Chapter 102

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Chapter 102: One-on-One Dogfight! J-10: A vs B

Lin Mo knew that the Staff Group of "Night" would not easily believe his words. Thankfully, with the help of the gold giant dragon Gold Coin, who had a good understanding of electronics, he quickly pieced together a simple remote-controlled bomb. There were still many unused parts on the table, indicating it was a strategic ruse, but Lin Mo and Gold Coin were not fooled.

Coincidentally, during his time with the 7759 Aviation Brigade, Lin Mo had pretended to show interest in electronics and machinery to help Gold Coin acquire metal blocks. This disguise added credibility to his story about the homemade bomb.

Despite being a makeshift bomb expert, Lin Mo could not change the fact that he was a fighter pilot. No one would let him switch careers to become a spy. The cost of training an excellent pilot far surpassed that of training a spy, as a pilot’s value corresponded to the fighter jets they flew and the enemy aircraft they shot down.

Lin Mo’s assignment to "Night" alone reflected his prowess, and having a pilot with some mechanical knowledge was undoubtedly an enormous asset for maintaining fighter jets, easing the workload on the Aircrew Group.

The Intelligence Group had successfully turned the tide. Yes, Colonel Xie had succeeded in leading the group to achieve one of the finest victories in recent years, not only avenging the First Squad but also delivering a significant blow to foreign hostile forces—a remarkable project masterminded by "Night" this year.

Now Second Captain Lin Mo—oh no, he should now be called Captain Lin—had already seen a promotion before the formal commendation from superiors. This was a small privilege granted by "Night," known as a field promotion.

The reason was simple: Lin Mo’s accumulated achievements were sufficient for promotion, making his rise to lieutenant completely natural. Only the battlefield could prove a soldier’s valor, and the challenges of rising through the ranks during peacetime were well understood by all soldiers. It was no wonder so many people desperately sought to join the special units capable of executing combat missions. Sure, anyone could hold a gun, but handling it properly was a different story!

The Twin Stars’ twin sisters were still busy outside. As key players in the Intelligence Group under Colonel Xie, they had many tasks ahead, managing the new balance of various forces in a way that aligned with China’s interests, ensuring that no one side gained too much power. Other factions’ agents and intelligence personnel were attempting the same, engaging in a game of power where the first to act would be at an advantage and the last would suffer. Privately, there would be numerous skirmishes, yet on the surface, everyone maintained a friendly demeanor.

Just having received the lieutenant rank, affectionately referred to as “One Mao Er” in military slang, Lin Mo felt quite satisfied, especially since he had successfully regained his radiant battle energy during the operation, no longer worrying about insufficient energy. As long as he continued to progress, he could achieve even more. In this world, while there was no magical element, human ingenuity filled in that gap, and Lin Mo discovered that light energy had many fascinating applications.

However, being able to pilot a fighter jet high above the clouds was what truly thrilled Lin Mo. The first time he soared into the blue sky, an exhilarating shiver in his soul confirmed to him that he belonged to this sky, his only ultimate destination.

Although he had unexpectedly arrived in this world, losing his identity as a Dragon Knight, as long as he remained in the pilot’s cockpit and held the control stick, the flame of his conviction would not extinguish.

The J-10, absent for almost a month, quietly waited in a corner of the hangar for its master. Upon returning to the base, Lin Mo’s first task was to grab a bucket of car wash solution and a cloth, meticulously cleaning every inch of the aircraft.

The cockpit of the J-10 was now adorned with two hollow stars, representing Lin Mo’s shootdown record. Lin Mo had insisted on only two stars, acknowledging the two helicopters he had downed, feeling that the sluggish helicopters were barely worthy of being termed "targets." He had added the hollow stars merely to appease Captain Pan.

This hardly counted as an actual air-to-air kill; it would only be when Lin Mo himself piloted the J-10 to shoot down two jet enemies that he would fill in those two hollow stars and strive for more.

In fact, Lin Mo had multiple shootdowns against enemy aerial knights in his previous world, but starting from scratch in this new world, he knew he couldn’t spray various enemy beast heads beneath the cockpit.

Having flown the F-14 and experienced real combat, Lin Mo’s mastery of J-10 flight techniques markedly improved. His battle awareness matured significantly, leading to rapid improvements in the completion of various flight maneuvers during routine training.

Though he flew solo during patrols, Lin Mo continually engaged with imagined adversaries in aerial entanglements, dodging, counterattacking, and evading once more, honing his ability to seize every opportunity for attack while maneuvering the fighter jet.

This mirrored the unique combat skills of Erich Hartmann, the top German pilot of World War II, who shot down 352 enemy aircraft—a record unmatched in aerial combat history and a personal honor regardless of the national justifications for war.

Without genuine battle honing, Lin Mo always felt dissatisfaction with simulating combat in the air alone. Engaging in asymmetric simulated combat like aerial dogfights with other pilots in supersonic fighters against helicopters was not realistic.

To allow Lin Mo to recover after his mission, the Special Operations Team of "Night" granted him a special 30-day leave, a privilege unique to pilots, aimed at alleviating the tension following combat. Whether Lin Mo welcomed it or not, this leave was also an order.

Mandatory leave was probably one of the few privileges enjoyed by air force pilots across nations, even civilian pilots having a month off a year.

After refueling at the Wuhan Military Aviation Airport, Lin Mo piloted his J-10 towards Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. This was a special favor from the Special Operations Team of "Night," meant to reduce exposure following his recent significant operation.

In 2005, an English pilot faced severe punishment for using a helicopter to deliver pizza to his girlfriend; every flight in a combat aircraft required strict preparation and approval. The idea of a fighter pilot flying home for leave was something many could hardly imagine—almost akin to driving a private car.

A fighter plane couldn’t simply park on any road like a car, nor could Lin Mo casually stop at his neighborhood. His destination was not Xiaoshan International Airport, but the military airport in Jianqiao, Hangzhou, of the 28th Division. Both the maintenance crew and flight paths were fixed, and detouring was out of the question.

All route headings and altitudes were predetermined. Lin Mo set his J-10 to automatic cruise mode. Gold Coin had helped enhance the electronic systems and structural performance of Lin Mo’s J-10 significantly, surpassing the original prototype, and deserved to be called the J-10 military industrial enthusiast grade.

The assignment of a J-10 for Lin Mo’s leave was also due to Captain Feng of the Special Operations Team of "Night," ensuring that this solitary fighter jet was always on standby. Should an emergency mission arise, Lin Mo could execute it in the shortest time possible.

“I am Cave Nine (09), calling Gold Coin. I am Cave Nine (09), calling Gold Coin!” Lin Mo’s communication channel crackled with noise as he made the call. Almost simultaneously, the onboard early warning radar emitted a lock-on alarm signal.

“I am Gold Coin! Calling Cave Nine (09), I hear you!” Lin Mo responded. Radar locking indicated that satellites, ground air defense missiles, and artillery had detected his signal. The J-10 was not a stealth fighter, so being monitored by military radar when near non-friendly airspace—especially over densely populated areas—was common.

The radar screen displayed two orange triangular shapes, pointing directly at him, swiftly approaching. Lin Mo activated friend-or-foe identification, confirming them as allies. The orange triangles quickly turned green, indicating safety. In fact, these colors and shapes could be customized by pilots to reflect their preferences; making allies red was perfectly fine.

The J-10 accepted data links from the Jianqiao Air Traffic Control Center for data integration. The three fighter jets formed a unit. The two green hollow triangles quickly displayed the numbers 09 and 14, while Lin Mo’s number automatically appeared as 99—much like a substitute player wearing an unusually high number.

The system identified Aircraft 09 and 14 as J-10s, like Lin Mo’s, though they were variants, specifically J-10Bs. Lin Mo’s was a J-10A, with the distinguishing features of the J-10B, including a downward sloping nose, pointed vertical fins, and improved intake structures free of the pesky reinforcement pillars, along with enhanced electronic systems.

“Welcome, Captain Lin to the 28th Division! I am Cave Nine (09), Zheng Han. Unit 14 is Qin Ye. Your temporary number is 99, and you will navigate alongside Cave Nine and Unit 14. Please join the formation!”

The voice from Unit 09 echoed over the dedicated channel.

“Received!” Without needing to use binoculars, Lin Mo’s sharper-than-average eyesight spotted two J-10Bs in the distance. Though their appearance differed slightly from his J-10A, there were notable differences in flight performance.