Chapter 547

Chapter 547: Pandora’s Box is Opened

“’Black Eye 1′, have I been locked onto by the F/A-XX? What the hell is going on? Are you kidding me? Which of you, ‘X 1’ or ‘X 2’, did this? Or is it the ‘Adam’ team?”

The F-22 Raptor pilot, flying in circles, was confused about why Boeing’s aircraft acted so unpredictably, hastily launching missiles. Suddenly, a piercing warning alarm blared in the cockpit.

Of course, since the lead aircraft was nearby, the F-22 Raptor wingman, ‘Black Eye 2’, didn’t think the lead was joking around.

“I’m ‘X 1’, I didn’t lock onto you! Oh God, please don’t tell me it was ‘Adam’! ‘Adam’, are you listening? Stop what you’re doing!”

“’X 2′ didn’t do it either; we’re behaving! Oh no! God! ‘Black Eye 2’, get out of the way! Missiles! The ‘Adam’ team launched missiles at you!”

The communication channel carried the voices of the two F/A-XX pilots, with the latter suddenly screaming in alarm.

From the moment the fire control radar locked on to the missile launch, only a few seconds passed. The unexpected missile target switch happened without any warning.

“I’m ‘Black Eye 1’, damn it, I’m locked on too! Bastard, evade! Warning, this is no malfunction.”

Clearly, the lead F-22 Raptor of the squad was also in trouble, as the TWS threat warning system’s alerts grew increasingly urgent.

Two T3 missiles, trailing white smoke, swiftly closed in on the F-22 Raptor squadron, one missile chasing down a fighter jet.

“No, eject quickly! We can’t shake them off!”

The lead F-22 Raptor fixed its gaze on the missiles approaching on the radar screen, lost in despair. Caught off guard, the F-22 Raptor fell into the ultimate attack zone of the incoming missiles, unable to evade.

This was no joke; these were live missiles—one of the most advanced types. Even if they hadn’t been fully operational yet, their design parameters surpassed the current AIM-9 Sidewinder series.

Almost instinctively, the canopies of the two F-22 Raptors exploded off as the pilots were ejected in an instant.

Two seconds after their ejections, the T-3 missiles, guided toward their targets, swiftly obliterated both F-22 Raptors, turning them into spectacular flowers of smoke in the sky.

The two pilots, sent over a hundred meters away, held off the deployment of their parachutes to avoid the exploding debris from the combat jets and only opened their chutes two seconds later.

The wreckage of the Raptors fell like a meteor shower, blazing toward the ground.

“Using F-22s as target drones? The Americans are really loaded!”

Invited Chinese aviation experts watched in disbelief at the extravagant display by the Americans.

They were utterly outdone by the Americans.

“If it weren’t for such luxury and waste, how could they build such advanced fighter jets?”

Professor Yan, like the other experts, was completely convinced. If China had this much money, they could also create fighter jets like the F/A-XX. Even if you didn’t want those two F-22s, it’d be nice if you sent them to China; we could always trade them for two J-8s!

His apprentice, Lin Mo, shook his head. These experts only knew how to design aircraft but lacked understanding of actual combat tactics. Earlier, those two F/A-XXs that launched missiles had clearly already planned to quietly bring the F-22 Raptor squad into their attack envelope.

“Damn it, Boeing, are you people insane?”

In stark contrast to the feelings of the Chinese experts, ace pilot Colonel Bak from the F/A-XX was furious. Those two downed F-22 Raptors were U.S. Air Force assets, costing 120 million dollars each, and he felt a pang of regret.

“No, no, ‘X’ squad didn’t control this; it was ‘Adam’. Damn it, there’s a problem, you all need to be careful!”

The radio channel picked up the agitated voices from the Boeing ‘Adam’ project team on the ground, filled with shouts and busy sounds.

“Oh God! What just happened?”

Jeffrey Hodge, the head of the ‘Adam’ project team, turned pale as a sheet upon seeing the two F-22 Raptors explode. His mind felt like it had been hit by a surge, and he was in the process of rebooting.

This was wrong; this shouldn’t have happened. The targets that were supposed to be shot down were the drones, not U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors.

Aviation experts from Lockheed Martin directed their poisonous glares toward the Boeing team from a competitor’s perspective.

You bastard, using their “Raptor” as a joke! Even if you want to step on someone’s head to climb higher, you shouldn’t be so shameless about it!

General Rogers’ smile froze instantly, his face darkening as he glared at the vice president of Boeing. “What’s going on? Mr. Will Ketch, I expect you to explain this, to account for it to the Air Force.”

The loss of a few hundred million dollars’ worth of fighter jets was a major incident, especially as non-combat damage on U.S. soil. If the news media caught wind of this, the White House and the Pentagon would be in serious trouble!

That would be terrifying.

“No, no, this has to be an accident, definitely an accident! I’ll investigate immediately. Don’t worry, Boeing will take full responsibility.” Will Ketch, the vice president of Boeing, felt like he had fallen from heaven to hell, nearly having a heart attack. But he kept reminding himself deep down, I can’t go down, I can’t go down! If I fall, it’s all over.

Even if Boeing wasn’t split apart, they would still suffer a heavy blow.

Although he couldn’t be sure to what extent the board would bear the responsibility for this terrible accident, to stabilize General Rogers and the U.S. Air Force, Will Ketch had no choice but to say such overreaching things.

Boeing’s staff was thrown into chaos, like ants on a hot pan, overwhelmed with anxiety.

“Hurry, hurry, investigate! You bunch of bastards! Recall all the experimental machines, stop the exercises! Stop everything!”

The fighter jet project team was already in distress, while Jeffrey Hodge, the head of the "Adam" project team, was sweating profusely. He knew things were serious. The missiles that accidentally took down the F-22 Raptors were launched by the “Adam”-led unmanned F/A-XX fighter jets, and their Adam project team was entirely responsible, lacking even the right to defend themselves.

“Professor Jeffrey Hodge, we cannot control the ‘Adam’ unmanned mode! There’s no response at all, and the urgent recall command was rejected,” said Logan, the software engineer in charge of system control, bewildered as he glanced at the unresponsive control interface.

With his knuckles turning white from pressure, Professor Hodge looked around and gritted his teeth. “Damn it, Logan, initiate the backdoor! Use the highest-level authority. Even if we have to force a shutdown, we must do it. Others, use any means necessary to regain control!”

“No, you can’t do that!”

The head of the fighter jet project team panicked. The “Adam” system and the fighter jets were almost one and the same, closely related. Without control over the F/A-XX’s operation, it was little more advanced than a solid weight.

If they forced a shutdown, wouldn’t the fighter jet become an aerial bomb? Their painstaking work, days and nights without sleep, turned to ashes because of a single command from the “Adam” project team. How could they accept that?

Experts and mechanics from the fighter jet project team all voiced their objections.

“Professor, that won’t work; the top command was rejected,” Logan reported, realizing that all his efforts had been denied. The remote control interface had turned into a standalone version.

“How is that possible? What about the ‘Pandora’s Box’ system? Why is there no response?”

Professor Hodge’s heart sank, shrouded in shadow.

“’Adam’ is currently at Z-level authority; we have completely lost control.”

Jack Wells, the most valued software engineer on the “Adam” project team, stared in fear at the computer screen. The “Pandora’s Box” hierarchical restriction system designed to limit the intelligent core of “Adam” had Z-level as an absolute prohibition, meaning full access to “Adam’s” core operation, without any restrictions.

No, it shouldn’t be this way. Lockheed Martin had assured him that their blank USB drive contained no viruses—it was completely empty.

While he couldn’t guess Lockheed Martin’s intentions, they had assured him they only wanted to obtain the core source code of “Adam,” perhaps creating a minor inconvenience for this flight demonstration, but how they planned to do it was anyone’s guess.

But Jack Wells knew this minor inconvenience absolutely didn’t mean taking down two Raptors; otherwise, Lockheed Martin would be bearing the brunt of public outrage, completely alienating the U.S. military and Congress.

No government would tolerate a company threatening national security to harm an opponent—absolutely none.

Hearing that “Adam” was operating at Z-level authority, Professor Hodge’s face turned green then pale, his body swayed before he collapsed backward.

Before losing consciousness, he mumbled one last phrase: “Pandora’s Box has been opened!”

Then his subordinates gasped in shock.

“‘Black Eye’ team, adapt to the situation!”

The communication personnel from Boeing helplessly shouted at Mike over the radio. On the other end was the ‘Black Eye’ team piloting the F/A-XX fighter jets.

The two ace pilots from the U.S. Air Force exchanged glances in the cockpit; this was the worst news they had heard all day.

“Brother, we’re in trouble!”

“Yes, let’s teach those two stubborn kids a lesson.”

Ace pilot Colonel Bak couldn’t wait to activate the fire control system, starting a self-check on the ammunition. Thank God, there were still a few rounds left in the cannon’s bay.