C77

    Before the event’s the official start, Duan Hengye and others were still on the observation platform surrounded by the huge semi-circular shield. This shield was a single-sided transparent material, they could see through it to see the situation under the stage, but the reporters’ high-definition lens couldn’t capture inside. When the event started, the shield would automatically open.

        In fact, just before they were seated on the observation platform, a number of channels had already started their live broadcast. When they saw the levitator approaching, the live channels and major forums buzzed for a while. But after seeing that the shield had no intention of opening in advance, the calmness returned.

        Although they had already seen the test flight on the news, and the detailed data and model of the Mecha “Nanzhu” on the Internet, it still couldn’t stop everyone’s enthusiasm. After they found out that they couldn’t see the people on the podium, the viewers who turned on the Star network to watch the live broadcast in advance finally moved the topic back to the mecha itself.

        In fact, the day of the delivery ceremony was still a working day in the interstellar world. But because of the special event, the mecha department of An Luo University gave all the students a short half day off to watch the ceremony. So just before the event, many students of Duan Hengye also participated in the discussion on StarNet. They both followed the live posting inside the forum and also interacted with the mecha enthusiasts on their personal social accounts.

There were only a few minutes left before the official start of the delivery ceremony, and in those real-name social accounts, in addition to the analysis and understanding of the mecha, Duan Hengye’s students also shared a lot of small stories about him – even though they were just ordinary clips from the classroom, the screenshots were instantly spread throughout the entire Starnet along with screams.

        ……

        Duan Hengye and Meng Jinhuai were still talking with Elder Yan when Duan Hengye’s assistant Ye Pu finally came to remind them, “Lord Marshal, Professor Duan, the event will start in one minute.”

        After hearing Ye Pu’s words, Meng Jinhuai nodded his head and smiled as he gestured to Elder Yan. Their conversation ended here, and after Ye Pu left, the sound amplification device on the observation platform began played the reminder, “Dear guests, the mecha delivery ceremony will begin soon, and after the voice prompt ends, the observation platform shield will open.”

  The ceremony today was so significant that almost all of the upper echelons of the entire Ye Tian Empire had reached the scene, so the viewing platform was surprisingly large. In addition to the central area where Duan Hengye and others were located, in other parts of the viewing platform, other guests were also gathering in twos and threes, chatting in small voices.

        So when the cue fell, the guests on the venue began to organize their clothing, and then sat up straight.

        Whether they knew about mechas or not, after sitting on the observation platform, those guests couldn’t help but look at the mecha docking pad on the side – where the mecha “Nanzhu”, which would appear in the live interstellar camera, was parked. Although it was still located in the blind spot of the media, but the guests on the observatory were able to see them from afar.

        As the person who designed this mecha with his own hands, Duan Hengye was probably the least interested in it. After getting on the observation platform, Duan Hengye started chatting with Meng Jinhuai and Elder Yan and never looked down. So now when the protective shield covering the viewing platform opened, Duan Hengye finally noticed how high he was ……

In the interstellar era, people were used to living in the high altitude from birth, and naturally lost their fear of heights. But Duan Hengye was different, although he didn’t have any fear of heights, but he was still an earthling.

        Although he had gradually become accustomed to hover cars and the starship’s operating height, suddenly seeing himself sitting on the “edge of the cliff”, Duan Hengye couldn’t help but be  nervous.

        The man sitting next to Duan Hongyi, Meng Jinhuai, thought he was nervous about the mecha delivery ceremony later, and reached out again to cover the hand that Duan Hengye had placed on the armrest of the seat, then turned around and gave him a comforting smile.

        The protective shield of the viewing platform slowly opened.

        The media knew the process of the event in advance, so just before the anti-slip shield opened, they already had the live camera pointed here. Before the official opening, the original one-sided transparent material first became fully transparent. So Duan Hengye’s expression and Meng Jinhuai’s movements …… were then also captured by the camera.

   As a result of not being very clear about the operation process of these interstellar technologies, Duan Hengye wouldn’t have thought that his interaction with Meng Jinhuai just now had all been faithfully recorded by the high-definition camera.

        After seeing Meng Jinhuai smile at him, Duan Hengye also turned over and gently nodded. He finally gradually adapted to this height, after seeing the protective shield in front of him start to slowly rise, Duan Hengye then took his hands up from the chair, then he rearranged his clothes and sat up straight.

        Duan Hengye also slowly took a deep breath.

        The people who were squatting live at the beginning were also scrolling through the star network at the same time, and at this time they saw a lot of stories about the professor’s private life from Duan Hengye’s students. And after knowing those stories, Duan Hengye’s image was no longer so high in their hearts.

        So when the camera caught his “nervous” performance, the forum was instantly covered with a bunch of “cute” comments.

        It seemed that no one would use the word “cute” to describe Duan Hengye after he became a teenager. …… However, at this time, everyone felt that this word was very appropriate.

        The protective shield slowly rose. Because the observation platform was facing an open mecha parking pad, from the time the shield was raised to reveal a thin slit, wind from the parking pad filled in. The wind from the wilderness had nothing to do with the word “gentle”, and even it touching the face could give the illusion of being cut by a knife.

Southern Star had four seasons, and although this planet wouldn’t have any extreme weather, but it also meant that the wind wasn’t too warm. So although he was prepared, when the shield opened, Duan Hengye still couldn’t help but let out a gentle “hiss”.

        At this time, Duan Hengye noticed that the shield was open, so his actions also became very careful. The entire scene except for Duan Hengye sitting beside Meng Jinhuai, no one noticed his movements and sounds. So something miraculous happened once again under the live camera, before the event started, Meng Jinhuai turned around and spoke to the assistant standing behind him, followed by a nod from the other, who left the place quickly.

   What was Meng Jinhuai’s assistant going to do?

        Not only did the viewers who were watching the live broadcast wonder, but even Duan Hengye, who was sitting beside Meng Jinhuai, cast a puzzled glance in the direction the other had left.

        It didn’t take long – even before the protective shield on the viewing platform was fully opened – for Meng Jinhuai’s assistant to return to the scene. Because the event was about to begin, everyone remained quietly seated, so his movement was particularly obvious.

        Not only were the viewers watching the live stream waiting to see what Meng Jinhuai’s assistant was going to do, the rest of the guests sitting on the viewing platform, and even Duan Hengye was also silently watching the assistant. Duan Hengye saw that, unlike when he left, the assistant who reappeared at this time had an extra black object under his arm. When he looked, it seemed to be a piece of clothing.

        What was he going to do?

        Not waiting for Duan Hengye to think of an answer, he saw Meng Jinhuai suddenly stand up, then took the clothes from the hands of his assistant. It was a slightly heavy cloak, and from the epaulets on it, it could be seen – the owner of this clothing was none other than Meng Jinhuai.

        After shaking the cloak, Meng Jinhuai then very naturally draped it over Duan Hengye’s body, and then sat back in his place.

        …… Meng Jinhuai’s movements were very smooth, as if he had done it countless times before.

        And after feeling the cloak that was resting on Meng Jinhuai’s shoulders, Duan Hengye could not help but stretch out his hand to gently touch it, and then praise the marshal’s excellent observation skills in his heart ……

        Today the military department prepared these clothes for Duan Hengye which was in line with the outdoor temperature, in fact, no one could feel how cold the wind was at this time. Because of years of drug control, Duan Hengye’s physical quality was slightly worse than others, so after the wind blew, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

Unlike Duan Hengye, whose attention was focused on Meng Jinhuai’s ability to observe, after seeing this image, people around couldn’t help but show an envious expression …… or because they were used to it , they moved their eyes away directly, such as Admiral Yu Xinran, who was sitting on the other side of Duan Hengye.

Because of the seat close to Duan Hengye , Admiral Yu’s very complicated expression was also faithfully recorded by the live camera and then cut out by netizens, spreading across half of the stars in a short period of time.

        It had to be said that Yu Xinran’s expression did reflect the mood of some people at this time.

        The protective shield on the observatory had been officially opened, and Meng Jinhuai, who was still helping Duan Hengye with a gentle expression, switched back to serious mode. After seeing Meng Jinhuai’s expression, the live channel finally quieted down. Everyone began to hold their breath, looking forward to the ceremony in a moment.

        Duan Hengye’s emotions were always a little slow, unlike the nervousness of being misidentified just now, after seeing the sky without shields in front of him, and the media not far away, his heartbeat began to accelerate a little.

        Although the mecha “Nanzhu” had been tested countless times, and Duan Hengye was incomparably confident in his own work. But at this point in time, he still had some of the nervousness that camd with taking an exam. But Duan Hengye’s nervousness wasn’t very strong as of now, so he didn’t show it this time, he just quietly surrendered his gaze for a while in the direction of the mecha’s entrance.

        Before the new mecha Nanzhu officially appeared, two black medium-sized mecha flew over from the sky not far away. After seeing them, Duan Hengye, who was calm just now, finally had some “surprise” in his eyes.

        Because of the recent period of time Duan Hengye had been very busy, he didn’t read the detailed activity list sent to him by the military department. Duan Hengye’s understanding of all of today’s projects all came from the introduction from Meng Jinhuai when he left home in the morning. Also because of the time constraint, Meng Jinhuai’s introduction was a little too abbreviated. So before Duan Hengye saw those mechas, he only knew that there would be a display of old mechas at the beginning, but he didn’t know what the so-called “old mechas” actually were.

        The mecha that appeared at the top of the docking apron was called “Star”, and although the style was very old, no mecha researcher would be unfamiliar with it.

        This was the first generation of interstellar mecha, because the birth of the era was too far from now, even the Institute didn’t have its collection. Duan Hengye didn’t expect that the Imperial Ministry of Military Affairs still had two of these “Stars”.

The atmosphere of the first half of the delivery ceremony wasn’t even very serious. In addition to some members of the military, there were more celebrities from all walks of life in the Ye Tian Empire sitting on the observation platform. Although the empire hadn’t been very peaceful in recent years, they were at the top, their daily life wasn’t related to “war” and “mecha”.

        Although the one that appeared in the sky at this time was only an old mecha, this was his first time having close contact with it. After the “Star” appeared overhead, Duan Hengye heard a lot of exclaimations. He saw that many people had taken out their light computers and turned them to shooting mode to take pictures of the sky.

        Although the overall temperament of Meng Jinhuai when he was working was much colder, after the mecha “Star” appeared, the Lord Marshal still gently leaned towards Duan Hengye, then said: “The mechas of the same age as ‘Star’ are almost all parked on the planet known as the ‘Mecha Graveyard’. The two in the air now are the only old mechas in the empire that have been preserved and can be piloted normally.”

        At this time, the two mechas had already flown to a high place, Meng Jinhuai looked up at them, and his eyes narrowed slightly. As a mecha designer, Duan Hengye certainly knew how difficult it was to preserve two such “old” mechas until now. So while listening to Meng Jinhuai, he couldn’t help but look up to the sky, and then carefully observe their posture in the sky.

        After seeing Duan Hengye’s extremely interested look, Meng Jinhuai smiled, “The mechas are parked in Southern Star these days, so if you’re interested, you can go and see them anytime.”

        Although the live interstellar footage was very high definition, the distance was too far, and Duan Hengye and Meng Jinhuai also didn’t carry recording devices. So the viewers who were watching the live broadcast could only see that at this time on the viewing platform Duan Hengye and Meng Jinhuai have been chatting, but couldn’t guess what they were actually talking about ……

        The viewers were itching for more, but fortunately it didn’t take long for Duan Hengye and Meng Jinhuai to stop chatting. The two put their eyes back in the air and then looked at the mechas that were moving fast.

After all, the “Star” mecha had been born for many years, its function was really too basic nowadays, and its flying posture also looked a little clumsy. But in Duan Hengye’s opinion, this kind of flying performance was more touching.

        Despite being called a “genius”, Duan Hengye had always been incredibly clear that his mastery and understanding of mecha knowledge was based on the foundation of his predecessors. Duan Hengye never despised these old mechas, and now his gaze towards it gradually became more meaningful .

        Somehow, Duan Hengye thought of the document that he was currently deciphering, and the method of carrying new light energy weapons in the mechas recorded in it ……

        The “Star” mecha was already old, they did a very simple flight show and immediately left the docking pad. After that, all the mechas that had served in the Ye Tian Empire appeared in the sky. Unlike the oldest and rarest “Star”, these were the ones Duan Hengye had seen before.

        Behind Duan Hengye, the guests of honor were still excitedly filming the busy scene in the sky. And after watching for a while, Duan Hengye’s mind slowly moved from the mechas to his recent work.

These days, Duan Hengye had been very busy, the design of the new mecha had been the most difficult and most important juncture. And the cracking of the file was no longer as smooth as it was at the beginning, but had entered a bottleneck. If it weren’t for the fact that today’s event was really important, and the fact that not participating would cause speculation , Duan Hengye probably wouldn’t have put aside the work of the research institute and run to Southern Star to participate in the event.

        So although Duan Hengye was now sitting at the scene, and was constantly being blown by the cold wind, his attention couldn’t help but move to his work.

        His gaze moved from the sky, then he frowned slightly and fell into thought. Against the backdrop of a bunch of people tilting their heads, Duan Hengye’s movements were particularly obvious, and Meng Jinhuai, who was sitting beside him, certainly saw his movements. However, after seeing Duan Hengye’s obviously out of shape appearance, the Lord Marshal didn’t say anything, but instead subconsciously showed a worried look.

        Although Meng Jinhuai had been very busy recently, he had also been paying attention to Duan Hengye’s work.

In the past year, after a series of adjustments made by Duan Hengye, the Ye Tian Empire’s Mecha Research Institute had finally broken away from its scattered state. But objectively speaking, there was still a long way to go before they could truly design mechas in a cooperative manner, let alone top-tier mechas.

        Although he didn’t want to admit it, the knowledge gap in the Mecha Institute was objective. Unlike the last time when mass-produced mechas were designed, even in the empire’s top research institute, the number of people with enough strength to participate in this project could be counted on one hand.

        Therefore, in the recent period, Duan Hengye was still designing mechas independently. He would only occasionally meet with Su Mingge and a few other team leaders to discuss issues.

        In addition to the new mecha design, Meng Jinhuai, who was also involved in the file cracking, knew the huge difficulties faced by this work and how much pressure Duan Hengye was under recently. This time, Duan Hengye was asked to come back to Southern Star to participate in the handover ceremony, in public because of his identity as a mecha designer, in private …… Meng Jinhuai also wanted to ask Duan Hengye to take a good rest.

    In addition to Duan Hengye, as well as the people who were already used to mechas, everyone was thoughtfully staring at the sky, and from time to time, they let out a few excited exclamations . Under such an atmosphere, even the live viewers no longer pay attention to Duan Hengye and Meng Jinhuai, but seriously watched the mechas in the live broadcast.

        More than 20 minutes passed with  Professor Duan in a state of continuous concentration, Meng Jinhuai, who was sitting beside him, finally gently bumped Duan Hengye’s arm, and then whispered to him, “The new mecha will be here soon.”

        After hearing Meng Jinhuai’s words, Duan Hengye finally slowly lifted his head. Before coming to the event, Meng Jinhuai had reminded Duan Hengye – before the new mecha officially appeared, Duan Hengye, as the representative of the Institute and the mecha designer, had to complete a part of the ceremony together with Meng Jinhuai. After thinking about this, Duan Hengye’s mind, which had just flown away, finally returned to the scene.

        At this time, the previous generation’s mecha show was about to end, and the audience’s eyes were gradually returning to the viewing platform. Meng Jinhuai’s reminder was really timely, by the time everyone was looking their way, Duan Hengye had already readjusted.

The vast number of viewers who were watching the live broadcast also had today’s schedule, and after seeing the cameras of the various live channels move back to the viewing platform, everyone understood that the event was about to proceed to the last agenda.

        At this time, assistant Ye Pu, who had been standing behind Duan Hengye, came over and handed a flat, gray metal box to Duan Hengye. This box contained the opening medal of Mecha <<Nanzhu>>, although the box wasn’t large, but he could still feel its heavy weight.

        The new mecha had been created a while ago, and after such a long time of various experiments and test flights, Duan Hengye thought he was no longer as excited as he was at the beginning. But when the medal was in his hands, Duan Hengye, who was calm, suddenly became excited.

        The completion of the design of the mecha and the start of official service represented a completely different meaning. When this medal and the mecha behind it were officially delivered to the military, it would signify that Duan Hengye’s work had finally entered the stage of history and started to influence the future of the interstellar world.

        Although the current Duan Hengye still hadn’t figured out the history of Interstellar, to be able to participate in the process of the world’s operation was definitely a thing that made his heart soar just thinking about it.

        The scene of the ceremony was once again quiet, and all eyes were gathered in the middle of the first row of the observatory. Under the gaze of billions of people in the stars, Duan Hengye stood up with Meng Jinhuai.

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