Chapter 234: Strongest Ground Firepower: 'Responding Dragon' Heavy Armored Mech

Saturday morning at 8 a. m., the heavy equipment area of the Northwest Test Ground was already packed with people.

Not only military personnel, but even the civilian staff of Longyin Research Institute came to watch the excitement.

What we're testing today can single-handedly take on an armored division.

Li Yang stood at the foot of the 15-meter-tall mech, looking up at this steel beast he himself had designed, feeling very excited.

"Responding Dragon" Heavy Armored Mech, the ultimate form of the ground firepower platform.

Bipedal walking structure, height 15.2 meters, weight 280 tons, the whole body covered in third-generation dragon-scale composite armor.

Most striking are the four-barrel laser turret on the back and the two missile launch bays on the shoulders.

Each can hold eight micro-version Firebird missiles.

"Brother Li, the final system self-check is complete." The assistant poked their head out from the cockpit.

"All weapon systems online, power system at 100%, AI assistance module…… wait, Brother Hao left a voice message in there."

"What voice message?" Li Yang frowned.

The assistant held back a laugh and pressed the play button.

Wang Hao's voice came from the mech's internal speaker: "Responding Dragon startup prompt: Dear driver, have fun destroying tanks today~"

The surroundings burst into laughter.

Li Yang rubbed his forehead: "Delete it, delete it."

"It's already deleted, but the backup system still has it." The assistant shrugged.

"Brother Hao said there are seven layers of backup; to delete them all would take at least two hours."

"We'll settle the score with him after the test." Li Yang climbed into the cockpit.

As the hatch closed, it seemed as if the world fell silent.

Before him was a 360-degree panoramic display, with data streams floating around.

He had tested this control system over a hundred times; he could operate it even with his eyes closed.

"Li Yang, are you ready?" Feng Yan's voice came over the comms.

"Anytime." Li Yang took a deep breath.

"Responding Dragon test phase one, mobility demonstration begins."

The mech activated.

The fusion power core let out a low hum.

First step, second step…… the gait went from awkward to smooth in just ten seconds.

"Walking stability is excellent." Chen Guang reported from the ground control center.

"The gyroscope compensation system is working normally, the bipedal load-bearing algorithm is perfect, thanks to the heavy-platform stability model in the signal."

Li Yang pushed the control stick, and the mech began a light jog.

Then came a sprint.

The 280-ton steel body raced across the test ground at sixty kilometers per hour, each step kicking up dust, yet the frame remained as stable as if gliding on the ground.

"Turning test." Li Yang ordered.

While sprinting, the mech suddenly turned left ninety degrees, with inertia perfectly canceled by the leg-mounted vector nozzles.

Next came complex terrain testing: climbing slopes, crossing trenches, overcoming obstacles……

All the movements were performed in one fluid motion.

In the stands, several generals from the Army Armored Forces Command had already risen.

"This mobility……" a lieutenant general murmured.

"More agile than our main battle tanks."

"Not just agile." The deputy general beside him pointed at the data screen.

"Look at the energy consumption data: after running this loop, energy use is only 0.03%, meaning it can fight continuously without resupply."

The mobility test ended; next up was the main event, the firepower demonstration.

At the far end of the test ground, thirty retired tanks had been converted into remote-controlled target vehicles, arranged in an assault formation.

Further away there were simulated artillery positions, anti-air missile vehicles, and even a simple command post.

"The simulated armored division setup is complete, with quantities proportioned according to a standard mechanized division." Chen Guang reported.

Li Yang did not open fire immediately.

He had the mech crouch halfway, and the rear laser turret rose.

The four gun barrels swiveled simultaneously, locking onto four different-direction targets.

Then they fired simultaneously.

Four thick blue laser beams shot out, almost simultaneously hitting four tanks.

This wasn't just penetration—it was straight-through melting.

The laser burned a washbasin-sized hole in the armor, punched straight through to the interior, igniting fuel and ammunition.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

Four fireballs exploded.

But Li Yang didn't stop.

The shoulder missile bays opened, sixteen micro Firebird missiles screamed out, scattering in the air, each seeking its target.

Some dove into the tanks' undersides, some slipped through turret gaps, and others slammed straight into the command post windows.

Explosion sounds rang out continuously.

In just thirty seconds, all thirty tanks were destroyed.

"Anti-air test." Chen Guang switched to the second phase.

In the distance, twenty drones took off, simulating an air strike.

Li Yang switched weapon mode.

The laser turret switched to rapid-fire mode, beams shooting out like raindrops, each shot precisely hitting a drone.

Twenty fireworks bloomed in the air.

"Clear remaining ground targets." Chen Guang continued.

The mech strode forward with large steps, charging toward the remaining artillery position.

The electromagnetic railgun on the right arm lifted up; this is a new weapon designed specifically for Responding Dragon, firing ultra-high-speed metal pellets.

Charging, fire.

A trajectory almost invisible to the naked eye sliced through the air; a simulated cannon in the distance was directly blown to pieces.

Then the chainsaw sword on the left arm activated.

The three-meter-long blade spun at high speed, emitting a piercing whine.

The mech charged into the enemy formation; with a swing of the blade, an armored vehicle was cut in half at the waist.

Slash, chop, sweep……

The clash of steel on steel sent sparks flying.

Five minutes later, the test field fell silent.

All targets were completely destroyed.

The mech stood in the center of the wreckage, a faint steam rising from its body—that was the cooling system working efficiently.

In the cockpit, Li Yang looked at the battle results on the screen and let out a long breath.

"It took seven minutes twenty-three seconds to destroy sixty-four targets, with zero self-damage." Chen Guang reported the final data.

"Energy consumption: 0.5%."

This time, not only the spectators, but even the technicians at the ground control center burst into applause.

Wang Hao's voice crackled over the channel: "Li Bro, you're awesome! Taking on an armored division single-handedly is no brag!"

"We'll settle that voice thing later." Li Yang said, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help turning up.

The test ended, and the mech returned to the hangar.

When Li Yang climbed out of the cockpit, his legs felt a bit weak.

Feng Yan walked over, patted his shoulder, and said: "Nice work. The army has already placed an order—first batch of twelve units, to be delivered by year-end."

"Twelve units? The production line has just been completed; the maximum monthly output is only four..." Li Yang exclaimed in surprise.

"Then we'll run three shifts. Money is no issue—we'll hire as many people as needed. They watched the test footage and said this thing could already change the rules of ground warfare." Feng Yan said.

"It's already changed. Traditional tank cluster charges are just sitting ducks before Responding Dragon."

"Future ground warfare may shift to mech versus mech. But even our older mechs stand no chance against Responding Dragon." Chen Guang walked over, pushed up his glasses, and said.

Just then, Zhao Kaiyuan hurried over from another direction, his face not looking good.

"What's up, Old Zhao?" Wang Hao asked.

"There's a problem with the civilian spin-offs." Zhao Kaiyuan pulled up a tablet.

"The prototype of the Giant Spirit God engineering mech, when tested at a construction site… scared the developer."

"Scared?" Li Yang frowned.

"That mech follows a simplified design based on Responding Dragon's frame, but retains bipedal walking and load-bearing capacity." Zhao Kaiyuan explained.

"Originally meant to demonstrate steel transport at the construction site, but when the developer boss saw the eight-meter-tall mech lift a ten-ton steel beam with one hand, he was so scared his legs went weak, saying they needed to reassess humanity's future in the construction industry."

Wang Hao burst out laughing: "Isn't this a good thing? It shows our product is mind‑blowing!"

"But they dare not use it." Zhao Kaiyuan gave a wry smile.

"It's too scary; the workers won't even go near it, so the project is now on hold until a psychologist can evaluate them."

Feng Yan thought for a moment and said: "Let's start with publicity—film a documentary showing how the Giant Spirit God works safely and efficiently, and how it reduces workers' labor intensity."

"We'll find a few veteran operators who have previously driven engineering mechs to be the first batch of operators; after training, they'll speak from experience."

"Great idea! I'll handle the filming—I guarantee it'll be cool and safe!" Wang Hao raised his hand.

"Just don't add special effects." Chen Guang glanced at him.

"Impossible! Necessary artistic embellishment is still required!"

Amid the laughter and chatter, Chen Guang's tablet suddenly sounded an alarm.

It wasn't a test alert; it was an emergency notice from Torch Dragon‑3.

"What's wrong?" Li Yang asked.

Chen Guang stared at the screen, his expression growing grave: "At the edge of the solar system… beyond the Kuiper Belt, abnormal gravitational waves have been detected."

He called up the data chart.

These were real‑time data returned from twelve deep‑space monitoring stations distributed around the outer solar system; the gravitational sensors at three of the stations had recorded faint anomalies over the past hour.

The amplitude of the fluctuations was tiny—only three‑ten‑thousandths of the standard value.

But the problem is, these three stations are located in different directions, yet they simultaneously recorded the same fluctuation pattern.

"Torch Dragon‑3 performed a correlation analysis. The fluctuation characteristics… match 87% with the precursor traits of the Harvesters described in deep‑space signals." Chen Guang projected the analysis results onto the wall,

The joy from the recent test success was instantly swept away by this cold data.

"Are you sure?" Feng Yan asked in a low voice.

"The data still needs further verification." Chen Guang said.

"But Torch Dragon‑3 has already mobilized all available resources for simulation drills. The preliminary conclusion is… this cannot be a natural phenomenon."

"If it's not a natural phenomenon, then…" Wang Hao trailed off.

Li Yang stared at those fluctuating curves on the screen and suddenly felt that the Responding Dragon mech just tested… seemed… a bit small.

It's not small in physical size.

It is, on a cosmic scale, facing a possible threat from the depths of the star sea, any weapon humanity has produced appears insignificant.

"Raise the monitoring frequency to the highest. All deep-space monitoring stations enter first-level alert status. Moreover..." Feng Yan ordered.

He paused: "The adjustment to the Responding Dragon production plan is not just for the army; the marines, airborne units, all rapid reaction units must be equipped."

"Push the production line to its maximum limit; if money is lacking, I will get it; if personnel are lacking, I will recruit them."

"Understood." Li Yang nodded.

"Also," Feng Yan looked at Chen Guang, "using the quantum communication protocol we just learned, send a reply to deep space."

"Reply with what?"

"Just reply: \"Precursors have been observed. Defense is accelerating. \""

Chen Guang nodded and began operating.

The message has been sent, but no one knows whether the other side can receive it.

Or put another way, even if they received it, we don't know if they still have the capability to respond.

Zhao Gong knocked his pipe, his voice hoarse: "Those aliens... might now be even more anxious than us."

"Being anxious is useless. What we can do is first arm ourselves to the teeth. As for whether we can win when the enemy comes..." Li Yang looked at the Responding Dragon mech under maintenance, his voice firm.

He clenched his fists:

"We'll know only after we fight."

In the evening, Li Yang sat alone in the hangar, watching technicians perform a post-battle inspection on the Responding Dragon.

The mech's surface has some scratches. Those were from fragments flung when the chainsword cut an armored vehicle.

But the self-repair function of the dragon-scale armor has begun working, and the scratches are fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Brother Li, aren't you going back to rest?" The assistant walked over.

"Just wait a bit longer." Li Yang looked up at the mech and said, "You say... can this thing deal with the Harvesters?"

The assistant blinked, then laughed: "Brother Li, that's not something you'd usually say."

"Three months ago you still said the Responding Dragon could take on an entire armored division single-handedly; now you've actually done it, so in three months maybe you could take on aliens single-handedly."

Li Yang also laughed: "Indeed. Success depends on human effort."

He stood up, gave the mech one last look, then turned and left.

When he reached the doorway, the communicator rang.

It was Zhou Ming, the former takeout champion, now a reserve member of the Heaven-controlling Mech unit.

"Director Li, I watched today's Responding Dragon test livestream." Zhou Ming's voice was somewhat excited.

"It's so cool! When can I pilot a mech like that?"

"You should first get proficient with the Heaven-controlling Mech before talking about that." Li Yang laughed.

"However... if your training scores meet the standard, you might get a chance next year."

"Really? Then I'll give it my all!"

The call ended.

Li Yang walked out of the hangar; the setting sun from the west bathed the test field in gold.

In the distance, the prototype of the Giant Spirit God Engineering Mech was demonstrating the transport of building materials.

Even farther away, the new mech production line factory had risen from the ground, lights blazing.

Humanity is accelerating.

Although we don't know if there's enough time.

But at least, we haven't stopped.

As the night deepened, the monitoring data of Torch Dragon-3 was updated again.

The gravitational fluctuations at the edge of the solar system, after lasting two hours, disappeared.

It was as if it had never appeared.

But Chen Guang knew, that was not an illusion.