"Time limit for selection has expired. Would you like to continue modifying or use the default appearance?"
Zong Xuemin thought for a moment, then carefully took out a yellowed old photograph from his chest pocket. It showed an infant swaddled in a blanket, its large, dark eyes looking very cute.
Zong Xuemin gently wiped the photograph and his eyes immediately welled up. He held it up and asked, "Can you, can you transform into him at eighteen years old, using this photo as a prototype?"
"Affirmative, but my computational power is insufficient. I need to retrieve resources from the main body. Please wait."
Under Zong Xuemin's tense gaze, the black silhouette first transformed into the infant in the photograph, then slowly grew, gaining height, until it developed a beard and shed its youthful awkwardness, finally becoming a tall, robust, and spirited young man.
As the projection shifted, Zong Xuemin felt as if he were truly watching the infant grow before his eyes. Tears streamed down his face as he called out his son's childhood nickname, reaching out to embrace him tightly.
"Yangyang!"
Alas, no matter how real it seemed, the projection was merely refracted light and had no substance. Zong Xuemin grasped at empty air. Seeing the phantom projection, distorted by his interference, he could no longer suppress the sorrow in his heart. He slumped to the ground, weeping uncontrollably.
"Yangyang, it's all my fault. I couldn't protect you..."
As the old man's emotions completely unraveled, a spark of awareness flickered in the projection's blank gaze. The silver orb, which had been hovering in the air, quietly descended and came to rest before Zong Xuemin. It didn't address him as "Grandpa" as instructed, but instead, in a youthful voice, softly called out,
"Dad."
"Ah."
Zong Xuemin was taken aback for a moment, then happily responded. He then extended his arms and tightly embraced the silver orb. "From this moment on, you are my son."
Noticing that others were unaware of Zong Xuemin's intense emotions, Jing Mingqiu quickly offered an explanation.
It turned out that fifty years ago, during the invasion of China by foreign powers, Zong Xuemin had enlisted and fought bravely. After paying a heavy price, the scales of war gradually tipped in favor of the Dragon Country.
Just as all the invaders were about to be driven out, the Japanese invaders, unwilling to accept defeat, resorted to desperate measures.
Thus, when Zong Xuemin was leading his troops to recapture a small county town, the devils, in their madness, captured Zong Xuemin's wife and child, demanding that he immediately retreat, or they would slaughter them all.
Faced with the threat, Zong Xuemin refused to back down. To avoid delaying the war effort, he directly ordered the artillery to fire.
His subordinates dared not, so he took matters into his own hands. With tears silently falling, he personally fired upon and killed his wife and his infant son, Yangyang, who was still swaddled.
Yangyang was only two months old, and Zong Xuemin had not even had time to give him a formal name.
After hearing Jing Mingqiu's explanation, everyone's eyes subtly moistened. If it weren't for the sacrifices of the martyrs who fought bravely, how could they enjoy today's peaceful and safe lives?
"Sir," Jing Mingqiu approached Zong Xuemin and tentatively spoke, "if you truly wish to hold your child, I can create a body for him. Although it will be machine-made, I assure you, it will look and feel exactly like a real person."
Zong Xuemin wiped his face and gently shook his head. "No need. Yangyang is gone. I don't want anyone to replace him."
"At my age, I should be holding my grandchildren," Zong Xuemin took out the silver orb and cupped it in his palm. "You should continue to call me Grandpa. According to seniority, you are of the Cheng generation. From now on, you will be called Zong Chengping. May the world be peaceful."
"Grandpa."
After a soft call, the silver orb rolled twice in Zong Xuemin's palm, as if playfully demanding attention.
A single test case was not enough. After Zong Xuemin could harmoniously interact with Cang Yue's sub-program, Jing Mingqiu went all out and created several more drones containing artificial intelligence, distributing one to each person.
"Can you turn into a kitten? Really? Then your name will be Mimi from now on."
"Cuihua, how about calling this one Huahua?"
"..."
As everyone was enthusiastically communicating with their respective artificial intelligences, a loud roaring sound suddenly came from above.
Jing Mingqiu looked up and saw a massive military transport aircraft circling at high altitude. The cargo bay door had opened, and a group of soldiers operating camouflage mechs were pushing a huge shipping container out.
After leaving the aircraft, the container plummeted towards Jing Mingqiu and the others like a meteor.
Mo Ruixue noticed this and was startled, instinctively activating her mech into combat mode. "Someone's attacking! A Rou, you take the others and get out of here first. A Qiu, let's work together to destroy it."
With that, Mo Ruixue took off from the ground, preparing to intercept the falling container.
"Don't rush," Jing Mingqiu flashed forward and embraced Jing Rou from behind. "This isn't an attack. This is an engineering team sent by Han Yinian to build houses for Elder Zong."
Before he finished speaking, "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Several large parachutes bloomed, significantly slowing the container's descent. Then, the mechs that descended with the container all reached out and grabbed it. Following that, flames erupted from their rear thrusters, and they began adjusting the container's orientation.
Five minutes later, the container landed steadily in the center of the ruins.
The engineering soldiers controlling the camouflage mechs, working in pairs and utilizing the mechs' immense power, quickly cleared the debris.
"Click! Click!"
As several securing bolts were retracted, the massive container unfolded like a flower, revealing the neatly stacked raw materials inside.
Foundation repair, wall construction, utility connections, furniture installation...
These engineers worked with clear division of labor and seamless coordination. In less than half an hour, a brand-new resettlement house stood before everyone.
"I apologize, Professor Jing," Han Yinian jumped down from his mech and walked up to Jing Mingqiu. "To reprocess the main materials according to your latest requirements and prepare reinforced materials for other resettlement houses, there was a slight delay."
"It's alright, your speed is already very fast. Truly worthy of being called an infrastructure maniac. A house in half an hour, while it's just a resettlement house, elsewhere it could be considered a small villa."
Jing Mingqiu's statement was not an exaggeration. Considering the harsh desert environment and the need for many tools to modify it, these resettlement houses were all two-story buildings with large garages.
Han Yinian was very earnest. "This is all thanks to you, Professor Jing. If you hadn't invented the new type of mech, we wouldn't have been this fast."
Jing Mingqiu waved his hand. "That's not entirely true. Mechs are inanimate objects. The rapid construction is mainly due to your team's excellent coordination and skilled operation. If I were to do it, it certainly wouldn't be as fast."
"But..."
Han Yinian was about to retort when Jing Mingqiu interrupted him by tossing a large pile of metal spheres. "You've arrived at just the right time. Later, when you help others reinforce the resettlement houses, pass this down as well. It can..."
After hearing Jing Mingqiu's explanation, Han Yinian's eyes lit up more and more. "Professor Jing, can this be mass-produced? With its powerful functions, it would be a waste to only use it for the desert modification project!"