New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1046: Goodbye Korea

It wasn't long before the aircraft shook and the engines started roaring.

Over the intercom, Major Schrute's voice shattered the silence.

"The flight plan has been approved, and we are in luck, as no other planes are scheduled to leave for another thirty minutes. We were directed to take off right away. Start taking your seats and buckling in, ladies and gents."

Outside the windows, the hangar started moving around them as the plane slowly backed out of it, and the airfield came into view.

As far as size went, this airport would compare to most small-sized industrial airports but seemed like a dot on a map, compared to most cities' international airports.

But this worked in their favour.

Surprisingly, though, the strips looked practically brand new as they spotted them from a distance, making Alexander frown a little.

The smuggler saw his face from the corner of his eye and smirked.

"Thanks to our contributions, this airport has one of the best maintenance budgets in the country. Of course, it is strictly out of the selfish need for perfect landing strips. We sometimes get products that are incredibly fragile, and busted up landing strips are a hazard. "I know it makes for a stark contrast, as this airport seems like a dot in the middle of nowhere, but the government would never spit on the free injection of money into their infrastructure. Smugglers like me inject money into the budget every year, which makes their job easier," he explained, his face smug.

Alex looked at him, a deadpan expression in his eyes, and shrugged.

"I was just surprised by the quality of the maintenance. The reason why is so far on my need- to-know list that it doesn't even register. Keep your righteous sermons for yourself, Mr. Park," Alex retorted.

The smile on the smuggler's face disappeared, replaced by a pissed grimace.

"I am simply trying to entertain conversation, Mr. Leduc. If we keep having this attitude between us, this will be a long trip to Europe, you know?"

Alex scoffed.

"I don't know what universe you think you are in that I won't give you attitude for hijacking my aircraft for a smuggling run, but clearly, you're in the wrong one. This is an alliance of circumstance, and I don't intend to keep goodwill between us after.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Not making you an enemy is plenty enough, in my opinion. Don't push it, Mr. Park. I have a low tolerance for needy people," Alex warned him, returning to looking outside.

After a moment of silence, the smuggler replied in a neutral tone.

"Fine. Business only. As you wish. But don't hope for favours again in the future. My organization thought we could benefit from holding ties, but it seems you care little about benefits. Your loss," he said, swirling his champagne glass with a distant gaze.

Kary could tell he wasn't entirely done with harassing them, but Alex's tirade had greatly dampened his enthusiasm.

The aircraft reached the takeoff zone, and its engines started roaring with power, the Major waiting for her takeoff signal.

Once she was green-lit, her air brakes retracted instantly, and the plane jerked forward, its engines pushing it faster and faster across the perfectly flat asphalt. It didn't take long for their speed to reach lift-off velocity, and soon enough, the nose of the plane lifted, the thrust growing once more.

Supersonic planes were not that uncommon in airports anymore, and many private companies had them, which meant rules were already in place for their operation among other aircraft.

One of these rules was that the aircraft was forbidden to reach sonic boom speeds before they were at least ten thousand feet off the ground to prevent the sonic boom from shattering windows near the airport.

Usually, the pilots waited to be over the ten thousand mark before pushing their engines to the supersonic threshold, but Major Schrute was experimenting with something.

She wanted to see how fast she could make the plane reach the hallmark without breaching the wall of sound, so she pushed the plane to climb as fast as she could.

Monitoring the airspeed through her gauges, the woman kept adjusting her throttle, keeping her airspeed just below the speed of sound as the halo formed on the tip of her aircraft.

She reached the ten thousand foot hallmark, and not even ten feet later, a loud boom echoed around the aircraft as it pierced the speed of sound when she pushed the throttle to full.

In the passenger cabin, the boom was dulled by sound-dampening isolating materials, but they still heard it like a dull thud.

Alex was still looking out the window, and he could see cities below in the distance, making him figure out quite quickly that they were still relatively low for breaching the wall of sound.

Tapping a button on his armrest, which connected him to the cockpit, Alex waited for the light to flash green.

When it did, he spoke up.

"Major. Aren't we a little low for going this fast? Aren't there regulations for sonic travel over ground?" he asked, not wanting the Korean Air Force to intercept them for misconduct.

A small speaker over his head echoed the woman's voice as she replied with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"No, sir. The mark for supersonic travel is ten thousand feet. We breached the barrier at ten thousand and sixty-four feet. Everything was done by the book. We are under regulations, and they can't do anything about it but complain.

"Ahh. Speaking of complaining. Sir, I have to cut our chat short. The tower is contacting me. Schrute out."

Alex groaned annoyedly as the channel cut out, and his light flashed red twice before going

out.

"This woman is going to get us in trouble one day, I swear," he growled to himself.

"As long as she respects the rules, even if barely, the worst that can happen is that she'll get an earful from control towers. Have some faith in her, dear," Kary told him, caressing his

hand.

Alex looked at her, a smile forming on his lips, but he was still peeved that the woman was using their aircraft to experiment with shit that could put them in trouble.

'Ah, whatever. If it ever lands us in hot waters, I'll blame the entire thing on her and change pilots,' he mused.

It would be a loss of time to have to screen for a trustworthy pilot again and an even greater loss of time to have them understand the situation they landed themselves in, but he was willing to do that if it meant no one shat on their heads for mistakes that weren't theirs.

As the land below them grew more distant, Alex calmed down. There were no jets after them or signs of their aircraft heading back toward the ground, so he felt the weight of this part of the trip leave his shoulders.

As soon as the sign for seatbelts shut off, he unclipped himself from the seat and walked

toward the cabin.

"I'll be right back. I want to talk with the pilot."

Kary frowned at him but didn't keep him from going.

"Don't be too harsh on her. I'm sure she had her reasons, Alex."

He waved his hand at her dismissively from behind as he kept heading forward.

Not even bothering with knocking, he pushed open the piloting cabin's door and closed it

behind him.

"Somehow, I knew I would have a visit soon after closing the seatbelt lights. What can I do for you, sir?" Major Schrute asked, feigning an uppity mood.

Alex sat next to her, his face stern but not showing signs of anger.

"I don't appreciate that you are testing the boundaries of what you can do with this aircraft while we are inside it, Major. What if the Korean Air Force had gone after us? We are already wanted for questioning down there. Why taunt the devil?" he asked.

The Major looked at him; her face showing no remorse.

"Sir. With all due respect, even if you are paying me and the owner of this aircraft, when I am sitting behind this control panel, this baby is mine. I am not doing this for shits and giggles,

either.

"I am well aware of your situation, and this was part of the reason I tested the liftoff capabilities of the aircraft. Besides, the control tower only called to warn me that I was a little close to the mark for supersonic travel. No penalties were issued or threats made. Relax." Alex stared at her coldly, but he looked away, seeing she wasn't flinching.

"I hope your carefree attitude never lands us in trouble, Major. Because I won't hesitate to switch pilots if it does. Do you understand me?"

The Major's smile faded away, the threat hitting too close to home for her taste.

"Noted, sir. I'll be more careful in the future. Was that all?"

Alex looked ahead as the sun shone through the clouds from behind the aircraft and sighed.

"Yes. Take us to our destination safely. I'll ensure you get a bonus for your trouble with all the rearranging of the departure areas, Major. Just... Try to be more considerate of our situation

from now on."

The woman smiled at the mention of a bonus and saluted him.

"Aye aye, sir!"

Alex left the cockpit, returning to his seat with a tired expression.

As he walked to his seat, he noticed that a few of his friends had already slipped into

Morpheus's arms, and he smiled warmly at the sight.

'I guess we were all tired. The first leg of our flight might not be too long, but I'm sure the rest

will be welcome from everyone. I should rest too, but how can I, with this guy here?' he

mused, looking at the Korean man's head from behind.

'I guess it's time to see if the deep meditation Aberon taught me works, even in low-density

areas.'