All Parties Stir

After returning to his apartment, Li Ming finally relaxed. He picked up his clothes and went into the bathroom. Habitually, Li Ming glanced at his right wrist, only to find that the originally light red patterns were now barely visible.

"Sigh, I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing."

He rubbed his wrist and touched the bruises and scars on his abdomen. They didn't hurt as much as when he first discovered them, and even the symptoms had lessened considerably. But these were probably the effects of the inhibitor.

Thinking this, his already decent mood immediately sank. After he agreed to Welt Yang's request, everything that followed had exceeded his expectations. He had originally thought he would directly join Anti-Entropy. Even if he didn't join, they would have erased his memory and then dealt with him to prevent him from becoming a Mantis.

"But what is this joining the 'Alahato' all about!"

Li Ming, who had just finished showering, was drying his hair while watching the news. As expected, there was no information about him. The report only mentioned a suspected second explosion at the site that was attacked yesterday.

"A second explosion, my ass." He grumbled inwardly, a little displeased. He turned off the hairdryer, ran a hand through his hair, and walked to the mirror, saying narcissistically, "Looks like there's no change. It seems that inhibitor really just suppresses the erosion of Honkai Energy."

Suddenly, he seemed to notice something was slightly off. "This... was it like this before?"

He tugged at the hair on his forehead. The tips of that lock of hair had a dark red sheen. After thinking for a long time, he finally gave up. "It's probably a side effect of the inhibitor. However, in the coming days, I'll have to hurry and clean up the remaining loose ends at the other H&K company bases."

"After all, it's the first mission assigned by our Alliance Leader, no, Executive Officer. The sooner we finish, the better. But is Anti-Entropy really that short-handed? I felt like there were quite a lot of people when we were in Schicksal!" Li Ming stretched and turned towards the bedroom. "Sleep, sleep, I need to catch up on all the sleep I've missed these past few days."

While Li Ming was enjoying a nice lie-in, Welt Yang and Einstein were discussing him in the office.

"Is it really okay to hand over the cleanup of H&K company to a young man who's not even 22?" Einstein did not fully agree with Welt Yang's decision to give this information to Li Ming and reveal Anti-Entropy-related information to him.

Welt took a sip of his coffee and smiled. "Wasn't I also very young back then?"

Einstein sat in her chair without speaking. She knew Welt understood her meaning and was waiting for his explanation.

"Besides, aren't we short-handed right now? Ryoma is preparing the Silver Bullet plan to deal with external threats. Coupled with the recent H&K plan, we can only spare a small number of people to handle the aftermath. Isn't it good to find a capable fighter to solve the problem?"

He put down his cup, rummaged through his desk, and finally handed Einstein a torn letter. "Destiny has already started making moves in Schicksal. Our top priority now is to withdraw our personnel or change our approach. We'll deal with student Li Ming's issues after those matters are resolved. At least he can still control himself."

Einstein was silent for a moment before agreeing with Welt's decision. In fact, unless absolutely necessary, Einstein did not want to directly eliminate Li Ming. It would be best to resolve the problems with Li Ming in a more reasonable and effective way.

"Since you've already made a decision, you should also be aware that the inhibitor created by Tesla was made based on an emergency simulated serum for Li Ming's constitution. At most, in six months, the Honkai Energy within Li Ming will erupt. I hope you can handle it then."

She picked up her teaching materials and prepared to leave. She didn't intend to listen to Welt Yang any further. However, before leaving, she reminded him, "At 3 PM, E.T. Studio will hold a press conference in Washington for the premiere of the movie 'Heavy Mech Alahato'. You, as the producer and screenwriter, shouldn't be late."

Hearing this, Welt's face contorted in pain. Not only had Li Ming been sleeping poorly these past few days, but Welt had been the same. Even though Herrschers had superior physical fitness, not sleeping for three days would still make him feel tired.

However, E.T. Studio was not only meant to solve Anti-Entropy's financial problems, but it also contained some of his own small intentions. Otherwise, Welt wouldn't have had to say so many unnecessary things when he was tricking Li Ming.

When the class bell rang, he finally realized that his next class was starting. He hurriedly grabbed his teaching materials and ran to the classroom.

Destiny Headquarters

After Nagako escorted Otto to resolve matters for two days, she finally dealt with all the accumulated tasks. Casually opening an unread file, Otto raised an eyebrow upon glancing at it.

"Oh, has this matter reached this point? It's time to handle it. By the way, Amber, contact Fu Hua. Since it's a matter concerning the Schicksal region, it's best to have a local person handle it familiar with the situation."

Otto casually assigned Amber to handle the recent affairs, seemingly not paying much attention.

However, he kept rubbing the armrest of his chair and finally marked the file. Picking up another document for the day, he mused, "Exploration of outer space, what is Anti-Entropy up to? And the large-scale migration in Mexico... Hmm..."

Otto pondered for a moment. Anti-Entropy's actions didn't seem simple. Perhaps it was a series of counterattacks against Destiny. He said to Amber, "Have G048, G056, and G097 monitor the Mexico region. Report immediately if there are any irregularities."

"Yes!"

Following Otto's instructions, Amber issued the commands. Suddenly, a new email was sent to Otto's communicator via private message.

"A new spaceship, interesting. Nagako has discovered traces of technology similar to the previous civilization, but it's heavily damaged and no longer operational. It's similar to the Fourth Divine Key." Tapping his armrest with his slender fingers, Otto finally stood up. "Amber, who are the personnel in Destiny with outstanding achievements in aerospace research?"

"Reporting, Lord Bishop, in this regard, the personnel are led by Director Ryusuke Murata of the Saint 7308 Research Institute and Director Space Tachyon of Saint 7905."

"Ryusuke Murata... The director with such courage from last time?" Otto recalled Ryusuke Murata's image. "What are Director Space Tachyon and our Director Ryusuke Murata doing now?"

Amber quickly found the information through the central processor. "Director Space Tachyon is leading Saint 7905 Research Institute in developing designs for a mobile satellite communication system. Director Ryusuke Murata, due to the previous incident, is temporarily leading Saint 7308 Research Institute in the repair plan for the Fourth Divine Key. Do you need to summon them?"

"No need. Director Space Tachyon is working for a better tomorrow for humanity, so don't disturb him. As for our Director Ryusuke Murata, he is a meritorious official. If this were five hundred years ago, he would have been ennobled and granted land. How can we let him be forgotten because he's participating in the repair plan for the Fourth Divine Key?"

Amber, who had been following Otto, knew what he meant. She simply asked, "Then where should we transfer Director Ryusuke?"

Otto extended his finger and manipulated the screen. "Here. Nagako recently discovered a spaceship suspected to be invented by the previous civilization. I believe Director Ryusuke will be very happy to see it, as it would be an extraordinary breakthrough for current aerospace technology!"

"Following your instructions." Amber simply followed Otto's orders, postponing the Fourth Divine Key repair plan under Ryusuke Murata and the entire Saint 7308 Research Institute, marking it as pending. Simultaneously, she added it to the plan recently established by Nagako and issued the relevant instructions.

Otto chuckled as he looked at the instrument, which was suspected to be a satellite from the previous civilization.

"Director Ryusuke, Director Ryusuke, great news!"

Ryusuke Murata was looking at the repair blueprints that the Fourth Divine Key had currently explored. In fact, when he learned that the entire Saint 7308 was required to focus solely on the repair plan for the Fourth Divine Key after the previous incident, he wasn't particularly disappointed. Instead, he felt a sense of joy. The work these past few days had been the most relaxed he had experienced since joining Destiny.

When a subordinate researcher suddenly rushed in shouting, Ryusuke Murata was bewildered. The researcher approached him. "Director Ryusuke, the Lord Bishop said that in consideration of Director Ryusuke's merits, we will be participating in an exploration plan involving a spaceship from the previous civilization."

"A spaceship from the previous civilization?" Ryusuke was momentarily stunned. How long had it been since he heard the word "spaceship" after his institute's spaceship development plan was halted and canceled?

Seeing Ryusuke still in a daze, the researcher hurried away. "Director, I'll go share this good news with others first."

After the researcher left, Mint Candy jumped out of a wormhole, looking at the still-dazed Ryusuke Murata.

"Ryusuke, are you alright?"

Mint Candy said hesitantly. He could clearly sense the intense fluctuations in Ryusuke's emotions. Although it felt like happiness, he had a feeling that things wouldn't end well if it continued like this.

Ryusuke Murata blinked and grinned. After adjusting himself for a while, he said, "I'm fine. I'm just too happy. It's been a long time since I felt this way. And to be able to participate in the research of a spaceship from the previous civilization, if we develop something, it will be a huge contribution to humanity. I'm just too happy, yes, I'm just too happy..."

Although he felt some concern, seeing Ryusuke's appearance, Mint Candy didn't try to persuade him further. He simply silently offered Ryusuke a Mint Candy, which he liked to eat.

Ryusuke looked at the lollipop-shaped Mint Candy and smiled. He felt that the Mint Candy was somewhat out of place at that moment, but he still smiled, accepted the Mint Candy, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. "It's very good, thank you, Mint Candy."

"It's nothing, Ryusuke, as long as you're okay. We're partners!" Mint Candy smiled, then his expression suddenly changed, and he quickly retreated into the wormhole. "Oh no, Elder Konpeito is rushing me again. I have to go quickly. Bye, Ryusuke!"

With that, the wormhole disappeared into the air. Ryusuke Murata looked at the spot where the wormhole had vanished and let out a hearty and relaxed laugh.