"Give it up. There's no future for you two..."
Kraft's words were like a bolt from the blue, exploding beside Fatty Liao's ear.
"Why the hell not?!"
Fatty Liao sprayed spit as he excitedly pointed at Kraft's nose and bounced up and down.
"Don't tell me a thick-browed, big-eyed guy like you has improper thoughts about your own sister?!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
With a dark expression, Kraft shoved Fatty Liao's big head aside. Just as he was about to explain, a group of people rushed in carrying weapons.
"Fuck! Fatty, your timing couldn't be worse!"
Using Fatty Liao's body as cover, Kraft quickly activated the switches on his wrist guards and pulled him behind himself.
"You jinx! You ran into trouble the moment you got here!"
"No, no, no. We specifically followed this child inside."
The leader, with slicked-back hair, explained leisurely, looking utterly confident.
These intruders had much more style than the last lot. Not only were they not covered in the miscellaneous junk typical of street punks, they even wore matching uniforms—nothing but black suits. Clearly, this was another case of watching too much The Godfather.
"So... those stray dogs and homeless men from a while ago were your doing?"
Not long after they had moved into the workshop, a stray dog had broken in and been electrocuted unconscious by Kraft's rudimentary defense system. A few more had appeared afterward, and finally, there had even been a homeless man. After being knocked out by the workshop's defenses, they had all been tossed back onto the street by Alice.
He had not paid much attention at the time, but now that he thought about it, it was strange that no attackers had shown up for so long. So they had tested the waters beforehand.
Kraft pursed his lips. Guys who used their brains were much harder to deal with than the previous batch of street punks...
Fortunately, this was my home turf.
"As expected of the genius boy Stark has taken a liking to," Slicked-Back said, lightly clapping his hands. "Since everyone we sent before failed, it's always best to be careful."
"Um... Kraft, did I get you into trouble?"
Fatty Liao asked weakly.
"Yeah," Kraft snorted in reply, then reassured him, "but it's not a big problem."
"Oh? What other tricks do you have?" Slicked-Back curled his lips, convinced Kraft was merely bluffing. "That so-called 'Kung Fu'? But we aren't unarmed football players."
Slicked-Back displayed the Beretta M92F in his hand, subtly revealing that he was not entirely ignorant of Kraft.
The black-suited men behind him all looked relaxed as well. And rightly so—more than a dozen armed adults against three unarmed kids should have been easy pickings.
"Brother, what should we do?"
Alice took tiny steps to Kraft's side and asked softly. Though Kraft had added quite a bit of equipment to her, she still looked as if she were about to cry.
So the personality adjustments I made for you earlier were completely useless?
Kraft stared at Alice, who looked like a frightened hamster, his face full of dark lines.
"Don't worry! I'll protect you!"
Blinded by lust, Fatty Liao ignored the armed criminals surrounding them and patted his chest as he eagerly tried to impress Alice.
At a loss, Alice looked at Kraft, then at Fatty Liao, before giving him a polite yet awkward smile.
"Alice, Haro, prepare for battle!"
Kraft dragged Fatty Liao back behind Alice and shouted.
"Battle commencing! Battle commencing!"
A green spherical ornament on Kraft's desk suddenly spread open two round wings and emitted a mechanical synthesized voice.
At Haro's command, steel walls rose around the workshop, trapping everyone inside. Several openings then appeared at the tops of the walls, and more than a dozen machine guns extended from within, all aimed at Slicked-Back's group.
"D-defense mode!"
Alice, standing in front of Kraft and Fatty Liao, let out a sharp cry as her back suddenly opened. Several steel plates and sheets of bulletproof glass rapidly assembled before her into a huge riot shield, protecting all three of them.
After removing Alice's utterly useless wind-up key, the mechanism on her back for turning it naturally became useless as well. Once Kraft dismantled it, it freed up quite a bit of space. He had happened to learn a great deal about rapid assembly techniques from a bearded man named Rory Swann in his dreams, so he put them to use on Alice.
In fact, most of the rising steel walls and machine guns had also been built using Swann's techniques, except Kraft had handed control over to Haro, the artificial intelligence.
"Th-this, this, this..."
The situation had changed too quickly, leaving Fatty Liao so shocked that he could barely speak.
"I told you there was no future for you..."
Kraft shrugged helplessly at him.
"Is this really the time to say that?!"
Having regained his ability to speak, Fatty Liao excitedly grabbed Kraft's shoulders and shook him hard.
"You bastard! You secretly mastered such terrifying black technology without telling anyone!"
Although Fatty Liao's shock gave Kraft a strong sense of accomplishment, this was not the time to show off. He broke free from Fatty Liao's hands and looked toward Slicked-Back, who was drenched in cold sweat.
"Now do you know what I'm capable of?"
"Hehehe... I think there may have been a small misunderstanding between us."
Slicked-Back quickly put away his Beretta, pulled out a white handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, then roared in Italian at his men behind him, "What are you idiots doing?! Put your weapons away right now!"
"So they're Italian mafia... No wonder they were putting on airs like the Corleone Family..."
Kraft curled his lip. The moment they fell into a disadvantage, they showed their true colors. As expected, he should not have expected anything from these gangsters.
"I truly apologize for disturbing you. We were only doing this for money. If we had known Mr. Kraft possessed such strength, we never would have stepped into this mess."
After wiping away his sweat, Slicked-Back recovered some of his earlier poise. But circumstances were stronger than people, and he obediently placed himself in the weaker position.
"Then who's really trying to cause trouble for Martin? Why are they targeting him so fiercely?"
Kraft asked curiously. Martin had refused to tell him, and he would not take the initiative to ask, but that did not stop him from learning about it from others.
"We usually work for money and generally don't concern ourselves with our employers' affairs..." Slicked-Back spread his hands helplessly, but quickly added, "However, I know the man who dealt with us. He's a capable lieutenant of the Maggia called Black Wolf. I heard the Maggia's business has been getting hit hard recently. Maybe it has something to do with your father?"
"The Maggia?"
Kraft froze for a moment, then broke into a brilliant smile.
"Then I know what's going on. Thank you for clearing that up."
After nodding in thanks to Slicked-Back, Kraft clapped his hands and instructed the little green ball on the desk.
"Haro, switch to tranquilizer rounds."
"Tranquilizer rounds ready! Tranquilizer rounds ready!"
Haro flapped its wings and emitted waves of electronic sounds, while the machine guns on the walls made a series of clicks as they switched magazines.
Only then did Slicked-Back finally let out a breath of relief. He straightened his collar and gave Kraft a bitter smile.
"The Gambino Family will remember your friendship."
Then he and his men entered dreamland together.
"Battle over! Battle over!"
At the command of Haro's electronic voice, the machine guns in the walls retracted one after another, and the steel walls sank back into the floor.
"Brother, these gangsters are so scary~~~"
Alice withdrew the riot shield and tearfully wailed at Kraft.
"Didn't they get taken out in one go?"
Kraft rolled his eyes and lightly knocked Alice on the head.
"But they were still so scary..."
Alice answered with a wronged pout, making Kraft completely abandon the idea of using her as a combat unit.
Bang!
The workshop door was pushed open again, and the same security guard from last time rushed in with another group of men in black suits.
"Again?!"
Fatty Liao first jumped back in fright, then quickly regained his composure and patted Kraft on the shoulder.
"Quick, Kraft! Take them out!"
After saying that, he voluntarily hid behind Alice.
"Didn't you say you were going to protect Alice?"
Kraft shot him a contemptuous glance, then explained, "Relax. They're on our side."
The head security guard nodded to Kraft and waved to his men. The black-suited men swiftly carried away the other group of black-suited men, then silently left without saying a word.
"Wait! Give Martin a message for me. Tell him to come back when he has time."
Kraft stopped the unnamed security guard. Martin had actually gone after the Maggia for revenge without telling him. This time, he could no longer pretend he did not know.
"Kraft! You actually made something this incredible!"
Once the men in black had all left, Fatty Liao returned to his usual lively self. He picked up the little green ball from the desk and examined it from every angle, praising it nonstop.
"Thank you for the compliment! Thank you for the compliment!"
Haro happily flapped its wings and spoke to Fatty Liao.
"Hmph... this is nothing..."
Kraft muttered quietly. His standards were far higher than Fatty Liao's. An intelligent robot like Haro was merely a little toy. Those massive humanoid mechs from his dreams were a man's true romance...
Unfortunately, he could not build them yet.
"Oh! It can even move around freely!"
Fatty Liao watched Haro grow arms and legs and run around on the desk, letting out another burst of surprised cries.
With a face full of dark lines, Kraft smacked the back of his head. "Are you stupid? I already made a humanoid robot as big as Alice. What's so impressive about something like Haro?"
"Oh, right! Alice is actually a robot... I got my heart broken again..."
After moping for less than two seconds, Fatty Liao suddenly sprang to Kraft's side and tightly wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"Kraft! We're good friends, right?"
"Y-yeah..."
Kraft answered with some hesitation, mainly because Fatty Liao's gaze was truly unsettling.
"Please, you absolutely have to make me a cute girl robot too!" Fatty Liao's eyes gleamed with green light. "Having a robot maid is my greatest dream in life!"
"Get lost!"
Before you continue