutched the polished report tightly, carefully putting it away, afraid of being seen by anyone.