Blue Star's atmosphere.
The Crimson Sky No. 1 mecha hurtled along at high speed.
Friction with the atmosphere turned its entire body fiery red, yet it held firm.
Wang Yixue did her best to control it, but she could only adjust its posture slightly.
Its speed did not decrease.
The data panel showed a body temperature of 501 and a speed of Mach 5.
The mecha had flown beyond the mesosphere and was about to reach low orbit.
Wang Yixue was not quite so frightened anymore, but she knew that if this continued, she would die in outer space.
She took off the holographic helmet and felt around the cockpit for an emergency stop button.
She found nothing.
She sighed.
"This mecha is so advanced. Doesn't it even have an intelligent assistance system?"
As though responding to her, something happened.
The mecha issued a mechanical voice.
[Driver detected failing to perform appropriate operations for an extended period. Beginner intelligent assistance system activated.] [The driver may operate the mecha through a combination of voice commands, gaze selection through the holographic helmet, and other methods.] [Detailed operating instructions have been sent to the holographic helmet.]
Wang Yixue hurriedly put the holographic helmet back on. Only then did she see the intelligent piloting assistance instructions listed one after another.
"Hover!"
At Wang Yixue's command, dozens of attitude-adjustment vector nozzles on the mecha's exterior all went to work, flipping its body around.
At the same time, the four hydrogen-powered engines on its back erupted with surging blue flames.
They formed tightly packed rings of Mach diamonds.
The Crimson Sky No. 1 immediately lost speed, as though slamming on the brakes in midair.
The data panel in the lower right corner also changed rapidly.
Speed: Mach 4.7. Speed: Mach 4.2. Speed: Mach 3.5. ... Speed: 0. Mecha currently hovering.
At last, it came to a steady stop in low orbit.
"Phew-"
"It stopped!"
Wang Yixue let out a long breath.
Her gaze shifted from the data panel to the view before her.
Her pupils suddenly trembled, and she recoiled.
What met her eyes was a deep-blue planet.
A thin blue veil wrapped around it, crystal clear and shimmering with a radiant halo.
It lay across the deep, lonely expanse of space.
It seemed right before her eyes, yet beyond her reach.
"Is this Earth?"
The sight shook Wang Yixue to her core.
Her breathing quickened, and she could not calm down for a long time.
Mother Earth really is so beautiful!
She gazed at it, spellbound.
She did not notice that a little speaker-shaped icon on the transparent function panel in the lower left corner of her holographic helmet had already been flashing for over ten minutes.
Zhonghai Research Base.
"Well? Did it connect?"
This was already Elder Wang's eighth time asking.
"No. Since intelligent identification hasn't been performed, we can only initiate contact from our side. The connection can only go through if the other party accepts."
Tong Yao explained patiently.
She had just learned the general situation from her colleagues.
She knew that the person inside the mecha was Elder Wang's granddaughter, so his anxiety was only natural.
But according to everyone's calculations, her chances of survival were almost zero.
In other words, no one on the other end would ever accept the connection.
There was most likely no living person left inside the mecha!
It was cruel, but it was the truth.
The briefing hall was silent.
Only Elder Wang's heavy, aged sighs could be heard.
The atmosphere was rather somber.
They had offered every word of comfort they could and done everything possible.
Everyone was helpless.
"Beep-"
Tong Yao's computer suddenly chimed.
The screen indicated that the phone's call history had been cracked.
"Although it hasn't been cracked, we've bypassed the lock on Yixue's Apple phone and cracked its call history. We now have that Master Xu's number!"
"Call him!" Elder Wang immediately ordered.
"Yes!"
Tong Yao gave a military salute and dialed the number.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed has an overdue balance. Please top up the account."
The corner of Tong Yao's mouth twitched. Grinding her back teeth, she topped up the number with fifty yuan.
She tapped redial.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is busy. Please try again later."
Tong Yao froze, then immediately realized what had happened. Her face darkened as she said,
"This kid's phone blocks unknown numbers."
"Trace his IP address and pull up his personal information," Elder Wang said with a wave of his hand.
"Understood, Elder Wang. Give me five minutes."
After losing so much face today, it's finally time to show my skills!
Tong Yao's lips curved confidently.
With her skills and access privileges, tracking someone down using a phone number could not have been simpler.
Her slender fingers began flying over the keyboard.
Clack, clack, clack...
Elsewhere.
After calling Wang Yixue, Xu Fan had quickly washed up and headed to the abandoned warehouse housing the Super God Technology Workbench lv1.
There was no other reason: after making that phone call, his phone account had gone into arrears.
Xu Fan had tried asking the system whether it could modify his phone so he would not have to pay phone bills.
It turned out that it really could, and it only cost one technology point.
So Xu Fan handed his phone to the workbench's mechanical arm.
After the modifications, the phone looked unchanged, but its insides had undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation.
It needed no charging, required no phone credit, and had unlimited internet access.
It also had a host of cool functions, such as preventing information and location theft and reverse tracing, which Xu Fan would have to explore at his leisure.
I'll modify Mom's phone tomorrow too. That'll save quite a bit on phone bills.
That was what Xu Fan thought.
Zhonghai Military Research Base.
Five minutes later.
"Found him!"
Tong Yao had found the IP address and the phone owner's information.
"Good work. What's the owner's full name, and where is he now? Send someone over immediately!"
Elder Wang clenched his fingers, wanting to have this Master Xu brought over at once.
Clack, clack, clack...
Tong Yao casually tapped a couple of keys.
A trace of pride flashed through her beautiful eyes.
"According to the computer, his name is Xu Tiebang, and his current location is... hiss..."
Her words stopped abruptly halfway through.
At the same time, she shuddered and sucked in a cold breath.
Her hand unconsciously reached for her short hair and tugged at it fiercely.
The place name had frightened her practically sick.
"What is it, Tong Yao? Where is he? We need to send someone over right away. This Xu Tiebang should indeed have something to do with the mecha."
Seeing Tong Yao suddenly fall silent, Elder Hua urged her on.
"Elder Hua, Elder Wang, we can't go to this place right now! Please don't scold me when I tell you. If possible, I personally suggest we approach his school instead," Tong Yao said apprehensively, shrinking her neck.
"Contacting his school would widen the impact. What did you find? Tell us!"
"Well... according to the computer, his current location is on the moon."
Elder Wang: "??"
Elder Hua: "???"
The experts: "????"
They were all dumbfounded.
Tong Yao looked aggrieved.
With a miserable expression, she explained, "I tried countless other people's numbers, and every result was accurate. Why did this one turn out to be on the moon?!!!"
"Forget it. I'll check again!"
Once again, Tong Yao typed apprehensively on the keyboard, but this time, her earlier confidence was gone.
"Click!"
As her last finger pressed down, the latest location information appeared.
Seeing the location displayed there, Tong Yao's face twitched wildly.
Unable to remain calm any longer, her eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted on the spot.
In her agitation, she yanked out a large clump of hair, leaving a bare patch on the back of her head.
"S-sir... should I say it?"
"What do you think?"
"All... right. According to the computer, his current location is... Nebula M78!"
Countless staff members who heard that location felt a surge of fury rising within them at that moment.