Chapter 157
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Chapter 157: With Many Lice, There’s No Itch; With Plenty of Money, There’s No Worry
The pilot training course in Zambia lasted about a month, with actual flight training time of 60 hours. These hardworking and eager Zambian pilots gave their all and quickly mastered the flying techniques of the FC-20. Lin Mo’s students, Grafido and Nolaf, excelled among the eight official trainees, and the skills of the other attending pilots improved significantly, which was a pleasant surprise.
It’s safe to say this group of clients would give full marks for the Chinese side’s service.
The Zambian Air Force was extremely satisfied with the meticulous teaching from Chinese Air Force instructors and the achievements of the students. They praised the service attitude and top-notch flying skills of the Chinese crew. In fact, Lin Mo made a remarkable impression by shooting down two Su-30s without using ammunition, securing a prestigious status for Chinese pilots in the eyes of the Zambians.
After the month-long training period, the Chinese Air Force instructors prepared to move on to the next country, as the pilots from Rwanda and Zimbabwe were eagerly waiting.
However, they only needed to go to one country. Two Rwandan pilots had been waiting at the Guiru Air Force Base in Zimbabwe for quite some time. It seemed that Lin Mo’s journey had gone smoothly; perhaps due to his notorious record of causing trouble wherever he went, even passing through the most chaotic areas without a single attack or disturbance, some organizations quietly removed many troubles for them, allowing them to cross the Zambezi River and enter Zimbabwe without a hitch.
At the Zhuhai Airshow, Rwanda and Zimbabwe ordered two and four FC-20s respectively to upgrade their air force capabilities.
Similar to Zambia, Zimbabwe was also a fan of Chinese goods. In 1986, they received 14 J-7 fighters from China to form the 5th Fighter Squadron. After getting involved in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998, the J-7 fighters showed exceptional performance. Subsequently, Zimbabwe purchased K-8 trainers and 12 FC-1 "Fierce Dragon" fighters from China.
Chinese-made fighter jets had become the backbone of Zimbabwe’s air force, and military cooperation between the two countries had always been frequent. The exchange of minerals for arms was extremely profitable for China, and domestic smelting enterprises were very willing to facilitate such deals.
Similarly to the Zambian pilots, the four Chinese Air Force instructors, who had accumulated considerable experience, faced no language barriers during training. In Africa, English became the common language among the military. Although the general educational level of the local populace was low, the selected elites met the basic requirements, many of whom had even studied abroad. They rarely faced communication issues.
Perhaps influenced by Lin Mo, the other three air force instructors found that during the first test flights, the poor African pilots were left dizzy and disoriented—it was simply exhilarating.
Not everyone possesses the skill to make others dizzy while soaring high in the sky like Lin Mo does.
The moment they disembarked, the eyes of the air force instructors met in the air, and they shared a knowing smile. They decided to give a little intimidation to help with the subsequent teaching, ensuring that any troublemakers would be kept in check.
Except for Lin Mo, the other three were experienced pilots with exceptional flying skills. They were certainly qualified to serve as instructors.
On the engineering side, it was much easier; Captain Luo Chao escorted a team of soldiers to the Rwandan Air Force base to assemble and maintain the two FC-20s that had arrived via other routes. Because Zimbabwe had always used Chinese fighter jets, they were extremely familiar with the assembly work. By the time the Chinese team arrived, they had already assembled four FC-20s according to the assembly manual, just waiting for Engineer Yang to test and accept them.
Training in Zimbabwe progressed smoothly, although the extremely hot weather drained everyone’s energy. In contrast, Lin Mo was full of enthusiasm, constantly engaging with the students. He spent the most time teaching, while the other three instructors had to retreat to air-conditioned rooms to rest and recuperate. Lin Mo was determined to push through in the heat, taking on all his students outdoors.
The scorching African heat was a paradise for light-element warriors. The abundance of light elements allowed Lin Mo’s Battle Energy to be replenished continuously, bit by bit transforming into his own light-element energy, which enabled him to maintain a long period of high efficiency and alertness, feeling no fatigue whatsoever. For him, the hot temperature felt like soaking in a comfortable hot spring, bringing no discomfort at all.
Two months quickly flew by, and all FC-20 orders from countries like Egypt, Zambia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe were completed. Aside from Egypt, which had its own dedicated instructor group, Lin Mo and his team wrapped up training for pilots from Zambia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. All pilots could now handle the FC-20 for takeoff, landing, and basic combat maneuvers, leaving the rest to their individual practice.
When Lin Mo received the polished and cut diamonds, his training task officially came to an end. When he departed, he was warmly sent off by representatives from the three countries, who insisted on stuffing him with a large batch of local specialties.
If it weren’t for the military transport planes from various countries facilitating the entire journey, it would have been impossible to carry these items. Some things couldn’t even board civilian aircraft.
Upon returning to the "Night" base, Lin Mo was immediately met with a collective celebration for his newfound wealth.
Everyone knew he had made a small fortune in Africa. However, the bigger "windfall" was only known to the higher-ups. The six F119-PW-100 thrust vector engines specifically designed for the F-22 Raptor were priceless, not to mention a complete set of the "Future Warrior" individual exoskeleton mechs, which were beyond calculation.
What Lin Mo didn’t know was that the six F-22 thrust vector engines he brought back almost led to several domestic aircraft engine development institutions fighting over them for research purposes. Even if obtained intact, there was no comparison to newly manufactured items.
As for the two engines Lin Mo had requested, there was still no word, and it seemed he would have to wait until the development institutions finished their disputes before he could address his request.
A pile of local specialties Lin Mo brought back was divided within half a day, which left him sweating nervously. Thankfully, the big prizes remained in his hands. The bag of top-quality diamonds was divided into smaller sections, and he entrusted "Three Yellow Chick" Young Master Chen to help him sell them. For matters like this, Lin Mo could only rely on Chen Haiqing for assistance.
When Chen Haiqing from the 7759 Aviation Brigade saw Lin Mo take out VVS-grade diamonds worth no less than 40 million RMB, his expression was no less shocked than if Lin Mo had committed a heinous crime.
However, he never imagined that Lin Mo had indeed "robbed," but not of the diamonds—instead, he "robbed" America, leaving it severely impacted.
Had it not been for Lin Mo’s formidable combat strength and the protection provided by the Chinese side, there would have been retaliatory measures. The Americans would have been left speechless at their losses.
The speed at which the diamonds were sold took both Chen Haiqing and Lin Mo by surprise; their quality, size, and cut were all top-notch products from Africa. One could imagine that the Air Force Commander’s son wouldn’t have a poor collection.
“400,000! 42 million! Huh?! What’s this extra 3 million?” Lin Mo checked his account balance through online banking, propping his chin in confusion. It was as if his finances exploded—it was hard to believe.
A week later, in addition to the recently received business trip training subsidy of 400,000, Lin Mo found an extra 42 million in his account, plus compensation from the Americans, adding up to about 1 million. However, getting this money from the Americans was complicated; it went through at least a dozen layers before finally reaching Lin Mo’s account due to the secretive transactions and handling fees, which lost him some.
Next, before Lin Mo could fully comprehend it, another inexplicable 3 million appeared in his account, with the note: “Seized Dividend.”
What in the world?! A dividend?! Why not just say it’s a war dividend?
Had it not been for that note, Lin Mo would have thought someone had mistakenly transferred money to his account. This money was unaccounted for even by the "Night" base. Lin Mo discreetly accepted it, casually waving it, sending another 40 million out in a flash.
In an instant, Lin Mo transformed from a near-penniless man with less than 10,000 in savings to a millionaire.
He continued placing orders with the country’s top-tier manufacturers. After all, he was a major client, and for high-end materials, a laboratory-level quality was essential. The "Freak" fighter was set to receive a composite spider silk-like carbon fiber body frame and Kevlar composite "Special Anti-Shear Dense Liquid" (STF) inner lining to ensure structural integrity. The outer casing would reduce rivet structures, adopting large-scale monocoque armor and special locking fixtures to minimize unnecessary friction during high-speed airflow.
Whether it was Lin Mo or Gold Coin, both despised the appearance of patched rivet holes. To eliminate these, a hefty amount of money was spent, something the J-10 production line wouldn’t dare spend so lavishly on.
Lin Mo’s orders mainly focused on biological and chemical materials. For these non-metal products, the gold giant dragon, the innate weapon master under the stars, felt utterly powerless.
Meanwhile, the gold giant dragon was busy developing the Fly-by-wire system and writing control programs for Lin Mo’s "Freak" fighter, and Lin Mo also began studying the low-level programming languages, exploring the system drive programs for the entire fighter jet.
