Chapter 651

Chapter 651: The Playful Mouse

The two aircraft were very close together. After Yuri executed the Cobra maneuver, his fighter jet quickly slowed down by maximizing its wingspan to catch the airflow, propelling Lin Mo’s fighter jet ahead of him.

This maneuver required a high level of skill to avoid stalling and demanded that the fighter jet withstand significant forces; otherwise, the wings could break, leading to a crash.

If it were a civilian aircraft, it would likely have already fallen apart midair.

There are no useless tactical movements, only ineffective pilots.

The Cobra maneuver, often seen as a performance more than a practical tactic, unexpectedly shifted the positions of the hunter and prey in tactical play.

However, making such a maneuver without confirming the opponent’s position was extremely dangerous; this was not a simple aerial trick. With both fighter jets flying in the same direction, if one made a mistake, the trailing jet could smash into the suddenly slowing one, causing a catastrophic midair collision.

After all, at high speeds in the sky, a distance of one or two kilometers could disappear in the blink of an eye.

“I’ve got you now, Number 13! Haha! When we’re back on the ground, you have to tell me how you got behind me.”

Yuri gasped in surprise, then cheered as he retracted the speed brakes. He used vector thrust to quickly adjust his aircraft’s attitude and aimed to chase after Lin Mo.

Although he had no idea how Lin Mo had gotten behind him, he knew he had to seize the opportunity now, or the situation would worsen soon.

Lin Mo’s unexpected show of strength made Yuri treat “Number 13” as an equal, making him wary of underestimating Lin Mo.

“Your chatter is too much.”

Lin Mo said little, instead focusing on rapid operations. Yuri’s Cobra maneuver might have seemed impressive, but its luck had run out.

It was easy for him to seize an attacking position now. The X-1 forward-swept wing fighter jet rolled to the side, swiftly dodging the direction of Yuri’s nose, making it extremely difficult for Yuri to lock onto Lin Mo.

“What kind of technique are you using? I can only keep up with you using optical guidance; even infrared tracking is inefficient.” Yuri manipulated his fighter jet to prevent Lin Mo from getting a chance to turn, boldly pressing forward into close combat.

The sharp increase in speed enveloped Yuri’s aircraft in a thick, milky sonic boom cloud.

The moment the fighter jet shattered the sound barrier, it created a stunning spectacle in the sky, resembling the legends of walking on clouds. The shockwaves formed a misty, condensed vapor cloud that added an air of mystery to the supersonic fighter jets in the eyes of civilians.

The series of sonic booms sounded like a symphony, and Yuri closely followed Lin Mo, with both using a combined attack and defense scissors tactic.

The sky spun, the earth turned, and the view outside the cockpit became entirely blurred, making it hard to discern anything.

Pilots relied only on their aircraft’s equipment and their sense of balance. For an ordinary person, they would have likely lost consciousness immediately, even facing life-threatening risks.

However, well-trained pilots wore special pressure suits inside cockpits designed for high G-loads, merging themselves with their fighter jets to withstand the intense multidirectional g-forces.

Without such equipment and techniques, even extraordinary physical abilities would struggle against such fierce confrontation.

The Dragon Knight felt no pressure. He didn’t unleash deadly techniques; instead, he patiently engaged Yuri in combat.

Yuri had excellent tactical awareness; Lin Mo fully recognized that he was a true fighter ace. However, to contend with Lin Mo, who had trained with the champions of “Abyss Nirvana,” Yuri needed at least another hundred years of practice—or perhaps five hundred years would suffice.

The two fighter jets continuously increased their distance from each other, colliding again, like ancient knights riding their steeds and striking deadly blows at each intersection.

The rapid exchanges dazzled the eyes, with each pilot’s tactical philosophies reflecting differences between the Australian Air Force and the Chinese Air Force, drawing keen interest from pilots and military representatives from various countries, accompanied by murmurs of astonishment.

The maneuverability of the forward-swept wing fighter was a well-known secret. Yuri was extremely cautious, ready for Lin Mo to suddenly demonstrate one of the unique super maneuverability techniques inherent to forward-swept wing fighters.

Yuri’s aircraft had an aerodynamic shape similar to the U.S. F-22 Raptor, and the Australian Air Force was keen on acquiring the F-22 as its main fighter jet. Thus, it was not surprising to see a knockoff with “Raptor” features.

This fighter jet, clearly of “Raptor” lineage, boasted excellent super maneuverability and stall capabilities, allowing it to perform many of the Raptor’s air combat skills. Yuri tried desperately to quickly maneuver in the sky, rolling and flipping, even executing seemingly meaningless moves just to pre-empt Lin Mo’s positioning attacks.

Regardless, Lin Mo’s energy combat techniques already gave Yuri a massive headache. He felt Lin Mo possessed air combat skills and combat awareness far beyond what his age would suggest, along with exceptional spatial awareness.

The maneuvers performed by the X-1 Forward-Swept Wing Fighter Jet, with their overload levels and dazzling complexity, intensified Yuri’s sense of pressure, and his stamina quickly dwindled.

Operating such a large and unruly war machine was indeed a highly demanding job, consuming both physical strength and energy. If it weren’t for the air combat skills, the Dragon Knight could exhaust all the aerial knights on Earth into a collective state of fatigue.

The sky echoed with thunderous sounds as the two fighter jets occasionally crossed paths. In addition to the white trails left by their engines at specific altitudes, long strands of condensed white smoke would appear as they maneuvered.

It was as if two dancers were waving long, delicate ribbons, showcasing their respective performances in a competitive display.

On the ground, spectators stared intensely at the various screens; no one considered “Number 13” as a novice in the beginner tier anymore. Like Yuri, he had become a dark horse in this internal competition, which was now seen as a battle between mid-tier ace pilots.

Meanwhile, Sally confidently placed all her money on Lin Mo without hesitation, her eyes shining with certainty as she focused on the Forward-Swept Wing Fighter Jet twisting and turning on the television screen. She didn’t care if she lost everything she originally invested.

As long as her Lord Morin called upon her, she wouldn’t even frown if it meant losing the entire Dragoon consortium; with a strong leader, she remained confident that she could make a comeback.

It was because of this inner conviction that Sally, as a woman, could boldly carve out a new landscape in northern Afghanistan.

…

“This guy, doesn’t he ever get tired?”

Yuri, drenched in sweat and panting heavily, thought this was simply too insane.

Yet the battle timer indicated that only five minutes had elapsed since takeoff. In such a short period, it felt like he had been fighting for years; an overwhelming fatigue surged within him, and even his hands began to tremble slightly on the control stick.

The person in the cockpit not far away was definitely underestimated. That wasn’t a human in there; it was an Alien—or perhaps a creature even more terrifying than an Alien.

Without firing a shot, Lin Mo had pushed Yuri to the brink of exhaustion. The alarm sound of the threat alert system in the cockpit continuously reminded him that he could fall into Lin Mo’s trap at any moment, with no way out.

The flexibility of the Forward-Swept Wing Fighter Jet far exceeded many people’s expectations, revealing astonishingly strange attack maneuvers that left onlookers dumbfounded.

With an 80% hit rate, if this were real combat, even without missiles, just the cannon ammunition could have likely already put several holes in Yuri’s aircraft.

This was no duel between aerial knights but rather a cruel game of cat and mouse.

Had he known this, he would never have been foolish enough to challenge Lin Mo.

Damn it, I crashed into a pig!

Fortunately, “Number 13” was one of their own pilots; had he belonged to the opposing team, it would have been the worst news imaginable.

This was just a practice battle, and the physically exhausted Yuri was no longer Lin Mo’s match.

“I, I…” As Yuri was about to surrender, he suddenly heard Lin Mo’s voice over the radio channel: “Alright! That’s enough for today.”

Huh!

Does this guy have mind-reading skills? Yuri was speechless!

What he witnessed next was a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

The X-1 Forward-Swept Wing Fighter Jet suddenly appeared in front of Yuri’s left, as if guided by a divine presence. It drifted like a car, the nose directly pointed at him, and the alarm sound in the cockpit blared loudly.

In just a couple of seconds, the two fighter jets found themselves in a state of relative stillness, with the nose of “Number 13”’s Forward-Swept Wing Fighter Jet remaining steady, aimed straight at Yuri. He could almost see the black, terrifying mouth of the built-in cannon emerging from the base of the opposing wings.

Immediately, the Forward-Swept Wing Fighter Jet defied the physical rules, breaking free from its static state and circling around Yuri’s aircraft in a smooth motion.