Chapter 1071: The Glider (II)
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
After everyone got on the plane, Tilly walked toward Roland and asked, "What's wrong? Are you still worried?"
"You could tell?" replied Roland.
"A day hasn't even passed, yet everything you've said sounds like a farewell. Of course, I could tell." She shrugged and said, "Are you doubting my technology, or are you doubting Anna's ability?"
Regarding this difficult question, Roland could only smile bitterly.
The structure of The Seagull was extremely simple. Except for a few operating levers and corresponding movable control surfaces, it was basically a human vessel. It was essentially less complicated than the test model. With Anna's processing skills, it would be difficult to make mistakes.
After it was built, it had gone through several test flights and had even gone through an emergency landing simulation. The results were quite satisfactory—Other than Tilly's extremely powerful controlling ability, Wendy had also made great progress after explorations. She could now generate airflow in the right position to keep the aircraft stable at all times.
In order to ensure the safety of this voyage and that everything would be absolutely foolproof, Shavi and Molly were included among the passengers.
But even so, he still felt nervous.
It was worrying enough that half of the witches of Neverwinter were concentrated on a brand new aircraft, but on top of that they were going to travel alone to the Wild located 500 kilometers away. If it was not due to the fact that he had many tasks to do in Neverwinter, he would have wanted to come onboard The Seagull as well.
After he gently let his breath out, he looked at Tilly. "I don't think it's got anything to do with doubting your abilities. I just care too much about it. I hope that you'll all be able to live in a new era after the Battle of Divine Will ends."
After the two of them stared at each other for a moment, Tilly turned her head away. "You know, I was just making a joke... If I were in your shoes, I would be uneasy too."
Before Roland could react, she already went on top of the ramp.
"In that case, I'm off, Brother."
...
After the cabin door closed, a guard came and said, "Your Majesty, everything's been prepared outside."
Roland took a deep breath and replied, "Let's start."
"Yes!"
After the order was given, a series of programs started to run in an orderly manner.
"The stopper's open!"
"The road's empty!"
"All personnel leave the runway!"
"Open the hangar door!"
When the hangar's door slowly slid to both sides, the dazzling sunlight shone into the room and a path of light was reflected on the ground.
The guides raised their green flags higher.
"The Seagull can take off!"
At the same time, the steam whistle sounded throughout the airport—
Roland felt the wind start to pick up.
It was a wonderful feeling—He was standing in a place that was supposed to be absolutely windless, but he still felt the slight airflow over his cheeks.
It was, in fact, unfair to think of The Seagull as just a glider, when compared with its fellow machines as the latter was trying to obtain something that it had possessed from the very beginning.
The airflow violated the common sense of airflow movement, and it accurately appeared on the side of the airfoil—the breeze pushed the upward aileron like an invisible hand. This power may have seemed insignificant, but Roland knew it was the result of Wendy's deliberate control. The gentle wind released was within the range of the left and right wings, but it was a strong wind that could hinder people's mobility.
In other words, the direction and speed of the wind in the areas affected by Wendy's ability were completely under her control.
This also meant that The Seagull did not need to rely on its wings to maintain flight. It could also carry out actions that would be impossible for other gliders, such as the near-vertical short-ranged take-off and landing—The speed was only needed to achieve a greater lifting power. If it could get lifted directly, speed would no longer be an indispensable thing.
Of course, flying away in such a frivolous manner might be an eye-catching feat that could subvert the opinions of the experts. However, in the eyes of the laymen, it was lacking propriety.
What could be more shocking than seeing a few tons of machinery, yelling at the top of its head, and then slowly climbing until it vanished into the clouds?
When he remembered Tilly's excited expression as she spoke of this idea, Roland could not resist shaking his head in amusement.
It seemed she has now treated The Seagull as her big toy, and could not wait to show it off to the others.
...
"Woo—Woo—"
While the steam whistle sounded, Good also noticed a strange vision at the end of the Blackstone road—The soldiers quickly dispersed and the iron gate of the shed opened. A strange gray "giant bird" slipped out slowly. After doing a half-turn, it went onto the road where they were.
"Hey, did you see that? What's that?" It was evident that he was not the only one who had discovered the giant.
"A train? It doesn't look like it... There are no railway tracks on the ground."
"Could it be a new invention by His Majesty?"
"Was this the invention mentioned by Lord Eagle Face?"
"It seems to be coming towards us."
"Hang on a second, I seem to have seen this before!" Good pondered for a moment, and a light flashed across his mind. "Didn't Her Highness Tilly's collection of books have such a cover on one of them? It seemed like a bird with a pair of long identical wings... It does look like a bird, yet also not like one."
On second thought, he felt that the two were not completely alike. The shape and the number of the wings were different. Also, on that cover, he could at least see the rider, and he could perceive the reason why the machine seemed to be floating in the air—A machine that was not much bigger than a human and could support large wings, would be interpreted as an enlarged kite. Although the King and the Princess would certainly not have seen something that simple, theoretically it would still have made sense to them.
This object in front of them seemed to be an unclassified object.
When compared with the surrounding soldiers, its head was clearly far above them. Other than the wings, its body was completely round and the whole body was wrapped tightly. The slender belly seemed as if it could hold a lot of things. According to its body type, it would be very difficult for it to fly. Even climbing on the ground seemed to be very difficult—
The very next instant, however, Good found out how ridiculous his ideas were.
The machine began to speed up.
And it soon exceeded the speed of horses running and showed no signs of stopping at all.
In the beginning, the platoon members were still heavily discussing and speculating. Now they suddenly quietened down.
Everyone heard the loud roaring from near and far.
"Oh my God..." Finkin gulped. "It's going to hit us."
This was also how most of the trainees felt at that moment.
Rationally speaking, as long as you stood still, you would not be hit. Though there was no reason to be afraid, everyone's bodies seemed to be shaking uncontrollably.
Not everyone could face a giant that could turn them into mincemeat with a step, and still be emotionless.
Yet this was exactly that type of giant beast—
They were not even as tall as its wheels!
As it got closer and closer, the whistling wind was almost hissing, and a slight tremor could be felt from the ground. According to legend, when the caveliers were charging, just the horses' hooves alone could scare the enemy. As compared to a monster tall like a mountain, Good discovered that the cavaliers were not that scary.
He suddenly remembered Eagle Face's cold unfathomable laugh.
"Had the examiner... already experienced this?"
A gust of strong wind passed him before he could even think about it anymore!
In this short period of time, it seemed to have run hundreds of meters and went past the two rows of people on its sides.
Under the pressure of the airflow, Good was unable to control his feet, and his knees fell softly to the ground—Perhaps he had subconsciously decided to dodge before the gusts of wind arrived.
Although he could not get up, he still turned to look backwards.
What he saw next left him stunned!
He saw the beast raise its head, with both its feet off the ground, before slamming into the air and flying toward the blue sky. The sun was reflected on its wings and formed circles of colorful spots.
"Is this... an Aerial Knight?"
Good could not resist clenching his fists.
He really wanted to control such a monster—even if he had to sacrifice everything!