The Empress's breathing suddenly quickened.
She then ordered the hot air balloon to be brought down and summoned five eunuchs to serve as test subjects.
The chosen eunuchs all wore crestfallen faces, believing this was a sure path to death.
The hot air balloon could fly so high, and without any martial arts skills, a fall would leave no chance for rescue!
But they had no choice but to obey the Empress's command, and they climbed into the hot air balloon with trembling legs.
"Your Majesty, allow me to try," Chu Chen stepped forward. "After all, this is something I created, and I should be the first to test it."
"Think carefully," the Empress reminded him kindly. "If you fall, no one can save you."
"But..."
Chu Chen still tried to argue.
He was confident his hot air balloon would be fine, but the Empress's disregard for human life made him deeply uncomfortable.
Logically, live animals should be experimented on multiple times to ensure safety before human trials.
Yet, without any prior testing, they were proceeding with human trials, and with five people at that. It was utterly absurd.
But the Empress gave Chu Chen no chance to explain. She directly ordered him to be held down, and then mercilessly released the hot air balloon.
"As long as you don't move around, nothing will happen," Chu Chen sighed helplessly, chasing after the released balloon and giving the eunuchs instructions.
As the heat intensified, the hot air balloon slowly ascended to a height of ten meters.
This height was manageable, not so high as to make standing difficult. It was about the height of three stories.
Just as the eunuchs' expressions began to ease slightly, the Empress directly ordered the ropes holding the hot air balloon to be cut. The balloon was then set free.
Immediately, everyone present heard a pig-like scream of agony.
In just a few minutes, the hot air balloon reached an altitude of a thousand meters.
By Chu Chen's estimation, this was far from the balloon's limit. Without the constraint of the ropes, it could fly at least fifteen hundred meters.
Chu Chen sighed helplessly, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
No matter how much the Empress loved her people, in times of crisis, a few lives meant little to her.
Today, she could disregard the lives of a few eunuchs for the sake of the hot air balloon; tomorrow, she might disregard Chu Chen's life for a greater, irresistible gain.
Chu Chen's concern for the eunuchs was not pretense or sentimentality, but a genuine concern for his own life.
If he didn't want his fate dictated by others, Chu Chen had to become stronger, strong enough that no one could control his decisions or his life.
Before long, the hot air balloon became a tiny black speck in everyone's eyes.
Chu Chen had roughly calculated that the fuel in the hot air balloon would last for about fifteen minutes.
As the heat decreased, the hot air balloon would slowly descend.
When the flames extinguished, the balloon wouldn't plummet but would gradually descend as the air inside cooled.
Fifteen minutes later, the crowd saw the hot air balloon slowly descending.
Fortunately, there was no strong wind that day, and the hot air balloon didn't even fly out of the palace grounds.
As the hot air balloon landed, the five eunuchs scrambled out, then collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, too stunned to move.
After confirming they were unharmed, the Empress looked at Chu Chen with a complex expression.
"You have given me another great gift."
"This is all I should do, Your Majesty," Chu Chen bowed his head.
"So, it's safe now, right? Can I try riding it?" Princess Xin Yue exclaimed excitedly.
She had been watching with great anticipation.
With the Empress's permission, Princess Xin Yue jumped into the basket with enthusiasm.
As a precaution, Chu Chen still had ropes attached, to prevent the hot air balloon from flying too high or too far.
Princess Xin Yue was naturally displeased.
She wanted the feeling of freedom, not to be tethered by ropes and only fly at a low altitude.
But under the Empress's stern gaze, she had to compromise.
Yet, even at only a dozen meters, it was thrilling enough for Princess Xin Yue.
As they ascended, she began to shout with joy.
Soon, however, she grew dissatisfied with such a low altitude.
Taking advantage of the distraction, she secretly untied the ropes attached to the basket.
With a cheerful cry, Princess Xin Yue, now unrestrained, ascended rapidly.
Chu Chen, flying up with her, let out a wry smile.
"Your Highness, you've gotten us into serious trouble!"
"What does it matter!" Princess Xin Yue laughed heartily. "At worst, Mother will scold me!"
Looking at the shrinking crowd below, Princess Xin Yue, overcome with excitement, hugged Chu Chen.
"Look, look! The people below are so small, like rabbits!"
Feeling the softness against his chest, Chu Chen's expression turned peculiar.
"Your Highness, please mind your decorum..."
"I don't care, why should you, a little eunuch, care?" Princess Xin Yue said dismissively.
"It's so high..." Princess Xin Yue sighed. "But it's so far, I can't see anything clearly."
She shielded her eyes and looked into the distance.
"So this is what it feels like to look down from this height..."
Hearing her, Chu Chen also looked around.
After carefully observing the surrounding scenery, Chu Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The horizon was curved, indicating that the ground beneath them was indeed a planet. This meant much of his knowledge from his previous life would still be applicable in this world.
After all, he had experienced transmigration and this world had cultivators. Who could guarantee that the ground beneath his feet was still a planet?
What if it was a flat earth?
Since it was a planet, and many physical phenomena were still valid here, it meant this world was largely similar in composition to his previous one.
As long as the physics and chemistry knowledge from his past life remained applicable, Chu Chen could use this knowledge to build his capital.
Combined with his excellent management skills and the existence of the Life Simulator, Chu Chen believed that within a year, or at most three, he could control his own destiny.
Lost in thought, the fuel in the hot air balloon was depleted, and Chu Chen and Princess Xin Yue began their descent.
As soon as they landed, Chu Chen saw the Empress's extremely displeased expression.
Princess Xin Yue stuck out her tongue and quickly ran to the Empress, hugging her shoulders.
"Mother, please don't be angry."