I, a ship girl, am the savior of civilization.

At 55 knots, that's equivalent to 101.86 km/h, barely reaching one-third of the speed of a PPDC transport helicopter. However, considering the attack range of the Dawn electromagnetic cannon, Laura can at least guarantee immediate support within the Hong Kong base area.

"Uncle, you're such a worry..."

Feeling the strange sensation of the data being transmitted to her body, Laura closed her eyes and pondered what she should do tonight.

Hmm, how about we make a stargazing pose for the uncle?

11. Horizon Warriors

Jefferson and Albert were indeed among the first batch of official pilots, but not in the first group, so they would not receive their own Jaeger Hunters for a short period of time.

Before Jefferson and his companion's Jaegers arrived, a Level 2 Kaiju, named "Karloff" by PPDC, attacked Vancouver, Canada, but was eventually repelled by the combined US and Canadian forces.

When Karlov reappeared in the Yukon Territory of Canada, the original Jaeger, nicknamed "Brawler," unleashed its full power, achieving humanity's first kill against a monster.

Canada is too far from Hong Kong, and Laura had no intention of deploying her forces. Therefore, Yukon's one-on-one victory over Karlov was released as a promotional video by PPDC, pushing calls for the Jaeger project to its peak.

After the feasibility of Jaeger was proven, various countries mobilized their national resources to develop their own Jaeger units. Similarly, most of the reserve pilots belonging to various countries were recalled to their home countries.

However, the Hong Kong base, as the original site of the Shattered Dome, maintained a considerable size. Jefferson also volunteered to stay and serve as the representative of the United States in Hong Kong.

In 2016, the Pacific Rim Jaeger defense system was basically completed. Jefferson and Albert were also assigned their own Jaegers, the nuclear-powered first-generation Jaegers—Horizon Warriors—provided by China.

"So, this is the mecha you'll be piloting in the future?"

Looking at the horizon fixed to the mecha frame, Laura's expression was somewhat subtle: "It doesn't seem very reliable."

As Jefferson's legal family member, Laura was not actually part of the PPDC's Hong Kong base staff. Therefore, under normal circumstances, Laura would not be qualified to enter the base.

However, rules can always be slightly modified within the bounds of human relationships.

Over time, most people in the base knew about Laura's relationship with Jefferson. If Laura wanted to enter the base to see Jefferson, generally no one would insist on stopping her.

However, Laura had already seen the horizon through the nanounits, so even though this first-generation mech had been at the base for nearly a month, Laura had no interest in taking another look.

This time, Jefferson dragged him here again.

However, I still have to vent my frustrations.

Horizon Warrior is the only mass-produced mech, with relatively average specifications on paper. While it's commendable that China was willing to provide Jefferson with a mech as a foreign aid pilot, compared to other mechs, Horizon Warrior clearly has more glaring flaws.

The cockpit's two sides were fitted with containers filled with liquid nitrogen, making it an extremely easy target for Kaiju attacks. If a leak occurred, Jefferson and Albert wouldn't even have a chance to escape.

They would freeze to death in the cockpit.

"Well, maybe Horizon doesn't look that great, but I believe it's an excellent mech."

Jefferson scratched his head and looked to Albert for help, signaling for his wingman to assist.

Albert instantly understood and spoke up to help Jefferson out of the predicament:

"Liquid nitrogen jets can freeze the Kaiju's body, while the Horizon's maneuverability allows us to effectively evade the Kaiju's attacks. In PPDC's analysis, the Horizon's combat capabilities are more diverse than the Yukon's."

After saying that, Albert stepped forward and reached out his large hand toward Laura's little head.

Laura stopped talking and subtly took a few steps back, avoiding the disastrous outcome of her hair being ruffled into a mess. She couldn't very well reveal that she had overseen the construction of the mechs from the ground up and knew all their strengths and weaknesses.

"Come on, you've known me for so long, don't you know this?"

Jefferson crept closer and whispered, "Don't even mention you, I only succeeded the first time we met."

Don't tell me you don't want to.

Albert replied in a low voice, "Sometimes I envy your luck in meeting such a lovely child. If I were decades younger, I would call you Dad."

"Ok?"

Jefferson immediately became alert: "Stay away from my daughter. Three years to life, death penalty. If you dare to do anything wrong, I'll send you to jail sooner or later."

Not far away, Laura, who had overheard the two's whispered conversation, had a few black lines on her face.

These two are not young anymore, yet they still cause so much trouble.

Twirling her shoulder-length, slightly wavy blonde hair with her index finger, Laura turned her head to the side. Since accepting Jefferson as her Jaeger pilot, Laura had gradually gotten to know her uncle's partner.

After spending so much time with him, Laura's impression of Albert was hard to describe. While Albert was reliable when it came to serious matters, he was like a monkey that had just crawled out of the mountains in his daily life.

Sometimes, even Jefferson didn't know what to say about his partner.

But at least, it's not bad.

"Alert! Energy reaction detected in the Pacific wormhole. All personnel are requested to return to their posts immediately..."

When the power of civilizations is concentrated, technological development can accelerate at an alarming rate. Following the Marani invasion, Earth suffered two more Kaiju invasions in 2014. Because they could not be intercepted in advance, the Dawn spacecraft did not intervene, forcing humanity to use nuclear weapons to destroy them.

The tragedies that originally occurred in San Francisco and Maranhão have been repeated in two other cities.

Under the threat of the Kaiju, the Pacific wormhole was quickly discovered, and an energy response indicator was successfully developed and installed near the wormhole to detect the Kaiju's energy levels.

A piercing air raid siren blared overhead, and the entire base began to operate in an orderly fashion. Jefferson and Albert exchanged a glance and ran straight toward the command center.

Jefferson also casually remarked that Laura should go home to her family quarters first.

Laura completely ignored Jefferson's words and calmly clung to the two of them. When Jefferson and Albert arrived at the command room, slightly out of breath, Laura quietly slipped in behind them.

At this moment, Jefferson also noticed Laura following behind him. However, since they had already arrived at the command room, Jefferson couldn't say anything. He could only signal with his eyes, which earned Laura's affirmative answer.

Jefferson: What are you doing here? Never mind, don't move around or talk, okay?

Laura: Got it, got it.

Her gaze swept over the people in the command room, and the one in the lead was the lieutenant general whom Laura had observed through the nanometer unit when she first arrived at the Hong Kong base.

Glancing at the newly arrived group, the lieutenant general also caught a glimpse of Laura behind Jefferson. However, given the suddenness of the situation, the lieutenant general didn't say anything and went straight to the point.

"As shown on the screen, a level 2 Kaiju has broken through the wormhole. PPDC has named it 'Geek' and predicts that its final landing point will be the South China Sea."

"And this is our first battle at our Hong Kong base!"

12. The First Battle of Horizon

Although the Kaiju have invaded many times so far, since the establishment of the Hong Kong PPDC, the 'Kaiju' is actually the first Kaiju to invade its protected area.

This was an unprecedented experience for both the Hong Kong Shattered Dome and the Jaeger pilots.

In the early stages of PPDC's construction, each of the eight global bases required at least one mech for garrison duty. Only a handful of countries worldwide possessed the capability to independently develop and maintain such mechs, making the supply extremely tight.

Originally, there were two Horizon mechs parked at the Hong Kong base, but one of them was transported to the Lima base in Peru to temporarily fill the gap in the number of mechs.

In other words, only Jefferson and Albert were capable of fighting the enemy in the entire base.

"Won't it crash?"

Laura felt a sudden surge of nervousness as the thought crossed her mind. With a thought, the engines of the Dawn, hidden deep beneath the sea, ignited, propelling it towards the Kaiju's landing site with a powerful current.

The Kaiju is a Tier 2 Kaiju, and based on Horizon's overall stats, it should be able to outclass the Kaiju. However, this isn't a simple contest of combat power where higher stats guarantee victory.

Fortunately, the South China Sea where the eccentric was located was within the effective radiation range of the Dawn. Whether it was to ensure Jefferson's safety or to satisfy the two civilizational instructions represented by the eccentric, Laura should make the trip, both for public and private reasons.

On the screen, the assembled Horizon Warrior was lifted away by several transport helicopters, its massive steel body gradually disappearing into the distance and finally vanishing into the horizon.

The atmosphere in the command center, and indeed throughout the entire base, was tense.

Personnel monitoring the Kaiju's movements transmit the Kaiju's forward path in real time to ensure that the helicopter's final destination is accurate.

The supporting fighter squadron has already set off. They will meet with the Kaiju ahead of time to delay the Kaiju's landing time until they reach the battlefield on the horizon.

Even the cleaning staff and cafeteria cooks silently prayed for the pilots of the Horizon Warriors, hoping that Jefferson and Albert could defeat the monsters invading Earth.

While everyone was closely watching the horizon's movements, the lieutenant general, who was standing in the very center of the screen, quietly approached Laura from behind.

Bending down, the lieutenant general placed his large hand on Laura's shoulder, giving her a reassuring look: "Don't worry, they will definitely not lose."

Laura gave a forced smile and nodded.

Almost instinctively, Laura felt that something was going to happen to Uncle Jefferson.

If I had to explain why, it's probably because it's a ship girl's intuition.

South China Sea

The slings of the eight helicopters were released simultaneously, and thousands of tons of mechs fell from the sky, ultimately blocking the way for the strange creature that was about to land.

"All vital signs are normal, Jefferson, prepare for close combat."

Once in battle mode, Albert immediately became serious. This was his first battle with Albert, and it concerned the future of the Jaeger Hunters, so he had to be extremely focused.

Although the Yukon has already demonstrated the effectiveness of the mechs, if they fail here, the entire PPDC will be questioned.

"No problem, the shaft power output is smooth, the liquid nitrogen injection device is ready, we can start."

"Great, let's go!"

With perfect coordination, Jefferson and Albert, dragging their heavy external link devices, charged at the Stranger, then punched him hard in the head.

The sound of metal clashing was blocked outside the cockpit, but feeling the slight vibrations from the armored hands, the two could roughly imagine the pain the attack had caused the monster.

Instead of rejoicing at the success of his attack, Horizon leaned back slightly and simultaneously raised his left arm sharply, blocking the monster's right limb that was about to strike the liquid nitrogen storage tank on the left side of the cockpit.

接触的瞬间，地平线的装甲就被怪客的手爪划出几道痕迹。;欢!迎。';进!;入";【:希，.儿!;的,图,书!'馆,?】!!7;4::6?。0:.9,4:"0,7!:6

"Damn it, this huge tank is blocking my view. My Laura is right. The person who designed such a big tank for Horizon should try it out themselves. This thing is too anti-human."

Although he successfully blocked the strange man's attack, Jefferson's face suddenly darkened. Because the focus had shifted to Albert, Jefferson's vision was somewhat obstructed, and he couldn't see the strange man's next move.

By forcefully deflecting the monster's claws that were pressing down on his left arm, Horizon narrowly blocked the monster's next attack.

A straight punch sent the Kaiju staggering back several steps, allowing Jefferson and Albert to create distance and prepare for the next grappling match.

"You can simply remove your name from the list. Keeping a close eye on a girl like that isn't a good thing."

After checking the damage report on the horizon, Albert, who was gradually getting used to the Kaiju offensive, relaxed and even teased Jefferson.

"It's me who's being watched closely."

Jefferson snorted, then piloted his mech to fight the strange man again: "You have no idea how I'm living these days. I'm so healthy that I almost suspect I'm already old."

"I drink at most one beer a day, strictly control my protein and fat intake, and exercise regularly... It seems like I'm the one with the lowest status in the family."

Hearing Jefferson's complaint, Albert couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Pfft... Be more confident, remove the 'seems' part."