Genius Club-Chapter 283 - 7 High Altitude Fall_2

The hot air balloon rose at a speed slightly faster than Lin Xian had anticipated, and it was still picking up pace.

With the increase in altitude,

the wind also grew stronger, blowing the helium balloon further from Sky City.

This was the wind direction predicted from the beginning.

The invasion of Sky City was not an operation that could be carried out every day.

Weather and wind direction were crucial.

It didn’t matter if the hot air balloon drifted a bit away from Sky City; they just needed to glide horizontally a little longer when the time came.

But if the wind blew the hot air balloon towards Sky City...

they’d likely hit the airspace defense laser zone before reaching a safe altitude, resulting in instant defeat.

Gradually,

Lin Xian sat in the rising hot air balloon, going higher and higher.

The crowd on the ground turned into a tiny bright spot.

The air became cold and biting, with frost beginning to form on the helmet’s visor.

Luckily, both Lin Xian and Ah Zhuang had oxygen tanks on their backs, and their space suits were sealed, so there were no issues with internal air pressure or oxygen levels, and the temperature didn’t feel particularly noticeable.

The view from a rising hot air balloon wasn’t much different from that in an airplane.

There was a time when both would enter the clouds, surrounded by thick mist, with nothing clear to see around or below.

But once they reached a certain altitude, their field of vision would suddenly expand, with the cloud layers below becoming distinct, and the lights on the ground visible.

Lin Xian glanced at the altimeter beside him.

The current altitude was already 15,000 meters.

The temperature was minus 37 degrees Celsius.

Looking up... the sky was a hazy gray, the moonlight bright, showing there were still some sparse clouds above.

Lin Xian had heard that from altitudes exceeding 30,000 meters, one could look up and see the pitch-black space.

He had his doubts about this.

After all, an altitude of over 30,000 meters was still just within the stratosphere of the atmosphere, far from space.

But... facts speak louder than words.

He had seen many extreme sports videos, including high-altitude skydives from over 30,000 meters; the helium balloon would be ascending during the sunny daylight, but once the altitude hit 30,000 meters, the background indeed turned into the dark void of space.

Was it because the atmosphere was too thin?

Lin Xian hadn’t studied it in detail.

Given the chance, he would genuinely like to stand at an altitude of over 30,000 meters, look up at the cosmos, and see whether one could really see the curvature of Earth’s outline and the pitch-black space.

Before long,

the altimeter indicated that the helium balloon had reached an altitude of 17,000 meters.

At this height, they had surpassed the flying altitude of all commercial airliners; the temperature was nearing minus 50 degrees Celsius, with the atmospheric pressure reduced to one-tenth that at the Earth’s surface.

No life on Earth could survive at this altitude; it was a forbidden zone for life.

Temperature aside, just breathing normally was a luxury.

Above their heads, despite Ah Zhuang constantly releasing gas from the helium balloon, it had still expanded to a terrifyingly enormous size.

Air pressure, something one would hardly ever be conscious of in daily life, could in certain circumstances easily become a force capable of destroying life.

Finally!

The altitude rose to nearly 20,000 meters!

Ah Zhuang tapped Lin Xian’s helmet, signaling him to look down—

The glittering Rhine Sky City lay spread out below, in clear view.

This was truly an advanced city...

The flow of vehicles transformed into extending lines of light, like shuttle fireflies flitting up and down across the city.

Following Ah Zhuang’s instructions, Lin Xian locked onto the position of the central square.

It’s... too small...

Looking down from an altitude of 20,000 meters, the lights of the square were no bigger than a fingernail, but at least there was a reference point for flying direction.

Lin Xian responded to Ah Zhuang with a clear hand signal.

After that, Ah Zhuang gestured to Lin Xian and took a leap!

Whoosh!

Under the influence of gravity, Ah Zhuang began to free fall. He had clearly practiced a lot before, as he stabilized his posture almost instantly, spread out his body, and began to glide forward, opening up a distance of hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye.

Lin Xian promptly followed, leaping forth!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The biting wind whizzed past.

After a brief sensation of weightlessness, the air resistance brought a lifting force and friction, giving Lin Xian a sense of being pushed upward.

He didn’t immediately adopt the same sprawling position as Ah Zhuang, but instead kept diving in a head-first posture, accelerating his descent.

He planned to catch up to Ah Zhuang’s altitude first and then maintain a certain distance behind him.

Lin Xian’s wingsuit flying skills were certainly proficient.

A free-controlled glide like this in terms of posture and velocity was just the basics.

Galileo conducted an experiment atop the Tower of Pisa, dropping two balls of unequal mass at the same time, and they landed simultaneously, thus refuting Aristotle’s theory.

So...

Many might suspect that in a free-fall scenario, a person who jumps out of the plane later cannot catch up with one who jumped earlier.

But this theory is incorrect.

Anyone who engages in extreme sports knows that a person is not like a metal ball; different body positions can greatly affect the falling speed.

Moreover... as air resistance increases with falling velocity, a person falling from high altitude will eventually reach a mechanical equilibrium, transitioning from accelerating fall to uniform velocity fall, and the speed will not increase further.

This final velocity is known as the "terminal velocity."

Generally, the terminal velocity for an average-weight female is about 50 meters per second, while for an average-weight male it’s about 90 meters per second.

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

That’s right.

Though it might seem counterintuitive.

But in fact, a heavier person’s final falling speed is indeed much faster than that of a lighter person.

And with the utmost graceful posture and perfect conditions, the terminal velocity of a human in free fall can even reach more than 300 meters per second.

Very fast.

Lin Xian had quickly reached the falling height and speed of Ah Zhuang, who had jumped earlier, and the two kept a fixed distance between them as they rapidly descended, falling toward the square in the Northwest District of Rhine Sky City.

Getting closer.

Nearer!

Frost began to form on the goggles.

Even through the helmet, the howling of the wind during a high-speed fall could still be felt!

Although they were still tens of thousands of meters from the ground of Sky City, the approach speed in their rapid descent was still quite nerve-wracking.

Soon... the "prize draw" would commence.

Deliberately, Lin Xian veered toward the right side of the square. He planned to start searching for the invisible security net "gap" from the right side to the left.

If he died in battle this time, then when coming back tomorrow, he would lean a bit to the left; if he still died, then the day after, he would lean further to the left...

Eliminating possibilities bit by bit, he would eventually find the correct gap.

Through the astronaut helmet, Lin Xian stared at Rhine Sky City, rapidly coming into view.

What exactly was hidden here?