53: Visiting Day at Giant God Industrial City

The morning sun pierced through the clouds, casting its light on the brand-new runway of Mandalay International Airport.

Delegations from 37 countries around the world arrived one after another, and as they stepped off the gangway, almost everyone froze in place.

This airport had completely transformed.

The old terminal building was replaced by a streamlined, all-glass curtain wall structure, with the red emblem of Titan Group suspended from its dome, gleaming with a cold luster in the sunlight.

Guidance signs were no longer traditional LED screens, but holographic projections suspended in the air, automatically switching languages: neat Chinese characters, clear English, Russian, French...

"This..." Rhine Empire delegation head Heinz Müller pushed up his glasses, his voice trembling slightly, "The clarity and stability of the holographic projections..."

His assistant, Anna Klaus, quickly activated her detection equipment: "Professor, these projections have no visible light sources!"

Not far away, Fog City Islands aerospace Engineer Richard Burton was squatting on the ground, gently touching the surface with his finger.

The once ordinary concrete runway was now covered with a translucent, special material, elastic like rubber, yet his key couldn't leave a single scratch.

"Energy-absorbing material?" he murmured to himself, "No, it's more than that..."

He took out a portable microscope, and his pupils suddenly contracted, "A self-repairing coating with a near-nanoscale structure... God, this technology should only exist in laboratories!"

...

The Eastern Union delegation, led by Lin Mo, walked towards the customs channel.

The expected scene of queuing for stamps did not appear; instead, there was an archway emitting a faint blue light curtain.

"Please proceed normally," a Titan employee in a black uniform smiled and gestured, "No need to stop, no need to remove your bags."

Lin Mo was already familiar with this equipment and walked straight ahead.

As he passed through the light curtain, holographic images suddenly projected from both sides, scrolling to display:

Lin Mo - Head of Eastern Union Delegation

No hazardous materials; No prohibited drugs; Biometrics: Normal

The entire process took less than two seconds.

"Direct material scanning and identification!" Northern Steel Federation technical expert Ivan Petrov's face turned pale, "This is equivalent to compressing spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, X-ray... almost an entire laboratory's detection equipment into a single doorway!"

Nova United States Department of Defense Advisor Mark Williams quietly pressed the jammer hidden in his cuff, but found his device completely unresponsive.

What shocked him even more was that when he passed through the light curtain, the system actually displayed:

Unauthorized electronic device detected: Miniature Signal Jammer (New Union TR-7 model)

Automatically shielded

A line of red text flashed before him: Please observe the visiting regulations

"This... this, this isn't right, is it? Who is trying to frame me?"

After a brief interlude.

As the group passed through the automatic glass doors, the sight of the VIP area made everyone hold their breath.

Twelve all-black aircraft were neatly arranged on the dedicated tarmac.

These aircraft had unprecedented designs: their fuselages resembled transport planes, but their wings were much smaller than the fuselage, with a slight swept-back angle.

But what was most astonishing was their landing gear design: there was no traditional wheeled structure; instead, there were four sets of retractable struts.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Emerald's voice echoed through the ubiquitous hidden sound system, "Welcome to experience the CM-71 'nightingale'."

Champs Elysees Federation aerospace Engineer Jean Renault rushed forward: "This is impossible! This wing design simply cannot fly! It makes no aerodynamic sense!"

As if in response to his skepticism, the nearest nightingale suddenly started.

Without any warning, the aircraft smoothly lifted vertically three meters, then hovered in the air, with the airflow beneath the fuselage almost invisible, and the noise lower than a typical air conditioner.

"Thrust-to-weight ratio of at least 15:1..." East Ocean Air Self-Defense Force retired General Kenichi Hatoyama murmured, "The Nova United States' latest EF-35B only has 6:1..."

Even more astonishing was yet to come.

As the aircraft began to move forward, its wings automatically adjusted their angle, and the vector nozzles at the trailing edge slowly opened.

It wasn't a traditional hot jet, but a blue plasma glow.

"This!" Royal Air Force of Fog City Islands Major James Coleman's face turned pale, "This isn't a traditional engine!"

Everyone present was greatly shocked.

What they were witnessing was definitely a new generation of engines that completely surpassed turbofan engines!

As the delegation members boarded the aircraft in a state of unease, more details left them dumbfounded:

The aircraft's exterior had angles, but no visible rivets or seams; the seat material automatically adjusted its support based on the occupant's body shape; the windows were actually variable-transparency displays that could show flight data or switch to panoramic sightseeing mode.

Wang Lijun, an expert from the Eastern Union Aviation Industry Group, quietly told Lin Mo, "Team Leader Lin, their aircraft engine technology is at least thirty years ahead of ours..."

Lin Mo said nothing.

He had seen planes without wings before; he was already desensitized.

Just then, the announcement sounded: "Please fasten your seatbelts, we are about to take off.

This flight will be 12 minutes, with a cruising altitude of 3000 meters."

With an almost imperceptible vibration, the nightingale formation simultaneously ascended.

There was no violent noise of traditional helicopters, no roar of jet engines, only the rapidly shrinking ground outside the window reminding them that they were climbing at an astonishing speed.

Rhine Empire physicist Professor Müller stared at the accelerometer in his hand; the instrument showed that the acceleration inside the cabin remained stable within 0.3 G, even when the aircraft was making a near-right-angle turn.

"Omnidirectional inertial damping..." His voice trembled, "This should be a topic of theoretical physics, yet they have already put it into practical use..."

As the formation turned towards Titan Industrial City, the windows automatically dimmed, and a holographic projection appeared before each passenger, displaying the itinerary for the upcoming tour.

Nova United States SIA agent Lisa Williams took the opportunity to secretly photograph the control panel, but found that her camera couldn't focus; however, the photographic equipment provided by Titan at the airport worked normally.

She then realized that some unknown interference had rendered all non-Titan optical components inoperative.

"Welcome to Mandala," Emerald's projection smiled inside the cabin, "Next stop: Titan Industrial City."

As the nightingale aircraft formation began to descend, the windows automatically adjusted to panoramic mode.

The moment they passed through the clouds, the full view of Titan Industrial City was revealed to the various national delegations for the first time.

"This is almost like something out of a sci-fi game..." Fog City Islands Engineer Richard Burton murmured.

Outside the window, a cyberpunk-style futuristic city gleamed in the sunlight.

In the outermost New City District, buildings were uniformly arranged, with all structures strictly controlled to a height of under 150 meters, presenting a beautiful, stepped silhouette.

Most striking was the aerial rail transit system that traversed the city, with silver-white trains gliding silently on elevated tracks, the track network covering the entire New City District like a glowing spiderweb.

"The New City District has a permanent population of 370,000," Emerald's commentary sounded in the cabin, "The aerial rail transit system is 82 kilometers long, with a departure interval of 90 seconds during peak hours."

As the altitude decreased, more details came into view:

Huge holographic advertisements floated above commercial plazas, showcasing the latest cars; holographic icons at intersections were directing traffic, while a person in a traffic police uniform sat in a sunshade pavilion at a corner of the intersection, occasionally glancing at the four crossroads; in the park, children chased pets; there was even an entire food street, with three-dimensional images of various dishes whetting the appetite.

East Ocean delegation economist Kenichi Yamamoto's eyes widened: "The energy consumption of these holographic devices..."

"All powered by clean energy," Emerald replied with a smile, "Our power plant's conversion efficiency surpasses that of any other country."

As the aircraft approached the inner city, the breathtaking barrier finally revealed itself in full.

A 50-meter-high steel city wall stood majestically like an ancient fortress.

The wall was matte black, and every few hundred meters, there was a hexagonal protrusion on its surface.

Suddenly, an alarm sounded!

"Unauthorized drone detected," a mechanical voice calmly announced.

A small drone was seen flying rapidly from a distance, clearly deployed intentionally.

The laser arrays on the city wall rotated simultaneously, and twelve red beams instantly locked onto the target.

"Bang!"

The drone turned into a fireball in mid-air, with even its metal debris completely vaporized by the high temperature, leaving no fragments behind.

"Laser active defense system," Emerald's voice was devoid of emotion, "Each zone can simultaneously intercept 4800 aerial targets."

Nova United States Department of Defense Advisor Mark Williams quietly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead; this interception efficiency overwhelmingly surpassed their air defense systems.

"May I ask about the situation with that drone?" The head of the Rhine Empire delegation asked the question everyone wanted to know.

Emerald's voice remained calm: "It's just part of the security system.

Security personnel on rotation randomly control any model of drone available on the market to try and penetrate the defenses, ensuring the system's effectiveness and the vigilance of the security personnel."

The members of the various national delegations had complex feelings upon hearing this answer.

The nightingale formation landed smoothly at the dedicated airport within Titan Industrial City.

This entirely silver-gray complex of buildings was located in the southeast corner inside the city wall, with twelve runways arranged radially, and dozens of aircraft of different models neatly parked on the tarmac.

"Please follow me," Emerald's projection appeared at the cabin door, "Next, we will transfer to ground transportation."

As the delegation members descended the gangway, they immediately noticed the uniqueness of this airport: there were not many ground staff, but many spider-like robots were responsible for handling cargo and refueling tasks.

Ground staff were only responsible for inspection and maintenance work.

The outlines of larger aircraft were vaguely visible inside the distant hangars, but specific details were obscured by a holographic barrier.

Twenty streamlined black vehicles were neatly parked in the dedicated channel.

These vehicles had no traditional windows, their bodies were as smooth as pebbles, with only Titan's silver emblem printed on the side.

"This is our independently developed autonomous driving system," Emerald introduced, "As for the vehicles, they are solely for shuttle purposes."

Professor Heinz noticed a detail: "No steering wheel?"

"Completely autonomous driving," Emerald smiled, "Of course, if our distinguished guests wish to experience the joy of driving..." She lightly touched the vehicle body, and an area suddenly flipped open, revealing a manual control module inside, "We have also prepared an emergency option."

The convoy slowly started, entering a dedicated channel.

As the speed increased, the inner walls of the cabin gradually became transparent, perfectly displaying the passing scenery:

Production Zone: Dozens of factories neatly arranged, their roofs covered with solar panels, but unlike traditional photovoltaic panels, these surfaces exhibited a peculiar fluid state;

R&D Center: Inside a pyramid-shaped glass building, nearly a hundred researchers were working in front of holographic projections;

Logistics Hub: An automatic sorting system processed goods with astonishing efficiency, the robotic arms operating so quickly they created afterimages.

"Please look to your right," Emerald suddenly reminded.

A hemispherical building appeared on the right, with two fully armed guards standing at the entrance.

Although they wore Titan uniforms, keen military experts immediately noticed that their posture and gaze clearly belonged to professional soldiers.

"That is..." Mark tentatively asked.

"Security Training Center," Emerald's reply was watertight, "All employees undergo basic defense training.

Of course, employees in executive departments have stricter standards."

After a fifteen-minute drive, the convoy finally arrived at its destination, the Central Tower.

This approximately 600-meter-tall building had a hexagonal structure, its surface covered with smart glass that changed color with the light.