Not long after the first batch of fallen mechanical dogs found the clothing store, ME Corp's mechanical army surrounded the place.
Following behind were a dozen or so Anti-Entropy employees in heavy exoskeleton armor. They exchanged humorous glances, discovering that, as expected, no one was willing to take the lead and charge.
"So... do we just let the mechs bombard it directly again?"
"I think that works! To capture such a villain, necessary sacrifices are unavoidable. I'm sure the shop owner will understand our good intentions!"
The person who spoke first glanced at his bulging pockets, stuffed with ill-gotten gains, pursed his lips, and gave a hand signal.
Without hesitation, the three Titans, six spider-type mechs, eight Storm drones, and thirteen autonomous soldiers who received the command aimed at the clothing store, ready to open fire.
Buildings collapsing, rubble flying everywhere—the familiar scene was about to repeat itself before the employees' eyes.
Well, it should have.
"Awooo!!!"
The instant before the mechanical troops opened fire, a loud bark came from inside the store.
A valiant Husky strode out with its head held high and chest puffed out. It leaped up, landing on the head of a ten-meter-tall Titan, and looked down at the crowd with a very human-like smile, shaking its head.
"Halt!"
The leading employee waved his hand to stop the mechs' firing command, looked up at the mechanical dog, and asked, "They're not here?"
"Awoo!"
Sauce nodded its huge head.
"Woof!"
Another mechanical dog in the squad expressed its dissatisfaction. The scent it had smelled was clearly here.
Baka!
Sauce leaped down from the sky and slapped it aside with one paw.
"Woof?"
This turn of events directly stunned the remaining two mechanical dogs. They stared blankly as their leader was taken down with a single slap. When they turned back to look at Sauce, their eyes had changed.
The ME Corp employees were also stunned. Why were the dogs fighting amongst themselves?
Sauce didn't care about that. It barked at the crowd urgently a couple of times, then turned and ran quickly towards another street.
No time to explain! Get on the bus!
The mechanical dogs whose original leader had been taken down subconsciously started moving, chasing after their new leader.
The employees looked at each other.
"Go! Follow them!"
They followed with their guns, taking the mechs with them.
For a moment, the street returned to its former tranquility.
A moment later, a small white head peeked out from the store. "Whoa! They actually all ran away!"
A second, purple head peeked out in shock. "What... what's the principle behind this?"
"As independent detection units, the leader among mechanical dogs is always the one with the most information," Fuli, the third to peek out, explained. "Sauce is a master-sequence AI that has personally dealt with the three of us. The information advantage is right there, so the other dogs naturally have to listen to it."
He asked strangely, "By the way, you don't know about something your own family produces?"
Mei sighed, "I'm only interested in sword-type weapons, and my father rarely let me get involved in ME Corp's affairs."
"Then has he ever thought about what would happen if he handed the company over to you after he retires?"
As he spoke, Fuli took out his phone to check the surveillance. After confirming that the ME Corp people had all left, he ran in the opposite direction.
"Father, he... he said..."
A magnificent blush spread across her pretty face. The girl, keeping up with him, said in a small voice, "He said he would hand ME Corp over to the person I love, and who can love me with all his heart."
"Oh, so he'll let his future son-in-law manage it," Fuli said, expressing his understanding. "That style is indeed in line with traditional Far Eastern families."
"So this Miss has such a large inheritance waiting for her!" Kiana exclaimed in shock, only to be chopped on the forehead by the boy's hand. "Don't say your dreams during the day."
The force was just right, enough to daze but not harm the brain.
"You can't hear me if I say them at night," Kiana grumbled, rubbing her head.
And a good thing too!
Mei shook her head. "Unfortunately, ME Corp is no longer my family's property."
"We'll just find a chance to take it back," Fuli said leisurely. "Let that cuckoo who took over the nest enjoy it for a while. In three years at most, ME Corp will definitely return to your hands."
He wasn't just talking nonsense. Mei was already an S-rank before his rebirth.
If she wanted to, wouldn't taking back ME Corp be a matter of minutes?
Hearing this, Mei was stunned. She said casually, in a seemingly joking tone, "Fuli, are you going to help me get it back?"
"It's not impossible."
Fuli felt that with their relationship of adding nitrogen to the fire, helping out with something that was just the icing on the cake would be a piece of cake.
"But let's be clear, when the time comes, you have to give me half."
Probably related to the numerous technological facilities inside, ME Corp was one of the few building complexes that was not severely damaged in the Third Eruption.
With its scale, getting half would set Fuli up for life.
"Half?"
Looking at his lazy yet serious expression, an inexplicable emotion seemed to flow in Mei's heart. "If you can help get it back, I can give it all to you directly."
She didn't care about the ME Corp inheritance at all, but the feeling of someone willing to stand by her side and help was really good.
But on second thought, giving half to Ah-Li seemed to be the same as Ryoma handing it over to his future son-in-law to manage...
Realizing this, Kiana quickly inserted herself between the two, who were having a good moment. "That won't do! This Miss disagrees!"
Fuli retorted with dissatisfaction, "Mei and I are discussing something. What right does a white-haired banshee like you have to object?"
"Why not?" the running girl shouted loudly. "ME Corp is the dowry Father-in-law prepared for his son-in-law! If it's all given to you, what's left for this Miss?"
"Go work for it yourself."
Indifferent.
"No way! Why work when there's ready-made soft rice to eat? If a certain Austrian painter had been accepted into art school, he wouldn't have started World War II!"
"You have no ambition!"
"Nonsense! My frontal armor is much bigger than yours!"
"You don't understand. A male's chest circumference is always larger than a female's of the same age."
"That's just the average! It's those people whose chests are small!"
"You say that as if you're so big yourself."
"Let's compare if you have the guts!"
As Kiana spoke, she started to take off Mei's jacket.
"Kiana! Wait! Why are you taking off my clothes?!!"
Mei, who had been enjoying their banter, quickly protected her collar, trying to stop a certain pervert's demonic claws from having their way with her.
The panda costume came in handy at this moment. Kiana's smooth combo failed to break through Mei's defense. Instead, she herself was sweating profusely during the tussle, giving away a lot of fan service.
Leaving the battlefield, she put her jacket back on properly and glared at Fuli, who had been a strong spectator throughout. "Pervert!"
The outsider, who had enjoyed the beautiful scenery, replied lazily, "I don't think a pervert who mumbles 'thirsty but won't drink water, I want to lick Mei's legs' all day has the right to use that word to describe me."
"This Miss only said I wanted to drink Mei's milk, why did you expand and extend it for me?"
"Isn't it essentially the same thing?"
"Seems so?"
...