Chapter 7
Suddenly, countless rays of lights shone down from above us, and an elegant man in a tuxedo and white bow tie materialized before our eyes. With hair tied back in a ponytail and a sharp jawline, he looked like he had just stepped out from an anime. Bowing like a reputable butler, he greeted us, "Welcome on board."
Ice Dragon's sudden appearance shocked both Harry and I. Or rather, it was Ice Dragon's transformation from a mere voice to a human hologram that astonished me.
I had only seen this kind of hologram in a sci-fi movie once before, and even then it had just been a low-quality special effect! And now that technology was right before my eyes! Out of curiosity, I extended my hand to touch and my right hand went right into Ice Dragon's body, the rest of his hologram body forming around my hand undisturbed.
"Master, please don't touch my liver. It hurts." Ice Dragon flashed a courteous smile at me. It was hard to imagine that a refined gentleman like him had cursed earlier.
"Raffles did well. He even sent you a handsome man." Harry seemed to have seen such technology before. Chuckling, he glanced at Ice Dragon. "If this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p belonged to me, it would definitely come with a beauty!" He beamed with joy as he outlined womanly curves with his hands. "Tsk tsk tsk. Such a waste."
"Beauty is distracting," Ice Dragon said smilingly, "It'd increase the danger of driving."
"Huh?!" Harry gawked.
I looked sideways at Harry. That's so true. Which guy can drive attentively with a beauty next to him? Pfft. In a guy's head, there are only supercars and big-breasted beauties; that's all they need for a perfect life. No matter which world I'm in, the guys all hanker after the same things.'
"Heh." Harry shook his head. Feeling my gaze, he looked at me. "You believe him?"
I couldn't care less about it. Harry rolled his eyes and pointed accusingly at Ice Dragon. "Don't badmouth me in front of my wife!"
"Such a coincidence." Ice Dragon eyed him gracefully. "Raffles told me that you like to hara.s.s my master, so he tasked me to watch you."
"Raffles, that b*stard!" Harry held his forehead, not knowing if he should cry or laugh. He pointed at Ice Dragon, but was left speechless to retort. "Humph, I'll see what you can do." Walking through Ice Dragon's body, he took the pilot seat. The t.i.tanium cover was transparent! The view stretched out before us, extremely clear.
"I won't disappoint you." Ice Dragon retracted the blue lights and disappeared.
The front of the c.o.c.kpit was empty; there was no control module or b.u.t.ton. Hence the seats were tucked close to the front cover, and the field of view was very broad
Harry was still looking for the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p's controls, muttering, "What did Raffles build? This wouldn't be controlled via our nerve system, right?" All of a sudden, a blue light shone down from above his seat, forming a sphere of light around him. He looked up in surprise, but quickly calmed down and grinned. I saw what looked like various data and meters appear on the light screen before him. That's so cool! This is far beyond Noah City's level. No, I mean, looking at Noah City's shabby looks, you wouldn't have guessed that it actually has such high-tech instruments.
It really comes down to resources. With resources, high technology becomes possible. Just one small blue crystal energy can let Raffles build this advanced s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. If there is sufficient blue crystal energy, I believe Raffles can do even more!
I quickly took the other seat. Up till now, I'd only gone on mock flights so I was incredibly excited to test-drive for real. When I sat down, I was surrounded by a light sphere too. The back of the seat molded tightly to my body, securing me to my seat with what seemed to be a different gravity in place of seatbelts. At the same time, two holographic discs and a bunch of data materialized before me.
I studied the CDs curiously, then placed my left and right hand on each of the light discs. The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p swayed a bit. So that's how I start the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.
"Ice Dragon, activate!" I commanded.
"Alright. Today is going to be our virgin flight!" Ice Dragon seemed equally excited. Instantly, the engine buzz grew louder and green rings of light twinkled from beyond the c.o.c.kpit. Then, we heard the familiar female voice of Noah City. "Prepare to open the tunnel. Prepare for launching. Countdown begins. Ten, nine, eight, seven…"
"Oh, I like this woman's voice," Ice Dragon complimented with admiration.
"Her name is Noah," Harry smiled and said.
"I wonder if I could ask her out for coffee." Ice Dragon seemed to be enjoying himself.
Sigh! A male AI is still a man after all! His interest in women is the same as any man. I believe he would have a lot of mutual topics with Harry.
"Three, two, one!" Just as the countdown ended, I suddenly felt an increase in alt.i.tude. However, I didn't feel the ascension from the shaking of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. In fact, Ice Dragon was so steady it felt as though we were still on the ground. Instead, the feeling of ascension came from the visuals of the scenery outside!
The green rings of light sped downward at a high speed, moving faster and faster. Suddenly, the glaring sunlight shone into the c.o.c.kpit and I subconsciously s.h.i.+elded my eyes.
"We've already moved upward by ten thousand meters," Ice Dragon reported.
What?! What speed are we traveling at?!
"Twenty thousand meters."
"Thirty thousand meters."
"That's enough, Ice Dragon!" Harry said hastily. He seemed to be caught off guard by Ice Dragon's travel speed too. "Change to manual drive and let Luo Bing have some fun!"
"Yes, Harry. Master, enjoy."
What? So fast?! I've just adapted to the sunlight and have yet to see the scenery! But the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p started free-falling!
The white clouds flew past before me. As the seats were very near to the winds.h.i.+eld, everything happened right before my eyes. It was as though I was the one free-falling and there were only Harry, Ice Dragon and me in the world.
"Master, if you do not pull us up, we're all going to heaven."
"What? I, what do I do? Ah!" I was thrown into panic and confusion. I did a pull gesture over the holographic discs. "There aren't any controls I recognize, I'm not used to it." Then, the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p immediately ascended at high speed again!
*Retch!* Harry retched by the side.
"You can't blame me. Raffles has yet to build an operating lever. You just have to get used to this," Ice Dragon said calmly. "You are traveling too fast. We will go into outer s.p.a.ce at this rate."
"No way!" I released my hands and the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p started falling again. I'm going to throw up.
My hand glided to the right and the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p immediately spun to the right. D*mn.