Sky-cracking Rider

After handling business with the Combat Flight Squadron, Pu Aihua took a long detour, and when he approached this rookie, a few guys from the squadron started betting secretly whether the rookie would be fooled by Pu into losing his bearings and honestly coughing up the money.

But nobody expected that Chen Fei was actually destitute, a true millionaire in debt, who traveled thousands of miles to the Aircrew Base 911 to work off his debts and had no spare money to waste.

No matter how persuasively the shrewd Pu Aihua talked until his mouth was dry, this guy remained as stingy as a steel rooster, not willing to part with a single cent.

Having no other choice, Pu Aihua had to bluff, unwilling to give up the loli without catching the pervert, presented a bird's nest and eggs he picked up somewhere, pretended they were Magical Beast Eggs, and gave them away in a strategic retreat to cunningly obtain a favor from the inexperienced Chen Fei.

Sometimes, a favor is like an ant hole in a dike, which once it becomes a breakthrough, can lead to an uncontrollable situation.

Being a college graduate after all, Chen Fei was no fool, just inexperienced. After someone pointed it out, he finally realized.

Damn, he had been schemed against again, the cunning merchant!

Seeing Chen Fei's bewildered face, the pilots burst into schadenfreude laughter, the long-awaited fun finally began.

Every rookie arriving at the Aircrew Base 911 always got into various embarrassments, which was the most relished topic among all the old birds.

Fortunately, he had not really paid any money. Chen Fei forced a smile, shook his head, set aside the box containing the bird's nest, and picked up the "Big Mouth Monster" manual again to thoroughly understand its content.

If he couldn't grasp the technical details of the A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" Light Turboprop Attack Aircraft, merely using the basic functions of "Sky Eye Cloud Inspection" wouldn't be enough. Undoubtedly, the towering Chief Mechanic Xiao would demand higher standards from him.

Chen Fei's idea was undoubtedly correct.

To stay in the mechanics team, like everyone else, he had to understand these airplanes thoroughly. With Chief Mechanic Xiao's temperament not tolerating any imperfections, mere entry-level skills had no place here.

Occasionally glancing over, Xiao Ming saw Chen Fei still burying his head in diligent study and couldn't help but nod in approval.

Although he was a rookie, at least he had some ambition; leading him would be somewhat easier.

Just as Xiao Ming was about to lower his head and continue his work, a shrill alarm suddenly rang in his ears.

At the top of the two hangars, multiple red lights flashed continuously.

Chief Mechanic Xiao Ming shouted without hesitation, "First Level Combat Readiness! Attention everyone, first level combat readiness, activate Hangar 2!"

He was deeply alarmed, wondering what had happened that had triggered such a rare red alert at Aircrew Base 911.

Hangar 2 housed the treasures of Aircrew Base 911, including two U.S.-made MiG-28 jets which, after removing the dust covers and conducting a brief inspection, could enter the combat preparedness program. They could soar into the blue skies in no time, even faster than the "Big Mouth Monsters" in Hangar 1.

The era when sovereign nations rolled up their sleeves and personally entered into ghastly combat, leaving corpses everywhere and rivers of blood, had long since passed.

The proxy wars that had roared for half a century also came to a close after knocking brains out.

The never-ending strife among the human civilizations of the Blue Star Realm took a new turn in the present war scenario, with private military contractors becoming major players in military conflicts around the world.

It was essentially like a boss pulling out a phone, making a payment, and immediately some areas exploded into war, with countless steel and concrete turning to dust, ending with a positive review... This form of APP warfare, social opinion also weakened due to the difficulty in pinpointing culprits.

Cases of mistaken targets were common, and sometimes it was utterly impossible to find out who was behind it, perhaps even a dog—who the hell knew?!

Despite the "the bolder one is, the larger the war" responsibility system of military contracts being adhered to, private military contractors could never obtain sovereignty-level active equipment regardless of circumstances. The technology gap was mandatory, and the chess players would not allow controlled opposition to spiral out of control.

Thus, it was predetermined that the scale and intensity of wars would not escalate too much, with banned superweapons like ton-level thermobaric bombs, cluster bomblets, electromagnetic railguns, particle beams, and other directed-energy and nuclear weapons never appearing on battlefields.

Being able to procure resuming production of previous-generation military equipment like the MiG-28 indicated considerable influence and deep connections.

The mechanics team began wrapping up their operational process. The six A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" Light Turboprop Attack Aircraft stationed in Hangar 1 were in good shape, consistently maintained and even minor issues wouldn't affect flight safety, making them easy to handle.

The inspection procedure took up most of the work time, requiring patient meticulousness, but if the fighter jets needed to be deployed urgently, they could be made ready in just a few moments.

The two precious aircraft in Hangar 2 swiftly undressed, joining the six "Big Mouth Monsters" in allowing the long-standing standby fuel and weapons crews to swarm over them, refueling, pressurizing, and loading ammunition, all bustling and rushing about.

It wasn't just the maintenance team on standby daily in the hangar, but several ground crews related directly to the fighter jets also remained stationed there. The Combat Flight Squadron always arranged for people to rotate shifts, not leaving the base even when there were no flying orders, just in case of any emergencies where someone needed to be found immediately.

The loudspeaker inside the hangar continuously broadcasted the coordinated announcements from various units of Aircrew Base 911.

nearly two hundred people dedicated their service exclusively to one Combat Flight Squadron, which included two American-made MiG-28 Jet Fighters, six A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" light turboprop attack aircraft and two Z-9 armed helicopters tasked with scavenging.

"Weather report: clear skies with an effective visibility of 11.3 kilometers, current ground temperature 23 degrees Celsius, wind direction 281, wind speed 3 knots, air pressure 29.5."

"Ground crew report, takeoff and landing runway open."

"Communications report: communications channels are normal, free from interference, a dedicated encrypted channel has been established to guarantee security."

"Control tower report, combat command system linked to standard data chain, confirming mission information."

"Radar team reports, unidentified flying object detected, bearing 117, 160 kilometers away, altitude 6800 meters, quantity one, speed 1.5 Mach; electromagnetic feedback strong, clutter traits excluded, database identifies it as a Metallic Dragon, confirming mission target."

"Security team report, all personnel in position, First-Level Combat Readiness."

"Anti-air group report, anti-aircraft machine gun positions ready, anti-air missile readiness countdown one minute."

"Ammunition crew report, requesting authorization to activate 'Dragon Slayer Missiles,' quantity ten."

"Fourth station crew report, operations complete, beginning withdrawal."

"Tractor crew report, tow tractor entering the operational area."

"Search and rescue team report, ready to deploy at any time."

"I am the executive manager of Aircrew Base 911, Morris Morgan. This is a fight for all of us. For the bonus, please give it your all, fight!"

Talking about ideals, sentiments, or the future with workers is nonsense; talking about money is the real deal.

Taking down a Metallic Dragon not only provides the mission bonus but also its intrinsic value. Just thinking about it is enough to suppress the overwhelming excitement of becoming rich.

Immediately, the morale surged throughout the entire base, with each unit operating systematically and without panic, running the emergency combat procedures smoothly.

Is the battle going to start now?

The newbie Chen Fei felt extremely nervous; having just arrived, he was about to enter into combat, and against the ferocious Metallic Dragon at that—damn, this place is truly cursed!

The biology knowledge of Cangqiong Realm had long been included in the elementary school textbooks of Blue Star Realm; no one was unaware of the Dragon Race and Magical Beasts.

"Are you all prepared? Ugh! Comrade Chekhov is already starving for action! Ugh! Hoorah! Ugh..."

The loud voice of Chekhov Leonidovich Ivanov, the commander of the Combat Flight Squadron, carried over from afar, reeking of alcohol and continuously burping, and he was even holding a bottle of Blue Star Erguotou.

Last night, he was on a night flight patrol duty, returning only in the late night. He drank so much that his face flared red and his neck swelled, and it was nearly dawn when things finally wrapped up.

He was still in a sleep haze when he was awakened by the base-wide alarms, immediately grabbing a bottle of 65-degree Blue Star Erguotou from the bedside, and took a few gulps as a revival drink to clear his mind.

"I've roamed the Jianghu for more than forty years; what does drinking and flying amount to?"

In a rush, he hurried to Hangar 1, still unwilling to put down the bottle.

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