#433 - Chapter 433 Repaired
The Level 1 and 2 personnel working in the Life Zone were unaware of what was happening in the Green Source Zone outside.
They simply continued their work as usual.
The cloud cover today was as thick as yesterday, blocking the sunlight and providing a rare sense of coolness for the humans outdoors.
The relatively comfortable working environment made the time pass more quickly as everyone busied themselves.
Before they knew it, it was time to get off work in the afternoon.
It was that time of day again to receive their daily wages.
This was the most joyful moment of the day for them.
But today was a little different.
When they went to collect their wages, they were told that their living arrangements would change tonight.
They were assigned to locations closer to the base.
These seven hundred-plus Level 1 personnel, filled with doubt, were packed into these 20 small residential areas according to the construction point configurations.
After these few days of cooperation, the people in these groups had become somewhat familiar with each other.
Everything had been premeditated.
They didn't notice that some of the unranked survivors who used to live with them had disappeared.
Not many.
It barely caused a ripple in the entire Green Source Zone.
Zhong Yu, Qin Jin's childhood friend, although usually loud and unreliable, would definitely carry out the tasks assigned by Qin Jin!
Those who originally wanted to vent their dissatisfaction in the Green Source Zone and were preparing to cause trouble had all vanished without a trace beforehand.
Currently, the outer perimeter of the Green Source Zone still maintained a fragile balance, with most people still able to find a small amount of food themselves and trade with the Green Source Zone for a small amount of grain.
The base's demand for various supplies could be said to be infinite.
However, the exchange rate would gradually decrease, and eventually, it might only increase their points.
That would be the time when a large number of survivors would leave.
This major adjustment plan for the Green Source Zone was still ongoing.
******
Jiang City.
Afternoon.
At the place where the airships were parked, the Green Source combat troops looked at the behemoth in the middle with anticipation.
Just now, Xu Gong said that the airship had completed its external repairs and could attempt to start!
"Don't fly too high all at once! Focus on testing and pay attention to safety!"
Li Bowen shouted into the walkie-talkie towards Xu Gong, who was in the airship's gondola.
Yes!
After tireless efforts, the outer layer of the airship had finally been repaired, and now they were starting flight tests!
Under the full repair efforts of Xu Gong and his team these past few days, the outside of the airship, although with many obvious welding and pothole traces, had generally completed the hull's restoration.
The engine, steering system, propulsion device, and tail fins had all been checked and found to be without problems.
There were still two airbags inside that were damaged and couldn't be repaired in the short term, so they could only consider flying back to the base and dealing with them slowly.
After Xu Gong's judgment, the airship should now have the ability to fly, so Captain Li and the others couldn't wait to conduct the test.
After all, they had come out for so many days, all for this thing!
"Captain! I understand! I won't fly too high. If there's a problem, I'll stop and land immediately!"
Xu Gong's voice came from the walkie-talkie, without his previous shyness. They had been together for quite some time, so they could be considered familiar with each other.
Currently, besides Xu Gong, there were also two team members on board to assist at any time.
They all had parachutes on their backs, so if the airship really had problems and couldn't land, they would still have a final means of escape.
Li Bowen and the others stood outside the airship in the bunker, keeping an eye on the airship slowly taking off while also paying attention to the dangers that might appear outside.
In just a few dozen seconds.
This oval-shaped airship, sixty meters long and nearly twenty meters high, slowly floated into the air after generating lighter-than-air gas!
"It's amazing! The sound is so quiet! We can hardly hear any noise at this location!"
Liu Qing stared wide-eyed, gazing intently at the giant object slowly flying up in the distance.
As expected, it was as described before, a low-noise flying tool!
Apart from some shortcomings, this was simply a coveted artifact in this apocalypse!
The team members on the ground were all excited. The airship had taken off!
As long as they could successfully drive it back, the base would once again have a very strong air advantage!
Inside the floating airship, Xu Gong and the two team members nervously fiddled with the control buttons in the gondola.
They had some airship information given to them by the leader, and after spending these days in the cabin, they had long figured out the general operating methods of the airship.
"It doesn't matter if it's slow. The airship is missing two airbags, so there's less lighter-than-air gas than normal, so the ascent speed isn't fast, which is normal. Let's try flying to half the height that the airship can currently withstand first."
As Xu Gong's operating time increased, he seemed to gain experience like in a game, becoming more and more calm. He could now spare a hand to guide and introduce the airship to the two team members next to him.
As expected of a true engineer, his learning ability was strong.
The reason why the airship could float was naturally because the lighter-than-air gas injected into the airbags generated enough lift to lift the entire hull off the ground, while the engine at the rear provided maneuverability.
It also needed to burn oil.
However, it needed much, much less than flying tools like helicopters.
As time passed, they flew for about half an hour!
This giant object, sixty meters long, had risen to a height of over a thousand meters!
During this process, the airship performed multiple ascents, descents, accelerations, and turns without any problems!
Li Bowen and the others on the ground looked up, and the original huge hull was only the size of a fist.
"Yes! Success!"
Liu Qing happily waved his fist, and Yao Lei, Zhou Xin, and the others also gave each other high-fives to celebrate!
Being able to reach this height and the current speed meant that they should be able to fly back to the base!
"Come down if there are no problems! It's getting late, we'll do the final check, and we'll start heading back to the base early tomorrow morning!"
Li Bowen was also in a good mood. This trip out seemed to be finally nearing completion!
Xu Gong and the others above naturally didn't plan to continue testing after receiving the captain's notification, and soon maneuvered the airship to descend back to its original position.
Xu Gong and the two team members ran excitedly to Captain Li's side, sharing the situation above with everyone in an excited tone:
"We tested most of the functions! Apart from some minor electronic functions that may have been damaged by the previous geomagnetic impact, the overall function of the airship has no major problems!"
"I just looked at the flight speed. The normal flight speed of this airship can reach 120km/h, and it can reach 150km/h in a short period at full speed! But it's not recommended to keep it at full speed, the engine may overheat and cause problems."
"I calculated that if the airship flies to Mentang Town, it will only take less than 7 hours to reach the base!"
Xu Gong's face was flushed, as proud as if he were introducing his girlfriend.
(End of this chapter)
