Chapter 787 Heavenreacher
Henrietta and Astoria couldn't change the fact that they had indeed hooked up with Victoria's grandson and already felt awkward and embarrassed about it. As such, it would have been fine if Victoria had just been considerate about their feelings.
However, not only did Victoria not consider their feelings, she was even making fun of them for her own amusement, finding pleasure in their plight.
How could their pride accept that?
"Victoria, we indeed have a relationship with Vaan, but that also doesn't change the fact that we are your peers. Stop trying to climb two generations over our heads," Astoria said in a displeased tone.
"Hahaha, what's wrong with that? I am indeed two generations ahead of you two," Victoria chuckled and said, "I've already had children and grandchildren, while you two have none. My springtime is long gone, but yours have only just begun."
"You know, you two should be thanking me for having such an amazing grandson. Otherwise, who knows if you two will ever find a partner?"
"Still, who would have thought you two would end up with my grandson, of all people?" Victoria teased, poking at their weakness.
"Please give us some face, Victoria. You make it sound like such a bad thing," Henrietta retorted.
"It's not?" Victoria's eyes widened.
Henrietta immediately choked on her words, unable to reply. Astoria opened her mouth, but no words came out either.
"Don't get me wrong; I'm just asking – Isn't it bad that you two have guarded humanity but haven't participated in the effort to increase its dwindling population, given the low fertility rate?" Victoria explained before asking, "What did you think I meant?"
"Oh, I know, I know. You thought I implied it was bad to go after your friend's grandson, right?" Victoria chuckled slyly.
Henrietta and Astoria glared at the gleeful Victoria, who was acting shamelessly. Suddenly, they found her smug face quite punchable.
Astoria and Henrietta clenched their fists while trying to restrain the urge.
The only way to deal with shameless people was to be more shameless than them or just ignore them.
"Hmph!" Henrietta and Astoria both snorted before getting away from Victoria.
"Hahaha, where are you two going? Let me come with you. I'm not done yet," Victoria laughed as she tagged along, not letting them get away. "Let us talk more about my grandson. How was that butt squeeze? Did you like it?"
However, it also realized it was impractical—not because the theory was flawed, but because it would be wasteful. After all, the sheer amount of resources required to construct the space elevator was astronomical.
More importantly, it wouldn't last long.
The geographic changes brought by Pangea merging with Gehenna would, without doubt, compromise its structural integrity and stability. Once that happened, it was bound to fall apart and come crashing down on the growing city beneath it.
The potential losses weren't worth the investment.
As such, Vaan revised the project to a cost-effective space launcher that wouldn't be possible with just science.
"A space launcher?" Ophelia raised her eyebrow before expressing her interest, "I would like to hear more about it, Sir Vaan."
"Why don't I give you a tour of it while we're at it, Lady Ophelia?" Vaan suggested.
"That would be great."
"Alright."
Shortly after, they relocated to the foot of the 10,000-foot magic tower, which was also a space launcher. Its center was hollow, like the tube of a big cannon, and a huge bullet-shaped containment was fitted inside.
Although Vaan was surprised by the progress made in his absence, he explained, "This is the hard shell that will carry people into the sea of stars; it's currently designed with twenty-five passenger seats and a maximum cargo weight of fifty tons."
"This space launcher utilizes strong kinetic power to thrust the metal shell straight into the sea of stars. However, it's also because we are using such a straightforward method of transport that not anyone can use it for the time being."
"Unless one is Senior Witch, Aura Grandmaster, or someone trained to withstand 10g of force for twenty minutes, they will not be able to withstand the pressure of the launch," Vaan explained.
Of course, they were still working on the carrier's pressure-
cancellation system to negate all feelings of travel for the comfort of the passengers and for transporting more fragile objects into space.
But before that, there was also the black pillar, which would be great for training people to endure high pressure.
Nevertheless, Ophelia couldn't help but frown after listening to Vaan's explanation. It didn't seem plausible to her.