Sky-cracking Rider

Just as Chen Fei thought he had a winning position, the damn Dog System threw him for a loop that was even more shocking than a corpse coming back to life.

Fuck!

If he wasn't seeing things, the words that suddenly appeared before his eyes meant one thing: a Crystal Jet had appeared.

That was frightening as hell.

Known to the world as a National Treasure Artifact, the Crystal Jet was absolutely not something Chen Fei and his mere sixteen Big Mouth Monsters could afford to provoke; they might get wiped out in the first round.

"Everyone...hold on!"

Just as Chen Fei was about to issue a warning on the public communication channel to tell everyone to bug out, a thought suddenly struck him.

Wait a second... just 1000 Energy Points???

A Crystal Jet, hailed as a National Treasure Artifact, only being worth that much seemed far too cheap.

Maybe, just maybe, it was a damn fake.

Although the Dog System was crappy to the core, the intel it provided behind its missions was mostly reliable most of the time.

A Crystal Jet worth 1000 Energy Points was probably some half-assed knock-off machine. The Water Bear organization's attempt to aim for a National Treasure Artifact of Sovereignty was unexpected, but still made sense.

Nevertheless, crafting a Crystal Jet was not something that could be done easily; even Chen Fei, with his Industrial-grade Ability and two Crystal Jet wrecks for reference, still had little clue how to proceed.

"Everyone evacuate from the Aircrew Base 631, transport planes, do not approach, all return to base, now, immediately!"

Even though he detected something fishy in the new mission alert from the Dog System, Chen Fei still ended up saying what he originally had in mind.

A threat worth 1000 Energy Points, even if it was a cut-corner counterfeit, was not something the Big Mouth Monsters could handle.

Aboard the transport plane, Miyoshi Monk didn't care about exposing Chen Fei's name and urgently asked, "What's happening, Chen Fei!"

The sudden retreat order rendered the subsequent battle plans useless, gone down the drain.

If they allowed Aircrew Base 631 to recover from their disadvantage, the following battles would likely become much harder to fight.

"The situation has changed, big threat! 'Adam', have the drones circle and keep watch!"

Before Chen Fei's words finished, a bright spot suddenly shot out from the fiery depths of Aircrew Base 631 at an alarming speed, but it provoked no reaction from the radar screens of the Big Mouth Monsters.

Rather than being a bright spot, it was more like a tail flame, at least like that of a jet's tail flame.

Radar stealth!

But within Chen Fei's "Macroscopic Perspective", "Low-light Enhancement", and "Visual Assistance" skill modules combined with an "Optical Observer base model (Level 8)" skill, that mysterious aircraft had nowhere to hide.

The unmanned aircraft that Chen Fei spoke of referred to six unmanned Big Mouth Monsters controlled by the AI "Adam"; these were quite suitable as expendable decoys, perfect to stay behind for cover, and it wouldn't matter if they were all blown to bits.

The little bird around his neckline tried to cast the "Light Mirror Spell". The light points gathered and then dissipated, failing once again.

Despite the success rate having increased significantly compared to before, there was still a certain probability of failure.

"Xiao Jiu, keep it up!"

The little guy practiced this Light-based Spell whenever it had the chance, which not only was free of interference for Chen Fei but also provided an additional effective viewpoint, highly strategic in nature.

"Chirp chirp!"

The Pure Light Sparrow chirped defiantly.

The light reconverged, and this time it finally formed a complete screen of light. The image coincided perfectly with Chen Fei's "Macroscopic Perspective" and quickly captured the mysterious aircraft ascending from the sea of fire at Aircrew Base 631.

An aircraft with a flat appearance revealed itself, emitting faint cyan, dark red, and earthy yellow lights that interwove into a strange tattoo, covering almost the entire body of the machine. It was probably the Crystal Jet worth 1000 Energy Points that the Dog System had abruptly alerted him to.

The hallmark of the National Treasure Artifacts was the extensive use of Magic Arrays, a fusion of technology and magic that elevated combat effectiveness by more than one level. Chen Fei had built Magic Arrays more than once, hence he recognized the glow of activated arrays familiarly and identified it instantly.

Due to the use of Magic Arrays, the reliance on aerodynamic shapes and propulsion was reduced,

Allowing the Crystal Jet's design to be more unrestrained: forward-swept wings, swept-back wings, straight wings, folding wings, variable geometry wings, tailless, single tail, multiple tails, ventral fins, canard wings... with a plethora of styles. Despite the variability, they were all fundamentally tailored for Sky Knights based on their Aerial Combat Skills, with specialized designs made to enhance combat capabilities.

While the cost of custom design was exorbitantly high, and maintenance wasn't any cheaper, compared to the price of training a qualified Sky Knight, it seemed insignificant. This also explained why some impoverished nations, upon having their own Sky Knight, would tighten their belts even further, enduring even poorer days just to commission a Crystal Jet for their protege—one knight to defend the skies, ensuring unrivaled control of airspace.

The combat effectiveness of a Sky Knight piloting a Crystal Jet was obvious. So Chen Fei had no hesitation in ordering Aircrew Base 633's Pilots, as well as the incoming transport planes, to return to base, including Miyoshi Xuesen, who would only hold them back and become easy prey, serving no useful purpose at all.

Adam: "It seems there's something!"

The nine pilots brought over from Aircrew Base 633 had already pulled the joystick without hesitation, turning their aircraft around to return. They didn't even ask questions; if they were told to fight, they fought, if they were told to run, they ran—no doubts whatsoever.

However, it was the artificial intelligence AI "Adam" that detected something amiss.

Although the radar still showed no reaction, the optical module had noticed something unusual.

Boom!~

An unmanned "Big Mouth Monster" exploded in mid-air.

Almost at the same time, Aircrew Base 633 lost the signal of a "Big Mouth Monster," and it was only then that everyone realized the "big threat" Chen Fei mentioned was real.

"Chen Fei, what happened?"

Miyoshi Xuesen received an emergency notification about the sudden loss of a "Big Mouth Monster" at the same time.

Despite knowing he shouldn't disturb Chen Fei, who was in the midst of dealing with the situation, he still asked urgently.

"It's a Crystal Jet!"

Chen Fei had already locked onto the mysterious Crystal Jet's maneuvering trajectory. Besides his own "Basic Optical Observer (Level 8)" and Xiao Jiu's "Light Mirror Spell," the thin line predicting the trajectory also indicated the actual position of the adversary.

"Hiss..."

A collective gasp echoed through the communication channel.

The military-operated Aircrew Base did not allow for any superfluous military equipment, let alone something as prestigious as the Crystal Jets, which were practically a leap far beyond the bounds, enough to alarm Sovereignty to take action.

"Are you sure you're not seeing things?"

Miyoshi Xuesen knew he shouldn't keep asking questions at this moment, and yet he couldn't help himself.

"Confirmed, very confirmed!"

Chen Fei pulled back the joystick, jettisoning the almost empty auxiliary fuel tank, allowing his "Big Mouth Monster" to climb with full force, accumulating altitude for the upcoming tactical maneuver.

Exchanging altitude for speed is almost the only way for an aircraft to gain extra acceleration.

While the five unmanned "Big Mouth Monsters" searched aimlessly for the Crystal Jet, the "Big Mouth Monster" Chen Fei piloted ascended to a higher altitude, and he also armed himself using a magic array.

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Repulsion Shield (45) + Gravity (1) + Fluid Vortex (2) ×2 + Blazing Flame Bullet (1) ×4 = 54 engraving units.

Four "Blazing Flame Bullets" were inscribed on the top and bottom of each wing, ensuring a 360-degree angle of attack without any blind spots.

This time there wasn't a single superfluous engraving unit, focusing on the three aspects of defense, maneuverability, and attack power.

Speed? What advantage could a turboprop aircraft possibly have in speed? It's natural to play to one's strengths and avoid weaknesses, unless swapping out the propulsion engine; any attempt to boost speed would be pointless.

Below the speed of sound, all is insignificant and easily destroyed!

Otherwise, toys as large as the "Big Mouth Monster" would not have fallen into the hands of military contractors. Dreaming of rebelling with such combat aircraft is simply wishful thinking!

In the presence of Sovereignty's National Treasure Artifacts, the numerical advantage of turboprop aircraft does not amount to a qualitative change. No matter how many, it's all in vain.

"You... don't push yourself too hard!"

At this critical juncture, any more words were superfluous. Miyoshi Monk no longer hoped for the mission to go smoothly; he just wished for Chen Fei to return alive, for them to safely get back to Aircrew Base 633 and wait for Sovereignty's support. The further affairs could only be dealt with by Sovereignty.

As Chen Fei was climbing with full force, two unmanned "Big Mouth Monsters" were blasted apart again without even the chance to fire missiles. The probing machine guns did not hit even a hair, and the Crystal Jet that held the upper hand finally noticed the "Big Mouth Monster" that had reached an altitude of 5,000 meters.

As for the transport aircraft where Miyoshi Xuesen and others were and those "Big Mouth Monsters" that had turned back in retreat, they were already scared out of their wits and fled. It wasn't that they lacked brotherhood, but they were utterly helpless and would only cause more trouble by staying.

Chen Fei quietly activated two programmable combat bombs, which detached from their mounts. With a three-second ignition delay, they fell toward the trailing missiles. When the combat units of the two missiles aimed at the pursuing Crystal Jet, they ignited simultaneously, with the optical guidance modules locking onto the target.

The adversary was within the attack envelope of the "Big Mouth Monster," and there wasn't much difference whether it was from the front or back.

The distance between them was even less than 2,000 meters—a distance, at which considering the missiles' own speed, plus that of the Crystal Jet, the next second would see a direct hit on target.

Boom, boom!~

A fireball exploded in mid-air!

Flames and shockwaves immediately swallowed the Crystal Jet that was hit head-on by the two missiles.