A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 602 The "Disaster" Before Launch

"Kepler" is named in honor of the Empire's legendary astrologer, who was born in Württemberg and died in Regenburg, Bain. The current Starship VII was born and launched from Bain.

The Tower of Stars had reservations about this, believing that Valuwa should have led the launch, but their own celestial ladder system was not yet complete. Number seven is a special number, holding unique significance in occultism, and it was the first officially named spacecraft to carry out a crucial mission.

A mage from the south clicked his tongue as he watched the starship about to launch: "Damn it, if we built and launched it from our territory, how about calling it 'Ptolemy'? The Tower of Light and the Tower of Darkness would definitely vote in favor. Bain has too much influence."

Snow, representing the Alchemy Department, glanced at the incessantly chattering man and said, "It's just a code name. If you're willing to pay and put in the effort, you can use your own name." With that, he picked up his luggage and left, showing his identification to the staff before boarding the starship.

Upon entering, they passed through a long and very narrow corridor. The surrounding walls were not a single piece, but rather composed of various modules that fit together, and there were many inactive loops. These modules were prepared for launch and would only be manually activated once they reached an altitude where the Astral Plane could eliminate interference from transmutation dust, in order to unfold a larger space.

"What are these made of?" Snow noticed that the surface of the modules was very smooth, made of a material he had never seen before. He couldn't help but run his hand over them as he walked, and he felt a warm, smooth texture.

The accompanying engineer immediately explained, "High-strength resin, a new alchemical material developed by Basif. It's said to have excellent plasticity, and after hardening, it has almost no conductivity for magic."

"Can you prevent the circuits from interfering with each other?" Snow immediately grasped the key point: "Then how do you ensure the circuits are usable? I see the embedded coating." He silently noted it down, planning to purchase a batch from Rorschach after returning to the ground to see what other applications it could have.

The passageway was indeed long and narrow. They walked all the way to the bow before the space opened up. In other words, apart from the power system and fuel tanks, most of the space on the "Kepler" was prepared to "expand to a larger area".

Before reaching their destination, passengers need to squeeze their heads together and embed themselves into a soft but not airtight semi-enclosed cabin. In addition to physical seat belts, there are also independent shields that deploy. This thing is called an "egg shell" and is fixed on layers of "egg racks" with about a dozen seats.

"I don't need it, I'm a mage." Snow tried to squeeze himself inside, but quickly found himself very uncomfortable with this full-body protection, or rather, confinement.

"Sorry, it's the rule. There might be bumps along the way, and there can't be any mistakes during the transfer." The flight attendant insisted on stuffing the head of the Alchemy Department inside.

Snow frowned. "It's so hot here. Is there anything we can drink?"

"You can bite the straw next to you. However, I advise you not to do so, because you are not allowed to urinate during ascent, and you might choke if you drink water."

"Then why don't you just cancel this thing?"

"Yes, the eighth ship is scheduled to be cancelled."

"Oh God." He gave up and lay motionless inside. Anyway, the Space Guild claimed that the whole process was very fast, and it would only take a few minutes to leave the ground. The real time-consuming part was before and after touching the transmutation dust layer, when it was necessary to replenish energy and adjust attitude, etc.

Some crew members left, while others stayed and tucked themselves into their "egg-like" shells. The crew quarters at the bow were illuminated, and it seemed that all the magical circuits were finally fully connected, including the various systems behind the seats. A faint, rhythmic hum reached Snow's ears. He was certain that only the spellcaster could hear it; it was the background noise emitted by the alchemy equipment behind him after it was activated, something he and the other alchemy department colleagues were all too familiar with.

Suddenly, a cool and dry sensation came from the fabric clinging to him—the chair's temperature control system had activated. Snow breathed a sigh of relief; he felt much more comfortable now. Of course, instead of adjusting the temperature, giving everyone a [Transcendental Environment Resistance] buff was also a viable approach, but that would increase people's tolerance and dull their sense of hot and cold. In comparison, providing a comfortable temperature was more humane, but perhaps not the most efficient.

Law enforcement shouldn't be too inhumane; otherwise, in the pursuit of efficiency, one could simply turn all the passengers into zombies and stuff them into cargo containers that don't really need protection.

The crystal ball directly in front of the cabin began to flash, and a strange voice came out: "Ahem, everyone who is about to take off, welcome aboard the Kepler. I am your ship spirit, codenamed Jiagen, and I will assist Captain Johannes in completing the launch mission."

After he finished speaking, a projection suddenly appeared on the crystal ball, showing a middle-aged man with a buzz cut. He was also fixed in the egg-shaped seat, but the surrounding area was equipped with many control buttons and levers.

"Hello, it's an honor to work alongside you elites on this mission. I'm Johannes."

"Alright, you talk too much. Focus on preparing for launch. I'll take care of it." Jiagen actually cut off the captain's screen and voice and began to solemnly recite safety precautions and the itinerary.

"If you don't want to die, remember the points I just mentioned. This launch will go through the Apselon Channel of the new celestial ladder. Don't ask where the first four channels are or what they're for; that's a secret. And those who know, shut up!"

This ship spirit is unexpectedly lively—no, it's a chatterbox. Is there something wrong with the source material? Snow frowned slightly. He would have preferred a quiet, capable, and accurate ship spirit to lead the way, rather than a chatterbox.

"Jiagen Jiagen? I know, you're the red dragon from the Tower of Arcane Arts! No! I want to get off the spaceship! Let me out!" The eggshell next to Snow suddenly burst into a wail and struggle.

These words immediately caused a stir among many spellcasters, all of whom were or had been apprentices/mages of the Arcane Tower.

The crystal ball started projecting again with a snap, this time showing a menacing red dragon, a clear "I'm not pretending anymore" stance: "What grievance do you have against me, Cyril Kings? You spent years in the tower and almost got kicked out, but after rolling into Rorschach's mage tower, your value soared, you could fly, but you still ended up in my hands, didn't you?"

"You son of a bitch, if you hadn't reported me to Ms. Elizabeth..."

"What did you report? If you keep making a fuss, I don't mind revealing it to everyone here: when Cyril was in the Arcane Tower, he liked to go to the toilet stall in the northwest corner of the third floor every night."

"Enough! I was wrong!" The cry from inside the eggshell was exceptionally loud.

After he shouted this, the other passengers chuckled, but the spellcasters who had been in the Tower of Arcane Arts didn't laugh; they couldn't laugh at all.

"That's more like it. It's your honor to be guided by me, a bunch of guys who can't even pass 'Symbolic Concepts' and 'Advanced Arithmetic'." The ship spirit—no, the tower spirit of the Arcane Tower—scoffed, then said, "I will only 'look after' you up to near-Earth orbit. After breaking through laminar flow, a new ship spirit will take over. Cherish this time together! Three—two—one, launch!"

(End of this chapter)