Chapter 197: Hot Air Balloon

"Hot air balloon?"

Chen Mu pondered for a moment, then asked: "The basket is fine, but do we have the appropriate materials to make the balloon?"

Tang Jing explained: "Normal hot air balloons are made of reinforced nylon or polyester, but we don't have those now; however, we're not attempting a round-the-world trip, so we don't need such professional materials—thin plastic after Lu Shanshan's weight reduction will suffice."

Chen Mu also said: "We also need a strong heat source for power, right? Is the class monitor's amateur level enough?"

Dong Junwei gritted her teeth at the side.

Tang Jing said: "Although it's a bit lacking, given our current physique, it's not impossible."

The sound of gritted teeth became more obvious.

Tang Jing also said: "However, I wasn't thinking of using heat to lift the hot air balloon."

"Huh?"

"Although it could be done, the safety performance is too poor, and it's not stable enough, especially since we currently can't meet that temperature control requirement."

"Without heat, can it still be called a hot air balloon?" Chen Mu wondered.

"As long as it can fly, that's fine, right?"

"Alright, then what other methods are there?"

"This will have to rely on Lu Shanshan." Tang Jing said that, then instead of continuing the topic, she asked Chen Mu: "You said earlier that you can now apply your ability to gases?"

"Just a slight feeling."

Since the successful liquid experiment last time, Chen Mu has been putting effort into this; it's obvious that if his ability can truly affect air, the enhancement would be revolutionary, especially in combat—it would literally be killing invisibly.

Of course, changing the shape of air, even if successful, would hardly be perceptible, and even less able to affect anything else.

But Chen Mu still tries it every day.

Finally, one day, while he was "generating electricity" into the air, he suddenly felt as if he had grasped something in his hand.

That was a feeling hard to describe, as if the invisible, colorless air suddenly gained substance.

Although that feeling soon faded, having this success at least shows that this path is still viable.

He immediately told Tang Jing about it.

Tang Jing didn't say much, just letting him continue trying according to his feeling.

Today Tang Jing suddenly brought this up; Chen Mu was initially doubtful, but quickly realized: "You mean... Lu Shanshan can too?"

Tang Jing laughed: "If we can make the air lighter, wouldn't that easily achieve it?"

"Hydrogen balloon?" Zhao Xiao Yan asked.

Du Jia Jia said: "I heard that inside a hydrogen balloon, it's actually filled with helium?"

Tang Jing said: "Normally that would be the case, but helium's cost is over twenty times that of hydrogen, so many vendors, to save costs, still violate regulations and continue using hydrogen."

"But Lu Shanshan can already reduce the weight of gases?" Chen Mu was somewhat surprised; even he had only just begun to touch this level, and Lu Shanshan had actually gotten ahead of him.

"We've tried before; there is indeed some effect, but we still need to keep training. Her ability's nature differs from yours, so they can't be compared. However, Shanshan still has a long way to go."

"Taking hydrogen as an example, its density is 0.09 g/L, while air is 0.29 g/L; the density ratio is nearly 5:1, which makes balloons so easy to lift. But Lu Shanshan can only halve the density now; to achieve the same effect, the balloon's volume would need to be larger, which is still a considerable difficulty for us."

Chen Mu nodded after listening and said: "Besides, I feel that with our current size, even if we made a hot air balloon, once airborne a light breeze would blow us away; also, how do we solve the bird problem?"

"I already have ideas for these." Tang Jing said: "Using our current abilities, we could roughly achieve it, though everyone still needs some time to grow."

The hot air balloon issue sparked a heated discussion among everyone, and at the same time it evoked sighs from the whole Class 4 about Luo Hui.

Soon, the topic turned back to the present.

The container truck quietly parked beside the wall, and Chen Mu roughly calculated the workload of installing tracks and modifying its engine.

"Then let's get started."

In the following days.

Chen Mu again became absorbed in work, unable to pull himself away, to the extent that his lunches were often brought by He Ying; because once he started on a part, he had to continuously reinforce it using muscle memory in a short time, and being interrupted would lower efficiency.

"You're really overdoing it."

He Ying handed over a plate of food to Chen Mu, who was sitting on the ground, with various materials and parts scattered around him.

"Thanks."

Chen Mu worked a bit more, then stopped, picked up the plate.

"Aren't you going to wash your hands?"

"Oh oh."

Chen Mu ran to wash his hands, also washed his face, then returned to pick up the plate and eat.

"Du Jia Jia's cooking has improved again." Chen Mu swallowed his mouthful of food, nodding repeatedly.

Just as he said that, Du Jia Jia cheered from afar and rushed toward the gate.

"Those two cats are back again?" Chen Mu chewed his food and turned his head toward the doorway.

"Twice a day, rain or shine." He Ying said.

"But I didn't hear the cats' voices."

"You're falling behind; Du Jia Jia can now sense Little Yellow and Little White in advance." He Ying's words carried a hint of envy.

"Everyone's making progress." Chen Mu sighed.

"Hmm."

"How about you?" Chen Mu asked He Ying.

"Me?"

"I've noticed your speed hasn't increased these past few days." Chen Mu said.

"Hmm." He Ying nodded, then added somewhat troubled: "It seems I've hit a bottleneck."

"Maintaining one-tenth of your body weight for five minutes is already quite good." Chen Mu comforted.

"Not beating you just shows it's still not enough." He Ying, who had never won once, said fiercely.

"Well, keep it up." Chen Mu said indifferently.

A cheerful meow came from outside the door, and then the sound gradually faded.

Chen Mu asked, "Has Du Jia Jia not gotten bored of playing yet?"

He Ying snorted: "How could it possibly get boring? You can go out for a stroll every day, or from a cat's perspective, you could play for a hundred years and still not get bored!"

"Does she still get dizzy?"

"It's said she's already gotten used to it, and now Xiao Bai can already run, and even climb over walls and burrow into the grass..."

"It's a pity we still can't control the route." Chen Mu interrupted.

"Hehe, that's true, but if we could do that, wouldn't it be going too far? What about others' livelihood?"

"That's right." Chen Mu smiled.

Du Jia Jia's ability is indeed enviable as of now; just this activity range far surpasses that of ordinary people. Because the time is still short, Dong Junwei still doesn't allow others to ride the cat bus, which makes Zhao Xiao Yan and others feel an unbearable itch.

He Ying was about to speak.

Just then, a string of bell sounds came from beside the door.