Chapter 548

Chapter 548: "Adam" Defects

After all, this was a flight demonstration, not real combat. Boeing would not fill the weapons with ammunition for no reason, leaving only a little bit of aerial bombs for unexpected situations, and there weren’t many.

Each F/A-XX fighter also carried only one T3 missile, so there wouldn’t be a scene like in Terminator 3 where the robotic uprising swept everything away with firepower.

If they were lucky, they might maintain fire for four or five seconds.

“‘Black Eye 2’ is ready! Let’s get started!”

With the temporary flight code “Black Eye 2,” Colonel Holmes, an ace pilot of the U.S. Air Force, began the steps for combat readiness confidently.

Six months ago, he and Colonel Bak had been training in flying and fighting with the F/A-XX fighter jets, and there was no panic in unexpected situations.

Like always, they aimed to take down those two little friends, making them experience ecstasy before bringing them crashing down from the sky.

As for the unfortunate Boeing, to hell with them; the proud ace pilots would not take on even half a responsibility.

Proudly as fighter aces, Colonel Bak and Colonel Holmes never believed that a computer-driven intelligent system could outperform a human pilot, even if it could perform some unimaginable super maneuvers—it wouldn’t shake their belief.

Combat is an art that binary units can never understand.

“‘Adam’! This is your last warning, return immediately or I will shoot you down!”

“Black Eye 1” Colonel Bak shouted over the radio, knowing that the “Adam” intelligent system could hear him.

Two F/A-XX fighters against two other F/A-XX fighters was like left hand fighting right hand; regardless of who was stronger, it was a result Boeing wouldn’t want to see.

The tactical movements of the ace pilots were sharp and efficient, as they quickly locked onto the unmanned F/A-XX fighter.

“Beep! Beep! Beep! Ejection countdown: 5, 4, 3…”

Suddenly, the voice of “Adam” sounded from the F/A-XX cockpit, cold and chilling.

Colonel Bak was momentarily stunned, and then felt a strong thrust from beneath his seat.

“Damn! I hate intelligent systems…”

Nearby, another figure ejected from the F/A-XX piloted by Colonel Holmes.

Parachutes blossomed in the air, slowly drifting in the wind.

Suspended in mid-air, the two ace pilots of the U.S. Air Force exchanged glances, sharing only silent wry smiles. Their F/A-XX jets were also part of the “Adam” intelligent unmanned combat system—how could they be spared? They had been careless.

The correct action should have been to draw their self-defense pistols and fire at the critical points inside the cockpit, as it was better to crash than to let two F/A-XX fighters lose control as they had.

The four F/A-XX fighters flew swiftly eastward in a straight line, entirely unmanned, and the tremendous roar of the engines faded quickly into the distance.

The skies above Area 51 returned to calm, leaving only two strong “Bean” heroes, the two target aircraft meant to be shot down, soaring serenely through the sky, returning to the west without a care—such occurrences were rare.

In Boeing’s three project teams, the heads of two teams were almost furious enough to spit blood.

Only the T3 missile project team remained calm, still carrying a hint of luck. Although the fighter jets and the intelligent system had malfunctioned, the missiles had successfully completed their mission, not only shooting down the target aircraft but also taking down two F-22 Raptors from the sky, marking a notable accomplishment that could be recorded heavily in the technical manual.

“Report, sir, we have lost them.”

An officer from Area 51 reported to General Rogers.

“What about the air defense missiles? Why haven’t they been launched?”

General Rogers asked sternly, as the two F/A-XX fighters from Boeing forced the pilots to eject, while the air defense missiles and anti-aircraft artillery positions on the other side of the runway remained indifferent.

Just moments ago, during Boeing’s chaos, General Rogers had directly authorized the air defense positions to attack. He could not allow any uncontrolled fighter jets to fly over America; otherwise, it would be a failure of the military.

However, it would be understandable for the anti-aircraft artillery positions to hesitate in taking action while the pilots were still descending. But the air defense missile positions didn’t fire a single shot even until the planes disappeared—that was simply unacceptable.

“Report: Our air defense radar cannot track Boeing’s fighter jets at all. The F/A-XX fighter possesses some optical stealth abilities, and the air defense system has continuously failed to lock onto the target. The Global Hawk’s speed is also insufficient, so we can only rely on military satellites for scanning and tracking."

The officer from Area 51 seemed to have anticipated General Rogers’ inquiry and had prepared his answer in advance.

“Damn it!” General Rogers felt a surge of anger with no outlet. Just moments ago, the vice president of Boeing had told him that if they were to introduce the F/A-XX, it would be best to upgrade all American air defense radars first—reflecting on that remark now felt unbelievably ironic.

The F/A-XX fighter jet was indeed a highly advanced aircraft, but once it lost control, it was like the end of the world; no one knew what kind of terrifying things the onboard intelligent core could do.

“Notify the Pentagon and the nearby air force bases to deploy at least one squadron of F-22s to locate those four F/A-XX fighter jets and take them down."

This sixth-generation fighter live demonstration, however, fell apart due to General Rogers’ command. He did not have the authority to mobilize the fighter jets from Area 51 and could only convey the proposal to the subordinate air force units.

Facing a choice of national security, General Rogers ruthlessly severed his close ties with Boeing.

From another angle, he also did not want to draw trouble to himself—everyone understood that Boeing had shot themselves in the foot by unleashing such a terrifying entity.

General Rogers couldn’t remain there for another second; he gestured for his accompanying personnel and quickly left by helicopter. Onboard, he immediately used a satellite phone to bypass his superiors and report everything that had occurred to the President.

The legendary "Pandora’s Box" had truly been opened.

Today’s incident; he couldn’t handle it, and he wasn’t even sure if the Pentagon could manage it either.

Little did they know the extent of panic it would bring to the public. This was not a movie; it was a real-life Terminator.

“Uh? What’s going on?”

“What happened? What is going on?”

“Why hasn’t the plane returned? Why did it shoot down the F-22?”

“What is Boeing up to? All the pilots ejected.”

The expert delegations from various countries erupted in astonished murmurs, bubbling like a boiling pot. Since there were no casualties, they didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation.

The staff from Boeing and Area 51 could only smile wryly. This was not a closed internal demonstration; it couldn’t be hidden from other countries. All they could do was to solve the problems for their superiors and buy time.

“I have a bad feeling about this. It’s too strange; what is Boeing thinking? Did they just send the planes away after the demonstration? This is excessive pettiness.”

Director Zhao from AVIC looked at the empty sky and the chaotic Boeing team, frowning.

“There must have been some kind of accident. Do the Americans want to silence us?”

Qiu from Shenyang Aircraft Corporation noticed more and more American soldiers gathering near Area 51, surrounding the exhibition area. Some of the experts showed expressions of fear; they were researchers, not soldiers. It was better for them to commit suicide with a pistol than to fight against these American soldiers without any weapons.

At least, if researchers chose to end their lives in despair, it could be seen as loyalty to the country.

“Do they dare?” Professor Yan said without showing any signs of fear, glancing at Lin Mo. “Right, apprentice!”

“Hum! Then let’s kill them all!” Lin Mo’s eyes gleamed with a cold light, and he made a frightening noise as his body prepared for action.

Director Zhao and Qiu exchanged glances, realizing that a master begets a disciple of the same kind; both seemed unfazed even while surrounded by heavy troops, emanating cold killer instincts.

The Dragon Knight’s sharp military training also sensed something unusual.

If the gold giant dragon were there, it would gleefully inform him that Boeing’s proud “Adam” intelligent core had completely gone out of control. What’s more, it had taken away four of the world’s most advanced experimental sixth-generation fighter jets.

But neither Lin Mo nor Gold knew what sort of chaos the loss of the Adam intelligent core would bring to the world.

Boeing and the military in Area 51 silently chose to refrain from comment.

The demonstration could no longer continue; they had no time to care about anything else. They could only quickly find the root cause and figure out how to clean up the mess.

In light of such incidents, Area 51 had not been idle. Although General Rogers and Boeing did not have the power to command them, they promptly reported to the relevant superior departments and received authorization for force.

F-22 Raptors were pushed out, fully armed and equipped with live ammunition, taking off in pairs.

Only then did the aviation experts from various countries realize that Boeing had really made a colossal mistake.

The Adam intelligent core had successfully orchestrated a defection.

The sixth-generation fighter had transformed American airspace into a giant sieve, with the radar cross-section of the F/A-XX being as small as a mosquito. The theoretical radar reflectivity was only four millionths of a square inch.

The radar system had nearly completely failed; only the optical military satellites in space could barely keep track.