Chapter 388

Chapter 388: Who Is the Monstrous One?

The mission was complete, wrapped up in less than two hours of actual reconnaissance and combat, and Lin Mo separated from the Tabby Cat midway.

“Good job! It seems you haven’t lost your touch after being away from the team for so long.”

Because of the confidentiality level, Old Pan from the Aircrew Group didn’t know about Lin Mo’s activities after completing the mission in Afghanistan. He had no clue about the commotion this newly promoted major flying in the South China Sea had caused.

Lin Mo had not missed a flight almost every month, practicing takeoffs, cruising, training students, and engaging in anti-submarine and anti-ship attack training just like normal trainees. Besides ground skills, he had also mastered attacking at sea.

This was a different experience for Lin Mo, a land-based fighter pilot.

“Out of practice? I wish I could spend every second flying in the sky. I really want my fighter jet covered in stars,” Lin Mo said as he sat in the electric towing vehicle, turning the steering wheel.

The electric towing vehicle felt like a big toy in his hands. It required no license and was incredibly easy to operate. Even a junior high school student could drive it around, and it was no harder than playing bumper cars or go-karts.

Old Pan chuckled in the co-pilot seat, his centipede scar shaking as he pointed at the greedy young man, “Covered in stars and add a few stripes, you’d look like the Stars and Stripes! If you wear the Stars and Stripes, you think the higher-ups won’t be on your case? Besides, even if you covered yourself in stars, flying high up would make you a giant target. Any enemy would do whatever they could to bring you down. Being shot down is minor; you’d also drag your country’s reputation down with you. Please, just don’t be so flashy.”

Lin Mo had indeed made a name for himself before. As Old Pan mentioned, the Indians had no immunity to his ultimate trolling tactics; he had turned the battle in the Pakistan-India war into one of the largest aerial conflicts in history.

Lin Mo shrugged, maneuvering the steering wheel while driving his new aircraft into the hangar. He replied to Old Pan, “Well, I can’t keep a low profile. My partner today is probably a newbie eager to learn, constantly asking questions until my head hurts.”

“Of course! With an ace like you around, they’d want to seize every opportunity to learn. If it were me, I wouldn’t miss such a great chance either. If you weren’t so young with plenty of golden flying years ahead, your superiors might have already transferred you to the back as a professional instructor,” Old Pan understood the feelings of today’s partner flying with Lin Mo. There was a world of difference between pilots who had been through real combat and those with no combat experience; their mental resilience simply didn’t compare.

Not every pilot had an ace fighter pilot backing them; such opportunities were rare. The leader who sent that pilot must have advised them to ask lots of questions and learn as much as possible.

But Lin Mo didn’t easily give face; he imagined how annoyed the Tabby Cat must feel right now, having experienced a few pointers during combat but otherwise keeping silent on the return journey.

“I’ve done enough teaching. I’ve trained foreigners and Chinese alike. I’m not living just to be an instructor. I want to engage in more battles.”

Every time he thought about teaching the basics again, Lin Mo felt an itch of annoyance. To be honest, he was not a good instructor; only those with high comprehension and willingness to work hard could keep up with his pace.

Old Pan smiled slightly. Since Lin Mo joined the Aircrew Group, his life seemed to have become a lot more exciting. He continued, “Don’t worry; as long as there are people, wars won’t disappear. Your missions won’t be few. I’ve already helped you get those two engines out; are you ready to start working?”

“Really? Thank you so much! I plan to finish the main body first. The raw materials I have now should be enough for a significant portion of the aircraft components, so I should be able to test it out.”

Lin Mo had long completed the operating system for the “monstrous” aircraft. Compared to the "Dark Sabre" operating drive developed by the Gold Coin for Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, its performance was even more powerful and its functionality more comprehensive, suited for high-altitude, high-speed close-range dogfighting.

The beyond-visual-range combat capability had matured considerably at home, thanks to an advanced radar system working with long-range air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles that offered a good hit rate.

However, while Lin Mo could assemble the fighter jet, he couldn’t freely develop missile systems or similar weapons. This was like soldiers being able to carry guns but not being able to acquire bullets at will.

The military held strict regulations on directly offensive weapons and didn’t allow crossing the lines easily.

Therefore, the advantages Lin Mo could harness were limited to close-range dogfights, while beyond-visual-range operations relied on national military technology, except for the assistance of the Light Mirror Technique.

Two F119-PW-100 dual-vector thrust engines lay quietly covered with dust cloths on a specially designed tray in a corner of the hangar, the spoils Lin Mo had brought back from Africa. They were the most expensive system on the “monstrous” aircraft up to this point, unique across the country, while the others had not even been spared to outfit a fighter jet.

Surrounding them were smart alarm columns over two meters high, emitting infrared light waves invisible to the human eye, creating a security zone. Any object passing through this zone would trigger an alarm.

The smart alarm columns provided a rapid deployment security barrier.

Even the “Night” Special Operations Team, which handled invasive threats, wasn’t deployed for combat daily. They only cleared hard points, leaving the smaller threats for national security to deal with.

Most of the time, the five combat squadrons rested and trained, with the “Night” team averaging three to four missions a month.

Each task was dangerous; even when successful, it meant flying bullets and heavy fire. If unlucky, they could suffer casualties, wearing down each warrior’s spirit and consuming a large amount of weaponry.

This wasn’t a war era; if one could live, who would willingly venture into life-and-death clashes? Even the kings of soldiers are merely those with strong psychological qualities and solid military tactics; that doesn’t mean they are mindless killing machines. Humans are emotional beings, and prolonged fighting accumulates too much pressure. Ignoring life and death is not a good sign.

A soldier indifferent to their own and others’ lives would either remain trapped in endless battles or risk losing control, potentially endangering innocents.

Not every mission required Lin Mo to provide air support; in fact, the helicopter units like the WZ-12 and Mi-17 were busier.

He had plenty of time to entertain himself and work on his personal projects.

After three days, Lin Mo mounted the two F119-PW-100 dual-vector thrust engines onto the “monstrous” airframe and recalculated the center of gravity. Controlling the two engines would require more components, but the massive funds Lin Mo had invested had secured plenty of parts.

No one knew that besides the components Lin Mo had purchased, nearly ten percent of the parts appeared mysteriously. With no other fighter jet experts at the base, nobody could understand the nuances of Lin Mo’s inventory list.

Ever since Lin Mo acquired a piece of Split Metal ore from the South China Sea, his gold giant dragon had also been busy. This required Lin Mo to bring a huge bag of “Fire Seed” component modules for the Gold Coin back to the base.

Gold Coin had attempted to tune robot prototypes at Lin Mo’s house in Hangzhou but had failed due to time constraints. Upon reaching the “Night” base, these “Fire Seed” modules were fully utilized, with each module becoming a part of the Gold Coin; the dissociation speed of the contained components accelerated significantly.

The unfinished robot form was retuned, and with references from the fighter maintenance equipment and robotic arms as samples, they quickly improved the moving joint sections. Other parts referenced extensively from the "Dragon General" tactical armor, which possessed robust mobility enhancement capabilities, proving beneficial to Gold Coin.

While Lin Mo completed the installation of the “monstrous” engine, a robot resembling the "Dragon General" suddenly appeared in his room, startling him.

Taking a closer look revealed that it was the Gold Coin’s mischievous design.

“Gold Coin, what on earth are you up to? Hurry and take that back; do you want to get killed?” Lin Mo shut the door and locked it. If others saw this, it would cause chaos throughout the “Night” base.

Two identical robots sat on the couch; one sat quietly in a standard military posture, remaining silent.

The other was gnawing on a steel rod, making crunching sounds. There was no need to guess that this one, busy chewing on a430 stainless steel rod, was the embodiment of the Gold Coin.

The room’s table was free of the dozen “Fire Seed” component modules that had previously been laid out, suggesting that Gold Coin had fully utilized them all.

Combining with the modular watch on Lin Mo’s left wrist, there were now two parts of the gold giant dragon in the room.

“Hi! Welcome home! Check out my new gadget,” the actual Gold Coin greeted Lin Mo with the special alloy steel rod, pointing over to the motionless robot. The robot waved at Lin Mo in a slightly stiff manner and greeted him in an electronic tone, “Pretty impressive, huh? My robot’s parts are complete.”

Showing off, barefaced showing off.

Lin Mo’s nose nearly twisted in annoyance.

Looking at Gold Coin’s robot with its successful appearance and thinking of the super fighter jet he had painstakingly crafted in the hangar, he couldn’t help but wonder aloud, “A robot? Who truly is the monstrous one?”