464: Chapter 446 Takeoff! Spread!

Zhang Mu and his group returned to the clan lands one after another.

The Elf King and the Elders seemed still immersed in their thoughts regarding the fighter jets. After watching Zhang Mu teach the clansmen for a while by the clearing, they eagerly headed to the royal palace together to discuss the specific applications of the fighter jets.

The humans of Blue Star had long ago developed a rigorous aerial combat system; if they wanted to understand it, they only needed to ask Zhang Mu.

However, the Elf King felt that this was Lake's—or rather, Zhang Mu's—trump card. Asking directly would be impolite, and the other party might not be willing to disclose it, so he had to research it himself.

Frederica didn't mind their departure. She sat in the shade of the trees by the clearing, watching as Zhang Mu began his lecture.

The difficulty of piloting a civilian aircraft isn't high, and the knowledge required is minimal. Moreover, there was no need to consider the future career development of these pilots, so the curriculum Zhang Mu compiled basically only covered the essential knowledge points.

Once the elves learned from the King that this was indeed to save the life tree, their casual attitudes immediately vanished, and they focused their Mental Energy to listen intently to the lesson.

The course content was concise, covering nothing more than the operation of civilian aircraft and what dangers to be alert for during flight.

As for how to avoid mid-air collisions when multiple planes took off simultaneously, Zhang Mu didn't mention it for the sake of saving time. He planned to have the Elf King arrange for the Elders to provide oversight from the sidelines when the flight missions were carried out later.

With the strength of the Saint-tier, even if two planes were about to collide, they could rely on their formidable magic power to instantly freeze them in place.

The students listened attentively, and Zhang Mu taught carefully. In just one short day, all the lessons were concluded.

After instructing the elves to go home and review, and to gather for an exam early the next morning, Zhang Mu took Frederica outside the barrier again to the runway he had cleared that morning.

The quality of this runway was only sufficient for temporary takeoffs and landings, and its width only allowed for one plane at a time. It clearly couldn't handle the heavy responsibility of twenty-nine planes setting out together.

The road had to be widened, at least four times over, meaning four runways. Three would be put into use, with the remaining one as a backup to prevent sudden emergencies.

Zhang Mu was a Magister, the highest rank below the Saint-tier, but completing this project alone was still very taxing.

He busied himself until midnight, and even with Frederica's assistance, they hadn't even reached one-third of the workload. Realizing they might not make it in time if they continued like this, he ran back to the clan lands and had the Elf King dispatch eighteen Elders to provide help.

Many hands make light work.

Eighteen Saint-tiers transformed into civil engineering workers, fighting hard through the night under Zhang Mu's command.

With the Elf King's orders urging them on, the Elders didn't dare slack off in the slightest; those meant to fell trees felled trees, and those meant to weed weeded.

Seeing how efficient everyone was, Zhang Mu simply changed his plan, shifting the goal from building a runway to building a fully functional temporary airport.

At daybreak.

The first light of dawn spread from the horizon across the land, dispelling the darkness of the Forest of Spirits. Beams of light through the lush foliage shone on the foreheads of the Elders who had sweated all night, the beads of sweat reflecting a brilliant golden hue.

Zhang Mu, acting as the supervisor, cheerfully consoled everyone: "Hard work, hard work. Everyone has been exhausted all night, hurry back and rest."

The Elders, who had moonlighted as civil engineering workers all night, weren't very interested in entertaining him, instead gazing off at the airport situated in the distance.

The airport occupied a vast area. Taking up most of its space was a runway that allowed four planes to take off, land, and turn simultaneously, with all necessary functions included. At the end stood a three-story tower responsible for directing flight missions.

The Elders, who usually lived in comfort, had inexplicably served as coolies for once, and they should have felt somewhat dissatisfied.

But looking at the striking airport before them, for some reason, a sense of accomplishment welled up in their hearts.

After a while, the Elf King arrived at the scene for an inspection. Seeing the project successfully completed, he led the Elders back. Along the way, following Zhang Mu's instructions, he notified the twenty-nine flight trainees to gather at the airport.

When they arrived, there were more than just twenty-nine people.

Due to the life tree's predation on the Forest of Spirits, the magical beasts dwelling in the forest had suffered heavy casualties, and their distribution had become much sparser, but a few survivors remained after all.

The highest level among the twenty-nine flight trainees was only Intermediate; a single High-tier magical beast would be enough to easily wipe them all out.

To prevent a tragedy from occurring, the Elf King had dispatched ten Sky Knights to escort them.

Following the principle of "since they're already here," Zhang Mu had to make full use of them, and left the Sky Knights in charge of the airport's security.

It wasn't that he was worried about magical beasts or monsters appearing that he couldn't handle himself, but rather he feared that while he was leading the trainees on flights, a magical beast might accidentally wander into the airport and damage the runway and facilities.

The Sky Knights knew the purpose of this incomprehensible building and road was to heal the life tree. After sending one person back to the clan lands to ask the King for permission and receiving it, they gladly accepted the task.

Once the Sky Knights had dispersed into the surrounding woods, Zhang Mu began to test whether the elves had remembered their theoretical lessons.

Although these elves were only Intermediate Professionals, their magic-enhanced memories had already reached the level of "photographic memory." They answered every question correctly without a single mistake.

Thus, Zhang Mu moved immediately to the next subject—boarding the aircraft.

According to normal pilot training procedures, one should use a flight simulator before boarding a real plane. However, Zhang Mu felt it was a waste of time and skipped it entirely.

Blue Star nations followed this process because if a flight trainee had an accident while piloting a plane in the air, there would be no possibility of salvation. Zhang Mu didn't care; even if the plane's engine stalled due to a malfunction, he could rely on magic to ensure the plane landed safely.

The practical training session began.

The first trainee followed Zhang Mu's instructions and sat in the cockpit, buckling the seatbelt and other protective measures, then followed the basic operational knowledge learned yesterday to ignite the engine and push the control stick.

The plane successfully started and accelerated along the runway. After reaching the limit, the nose lifted off the ground, and the landing gear retracted.

Watching the plane climb in altitude, Zhang Mu instructed the remaining trainees to stay put and not wander off, then flew up to follow it.

The first trainee's first flight went very smoothly. They flew straight in the sky for a few minutes, performed basic maneuvers like turns and circles, and followed Zhang Mu's instructions to land at the airport.

Then came the second, the third, until the last one jumped out of the cockpit. The first practical lesson for all flight trainees concluded perfectly.

During the entire process, not a single person made an operational error.

Zhang Mu, who had watched the whole process, was surprised to find that elves were practically natural-born fighter pilots.

Their sensitivity to airflow was acute, like eagles soaring through the sky on wings; even the slightest change in air currents could not escape their perception.

"Interesting." The thought of 'abducting' a group of elves to serve as the pilot reserve for his own air force popped into Zhang Mu's head.

Frederica seemed to sense his "dark thoughts" and asked suspiciously, "Zhang Mu, you seem to be thinking about something very fishy."

"Huh?" Zhang Mu was startled and looked down at himself. "Is it that obvious?"

"Your smile is too sinister."

"Uh, ahahaha—" Zhang Mu laughed loudly, trying to gloss it over, then turned to give the elves their orders. "Dismissed. Gather here at the same time tomorrow."

"Understood!"

Zhang Mu pulled five of the ten Sky Knights guarding against magical beasts to escort the elves back to the clan lands, then headed toward the control tower.

Frederica followed behind him.

The two reached the front of the tower and looked up slightly.

After looking for a while, Zhang Mu said in a disgusted tone, "This was built so poorly."

Leading Frederica inside, they first circled the first floor and then headed to the third.

Along the way, Zhang Mu kept muttering under his breath.

"I'll be damned. I reminded them not to use mud for the floor. Even if mud refined by magic is harder than stone, it's still an eyesore.

Furei, look at those stairs; they didn't even install handrails."

Climbing to the third floor, Zhang Mu had just walked to the huge observation window when a breeze blew in, brushing against his face.

The spring breeze was warm and soothing, but the corners of Zhang Mu's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

His hand trembling, he raised his index finger and pointed at the "big hole" that was more of a window opening than a window.

"I said to open a window on this wall of the third floor facing the runway to observe the flight status of the planes. What on earth did they give me?"

Zhang Mu looked at Frederica, who was suppressing a laugh beside him. "Furei, is the difference in architectural understanding between you elves and humans really this big?"

"Elves, hahaha—" She finally couldn't hold back her laughter. It took her a while to stop, clutching her stomach which hurt from laughing as she explained, "You've been in the clan lands for a while now."

"Yeah, for ten days."

"So, you should have seen that the houses we live in are all hollowed out of tree trunks. We don't design blueprints, lay foundations, erect pillars, and then stack walls and add roofs like humans do."

"But..." Zhang Mu still couldn't accept it, saying with a conflicted expression, "Even if the building methods are different, the gap is too... I say, Furei, do elves not have the concept of 'windows'?"

"We do. We carve them into the bark."

"Don't you install wooden boards?"

"Why install wooden boards?"

"What if wind and rain blow into the window?"

"Just use curtains woven from vines to block it. Besides, the clan lands are covered by a barrier, so rain can't get in."

"I—" Zhang Mu took a sharp breath, and after a long while, he lowered his head in realization. "Sorry, it was my ignorance."

"Hehehe." Frederica's shoulders shook slightly.

"Let's go." Zhang Mu perked up again, turned around, and walked toward the stairs. "We should head back too."

"Zhang Mu."

"Hmm?"

Frederica jogged to his side and tentatively asked, "Can I participate in the mission to scatter fertilizer?"

"You want to participate?"

"Is that not okay?"

"It's fine." Zhang Mu scratched the back of his head, saying somewhat confusedly, "It's just strange why you'd want to participate in that. It's not like some fun amusement park project."

"I just... want to fly a plane."

Zhang Mu looked at her with some surprise.

Perhaps not used to being stared at, a hint of red flushed through Frederica's cheeks.

"Is... is there a problem?"

Snapping out of it, Zhang Mu remembered her excited screams when he took her flying in the fighter jet during the day and chuckled.

"No problem. If you really want to fly, I'll teach you right now."

"Really?"

"I wouldn't lie to you."

"But I'm an elf."

"I don't lie to elves."

Frederica was very tempted, but she looked at the dark sky outside the window and hesitated. "I remember you told the clansmen that we can't fly at night?"

"Not without navigation, but if a High-tier Professional is on the plane and their Mental Energy covers a large enough range, there's no such restriction."

"Then... shall we go?"

"Let's go."