"Young Yixue, your grandpa is fine. He probably just talked for too long and needs some oxygen. Don't worry." Elder Hua's steady voice came through the headset.
"Mm... all right. Sorry for the trouble, but please take good care of my grandpa. I'll fly the mecha back later and take you for a ride. I'll carry on with the beginner exercises first."
"Mm, go ahead."
After ending the voice call, Elder Hua looked at Elder Wang, whom the staff had carried onto a chair.
He hurriedly called out, "Quick, put that nasal oxygen cannula back on him."
Tong Yao remembered that Elder Wang had just stepped on it.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
"Elder Hua, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"Tsk-we can't worry about that now. Put it on him first."
Elder Hua knew this old condition of Elder Wang's would flare up whenever he became extremely excited, so he was not anxious.
Judging by past experience, he should be fine.
A little oxygen would sort him out.
After settling Elder Wang in the infirmary, Elder Hua continued leading the experts in keeping a constant watch on Wang Yixue's next moves.
Wang Yixue adjusted her holographic helmet slightly.
She looked at the beginner training guide that appeared before her.
[Current training subject: synchronized limb coordination training.] [Begin? (Next training subject: railgun target practice.)]
"Begin!"
She clenched her fair, delicate fists.
A trace of determination flashed in her eyes.
Less than a kilometer away.
The Eagle Sauce Space Station.
The cross-shaped space station floated in low Earth orbit.
Click-
The node module's hatch made a faint sound.
Dressed in a white spacesuit, Migen leaned halfway out.
The boundless, vast, and dazzling sea of stars before him shook him to his core.
"Migen, don't block the hatch. Hurry up and get out!" Anzhui gave Migen a gentle push from behind.
Only then did Migen carefully overcome the weightlessness, holding the handrail as he floated outside.
This was their twenty-seventh spacewalk mission.
It was called a spacewalk, but it was really just letting the astronauts get some air.
Being cooped up in the habitation module all day would make even a healthy person sick.
They secured their safety tethers and leaned against the node module's outer wall, admiring the beauty of space.
Just then.
Migen suddenly pointed at a tiny red dot in the distance.
"What's that? It wasn't there before, was it?"
"Probably a satellite Hairy Bear or Xia Nation just launched. Ignore it."
"But why do I feel like he... he's dancing?"
Migen stared fixedly into the distance, his brow furrowing.
Anzhui looked in the direction Migen was pointing, and his scalp instantly prickled.
He could faintly make it out.
A red humanoid machine was striking all sorts of poses.
Anzhui was even reminded of a certain celebrity with center-parted hair and overalls.
It was downright shocking!
They exchanged a glance, each seeing terror in the other's eyes.
When they looked again, the red humanoid machine had stopped moving.
Only then did Anzhui breathe a sigh of relief. It was probably just an ordinary satellite. Perhaps some visual effect had made him see it wrong.
Migen relaxed as well.
Right at that moment.
Two streaks of red fire blasted from the red humanoid machine's shoulders, one after the other.
Trailing two straight lines, they swept past the pair and hurtled toward geosynchronous orbit.
Anzhui's face drained of color, and his body gave a violent shudder.
Turning back, he saw two violent explosions erupt in deep space.
Two dragonfly-like satellites were blasted to fragments in an instant.
Under Earth's gravitational pull, they plunged toward the atmosphere.
"What's this?"
"Oh God, what happened?!"
Anzhui was dumbstruck, his brain short-circuiting a little.
Beside him, Migen was even more shocked. His pupils trembled violently, and his eyes kept rolling upward as he nearly fainted.
His jaw shook madly, his upper and lower teeth crashing together.
Even his back molars were smashed!
What was that thing? It was terrifying!!
Only after a long while did the two finally manage to draw a lifesaving breath.
They shouted in unison,
"Mommy! This is bad! Aliens are attacking Earth!"
"Quick, we have to report this to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration! Earth might be destroyed!"
"Absolutely absurd!"
The Eagle Sauce Aeronautics and Space Administration building.
Three-star General Paul slammed his palm onto the desk, his eyes practically spitting fire.
"Those two idiots, Anzhui and Migen, have gone stupid from staying in space."
"There are no aliens in this world. This has to be a conspiracy!"
"Contact the researchers on Puerto Rico Island immediately. Have them use the over-the-horizon radio telescope and find out what the hell that big red thing is!"
When Paul lost his temper, everyone had to keep their tails between their legs.
A few minutes later, several freshly produced photographs lay on Paul's desk.
The photographs were blurry, but that did not stop him from recognizing that this was indeed a real mecha.
Paul's expression was so dark it could have wrung out water.
Deep in his eyes, intense horror lingered, refusing to dissipate.
This was serious trouble!
What they had photographed was not an alien, but it was just as terrifying as one.
Someone had developed a mecha, and minutes earlier, it had destroyed two satellites with two shots.
This level of technology surpassed the current cutting edge by more than tenfold.
If this thing wanted to destroy the space station, it could do so in passing, without the slightest effort.
It might even be possible for it to fire that strange cannon from space and precisely strike the president's residence.
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
Paul felt the chill beneath his feet intensify, climbing up his thighs and onto his back, making him shudder abruptly.
No, if anything else happened, this would blow up.
The people above had to carry this blame!
With that thought, Paul decisively picked up the phone on his desk and dialed.
"Beep-"
"This is the Secretary of Defense's office. Who is calling, and what is the matter?"
A rather cold female voice came from the other end.
"This is Paul from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I have SSS-level urgent military intelligence to report. Put me through to General Austin."
"Gasp-please hold!"
The research base in Zhonghai City.
Elder Wang was still receiving oxygen.
Elder Hua spent most of his time watching Wang Yixue's movements on the large display.
Seeing that Wang Yixue seemed to have finished the beginner training guide,
Elder Hua asked,
"Young Yixue, how does it feel? Can you really pilot it at a basic level now?"
"Oh, Grandpa Hua, you're such a nag! Didn't I just tell you? Once I finish the beginner guide, I can pilot Crimson Sky No. 1 at a basic level."
"Heh... the little lass is getting impatient!"
Making no attempt to hide his delight, Elder Hua smiled and stroked his beard.
Suddenly thinking of something, he continued,
"By the way, I think I saw you controlling the mecha to attack something far, far away."
"You mean the shoulder railguns. I just picked a couple of spots at random and did some target practice."
"What?! Target practice in outer space?"
Elder Hua's eyes instantly widened, and he swallowed.
Although today's shocks had left him somewhat numb, this still startled him.
The power of the Crimson Sky No. 1 mecha had already surpassed his understanding.
With this thing, Xia Nation's technology could definitely develop by leaps and bounds.
Building a strong nation through science and technology was absolutely no empty slogan!
"Huh?"
Elder Hua suddenly felt that something seemed wrong.
"Um... Young Yixue, you said you picked a couple of spots at random for target practice. Where did the targets come from?"