"It's based on the principle of magnetic levitation." Sitting on the plane, Shi Gaofei's tone was calm—no, not calm. In Chen Xiao's view, this mad scientist even looked at the aircraft with a critical eye, as if he had some dissatisfaction: "Magnetic levitation… well, let me explain it this way. This thing doesn't fly using the thrust of a traditional engine-powered aircraft, but… well, it uses the Earth's magnetic field. Uh, do you understand? We can think of the Earth's magnetic field as a large ski slope. We use special equipment to create a substance that separates from the Earth's magnetic field, and then let this thing 'glide' on the magnetic field. Of course, the gliding speed is extremely fast."
"How fast?" On the plane, Zhang Xiaotao, Bai Cai, and the others, being more like ordinary people, were extremely curious about everything that happened.
"How fast? A conservative estimate is more than three times that of a regular airplane, anyway, it's a supersonic thing." Shi Gaofei lowered his voice as he said this: "It was a small project I participated in the research and development of four years ago."
At this point, everyone on the plane, except for Lao Tian and the others, looked at Shi Gaofei with a mixture of fear and respect.
But Edward, sitting in the front row, turned around at an inopportune moment and said coldly, "You forgot to mention... this is a money-wasting project that you participated in researching, a real piece of junk."
Garbage products?
The young people, except for Phoenix, all stared wide-eyed!
This kind of aircraft, which only appears in Hollywood science fiction movies, is actually called junk?!
Shi Gaofei seemed a little embarrassed, but finally told the truth: "Uh... in a way, it really is garbage. It was a project we did in collaboration with NASA back then, hoping to develop a new type of spacecraft that was fast and suitable for the future space age."
Unfortunately... although this thing flies very fast, it's not of much value.
"Why?" the young people asked in unison.
"Because of its power limitations." The answer came from Phoenix, who was clearly in the know. She smiled at Skofei: "This kind of spacecraft glides by utilizing the repulsion between itself and Earth's magnetic field. In other words, once it leaves Earth's magnetic field, it's useless… It can only be used on Earth! It's not suitable for the future space age." Phoenix turned back and winked at Skofei, who was sitting behind her: "I've heard rumors, Mr. Skofei, that you used this project to swindle over a hundred billion dollars in research and development funds from NASA."
Shi Gaofei seemed embarrassed and angry, as if his secret had been exposed: "Hey, at least this thing does fly very fast, and its stealth function is also very complete."
“Yes,” Edward said coldly. “Basically, it’s an upgraded version of a stealth aircraft, and of course, it’s much faster… Unfortunately, it costs more than forty times more than the most advanced stealth fighter! NASA spent a year of its research and development budget on it and even suspended several other promising projects. In the end, they developed something that has little practical value. Most importantly, even on Earth, this super-expensive aircraft is unlikely to be suitable for military applications.”
"Why?" Chen Xiao asked, somewhat puzzled. "It's fast, and it can become perfectly invisible..."
"It's simple... because it can't carry any external weapons." Shi Gaofei explained it himself: "It can't be used as a fighter jet... the cannons or missiles mounted on fighter jets can't be used. Because firing a cannon or a missile generates high temperatures during the launch process. And high temperatures affect its ability to glide against the Earth's magnetic field... Without the repulsion from the Earth's magnetic field, then..."
Chen Xiao understood.
“Yes, we should thank Mr. Scofield.” Edward smiled wryly: “We spent hundreds of billions of dollars to develop a super-fast aircraft, but it can only be used as a transport aircraft, and a small one at that.”
He paused, glanced at the instruments in front of him, and then shouted, "Alright, we've arrived! Coordinates... 40.749915°W, 73.967428°N... Coordinates established... Everyone fasten your seatbelts. During the rapid descent, you'll experience some weightlessness and discomfort... Hehe, everyone, we're now over New York City. Ready? We're descending!"
As Edward finished speaking, the entire aircraft swayed slightly, and everyone felt a strange gravity. Everyone felt their bodies suddenly slammed upwards; if it weren't for the seatbelts, they would probably have crashed directly into the ceiling.
It was like an elevator rapidly descending; the feeling of weightlessness was many times stronger. People with slightly weaker constitutions, like Shi Gaofei, turned pale and almost vomited.
Two minutes later, the shaking stopped, and everyone looked out the window…
United States! New York! East Manhattan! Hudson River!
The aircraft seemed to be hovering on top of a building, with other tall buildings on both sides. Through the window, Chen Xiao could even see clerks from some institutions or companies working in the windows of other tall buildings in the distance. Looking down, the streets of Manhattan were as bustling as a scene from a movie!
More importantly, this aircraft has maintained its stealth capabilities!
This is truly perfect stealth! Arriving on American soil, the US air defense system remained completely unaware! An aircraft silently and without alerting anyone, quietly "intruded" into the world's largest and most prosperous city!
To be precise, they infiltrated the largest organization on Earth!
Longitude 40.749915, Latitude 73.967428, Hudson River, Manhattan, New York, USA...
The location of the United Nations Headquarters!!
"Won't anyone notice our arrival?" Chen Xiao wondered.
“Unless you leave the aircraft now.” Shi Gaofei said with some pride, “After all, it’s a product developed for over a hundred billion US dollars, and I, Shi Gaofei, personally participated in the development process… Its stealth function is perfect! No country’s military radar, detection satellites, etc., can detect its existence… and of course, it can’t be seen with the naked eye!”
“An extremely expensive toy,” Edward concluded, pointing out the window to his left. “Look closely, ladies and gentlemen, this is our target… the United Nations Headquarters! The Conference Building!! In three days, a routine meeting will be held here, and at this meeting, a bill that will affect the entire world will be voted on and passed!!”
Chen Xiao squinted at the building not far away, and the flags of various countries hanging on the row of flagpoles below...
He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then sighed: "Your request is for us... to prevent this bill from being passed?"
Snap!
Edward tossed a stack of documents into Chen Xiao's arms, then tossed one to each of Lao Tian and the others.
"This is a file copy."
Chen Xiao opened it and took a look.
This document is available in multiple languages, including Chinese, English, and French.
The content, however, left everyone with somewhat strange expressions.
Bill on the Global Application of Privileges Law for Special Human Groups
"Simply put, once this bill is passed, all the superpowered individuals in the world will officially step out from behind the scenes and into the limelight. At the same time, superpowered individuals will be officially 'categorized' as outside the human category! As you can see, the document uses the term 'special human group,' meaning that the passage of this bill will make all superpowered individuals no longer considered human! But rather a special human group! More importantly, this bill specifies certain privileges! For example, once recognized as a special human group, they will enjoy privileges that exceed the ordinary scope of society, such as priority in education, priority access to resources, and even... a considerable number of legal exemptions!"
Zhu Rong whistled: "Sounds good! From now on, all those with superpowers will enjoy special privileges, including us."
Edward's face was filled with deep mockery: "No, quite the opposite, this will be a disaster!"
Chapter 286 of the main text: [Crazy New York City]
"Enjoying privileges quietly is one thing, but flaunting it so that everyone knows about it is another," Edward sneered. "I admit that a privileged class exists in this world... but at least on the paper of the law, a privileged class does not exist! Whether in the East or the West, we have long entered civilized society, and the spirit of equality for all is clearly stated in the social frameworks and laws of every country! This is the most basic symbol of civilization! Power and privilege should always be hidden behind the scenes. But suddenly they want to jump to the forefront... Don't you think this is a disaster?"
Chen Xiao and the others exchanged glances...
When a person with superpowers can openly and legally commit crimes or violence in the streets without being bound by the law, and is identified as having superpowers from birth... then they receive special privileges in both their life and education...
Will this create a truly privileged class?
Given the wisdom and public sentiment of modern society, would people tolerate such a situation?