Mobile City Travel Guide

"Now we're almost ready, right?" Li Xin said softly.

Several days have passed by now.

For this high-altitude pioneering endeavor, everyone undertook a series of preparations.

First, an additional auxiliary engine was built and installed on the Starfire, its outer shell was coated with antifreeze lubricant, and the compartments were sealed. Second, to reduce the weight, the vast majority of the city's population, supplies, and non-essential items were temporarily transferred to the town. Finally, the people of Rustwind Town hastily produced some high-altitude supplies.

Of course, the biggest trump card for the new engine is its overload mode. It has recovered completely in the last few days.

There were only about twenty people in total, including the staff to keep the Starfire running, the town mayor, and several townspeople.

Matthew and his sister were also on the mission. Li Xin initially wanted to refuse because the mission was too dangerous, but agreed at the mayor's request.

"Please let these two children see a higher world." He gently stroked the brother and sister's heads. "We old bones can no longer fly, but their wings are just beginning to grow."

After confirming that everything was ready, Li Xin gave the order to depart.

The Spark started up, its engine roared, the sails were half-retracted, and the propeller speed suddenly increased, the airflow stirred up by the blades exploding into clouds of white mist at the tail.

The mobile city slowly raised its head, its hull cleaving through the thick atmosphere, and began to slowly ascend.

Looking out the window, Li Xin saw Rusty Town slowly sinking into view.

People waving goodbye, the town's houses and streets, the docks filled with various vehicles... everything gradually shrinks, eventually becoming tiny, gray dots.

1000 meters, 2000 meters, 3000 meters... As time went by, the altimeter needle began to climb steadily.

The airflow gradually became unstable, with violent turbulence surging past from time to time, shaking the struggling Starfire as it climbed.

The feeling of leaving home has unconsciously become a little nervous.

Humans have an innate, genetically ingrained fear of heights, stemming from both unease about the unknown and the fear of falling.

The people of Rustwind guard several old, humming machines of varying sizes—measuring instruments left behind by federal officials before they left. Besides recording the data from these instruments at different altitudes in real time, they also have to personally experience and record the effects of airflow, temperature, and air pressure on the human body.

More than an hour later, the ascent of the Spark had become extremely difficult. Chaotic convective air currents surged from all directions, like countless invisible hands, causing the city to shake violently.

Li Xin looked at the altimeter; it was only 8523 meters. Everything was just beginning.

"Maximum power!" he ordered.

The helmsman gritted his teeth and pushed the control stick all the way down. The engine roared to life, the parts seemed to fly, and steam hissed out from every gap.

The entire mobile city began to gradually break free from the entanglement of the air currents and accelerated its ascent.

At that very moment, the people of Rustwind Town opened a crack in their windows and began to use themselves as samples to map human reaction data.

A townsman gritted his teeth and stretched out one hand. Goosebumps rose on his skin the moment his skin touched the outside air, and his fingernails turned bluish-purple within seconds. He gripped a pen tightly in his other hand and scrawled his body's reaction in a notebook.

Another townsman poked his head out of the window crack and took a deep breath. Immediately afterward, he felt dizzy, his pupils contracted, his lips turned purple, and his face instantly paled. Even so, he struggled to calm himself and wrote down his feelings.

Li Xin was deeply moved as he watched this scene.

Presumably due to the limited technological capabilities of the Skywalker Civilization, they were unable to construct a scenario simulating high-altitude temperatures and air pressures, thus requiring people to conduct the tests themselves. This wasn't just happening to the residents of Rustwind Town; countless others throughout the Federation were doing the same.

The process of rising up was long, boring, and even somewhat agonizing.

During that time, Li Xin looked out the window and saw some unique views from the sky.

A massive, lightning-streaked cumulonimbus cloud.

Various aerial creatures with unique structures that move freely in the high sky.

Many giant plants with intertwined roots.

Like floating islands and mountains of all sizes, adrift in the air without any support, carried by the air currents.

When the altitude reached 15232 meters, a new situation arose.

The atmosphere had become unexpectedly viscous, and the Spark was almost stuck. Every inch it moved required all its strength. The propellers hissed as they spun, but the churning air currents could not move the city.

"This is the viscous layer in the upper atmosphere, as the textbook says," Amy said, her voice slightly strained. "The teacher said that here the atmosphere is like glue, and when you breathe, it's like swallowing paste."

Li Xin nodded, indicating his understanding.

At that moment, he felt his temples throbbing, his ears felt stuffy as if they were filled with cotton, and his chest felt like it was being squeezed by something. Even when he breathed, he always felt like he couldn't get enough air.

Barotrauma.

This is a symptom that arises as altitude increases. Although the Starfire sealed its compartments when it set off, it could never reach the level of a spaceship, so air would always leak in little by little.

He only felt much better after taking a few emergency pills.

In fact, everyone had already taken their medication by then. The mayor and the townspeople, however, only took their pills after recording their symptoms.

Amy looked at him and couldn't help but speak again.

"Among us Sky Travelers, it has another unique name: the Kiss of the Sky."

Li Xin was slightly taken aback, then smiled.

That's quite a beautiful and romantic name. Skywalkers, in their quest for survival, repeatedly and fearlessly challenge the heavens, but the kisses that reward these warriors are deadly.

"Lord, shall we activate the auxiliary power engine or overload mode?" the helmsman asked.

Li Xin shook his head.

"No, we're not even halfway there yet, we can't use our trump cards so soon," he said. "Let's fire."

The next second, all the Tiger Crouching Cannons roared simultaneously.

An air shockwave exploded from the stern, like an invisible giant hand giving it a shove, and the struggling Starfire suddenly shot upwards a great distance.

This was a plan devised when Li Xin set out. He had all the Tiger Crouching Cannons adjusted and their muzzles aligned with the rear to provide additional thrust.

Once, twice, three times... Under the multiple salvos from the Tiger Crouching Cannon, the Spark gradually climbed upwards.

After an unknown amount of time, it finally managed to break free of the high-altitude stagnant layer.

"good!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Li Xin nodded as well.

He looked out the window of the driver's cab at the sea of ​​clouds, which had been getting closer and closer without him noticing.