Free America

For the next week, Kraft didn't set foot in the lab. His dreams, whether on cooldown or deciding he needed a break, had fallen silent after dumping a mountain of engineering knowledge onto him.

A week passed quickly, and it was suddenly the weekend.

"Brother! Hurry up!"

Alice was ready early and impatiently urged Kraft, who was dawdling over breakfast at the dining table.

"What's the rush? It's still early," Kraft said, popping the last chiaotzu into his mouth before slowly starting to tidy the tableware.

"I checked online! There are lots of fun activities before the music festival officially starts! Some people online even say those are the real highlight!"

Alice, incredibly anxious, quickly cleared the table, then lifted her foot and nudged Kraft's thigh with her sole.

"Brother, go change! I'll take care of this!"

"Alright, alright..."

Kraft wasn't particularly interested in the music itself. He simply enjoyed the opportunity to cheer and vent with a crowd, finding it a good way to relieve stress. He'd occasionally go, join the cheering for a bit, and then leave. He wasn't very familiar with the specific schedule of music festivals, though Fatty Liao was quite fond of attending them early.

After changing in his room, Kraft thought for a moment, then slung a backpack over his shoulder. He packed a few "self-defense items" inside. After all, with monsters like Hulk appearing, who knew when a red or yellow one might pop out? It was always better to be prepared.

By then, Alice had also finished tidying up and started urging him again, "Brother! Hurry up!"

"Coming, coming!"

Kraft walked down the stairs with his backpack, pulling out his phone to contact Fatty Liao.

"David, we're heading out. Where are you now?"

"Huh? Why are you coming so early this time?"

Fatty Liao, familiar with Kraft's habits, was already on his way to the music festival. He knew Kraft wouldn't arrive this early, which was why he hadn't waited.

"Because Alice is really interested in the music festival..." Kraft's tone was full of helplessness.

Fatty Liao groaned in annoyance, "Damn it! I completely forgot about little sister Alice!"

Indeed, ever since getting slightly acquainted with Alice last weekend, the fatty had shamelessly started calling her "sister."

"I'm on my way," Fatty Liao replied with the same tone of resignation. "You guys head over directly. We'll meet at the entrance."

"OK."

Kraft checked the weather and pulled out two solar-powered skateboards from his prop box.

It wasn't too far, so why not skate there? As long as they controlled their speed and didn't go too crazy.

The mass-produced solar-powered skateboards had long been sold by Kraft's Dream Toy Company and had become quite popular. Based on them, various other products like solar-powered balance cars and solar-powered wheelchairs had been developed.

However, these automatic skateboards hadn't been embraced by professional skateboarders. In fact, many people were boycotting them, so Kraft's user base consisted mostly of people who weren't very good at skateboarding.

Of course, none of that mattered to Kraft. He wasn't some skateboarding prodigy, and he'd already made his money.

"Let's go."

He handed one of the skateboards to Alice, but she looked flustered. "I, I don't know how to skateboard..."

"You don't need to know how to skate for this thing..." Kraft rolled his eyes. "With your body's balance system, controlling this skateboard won't be a problem."

Though I don't understand why you still fall on flat ground when you have a balance system... Kraft added silently in his mind.

"Oh..."

Alice dazedly took the skateboard and carefully stepped onto it...

"Hahahaha... Brother! This skateboard is so fun!"

Alice, standing on the skateboard with her arms spread wide, shouted excitedly to Kraft as the strong wind rushed past her face.

"Yes, yes... Can you not be so embarrassing? This is our company's product, after all. Don't act like a country bumpkin who's never seen the world!"

Kraft, holding his forehead, felt utterly exhausted.

The two of them sped along on their skateboards and soon arrived at the entrance of the music festival venue. Along the way, Kraft saw many people on solar-powered skateboards or similar devices zipping through the streets, just like them.

Honestly, Kraft felt a little surge of pride.

"Kraft! Over here!"

Fatty Liao, who had arrived earlier, spotted them and waved them over loudly.

"Damn it! I knew I should have skated over with you guys!"

Kraft had naturally prepared a solar-powered skateboard for his good friend Fatty Liao, but given his size, he rarely used skateboards and hadn't thought of using one for transportation. The skateboard Kraft gave him had only been used once on the way home, and then it had been gathering dust at home.

"Let's go. I want to see what activities they have before the festival starts."

Tucking the skateboard under his arm, Kraft took the tickets from Fatty Liao and stepped into the venue.

The pre-festival activities were indeed very lively, with acrobatics, game competitions, fashion shows, and more.

Kraft finally understood why Fatty Liao liked to arrive so early.

With that thought, Kraft turned his head.

As expected, Fatty Liao had already pulled out his beloved handheld camera and started filming.

The preliminary activities lasted for nearly two hours. The memory card in Fatty Liao's camera was almost full. If Kraft hadn't modified his camera by adding solar-powered battery life, it would have run out of power long ago.

"What a haul."

Fatty Liao licked his lips, which were starting to crack and peel. He put away the camera. He hadn't drunk a single drop of water while filming, his state no different from Kraft's when he entered the laboratory.

Kraft glanced at him with eyes that held both disdain and admiration, then handed him the bottle of mineral water he was holding.

As the opening event concluded, a group of vendors appeared from who-knows-where, bustling about and selling all sorts of food and drinks.

After fleecing the audience and allowing them to replenish their nutrients and fluids, the music festival officially began.

The opening act was a rock song. Although Kraft didn't recognize any of the band members on stage, who were dressed as demons and monsters, the audience's reaction indicated they were quite famous. Kraft just went along with the crowd, shouting along for the entire song.

It was exhilarating.

He continued to yell along for a few more songs until Kraft felt utterly exhausted, at which point he stopped his meaningless howling.

Normally, Kraft would have left by now. However, seeing Alice still enthusiastically cheering for the singer on stage, he didn't want to spoil her mood. He simply stayed put, listening to the music and occasionally pulling snacks from his bag to munch on.

He stayed there until evening. As the sky darkened and colorful lights lit up the surroundings, the atmosphere didn't wane with everyone's fatigue; instead, it grew even more fervent.

"My ticket earlier was such a waste..."

Looking at the livelier scene than during the day, Kraft smacked his lips and muttered to himself.

The fiery atmosphere continued to build. Apart from one instance where Alice got so excited she swung her arm and startled the young lady next to her, no other major incidents occurred. Kraft brushed off the startled lady by saying, "This is a very expensive, high-end prosthetic limb."

As it neared ten o'clock, and both Kraft and Alice started yawning, the three of them prepared to leave.

Just then, a rapid burst of gunfire echoed from a distant building.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat..."