Alan: Rising Powers

Episode 13: Subtle Changes

"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 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,