Touching the Sky

Ever since the birth of wisdom, the species known as humankind had yearned intensely for the sky.

Throughout the long course of history, countless people had endured hardship in their efforts to touch that vast, deep-blue expanse.

Birds that could soar freely through the sky became objects of human longing. According to legend, someone had once crafted a pair of wings from wax. He successfully flew into the sky, but unfortunately, because he flew too close to the sun, the wax wings melted under its heat, and he fell into the sea.

Yet in real history, there had never been any definite record proving that anyone had truly flown into the sky. That blue expanse hanging high above seemed like a forbidden zone beyond the reach of humankind, a place mortals could never touch.

Because of this, the sky held unparalleled symbolic significance in human culture. To some, it was the dwelling place of the gods; to others, it was the realm of freedom.

Thus, when a hot air balloon capable of carrying people appeared before the crowd, the shock it caused was self-evident.

"That's a hot air balloon. Looks like their experiment succeeded."

When Nathan heard Paul say this, his body trembled. He turned around and glared at his brother with a "fierce" look, as though he wanted to eat Paul alive.

"A hot air balloon? What's a hot air balloon? And what experiment are you talking about?"

It was obvious that Paul Greiman knew what that thing in the sky was.

Seeing this usually silent man suddenly behave that way gave Paul quite a fright.

He explained, "Ahem, as you can see, it's that thing in the sky."

Mariana asked, "That so-called hot air balloon—is it something you came up with?"

"It was created by our researchers," Paul