A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 603 Astral Observatory

A strong feeling of being pushed back in your seat comes over you.

Because they were launching horizontally and were enveloped by the cockpit, Snow was unaware that he was being surrounded by the "levitation field".

The acceleration lasted only a moment; they quickly rushed into the first portal, where dazzling light filled their vision before returning to normal. However, there were a second and a third portal.

Throughout this time, Snow was constantly observing and silently recording his experiences.

The entire launch process was indeed brief. During each transmission interval, the starship would accelerate and adjust its attitude to pass through the center of the portal as much as possible. You could also hear communications between the various rings, reporting coordinates and relative positions in real time.

The passengers were still somewhat nervous, because if something went wrong during the transfer, they would all die without a trace, turning into high-altitude fireworks along with tons of transmutation dust in the fuel chamber.

The tower spirit was indeed a super chatterbox, able to talk non-stop with just the two of them. From investigating everyone's bladder sensations during the acceleration phase to what they saw during the teleportation, it seemed very interested in the experience of living people during the process, and quite envious: "In the end, the old dragon is still squatting at the bottom of that tower, but it's good enough that it was able to make this trip."

Snow thought it was communicating with the starship in real time, but it was clear that the dragon's chatter never stopped during the transmission. Unless there was no delay at all, which was impossible, it now seemed to be a clone, creating a mirror image.

A few minutes later, the starship arrived at the "stargate." This had become a semi-permanent starting point; there was no longer a need to temporarily reposition the collectors. Instead, a circular mechanism maintained a safe passage. The starship only needed to continuously change its orbit and pass through it precisely.

However, this process was the longest, requiring the stargate to be properly adjusted and the laminar flow to be stable before accepting the starship. It took them about three hours, almost circling the prime material plane, before they were finally allowed to pass.

"Oh dear, this is where I'll stop! If my clones remain separated for too long, my main body will become unstable. You know I'm very, very old, though my heart isn't!"

After speaking, the crystal ball and the surrounding circuits turned red in sequence, then went out. After a while, the circuits were lit up again, but this time it was a deep and aged voice: "Everyone, welcome to the Astral Plane."

After he finished speaking, part of the wall of the crew cabin turned transparent, revealing the vast starry sky. The starship itself rotated, and the prime plane, which was covered by transmutation dust, could also be seen.

In addition, under the arrangement of the new ship spirit, the "eggshell" was freed from its restraints and shields, giving everyone the freedom to move around. They were weightless, and some people, entering the astral plane for the first time, were not used to the environment and floated and fell over. The experienced ones helped them get back to their original positions.

Suddenly, enthusiastic applause erupted inside the cabin.

It could be said that they were celebrating a safe journey, but Snow noticed that the most enthusiastic and heartfelt applause came from the spellcasters of the Arcane Tower.

Johannes came over and instructed, "Everyone, this is just to let you experience the real environment of the astral plane and warm up your bodies. Soon our starship will rendezvous and dock with ships four through six. After transformation and loading of the gravity trap, you will all need to return to your cockpits for safety."

"So everyone, hurry up and use the restroom," Tarin added.

Snow was summoned by the captain alone. As the leader of the Alchemy Department of the Tower of Stars, he had a special mission to undertake upon entering the Astral Plane with the ship.

"Hello, Master Snow." Johannes led him into a special operations room located on the protruding island at the front of the starship, primarily monitoring the cargo sections of various modules. "The other ships are currently on their way to maneuver. Once they reach their designated positions, the ship spirit will broadcast a notification to you to begin."

Then another engineer crawled in: "I'll help you put on your protective suit."

"it is good."

After the captain left, only the two of them remained. Snow, who had already received training on the ground, cooperated by crawling into the half-open protective suit. Then, with the help of others, he sewed it up again and checked the airtightness and whether the built-in magic was working.

After what seemed like an eternity, Snow grew weary from the tense wait. Fortunately, the [Radio Communication] spell arrived, and the ship's spirit informed him to prepare. His assistant draped a cable over him and then withdrew from the cramped compartment.

In his field of vision, two identical starships were breaking through the waves, and there should be another one, but it should be facing his back. As they approached the main ship, they began to slow down and approach slowly. The "Kepler" began to raise its bow, transforming into an upright posture, while the bows of the other ships opened their connecting mechanisms, aligning with the interfaces on the side of the main ship.

Mages, prepared on the island superstructures of the three ships, emerged from the hull. The hatch in front of Snow opened, revealing the starry sky before him. Snow moved nimbly, then pressed the propulsion button, smoothly launching the "Kepler."

"I have been discharged from the facility, and everything is normal."

"Received. Please wait for the other three to complete the first phase of the mission before proceeding, Master Snow."

The other three mages watched as their respective ships docked with the "Kepler". During the docking process, the interaction between the two starships would change the attitude of the main ship, so they needed to dock in three directions at the same time.

This highly difficult maneuver was actually performed by a ship spirit. The ship spirit that replaced the red dragon of the Arcane Tower took over the control of the four ships using the "Kepler" as the host, achieving the required consistency.

The silent collision in the astral plane was complete. The three mages reshaped the surface material at the interface, creating a rigid connection. Furthermore, they manually sculpted the loops to make the entire system a unified whole. Having done this, they released [Adamantite Touch], greatly increasing the strength of the interface.

"Fourth ship docking complete." "Fifth complete." "Sixth complete." The other mages broadcast in turn. Now it was Snow's turn. He descended to the section fully loaded with modules and began his spellcasting.

The loop lights up, and the tower spirit is still in control, releasing modules of various sizes. However, it will need the assistance of four mages outside the cabin.

They used the "Hand of the Mage," and although they didn't have Rorschach's "unicorn arm," there was little resistance in the astral plane, so they easily pushed the modules into their designated positions. Each person had a manual to refer to, assembling the modules' relative positions like building blocks. Snow was mainly responsible for casting the "Magic Rope" spell, manipulating the flexible links to pass through or connect these modules.

Organizing cables is a tiring and laborious task, especially in the Astral Plane while wearing a somewhat cumbersome protective suit. Therefore, he had to cast a [Mechanized Mind] on himself, since he couldn't drink any energy potions at the moment.

After the connection was established, the ship spirit could finally intervene again and initiate an auxiliary self-check: "All modules have reached the correct positions, and the lines are connected. Normal."

The modules began to deform and unfold, connecting externally to form a structure with the original "Kepler" as the axis, the three starships distributed in a "Y" shape, and the modules connected to the space station in a ring.

The real, huge change is inside. Gravity traps are distributed in a radiating direction, with a zero-gravity channel at the center, and the space begins to expand. The shrunken supplies are released, giving birth to living and functional cabins.

The Star Observation Center has been initially completed.

(End of this chapter)