"High Priest, propulsion systems test...."
"Armor systems test...."
"Control systems test...."
Under one command after another from Lucas Reeve, the High Priest piloted [Titan] as it soared through the sky. The massive firearm in [Titan]'s hands continuously sprayed large-caliber Originium Rounds into the uninhabited areas.
These Originium Rounds formed a barrage, streaking across the sky like meteors, pouring down onto the rainforest floor. In an instant, the ground was riddled with craters of all sizes.
Under continuous fire, the barrel of the specially made firearm gradually glowed red-hot. By the time the last Originium Round was fired, the originally black exterior of the barrel was glowing a fiery red, as if it had been roasted. White smoke billowed from the muzzle, accompanied by a hissing, cooling sound.
On the ground, Lucas Reeve nodded, quite satisfied with the weapons test. It was at least within the acceptable range.
Next was the propulsion systems test.
The High Priest, excited, slammed the propulsion control in the cockpit all the way up.
Instantly.
Scorching, deep-blue flames spewed from Titan's rear thrusters and the propulsion vents on the soles of its feet. In a flash, the five-meter-plus tall mech shot into the sky again, seemingly about to fly into space. Upon reaching an altitude of over a thousand meters, the mech stopped climbing. In other words, it had reached its limit, just as predicted. This altitude was essentially the maximum for a low-altitude shuttle.
They then tested its duration.
With the thrusters at full power, the maximum flight time was about two and a half hours. If not flying and fighting purely on land, it could last for about 12 continuous hours. With the backup power source, Titan's maximum continuous combat time was about 24 hours.
Lucas Reeve would need to continue optimizing the engine and energy consumption later on.
Other tests included running performance, resistance, heat and cold tolerance, and the ability to traverse the rainforest's lakes.
Sure enough.
Designing it with human-like legs had an advantage over tracks: greater agility. If it were just ordinary metal, it couldn't withstand the inertial forces brought by this agility. After all, the connection points at the joints would inevitably have their hardness and toughness greatly reduced to ensure flexibility. Excessively strenuous running could easily cause the joints to fail under the pressure and break completely.
But the D35 alloy created by Lucas Reeve completely overcame this drawback.
The connection points at the joints could perfectly withstand any force, and their own flexibility and agility were comparable to human joints.
Although due to its own weight.
Titan naturally couldn't run and jump as freely as a human, or practice Wing Chun.
But there were already many similarities.
At the very least, this was a brand-new breakthrough.
Lucas Reeve guessed.
If Raythean Industries or the engineering department of any other country knew that a cross-era mech existed in the backward, primitive rainforest of Sargon, they would probably all rush over like madmen.
The basic tests were over.
The High Priest emerged from the Titan's cockpit, and Zumama immediately and eagerly climbed in. Although she had helped invent the mech, she had never piloted it. Even the first-generation Big Ugly's cockpit had been designed for the High Priest.
The commotion from the back mountain of the [Eunectes Tribe] was naturally heard by everyone in the large tribe. Not just the Tiacau tribe, but even other tribes in the Acahualla region, and even people from other regions, heard it loud and clear.
For these villagers who lived in the primitive rainforest and had almost no contact with the outside world.
A series of fiery explosions was no different from divine punishment.
A crowd of those who didn't understand had already knelt down to the 'red monster' in the sky, praying with utmost piety, as if their own god had revealed itself. After all, the vision of these primitive tribespeople was truly narrow; they would never see such an outrageous explosion in their lifetime and simply took it as a punishment from the gods.
But the villagers of the Tiacau tribe knew that Zumama had a chunk of iron. When they saw it flying erratically in the sky, constantly unleashing powerful explosives, they all rushed to the square in front of the temple. Even the Great Chief knelt before the idol.
Everyone believed it was a manifestation of the god, who had bestowed supreme wisdom upon Zumama.
And Lucas Reeve, who was excitedly piloting the mech around in the sky inside Titan, inexplicably received another large sum of Prayer Power.
Finally.
After the last bit of energy was depleted.
Lucas Reeve piloted Titan to the ground.
The villagers from the various tribes had been kneeling on the ground for a full two hours. Only when the [Crimson God] flying in the sky landed did they stand up one by one. A few of the braver ones wanted to go investigate where the mech had landed, but they were quickly stopped by a strict prohibition from their own tribe's Chieftain.
He was afraid that investigating without permission would anger the god.
They didn't know about the other tribes.
But the people of the Eunectes Tribe were quite clear.
As soon as the mech landed, they swarmed around it.
"Chieftain Zumama! What is this thing! Why is it flying in the sky!!"
In the past, they would have probably seen it as a divine manifestation, but now, they knew this chunk of iron was called a mech. After all, they had heard the continuous clanging sounds for several months, and occasionally some onlookers would go to the back mountain to watch. It could be said that they had watched with their own eyes as Zumama transformed Big Ugly into this.
Faced with the incredibly enthusiastic villagers swarming around her.
Zumama smiled faintly.
"This is the next generation of Big Ugly... its name is Titan."
"Holy crap!! As expected of Chieftain Zumama, that brain of yours is amazing!!"
Some villagers who used literacy books bought from the merchant guild as pillows seemed to be inspired again, preparing to go back and memorize a few words.
"No... Titan actually... has little to do with me..."
Zumama shook her head.
"It was the Lord God who bestowed upon me a tiny fraction of his vast knowledge... with just me alone, I could never have created such a mech in my lifetime...."
"Ooh!! It really is the Lord God!!"
"It seems Chieftain Zumama is the one chosen by the god!!"
"Why don't you run for Great Chief next year, Chieftain Zumama?"
"I want to read now. It seems only those with ink in their brains can receive the Lord God's protection. I regret not buying books from the merchant guild like Chieftain Zumama did back then. What's the point of being obsessed with fighting all day!!"
"Pah! You? What's 1+1?"
"11!"
Looking at the chattering villagers in front of her.
Zumama felt a little dazed for a moment.
Soon, she lowered her head slightly.
Indeed...
In the design and forging of Titan, she had only provided her body and hadn't given much other help. Even if Lord Lucas Reeve had taught her, her foundation was weak, and it was unlikely she could learn it all at once.
Sigh...
Zumama looked ahead.
Suddenly, she thought of something.
Perhaps here, she would never be able to build such a machine with her own hands. Only by going out... truly stepping out, seeing the knowledge of the outside world, and constantly learning, would she have the chance...
After the crowd of villagers dispersed.
Zumama seemed to have been holding it in for a long time, her face flushed red. The High Priest beside her seemed to have noticed something, gave Zumama a thumbs-up with its wing, and fluttered into the Titan's cockpit to watch the show. To the High Priest, this mech had become like the love of its dreams. It was too perfect!!
Although a romance between a human and a god was basically impossible.
The High Priest still wanted Zumama to at least confess her feelings.
"Lord Lucas Reeve!!"
"Hm?"
"Um... I've thought it through. I want to go to Raythean Industries! Perhaps only there can I learn more about mechanics. That way, I can become Lord Lucas Reeve's assistant...."
Zumama's cheeks were crimson, her smooth, delicate face looked as if it was about to drip with water. Her bright eyes were watery at this moment; it seemed that saying this sentence had taken all of her strength.
The High Priest: "Huh?"
After all that buildup... you just say this?
Lucas Reeve, however, didn't seem surprised. He reached out, patted Zumama's head, and then nodded.
About two days later.
A Raythean Industries low-altitude cargo shuttle slowly approached from the distance. To avoid causing a commotion, the shuttle landed directly in an uninhabited area deep in the rainforest.
It seemed for convenience.
When Jessica first established her company, her parents had directly gifted their precious daughter a low-altitude shuttle. Shuttles are extremely rare on Terra; even nations don't have many. Although Raythean Industries is large, it doesn't actually have many internally. The fact that they could directly give one to Jessica showed how much her parents doted on her.
For the past few months, this shuttle had been responsible for all material transport.
This type of low-altitude shuttle didn't seem to compare to the large cargo planes on Earth, and Lucas Reeve planned to modify this shuttle as well when he had the time.
Right now, Lucas Reeve and Jessica were essentially helping each other.
Lucas Reeve was constantly preparing bargaining chips for Jessica's future, brutal 'corporate empire' struggles. Jessica's parents would eventually grow old, and such a massive company could not be united. There were certainly many powerful shareholders eyeing the chairman's position, constantly hoping for the day Jessica's father would fall...
It wasn't just the internal shareholders.
Even the top echelons of the Columbian government and the military actually wanted to firmly control this corporate giant. After all, even with their cooperation, Raythean Industries was still a private enterprise, and the military didn't feel entirely at ease...
It looked calm on the surface, but undercurrents were already surging beneath.
As the heiress of Raythean Industries, it was very difficult for Jessica to stay out of it. It was like being the crown prince in ancient times; even if you repeatedly claimed to have no interest in the throne, would others believe you? No one would.
————
Columbia.
"Mr. Reeve, is something wrong?"
Jessica was a little nervous. She had known Lucas Reeve for so long, and this was the first time he had spoken to her so seriously. He usually had a carefree demeanor, as if nothing mattered.
Could it be...
Jessica's cheeks turned red.
The soft pair of cat ears on her head trembled nonstop, as if she had thought of something she had always dreamed of.
Oh!!
This was happening a little too fast!!
"Um, Jessica, I did a rough calculation. You've been fronting the money for all the raw materials these past few months. The total cost is over four billion."
Lucas Reeve said slowly.
He was telling the truth.
All the raw materials used to forge the Titan mech these past days were provided by Jessica, including the shuttle transportation, which Jessica also helped with.
Lucas Reeve remembered all of this. After all, it wasn't right to always let a girl spend so much money. And... using too much of Raythean Industries' precious metal resources, even if Jessica's parents didn't mind, many of the major shareholders within Raythean Industries were actually watching, they just didn't dare to speak up.
"Don't say that...."
Jessica quickly waved her hands.
"Mr. Reeve has helped me so much, it's only right that I spend some money!!"
Lucas Reeve shook his head.
"Business is business. I can't always have you spending money. Jessica, you should know about D32 Steel, right?"
Jessica nodded. As the heiress of Raythean Industries, no matter how little she knew about the industry, she would definitely know about it.
"I know. It's currently the hardest material in the world and also the best for conducting Originium Arts. Even at Raythean Industries, our reserves of this material aren't large."
"These two are for you..."
With a wave of his hand.
Two palm-sized square metal blocks were taken out of a nearby box by Lucas Reeve and placed in front of Jessica.
Jessica was a bit puzzled, not knowing what these two metal blocks were. However, her instincts told her that these two metal blocks were definitely something special.
"Let me introduce them. This one that feels soft to the touch, I call D35 Alloy. It has a hardness comparable to D32 Steel, its Originium Arts conduction efficiency is twenty percent higher, and it has incredible plasticity, allowing it to change into any shape. But no matter what shape it takes, its surface hardness remains unchanged."
"This one... I've named Nirvana Metal. It has a hardness far exceeding D32 Steel. Although its Originium Arts conductivity is average, due to its special internal structure, it can absorb a large amount of kinetic and other energies from external sources..."
After hearing the introduction.
Jessica's eyes widened in an instant.
If what Mr. Reeve said was completely true, she naturally understood the importance of these two metals perfectly...
A product that was completely ahead of its time!!
Could it be!!
Jessica remembered how Lucas Reeve had mysteriously forged something using Ceobe's body... could this be it!!
"Mr. Reeve, this is...?"
"I forged them. Or rather, in this world, only I can forge them. I'm giving them to you, Jessica. These two things will be your bargaining chips in the future..."
Jessica gasped.
She knew all too well the importance of these two metals.
A truly revolutionary product—forget forty billion, even four hundred billion, or four trillion—if they could get their hands on the patented forging formula, her father would not hesitate. After all... the main reason Raythean Industries had stood tall on Terra for so long was that its general technology was decades ahead of the rest of Terra... this absolute advantage made Raythean Industries' position almost unshakable.
And the metals Lucas Reeve was providing were decades, even hundreds of years, ahead of Raythean Industries' current technology...
*Hiss...*
Too precious...
These metals could simply be described as priceless treasures.
And Mr. Reeve had actually given these two incredibly precious metals to her....
Could it be that Mr. Reeve already considered her family in his heart?!!
Oh~~
"Mr. Reeve... th-this is too precious..."
Jessica wanted to refuse.
But Lucas Reeve just waved his hand.
"We're in this together now, at least for now... What's mine is yours... Jessica. Besides, in the future internal competitions at Raythean Industries, these metals will also give you an absolute advantage."
"In this together..."
"In this together..."
Jessica's mind was in a bit of a mess. She kept muttering Lucas Reeve's words. The next second, her brain overheated and temporarily shut down.
Not long after Lucas Reeve and Jessica's secret conversation.
Zumama and the High Priest also arrived in Columbia.
Leaving the rainforest for the first time, even though she knew what cities looked like from books, seeing it with her own eyes left her standing there in a daze for a long time.
The High Priest, on the other hand, had lived for a very, very long time and was familiar with some places, often muttering that a few hundred years ago... this place was very poor, and it seemed there wasn't even a country called Columbia back then. How time flies.
Such a huge change.
Since Jessica had already made the arrangements.
Lucas Reeve smoothly led Zumama through the hiring process at Raythean Industries. She was even warmly received by the head of Raythean Industries' R&D department. With Zumama's talent, she was bound to shine at Raythean Industries in the future.
The [Titan] mech was temporarily stored at Raythean Medica's company building, hidden from anyone's sight.
As for the [Eunectes Tribe], although the villagers were reluctant to see their Chieftain leave, there was nothing to be said. They chose a new Chieftain and continued their daily lives, except that their brawls gradually turned into mechanical engineering contests.