Every evening, Afeng would go for a walk by the seashore.

On Jade Avenue there were many people.

But the coast on the outer side was more peaceful.

There, one could watch the sunset and feel the breeze, and though the perpetual fog-like Dead Sea was not far outside, he was not afraid.

Because Afeng had absolute confidence in the company, no monster dared peek out from the mist close to Jade City's area, those who tried in the past were obliterated into debris by Building No. 5, now the Guangna Species knew better.

He enjoyed walking on this avenue, where the majestic yet dangerous Dead Sea seemed to hold the secrets of all things in the world.

Walking beside the shore seemed to bring him closer to the answers.

Here, Afeng got to know Catch Horse.

Catch Horse was a 15-year-old young man with a big beard.

His reason was: "It makes me look more imposing. When I had no beard, everyone thought I was just some kid, easy to look down on."

Catch Horse worked in the delivery group next to Jade City, specifically responsible for rearing and training Scout Birds.

Afeng was an Insect Breeder at Wasteland Development Company, and he got along very well with Catch Horse; they often exchanged tips on how to feed, and how to discern the health of their charges through droppings, smell, and some subtle behaviors.

One day, Catch Horse showed Afeng something.

It was a triangular object made from burlap and thin wood sticks, Catch Horse pulled it with a string, and let it soar into the air with the wind, flying high.

"What is this?" Afeng asked.

"A Cloth Bird."

Catch Horse proudly said: "This is made based on bird shapes using fabric."

Afeng genuinely admired: "Impressive."

"Kidding. This is not something I invented, it's a toy from the age of gods. Legend has it that based on this kind of Cloth Bird, the gods and people of that era created various flying things together; aircraft with mechanic life, their prototype looked pretty much like this."

"I just modified it a bit, fashioned after the Thunder Beast."

Catch Horse pulled on the string in his hand and let out some more string, making the Cloth Bird fly even higher.

"Sometimes, I think, if the Cloth Bird had real wings, it might be able to fly continuously in the sky. Then, if we could also fly people up there, we could fly anywhere. There's no need to fear the Dead Sea at all."

"Let me tell you, I actually made a large Cloth Bird once, but the bigger it is, the harder it is to fly, too heavy. I even injured my legs and had to recover at home for two months."

Catch Horse rolled up his trouser leg, showing off his old scars on his knee and lower leg.

This reminded Afeng of something.

But, internal company matters couldn't be disclosed.

So, Afeng asked him, "Do you want to work with me?"

Catch Horse was immediately excited: "Does the company still need Insect Breeders? I can do that!"

In the Sand Port Region, being an employee of the company was a golden ticket.

High salary, good benefits, and ample vacation with five working days followed by two off.

Afeng said, "I'll apply and see if it works."

"It's up to you, buddy!"

It was springtime; the chairman was away on business, so Afeng approached Gong Zheng, who was in charge of internal company affairs.

"You want to find a helper?"

Gong Zheng was surprised: "Sure. The chairman had asked about your situation before, worried that you were too busy by yourself. How many people do you need?"

Afeng told him about Catch Horse.

"I'll check on this person."

The next day, Gong Zheng replied to him: "The person is fine. Afeng, as long as Catch Horse is willing, he is your assistant now."

"How much is the salary?"

"As for salary, it cannot be settled before the chairman returns. But it can be based on the average salary of Guangtai workers, I'll pay him monthly according to this standard for now. Once the chairman confirms, we'll adjust it, how about that?"

Gong Zheng also said: "I can't set your part now, you are a core senior employee, the chairman will finalize it with you upon his return."

Afeng nodded in agreement.

He personally didn't have much concern about the salary, as the company provided for all necessities and anything needed for breeding insects was readily available upon request. For Afeng, breeding insects was a pleasure in itself.

However, he knew, for most people, salary was the most vital aspect.

So, he needed to secure a definitive number for Catch Horse.

It turned out to be about 12,000 mushrooms a month.

Hearing this news, Catch Horse hugged Afeng excitedly: "Brother Feng, you are my big brother!! From now on, I'll follow you!"

After that, Afeng dared to tell him about the Spit Silk.

"You mean, you want to use that flying silk to make a man-carrying Cloth Bird?"

The bearded Catch Horse was shocked.

"But… Brother Feng, I was actually joking. It seems impossible. The silk is so thin, and people are so heavy, if I fall again, my legs might be gone."

He looked utterly dejected.

A Feng insisted, "I think your idea is great, you should try it first, don't give up before you even try."

"Okay..."

Seeing the magical creature Spit Silk and the threads floating in the Insect Breeding House, Zha Ma was amazed.

He tried to wrap the flight silk around the Wing Cloth, and the Wing Cloth floated and flew up immediately, leaving him dumbfounded.

Zha Ma began to draw dimensions on the burlap, making wooden bars to serve as the skeleton.

The transformation of the Wing Cloth was much more complicated than A Feng had anticipated.

Zha Ma explained to his big brother, "If it's going to carry people, it has to be large. Even if it can fly, we need to consider the control of flight direction, which will rely on manually operating the rear rudder and vertical tail."

"Then there's the landing issue, we need to install resistance boards and make a parachute out of burlap... However, the characteristics of flight silk make this difficult, we need to think of another way."

"In theory, flying silk and sails can solve it, but we still need to consider how to secure it, ensuring even distribution of flying force."

Although Zha Ma said it was impossible, his hands were never idle. He was busy every day drawing, cutting fabric, making skeletons, and paying great attention to every detail.

A Feng saw all these and thought to himself, Zha Ma is truly a genius.

He hadn't seen wrong.

While Zha Ma was busy making artificial birds, A Feng kept testing the performance of the flight silk.

In the past year, he mainly observed and bred Spit Silk, confirming various habits of this ancient creature.

Now, the size and weight ratio of the flight silk needed to be accurate, and the buoyancy of flight also had to be precisely quantified, as every centimeter of flight silk was very precious.

Throughout the spring, A Feng and Zha Ma were busy doing preliminary preparation work.

The Wing Cloth's solo test flight was very successful.

But carrying people and goods always involved various obstacles.

The wrapping method of flight silk had flaws, and controlling the direction of Wing Cloth was difficult after loading. Low altitude flight was okay, but once it was a bit higher off the ground, it would sway and lose balance.

A Feng and Zha Ma were tired every day solving new problems as they arose.

By summer, led by Team 703 of the company programmers, they quickly solved these series of problems through program simulations.

After simulating tens of thousands of times, the electromechanical programmer Walker provided the optimal dimensions and plans.

"Secure the flight silk; the plain weaving method is stable enough."

"Based on the test flyer Zha Ma's weight, the effective weaving area of the Wing Cloth is determined to be 20.352 square meters. If it's necessary to reduce altitude, this dimension can be further reduced."

"Here are the specific parameters..."

With the help of the programmers, the first man-carrying Wing Cloth—or rather, the fabric-made glider was finally born.

On the day of the test flight, it was originally A Feng who was going to fly, but Zha Ma said, "Brother Feng, I should be the one to do this. After all, I have flown before and know how to fall with lighter injuries. Trust the experience for things like this."

He secured himself to the glider, took a deep breath, "Big brother, I'm going."

Zha Ma released the weight-bearing device and piloted the fabric-made glider, leaping down from a small hill.

A Feng saw him take off immediately.

Although the triangular glider was only ten meters above the ground, it soared like a bird. Initially, the glider was a bit wobbly, but soon it became smooth and skilled.

Just like in the program simulation, the aircraft floated at a stable height, and the forward direction was controlled by Zha Ma as he circled using a sail-like structure.

The glider also had a long safety rope attached at the bottom, with the other end tied to a large rock.

By retrieving the safety rope, A Feng pulled Zha Ma back to the hill bit by bit.

After landing, the young man with a beard had his hair blown messy, but his eyes shone like rhombic stones: "Brother Feng, it flew, it really flew! So thrilling!!"

He laughed heartily in excitement.

"Let's do it again, one more time."

"..."

A Feng and Zha Ma kept performing flight tests together, correcting various issues during flight.

Due to the buoyant capability of Light Silk, the glider only needed to consider direction and speed. Theoretically, within a certain height range, the higher the flight altitude, the lower the resistance.

However, the higher the altitude, another problem arises—the maneuverability and controllability weaken, making it harder to control.

The recommendation by electromechanical programmer Walker was: "It's best to keep the altitude between 100 and 500 meters to balance obstacle avoidance and maneuverability, as the strength of the burlap material is insufficient; do not exceed 800 meters."

Another issue was safety, which A Feng cared most about.

But Walker reassured, "No need to worry.

"Flight silk itself is a natural buoyant tool. Just a slight improvement in the weaving structure... like this."

A special weaving design diagram appeared on the screen of the electromechanical programmer.

"Even if the glider loses balance, the flight silk itself connected to the pilot can maintain buoyancy, waiting for rescue."

Zha Ma was impressed, "Programmers are really incredible... if we were to think of this, it might take many years of testing to possibly get it right."

"Perfection of applied technology can be achieved just by time and computing power accumulation. Your creativity is the core competitive power."

Walker said, "The fabric-made glider is cheap to produce; as long as there is enough flight silk, a lot of low-cost flying devices can be made. Once it can be popularized, this technology will also develop rapidly."

In subsequent test flights, A Feng and Zha Ma operated more and more adeptly; they even circled over Dead Sea a few times.

The latest flight completed a full glide around the Sand Port Region.

Only then did A Feng dash to 3101, excited to report the good news to Chairman Zhou Yi.

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