Daily Life

Wakanda had been thoroughly exposed, its international reputation plummeting. On top of that, their own prince had fallen into someone else’s hands. Already in the wrong, they dared not act rashly despite possessing technology far beyond that of other nations.

What was more, their country itself was far from peaceful. No matter how isolated they were from the rest of the world, ambitious people would always emerge. With such a heaven-sent opportunity before them, those schemers had rallied a group of Wakandan citizens unwilling to remain confined to one corner and begun making moves in secret.

Outside Wakanda, even America took a cautious stance toward them. Though they coveted the advanced technology shown in those photos and videos, it was precisely because they understood how far ahead that technology was that they did not dare push Wakanda too hard.

With both sides exercising restraint, Wakanda and the United Nations fell into a prolonged stalemate of endless wrangling.

No matter how lively things became internationally or online, none of it had anything to do with Kraft anymore, because he…

School had started!

When the new semester began, Kraft, now in eighth grade, brought along his robot little sister Alice, who had grown to love school. By now, the two were about the same height. If anything, Kraft might have been just a tiny bit taller, which made him much less resistant to taking Alice to school.

"Big Bro—! I want to go too! I wanna go too!"

On the first day of school, Quinn the dog wrapped his two front paws around Kraft’s leg and howled loudly.

"With both you and Boss Lady gone, the house is so boring!"

"Stop fooling around! Pets aren’t allowed at school!"

Kraft rubbed Quinn’s head and scolded him with an annoyed smile.

"Unbelievable! More species discrimination! I’m furious, chilled to the bone, and shaking! When will us little animals finally stand up? Don’t you humans have animal protection associations? Why aren’t they doing anything?!"

"What have you even been watching all day?"

Kraft tugged at Quinn’s chubby face, deciding that he ought to restrict the dog’s access to the TV and computer.

"Harrow, don’t let Quinn watch weird stuff anymore!"

"Harrow understands. Harrow understands."

"Unbelievable! Not only are you refusing to take me to school, you’re even restricting my TV time! Is this reasonable?!"

Quinn kicked up an even bigger fuss, rolling over onto the floor and wildly bicycling all four paws through the air.

"I don’t care! I want to go to school! I want to go to school!"

"…Three bags of snacks!"

Kraft brought out his trump card.

"Five bags!"

The moment he heard there was food involved, Quinn perked up. With a twist of his body, he sprang back to his feet and began bargaining with Kraft with a solemn expression.

"Three bags, take it or leave it! If you keep eating, you’re going to turn into David!"

"Sure thing, Big Bro~ Have a safe trip~ Watch out on the way~"

Quinn quickly picked up the backpack Kraft had tossed aside and placed it at his feet, wagging his tail with a fawning grin.

"Ugh…"

Kraft sighed helplessly, picked up the backpack by his feet, and headed outside. He was beginning to regret buying Quinn just because of a vague sense of déjà vu. Cats were much easier to deal with. Bea never pulled this much nonsense.

Kraft brought Alice to Vantas Public Middle School to register. Since board member Mr. Martin had already given them advance notice, the school naturally placed her in Kraft’s class.

And on Alice’s very first day of school, she was welcomed by the entire class.

She was cute, sweet-natured, and Kraft’s little sister. Any one of those traits would have made plenty of people want to befriend her, not to mention that Alice had all three.

Still, Kraft had never expected some of the girls to use Alice as a way to get close to him.

"Am I really that popular?"

Kraft scratched his head and asked Fatty Liao, who was looking at him with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

In most American schools, nerds were not particularly popular. Instead, they were often the primary targets of bullying. Kraft was not exactly a nerd, but he spent so much time in his lab that his relationship with his classmates was fairly ordinary.

"Did you forget that you’re also the big boss of Dream Toy Company?"

Nothing was deadlier than showing off without realizing it. Seeing that Kraft’s confused expression did not look faked at all, Fatty Liao clutched his chest and gasped for air while gritting his teeth in frustration.

Students their age might not yet understand what Dream Toy Company truly represented, but that did not stop them from admiring Kraft. Besides…

If one of them really managed to date Kraft, wouldn’t Barbie dolls, fairy wands, and all that be theirs whenever they wanted?

Even the desires of girls that age seemed so adorable.

Unfortunately, Kraft could not understand any of it. He politely turned down every girl’s invitation.

I barely have enough time to spend in the lab. Where would I find time to date girls?

That was how he righteously replied when Fatty Liao questioned him in heartbreak.

Fatty Liao was so furious that he pointed his short, carrot-like finger at Kraft and trembled for a long time without managing to squeeze out a single word.

Alice’s first experience at school went extremely smoothly, so she was in such a good mood on the way home that she skipped along as she walked.

Seeing Alice so delighted made Kraft feel much happier as well.

Until…

They opened the front door.

The house was a complete mess. Food and decorations that had been on the coffee table were scattered across the floor, several chairs had been knocked over, the leaves of the potted plants in the corner had nearly all fallen off, and the sofa was covered in holes clearly torn by sharp claws and teeth.

"Quinn! Get your stupid dog butt out here!"

Kraft’s eye twitched as he roared at the top of his lungs.

Yet after shouting and waiting for quite some time, Quinn never appeared. The little black cat Bea also seemed to be nowhere in sight.

But Kraft did not notice that at the moment. He stormed over to the television. Although the red Harrow that had been sitting there was gone too, he still had Angela, the artificial intelligence that existed only on the internet.

"Angela! Pull up the home surveillance footage from today!"

At Kraft’s command, the television in front of him switched on by itself and began playing everything that had happened in the house after he and Alice left.

The longer Kraft watched, the darker his expression became. He had originally assumed the culprit was Quinn, that stupid dog, but he never expected it to be the usually quiet little black cat, Bea!

And here I thought she was easier to manage!

But Quinn was not much better. Though he was not the main culprit, there was no way he could escape being labeled an accomplice.

The sequence of events was very simple. Bea had grown tired of the toys Kraft had prepared for her and became interested in the little decorations on the coffee table. After pushing them off one by one, she was still unsatisfied and knocked down the plates of fruit and nuts as well.

After clearing the coffee table completely, Bea jumped onto the sofa and began sharpening her claws. At that moment, Quinn came running downstairs with the snacks Kraft had promised him in his mouth. Seeing Bea wrecking the house, he not only failed to stop her, but joined in. One cat and one dog turned the entire house upside down.

After they finished, perhaps realizing they would be scolded, the two guilty culprits hid themselves away. They even remembered to take Harrow, the surveillance device, with them.

When Kraft tracked them down using the footage, the two still wore looks of utter disbelief.

We clearly hid Harrow with us!

"Damn it…"

Watching the television play evidence of his crimes, Quinn buried his head between his front paws.

Meanwhile, Bea, the true culprit, put on an obedient look and burrowed into Alice’s arms, rubbing against her while meowing sweetly, trying to muddle through the situation like that.

"Big Brother…"

Softhearted Alice wanted to speak up for them, but Kraft cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"No way! These two are dead!"

Then Kraft used whatever materials he had on hand, crafted a pile of parts with his engineering skills, assembled two Shatter the Cauldrons Treadmills made specifically for pets, and tossed Quinn and Bea inside.

"Big Bro, you have no heart! RUA!"

"You can’t abuse little animals, meow!"

Thanks to Creative Plan readers 20170525203433891, Hope x2, 20170831034807561, Falling Leaves Fluttering, Fragrant Flowers Filling Long Beach, Guardian of the Beach, Growing Cooler by the Day, xd22292, for the tips.

I slept all day and still feel groggy. If I missed anything or made any typos, I’m really sorry. This cold seems to be getting worse… Luckily, I have quite a few chapters saved up, and they’re all scheduled.

Also, are the recommendation slots on PC and mobile separate…? I only just found out…

Regarding the protagonist’s attitude toward Wakanda in the previous chapter, the main reason was that he wanted Vibranium, then he looked down on them for taking subsidies. That last part about helping compatriots was really just an excuse or slogan to give himself moral justification, like saying, "There’s no need to observe the rules of honor when dealing with these evil heretics." I threw it in casually to pad the word count…

I never expected something I barely paid attention to would cause such a huge controversy…

Anyway, I’ve deleted it. Going back to lie down like a corpse…