Cloud Summit Manor.
In the clearing in front of the villa.
The moment the colossal machine appeared, it drew countless eyes.
People gathered around.
They tilted their heads back to gaze up at the crimson mecha.
Their minds reeled, their scalps tingling.
Their mouths hung so wide their tongues were about to fly out!
There were plenty of young people present, their eyes sparkling with stars as they looked at the mecha.
"Holy shit, that's badass!"
"It's blinding my 24-karat titanium-alloy dog eyes!"
"A knife slicing a butt-now that's an eye-opener!"
"Mom asked why I was kneeling to look at the mecha??"
Cries of "holy shit" rose one after another.
The younger people in particular made no attempt to hide their love for the colossal machine before them.
Even the older people gazed at it with their hearts soaring.
They wished they could pilot it themselves and roam outer space.
Mecha were a man's true romance!
Not just the men-the women were also captivated by the mecha's imposing presence.
Some of the younger girls kept exclaiming, "So cool!"
Wang Ning sat slumped on the ground, utterly dazed, and murmured,
"Is... is this actually real?"
"No, no matter how realistic it looks, it's still fake. How could Yixue afford a real mecha? Even Eagle Sauce can't build something like this, let alone Xia Nation!"
The entire manor was immersed in the shock of the giant mecha's arrival, to the point of forgetting the birthday banquet.
Elder Hua cleared his throat softly.
He gave Elder Wang a gentle tug, and the two came together before drawing the equally bewildered Wang Yixue aside.
An outsider watched the spectacle; an insider saw the workings.
One look at this mecha's exterior was enough to tell it was anything but simple.
"Young Yixue, tell Grandpa Hua honestly. Where did you get this mecha?"
Wang Yixue blinked her big, mascara-ad eyes twice, her gaze a little vacant.
She did not answer, as though pondering something.
"Young Yixue?"
"Young Yixue??"
Wang Yixue suddenly shuddered, finally snapping out of her thoughts.
"Grandpa Hua, if I said I paid a master welder three million to weld him together, would you think I was lying?"
"What nonsense are you talking, little girl! Good children don't lie!" Elder Hua spoke kindly, but his brows knitted slightly.
"Grandpa Hua, I knew you wouldn't believe me!" Wang Yixue pouted, at a loss for how to explain.
"Young Yixue, are you saying the Master Xu who called you in the villa earlier welded this?" Elder Wang knew full well that his granddaughter never lied. She was a thoroughly silly little girl, so what she said should be true.
"Yes. His name is Xu Fan, and he's a special-grade welder." Wang Yixue nodded and added this detail.
Elder Wang and Elder Hua exchanged a glance, each seeing deep confusion in the other's eyes.
This mecha clearly went beyond the scope of an ordinary model, with many parts following aerodynamic principles.
The vectoring nozzles on the mecha's back also bore some resemblance to Eagle Sauce's F119 engine.
Analyzed from certain angles, they were even more advanced than the F119.
The railguns on its shoulders did not look like mere showpieces either.
As veterans of the scientific community, the two naturally spotted issues ordinary people could not see at a glance.
More and more people crowded around the mecha.
Even many of Cloud Summit Manor's servants and the banquet's chefs came over to join the excitement.
"This mecha model is so cool!"
"Too bad it's only a model. If only it were a real mecha."
"Not necessarily. Maybe it's our country's latest, most cutting-edge technological achievement!"
"Are you stupid? Of course this thing is fake. It's just a hollow shell with paint slapped on, made to look impressive!"
"Says who? That cockpit looks like someone could get inside. Maybe it can move!"
After their heated discussion, everyone focused on the cockpit in the mecha's chest.
A crowd pointed at the cockpit, brimming with anticipation.
Finally, some people even began chanting.
"Get in the cockpit!"
"Get in the cockpit!"
Wang Ning, who had not spoken for a long while, was helped to her feet by a servant and gradually calmed the shock within her.
The mecha Wang Yixue had given as a birthday present had stolen all the limelight today.
She had figured it out. Yixue must have prepared this giant mecha model long ago.
Wang Yixue's expression earlier must have been an act!
Scheming bitch!
A model was only a model in the end, all appearance and no substance.
Once the cockpit opened and people saw the shabby mess inside, they would surely be bitterly disappointed.
An inscrutable curve lifted the corners of her lips, and she addressed everyone with a smile.
"Don't get impatient, everyone. Yixue will definitely open the cockpit. She won't disappoint you!"
With that, she turned to Wang Yixue.
"Right, big sister Yixue?"
With someone taking the lead, more voices joined the chanting.
Wang Yixue could only steel herself and give it a try.
But the guests would probably be disappointed!
According to Master Xu, it seemed she could perform some basic controls on the mecha.
She opened her phone.
She found Xu Fan's installation package.
A single tap completed the installation.
As Wang Yixue tapped to launch the app, the interface unfolded.
Immediately afterward, a series of mechanical braking clicks came from inside the mecha.
Everyone around it was so startled that they all backed away two steps.
Their expressions were tense, filled with inexplicable fear.
Wang Ning sneered and muttered, "She even installed speakers. She really went to a lot of trouble to steal the spotlight."
"Young Yixue, be careful!"
Elder Wang clearly sensed something was wrong. This sound of mechanical linkages and physical braking was very close to what he had heard while researching exoskeleton armor.
Wang Yixue slid her finger across the interface and discovered that only the start button seemed usable. There was no command button to open the cockpit.
Holding her breath, she lightly tapped the start button.
[Dong-]
A loud notification tone suddenly exploded overhead.
The dormant mecha's eyes blazed with red light.
Then a mechanical voice came from inside the mecha.
[Pilot authorization confirmed] [Coolant injection complete] [Mini hydrogen engine startup complete] [Phased-array situational awareness system startup complete] [Crimson Sky No. 1 Mecha's first startup successful!] [Scanning for pilot...]
A beam of red light shone down from the mecha's eyes, confirming Wang Yixue's location.
Then its arm reached toward her.
Half cradling and half gripping her, it lifted her to chest level.
In her extreme nervousness, she accidentally dropped her phone below.
"Click!"
The sound of an airlock opening rang out, and before Wang Yixue could react, she was delivered into the cockpit.
The cockpit hatch closed.
Holding a holographic helmet in both hands, Wang Yixue sat in the pilot's seat, still shaken.
Staring at the unfamiliar control sticks and console before her, she was completely dumbfounded.
Even her breathing grew shaky.
"It's so realistic! This money was so worth it!!!"
Below the mecha.
When the cockpit had opened earlier, many people had seen its internal structure.
Wang Ning was the first to be dumbstruck.
This was completely different from what she had imagined.
If the mecha's exterior was already stunning enough, the inside of the cockpit could absolutely be called pure science fiction.
The craftsmanship of this model-not just its exterior, but even its cockpit was realistic to this degree!
Even its arms could move, exceeding her understanding.
"Fly!"
"Fly!"
"..."
Over a hundred people were as excited as though they had been injected with chicken blood, all shouting eagerly.
The atmosphere reached an unprecedented fever pitch.
Wang Ning, meanwhile, wore a deathly expression, her face so dark it could drip water.
Her fists clenched so tightly that her fingernails dug into her palms.
Through gritted teeth, she said, "I refuse to believe you can actually fly!"