Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 502 - 495: Heading to the Destination

Chapter 502: Chapter 495: Heading to the Destination

"Indeed, we should keep these researchers. When the headquarters sets up operations in the Otherworld in the future, they’ll always need researchers. Killing them would be a huge waste." Upon hearing everyone’s discussion, Li Si nodded and agreed.

"These researchers don’t have a concept of nationality. As long as you give them enough opportunities, they are actually very willing to work for the headquarters." The Nightingale calmly suggested.

"How do you know they’re willing to serve you?" Luoya stared at her and asked discontentedly.

"How do you think I know!" The Nightingale tilted her head and looked at her, a faint smile appeared on her face.

She said this because she herself is a member of the headquarters. She has been studying with her father since she was a child. Though she was just a young girl when she encountered the headquarters, she was already a very knowledgeable scholar.

"Enough, Ziang, take her out and don’t let her come in and cause trouble anymore," Luo’er frowned and waved his hand to signal.

"Understood," Cheng Ziang nodded, then walked to Luoya’s side and suggested kindly, "Let’s go, we’ll go for a walk on the deck."

Luoya glanced at him, glared at Luo’er, and walked away angry. Watching her retreat, Luo’er was growing more skeptical about her role in this operation.

The airboat isn’t particularly stable when it’s flying in the sky, and it still encounters turbulent air that disturbs it. But its massive body is able to resist the disturbance from the air to a certain extent. When the weather is good, the airboat still flies in the troposphere. As the speed increases, the airboat will slowly climb to the stratosphere. When this happens, the exterior of the airboat will be completely enclosed, and the crew can only move about in the interior space.

Before Earth came into contact with the Otherworld, the High-peak people’s airboats could only operate in the stratosphere, frequently affected by weather conditions. As the cooperation between the two worlds deepened, various advanced aerospace technologies from Earth were introduced to Ronisca, allowing the High-peak people’s airboats to operate in the stratosphere.

Due to the presence of antigravity furnaces, the design of High-peak people’s airboats usually does not consider lift structure. But since they still fly in the atmosphere, they do have to consider air resistance. Airboats are typically designed to be elongated in shape to reduce air resistance during flight.

Since they have only just left Divine Wood Town, the airboat is still undergoing ultra-low altitude flight about a hundred meters above the ground. At this point, the exterior deck of the airboat is still open for the crew to stay out.

The piloting and navigation of the airboat is mainly handled by the High-peak people. This is a crew of over fifty members, responsible for the flight and maintenance of the entire airboat. There is also a mercenary platoon of fifty Blaiqi people aboard, with the people from the headquarters chiefly tasked with issues related to the mission and the direction of the mercenary platoon.

Since the two worlds interconnected, the Blaiqi people have had the most contact with humans on Earth and have become the most earth-like ethnic group. All the Blaiqi people wandering between the two worlds are astute traders, with some even buying properties in Ulysses City on Earth.

The Blaiqi people are highly educated overall, studying advanced Earth culture, making them more like Earth humans than any other race in the Otherworld. These people have no concept of nationhood, they enjoy wandering and trading amongst the various nations.

The mercenary groups formed by the Blaiqi people are recognized as the most excellent. First, due to the high level of education of the members. Secondly, these Blaiqi people having no national concept means they won’t show favoritism to any certain nation when carrying out tasks, unlike other mercenary groups. They’re more neutral, priding themselves on being professionals for their pay.

After the multinational forces were driven back to Earth, the Headquarters, to maintain the security of the frontline base, continuously hired a large number of Blaiqi mercenaries and even signed employment contracts with many of them lasting up to ten years.

The mercenary organization that came out this time is also from the local security forces. Considering the substantial costs required to employ these people, the frontline headquarters, after consideration, offered a mutually beneficial agreement. That is, the Headquarters will finance and train these recruits into excellent soldiers, and in return, they must be employed by the Headquarters at a low price for several years. Only after the contract expires can they accept employment from others.

This semi-cultivation approach allowed the Headquarters to obtain a group of quite excellent combatants. Since these mercenaries are trained in their ways, they will involuntarily align with the Headquarters’ standpoint, thus preventing them from serving hostile organizations.

The mercenaries that came this time are the elite among the trained forces at the base, nearly equivalent to Earth’s special forces.

As for why, as Luo’er previously mentioned, they did not resolve this matter through diplomatic channels. The real reason, apart from lacking influence, is that although the Otherworld General Staff Headquarters coordinates all interactions between national and Otherworld countries, this organization falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So when faced with such problems, the upper echelons always tend to use military power to solve them, rather than going down diplomatic routes.

The airboat followed the river towards the Namijiya Mountain Range and reached the foot of the mountain at night. The airboat then needed to ascend to stratospheric altitude, otherwise, it could easily crash into the mountain, resulting in both the vessel’s destruction and loss of personnel.

With the ascent of the airboat, the exterior was completely sealed, and all crew members could only move around inside. One of the major factors that once restricted the High-peak people from ascending was the airtightness of the vessel’s hull. Nowadays, with the help of people from Earth, they have finally resolved this issue.

Taking advantage of the night, the airboat began to climb slowly, reached the stratosphere after three hours, and started heading towards the predetermined location. This is a quasi-military airboat, so the exterior is still wrapped in a layer of medium armor, completely blocking the light from inside. In the darkness of night, the airboat floated in the silent night sky like a huge ghost.

Due to cabin positions, most people still needed to stay in the collective cabins, with the exception of the Nightingale, who had a single room. Even Li Si had to share space with the three big men of the Advance Team.

Of course, also due to shortage of space, not everyone could board the airboat. For example, the Olavia Sisters were left behind in Divine Wood Down along with Murong and others who came on the airboat to instruct weapons training.

Worth mentioning is that because of her racial background, Shangguan Jiu could not stay in Divine Wood Down with Murong and the others. Li Si admitted that he had been inconsiderate in bringing her, a Night Elves hybrid, to Ilanadale. Thus, Shangguan Jiu had the good fortune of accompanying the Advance Team onto the airboat, allowing her closer interaction with Luo’er.

However, she wasn’t idle onboard and was assigned by Li Si to learn how to pilot the airboat. In the future, the Headquarters still hopes to order a few airboats from Ronisca for their use as mobile platforms in the Otherworld. This mission to the Ancient States is also an opportunity to investigate the usage and positioning issues concerning airboats, amongst other matters.

Having finally been allowed back to rest, she was dispatched to the female cabin to reside with Tangmo, Baiyue, and Luo’er’s sister Luoya.

Shangguan Jiu felt aggrieved, not only having to live with two love rivals but also a prospective sister-in-law. Luoya seemed quite dissatisfied with her brother Luo’er, thus disliking the people around him too. Apart from Cheng Ziang, she barely interacted with anyone else.

In stark contrast to the girls’ cabin was the boys’ cabin, where a group brought in some self-heating food from the warehouse, cooking and even drinking in the room. Technically, this behavior was against regulations, but even Li Si couldn’t resist the temptation and joined in, making toasts and having a great time with everyone in the room.

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