The anti-gravity engine propelled the Explorer steadily into the air, and it soon surpassed the height of the floating island fortress. Then, the spacecraft continued to climb. As the altitude increased, the surrounding temperature began to drop. Soon, the temperature outside the spacecraft fell below zero, and the light began to dim.
In space exploration, the most difficult step was to get a heavy spacecraft to leave the ground and enter space. In order to resist gravity, at least 90% of the fuel carried on the rocket was consumed in the process. However, in Prandal, due to the existence of the prehistoric black technology of the Goblin Gravity Well, as well as the existence of various technologies such as the Floating Stone and anti-gravity magic, Tang En and the others were able to overtake them and quickly break through key technologies to enter space.
This kind of smooth climbing experience was very refreshing for the passengers on the spacecraft, especially those who had never left Prandal.
They looked down at the ground through the porthole. The ground was getting farther and farther away, and the flat land began to show an arc in the distance. As their altitude rose further, the light and dark boundary of Prandal soon appeared in their vision.
"We have now arrived at the stratosphere, and the temperature outside is about zero …"
Reeves was taken aback. "Huh? That's not right. Didn't the temperature drop to minus forty degrees just now? Why did the temperature outside increase when we got higher? "
Klotto explained, "That's because the stratosphere is rich in ozone, so the upper half of it is heated by absorbing a lot of ultraviolet rays from the sun, so the temperature will rise with height. The temperature at the top of the stratosphere hovers around minus three degrees, about the same as the temperature on the ground. However, after breaking through this area, the temperature will drop again with height, and soon it will drop to minus two hundred degrees. It's very scary. "
It was difficult for the average person to understand the concept of minus two hundred degrees Celsius, so Clotho had no choice but to personally demonstrate what it felt like. He controlled the robotic arm and threw a fruit into space. Then, with a light tap, it turned into dust.
Reeves trembled when he saw this scene. "The spacecraft we're on won't also be broken into pieces, right?"
Klotto said angrily, "If we can't even solve this kind of problem, would we still dare to come to space?"
His words inadvertently made the others feel at ease. Although everyone present was basically a famous powerhouse, none of them dared to guarantee that they would be able to survive in the environment of the universe since they had never tried it themselves.
After breaking through the stratosphere, they were already more than eighty kilometers in altitude. Then, the anti-gravity engine stopped, and the power source was smoothly switched to the magic engine. After adjusting the spacecraft's attitude, the bow of the spacecraft was aimed at Lorita. Then, the tail ejected a light blue magic current, pushing the spacecraft towards Lorita.
In space exploration, in addition to the initial stage of the planet's atmosphere, another technical problem that was very difficult to solve was the problem of the spacecraft's engine power source during long-distance space travel.
Traditional working fluid engines used fuel to propel the spacecraft forward. This type of engine technology was relatively simple, but the problem was that the working fluid engine required a large amount of fuel to propel the spacecraft to its destination. The more fuel there was, the greater the propulsion force required, and it would be harder to leave the planet … This was an endless cycle.
In space travel, the best choice was a working fluid engine. However, physics would not allow such a dream-like engine to appear (Emdrive was not considered a success yet, so it was not considered). Even in the Prandal world, working fluid engines were not possible.
However, in this world, there was an extremely cheap energy source with an extremely high energy density — that was magic.
Void energy was reduced to psionic energy, and psionic energy was reduced to magic. After high-density psionic energy was reduced, it would form magic crystals. At the same time, after magic was enriched in a living being's body, it would form magic nuclei, magic pools, and the like. These were all extremely efficient energy sources.
Therefore, although Tang En had not developed a working fluid engine, the efficiency of the magic engine far exceeded that of a working fluid engine. Therefore, in space travel, he did not have to consider the factors of the orbit. He could use his magic to continuously accelerate the spacecraft in a short period of time, allowing the spacecraft to reach an extremely high speed. This way, they would be able to reach Lorita very quickly.
"Is this the feeling of weightlessness that you all were talking about? Oh, this feeling is really great! "
As the spaceship got further and further away from Prandal, Reeves and the others felt that the effect of gravity was disappearing from their bodies. Soon, he could no longer feel his bloated and heavy body. The feeling of his whole body being light as a feather and being able to breathe effortlessly almost made him cry with happiness.
— Although the other goblins did not care about Reeves' bloated body, there were still many inconveniences to being overly fat. Even Reeves himself could not stand it.
"It's a very fresh feeling."
Jean closed his eyes and allowed himself to float freely in the cabin. "It's different from using the Flight or Levitation spell. There's a … more free and relaxed feeling. It's as if my body has disappeared."
At this time, the others were also experiencing the fresh experience of weightlessness. Even Aiguin, who had been silent all this while, had a look of surprise on her face.
As for Tang En, who was experiencing weightlessness for the first time, he was about the same as them. He was as excited as a child.
Just as they were having fun, the Explorer suddenly sounded an alarm. "Warning, a large unidentified object has been detected ahead of the flight path. It is estimated that an impact will occur in one minute."
Tang En and the rest were stunned when they heard the alarm. Then, he and Klotto returned to the control panel. "Display the image of the obstacle!"
The next moment, the image of the detected object was projected in the center of the hall.
"Hiss!"
The moment Tang En saw the object, he sucked in a breath of cold air and could not help but tremble.
It was a heavily damaged space base that had almost lost its complete shape and was floating in space.
"What's that?"
After seeing the projection in the hall, Yu Sdisa and the rest were also stunned. The structure and shape of this thing were contrary to their common sense, so they could not understand it.
"A space station."
Tang En murmured. "I'm afraid it's a space station that has been floating in space for tens of thousands of years. It's a space station left behind by a prehistoric civilization."
According to common sense, a space station that had lost its power could not float in space for so long. It would be affected by the gravitational force of the planet and gradually approach the planet. Eventually, it would be affected by the friction of the atmosphere and its speed would become slower and slower. Then, it would fall. It would either burn up in the atmosphere or fall into the sea.
But now, what appeared in front of them was a space station that was so badly damaged that its shape could not even be distinguished … This was very illogical.
The overall structure of this space station was on the verge of collapse. Most of the areas had been distorted and deformed. Some parts seemed to have been seriously damaged by the impact of an asteroid. The whole thing was riddled with holes and had no potential value at all.
Perhaps, the only value it had now was to tell Tang En and the rest that in this world, there was once an extremely advanced prehistoric civilization.
"This should be a space station that survived the disaster tens of thousands of years ago," Yu Sdisa said slowly.
Histisa said slowly, "If it had been hit by a direct attack, it wouldn't still be here."
"The question is, is there anything that can be recycled?"
Tang En was more concerned about the information of the prehistoric civilization.
"I'm afraid it's very difficult. Even if there was at the beginning, after so many years of radiation, there might not be anything left."
The environment in space was very harsh. The huge temperature difference and the strong radiation environment were not good for the preservation of data. Furthermore, the space station had lost its protective environment. It was impossible for anything to be left behind.
"Then forget it."
Tang En gave up on the idea of slowing down. He immediately informed the Explorer to change its course. After going around the obstacles, they continued to fly towards Lorita.
Perhaps, the space station was once glorious. But now, it was just a ghost floating in space and had no value.
The Explorer flew past the pitch-black space station and continued to fly towards Lorita at an extremely high speed.
More than ten hours passed in the blink of an eye. Soon, the Explorer was nearing Lorita and began to decelerate. At this moment, the people on the Explorer could already see the crater on Lorita with their naked eyes.
Looking at the approaching Lorita, the people on the Explorer finally understood why Lorita was a pink satellite. On the surface of Lorita, there was a type of pink crystal. The large number of pink crystals formed a huge crystal cluster that was thousands of meters tall. It reflected the light from Luembika. That was why the Prandal people saw it as pink.
"Could this be another type of magic crystal?"
Angus looked at the huge crystal cluster with anticipation. "If I'm not wrong, this type of magic crystal contains more magic than the one we're using now!"
Hearing him say this, Tang En also started to look forward to it. If the pink crystal cluster was really another form of energy after the weakening of psionic energy, they would have more choices.
After a while, the people on the Explorer suddenly screamed. The passengers quickly gathered by the porthole and fought to look outside.
"Oh my god! This, this is too shocking! "
"At this moment, I finally understand the importance of the space exploration project that Tang En Majesty has been pushing so hard for …"
"Then, this must be the most direct evidence left for us by the prehistoric civilization?"
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