WAAAGH!

Mr. Negative gave his Demon Gang subordinates one final order, rolled his neck, removed the Mind Demon Mask from his face, and let out a long breath.

As he exhaled, Mr. Negative’s pitch-black skin gradually returned to its original color, and his white suit turned black once more.

Martin Lee left the Demon Gang headquarters, went around two blocks, got into the Ford he usually drove, and headed home.

After their previous fight with the Magia Gang had ended in mutual destruction, his Demon Gang had not lost massive business channels and territory like the Magia Gang had, but they had still spent a considerable amount of money and ammunition.

They would originally have needed quite some time to slowly recover, but fortunately Kraft had produced a new type of solar technology, greatly increasing the Demon Gang’s recovery speed. Even so, the Demon Gang would not be able to make any major moves for a while.

Martin Lee had basically remained with the Demon Gang lately to handle the final cleanup, only wrapping everything up just now. Although he had failed to take revenge this time, Martin Lee was not in a hurry.

Though it looked as if both sides had suffered equally, there was still a difference. To put it simply, the Demon Gang was like someone who had lost too much blood—they only needed a transfusion to recover quickly. The Magia Gang, meanwhile, had their arms and legs broken. Even if those limbs were reattached, they would never be as nimble as before.

So long as the Demon Gang recovered, their next strike against the Magia Gang would be a sure thing.

However, Martin Lee did not want to wipe out the Magia Gang so quickly. He wanted to stir the grass and startle the snake, to see whether he could draw out the mysterious force behind them.

Of course, those were matters for the future. After working for more than half a month, Martin Lee only wanted to hurry home and get some proper rest.

After parking in the garage, Martin pushed open his front door.

"Put down my dried fish! You stupid dog!"

"You think you can take food back after it’s in my paws? Keep dreaming!"

"Come die, meow!"

"Dog murder! Somebody save this dog!"

The moment Martin Lee opened the door, he heard a noisy scuffle inside. The two arguing voices sounded completely unfamiliar.

Just as he wondered whether Kraft had brought classmates home to play, he saw a black cat chasing a yellow dog down from upstairs. Both had bright red scarves tied around their necks.

They got pets?

Martin Lee froze. Knowing Kraft, that kid definitely did not have the spare time to care for pets.

So Alice was raising them?

Martin frowned. He had spent this period at the Demon Gang, and he did not feel particularly close to Alice, the robot.

At that moment, the robot little sister he had been thinking about hurried down from upstairs.

"You two, stop it right now! Keep this up, and neither of you will get snacks ever again!"

"Unbelievable!" "It was clearly this stupid dog causing trouble!"

The cat and dog stopped chasing each other at the same time, then began arguing with Alice.

"I’m so much bigger than Bea, yet we get the same amount of snacks. Is that fair?"

"Shut up! You stupid dog!"

"No more arguing! Ah! Uncle Martin, you’re back!"

Only then did Alice notice Martin Lee standing nearby in utter disarray. She hurriedly abandoned the two pets clawing at each other and greeted him.

"What… is going on?"

Martin pointed at the cat and dog, who were arguing in English, and asked stiffly.

"Ah, these are Mr. Quin and Miss Bea. My brother and I bought them from the pet store a few days ago."

"That’s not what I’m asking! How! Can! They! Talk?!"

Martin pointed fiercely at the now-quiet cat and dog, who were watching him from the side, emphasizing every word.

"Oh, oh, that’s my brother’s invention~" Alice belatedly explained. "It’s those red scarves. Once animals wear them, they can talk!"

Alice clasped her hands beside her cheeks, her voice brimming with admiration. "My brother’s invention is incredible!"

Was that really the issue here?

Martin Lee’s mind was like a storm sweeping through, with ten thousand horses galloping wildly across it.

How on earth had that kid Kraft done it?!

"Where is Kraft?!"

Martin could not wait to find his adopted son and get a proper explanation.

"My brother hasn’t gotten out of school yet, has he?" Alice glanced at the electronic watch on her wrist, then gave a small cry. "Ah! It’s already this late! I need to start making dinner!"

"Uncle Martin, watch TV for a while. Bea, Quin, you two are not allowed to argue again!"

Alice hurriedly gave a few instructions before jogging into the kitchen.

Martin Lee: …

Quin: …

Bea: …

The man, cat, and dog stared at one another for a while before the dog spoke first. "Are you Big Brother’s father? How should I address you?"

Quin tilted his head, tongue hanging out with a foolishly adorable expression.

"Stupid dog, didn’t you hear Alice call him Uncle Martin? We can just call him that too!"

The little black cat Bea lightly leaped onto Quin’s back and smacked him on the head.

"That doesn’t seem right." Quin hesitated before deciding not to fall out with Bea just yet. "Since he’s Big Brother’s father, he’s the master of this house. He should have a special title, like Big Daddy or something?"

"No, just call me Martin…"

Martin Lee rejected that regrettable title with a face full of black lines, then crouched down and questioned the two pets with interest.

"Before you put on those scarves, could you understand human language?"

"Unbelievable! As expected of Big Brother’s father!" Quin’s eyes widened. "Big Brother asked us the same thing after he put the scarves on us."

After a brief pause, Quin continued, "We couldn’t understand before. We could only vaguely get some of what you humans meant. But now, even if we take the scarves off, we can still understand what you say."

"I see…" Martin reached out and rubbed Quin’s head. "That really is impressive."

Other than calling it impressive, Martin could not find any words to describe Kraft’s invention.

Even Mr. Negative could not suppress his curiosity when faced with something so miraculous. He turned on the television, but did not pay attention to it, instead chatting idly with Quin. Bea, meanwhile, maintained a cat’s aloof personality, lying on the sofa and grooming herself.

"Hm? Big Brother’s back!"

Quin, who had been chatting with Martin, suddenly sat upright and turned his head toward the front door. Then he quickly ran to the entryway and sat down.

"Big Brother!"

The moment Kraft entered, Quin greeted him as usual with his tongue hanging out, excitedly circling around his feet.

"Big Brother, your father, Big Daddy Martin, is back!"

Quin circled around Kraft as he reported, and clearly, he had not taken Martin’s rejection to heart.

"Oh? Got it."

Hearing the title Big Daddy, Kraft’s mouth twitched. He reached down to rub Quin’s head, then walked into the house.

The moment he entered the living room, he saw Martin looking at him with a complicated expression.

"What is it?"

"How did you do it?"

Martin could barely understand the strength-enhancing bracers, the workshop’s defensive devices, and even Alice, the bionic robot, despite his surprise. But this scarf that allowed animals to speak was truly beyond his comprehension.

I actually want to know how it works too…

Kraft rubbed his nose and answered helplessly, "I can’t really explain it. I just felt like this could make animals talk, and then I made it."

"So it was inspiration from a dream again?"

Martin rolled his eyes as he asked.

"More or less." Kraft sat beside Martin. "I can’t explain the specifics either. Anyway, I woke up one day and suddenly had the urge to make these scarves, so I made them."

Kraft had actually tried long ago to tell Martin Lee about his dreams. However, for some reason, whenever he tried to say it aloud, a powerful sense of resistance rose within him. At most, he could only tell Martin that he had received inspiration from dreams. Over time, Kraft had become too lazy to explain.

"Fine…" Martin Lee rubbed his brow. "Animals talking is miraculous, but it’s not that big a deal. Still, try to keep it secret. Don’t let anyone else find out. There are plenty of intelligence agencies in America, and it’ll be troublesome if they set their sights on you."

"Don’t worry. I always take off their scarves when I bring them outside."

Kraft nodded. He had not thought that far ahead. He merely felt that if others found out, he might end up being surrounded and watched like a monkey again, just as he had been during the Stark incident. It was too much trouble, so he did this.

"Emergency report! Emergency report! A green monster has appeared near the Brooklyn District coast! New York City residents, please take shelter immediately! Next is footage recorded by our reporters on the scene!"

As Kraft petted the dog and chatted with Martin Lee, the television suddenly rang with the host’s urgent voice. The image immediately changed to violently shaking footage. In the shot, a massive green figure rampaged through the city while military planes and tanks continuously opened fire on him.

The chaotic footage lasted only a little over ten seconds before going black. The last image showed the green monster fleeing toward the coast.

"Meow!!!"

"Unbelievable! What the hell is that thing?!"

The dog in Kraft’s arms suddenly sprang up. The little black cat beside him arched her back, all her fur standing on end. Both had clearly been frightened by the green monster on television.

"Harro! Search for relevant information!"

At Kraft’s command, the red Harro that had been sitting atop the television pretending to be an ornament spread its wings. Using its tiny mung-bean-sized eyes, it projected a virtual screen onto the wall. At the same time, the living room ceiling opened, and several screens descended. The images on those screens changed so rapidly that they were dazzling and impossible to follow.

"Search initiated. Search initiated."

"Kraft!"

Martin Lee jumped to his feet beside him.

"What have you done to our house?!"

I adjusted the timing of Green Fatty’s appearance. I won’t even mention the comics, but according to the movie timeline, Banner should have become Green Fatty three to five years before Iron Man appeared. That would make the time span far too large.

Yesterday, I got word from my editor that I’ll be getting a featured promotion next week. Thanks for all the support, everyone! ()

I’ve already finished writing this month’s updates and scheduled them, and I’m too lazy to change them. So starting next month—that is, next Tuesday—I’m going to try updating twice a day. Of course, that means each chapter will only be 2K words. I don’t know how long I can keep it up, but I’ll do my best.

Seeing how hard this lazy fish is working, please vote and bookmark more~