The mech's primary weapon remained the laser cannon, utilizing the highly abundant ultraviolet crystals from Silvermark Star, and it was equipped with a laser sight to direct fire, boosting the hit rate for blind shots. Ziye simulated two firing sequences, and she was extremely satisfied with the results. For its secondary weapon, she installed a Vulcan minigun, configured with three barrels, firing live ammunition.

To make piloting more convenient, she bypassed setting up a separate base optical computer for the weapons. Instead, she integrated all the weapon-control software directly into the main optical computer, dedicating a small screen solely to display remaining ammunition, capacity per clip, directional indicators, and so on.

Additionally, Ziye created two protective shields.

One was an stealth shield covering the entire mech body, achieved by coating the outer surface with a thin film that reflected radiation, reducing harm to the pilot. The other was a visible shield mounted on the left arm, constructed using a layering technique with buffering gaps between the strata. This maximized impact absorption to prevent mech damage without overburdening the machine or excessively draining energy reserves.

One could say that every aspect of the mech's design and structure was meticulously considered by Ziye. Gazing upon her newest and proudest creation, Ziye embraced Little Sprout, kissed it fondly, and cheerfully asked, "Sprout, let's name this mech. What do you think we should call it?"

Little Sprout tilted the leaves atop its head in thought. "Ping An?"

Ziye glanced at it. "Why that?"

Little Sprout giggled, "Ping An, Ping An—peace and safety. It will bless us to leave Silvermark Star safely, oh yeah!"

Ziye was equally inept at naming things. After consideration, she felt Ping An was both easy to say and suitably humble, so she nodded. "Good, we'll call it Ping An."

Using a metal engraver beneath the mech’s shield, she carved the three characters for "Ping An," followed by her signature mark: a small sprout.

Once finished, Ziye dragged her exhausted body, yet buzzing with excitement, out of the workshop to eat a massive meal in the kitchen, then shower and sleep. As for scanning and testing, that could wait until tomorrow.

Little did she know that during her 'disappearance,' Red Hair had been nearly frantic!

No one on the entire planet knew where she had gone. Sending a SilverCom signal yielded no response; emailing her felt like casting a stone into the ocean; requesting a network call was met with silence.

Red Hair was almost convinced Ziye had fled Silvermark Star without her.

So this time, she kicked the door in.

Ziye had set up three guard robots armed with dual blades specifically to prevent unauthorized entry. The moment Red Hair kicked the door, the robots attacked. Even though Red Hair was battle-hardened, she was still accidentally nicked on the arm, making her roar in anger, "You brat, if you don't come out now, I'll blast your house with an anti-matter railgun!"

Ziye was roused from a hazy sleep. She walked out to find Red Hair had already bandaged her arm, glaring at her with flushed cheeks. Seeing Ziye, she swung a fist directly toward her face, unwilling to waste breath—she had to punch first.

Even half-asleep, Ziye wasn't easily hit and instinctively dodged the attack. "What's wrong?"

"You still dare to ask?" Unable to land a blow, Red Hair vented her frustration by kicking the door hard with her heavy combat boot, resulting in a loud thud. "We all thought you were dead!"

Ziye blinked with utter innocence. "Wasn't I busy researching how to build a battleship?"

Red Hair's eyes widened instantly. "How's the research going?"

"I'll share the blueprints in a few days." Ziye didn't intend to elaborate, promptly ordering 120 to close the door, signaling the end of the visit.

Red Hair stared at her in disbelief. "Damn it, you're throwing me out?"

Ziye simply shrugged. With another thud, the door closed firmly in Red Hair's face.

Red Hair glared teeth-grindingly at the "Do Not Disturb" sign, absolutely furious. She grabbed the sign and squeezed it hard, hearing a sharp crackling sound as the metal sign crumpled into fragments!

Jerk! If those battleship blueprints aren't ready in a few days, just wait until I deal with you! Red Hair stomped away in a rage.

Lying back on the bed, Ziye had completely lost her desire to sleep. She rubbed her head, got up, poked the standby Little Sprout awake, and returned to the basement.

The analysis scan complete, Ziye re-examined the blueprints, smoothing out a few minuscule imperfections. She turned to the wildly excited Little Sprout. "Come on, let's test the flight."

Since Ziye was underage and hadn't reached the legal driving age, she decided to let Little Sprout take the controls for the initial test. As the mech shot skyward faster than the wind, Ziye was extremely pleased.

It was even faster than she had anticipated.

The mech's main body was constructed from light metal, slightly less dense than standard alloys. Its frame was slightly smaller, granting superior maneuverability. Once converted to fighter mode, its cruising speed could hit 280m/s, and its warp speed reached 6 AU (where 1 AU is the distance between Earth and the Sun, used as the unit of measure). At maximum energy, the sustainable warp distance was 300 AU, and at full thrust, it could maintain operation for 58 hours, capable of supporting two days even with maximum firepower engaged.

This speed was significantly faster than her previous Raven and Crow models, and even outpaced most mechs utilized by the Star Federation.

Outside the protection of interstellar civilization, higher speed meant a lower probability of disaster. Ping An's velocity gave Ziye absolute confidence in her ability to escape Silvermark Star.

Superb long-range capability meant easier escape!

Ziye happily initiated the return sequence. Little Sprout, still eager for more, nudged her head affectionately. "Ziye, Ziye, how about we build an even more powerful one?"

Ziye gave it an unimpressed look. "No."

Little Sprout complained, "Why not?"

Ziye tapped its head. "The most important thing now is finding the alien to see if he’s still alive. Did you forget? We still owe Red Hair a battleship blueprint!"

Hearing "battleship," Little Sprout immediately grew excited. "Okay, then let's build the battleship."

Ziye smiled. "We’ll finish the battleship before we leave Silvermark. By the way, do you think we need to tell Red Hair and the others that we're leaving?"

Little Sprout’s eyes darted around shrewdly. "Of course we should tell them, otherwise she’ll just come barging in again, right?"

Ziye pondered for a long moment. Telling her directly felt like giving her too much credit, but not telling her felt disloyal. After careful consideration, a brilliant idea struck her. She whispered a few sentences to Little Sprout, who blinked in confusion. After thinking it over carefully, it decided the plan was quite amusing and agreed.

The two returned home happily.

Ziye placed another large order for metal materials and instructed the nano-replication robots to produce ten copies of the Ping An model, disassembled and packed away in Warehouse One.

Then, she began designing the battleship blueprints.

Many mech concepts in Tangshan were derived from ship designs, so their library contained a section on ship design and manufacturing. Ziye found a basic battleship model in the texts and, with Little Sprout's assistance, began perfecting it.

[bookid=2737962,bookname=《》]A contemporary narrative of realism, the author's writing style is truly commendable!