101: Look, the mech is moving!

The instant Ji Xue's palm touched the activation screen, the driver's seat automatically extended a safety belt to secure her firmly, and three neural interface ports extended from the top of the cabin, connecting to her temples and the center of her brow.

The built-in system voice of [Calamity] suddenly rang out.

[Neural sensor matching 12%, 20%... 73%. Activation successful.]

[We wish you a pleasant drive.]

Hmm!

The flint core energy was cut off. Did this mecha become sentient? Why can it still start normally?

He Ming's eyes widened. He looked in disbelief at the main control screen directly in front of him. The virtual observation window activated, fully displaying the surrounding environment!

"Wait, don't mess with the controls!"

A starry light flashed in He Ming's eyes. When he saw countless thin golden threads surging from the plaza into the [Calamity] mecha body, a thought flashed through his mind!

Could it be... that [Calamity]'s energy system can be directly activated using the power of faith?

This is a huge joke!

The notebook never mentioned that [Calamity] possessed this function!

"Calamity, activate!"

The massive roar of the engine sounded. Air currents surged around the [Calamity] mecha body, instantly blowing nearby staff members off their feet, as if they had encountered a Category 14 typhoon.

"Bai Ze, take over control of [Calamity]!"

Bai Ze's voice sounded in the built-in headset in He Ming's left ear.

"Unable to connect normally. The neural link must be disconnected."

He Ming's expression darkened slightly. He looked toward Ji Xue, who was currently beaming with excitement.

[Calamity]'s operating system is different from other mechas; as long as the neural matching reaches 100%, it can achieve perfect man-machine integration.

Simply put, this is equivalent to a humanoid mecha, and its flexibility entirely depends on how developed the pilot's cerebellum is.

The standard physical operating system is merely a backup option, and as long as the main operating system is not shut down, it is effectively useless.

Forcibly seize control authority?

But doing that would turn Ji Xue into an idiot.

This thought appeared for only an instant before He Ming immediately suppressed it.

He had no enmity with Ji Xue; in fact, he quite liked her. Doing this would indeed be unprincipled.

Most importantly, Ji Xue was the direct descendant of the Ji Family. If anything happened to her here, things would become extremely serious.

If he didn't reveal his identity as the Star Sea boss, he might not be able to resolve the situation peacefully.

He Ming looked around the plaza. Everyone's gaze was fixed squarely in their direction.

[Calamity]'s legs were already completely off the ground. It was too late.

He Ming: "Forget it. Let the authorities deal with this trouble."

..."Holy cow!!!"

"Look, the mecha model is taking off!"

"This might not be a model; it might be a real mecha!"

"My goodness! I knew this mecha looked suspicious. That's the truth!"

In an instant, shouts of astonishment filled the entire plaza. Flash photography went off non-stop, and the onlookers who realized what was happening quickly pulled out their phones to record this outrageous, blood-pumping event.

At the carnival hosted by Star Sea, the model mecha not only moved, but it was also preparing to take off!

The Star Sea Employees responsible for guiding players into orderly queues were completely dumbfounded. Could anything be more ridiculous than this?

The security guards maintaining order widened their eyes and silently took out their phones to post this scene on their Moments.

In the corner of the plaza.

Lu Chen, the head of the Seventh Bureau's Xijiang Branch, was completely paralyzed.

"It's over, it's really over now!"

"Boss, I think we should quickly seal off the area and notify headquarters to suppress the public opinion."

Lu Chen snapped back to attention and hurriedly pulled out his phone to dial the emergency contact number.

His eyes were fixed on [Calamity]. At this moment, the mecha body was already about a hundred meters off the ground.

"Director, this is bad!"

"For some unknown reason, [Calamity], which Star Sea was using for model display in the plaza east of the space elevator, was suddenly activated by a tourist!"

"What!!"

An urgent roar came from the other end of the line!

Lu Chen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and forced himself to continue: "I have already sent you the video. Director, how should we handle this matter?"

The person on the other end of the line was silent for several seconds.

How to handle it?

It can't be suppressed anymore... If it were just domestic public opinion, they might be able to forcibly suppress it, but there are tens of thousands of tourists in the plaza, and they come from all over the world.

"Lu Chen, take your people to seal off the site first. I'm going to consult with my superiors."

The call was hung up.

Lu Chen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead again and looked at [Calamity], which was performing various maneuvers in the air, looking like a naive and innocent young girl.

"Yoo-hoo!"

"Mister, this piloting experience is too realistic!"

He Ming held onto the safety rail, pointed at the plaza below, and said, "Take a good look down there."

Ji Xue had been too focused on playing and hadn't noticed the plaza below, thinking this was just an immersive virtual screen provided by Star Sea for players to experience.

"Huh?"

As Ji Xue lowered her head, [Calamity]'s head also turned toward the plaza.

"Isn't this a virtual display?"

He Ming was almost driven to laughter by exasperation.

A route map, identical to the one in the game, appeared on the main screen.

"If you don't want to be taken in for questioning, follow this route immediately, right now, and park [Calamity] inside the hangar."

Seeing He Ming's somewhat darkened expression, Ji Xue seemed to realize something.

"Mister, this mecha... it can't be real, can it?"

"Whether it's real or fake, won't you know once you leave the cockpit?"

Ji Xue felt a chill run down her spine. She was eccentric, yes, but definitely not stupid.

If this mecha was real, then her actions just now could be said to have caused a massive disaster.

She had exposed the fact that Star Sea built a real mecha, and the subsequent chain reaction was despair-inducing just to think about.

"I won't have to go to jail, will I?"

This time, He Ming truly laughed.

"There's a possibility."

Ji Xue swallowed hard. Like a child who had committed a mistake, she honestly and quickly followed the route displayed on the main screen.

The moment [Calamity] entered Core Hangar Number One and the cockpit door opened, Ji Xue's hanging heart finally dropped completely.

"Oh my god, it's real!"

Inside the core hangar, the mountainous [Kunpeng] stood silently, its oppressive presence washing over them, like a primeval beast sunk into slumber.

"Get down. You're going to stay honestly inside the hangar for the time being."

He Ming grabbed Ji Xue's shoulder and leaped down from the cockpit, which was over thirty meters high, yet he landed as lightly as a feather.

"Mister, your movement technique is amazing!"

Ji Xue's eyes were shining brightly, seemingly having completely forgotten everything that just happened...