"Yixue, slow down, slow down!"
Zhonghai Research Center, briefing hall.
Elder Hua's heart nearly leaped out of his throat.
Looking at the panel data relayed live on the screen, he was too frightened to bear the sight.
[Current mode: Normal] [Mecha posture: Diving] [Back engine No. 1 thrust: 150 kN+] [Back engine No. 2 thrust: 150 kN+] [Back engine No. 3 thrust: 165 kN+] [Back engine No. 4 thrust: 165 kN+] [Flank engine thrust: 179 kN+] [Body attitude adjustment vector thrust: No. 1/30, No. 2/15, No. 3/45, No. 4/13, No. 5/22] [Body temperature: 430] [Speed: Mach 4.1] [Assessment: All systems normal!]
It was already going Mach 4, and this was still fucking normal??
Elder Hua felt his blood pressure shooting up far too fast.
His eyeballs were about to burst!
He swayed, on the verge of losing his footing.
Tong Yao hurriedly steadied Elder Hua.
A researcher beside them quickly pushed a stool over as well.
Elder Hua had no time to think about sitting.
Red-faced with urgency, he clutched the microphone and roared frantically.
"Yixue, you're going four times the speed of sound! Slow down! At that speed, you could punch a hole through the earth's crust!"
His aged voice nearly cracked.
Wang Yixue, however, was getting a little impatient. She even felt she could go faster.
She wanted to get back sooner to see her grandfather, who was still on oxygen.
"Grandpa Hua, you really nag too much. I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm hanging up!"
"Huh? You??"
"Bzzzt-"
The screen turned to static.
Both the audio and video signals went dead.
The other party had unilaterally cut the connection.
Elder Hua looked toward Tong Yao, hoping to give it a try.
Before he could speak, Tong Yao cut him off.
"Elder Hua, it's not a matter of my technical skills. A one-sided connection definitely won't work. There's no point trying."
"Elder Hua, the mecha's data panel says everything is normal. Please don't worry!" a researcher beside him urged as well.
"Ah, there's nothing else we can do!"
Elder Hua shook his head helplessly.
The main reason he was being so cautious was that if anything happened to Wang Yixue, Elder Wang would definitely fight him to the death.
Besides, the advanced technology contained in this mecha might very well be decades ahead of current technology.
As long as the mecha returned safely, they could disassemble it for research.
They could obtain the advanced technology within.
Then Xia Nation's technology would surely achieve a true leap forward.
They had suffered humiliation at the hands of Eagle Sauce and the Western powers for so many years.
How could they swallow that anger!
Now the opportunity lay right before them. Even if they died, they had to seize it!
Up in the sky.
Thick black clouds blotted out the sky and sun, hanging very low.
It was noon, yet the sun was nowhere to be seen.
"Crackle-"
A bolt of golden lightning snaked from one end of the dark clouds to the other.
The entire cloud bank gave off a heart-pounding sense of dread.
"Bang!"
A muffled sound rang out.
The fiery-red mecha suddenly burst out of the clouds, punching a hole through the black mass.
As though drawn toward it, the electrical arcs in the clouds instantly snaked toward the mecha.
But the mecha was too fast. In the blink of an eye, it had vanished from the vicinity of the clouds.
The lightning simply could not catch up.
If lightning had feelings, it would surely have looked utterly dumbfounded.
What the hell was that thing? That was just unreasonable!
Wang Yixue casually moved her arm around. After piloting at such high intensity for so long, she felt a little drowsy.
Fortunately, she would arrive soon.
She glanced at the data panel.
[Body temperature: 580] [Speed: Mach 5.7]
This was all she could understand.
"Speed 5.7, and still increasing. That shouldn't count as slow, right!"
In fact, it could go even faster.
Above normal piloting mode, there were two more modes: master and king.
But even with the cockpit's special protective field, she was having a little trouble enduring this intense sensation of weightlessness.
She had a feeling that this was still nowhere near the mecha's limit.
Only if her physical fitness became ten times greater than it was now could she truly bring out the mecha's original capabilities.
Just as the mecha plunged toward the ground, trailing a beautiful streak behind it.
A blip suddenly appeared on the air defense radar at Zhonghai City Military Research Base.
An urgent alarm sounded.
"Wooo-"
"Wooo-"
"Alert! Alert! Alert!"
"The phased-array radar system has detected..."
"An incoming intercontinental ballistic missile of unknown origin. The possibility of a nuclear warhead cannot be ruled out!"
"All personnel, please take shelter in the underground air-raid shelters within three minutes!"
"Wooo-"
"Wooo-"
"An intercontinental ballistic missile of unknown origin is incoming. All personnel, please take shelter in the underground air-raid shelters!"
"Countdown to disaster begins."
"180s"
"179s"
"..."
The shrill air-raid siren suddenly erupted across all of Zhonghai.
Government offices, office workers, small merchants and street vendors all abruptly stopped everything they were doing.
The emergency broadcasts were turned up to maximum volume.
Countless people descended into frenzy.
The entire city mobilized.
The police, armed police, fire services, and all other official forces were dispatched.
Sirens rang through every street and alley.
Within three minutes, they would save as many as they could.
All civil defense facilities went into operation.
The subway stations that people ordinarily thought little of now became the destinations everyone rushed toward.
At this moment, life was racing against time!
Inside the military research base.
The instant the air-raid siren sounded.
Elder Hua abruptly rose from his chair.
A sharp gleam suddenly blazed in his aged eyes.
His previously cloudy pupils instantly became incomparably clear.
At this critical juncture, he was their pillar of strength. He absolutely could not lose his composure.
"Connect me to the research base Air Defense Department's landline immediately!"
"Beep-"
"Sir, we have a major emergency. Radar shows that an enemy intercontinental missile has locked onto the base."
"Computer analysis of the thermal signature sensor data indicates that it is highly likely to carry a high-yield nuclear warhead! Preliminary estimates put it at five times the Hiroshima atomic bomb! The air-raid alert has already been automatically issued citywide."
"What should we do now?"
Elder Hua froze, his scalp prickling.
An intercontinental missile!
Could it be Eagle Sauce's newly developed Sentinel Type 2? But that didn't make sense either!
Did they really have the guts to wage a war that would lead straight to annihilation?
Besides!
If it had been launched from Eagle Sauce or Hairy Bear, our airspace early-warning system should have picked up its trail long ago.
No!
What exactly was wrong? It felt as though some link was missing...
Hearing no response from Elder Hua, the person on the other end of the phone urged him,
"Elder Hua, there's no time to think about all that. There are only two minutes left on the disaster countdown! Please hurry to an air-raid shelter!"
"It doesn't matter if we sacrifice ourselves. You are the backbone of our nation. Nothing can be allowed to happen to you!"
"Please!!"
It was not just the person on the phone. Even the researchers beside him were coming forward to drag Elder Hua away.
Even if they had to carry him, they would get this seventy-year-old man into an air-raid shelter.
"Elder Hua..."
A familiar voice rang out.
By now, after spending so long on oxygen, Elder Wang had finally recovered considerably and walked briskly over.
"Elder Wang!"
Elder Hua's eyes lit up. He's come at just the right time.
"Elder Wang, you should already know what's happened. What do you think?"
"This thing appeared suddenly, without warning. Eliminate every impossible option, and whatever remains is the truth!"
As Elder Wang said this, his expression was surprisingly calm. He picked up the cup from the coffee table and took a sip.
"Old friend, at a time like this, you're still speaking in riddles? What exactly is going on?"
"Do you think it's possible that this so-called intercontinental missile is actually our Crimson Sky No. 1 mecha?"
"Well..."
Countless people abruptly froze.