"...Why is it another child prodigy?!"
Kraft opened his eyes and sat up in bed, rubbing his temples irritably.
He had dreamed again. Compared with Dr. Shinonome, the protagonist of this dream seemed even more outrageous.
Although he was two years older than Dr. Shinonome, the little boy called Child Emperor had created things far more practical than Dr. Shinonome's inventions.
Or rather, far more powerful in combat.
From that perspective, Kraft was quite pleased to have dreamed of him.
It was just a bit of a blow to his self-esteem.
And compared with the absurd genius of little Dr. Shinonome, Child Emperor's brilliance at least had some logic behind it—he had made himself a Learning Helmet that could directly pour knowledge into his brain...
Well, the Learning Helmet itself did not exactly make much sense either.
Still, it was a huge help to Kraft.
Although he had learned many strange inventions from his dreams, he had merely copied a lot of them without really understanding their principles. Some he only vaguely understood, while others he could not comprehend at all. But with the Learning Helmet Child Emperor had invented, Kraft could at least quickly grasp the principles behind those inventions. He would no longer be limited to simply replicating them; he could modify them into forms better suited to himself.
For example, he had previously dreamed of an invention called the Dragon Radar. From the name alone, it was obvious that it was used to search for something called Dragon Balls. But there were no Dragon Balls in Kraft's world. After making the Dragon Radar, he found it too dim even to use as a light. It was completely useless.
But after understanding the Dragon Radar's manufacturing principles, he could alter its Dragon Ball-searching function and apply its radar capabilities elsewhere.
There were many similar inventions. Previously, Kraft could only spend his time constantly reading through the books and notes left by the dream characters. In scenes without books, he could only replay the manufacturing process over and over, slowly trying to understand it.
Now that he had the Learning Helmet, things were different. Kraft could feed that knowledge directly into his brain bit by bit.
Yes, very much bit by bit...
After finishing the Learning Helmet, Kraft had tried using it, only to discover that it also had requirements for its user. A child prodigy like Child Emperor could stuff a massive amount of knowledge into his brain all at once without concern.
But the brain of an ordinary human like Kraft simply could not receive too much knowledge at once. It would not literally burst, but once too much information was poured in, his mind turned to mush. His consciousness began to blur, his thoughts descended into chaos, and by the time he finally regained clarity, he had already forgotten seventy or eighty percent of what he had learned. Sometimes, he did not even know what he had done while his mind was in disarray.
It felt somewhat like his early dream states, or the condition of those thugs who drank themselves senseless and smoked weed all day.
Even so, Kraft's learning progress had improved considerably. In particular, in dreams where relevant scientific books were placed in laboratories or rooms, it became far easier to understand the principles behind their inventions.
After absorbing knowledge from several different worlds, Kraft had also discovered that their rules differed in certain ways. Yet he himself could ignore those differences. Whenever he wanted to make use of a world's rules, those rules would take effect while he was making something.
"So does this count as... a superpower?"
Kraft looked down at his hands and muttered to himself in confusion.
That did explain why he could master the bizarre technique of handcrafting bronze pipes through engineering. It was probably some rule of the world of Azeroth.
There was no instruction manual for his dreams, so Kraft could only make deductions little by little based on his own experiences.
Of course, the reason why he could use the rules of the Dream World was not particularly important to Kraft. He was much more interested in the principles behind the inventions and creations within his dreams.
"Kraft, Bruce Banner has entered New York."
Countless beams of light gathered before Kraft, forming Angela's phantom image.
After mastering a projection technique from one of his dreams, Kraft had added this new function to Angela. There was not even a need to install special projection equipment. As long as there was sufficient light, Angela could control the lighting herself and adjust it to a frequency that could project her virtual image.
In short, it was another piece of... uh... technology that refused to reason with science.
"Bruce Banner? Didn't that guy hide out in some remote jungle? What's he doing back in New York?"
Kraft had always kept Angela monitoring Hulk, that walking disaster. The information he had received before clearly indicated that Bruce Banner had not wanted Hulk to cause any more destruction, so he had voluntarily hidden himself away while also avoiding the American military, who were relentlessly pursuing him.
Come to think of it, it was rather amusing. General Ross, who had been chasing Bruce Banner all this time, was actually the father of his girlfriend. And Betty Ross, his girlfriend, was the sort who forgot her father the moment she saw a handsome man—or rather, who would throw everything away for love. For Bruce Banner's sake, she had decisively turned against her own father.
But from Kraft's perspective, General Ross really had not done anything remotely decent. If his own daughter betrayed him, he could only blame himself.
"Bruce Banner appears to have found a way to solve the Hulk problem."
Angela had no idea that Kraft was currently mocking one of America's most powerful generals in his heart. She still wore that icy expression as she mechanically answered his question. Only when she clashed with J.A.R.V.I.S. online did a trace of excitement ever appear on her face.
"I tracked Bruce Banner's recent emails and found that he had been using Mr. Green as an online alias to communicate with someone called Mr. Blue. He also mailed some of his blood to him, hoping Mr. Blue could help solve the Hulk problem. Now, it seems he may have succeeded."
"Mr. Blue, Mr. Green... Did they know each other before this?"
"No. Judging from their chat records, they appear to have only communicated online."
Angela pulled up several excerpts from their emails. The contents indeed showed that the two had never met.
"WTF... Bruce Banner dared mail his blood to someone he had never even met? And he even came to meet him voluntarily? Wasn't he afraid it was a military trap?"
Kraft was completely dumbfounded. Why did this grown man seem more naïve than a kid like him? Had Hulk affected his brain and damaged it or something?
"But he succeeded. And Samuel Stern, also known as Mr. Blue, is indeed not part of the military."
Angela mercilessly refuted Kraft's complaint, then added,
"However, the military has indeed discovered Bruce Banner's whereabouts. They are assembling forces to capture him. But according to my calculations, Bruce Banner should have completed his treatment by the time the military arrives, so Hulk is unlikely to appear."
Kraft shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. General Ross's luck... I really can't tell whether it's good or bad."
Before you continue