Chapter 591

Chapter 591: Fuel Crisis

The soldier had no good impression of the captured men who had lost their will to fight. They were involved in kidnapping, drug trafficking, and arms dealing. They had done every bad thing imaginable, so during the battle, the Special Forces operatives were ruthless. The few survivors who surrendered had only minor injuries; there were no severely wounded captives.

The transport helicopter arranged for this mission by the Special Forces did not have much carrying capacity or space, and both Mongolia and Russia had imposed strict time limits on their operations.

“Hmm!”

Colonel Deng nodded, considering for a moment before gesturing across his neck with a cutting movement. The Special Forces had never been a righteous army when dealing with enemies.

The heavily resourced Special Operations Team was never a place for the innocent. The fact that various governments allowed China to deploy its strongest Special Forces meant that this mission had no chance of mercy.

Humanity was never an option for scum like them.

“Yes!” The Special Forces soldier showed no emotion on his face, as if he had heard an ordinary command. He casually marked his records of kills before turning to leave.

Captured: None.

Before long, a burst of intense gunfire echoed from afar, and the world instantly fell silent.

“‘Mustang,’ can your plane still fly? What’s the damage?”

While his men were cleaning up, Colonel Deng walked over to the invaluable fighter jet. The aircraft had several bullet holes, and even the cockpit showed a long scratch that had a spider-web pattern.

It seemed even the ace pilot’s ride wasn’t unscathed, and battling those outlaws had been equally perilous.

“It can still fly! But it will need a thorough repair once we get back. I’ll also need to reorder some parts to replace them.”

Lin Mo didn’t turn his head as he closed a panel on the aircraft’s body. For the sake of easier repairs, some parts were fixed with specially made magnetic screws instead of rivets.

The multifunction sensor on his “Dragon General” tactical helmet could also serve as a diagnostic tool. This feature, developed by Henghai Defense, allowed users to receive emergency assistance when equipment malfunctioned on the battlefield. Once a fight began, resource consumption and equipment damage could be astonishing; having more backup measures was essential.

After a brief inspection, Lin Mo determined that the damage to the “Mustang” would not affect his flying back home; he just needed to replace a few parts. However, he couldn’t carry out the repairs himself because some of the components weren’t made from metal, leaving him completely helpless with the Gold Coin team.

To reduce weight, many of the new parts were made from non-metallic materials, which were quite common in spacecraft.

From the start to the end of the battle, Lin Mo had not needed the Gold Coin team’s help. He had enough control over this level of aircraft, and even if the “Mustang” went out of control, the gold giant dragon could save his life at the last moment.

One man and one dragon had previously fought in even crazier battles together.

“In five hours, we’ll be leaving. Would you like to come back with us to join the celebration?” Colonel Deng glanced at his watch, inviting Lin Mo to their celebration, hoping to build a good relationship and continue their collaboration. This time he truly recognized the benefits of having air support; it was incredibly convenient.

According to feedback from his men, although this fighter jet was not the latest model, its performance in battle was as if it had a mind of its own; whatever support was needed would come immediately.

After every major battle, all operatives would enjoy a feast and a two or three-day break to recuperate. After all, they weren’t machines; having just faced life and death, they needed to relax. Even the strongest warriors required downtime, so Colonel Deng naturally invited Lin Mo, who had been of great help, to join the celebration.

“No, I’ll head back directly to regroup. I’ll provide cover for you.”

Lin Mo’s face remained hidden behind the “Dragon General” mask. Until now, only a handful of people had seen what Lin Mo looked like.

Next to him was an ammunition box with two long ammunition chains. He continued to open the machine gun compartment under the wing and reattached the ammunition chain, replenishing the ammo to restore the fighter jet’s combat capability.

The newly installed machine gun was a domestically produced 12.7 millimeter caliber anti-aircraft machine gun modified for use. Getting ammunition supplies from the Special Forces was easy.

Not far away, a few rescued girls watched the old fighter jet and Lin Mo with curiosity. They couldn’t understand why China, with superior fighter jets, would use such an old aircraft.

They had witnessed the jet’s fierce attacking capability in the recent battle; wherever it opened fire, nothing could stand in its way. The pilot’s unique equipment, as if straight out of a science fiction world, drew significant attention.

The eight beautifully chosen young women, carefully selected by the armed organization, naturally formed a striking sight after the battle. The young men, filled with youthful vigor, occasionally stole glances at them, then pretended to look away nonchalantly.

Lin Mo, positioned advantageously, was quite inept at the subtle art of flirting. He didn’t even spare a glance for the rescued girls; to him, the “little third party” before him was far more important.

As afternoon approached three o’clock, twelve large transport helicopters and four small armed helicopters flew steadily from the south. Unlike the P-51 "Mustang" fighter, they didn’t have such long endurance and had to refuel several times along the way. Although the helicopters had some combat capability, it was unrealistic to engage in long-range operations like this.

Bleep, bleep, bleep!

While escorting the Special Forces’ transport helicopters back to the border line, Lin Mo split off from the helicopter group. Just a short distance inside the border, he suddenly heard the alarm sound blaring in the cockpit. Each type of alarm had a different meaning.

“Hmm, the fuel is running out so fast?”

Lin Mo checked the information on the LCD touchscreen; he hadn’t paid attention to the fuel gauge at all. He thought he had enough fuel to return to base, but now the fuel warning was sounding.

The two auxiliary fuel tanks, filled with premium 100 octane gasoline, were completely drained, and the main fuel tank inside the aircraft only had less than twenty percent left.

What was happening? Was there a fuel leak? But the main fuel tank had not indicated any leaks. The outer layer had a special weak electric layer that would automatically alert if a leak occurred. Lin Mo blinked in the cockpit and turned his gaze to the auxiliary fuel tanks under the wings outside.

“Gold Coin, what is going on?” Lin Mo tapped the wall of the cockpit with his left wrist, causing his watch to disappear into the wall.

Lin Mo’s modified "Mustang" had no black box installed, allowing him to call upon the gold giant dragon without any restraints.

“One of the auxiliary fuel tanks is leaking!” The surface of the cockpit bulged up again and quickly fell away, reattaching to Lin Mo’s left wrist.

The disposable auxiliary fuel tanks were not technically advanced or genuine products, leading to the severe consequences of using counterfeit parts.

The auxiliary fuel tanks Lin Mo handcrafted for the "Mustang" did not have a warning module for quick fuel consumption, so now they had drained inexplicably, and he was completely unaware of it. The auxiliary tanks had suffered damage during the battle, but when Lin Mo checked, he found no issues.

It wasn’t until mid-flight that airflow impact deformed the tanks, worsening the damage and causing fuel to leak uncontrollably. This was something Lin Mo couldn’t foresee. He thought he could make it back, but what he believed often turned out to be unreliable.

After all, once a hole appeared, the highly volatile 100 octane aviation gasoline could evaporate at an astonishing rate.

The propeller fighter was not a challenge for Lin Mo, and naturally, the gold giant dragon showed little interest in such outdated and low-tech equipment. If it were Boeing’s sixth-generation fighter F/A-XX, that dragon would have eagerly pursued it.

This world had vast amounts of metal and countless dazzling technologies for this worldly dragon to explore.

“Report, the ‘Mustang’ is experiencing an unexpected leak from the auxiliary fuel tank; I no longer have enough fuel to return to base. Please provide a new refueling location.”

Lin Mo activated the radio to report, knowing that without fuel, it would be a headache for those above. There was no way he would just land anywhere and have a truck come pick him up.

“‘Mustang,’ how much longer can you keep flying? The nearest air force base is 300 kilometers away from your current coordinates if you turn northwest.”

The radio replied swiftly.

Although the navigation system was damaged, the connected tactical tablet took over that function, acquiring navigation data through satellite positioning.

“I can only hold out for 30 minutes, and I may cover 200 kilometers at most; I’m afraid I won’t reach that air force base.”

The onboard computer system provided automatic fuel consumption data. Lin Mo looked at the location of the air force base; the “Mustang” wasn’t a glider, and it lacked stable glide performance. If it lost power, it would go down hard.

“Alright, it seems I can only choose an emergency landing on the highway. Can your plane run on gasoline?”

After a brief silence, the Air Traffic Control Bureau asked again.

“Yes, but it needs gasoline with an octane rating of at least 97.”

……

On a stretch of G6 Highway.

“Hello! Yes, this is Shen Rong. I understand. I will start closing the road section immediately.”

Shen Rong, the traffic officer responsible for a 100-kilometer stretch of highway, suddenly received an emergency call. He immediately slammed on the brakes, and the LCD screen in his vehicle displayed road closure signals. He got out and began to set up temporary roadblocks every 200 meters along the highway, causing the following vehicles to stop right away.

Drivers formed a long line, confused as they looked at the roadblocks and the police vehicles ahead, unsure of what was happening. Perhaps there was a car accident ahead?

His colleague on the other side of the highway was doing the same thing. Ten minutes later, a twenty-kilometer stretch of the highway was completely closed.