"Autopilot engaged for climb assistance," Zhou Yuxi said quietly, though her hands remained on the controls. "But I'll be flying manually until we clear the coastline. Too much risk of unexpected traffic or weather fronts."
The helicopter continued its ascent, the engines humming in a deep, steady rhythm that vibrated through the seats. As the ground lights fell away behind them, darkness swallowed the world below, an ocean of black interrupted only by the scattered constellations of distant city lights.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Not Ah Yu, who stared at the monitors with a mixture of awe and disbelief.
Not Chen Yue, whose military-trained eyes kept darting between Yuxi's hands and the instruments, recalibrating everything she thought she understood about this "young miss."
