Elder Wang's aged face was frighteningly dark.
His brows knotted into three deep furrows.
His chin trembled.
Though he said nothing, his silence spoke louder than words.
Nebula M78?
First the moon, then outer space?
After all that, this Xu Tiebang was Ultraman Tiga!
By that logic.
Just now, Xu Tiebang had been racing from Earth toward Nebula M78 at two million light-years per second.
"Nonsense!"
Elder Wang roared in fury, his beard bristling and eyes bulging.
His whole body shook with anger.
"Crimson Sky Mecha No. 1, connection successful!"
A sudden voice rang out in the briefing hall.
Elder Wang instinctively looked at the large television screen at the front of the hall.
There, amid the boundless expanse of stars, a blue planet appeared before everyone's eyes.
It was so enormous it filled half the screen, its edges haloed in a crystalline white glow, magnificent, dazzling, and deeply stirring.
The profound, majestic sight stole countless people's breath.
All their earlier displeasure was instantly cast to the back of their minds.
After a brief, dazed moment.
Through the reflection on the holographic helmet, Elder Wang faintly made out his granddaughter Wang Yixue's clear, fair cheeks.
Wonderful, Young Yixue was all right!
This was wonderful!
"Grandpa, can you hear me? I only just noticed your connection request. I was doing the beginner exercises before."
That familiar voice rang out.
An old man's tears wet his eyes.
It was as though, at that moment, he was no longer the great man who had used his aged, ailing body to hold up the backbone of Xia Nation's scientific community.
He was just an ordinary old man.
After a brief silence, cheers erupted through the briefing hall like toppling mountains and surging seas.
Countless people's eyes brimmed with hot tears.
Not only because Wang Yixue had miraculously survived.
But also because of this miracle-working Crimson Sky No. 1!
Everyone understood just what it meant that someone in Xia Nation had developed a mecha capable of carrying a person into space!
Elder Wang and Elder Hua clearly understood this too.
They firmly suppressed the emotions that had just surged within them, their expressions soon returning to normal.
This was no time for tender family feelings.
"Young Yixue, you must have experienced extreme heat and extreme cold as the mecha climbed! All that matters is that you made it through!"
Elder Wang said with feeling.
Wang Yixue seemed not to understand why her grandfather would say that. She paused briefly before replying sweetly,
"The cockpit's temperature has been like this the whole time, around twenty-five degrees, I think. It's very comfortable!"
"Yes, all that matters is that you made it through... huh? What???"
Clang!
In his agitation, he accidentally dropped the microphone onto the floor.
Elder Wang picked up the microphone.
Huff, huff...
He panted heavily.
Then asked again to confirm,
"Young Yixue, you mean you're wearing your denim hot pants and camisole, and you haven't felt any change in the cockpit's temperature?"
"That's right. Is something wrong?" Wang Yixue tilted her head, a trace of puzzlement flashing in her eyes.
"Heh... nothing. Heh... that's quite right..."
His mouth parched, Elder Wang swallowed and gave a few dry chuckles.
Countless question marks rose in his mind.
He had seen the mecha with his own eyes. Its exterior had no heat-shield tiles, nor even any thermal barrier coating.
It was simply some unknown alloy, painted with patterns in something like red paint.
Inconceivable.
This question had become an unsolved mystery at the Zhonghai City Military Research Base!
An unsolved mystery for the entire world, even!!
Elder Hua was numb too.
Everything he had seen and heard today had completely crushed his worldview.
Crushed it, then ground it into powder!
The researchers around them also had their brows twisted into knots.
Their thoughts had hit a dead end. They could not figure it out.
Just how had the cockpit been kept at a constant temperature!
Elder Wang struggled to suppress the hundred thousand whys in his heart.
He took two great, gasping breaths.
Then continued,
"Young Yixue, operating a mecha isn't something you can learn in a short while. Don't rush. First, see whether there's something like a one-touch automatic return function. That's what matters most."
"Not really. I'm doing the mecha's beginner tutorial right now. I reckon I'll learn it in another ten minutes or so. Then Yixue can just fly Crimson Sky No. 1 back."
With that, Wang Yixue blinked and raised her delicate chin slightly, like a child showing off a perfect test score to a parent.
"Pfft-"
Elder Wang had intended to take a sip of water to steady his nerves, but at that moment, he sprayed it all out.
He exclaimed in a strange voice,
"A beginner tutorial?"
"This isn't that King of Pesticides game you love playing! How could you learn just by doing a beginner tutorial!"
"Oh, Grandpa! It's pretty much the same. Aren't you behind the times? The Crimson Sky No. 1 mecha is really smart, and very user-friendly too. I've only practiced for a little while, and I can already operate it to sing, dance, and rap." Wang Yixue rolled her eyes at Elder Wang, looking quite proud of herself.
"Well..."
Elder Wang no longer knew what to say.
As one of Xia Nation's most senior scientists, a man who had led the development of numerous technologies that strengthened the nation, he had actually been called behind the times by his granddaughter.
And she had called him behind the times in the very field he excelled in most.
Where could he go to plead his case!
And what the hell was this beginner tutorial? How could an ordinary girl pilot a mecha after going through it?
Was this a joke?
Wasn't this treating things far too lightly!
He felt a little short of oxygen now. He needed a couple of quick breaths of oxygen to keep himself alive.
His blood pressure kept rising and falling. He couldn't take it.
It was practically like riding a roller coaster.
At this point, Tong Yao, beside him, noticed that Elder Wang's complexion seemed a little off and hurriedly brought over an emergency medical oxygen cylinder.
She inserted the nasal cannula into Elder Wang's nostrils.
Only then did Elder Wang let out a long breath.
"Well... Young Yixue, can you check the mecha's fuel? Keep an eye on it, so you don't run short on the way back."
The moment Elder Wang gave this reminder, the researchers beside him perked up.
Their gazes toward him filled with admiration.
He truly lived up to his reputation as a veteran scientist, always able to grasp the most crucial point.
There had previously been incidents where overlooking insufficient fuel had led to disasters in space.
"Fuel?"
Wang Yixue really had not considered that.
She glanced at the remaining-fuel icon.
Then said casually,
"There are ten bars in total, and nine and a half left."
"Uh-"
Elder Wang's face twitched. He abruptly yanked out the nasal cannula and threw it on the floor.
Then stamped on it hard twice.
Had the occasion allowed it, he would already have been swearing.
Damn it, stop showing off! I'll stop breathing, all right!!
His defenses crumbled.
Completely crumbled.
Flying from the ground into space had used only one-twentieth of the fuel.
Did it have to be this outrageous?
Elder Wang was utterly dumbfounded.
His mind was in complete turmoil, and he began questioning his life.
"Oh!"
Wang Yixue suddenly cried out.
Elder Wang and everyone around him immediately looked at the screen.
"Grandpa, I found another reserve energy icon! Its capacity is bigger than the one before. It has fifty bars!"
That innocent, pleasant voice reached Elder Wang's ears.
Elder Wang's eyes instantly rolled back, and he toppled stiffly backward.
"What was that sound?"
Wang Yixue could not see the picture on her end. She could only hear something falling to the floor.
"Grandpa? What's wrong, Grandpa?"