They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 105 ERP Research Institute
"Oh? I've been waiting for you for a long time, Flame Dragon Knight..."

Upon hearing this, Ba Dou stopped stuffing dumplings into his mouth, looked up, and grinned.

Li Xinnan's outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

The gratitude on his face froze instantly...

"How could you..."

Li Xinnan's pupils contracted sharply, and he subconsciously took half a step back, his body tensing as he assumed a fighting stance.

The identity of the Summoner of the Flame Dragon Armor is something that no outsider could possibly know except for a few people within ERP!
This is top secret!
Who exactly is this seemingly carefree guy in front of me?

"Don't be nervous, sit down, sit down."

Ba Dou completely ignored his wariness and instead pointed to the empty seat opposite him, indicating that the other person should sit down.

"If you had arrived any later, Aunt Hui would have eaten all of these dumplings."

His overly familiar manner set off alarm bells in Li Xinnan's mind.

"My main job is, you could say, being a hacker."

Ba Dou swallowed the last bite of dumpling, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and then slowly explained.

"I used to have nothing better to do, and I accidentally hacked into your ERP database."

So, I know all about you guys.

He spoke in a nonchalant tone, as if he were simply saying that the weather was nice today.

But these words struck Li Xinnan like a bolt from the blue.

The ERP firewall was personally designed by Dr. Garrut and is touted as impregnable. How could that be...?

Seeing Li Xinnan's "Are you kidding me?" expression, Ba Dou moved closer and lowered his voice.

"Don't believe me? Then I'll tell you something even more shocking."

Actually, Xiangyang and I were just tied up by the Five Dark Guardians.

Finally, Xiangyang transformed into the Emperor Armor and managed to escape…

He glanced in the direction of the inner room and said in a low voice.

"what?!"

Li Xinnan's expression changed drastically.

He had only just heard about Xiangyang's kidnapping from Meizhen, which was why he rushed over in such a hurry.

So they were kidnapped by the Dark Guardians?
"So, Flame Dragon Warrior,"

Ba Dou's expression also turned serious.
"I need to go to your base. There are some things I must discuss with your head in person. This concerns you, and it concerns my own life as well."

Li Xinnan stared intently into Ba Dou's eyes, trying to discern something from them.

The other person's gaze was frank, without the slightest hint of evasion.

Considering Xiangyang's safe return, what he said is very likely true.

If that's the case, then I should tell Meizhen about this...

"it is good."

Li Xinnan took a deep breath and nodded.

He briefly explained to Aunt Hui and Minci that he had important matters to attend to, and then turned and left the dumpling restaurant with Badou.

After getting on the motorcycle, we finally arrived at the door of a seemingly ordinary coffee shop.

Li Xinnan didn't say anything, but simply pushed open the door and led Ba Dou inside.

Inside the coffee shop, Mei Zhen paced anxiously. When she saw Li Xinnan enter, she was about to speak when she noticed Ba Dou behind him, and her brows immediately furrowed.

"Xinnan, who is he? How dare you bring an outsider in?"

“Meizhen, he said he knows who we are, and he also said…”

Li Xinnan quickly recounted Ba Dou's "hacker" story and the kidnapping incident.

"impossible!"

After listening, Meizhen firmly denied it.

"The ERP system was built by Dr. Garrut and me; it's absolutely impossible for anyone to break into it without alerting any alarms!"

Her tone was full of confidence, and her gaze toward Ba Dou was filled with scrutiny and suspicion.

Could this kid be a spy sent by the film industry, trying to sneak into the base in this way?

"How will you know if you don't try?"

"Hey beautiful, can I borrow your computer? Let's see how it performs."

Ba Dou dismissed her suspicions, shrugged, and said... Mei Zhen stared at him for a few seconds, then finally brought out a laptop from behind the bar.

She wanted to see what tricks this guy could pull.

Ba Dou didn't stand on ceremony, sat down directly, and opened his laptop.

His fingers flew across the keyboard, so fast that they were just a blur.

On the screen, countless lines of code cascaded down like a waterfall.

Meizhen's expression changed from initial disdain to surprise, and finally to complete blankness.

Because Ba Dou's actions weren't an attempt to crack the code at all; they were more like... going home.

He bypassed every firewall with precision, and even used several hidden protocols that she was unaware of. The whole process was smooth and skillful, just like a system administrator patrolling his territory!
In less than thirty seconds, the ERP's highest-level database interface was displayed prominently on the screen.

Mei Zhen's mouth dropped open, not just in shock, but more so in fear.

Their ERP security system was breached so easily, which means that if the other party wanted to, they could even shut down their satellites directly.

"Done, call it a day."

Ba Dou snapped his fingers and turned the computer towards Mei Zhen.

"Now, can you trust me?"

Meizhen nodded blankly, her gaze towards Badou shifting from suspicion to the look of disbelief.

“I’ve been targeted by the Shadow Guardians. They say I’m a descendant of the Shadow Realm and they’re trying to threaten me into joining the Shadow Realm.”

Ba Dou struck while the iron was hot, pointing to himself.

"So, I need the protection of the ERP system. In exchange, I can help you patch all the system vulnerabilities and upgrade it so that not even a fly can get in."

A super hacker who can freely enter and exit the ERP system would be a huge help if he became a friend.
But if they become enemies... the consequences would be unimaginable.

Meizhen took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"I need to consult Dr. Garrut about this matter."

She made her decision and then extended an invitation to Ba Dou:
"Please come with me."

She led Ba Dou to the secret elevator in the inner room of the coffee shop that led to the underground base.

Li Xinnan watched their retreating figures but did not follow.

"Xinnan?"

Meizhen turned around, somewhat puzzled.

A complex, bitter smile appeared on Li Xinnan's face.

"I'm not going."

"After all, I am no longer... Flame Dragon Knight."

After saying that, he turned around and left the coffee shop dejectedly.

Ba Dou glanced at his back, said nothing, and followed Mei Zhen into the elevator.

As the elevator descended, a huge laboratory full of futuristic technology appeared before Ba Dou's eyes.

With Dr. Garrut's approval, Badou naturally joined ERP and became a "technical consultant" there.

In the days that followed, he fulfilled his promise to help ERP strengthen its network security, while also using the cutting-edge equipment and databases there to study the secrets within himself.

According to ERP research data, a thousand years ago, in order to fight against the dark forces of the Shadow Realm, five spirit stones containing light energy descended to Earth, and their power subtly influenced the descendants of five specific villages.

As a result, a special substance called "RT Blood Essence" was born in the bloodline of these descendants, which is the key to their ability to summon armor.

As for Ba Dou, as a descendant of the Shadow Realm, his physique was a result of being affected by the "Demon Spirit Stone," which is the opposite of the Light Spirit Stone.

“From a genetic perspective, your structures are remarkably similar.”

Dr. Garu, wearing a white coat, pointed to two complex sets of gene sequence diagrams on the screen and explained them to Ba Dou.

"Perhaps light and darkness are two sides of the same coin, different manifestations of the same origin."

Therefore, although they are so similar in origin, their energy properties are completely opposite.

Ba Dou nodded thoughtfully.

This theory coincides with his previous speculation.

After resolving his own problems, Ba Dou devoted all his energy to another investigation.

He used the powerful intelligence system of the ERP system to frantically collect two key pieces of information.

Firstly, the exact location of the Demon-Suppressing Tower that seals Lu Fa.

Secondly, there's the matter of the summoners of the Armored Warriors who will appear in the future—Xingtian, Feiying, and Jingang—in another city…

(End of this chapter)