Chapter 503: Chapter 486: Don’t be afraid, I’ve bought accident insurance for you.
After sending his response, Lincoln didn’t go home right away. Instead, after having dinner, he returned to the race track where he had previously tested the biplane.
It had been two weeks since he first placed the order.
With Lincoln’s “Money Ability” at play, the airship was finally assembled today.
He came to the site to witness the airship’s first test flight.
Many people aware of the project came to watch the excitement—not just Cloud Dream employees, but also many netizens and anchors.
After Lincoln livestreamed flying the airplane last time, someone quickly recognized the test flight location. On the same day, some nearby netizens came to watch the excitement.
However, by the time they arrived, Lincoln had already finished throwing up and moved on to play with tanks, causing them to miss the action.
But starting yesterday, a huge airbag slowly inflated in the open race track, extremely eye-catching even from several kilometers away with its smooth white color.
Countless netizens once again flocked to the scene.
This race track was never enclosed by high walls, only fenced off and surrounded by crash barriers to enclose a large area.
Normally there were no other people here besides racers.
The appearance of the airship made this a rare lively scene.
Lincoln’s airship production didn’t use technology from a hundred years ago.
On the contrary, he invested heavily and integrated many cutting-edge technologies.
From airbag materials, airship hull, gondola, to the engines and electronic controls inside the gondola, all used the most advanced materials and technologies possible.
Inert gases that don’t burn were a must.
The explosive hydrogen gas was never considered from the beginning.
The Hindenburg disaster served as a lesson; not only did the gas need to be replaced, but precautions were also taken against static electricity and sparks from the engines.
Moreover, the four powerful engines were not only much safer than the engines used in the historical Hindenburg, but their power and performance were also incomparable—after all, nearly a century had passed.
Originally, the Hindenburg had 16 giant airbags, which in Lincoln’s design were expanded to 25.
Not only was it larger, becoming a monster more than 300 meters long with a lifting capacity of 150 tons, but thanks to the extensive use of lightweight and strong carbon fiber materials, the theoretical passenger capacity was also significantly increased.
As long as it doesn’t go to war, this beast is a true behemoth of the sky!
Today, when this expensive toy was finally ready, floating half a person’s height above the ground, people crowded in from several hundred meters away to watch the spectacle.
Up close, the sight of such a massive object could even trigger one’s fear of huge objects.
But at the same time, humans have a natural fanaticism for massive things.
The spectators were not afraid but instead gathered in increasing numbers as the news spread!
When Lincoln previously announced in his live stream that he would draw 40 people to attend the “Sky Player Gathering,” everyone was merely excited because of the novelty and meeting Lincoln in person.
But now, standing in front of such a massive object, even the burliest person looked as small as an ant.
A Boeing 737 is just over 30 meters long.
Imagine how magnificent a flying vessel ten times the size of a Boeing 737 would be?
Many anchors have been setting up their mobile phones and live streaming the airship since yesterday.
Nearly every live broadcast room was filled with audiences watching the spectacle.
In the end, the audience watching through the live broadcast lenses couldn’t even see the entire airship due to the anchors being too close!
It wasn’t until now that the 40 lucky winners finally understood how amazing their prize was!
Everyone was so excited that they forgot themselves.
If it weren’t for Lincoln’s live broadcast room not accepting gifts, these people would have rushed over and swiped gifts like crazy!
Soon, the first test flight of the airship began.
Of course, Lincoln could only sit obediently on the ground and watch.
Before the safety test was completed, neither he nor the players he invited could board the airship.
Thanks to technological advances and Lincoln not trying to cram in so many chefs, waiters, and the like, this airship could be operated fully by just 10 people.
Of course, the ground support personnel weren’t included in the count.
For the first test flight, even the 10-person crew was further reduced, with only five people boarding the airship.
While boarding, they also wore parachutes to ensure safety.
In reality, considering the airship’s current safety level, accidents were quite unlikely. Even if an accident occurred causing one or two airbags to explode, the remaining airbags would still allow the airship to descend slowly.
This was much safer than attempting a low-altitude parachute jump…
However, Lincoln refrained from voicing his opinions, dutifully sat down, watched the professionals work, and also opened a live stream for players to watch the excitement.
The audience watching wondered what the test crew was carrying on their backs and asked curiously.
Lincoln calmly replied, “Parachute bags.”
Suddenly, the live broadcast room was filled with question marks:
“What does that mean? Could the airship fall?”
“Damn, do we need to know how to parachute to join in the player gathering?”
“It looks so fragile, with thin skin and lots of filling, could it explode?”
Players discussed among themselves.
In the lens, the huge airship finally completed the pre-flight safety check process, released the ropes fixed to the ground, and began to rise slowly.
Lincoln took the time to explain to everyone
“It won’t explode. The gas bags use inert helium, which doesn’t react with oxygen, it won’t even ignite, let alone explode.”
“The materials of the gas bags are flame retardant, so you can rest assured.”
“As for falling… even if a few gas bags explode, it will descend slowly.”
“Just in case, on the day of the party, I’ll arrange for rescue planes in advance, so everyone can rest easy.”
“Oh right, in case some people still don’t feel safe, before boarding, I’ll prepare a huge amount of personal accident insurance for everyone, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”
As the last sentence fell, the live broadcast room went into an uproar again—
“Personal accident insurance, that’s all right!”
“Shivering.”
“By the way, have you bought your own insurance?”
“The first player meet-up in history that requires risking one’s life?”
“Why not hold this party in the virtual world? Wouldn’t that be safer?”
Lincoln really wanted to say “this is actually very safe, the probability of accidents is lower than you guys encountering a car accident while crossing the street”, but, unfortunately, he had no data to support this point…
Feeling frustrated, he could only look up speechlessly, watching the huge airship fly higher and higher.
But the discussion in the live-broadcast room did not end, but grew more intense instead.
On one hand, a group of people were yelling and screaming, eager to board the airship and experience this extremely rare flying experience.
On the other hand, there was a group of people who didn’t get a prize and had no hope of boarding the airship, passionately discussing whether it was safe and what to do in case of an accident.
The result of this debate was a barrage of comments popping out
[Little Circle: Forget it, I’m not going, I’ll give my spot to a friend who wants to go.]
Mavis immediately highlighted this comment, drawing Lincoln’s attention to it.
Mavis did this because: the audience member who sent the comment was one of the 40 winners from the last live broadcast draw.
Her sending this comment was obviously different from other people’s pranks, and she seemed to be genuinely afraid of death, wanting to give up on the sky party.
“Are you really going to give up? It’s not dangerous at all, they’re just trying to scare you,” Lincoln comforted.
But Little Circle still refused: [Sorry, but I’m still… a little scared.]
Lincoln sighed, “Alright, I understand. But there’s no need to apologize for it, it’s normal for people to be afraid of bugs, tigers, closed spaces, or heights.”
Before Lincoln could finish sighing, the audience in the live broadcast room got excited:
“Draw another round! Start the draw.”
“I will win this time!”
“Goddess of Luck protects me!”
“Get lost.” Lincoln tersely refused, “Watch the airship.”
The first test flight wasn’t long, it just slowly floated up to a 500-meter altitude, stayed there for a few minutes, then slowly descended and returned to the ground.
Then it was the second test flight, which extended the floating time and added a short horizontal flight.
And so, the giant airship, more than 300 meters long and over 50 meters high, rose and fell in the sky, leisurely floating along.
On the ground, outside the racetrack, hundreds or even thousands of people circled around, and nearly 10 million viewers watched this process through the live-broadcast room, witnessing the process and feeling awe-struck.
Until the sky went completely dark and the tests were temporarily suspended, Lincoln still couldn’t board the airship.
However, the tests went smoothly, and there will be more tests in the next two days. Lincoln will only be able to board the airship on Friday night.
For Lincoln, this was enough—
With all the aspects determined to be problem-free, it was time to start sending out official invitations.
20 invitations, sent to acquaintances and friends.
40 spots, reserved for the game draw.
Finally, the remaining 39 winners from the live-broadcast room.
On Saturday, these 99 people will officially join the [Sky Player Party].
Before that, they’ll need to send out invitations, arrange accommodations and flights, and explain the situation.
Oh right, there’s also the synchronized event in the game: recreating the real-life player party in the Virtual World.
They also need to synchronize the real-life scene to the virtual world, allowing a large number of players who have no chance in reality to participate in the virtual world.
However, in order to do this, one problem that must be solved: [Virtual Xiajing].
Before Quentina finalized the office building last week, she was recruiting relevant talents in advance and borrowed people from existing teams to help train new recruits.
By the time they officially started work on Monday, the construction of [Virtual Xiajing] had begun.
Lincoln just didn’t have the time to go check it out due to being busy with the development of [Battlefield].
And, he didn’t know if the Sky Player Party on Saturday could keep up?