17: Chapter 17 A bag of rice for a Gundam figure? Holy crap, this thing can fly!

A faint blue glow flickered in the dimly lit underground parking lot, like a beating heart.

Around the metal sphere hovering in mid-air, the air seemed to be distorted by some invisible force field. The previously quiet space was now filled with a teeth-grinding, low-frequency hum.

Wang Kai sat in that flashy red Ferrari, his hands frozen on the steering wheel, his expression as colorful as an overturned palette.

One second he was mocking it as a yo-yo, the next, it transformed into a floating turret? Is this scientific?

"Playing tricks!" Wang Kai gritted his teeth; he refused to believe it. Anti-gravity? Levitation? Modern magic props were just too realistic; it had to be some kind of invisible wire or magnetic levitation trick!

"I'd like to see just how fast your stupid ball can go!" He slammed his foot onto the accelerator.

The V12 engine let out a beastly roar, the massive sound wave echoing through the enclosed parking lot, making eardrums ache. The Ferrari LaFerrari was like an enraged bull, tires screeching violently against the ground, emitting a plume of acrid white smoke as it prepared to launch.

However, before its hood could even clear the parking space, "Go." Jiang Chen, hands in his pockets, merely moved his lips, not even lifting a finger.

"Whoosh!" No warm-up, no acceleration phase, completely violating the laws of Newtonian mechanics. The hovering metal sphere instantly turned into a faint blue afterimage.

Fast. Too fast. So fast that the human retina couldn't capture its physical form; one could only see a blue streak of light, like agile lightning, instantly wrapping around the Ferrari that had just started to move.

Wang Kai only felt his vision blur. Immediately after came a sound of breaking air that made his scalp tingle.

"Bzzzzzzzz —" It sounded like ten thousand hornets flying right against his eardrums.

He discovered with horror that no matter how hard he pressed the gas, that blue light remained stuck tight outside his car window. No, not just outside the window, it was orbiting the entire car!

One lap, two laps, five laps, ten laps! Before the Ferrari had driven ten meters, the metal sphere had already circled the car a full twenty times!

The oppressive feeling brought by that extreme speed made Wang Kai feel like prey coiled by a python; his blood seemed to freeze. He subconsciously released the accelerator and slammed on the brakes, collapsing onto the leather seat, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

"Th-this… is a f*cking drone?!" Wang Kai looked at the metal sphere hovering in front of the windshield, seemingly mocking him, and his composure completely shattered.

How is this a drone? What kind of drone can fly with the visual effect of a sonic boom? This is basically an alien spaceship from a sci-fi movie!

Standing to the side, Academician Chen Shuyin's expression was even more exaggerated than Wang Kai's. The shopping bag in her hand fell to the ground with a "clatter," spilling her newly bought silk pajamas everywhere, but she couldn't care less about picking them up.

As a top expert at Longke Academy, she knew better than anyone what that scene just now meant.

"Instantaneous acceleration exceeding 50G… no aerodynamic control surfaces… anti-gravity propulsion…" Academician Chen Shuyin muttered to herself, her eyes filled with incredulous madness. "This is impossible! Existing materials simply cannot withstand this kind of G-force! The electronic components inside should have shattered into dust long ago! What on earth is this propulsion system?!"

She turned her head abruptly, staring fixedly at Jiang Chen, her gaze wishing she could dissect him on the spot: "Mr. Jiang! This thing… where on earth did you get it?!"

"This is definitely not Earth technology! Could it be our country's top-secret military project? But even the Nantianmen Project doesn't have this kind of technological reserve!"

Jiang Chen felt a bit creeped out by her fanatical gaze. He rubbed his nose, thinking, how do I explain this? I can't exactly say I bought a few Uniqlo items for the Wasteland Empress and this was her return gift, right?

"Um… Beautiful Academician Chen, calm down." Jiang Chen bent down to pick up the pajamas and spouted nonsense, "It's just a figurine. Really, I have a friend who's a master craftsman and likes to tinker with things. A couple of days ago, I gave him a bag of rice, and to thank me, he gave me this 'Gundam Funnel' model he'd just finished."

"A bag… of rice?" Academician Chen Shuyin felt her worldview shatter into pieces, impossible to put back together. She pointed at the crystallization of black technology still hovering in the air, emitting a faint blue light, her voice trembling: "You call this a model? You traded a bag of rice for a flight vehicle that could instantly kill an F-22 fighter jet?!"

"It's not that exaggerated, it's just a toy that flies a bit fast." Jiang Chen waved his hand nonchalantly, though he muttered to himself: Rice really is quite valuable over in the Wasteland; trading it for a civilian-version reconnaissance sphere shouldn't be considered taking advantage, right?

Just then, a flurry of noisy exclamations came from all directions.

"Holy sh*t! What is that? A UFO?!"

"Record it! Record it! This light is so cool! That Ferrari driver looks scared sh*tless!"

"Damn, this drone is so cool, right? Where did you buy it? I want one too!"

The shopping mall's underground parking lot already had high foot traffic, and the commotion here just now was so loud that it had long since attracted a circle of onlookers. By now, dozens of mobile phones were aimed this way, filming crazily, with camera flashes going off everywhere.

Jiang Chen's heart sank. Oh no. I showed off too much. If this thing gets exposed, tomorrow's global headlines will be "Alien Technology Appears in Tianhai City." How am I going to explain this to General Qin then?

"Come back!" Jiang Chen quickly waved at the metal sphere, trying to use the simple brainwave controller to recall it. But he clearly overestimated his operating skills and underestimated the sensitivity of this "Wasteland toy."

As soon as he focused his thought, just a little too urgently, the metal sphere responded instantly. With a resolute posture, like a cannonball fired from a chamber, it flew straight toward… a load-bearing pillar beside Jiang Chen.

"Bang—!!!" With a deafening boom, dust flew everywhere. The entire parking lot seemed to tremble, and dust showered down from the ceiling. The onlookers screamed and scattered in fear, while Wang Kai huddled in his car, holding his head and shivering, thinking the stupid ball had exploded.

A few seconds later, the dust settled. Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the one-meter-diameter reinforced concrete load-bearing pillar. There was a volleyball-sized hole right through it! You could see straight through!

And on the wall behind the hole, the silver-gray metal sphere was embedded in the wall, still slowly rotating, its faint blue light still stable, not a speck of paint chipped off, not even a scratch. Completely unscathed!

A deathly silence fell. Academician Chen Shuyin swallowed hard, feeling her throat go dry. She turned her head stiffly to look at the awkward-looking Jiang Chen, her voice as dry as if it had been ground against sandpaper: "Mr. Jiang…"

"You call this a toy?"

"The kinetic energy of that impact just now—not even counting the penetration power, just the impact kinetic energy… was comparable to a miniature tactical missile."

"If this hit a person…"

Jiang Chen gave two dry coughs, walked over to pry the sphere out of the wall, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"A mistake, purely an operational error."

"Um… I don't suppose I have to pay for this wall, right? Let's get out of here quickly; this place is not good for lingering."

After saying that, he pulled the still-dazed Academician Chen Shuyin into the Hongqi, slammed on the accelerator, and escaped, leaving the crowd staring in bewilderment.

Only Wang Kai was left sitting alone in his Ferrari, looking at the pillar that had been punched through, feeling another wave of warmth in his pants.

"Damn it… this isn't messing with some poor loser…"

"This is f*cking messing with Iron Man!"