The airship was already in sight.
Big Beard Joe nimbly stepped onto the airship and lowered it. The steps were about 30 centimeters off the ground. Ignoring the swaying, he turned around and bent down, extending his hand to us: "This is a bit unstable. Do you want me to help you up?"
Although I was confident that I could easily climb such a high step with my skill level, I didn't need to refuse his kindness. So I thanked Joe and, in turn, reached out and used his help to climb up easily.
A cheerful whistle rang out from the side, and Hikari also sincerely thanked Joe for his help. However, it seemed that she forgot to exert force when kicking, and Hikari rose a little less. But fortunately, she was light enough, and Joe reacted in time when I reached out to grab Hikari's hand, adding more force, and successfully pulled her up as well.
"You might need to eat more meat and exercise more."
I offered my suggestion to the slightly startled Hikari, which earned me a somewhat annoyed glance from the girl and a cryptic laugh from Joe.
Although I don't know why, the overall atmosphere wasn't dull.
Walking through corridors filled with various pipes and warehouses overhead, and rounding several corners, Hikari, looking around at the scenery, exclaimed again, "It feels like walking inside the stomach of a giant beast."
This made me freeze in my tracks. I cautiously glanced at Hikari out of the corner of my eye to make sure she didn't have any other intentions before I felt a little relieved and resumed my expressionless walking.
In this sense, this enormous creation was almost the same size as the dragon beasts they had seen at the time. Yet, even walking around inside it, they did not feel much fear. On the contrary, having witnessed with their own eyes the creation brimming with the fruits of human ingenuity, they could not help but marvel at the technological development that was enough to dominate an era, and a strange sense of emotion arose in their hearts.
The interior of the cabin, visible from the outside, is illuminated by magic stone lamps. The space inside is not cramped, with clearly marked storage and rest areas.
According to Joe, the power core that provides the basic power for the airship consists of five sets of finely crafted magic stones of equal volume, each connected in parallel. These stones are distributed in the front and rear cabins of the airship and have corresponding magic circuits and switch connections for control. This ensures that even if one of the power sources fails, the airship can safely return to its starting point using the backup energy source.
"This is truly a great invention."
Joe chuckled from the front: "Thanks to this, the airships produced by the workshop rarely have any abnormal malfunctions that cannot be resolved. The safety rate is over 99% - the only time there was an accident was when the helmsman on patrol overslept and almost crashed into Yong'an Island, which was flying towards us, because he didn't have time to switch the energy source."
"Of course, thankfully the turn was timely, and it only grazed the edge of the winglet, causing a slight jolt. Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem; it was just a matter of deducting a year's worth of salary and bonuses from that careless bastard."
“That sounds really dangerous,” I said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Following the signs to the deck, the busy preparations were about to end. The employees who had finished loading and unloading the equipment left the airship one by one, leaving only a few people who were assisting the airship's operation and those who needed to maintain and use the equipment behind.
Soon, another airship not far away took off first. And a few minutes later, somehow, Joe claimed that he had received instructions from the ground, and went to the cockpit first. He quickly pushed and pulled a bunch of switches that I couldn't understand at all, activating the core.
A faint humming sound came from beneath my feet.
The senses spread across almost the entire airship, quickly detecting the magical fluctuations emanating from the forward cabin. They then flowed through the entire airship's interior as if circulating within the human body.
The enormous object beneath my feet swayed slightly, and a gust of wind began to swirl around it, gathering below and steadily lifting it upwards.
"Kirov Transport and Weather Observation Vessel No. 3 is ready for departure and awaits your instructions!"
A powerful roar rang out, and Joe, his face serious, placed his hands on the black sphere and long lever in the center of the cockpit, his expression as if listening to the whispers carried by the distant breeze.
Soon, accompanied by another enthusiastic shout, he pushed the lever in his hand and touched the black sphere.
It was clear that the tow rope and anchor were being systematically wound up by the winch on the deck. After a series of turbulences caused by airflow, the airship slowly rose in altitude, propelled by a magically generated vortex, and headed towards the clear blue sky.
Just like birds that have broken free from gravity, humans, through their wisdom and technology, have soared into the sky.
Not daring to venture close to the edge of the airship, I peered through the gap into the distance, clearly seeing the tunnel and the crowd below shrinking beneath my feet. The beach, shimmering with a beautiful golden hue in the sunlight, was washed by the tides that transitioned from light blue to turquoise and then to deep blue, leaving long, thin white lines along its edges.
Soon, even the thin white line disappeared from sight.
All that could be seen was another airship nearby, a white halo gradually rising at the horizon where the sea met the sky in the distance, a tall, curved, dark gray mountain ridge, a continuous sea of trees composed of varying shades of blue, and that one particularly striking gray-black area within it.
It's like a horrible sore growing on clean skin, making you want to frown.
Soon, the other airship also disappeared, slowly heading into the distance, leaving this one standing still.
The crew members, unfazed by the sights, didn't linger. They went about their tasks in an orderly fashion, their instruments seemingly recording something.
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