I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

Chapter 103: Black Technology, the Aerial Airship Thıs text ıs hosted at novel·fiɾe·net

The two of them rode a small vehicle to a massive warehouse nestled within a valley. Why was it called massive?

Because it completely filled the valley floor, and its gate was set right at the valley’s mouth.

As layer upon layer of gates opened and closed, once they stepped inside, the usually nonchalant Aisha widened her eyes at the colossal object towering before her—so tall she could not even see its top.

“Seris airship. Total length: 128 meters. Fully rigid framework. Internally filled with seven helium balloons, each with a diameter of fifteen meters. Four on the top, six four-cylinder magitech engines below, all capable of 365° rotation. Speed: sixty kilometers per hour. Flight altitude: forty-five hundred meters. Payload: twenty-two tons.”

Mitia clasped her hands behind her back and stood directly beneath the airship, her gaze burning with excitement as she looked up at the machine whose top was lost to sight. Compared to this, those propeller-driven fighters were utterly insignificant.

Reality was truly magical. At the same level of technology, airplanes could only manage biplane propellers—but once the thinking shifted toward airships, the technical difficulty suddenly became about the same.

After all, for rudders and flight control systems, airships and airplanes shared similar principles; the only difference was that airships relied on steel cables for transmission.

Where lay the challenge of airships?

Aerodynamic shape?

In the early stages of airship development, many accidents had occurred before the olive-shaped design was finally adopted. Likewise, the use of gasbags evolved only after countless tests into modular, independent compartments.

Fire and explosions?

Hydrogen, which was prone to ignition, had been the primary cause of fire-related disasters. Helium was far safer and more efficient—but in her previous world, helium was prohibitively expensive, and few nations could afford to use it for airships.

But she did not care! In this world, she could use as much helium as she wanted.

Helium could be extracted from natural gas. Because of its low reactivity, when other gases condensed into liquids during cooling, helium remained gaseous—thus achieving preliminary separation.

Further purification required secondary processing using activated carbon, after which it was ready for use.

A service ceiling of nearly five thousand meters made the airship invincible in the skies. Forget ordinary mages—even she herself could only stare helplessly from the ground if faced with such a height.

Though composed of gasbags, the external metal framework and distributed compartments meant that even large-caliber heavy machine gun fire could hardly harm it.

To destroy it with a single blow, one would at least need to be of Saint-level or higher.

And this version, over a hundred meters long, was merely the prototype. Once proven feasible, its diameter could be doubled—and doubled again, and again!

Airships differed from airplanes—they followed the design philosophy of ships. Theoretically, as long as the structure did not reach its limit, the larger it was, the more economical it became. According to calculations, diameters of up to five hundred meters remained safe.

“How about it? Want to go up and have a ride?”

Aisha swallowed hard. ‘This… this thing can move?’

“Nonsense!”

Mitia rolled her eyes. “Of course it can! I brought you here because it’s making its maiden flight. Why else would I bring you if it couldn’t move?”

Since it used helium instead of hydrogen, there was no explosion risk. Having seen similar machines in her previous life, Mitia had no fear of this giant—only excitement.

The only pity was that airships required favorable weather; strong winds or thunderstorms made takeoff unsuitable, and sudden crosswinds could easily disrupt flight stability.

As the test-flight crew boarded and entered the cockpit and engine room, the two of them also boarded the airship.

At the moment, it hovered two meters above the ground, gravity and buoyancy balanced.

When the warehouse roof opened under hydraulic power, large amounts of ballast water were released. The four middle propellers tilted upward, and the airship began to rise slowly, floating free of the warehouse.

The ascent went perfectly—today’s clear weather left no unexpected troubles.

When it reached the target altitude of forty-five hundred meters, the airship remained stable.

In fact, it was designed for around five thousand meters, but there was no need to push the limit—anything above two thousand meters was already beyond most’s reach.

Aisha curiously watched the massive vessel in operation, her face full of disbelief.

As a Dragon Girl, she could fly—and to such heights as well—but she had never imagined that a group of beings with so little magic, and lives so laughably short, could create something so miraculous.

Hearing the cheers from the cockpit and engine room, then looking out at the sea of clouds, Aisha finally murmured, ‘Truly incredible…’

“Imagine using this as an aerial mobile warehouse—loaded with bombs to drop on the enemy’s head. What do you think?” Mitia suddenly said, crossing her arms.

‘…That idea is rather wicked!’

‘But it’s indeed very practical. No weapon or person could reach this altitude. Even for me, this height is unpleasant—too much mana consumption, not worth it.’

‘But how do you make it descend?’

“Uh… that part’s a bit slow… You have to pressurize the inner sub-balloons with compressed air to increase density, plus reverse the propellers for downward thrust. Overall, it consumes quite a bit.”

Mitia scratched her head. Descent had been a tricky problem even in her previous world—ascending and moving were simple, but descending efficiently was difficult.

After all, going up only required releasing water—but going down… Wait! To go down, you just add water!

Mitia slapped her smooth forehead, nearly crying from her own stupidity. Technology couldn’t conjure water out of thin air—but magic could!

So she rushed out excitedly.

However, since the ballast water intake was on the outside, she returned looking dejected—not having considered an internal water-adding mechanism.

After nearly half an hour, the airship finally descended slowly to the designated altitude.

Once on the ground, Mitia immediately reported the issue to the designers, who also slapped their bald heads in realization.

Since the basic design came from Mitia herself, they had developed an almost blind dependence on their all-knowing Empress, neglecting to think of improvements—an oversight on their part.

The ballast water problem was easily solvable: simply install a crystal matrix inside the cabin and activate it to generate water with water-elemental magic when landing. No difficulty at all.

Though mildly embarrassing, overall the flight had been a perfect experience.

Clearly, with the help of magic, the potential of airships in this world far surpassed those of her previous life.

Not only militarily, but also for civilian use, it marked a great leap forward.

With magic assistance, airships could reduce fuel consumption when descending, lowering operational costs even further.

After all, both the air compressors and six engines were fuel-hungry at full power. With this new method, manufacturing and operational expenses would plummet dramatically.

It could carry shells and bombs for airstrikes, but also lift heavy cargo—or even passengers.

Airfields required little more than a flat patch of land for landing, leaving only a puddle of water afterward—without even causing pollution.

Thus, one could foresee that in the near future, the skies above the Seris Federation would be filled with these giants drifting majestically.