102: Chapter 102 Man and Ship as One

With a tragic sense of "resignation to death," Wang Pingan followed Mentor Murphy up a crude gangway and climbed into the interior of the seagull.

The interior of the ship was much smaller than he had imagined, and far more... chaotic.

Wires of various colors were exposed on the bulkheads without any aesthetic sense, looking like a messy spider web.

The narrow corridor was piled high on both sides with instruments and parts he couldn't understand.

The entire cabin was filled with the pungent smell of machine oil and scorched metal.

"Can this place... really fly?"

Wang Pingan's ominous premonition grew stronger in his heart.

"Don't judge it by its ugly looks; it has great capabilities!" Mentor Murphy seemed to see through his thoughts and proudly patted a thick energy pipe nearby.

"This seagull is the result of twenty years of my hard work, pieced together bit by bit from a pile of scrap metal using my life savings!"

"Every part and every wire was designed and modified by my own hands!"

"Its hull is made of 'Void Black Gold,' a material that can absorb and convert high-intensity energy radiation, sufficient to withstand the energy erosion on the periphery of a Subspace Storm!"

"Its engine was salvaged from the wreckage of a crashed warship belonging to an unknown alien civilization! After my modifications, its instantaneous explosive power is comparable to the military's top-tier 'Curvature Engine'!"

Mentor Murphy grew more excited as he spoke, a light called "pride" flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

He was like a child showing off his beloved toy to someone else.

Listening to his passionate and proud introduction, the stone in Wang Pingan's heart finally settled a little.

It seemed this old man did have some real skills.

Although this ship looked ugly, it seemed... it really had something to offer.

"Come, let's go see the cockpit."

Mentor Murphy led Wang Pingan through the narrow corridor to the very front of the ship.

The cockpit space was similarly small.

But the scene inside made Wang Pingan's pupils contract sharply.

Because here, there were none of the dense control consoles filled with complex buttons and control sticks he had imagined.

The entire cockpit was empty.

There were only two comfortable-looking, ergonomically designed seats.

And in front of the seats, a huge, exaggeratedly large, curved porthole made from a single, complete piece of crystal that occupied the entire field of view of the cockpit.

"This... how do you fly it?"

Wang Pingan was completely bewildered.

No steering wheel, no control sticks, not even a throttle.

How is this thing supposed to fly? Do you shout at it?

"Hehe." A mysterious smile appeared on Mentor Murphy's face.

He pointed to the main pilot seat on the left.

"Sit down and try."

Wang Pingan sat down on the chair with suspicion.

The material of the seat was very soft, and it automatically adjusted according to his body shape, perfectly wrapping around him.

The moment he sat down.

Hum—

From behind the seat, a silver-white metal helmet filled with a sci-fi aesthetic slowly rose up.

The inside of the helmet was covered with countless silver contacts, thinner than a hair, resembling a neural network.

"Put it on." Mentor Murphy's voice carried a hint of temptation.

Although Wang Pingan felt in his heart that this thing looked a bit like the brainwashing equipment in movies, he still followed instructions and put the cold helmet on his head.

The size of the helmet was just right.

The silver contacts inside gently pressed against various spots on his scalp.

A cool, strange sensation like an electric current came from those contacts.

【Neural connection system, initiating...】

【Scanning pilot brainwaves...】

【Matching brainwaves...】

【Match successful!】

【Welcome, Pilot Wang Pingan.】

【The seagull ship control system has granted you top-level access.】

A series of cold electronic voices sounded directly in his mind!

Immediately after.

Boom!

Wang Pingan felt his consciousness at this moment as if it had been forcibly ripped out of his body by an invisible force!

Then, in a way he couldn't understand, it completely merged with the entire ship!

This feeling was wonderful to the extreme!

He was no longer sitting in the cockpit.

He was this ship!

Every part and every wire of the ship had become an extension of his body!

He could clearly "feel" the surging energy in the engine core.

He could "feel" the slightest vibration at the wingtips caused by airflow.

He could even "feel" the small metal maintenance spider dozing off beneath the docking platform.

His "vision" was no longer limited to the huge porthole in front of him.

Instead, it was a 360-degree, dead-angle-free, god-like perspective that took in the entire hangar and even the sky outside the hangar!

"This... is this... Man and Ship as One?"

A monstrous wave churned in Wang Pingan's heart!

This method of piloting was completely beyond his cognitive scope!

"How does it feel?" Mentor Murphy's voice sounded in his "ears."

Oh no, not in his ears.

But directly in his consciousness.

Apparently, Mentor Murphy had also connected to the ship's auxiliary system in some way.

"It feels... unbelievable," Wang Pingan exclaimed sincerely.

"Hahaha! This is the true piloting technology of the future!" Mentor Murphy laughed proudly.

"Those traditional physical operations should have been eliminated long ago!"

"Only by connecting spirit directly to the ship's core control system can one truly achieve the ability to do whatever one wants, as easily as moving one's own arm!"

"However..." Mentor Murphy's tone became serious again.

"This method of piloting places an extremely huge load on the pilot's spirit."

"An ordinary Fourth-Rank Martial Artist would faint on the spot from spirit exhaustion after connecting for more than ten minutes."

"Even those Fifth Rank Martial Artists who are specialized in spirit and have undergone professional training can only last for half an hour at most."

"And our mission this time requires at least several minutes of high-intensity, high-precision limit operations within a Subspace Storm!"

"Kid, are you sure... you can do it?"

Mentor Murphy's voice carried a hint of testing.

Wang Pingan did not answer immediately.

He just issued a simple command in his consciousness.

"Engine, warm up."

Hum—

A dull roar, like an ancient beast waking up, came from the tail of the ship.

Wang Pingan could clearly "feel" that alien engine, modified by Mentor Murphy, starting to run with an unprecedented, surging posture!

A powerful and terrifying force capable of tearing everything apart was frantically gathering in its core!

"It feels... great."

A confident arc curled up on the corners of Wang Pingan's mouth.

After connecting to this neural system, his 500 points of spirit were like a fish returning to the sea or a bird taking to the sky!

He felt that he was born to be the pilot of this ship!

Mentor Murphy sensed that the engine had reached a perfect warm-up state, exceeding his expectations, in just a few seconds.

A burst of "ecstatic" light, brilliant to the extreme, instantly erupted in his cloudy old eyes!

He knew he had really bet right this time!