Angela

Dream Toy Company and Kraft Lee were making headlines again.

The new product they unveiled at the exhibition drove boys all over New York, the United States, and even the entire world into a frenzy.

It was, in fact, a line of Mechanical Combat Pets derived from the Mechanical Young Dragon at the core of Engineering. As for Fatty Liao's so-called help, all he did was get dragged onto the stage to activate the Mechanical Combat Pets with Kraft and watch the two pets fight. Even so, he still got plenty of attention, because the event had been broadcast by all the major news programs.

With television stations willingly airing it everywhere, it was only natural that the Mechanical Combat Pets exploded in popularity.

Mechanics and combat—those two things were no less appealing to boys than pretty dresses and cosmetics were to girls.

The mass-produced Mechanical Combat Pets still suffered from weaker endurance and intelligence than the original versions, and their combat ability was nowhere near as outrageous. At most, they could match a cat or dog in a fight. But that was compared to Engineering creations enhanced by supernatural power. Placed in Earth's toy market, they were practically a dimensionality-reduction strike.

For two whole weeks, at least within New York, most conversations between boys revolved around only one phrase: Mechanical Combat Pets.

All kinds of combat pet clubs even sprang up as a result. They spontaneously organized competitions of every kind, and the events grew so large that television stations came to buy broadcasting rights. Kraft took the opportunity to collect a licensing fee and even suggested calling them the Pokemon Tournament, because the current development looked far too much like a world in his dreams where Pokemon existed. Unfortunately, he could not obtain the materials needed for Pokeballs from that dream, and there were no mysterious creatures called Pokemon here.

Unfortunately, the television stations and organizers rejected that meaningless name.

Inside Tony Stark's private mansion, a Mechanical Young Dragon sold by Dream Toy Company had been dismantled into a pile of parts, neatly arranged on the workbench before Stark.

"It doesn't even have an integrated circuit. These intricate mechanisms alone can coordinate with one another well enough to make this little thing perform such complex movements... No wonder it's so cheap. The production cost is probably lower than that of a Golden Snitch."

Stark stroked the small mustache on his chin and muttered to himself. Judging by how familiar he was with Dream Company's products, he was clearly already a loyal customer.

"That so-called Mohist Mechanism Arts is really that impressive?"

Apparently, he had also been fooled by Dream Toy Company's advertising slogan and mistaken the Engineering creation before him for a product of mechanism arts.

"According to historical records, more than two thousand years ago, a carpenter named Lu Ban once used wood to create a mechanical bird that flew in the sky for three consecutive days. However, there is no conclusive evidence for this, so few people outside China believe it."

J.A.R.V.I.S. pulled up all available information related to Lu Ban and displayed it for Tony Stark.

"Even so, this gentleman named Lu Ban created many tools that were considered highly advanced for his era."

"That really is remarkable..."

Stark sighed sincerely, then instructed J.A.R.V.I.S., "J.A.R.V.I.S., remind me to send that kid an invitation when I hold the party next week."

"I must remind you, Mr. Stark, that Kraft Lee is still a minor."

"Oh, is he?" Tony Stark shrugged and said regretfully, "Then forget it. His luck is truly terrible. He's missed an opportunity to experience a man's happiness."

Tony Stark had no reason to alter the arrangements for his party specifically for Kraft. No matter how ingenious these inventions were, they were merely toys meant for amusement. Once Stark had taken apart the Mechanical Young Dragon and understood its principles, he no longer paid it much attention.

Besides Tony Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D.—still called the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division at the time—Hydra, and various other researchers and organizations had all become somewhat interested in Dream Toy Company's newly released Mechanical Combat Pets.

However, without the enhancement of dream power, the Mechanical Combat Pets were neither particularly technical nor practical. Their poor endurance, inability to properly lock onto targets, stiff movements, and other flaws made turning them into weapons little more than a fantasy. Although other technologies could compensate for those shortcomings, that would be no different from building an entirely new machine, and the cost would rise as well.

The main reason those organizations had taken an interest in Kraft's Mechanical Combat Pets was their low price.

Kraft had no idea that he had narrowly brushed past a whole group of mysterious forces, nor did he know that he had missed an invitation from Tony Stark. But given his personality, he probably would have been too lazy to attend anyway—especially when he had dreamed of new technology again.

"Those guys again."

Seeing the familiar red-and-white umbrella-shaped logo on the wall, Kraft's face twisted in disgust.

He had dreamed about this company called Umbrella several times before. Every time, they had been carrying out inhumane experiments, creating heaps of monsters and the Zombie Virus. In his memories, their researchers had always ended up dying at the hands of the very monsters they created.

Unfortunately, Kraft could not leave or skip a dream on his own. Besides, he had recently been deliberately trying to learn more about biotechnology. So after glaring unhappily at the lab-coated man before him, he obediently followed him, intending to see what the company was up to this time.

However, Umbrella's researchers were not conducting human experiments as they had before. Instead, they were directing laborers as they assembled some sort of machine.

If you're working on machinery, now you've got my attention!

Although Kraft had been mentally preparing himself ever since he saw Umbrella's logo, it was naturally best if he did not have to witness those disgusting scenes.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Kraft walked over to the lab-coated man and began watching.

Umbrella was assembling a supercomputer. Even after the assembly was complete, the dream did not end. Instead, the dream's protagonist—the middle-aged man—continued typing code into the computer.

I can't understand this...

Kraft was a little shaken. He had always been quite capable when it came to programming, especially after creating Alice and Haro. He had thought that even if his computer skills were not among the very best, he would not be much worse than the hackers in Tides.

Yet he could not understand more than half the code written by this slightly balding middle-aged man.

Still, from the overall structure, Kraft could tell what he was creating.

Artificial intelligence.

An artificial intelligence far more complex than Haro.

As for Alice...

That girl was enhanced by supernatural power, so she did not count.

Given the complexity of this artificial intelligence, its capabilities would likely far surpass Haro's. Kraft immediately forgot his disappointment and stared quietly at the computer screen, waiting for the lab-coated man to succeed.

If he really succeeded, Kraft would be able to try accessing the databases of those mysterious organizations he had failed to enter before, and perhaps even test himself against the artificial intelligence in Stark's home.

The lab-coated man's fingers danced rapidly across the keyboard, strings of characters appearing on the monitor. Under Kraft's expectant gaze, they eventually formed the virtual image of a little girl.

"Angela..."

As the little girl appeared on the screen, tears welled up in Dr. Charles Ashford's eyes. Trembling, he reached out and gently stroked the little girl's face through the screen.

But the little girl on the screen coldly and mercilessly interrupted Dr. Charles Ashford's heartfelt display.

"My apologies, Dr. Charles Ashford. If there is no error in my core program, then my name should be..."

"Red Queen."