Chapter 78
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Chapter 78: Encountering an Enemy in the Sky
Luo Yu looked through the cockpit cover and used the Federation’s universal gesture to signal the opposing fighter jet that she was under attack, with communication and navigation damaged, and she was lost, requesting assistance.
The male pilots in the two opposing fighter jets seemed skeptical and gestured for her to "follow." Luo Yu obediently changed direction, moving to the lower rear of the leading fighter jet.
“How is it? Do you think they believe we are from the Federation?” Zhu Huai impatiently asked, not understanding what Luo Yu and the other pilot were signaling.
“Probably not,” Luo Yu replied lightly. “He wants us to get closer so he can observe further. Besides, from the model, we are not their match anyway.”
She quickly shared the next plan with Zhu Huai. Just then, they noticed that the wingman flying next to the main battle jet had stealthily moved into a position diagonally behind them, indicating that the enemy was ready to shoot them down.
At that moment, the main battle jet in front began to slowly adjust its weapon bay position, aiming at them.
Luo Yu shot a glance at the wingman beside them and swiftly pressed the launch button in her hand, releasing a decoy missile.
The decoy missile and the missile launched from the weapon bay of the main battle jet were fired almost simultaneously, colliding and creating a thick cloud of smoke.
Taking advantage of this, Luo Yu quickly turned, performing a 90-degree sideways maneuver to escape the pincer attack. In the thick fog, she moved outside, closely aligning herself with the wingman. She turned her head and said to Zhu Huai, “Now’s the time; aim for him!”
Zhu Huai had already raised a close-range laser gun. As soon as Luo Yu finished speaking, she fired a shot at the cockpit of the wingman. The aim was accurate, hitting the pilot’s helmet, causing the pilot to lose consciousness instantly, and the entire wingman aircraft began to stall and fall.
Satisfied with her shot, Zhu Huai waved the laser gun in her hand. This was a weapon Luo Yu had privately obtained from Zhu Long before leaving the Space Administration; the high-energy beam could penetrate the cockpit cover’s transparent material, making it quite practical.
The main battle jet in front noticed the wingman’s sudden disappearance and began to descend at an abnormal speed. The old fighter jet that had been following closely behind vanished into the smoke of the decoy missile.
The two pilots panicked and quickly activated the panoramic scan to locate the vanishing attacker. Before the scan could report back, they suddenly saw the light above darken.
Looking up, they found the old fighter jet, which had been previously missing, had somehow come to hover right above them, flying upside down in a 180-degree maneuver and looking down at them.
The front pilot was shocked and was about to accelerate when the co-pilot shouted. They looked up again, only to see the cockpit cover of the aircraft above them open, and a fully armed figure jumped down!
As the figure left the cockpit, nearly five-meter-long black wings unfolded from behind, creating a scene that was both terrifying and awe-inspiring, leaving the two pilots frozen in fear. Before they could accelerate, the winged figure had already landed in front of them.
The aircraft tilted sharply forward as the figure descended, and the dark wings were skillfully retracted behind. The black full-face helmet reflected the terrified expressions of the two pilots inside the cockpit.
The true grim reaper had arrived.
Zhu Huai crouched on the front of that fighter jet, pulled out her laser gun, and without hesitation, shot each of the two stunned pilots.
The two probably never expected that driving the world’s most advanced fighter jet could allow someone to get close enough to kill them; it just didn’t seem reasonable!
After being shot, the two pilots soon lost control of the aircraft, which began to fall. Following Luo Yu’s instructions, Zhu Huai opened the cockpit cover from the outside, used her handy laser cutter to sever the safety belts around the pilots, and pulled them out of the cockpit.
“Make some room,” Zhu Huai said as she tossed the two men out of the aircraft as if they were trash.
After discarding the two heavyweights, the aircraft’s descent slowed slightly. Zhu Huai hurriedly climbed to the driver’s seat at the back, waving to Luo Yu above.
Luo Yu saw that they had dealt with that neatly, unfastened her seatbelt, adjusted her position, and leaped down, spreading her wings against the wind as she jumped into the driver’s seat of the new fighter jet, restoring its power and avoiding the now out-of-control old fighter jet above.
She closed the cockpit cover again, grasped the control stick, pressed the launch button, and hit the now-stalling old fighter jet nearby. Then she knocked off the receiver on the control panel and used the communication device to send a text report: Under attack, enemy aircraft shot down, wingman lost contact, main audio communication damaged, requesting return to base.
After a moment, the communication panel received a response: “Ground received, return to base approved.”
Zhu Huai, sitting behind, could also see the message on the co-pilot’s panel. They both smiled broadly and bumped fists inside the cockpit.
“Out with the old, in with the new, success.”
After this fierce battle, the sky finally brightened, and the haze over the Federation’s heartland was heavy. The cockpit front was dim, and even the sun on the side had turned into a large, blurred spot of light.
Such haze is common over many densely populated urban areas today, especially in desert cities like Liujin City, where the haze often takes on a light yellow tint, making the name Liujin seem both vivid and ironic in this scene.
The Space Administration base quietly awakened in this haze; one by one, people emerged from the apartments and cafeteria, heading toward the administrative building.
At that moment, a person walked against the flow of the crowd in the base square, coming from the administrative building toward the apartments.
This person wore a casual outfit, a transparent purification mask over their face, and carried a square box in hand.
Among the crowd heading to work, a few recognized the person walking in the opposite direction and greeted her: “Good morning, Dr. Yan.” “Prof. Yan, where are you off to?”
Ying Zhao didn’t stop walking and smiled gently in response, “Good morning, I have something to attend to at the apartment.”
Due to Yan Yi matrix theory, Ying Zhao’s real name was an open secret at the Space Administration, so when people met her on the way, those who weren’t familiar with her wouldn’t directly call her by her code name but politely referred to her as “Dr. Yan” or “Prof. Yan.”
Ying Zhao was friendly and would respond graciously to anyone who greeted her or asked her questions, even requesting autographs. However, today, seeing her in a hurry, people assumed she had something important to attend to and, after asking, didn’t say much more, simply watching her head toward the apartment.
Ying Zhao quickly walked into the apartment area but didn’t return to her own apartment building. Instead, she bypassed the high-end apartments in front and arrived at the row of detached apartments assigned to the management staff.
Zhu Long’s apartment was in the second building from the left. After confirming the door number, she climbed the stairs to the entrance, registered on the visitor identification panel, and the apartment door opened automatically.
A faint fragrance wafted out as the door opened. Ying Zhao stepped onto the thick carpet of the inner corridor, looking around as she walked.
It was her first time visiting Zhu Long’s apartment. She had heard that Zhu Long rarely stayed here, typically commuting between the Space Administration base and her private house in the main urban area of Liujin City. Only when busy would she occasionally stay overnight here, so the apartment was quite simple and empty, appearing lacking in any signs of life.
She walked to the end of the corridor and found a small circular hall where Zhu Long’s secretary was walking out of a door across the hall. She nodded at the secretary, who smiled and greeted her, “Dr. Yan, I was just about to come get you; please follow me to the study.”
Ying Zhao followed the secretary down a long corridor and down a staircase until they arrived at Zhu Long’s underground study, which was a circular room with high ceilings, lined with bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling, filled with books from various countries.
Zhu Long was sitting in the middle of the study on a soft sofa, holding a glass of champagne. On the sofa beside her sat another person, who looked up and exclaimed when she saw Ying Zhao: “Sister Ying! Come in and sit!”
Ying Zhao smiled at Hu Jiao and placed the box she was carrying on the round table in the center. She sat down beside Hu Jiao, who reached for a cup on the table and poured Ying Zhao a glass of champagne.
At that moment, the secretary nodded to Zhu Long and stepped out of the study, quietly closing the door. Zhu Long swirled her glass of champagne and said slowly, “Luo Yu and Zhu Huai are now in a state of lost contact. Last night, I asked Hu Jiao, but she wouldn’t tell me the truth. I thought, Ying Zhao, you must know what’s going on here.”
Hu Jiao scratched her cheek, weakly defending herself, “It’s not that I refused to say… It’s just that, well, this is a bit complicated; there are some details that I’m not very clear about, so I thought it better to have Sister Ying here…” After finishing, she winked at Ying Zhao.
Last night, Zhu Long had already known that Luo Yu and Zhu Huai’s disappearance was intentional to shake off the surveillance from the Special Operations Department, but she did not immediately inform Yao Chi of this situation.
Early that morning, Ying Zhao also received a message from Luo Yu confirming her safety and asking her to explain the previously agreed-upon matters to Zhu Long in detail.
Hu Jiao also received the latest message from Luo Yu that morning: “It’s no longer necessary to keep it a secret; go find Ying Zhao.” She hurriedly went to Ying Zhao’s apartment, but Ying Zhao said she needed to return to the laboratory to get something, asking Hu Jiao to go meet Zhu Long first. Thus, Hu Jiao had to come over, awkwardly waiting in front of Zhu Long until Ying Zhao finally arrived.
Ying Zhao smiled slightly, “Yes, many things Hu Jiao doesn’t really know, which is why I went to the laboratory early this morning to get this item to report to you.”
After saying this, she pressed a button on the top of the black box on the round table. The box opened on all sides, revealing a spherical model in front of the group, with many small spheres slowly rotating inside, emitting twinkling lights.
Zhu Long set down her glass and leaned forward slightly, intrigued. Hu Jiao was seeing the model for the first time and moved closer to take a closer look, asking, “Sister Ying, what is this?”
“This is the micro light particle universe model we brought back from thirty thousand years ago.” Ying Zhao replied, looking at Zhu Long, “During our time thirty thousand years ago, we glimpsed the secrets of how the time period formed. Due to some practical considerations, we concealed this during earlier inquiries. However, now it’s time to formally clarify this situation.”
