Chapter 245

The mech was 2.2 meters tall, bright red, with a detachable high-pressure water tank and demolition tool kit on its back.

The most powerful part was the high-temperature-resistant coating, which could withstand 1500-degree flames burning directly for five minutes.

"Tested?" Liu Gang asked the technician.

"Burned for two hours in the training ground yesterday, not even the paint fell off," the technician gave a thumbs up.

"And this thing has twelve rescue modes, demolition, climbing, underwater rescue, it can do it all."

"There are only twelve units in the whole city, and it took me a lot of talking to get the captain to allocate two to our squadron."

As he was talking, the alarm went off.

"188 Pudong Avenue, Jiayuan Community, Building 3, 12th floor on fire, people trapped!"

Liu Gang jumped into the cockpit: "Let's go!"

Three fire trucks and two mechs set out simultaneously.

When they arrived at the scene, thick black smoke was billowing from the windows on the 12th floor.

"Ladder truck ready!" Liu Gang ordered while controlling the mech.

"I'm going for a frontal demolition, Xiao Wang, you climb the exterior wall of the building next door, prepare to receive any residents who might jump to escape."

"Received!"

The mech started, magnetic feet suctioned onto the building surface, and it began to climb vertically like a giant spider.

The height of twelve floors took the mech only one minute.

"Open fire detected!" Liu Gang saw the situation inside the room through thermal imaging.

"The living room is completely on fire, the bedroom door is closed, heat source shows two people in the bedroom!"

He raised his mechanical arm, and the high-temperature cutting gun started.

Sizzle—

The anti-theft window was melted through.

The mech smashed the glass and rushed into the fire, the water tank on its back automatically sprayed a mist curtain, instantly suppressing the fire.

"Rescue mode activated," the AI prompted, "Bedroom door detected to be jammed due to high-temperature deformation."

"Then just tear it down!" Liu Gang controlled the mech, the mechanical arm grabbed the door frame and pulled hard.

The whole door was ripped off.

In the bedroom, an elderly couple was curled up in the corner, covering their mouths and noses with wet towels.

"Don't be afraid, I'll take you out," the mech's speaker adjusted to the gentlest tone.

The mechanical arm extended, gently wrapped the two elderly people in fire blankets, and then picked them up.

Turned around and returned the same way.

From breaking the window to the rescue, the whole process took two minutes and seventeen seconds.

Downstairs, the crowd burst into applause.

The reporter's lens was aimed at the mech climbing down the building, and the footage spread across the internet.

That afternoon, the Fire Bureau released data: since the deployment of firefighting mechs in pilot cities nationwide, the average fire rescue time has been shortened by 90%, and the death rate... has returned to zero.

That's right, zero.

Because mechs aren't afraid of fire, aren't afraid of collapses, can go where humans dare not go, and can do things humans cannot do.

Evening, Dragon Chant Research Institute data hall.

Chen Guang stared at the scrolling socio-economic data on the screen, adjusted his glasses: "Civilian mechs have been fully deployed for only a week, and several data points are very interesting."

He pulled up the chart:

"Construction sites using Spirit Giant engineering mechs have seen an average construction period reduction of 70% and a 40% drop in construction costs."

The screen switched to a real estate construction site—twenty mechs working in sync, building a thirty-story residential building in three days.

In the sales office, the sales manager was passionately lecturing customers: "Before, this kind of building took at least a year to build, now it's delivered in three months! And costs are down, housing prices are down! Making it affordable for young people!"

Chen marked another set of data: "The coverage rate of same-day delivery in major cities nationwide has increased from 35% to 92%, and logistics costs have dropped by 60%."

The screen showed a logistics sorting center—hundreds of small logistics mechs shuttling between shelves, with sorting efficiency fifty times that of humans.

"The most critical thing is..." Chen paused, "National monthly GDP growth 18%, unemployment rate dropped to 0.9%, crime rate dropped 60%."

A striking title popped up on the large screen:

"Mech Era: A Quiet Social Revolution"

Wang Hao leaned over to look, grinning: "Guangzi, isn't this data too exaggerated? Unemployment rate 0.9%? That's almost full employment!"

"Not exaggerated," Zhao Kaiyuan continued.

"After energy costs dropped, full mechanization created nearly three million direct jobs—operators, maintenance staff, trainers."

"It also drove upstream and downstream industries, battery manufacturing, parts processing, software development... at least ten million indirect jobs."

At this moment, Feng Yan walked in from outside, holding a report: "But while good things are good, problems have also come."

He pulled up a global heat map.

"Our unemployment rate is 0.9%, but in some places..." he zoomed in on Foot-Chicken's data, "the unemployment rate has soared to 25%, and the public has already started attacking government buildings."

The screen switched to the streets of Tokyo, Foot-Chicken.

The protesting crowd held signs:

"We want work!"

"We want mechs! We want cheap electricity!"

"The government is incompetent!"

Riot police formed a human wall with shields, but the crowd became increasingly agitated.

Suddenly, a Molotov cocktail flew toward a police car.

The conflict escalated.

"Foot-Chicken's military has taken over security in Tokyo," Feng Yan closed the screen.

"Hardliners have taken power; they now believe the only way out is... to break our development rhythm."

Chen Guang frowned: "How to break it?"

Before he could finish, Torch Dragon-3's alarm sounded.

【East Sea Monitoring Station Report: Three Foot-Chicken Oyashio-class submarines detected leaving port abnormally】

【Heading: Northwest】

【Depth: Submerged mode】

【Expected to enter Longguo's East Sea economic zone within 24 hours】

The control room fell into silence.

Wang Hao spoke first: "What are they trying to do? Are they coming to give our Xuanwu mechs more toys?"

"This time it's different," Li Yang pulled up the submarine parameters.

"The Oyashio-class is their current main force, equipped with heavy torpedoes and cruise missiles. And three of them are out at the same time..."

He didn't finish.

But everyone understood what this meant.

Feng Yan stared at the three red dots moving toward the East Sea on the screen, silent for a long time, then said:

"Notify the Navy to strengthen monitoring. But remember, as long as they don't cross the line, don't move yet."

"Why?" Wang Hao was anxious, "If we wait until they get in, it'll be too late!"

"Because the Heaven's Punishment base module is launching tomorrow," Feng Yan turned, his gaze firm.

"This is humanity's first orbital defense weapon, it cannot be delayed. The threat from deep space is much more important than these three submarines."

He paused and added:

"I hope they don't seek their own destruction in such a major event concerning all of humanity."

Outside the window, night fell.

The city lights were as brilliant as a sea of stars, with much of the light coming from Xuanming-2 batteries, from those mechs that changed the lives of ordinary people.

And deep in the East Sea, three submarines were quietly sailing toward the center of the storm.

They carried the despair of a country, the final madness of an era.