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Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The transport platform, modified from a space launch platform, moved slowly along the underground track under the operation of the driver inside it.
And the underground transport corridor, previously sealed, now opened automatically in step with the platform's movement.
Ahead lay the sea.
Ryan stood at the master control room window, watching Crimson Typhoon stand on the transport platform and slide slowly past beneath his eyes.
Outside, the big lights atop the base suddenly switched on, like a lighthouse over the ocean, drawing many people's gazes.
The people at sea spotted this bright beacon at once.
"Look. Look. The door's opening."
"The test isn't canceled."
"Captain, don't turn the boat back. I want to keep watching."
"It really opened. Damn it, it's dark now, I can't see clearly."
People raised their binoculars, only for the light to be smothered by that dark cloud overhead. They couldn't make anything out at all.
They had no choice but to pull out their phones and open the official livestream online.
The livestream's camera was closest to the base. Although they couldn't enter the base to film, their sea-based camera boats and helicopters could break through the maritime restriction and sail right up to the shore to shoot.
The camera was now filming the opened transport corridor at the coast, and the female reporter on the boat was reading from the script she'd received earlier, explaining the corridor's function to the audience.
"Who wants to hear you talk about the corridor? Hurry up and point the camera at the door. The door's open."
Maybe she'd heard the audience's heartfelt cry, or maybe the comment stream had gotten too intense, but the reporter wrapped up the corridor explanation in a few quick sentences and had the cameraman point the lens at the base's door.
The base door was only half open at this point, but the Crimson Typhoon inside had already revealed most of its body.
Under the base's brilliant lighting, the most striking thing was the huge, vivid red armor across its frame, and the single-eyed cockpit at the top.
Just seeing this, the audience in the livestream was already so excited they could have flown.
"Ten-year mech fan here, I'm about to go. Hurry and give me a shot of adrenaline, I have to keep watching."
"The Mech Expert is incredible. God forever."
"It's too big. It's really too big. I can't take it."
"The shape of that head is so sharp."
The female reporter on the shore-side camera boat was even more shaken than the audience in the livestream. She was watching all of this from a first-person view.
"Hurry, read the script."
The director's voice came through the earpiece, and she snapped back to herself, reciting the script she'd long since memorized cold.
"Crimson Typhoon is a great attempt by our country to explore the deep sea. Beyond its enormous body, every part of it is a crystallization of technology."
"Its head is a huge variable-focus telescope. Even in the pitch-black deep sea, through the combination of searchlight and telescope, it can clearly make out a single ribbonfish within five hundred meters. It also has a unique three-arm structure, greatly increasing its operating space for underwater work."
As the reporter recited the script, the audience in the livestream stopped finding her long-winded. Instead, paired with the footage of Crimson Typhoon leaving the hangar, they listened with relish.
This information was being made public for the first time. They'd never encountered it before. Even some foreign intelligence agencies hadn't managed to obtain this material.
By now, Crimson Typhoon had walked out the base door atop the transport platform.
Rain poured down across the armor on its exterior, quickly soaking the entire mech.
Yet once the surface was coated with rainwater, the crimson armor only grew more vivid. Lit by the glow of the door's lights, the burly frame was like a fire god descended to the mortal world.
And at this moment, the triplets in the cockpit synced successfully, and the mech slowly raised its head.
They activated the telescope at the front, and after the lens extended, they saw the pleasure boats large and small far out at sea.
"That's a lot of people." The triplets were in mental communion now, understanding each other's excited emotions without any need for action.
The moment the mech cockpit's lens extended had been captured by the cameras too. Although it wasn't obvious, the audience in the livestream noticed the situation at once.
"Did the cockpit just shrink a little?"
"I saw it too. Could that be the variable-focus telescope activating?"
In the midst of the discussion, the livestream's viewer count climbed steadily.
At this point, the country's international channel, the one facing foreign audiences, broadcast the test live.
Countless foreigners were following this broadcast too, and the international channel's ratings today set an outright historical record.
There was no counting how many foreigners stared slack-jawed at Crimson Typhoon's stunning debut on their televisions.
"Mom, I want to go see this big guy in person."
"This is unbelievable."
"This is a human miracle."
"Only a true god could create a robot like this."
"I'm going to move my home next to this big guy and watch it every day, never to be parted from it."
Watching the footage on their televisions, there was no counting how many people regretted missing the chance to be there in person. And those who'd wanted to go but couldn't, for one reason or another, regretted it so badly they wanted to cry.
Ryan had been monitoring the overall situation from the master control room the whole time. Seeing that the transport platform was nearly at the end of the line, he immediately notified the pilots inside the mech through the intercom system.
"Prepare to enter the water."
"Understood." The three Pierce brothers replied at once.
And then.
Beep.
The transport platform let out a buzzing prompt tone.
It had finally reached the end. It slowly came to a stop, extending its hydraulic support columns to fix itself in place.
Then the operator inside the platform opened the cabin door and walked down from inside.
The transport platform had now reached the water's edge.
Next, the mech was about to leave the platform. In the instant it left, the weight on the platform would multiply, so for safety's sake, they had to evacuate first.
"It's about to go into the water."
"Hell, it's about to go into the water, and it's still raining. Today is genuinely cursed."
The people at sea were still venting their complaints.
Danny Price watched the footage in the livestream. How could he not know the mech was about to enter the water? He raised his binoculars, hoping to see a bit more clearly, but the sky was as dim as ever.
He and his roommates started complaining along with everyone else. All to blame on this damned rain.
Inside the mech's cockpit.
"Transport endpoint reached. Crimson Typhoon requests to enter the water." The triplets opened the radio and submitted the request to the master control room.
Ryan, after confirming the platform operator had evacuated, immediately replied. "Permission to enter the water granted."
At the same time, through the wireless control device, he directly released the locks on the mech's feet.
Bang.
The huge locks sprang off the top of the mech's feet, giving off a clang of impact.
"Received." The three Pierce brothers, without the slightest hesitation, immediately lifted a foot and stepped forward.
Splash.
This single step went straight from the shore into the seawater. Even the waves were blocked by this enormous foot.
Crimson Typhoon followed it by stepping out the other leg. The two legs were like sharp blades, splitting the waves, walking directly through the sea.
"Sealed cabin, low visibility. Open the searchlight, open the detection system."
In the cockpit, the rearmost pilot, Dean, operated the mechanical panel in front of him and switched on the searchlight atop the mech's head. The view through their observation window cleared at once.
At the same time, in the holographic projection before them, the surrounding undulating seabed terrain was displayed by the detection system.
A route was also displayed in the projection. That was the path for this test. Following this route, the water depth would reach eighty-seven meters, perfect for a preliminary test of Crimson Typhoon's sealing performance.
"Crimson Typhoon has officially entered the water." The female reporter on-site couldn't control her own expression any longer, but no one would blame her now.
Watching Crimson Typhoon walk through the sea, slowly making its way toward deeper waters, not a single person could keep their emotions in check.
"I don't care anymore. I've got twenty thousand-plus to my name, and I am definitely going to be there in person for the next test."
"Redcliff locals say they've never been this happy in their whole lives."
"I want to find a rich woman. I don't want to work hard anymore. My only requirement is that she comes with me to Redcliff to see Crimson Typhoon."
"I'll love Crimson Typhoon forever."
"This is the ocean, and Storm walks across it like flat ground. The technology in there is terrifying."
"Friendly front-row reminder: Newton was cremated, so stop reaching for the old man's coffin board."
Crimson Typhoon was like a fierce dragon crossing a river, locked in ceaseless battle with the waves. Wave after wave came crashing in, beating against its body, and not one could shake it in the slightest.
In everyone's eyes, Crimson Typhoon walked both steady and fast. But for the triplets in the cockpit at this moment, this speed wasn't enough.
"Start up the acceleration device."
The three brothers didn't need to communicate further. They already knew the answer from each other's emotions.
"Activate the vector thrusters."
Outside, everyone suddenly saw three large tubes extend from the mech's back. Before they could understand what they were for, the three tubes shifted to a downward-diagonal angle, then spewed out flames.
Yes, they spewed flames.
The intense firelight even dyed the surrounding seawater yellow.
And Crimson Typhoon, on the added force of these thrusters, gradually shifted from walking to running, running through the open sea.
Of course, this kind of running could only be a jog. But compared to the walking of moments ago, the speed had undeniably climbed another level.
"This belongs in the why-am-I-watching-on-my-knees hall of fame."
"I thought walking through the sea this smoothly was impressive enough, and now you can run too?"
"No matter what happens today, I am absolutely prying open Newton's coffin board and telling him at the top of my lungs just how incredible The Mech Expert is."