Chapter 223 Forced Login
"My lord, five hours have passed, and there is still no sign of the Dragon's Nest dissipating."
From early morning until now, that towering cloud pillar has been slowly rotating without showing any sign of weakening.
"That's strange, is it the butterfly effect again?"
Mu En gazed out the window, carefully recalling the plot of the original work.
In the movie, Pazu and Sheeta's scout kite is swept into the Dragon's Nest and drifts for a long time before crashing onto Laputa. Meanwhile, the Goliath, which follows behind and carries the Levitation Stone Necklace, passes smoothly through the cloud wall and even arrives safely in Laputa before the two.
This suggests that Laputa possesses some kind of recognition function, and should automatically release its defenses against the "owner" carrying the Volucite.
But now, he had been waiting from dawn until noon, yet the Dragon's Nest remained motionless. Although the Volucite in Sheeta's hand had dimmed considerably, the guiding light still pointed straight into the towering cloud pillar.
Does this mean we have to force our way through according to the original storyline?
Mu En pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized something.
Hey, what am I afraid of?
This ship isn't a small kite, and he's not a child who can only resign himself to fate.
"No more waiting, force login." Mu En issued the seemingly unbelievable order.
Dola paused for a moment, then her eyes lit up. She immediately understood what Mu En meant—the god was going to take action personally. "Yes! Attention all crew! All personnel, prepare for impact!" Dola turned and rushed to the captain's seat, grabbed the ship's communication phone, and began issuing orders.
The entire warship sprang into action once more, with soldiers rushing to their posts, the clicking of fasteners clicking incessantly, and orders echoing through the telephone lines.
The massive Goliath slowly turned its bow, pointing it toward the Dragon's Nest, and began to accelerate. Before long, the entire airship seemed to be gripped by some invisible force, and began to tremble slightly.
"Entering the outer airflow, wind speed 210 kilometers per hour!" the helmsman reported loudly.
This is the characteristic of the Dragon's Nest. Once you enter this area, the aircraft will be firmly "sucked" in and unable to escape. This is also the trap that trapped the Tiger Moth in the original work, preventing it from avoiding the artillery fire.
"Propellers at full power!" Dola roared, her eyes glued to the instrument panel, directing the warship forward.
But the Goliath was no Tiger Moth. With its twenty-four giant propellers running at full power, the powerful thrust completely counteracted the tearing force of the airflow, allowing the behemoth to smoothly circle around the outer edge of the cloud column.
Outside the porthole on the left, the once calm sea of clouds had turned into a rapidly flowing gray-white vortex, then changed from gray-white to lead-gray; they were about to enter the true edge of the Dragon's Nest.
"Now comes the crucial part—" Dola gripped the handrail tightly, her eyes fixed on the front, "Everyone hold on tight, full left! Simultaneously shut down all propellers and adjust to feathering!"
This command stunned many people on the Bridge. The feathering position adjusts the propeller blade angle to a sideways position, making it parallel to the airflow to avoid being blown away by the wind. It is usually only used in extreme situations such as when the propeller is damaged.
But no one questioned it. The soldiers quickly carried out the orders, the roar of the engine gradually subsided, and the propeller slowly stopped spinning.
boom!!!
The next moment, the entire Goliath trembled violently!
The tremors were so intense that many soldiers who lost their grip fell to the ground. This was because the airship had entered the true protective layer of the Dragon's Nest— a wall of death with completely opposite rotational directions and wind shear values approaching 500 kilometers per hour!
(The airflow on both sides of the wind wall is completely opposite; the image shows a cloud that was torn apart after hitting the wind wall.)
Pazu gripped the armrests of his seat tightly, his face flushed red. He had heard his father recount his experience of breaking into the Dragon's Nest since he was a child, but now, experiencing it firsthand, the shock was indescribable.
Sheeta's face turned pale. She clung tightly to Pazu's arm, not uttering a sound, while her other hand gripped the Volucite tightly against her chest.
In the lounge not far from the Bridge, Scarlett, who had just woken up from her coma, was shivering while hugging a pillow.
The view outside the porthole was exactly the same as the terrible Storm they had encountered just hours earlier. This ship was deliberately heading towards such a place—had it gone mad?!
She buried her face in the pillow, her voice muffled. "Madmen! They're all madmen! Simon, let's go home, okay!"
Simon couldn't even comfort the young lady anymore; he gripped the bedpost tightly, muttering something under his breath, whether it was a prayer or an insult, no one knew.
Only Mu En, in his golden avatar, stood steadily in the center of the Bridge, his hands behind his back, as if the violent jolts beneath his feet had nothing to do with him.
When everyone on the Bridge saw that figure, an indescribable sense of security welled up in their hearts.
The shaking continued, and alarms sounded throughout the ship.
Ordinary aircraft would be sliced to pieces by the wind the moment they enter, and only the luckiest people would have a chance to pass through the weak points or escape.
Pazu's father, along with Scarlett and others, are likely among the few survivors in hundreds of years.
But the Goliath was, after all, a creation of some advanced technology, and this level of gale force couldn't tear through its armor, not to mention that Dola had used a counter-clockwise approach to reduce the impact.
As the ship shuddered violently once more, several ear-piercing metallic tearing sounds rang out from outside. The view outside the portholes plunged into complete darkness, and the airship finally "glided" smoothly into the cloud wall.
"Report! Propellers No. 3, 7, and 15 are damaged! Some turrets and portholes are broken!"
"Don't worry about anything! Charge at full speed!"
The propellers started up at full speed again, and this time Dola had to break through the clouds at full speed.
Breaking through the wind barrier doesn't mean they're safe.
A violent bolt of lightning, shaped like a python, cleaved down from the clouds; hailstones the size of fists pelted the armor; and chaotic air currents caused the ship to shudder violently once more. Several powerful forces from nature acted simultaneously on the Goliath, attempting to halt the airship's progress.
This is the downside of giant spaceships; although they are large and sturdy enough, the drag they experience is dozens of times that of ordinary airships.
Click!
Within seconds, cracks began to appear in the portholes directly in front of the Bridge. Fine electric currents were conducted from the hull and danced on the porthole surface. In the distance, the groaning of twisting metal could be heard, as the propellers began to bend in the turbulence.
If this continues, even if the Goliath manages to break through the clouds, it will suffer irreparable and severe damage.
"Snort."
Until, Mu En let out a dissatisfied hum.
It seems that someone doesn't welcome me to this Castle in the Sky.
As golden light emerged from beneath the wooden feet and spread like water along the Bridge floor, the 300-meter-long behemoth was almost instantly coated with a pale gold layer.
Applying buffs to shields (armor) is a favorite activity for users of the Golden Order.
Whether it be thunder, hail, or raging turbulence, all vanish before the Shield of Immutability, utterly unable to affect Goliath.
The ship, which had been violently shaking, was now as stable as if it were still.
The Shield of Immutability, enhanced by Mu En's power, can withstand the impact of falling from outer space; a mere storm is utterly ineffective against this defense.
Long live the gods!
"Thank you, Master Erdtree!"
" The Erdtree is above!"
The soldiers on the Bridge were stunned at first, then erupted in deafening cheers, a cacophony of chaotic slogans.
Dola breathed a sigh of relief, regaining her composure and experience. If she had broken Goliath, she couldn't imagine how she could apologize and get the gods to forgive her.
Soon, no longer affected by the outside world Goliath sped forward, its hull cutting through the dark clouds, breaking through the sea of clouds like a golden whale.
Then, everyone lost the ability to speak.
At the eye of the Storm, shrouded in mist, a massive city floated silently in the air.
(Classic Perspective)
Above the city, ancient stone buildings rise in layers, giant trees and domes appear and disappear in the clouds, and walls covered with vines tell the story of time.
Below the city is an inverted gray-iron hemisphere covered with neat but meaningless square patterns.
This is Laputa, the legendary extinct sky civilization, the lifelong dream of countless explorers.
After a long silence, Dola finally found her voice, which had been trembling with excitement. "All ships, prepare for landing!"