"Who am I? Why am I here? Why am I watching an anime? And this anime is quite good, when can I watch the second episode!" Huang Mao asked himself these three classic questions, but no one was there to answer them for him.
Fortunately, the anime had ended, and the emotions of all the audience members had reached their peak. Huang Mao also sighed that it was finally over and he could leave.
What, you ask why Huang Mao didn't leave while watching the anime?
Come on, he came all the way here, he couldn't leave without getting anything, right?
Moreover, when he entered, the staff here said that everyone present would receive a model as a gift. Based on the pricing, this model was worth at least 200 yuan.
And he had already become familiar with a fellow model enthusiast next to him. From his mouth, he learned that judging by the introduction, this model was indeed top-notch, and 200 yuan was a price that was well worth it.
Furthermore, given the usual situation in the model community, new models released by domestic manufacturers like this usually don't have a large production volume. Coupled with such high cost-effectiveness, the first batch released would definitely be in short supply.
The original price of 199 yuan, if sold on second-hand platforms like Xianyu at this moment, would fetch at least 300 yuan.
And the release date was set for January 10th next year, which was still more than twenty days away. This meant that the gift received on-site was the only model that could be obtained in advance, possessing extremely high scarcity. It might even sell for around 400 yuan on Xianyu.
Hearing this, Huang Mao naturally couldn't bear to leave. If it could really sell for 400 yuan, it would be equivalent to the standard travel expenses, so it wouldn't be a loss.
However, a strange impulse still arose in Huang Mao's heart, which was to assemble this model. After all, the robot in the anime was too cool.
Next, the president of Da Ban began to showcase the details of the actual model. First was the detailed display of the exterior, which was even richer in detail than what was shown in the anime. Various power pipes were also color-separated. This made the model enthusiasts cheer again.
The articulation was also very well done. Although the joints couldn't be as flexible as human joints, they basically reached the same level as Bandai's.
The most shocking moment was when the president of Da Ban lightly pressed a piece of armor on the back of the robot's hand, and amidst the gasps of countless players, the entire chest armor unfolded like a flower, revealing the internal structure.
At this point, the audience realized that there was another layer of light blue transparent inner armor inside the outer armor, and within this inner armor was the home scene that had appeared in the anime earlier.
It was a 12-story steel building formed by the robot's spine, and various living facilities attached to the entire steel building. Although these facilities were very rudimentary due to the size, they were basically just reliefs on plastic parts. These reliefs were all pre-painted, so they ultimately presented a colorful living scene, which was simply breathtaking.
"Friends from the media, I misspoke just now," said the model enthusiast to Huang Mao upon seeing this scene.
"Where did I misspeak?" Huang Mao asked curiously.
"I said earlier that this pre-production version could sell for at least 400 yuan on Xianyu. I was wrong, it can sell for at least 500 yuan!" the model enthusiast muttered, "My God, such fine internal structure pre-painting, plus spring-loaded linkage opening mechanisms, these are designs and configurations that Bandai hasn't had for decades, and now they've achieved them. My God, is this still Da Ban?"
"This isn't bad money driving out good money, this is bad money about to surpass good money!"
This shocked model enthusiast didn't know that this shock wasn't the biggest shock of the day, because the president of Da Ban then said, "Dear model enthusiasts, from the moment of our establishment, our goal has been to defeat Bandai and become the most outstanding model manufacturer in the world."
"Therefore, we have chosen a path from imitation to surpassing. And today, this is the beginning of surpassing. We have already created products that far surpass Bandai! And created a mecha IP that surpasses Gundam!" The president of Da Ban spoke enthusiastically and passionately on stage, but clearly, many model enthusiasts in the audience felt serious dissatisfaction.
After all, Bandai, as a giant in the industry, still had a large number of loyal fans. So, someone immediately jumped out and sarcastically said, "Never seen such a shameless company. A copycat dog all day, always a copycat dog. With a little money, you want to surpass Bandai. Don't even take a piss to see yourselves. What's the use of all these flashy things you Da Ban guys are doing? It's just a broken anime. I'm telling you, you'll never surpass Bandai, let alone Gundam!"
This sarcastic person was sitting in the front row, so the president of Da Ban probably heard the remark.
However, he didn't choose to have security escort the person out, nor did he pretend not to hear. Instead, he directly took the microphone and said, "Come, give this friend a microphone, let's have a chat!"
The on-site staff actually handed a microphone to the sarcastic model enthusiast. The enthusiast was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting the other party to want to confront him, and didn't know whether to accept the microphone.
However, seeing the gazes and attention of so many people around, the enthusiast bit the bullet and took the microphone, but he had no idea what to say.
"Friend, I heard everything you just said. You said that Da Ban can never surpass Bandai and Gundam in our lifetime, right?" the president asked.
"That's right, that's exactly it!" The fan's courage gradually emerged, and he said very firmly.
"But, I think there's nothing absolute in this world. There should always be a possibility for us to surpass Bandai and Gundam. So, I'd like to trouble you to help us think about what Da Ban needs to do to have a chance to surpass Bandai and Gundam?" the president of Da Ban asked very seriously.
This question stumped the fan again. He was just a model enthusiast, and had never thought about how to surpass Bandai and Gundam. Although he wanted to say that there was no way, that Gundam and Bandai were invincible, he couldn't even deceive himself with such words, let alone deceive others. It was possible that he would become a popular internet meme. So he had to find a way to answer this question.
So, without thinking, the fan said, "Unless you guys can actually build this thing!"
"Oh!" A playful smile suddenly appeared on the president's face. "What do you mean, if we can really build the Pangu Homeland, would you be willing to become a loyal fan of Da Ban and acknowledge that we can defeat Bandai and Gundam!"
"Ah... probably... maybe..." the fan said somewhat blankly. He didn't notice the deliberately confused logic in the other party's words.
But it didn't matter. Next, the president returned to the stage and took out his personal terminal, opening a WeChat voice call.
You ask how the audience knew the president had opened a WeChat voice call? Naturally, it was because the WeChat voice call notification sound was transmitted to the entire venue through the microphone on his chest.
After the voice call was connected, the president said to the voice very seriously, "Everyone, I announce, release Pangu's Level 1 restraint armor!"
"What the heck?" Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they heard a rumbling sound. To everyone's immense surprise, the front of the huge square metal cover, hundreds of meters tall, located directly behind the stage, began to slowly move upward.
It turned out that the front of this metal cover was designed as a rolling shutter door. The entire door was slowly rolled up into the huge door compartment above.
This was enough to make everyone's eyeballs pop out, but the next scene was even more shocking, because as the rolling shutter door opened, everyone could clearly see a pair of giant metal feet slowly appearing.
"This is Pangu's foot!" Some people with sharp eyes immediately began to compare the giant metal feet they saw with the manufacturer's model, and found that the two were almost identical.
"Da Ban actually built a 1:1 Homeland mecha?" This incredible guess popped into everyone's minds, and then they watched this guess become a reality.
The huge, thick legs, a pair of arms with iron rings, and finally the incomparably massive chest that hid an entire homeland within it. When the last water-drop-shaped head appeared, the audience could no longer make any sound, and could only look up, gazing at the steel creation that should not have appeared in this world.
"Gundam, my God, is this the oppressive feeling of Gundam?" a model enthusiast exclaimed.
"Come on, this isn't Gundam, this is our homeland, our Chinese Pangu Homeland!" A model enthusiast next to him immediately corrected his friend's statement.
"Yes, yes, it's our homeland!" The friend quickly corrected himself. After all, most model enthusiasts couldn't be truly loyal fans of a Japanese brand and IP. They still hoped to see a mecha brand and IP from their own country rise up.
Of course, there were still some stubborn ones, like the one still holding the microphone, who, after the shock, said somewhat sourly, "Isn't it just a life-sized statue? There's also a life-sized statue of the original Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo, isn't there?"
"Come on, the original Gundam in Tokyo is only 18 meters tall, but our Pangu Homeland is at least 50 meters tall! It's three times bigger than the Japanese people's!" a model enthusiast next to him couldn't help but say proudly, then looked at their own statue with a face full of pride.