Chapter 55 Songjiang

"So, my young friend Shang Luo, do you have any opinions on the Lanfang Grand Plan? We know you possess some metaphysical renown. Lanfang has already touched upon the frontiers of human civilization, and to be honest, we sometimes find ourselves falling short, frequently feeling that these are boundaries beyond human reach—which is why we need your help. Now is the time for all immortals to cross the sea and display their divine powers. If we cannot break through using conventional scientific means, we must resort to some metaphysics."

"What do you mean..." Shang Luo did not quite understand yet.

"Have you ever heard of this curse—misfortunes never come singly. Becoming a Qi cultivator relies on destiny, but destiny will not favor the same family twice. In fact, the aptitude for cultivation is not passed down through bloodlines. The descendants of Qi cultivators are mostly unable to practice immortality. Even if they can cultivate, they will mostly encounter various problems, such as bad luck, or flawed spiritual roots... Therefore, the master-apprentice relationship is very crucial. Besides this, there are many other bizarre and inexplicable problems. For example, our experiments often go wrong in some unfathomable ways. I always feel that the Way of Heaven does not protect us; the Way of Heaven decreases what is excessive to supplement what is deficient. Perhaps the Way of Heaven always strives for compromise."

"Then how can I help you?"

"We want you to go ask that cannon, to have a 'friendly' chat with it, and see under what circumstances it would be willing to send us up to the heavens. Of course, you can refuse; it's fine, no trouble at all."

"Let me think, I seem to be quite busy lately." Shang Luo recalled his recent schedule.

According to the arrangement, upon his return, he would immediately have an audience with the "Dao Ancestor." Unless the Dao Ancestor made some special arrangements, he should head to the Wutai Mountain Training Academy to complete the final three months of his studies. This was his privilege as a registered artisan; he could go back whenever he wished.

After completing that, September would bring this year's Yingtian Child Examination. In the Great Ming, passing the county examination to become a scholar was extremely important, truly vital.

Following that would be university matters. He wasn't worried about where to study, but from now until September, he probably wouldn't have any free time to make a "house call" to Nanyang.

He truthfully explained his situation to Captain Lin.

"After September, I should have some free time. Will that be in time?"

"Of course it's in time; a heavenly ladder cannot be built overnight. So it depends on your schedule; you can come whenever you are free."

"However, I do want to ask you—actually, I've wanted to ask for a long time. If I remember correctly, electric welding was invented less than three years ago, and the fact that you've produced a running rocket aircraft already makes me think you're incredible. Now there's even a world wonder like the Moon Cannon. How on earth did you make rocket aircraft? And the Moon Cannon. Is this considered a state secret?"

Captain Lin and Old Chen exchanged glances, and the latter nodded.

"This is not a secret; it does no harm to tell you, and you might soon find out for yourself. Civilian use and precision manufacturing are two different fields to us. The so-called 'civilian use' means that Qi cultivators do not intervene at all. The ultimate goal of all our technological development is 'civilian application.' For example, if a jelly drops and breaks, Old Chen immediately makes a note of it. Because in the near future, supersonic airliner technology will definitely be commercialized, and we must make all preparations to serve the public before that happens. Meal service is very important to us. The hallmark of Lanfang Airlines is ensuring that you are well-fed, and we will never let anyone disembark from the plane hungry."

"But the field of precision manufacturing is a completely different story. As I said just now, all immortals cross the sea and display their divine powers. Breaking through at the frontier of civilization is difficult, extremely difficult. Even with massive investments, the results are sometimes minimal. At times like this, we must try every possibility, including spells, cutting-edge technology, suicide squads, and metaphysics. Only when we achieve a breakthrough here first can we allow civilian technology to benefit the public more rapidly."

"Then this aircraft, how did you weld it?"

"The answer is Thunder Casting Art; fitter Qi cultivators can do it. Through exquisite control of electric current, we can fuse two pieces of glowing red metal together, and we can also precisely, exquisitely, meticulously, and accurately shape the metal. The security classification of this rocket aircraft is very high, so every single part was hand-crafted by Grade 8 Qi cultivator fitters. Even without using thunder magic, they can rely on manual labor to keep the margin of error of the parts within 1 silk."

***

"So that's how it is..."

Shang Luo now understood why there were so many outrageous things; it turned out there were many outrageous people doing outrageous things.

"How about it? Do you have any other questions?"

"That's all for now."

"Well, very good. You are welcome to come to me for consultation anytime. Old Chen, let's switch; you take the helm. I'm a bit hungry, going to eat a box of claypot rice first."

...

Yujing Time 16:30

Although slightly later than the scheduled time, Ninghe No. 2 still arrived at Songjiang Pudong Airport before dark.

"Cut the engine, wrap it up." Captain Lin took off his gloves and turned around to help Shang Luo remove his G-suit helmet.

"How is it? How do you feel?"

"I have the illusion of traveling through time. Looking at the clock, we arrived 3 hours before our departure. If tickets were sold, it seems it would be very profitable. An inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time, and buying three hours in one go is an absolute windfall."

"Yes, yes, absolute windfall for you, while the Koxinga is about to lose a fortune."

He tugged at the sleeve cuffs, helping Shang Luo completely peel off the G-suit.

"Well, see you around."

"Hey, wait a minute." Captain Lin opened his folder and pulled out a small card:

"This is my business card. Whenever you have time, call the number on it, and we'll be waiting for you in Borneo. Also, if you need an airplane for regular use, you can also call that number; we are on call 24/7."

"I can call for it too? Is it really free of charge?"

"It's naturally free of charge, on call 24/7. But just you alone won't quite work; you need to gather at least 10 embroidered uniform guards to summon a flight. If it's just you, then take a scheduled flight; the schedule is on the back of the business card."

***

Shang Luo flipped to the back—the flight schedule was densely written in small characters, detailing the operation table of Ninghe Nos. 1 through 4. Among them, Ninghe No. 2 specifically operated flights with Pudong Airport as its main hub, regularly commuting between Pudong and Pontianak, San Francisco, and Constantinople.

"Hey, can it only be in Pudong? Why don't you go to Lukou Airport?"

"Kid, don't forget this machine is a rocket aircraft; it has to drop its boosters the moment it takes off. Pudong Airport is by the sea, so the rockets can be dropped directly into the ocean. If you take off from Lukou, do you plan to throw the boosters into Yangzhou or Suzhou?"

"That makes so much sense..."

"So if you want to use it, come to Songjiang. But even for a scheduled flight, you'd better make a phone call to check before using it. We occasionally have high-speed test flights, so we might not always be around."

"Can I take it from somewhere else? For example, I want to take Ninghe No. 1, from Pontianak to San Francisco, or Pontianak to Constantinople."

"All acceptable. As long as you know this phone number, you can take Ninghe Nos. 1 through 4, all free of charge. However, there are only these four airports in the world that can fly, because only these four airports have reserve booster rockets. It simply cannot take off anywhere else."

"How much does this cost..."

"Don't try to save money for the Koxinga. Lanfang lacks everything except money and bananas... Oh, Commander Lu is outside, and he seems to be in a great hurry."

While they were talking, Lu Huaiyang pushed open the cockpit door: "Shang Luo! Can we leave now? If not, should I carry you on my back?"

"I'm fine, this G-suit works pretty well. What happened outside?"

"Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck! I had the people in the guardhouse book the tickets for the Beijing-Shanghai line, and they booked one right on the dot! The train leaves in 45 minutes! If we miss that train, we have to pay out of our own pockets; the guardhouse only reimburses travel expenses for the first trip. Old Lin, tell the airport not to send a shuttle bus; that would require going through customs. We'll flash our badges and run out the side door straight to the subway station."

"Then what about your luggage? It's still being unloaded. And that three-headed, six-armed giant stone statue, how do you plan to move it away?"

"No time to wait, please pack everything and courier it to 24 Zhongling Street, Embroidered Uniform Guard Yamen. Send it cash-on-delivery for the freight, the concierge will pay. Shang Luo, let's go. Running to the subway station within 4 minutes is still in time."