Da Vinci

Kraft playfully teased Alice for a while, but eventually, Martin Lee, with a headache, took charge and removed the rather meaningless wind-up mechanism.

"Weren't you going to be her brother? Is this how you do it?"

Martin playfully smacked Kraft on the head, scolding him with a laugh.

"Alright, alright... I get it..."

Kraft rubbed his head and grumbled as he removed the wind-up mechanism from Alice's back again.

"Th-that's great!"

Alice, overcome with joy, hugged Martin Lee tightly.

"Thank you, Uncle Martin!"

The rest was simple. With Martin's current influence, getting Alice an identity document was incredibly easy.

However, Kraft didn't immediately arrange for Alice to go to school.

Firstly, he wanted to observe her for a while longer. Although Kraft had already uploaded most common knowledge to Alice, making her appear no different from an ordinary person, she was, after all, a robot. Thus, it was better to observe her for a longer period.

In fact, if it weren't for the hassle, Kraft wouldn't have thought there would be any problem with Alice revealing her identity.

The second reason was naturally her age. Although she held the title of "sister" in terms of seniority, Alice's outward appearance was older than his. While he could build her a new body, Kraft felt it was pointless. It would be better to wait a couple of years for his own age to catch up before they both enrolled in ninth grade together.

"This is good," Martin Lee said to Kraft as he savored the meal prepared by Alice. "I'm often not home, and with Alice taking care of you, I can rest easier."

As he spoke, Martin glanced at the robot girl who was eating with gusto and felt a wave of speechlessness.

A perfectly good robot, and she still needed to eat... I really don't understand what young people are thinking these days.

But her cooking is genuinely good.

Martin chuckled, shook his head, and continued to enjoy the food on the table.

It was only natural that Alice's cooking was good. Kraft constantly urged Martin Lee to get married, wasn't it because he wanted someone who could cook Chinese food to take care of him? So, when he uploaded data to Alice, he also threw in a bunch of recipes.

Next time, I'll ask Fatty Liao if I can get some of Fu Man Lou's signature recipes from him.

Kraft quickly ate his meal, his mind already making plans.

After a hearty lunch, Martin Lee watched Alice diligently doing housework, feeling much more at ease.

Regardless of the peculiar quirks of this robot, at least she was very practical. He could also confidently leave Kraft at home and fully dedicate himself to his revenge plan against the Maggia.

"I have work to do, so I'll be going now."

Martin Lee patted Kraft's head, reminding him.

"If you have time, prepare some more trump cards for yourself. I've had some business conflicts recently, and they might come looking for you."

"Again?"

Kraft frowned. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Otherwise, why would he bother making strange equipment like the Anesthetic Watch for himself? It was because he had similar experiences in the past.

But that was a long time ago. After Martin established the shelter, such situations hadn't occurred.

"Aren't you a rich man now? Why would anyone still bother you?"

"It's precisely because my influence has grown that these things happen more often. It's just that my previous opponents weren't strong enough, and they were dealt with by my subordinates before they could reach you. But this time, the opponent is different..."

Martin Lee ruffled Kraft's hair, squatted down, and said with a serious expression, "I need to mobilize a large number of people to deal with them, so there might be some oversight on your end. Is that a problem?"

Having depended on each other for so long, Martin Lee knew Kraft very well. His adopted son wasn't as gentle as he appeared, so he didn't treat Kraft like an ordinary child.

"Not a problem at all!"

Kraft confidently patted his chest and replied.

"Don't worry, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve!"

"Like that Kung Fu you learned who knows when?"

Martin raised an eyebrow and teased.

"Heh heh..."

Kraft sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

After that dance, Martin had curiously asked Kraft what had happened. He naturally didn't hide anything and showed Martin the Arm Strength Enhancement Bracer he had made. He had originally intended to make a set for Martin too, but he was refused.

"You're not the only one with trump cards."

Martin had said meaningfully, patting Kraft's shoulder at the time.

After finishing his instructions to Kraft, Martin Lee left home. What he told Kraft was both true and false.

The Maggia's retaliation was within Martin's expectations, but to say he had no manpower to ensure Kraft's safety was a lie. However, Martin wanted to see how far his adopted son could go and, at the same time, set a small trap for the Maggia who were trying to sneak in.

"Is something dangerous going to happen?"

Alice, who had overheard most of the conversation, cautiously leaned over after Martin left and asked in a low voice.

"Don't worry, don't worry, it's nothing major."

Kraft didn't take Martin Lee's warning too seriously. He had great confidence in his inventions. Also, after such a long period of peace, Kraft wasn't as vigilant as before; he had become much more relaxed than in the past.

"But I still need to reinforce your armor."

While Kraft wasn't too concerned about Martin's so-called business rivals, he aimed to be a wise man who left no stone unturned, so he wouldn't forget to take necessary precautions.

After all, Alice's offensive capabilities, aside from a pair of rocket-powered fists that were more about appearance than practicality, only consisted of a wrist-mounted Gatling gun meant for comedic effect.

"Huh? Am I… am I going to fight too?"

Alice waved her hands in panic, her face a mask of alarm.

"I can't, fighting is too scary!"

It was strange. Kraft had adjusted Alice's personality slightly when inputting her data, but she still ended up with the same soft and cute personality as in his dreams.

Kraft couldn't do much about it; artificial intelligence was still too complex for him, and he didn't dare tamper with it too much.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to enhance your self-defense capabilities, just in case."

He gently reassured Alice, then stood up and stretched.

"I'm going to take a nap, and I'll help you upgrade your systems in the studio this afternoon."

"Haa— I'll take a nap too, then. Did you prepare a room for me, big brother?"

Alice yawned, wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes as she asked.

Kraft: "..."

What was Dr. Shinonome thinking? Why would a robot need to sleep! And that physiological reaction of tearing up when yawning, how was that even possible?

Even though Kraft had assembled Alice himself from scratch, some of her unscientific functions were beyond his comprehension, even if he possessed all the knowledge about robots in the world.

"Follow me."

Shaking his head to clear his jumbled thoughts, Kraft led Alice to an empty room. He took an inflatable mattress, pillow, and blankets from a cabinet.

"You'll have to make do with this for now. After I upgrade you this afternoon, we can go shopping for some daily necessities."

"Okay~"

Even though Kraft had set Alice's background to be of Chinese descent, she still retained some Japanese mannerisms and speech patterns. However, these weren't major issues, so Kraft didn't pay them much mind.

In fact, it made her even cuter.

After tidying up Alice's room, Kraft returned to his own and immediately fell asleep.

Kraft had developed a good habit of taking afternoon naps because he could acquire various knowledge in his dreams. However, it also had a downside: he still liked to hit snooze in the morning. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to set up that screaming chicken alarm clock.

As Kraft drifted off into dreamland, a middle-aged man in a white lab coat with sparse hair appeared in his dream.

My luck has been pretty good these past few days.

Seeing the standard white lab coat, Kraft's eyes lit up. This attire usually meant the dream was leaning towards the scientific side. Moreover, this middle-aged man was a new face he hadn't seen before.

This filled Kraft with anticipation.

"Big brother, it's time to wake up."

Woken by the alarm clock, Alice climbed out of bed and went to Kraft's room, knocking gently on the door.

"Come in!"

Kraft's voice came from inside, sounding quite displeased.

Alice pushed the door open and poked her head through the gap.

She saw Kraft sitting on his bed, his face dark and furious.

"Did I disturb you?"

Alice was still a bit afraid of Kraft after his earlier "grabby hands" incident. She asked cautiously, afraid he might take out his morning grumpiness on her.

"...It has nothing to do with you."

Seeing Alice's expression, which resembled a startled hamster, Kraft rubbed his face vigorously, trying to soften his expression, and spoke in a gentle, soothing tone.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kraft rolled out of bed. While trying to calm his inner rage, he led Alice to his workshop.

What the hell is a solar-powered flashlight?! And that piece of crap "You-Will-Die-in-Three-Thousand"… You call that an invention?!

White lab coat, bald head… He looks like a top scientist, but he's actually as ridiculous as Shougong Geng? No! His inventions are even worse than Shougong Geng's!

This is infuriating!

How dare you call yourself Da Vinci!