"Thank you for coming to me...otherwise I would have thought that I was the only idiot in this city to be a martyr!"

This was the first thing Alan said as he and Hannah leaned against the wall on the rooftop, watching the bustling market below.

After speaking, Alan couldn't help but steal glances at Hannah. At this moment, with the wind blowing, her hair scattered around her face as she gazed into the distance, seemingly lost in thought. Alan couldn't resist the urge to sneak a look at her.

Perhaps she didn't even realize, or maybe she didn't care.

After a while, Hannah finally turned to respond,

"Claire, Heather, Alexander, Bert, David... they are all good friends of mine, but they are strangers to you... Honestly... I'm surprised you agreed to join us so readily. I should be thanking you."

Hannah finished speaking in a calm tone and then looked at Alan, causing him to awkwardly pretend he hadn't noticed.

"To be honest... I'm also quite surprised. Turns out, you don't always have that world-weary look. At least now, you don't seem to be giving me the 'I owe you a ton of money' vibe anymore."

Hearing Alan's perspective, Hannah didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But she understood that this was the impression she had always given off, so she couldn't blame Alan for thinking that way.

Obviously Hannah didn't want to talk about it, so she turned around and asked another question,

"By the way, what was that thing that came out to help you yesterday...I'm curious?

Alan reached for his pocket and said,

"You want to know... it's nothing , just this..."

Alan took out a metal ball from his jacket pocket and held it up to Hannah's eyes. The metal ball immediately transformed into a mechanical ladybug.

"It's amazing... Did you make this?"

Hannah, who had been aloof, showed a look of surprise as she gazed at the mechanical ladybug, making Alan feel both curious and proud.

"It's called Kirby and it has a lot of features. Like... give me your hand"

Alan led Hannah to extend her right hand, and Kirby promptly climbed onto her wrist, transforming into a mini laser gun.

This made Hannah look at Allen with a hint of surprise.

"That's cool!"

Allen said, "Would you like to try launching it?..."

Hannah, as expected, had sharp eyes and spotted a male thief lurking suspiciously in front of a jewelry shop in the market below.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

This was interesting.

When the male thief slyly slipped the jewelry into his sleeve, thinking he had succeeded, Hannah, with pinpoint accuracy, shot at him. Suddenly, with a "snap," his sleeve caught fire.

The male thief, confused and panicked, waved his sleeve to try to extinguish the fire, only to reveal the stolen jewelry scattered on the ground, exposing his failed attempt at theft. Unsurprisingly, he was immediately surrounded and beaten by the crowd.

"Hmph..."

Hannah smirked triumphantly, seemingly satisfied with her marksmanship.

She turned around and said casually to Alan,

"That's nice...I think I need it. Can you help me make one someday?"

Alan, hearing Hannah's unequivocal affirmation of his invention, was naturally delighted and readily agreed, saying,

"No problem! I'll make one for you when I have time!"

Hannah extended her hand, seemingly smiling but not, to return Kirby to Alan, saying,

"I am waiting!"

As Alan and Hannah locked eyes, they seemed to feel that they had misunderstood each other before, now getting to know each other anew...

It was a subtle feeling.

""Sorry, I have to go!.."

Although Alan enjoyed the new beginning with Hannah, he didn't forget that he still had to scavenge for electronic components everywhere. Time was running out, and as much as he hated to leave, he had to go.

"Ok..see you later"

Hannah seemed a little disappointed as she watched Alan leave downstairs.

But then Alan suddenly thought of something, stopped in his tracks, turned around, and asked,

"I'm curious... why hasn't Ethan taken over the commander's position even though he has so much power?"

This question made Hannah's face change subtly, and she replied calmly, "Because of the mayor... you'll know in due time..."

"The mayor...? Alright... we'll talk about it later..."

Although Alan was skeptical about what the mayor had to do with anything, he decided to leave and descended the stairs to leave...

______________________________________

Anyway, Alan had skipped the entire day of guard team training, so he roamed the city's shops to scavenge for usable electronic components. After a round of hustling, he found himself with a bag full of loot as the sun began to set, preparing to head home.

However, he suddenly noticed many guard team members conducting a large-scale search on the streets, creating an eerie atmosphere. To his surprise, Ethan was among them, issuing stern reprimands to his subordinates.

Alan quickly hid behind a street corner, unable to hear what Ethan was saying due to the distance.

"What's going on here?... I need to eavesdrop!"

Alan took out Kirby, which transformed into a sound amplifier, and placed it by his ear, allowing him to clearly hear Ethan's arrogant voice:

"Let me tell you... The doctor finally showed up, but you can't lose him... Then what do I want you to do?"

A subordinate replied,

"Reporting to the Chief... Dr. Jack is very cunning, and he has magical tools to assist him... Capturing him is very difficult..."

Ethan responded,

"Hmm... I don't want to hear any excuses. If you can't find him again, you know what will happen to you all..."

"Sorry! We will try our best to search"

Upon overhearing this, Alan decided to quickly leave the scene because, without a doubt, the "doctor" they were referring to was Uncle Jack. It seemed that Ethan hadn't given up on catching him.

Just as Alan was about to turn away, he was suddenly pulled into an alley by an unknown hand.

Alan felt suspicious, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was Jack. Jack whispered angrily,

"You! Why aren't you staying in the apartment?!"

Because if he got caught, it would spell trouble for the entire family.

But surprisingly, Jack seemed rather relaxed as he made a gesture upwards, leaving Alan perplexed.

Without further ado, Dr. Jack activated some mechanism on his feet, causing him to swiftly extend upwards. He stretched out 20 meters, transforming into a mechanical stilt, and silently maneuvered between buildings to evade all pursuit.

In no time, they quickly returned home. Before Alan could process what had just happened, he began to scold Dr. Jack angrily.

"Doctor! Please don't go out recklessly! I'm risking my neck to shelter you! I don't want any trouble right now!"

Ignoring Alan's anger, Dr. Jack calmly placed a briefcase on the table.

"What... is this?" Alan asked.

Dr. Jack grinned mischievously as he opened the briefcase, revealing various sophisticated high-tech components that left Alan dumbfounded. These components were far more advanced than anything he had ever seen or made.

Seeing Alan's astonishment, Dr. Jack proudly smirked and said,

"Kid, do you think I ran away for no reason! I risked my life to return to the place where I hid my things to get my proud invention. Do you think that to transform your little one, just picking up rags is enough for you? How can it be enough without higher technological tools!""

This time, Alan was speechless and no longer angry.

The two of them stared at each other, understanding each other's meaning without the need for words.

"Alright, Let's get started"