Sky-cracking Rider

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"'Rookie' received, 'Adam', I have taken off!"

Surrounded by a panoramic 3D projection, Chen Fei pulled the control stick. The mechanical dragon's cockpit layout was very similar to that of combat aircraft and even more streamlined. Apart from the necessary buttons and joysticks, most functions appeared in projection form and could automatically track hand gestures and pupil positioning.

The AI "Adam"'s restructured flight control system was highly automated. With preset programming and sufficient computational resources, manual control combined with voice commands could easily complete complex maneuvers.

The nearly twenty-ton mechanical dragon, blessed by both magic arrays and special abilities, instantly felt as light as a feather. When its weight plunged below zero into the negative, it naturally drifted away from the planet's gravitational field. With wings fully extended, a gentle flap sent out a powerful airstream that propelled the dragon rapidly into the sky. Taking advantage of the gaps between relentless downpours of enemy fire and protected by a repulsion shield and two kinds of magic shields, it sparkled with magical light as it broke through the protective barrier and soared upward.

No sooner had the mechanical dragon activated than the Dimensional Gate Management Substation began its counter-assault. Especially the automated heavy-caliber railguns of the firepower platforms, which continuously hurled explosive fragmentation grenades weighing over a ton toward the rebel positions, engaging in an inevitable war of attrition as both sides had protective barriers and spells.

In this siege battle, neither the attackers nor defenders could maneuver freely, which gave Chen Fei and the mechanical dragon their chance. Moreover, since the Dimensional Gate Management Substation took on half of the defensive duties, he only had to face attacks from the south and east.

When the mechanical dragon reached a height of 3000 meters, it opened its fanged maw, and a blue-white particle beam shot forth.

The particle beam's speed was slightly slower than that of a laser, but over the distances involved on a planet's surface, this small difference in speed was practically negligible. It directly resulted in a huge mushroom cloud 15 kilometers away.

Spiral-winged drones, lingering in the sky, had already marked all rebel targets. Chen Fei prioritized the targets with the highest tactical value, striking the enemy's ammunition depot and triggering a large-scale sympathetic detonation that swept through the vicinity with its blast wave.

The particle beam weapon originated from Chen Fei's psi skill, which was an overpowered weapon to begin with. It was directly integrated into the mechanical dragon.

After delivering the first strike, the mechanical dragon beat its wings and began to accelerate with all its might.

Thirty-two "Air Burst (2)" magic arrays rapidly unleashed a continuous rumble of airstreams one after another. The quantitative change led to a qualitative one, as the originally violent gas outbursts formed a dense jet of air. The "Wind Cone (2)" emblazoned at the head of the dragon improved the dragon's aerodynamic state by forcefully altering the airflow shape at the front, constructing a cone-shaped wind guide and compensating for its aerodynamics to some extent.

Sixty-four "Fluid Vortex (2)" magic arrays output steadily, finely adjusting the massive thrust released by the "Air Burst (2)" cluster, making the flight posture more stable, and allowing turns to be smooth and effortless.

A huge amount of crystal energy was rapidly consumed. Despite all being low-rank magic arrays, their sheer number and rapid hundreds of activations meant they consumed nearly as much crystal energy as high-rank magic arrays would.

A giant conical shockwave appeared in front of the mechanical dragon, which accelerated like a ship cutting through waves, shaking off the swarming retaliatory fire from the rebels. The first to react were the anti-aircraft railgun weapons, which could project a large number of high-explosive bombs into the sky in rapid succession.

But Chen Fei had no time to pay attention to these "feedings." He had more critical tactical objectives to achieve.

Crack! ~

The mechanical dragon tore through the sound barrier with unstoppable force, its speed climbing another notch as it arrived above the rebel positions. The array of ton-grade cloud bombs, six on each side of its body, was dropped one after the other.

The mechanical dragon was not originally designed for external attachments; after all, it wasn't a kamikaze combat mobility armor. But when Chen Fei wanted it, so it came to be. This design was actually quite risky.

If the rebels' fire hit them... it's likely that both the mechanical dragon and Chen Fei would be doomed together!

But it wouldn't be Chen Xiao'er if he wasn't audacious.

When the rebels caught a clear view of the bulky bombs slung on the sides of the mechanical dragon, their faces collectively turned green, unsure of which unfortunate soul would be the target of these deadly contraptions.

In the distance, the rebel Light Wing Fleet, upon seeing the mechanical dragon's ascent, launched sixteen Sky Falcons, rushing over with a full squadron ready for battle.

It wasn't that they didn't want to send more Sky Falcons into battle, but the combat airspace was limited. Too many friendly forces in the sky could easily inflict friendly fire in the chaos of battle, and equally, they would miss many opportunities to attack.

The problem in the sky was to be solved in the sky. The rebel commander's response was textbook standard but... he was facing Chen Xiao'er, who, from the very start, never took aerial combat by the book seriously.

From the first takeoff, Chen Fei's combat style had been set.

A maniacal saturation of firepower, a thorough surplus ingrained in his culture where it was taken as a given, since that's what everyone did, and it was never enough. So there was no problem.

The ton-grade cloud bombs that were dropped finally exploded one after another on the ground. The terrifying shockwaves obliterated one magical shield and small protective barrier after another amidst the roaring blast. The subsequent inferno and oxygen depletion directly inflicted massive casualties on the rebels, tearing apart personnel and tactical equipment alike.

Chen Xiao'er was as bold in his requests as the Dimensional Gate Management Substation was generous in fulfillment. Both were willing to go all out.

Blast and thermobaric weapons were nearly the most effective at breaking through magic shields and protective barriers. The rebels never expected Chen Fei, riding the mechanical dragon, to be so ruthless, going all out from the start.

The rebel positions to the east and south were thoroughly plowed by the cloud bombs, and the tactical weapon clusters constantly bombarding the Dimensional Gate Management Substation fell silent one after another. The acrid smoke and heat spread in all directions, reaching the rear of the rebel positions. The scorching heat wave rolled across, and despite having spells and protective barriers, it was impossible to shield everything completely.

Beep beep beep beep... "

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An urgent alarm blared, as the Mechanical Dragon was not only radar-locked but also targeted by 32 missiles screaming towards it.

From the Rebel Army's Light Wing Fleet, the "Sky Falcon" squadron launched an attack on the Mechanical Dragon, unleashing a volley at the edge of visual range.

"Wow, that's a lot of missiles!"

With his ears filled with the alarm's sound, Chen Fei felt overwhelmed. His worries extended beyond the missiles to the "Sky Falcons" themselves.

Though the aerial combat aircraft of Cangqiong Star couldn't match the straight-line acceleration of Blue Star's jet or jet-propelled aircraft, their maneuverability was famously superior, thanks to bionically inspired aerodynamic designs best suited for wind-riding flight.

The Mechanical Dragon's massive size made it less agile than the "Sky Falcons"; getting entangled with them could easily lead to being mobbed.

"'Adam,' dive to an altitude of 300 meters first, then climb to 20,000 meters before swooping down on those Light Wing Ships!"

Chen Fei already had a plan in mind.

Compared to the "Sky Falcons," the Mechanical Dragon's maneuverability was inevitably at a natural disadvantage, but... the Light Wing Ships were even less agile than the Mechanical Dragon. Naturally, you pinch the softest persimmon.

After the big battle at the Abyss Coliseum, Chen Fei had already considered fighting the "Sky Falcons," like "Big Mouth Monster" versus "Sky Falcon," "Raptor" versus "Sky Falcon," MiG versus "Sky Falcon," "Canglong" versus "Sky Falcon," Crystal Jet versus "Sky Falcon," and even "Sky Falcon" against "Sky Falcon" in-fighting.

Now it seemed, his foresight was on point.

Without these plans, he would be in a panic by now, not knowing what to do.

The first wave of missiles quickly pulled the Mechanical Dragon into an inescapable radius, but the dragon headed straight for the ground.

Lacking in maneuverability, Chen Fei made up for it with speed. After all, he was an experienced driver and knew a few tricks.

At least he wasn't like Chekhov Big Bear, who evolved to the level of pulling out liquor from his underpants. Even if he enjoyed a drink, that was something he simply couldn't play along with.

The Mechanical Dragon, with its wings folded, dived obliquely towards the ground, leaving the missile flock behind. Its wingtips, dragon horns, and tail dragged out long contrail vortices, making its flight path much easier to predict.

As expected, a barrage of anti-aircraft fire came from the ground.

Chen Fei only activated the Wind and Lightning Elemental Series Magic Shields, letting the surface of the shields be bombarded by railgun projectiles and offensive spells, but he still kept diving regardless.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably be seeing dark red by now, but his vision remained as clear as ever.

Although the interceptor-type "Flying Dragon" Tactical Armor that specialized in aerial combat could apply balanced pressure on the human body, balancing internal pressure against overloading and increasing overload tolerance, in the Dog System's "Individual Information" interface, "Physical Energy: 341/406" and "Burst Strength: 190/203" were already far beyond the metrics of a normal person. These two basic data points were comparable to a high-ranked Human Order War Professional and a supernatural power user with physique-enhancing skills.

Altitude above ground 1500 meters, missiles 3500 meters away!

Altitude above ground 1200 meters, missiles 2700 meters away!

Altitude above ground 800 meters, missiles 1500 meters away!

Altitude above ground 500 meters, missiles 600 meters away!

Altitude above ground 300 meters…

"Pull up with full strength!"

Chen Fei was quick to act, almost timing to the second as he pulled the control stick with all his might, flapping the wings vigorously, allowing the Mechanical Dragon to perform a series of barrel rolls.

The "Gravity (1) ×4" Magic Array's light was so intense it almost exploded, barely maintaining one second before popping and cracking into bursts of sparks, with a massive dispersion of Crystal Energy and Elemental Energy.

Magic Arrays, which were quite fragile to begin with, would inevitably collapse if overloaded, especially when done so recklessly.

But no sooner had the four "Gravity (1)" overloaded and burst, they quickly restored to their original state and continued to overload and explode again.

The missile flock, now less than 100 meters away, lacked the Mechanical Dragon's sophisticated maneuvers. By the time they tried to turn, it was too late, and they all crashed into the ground without exception.

Below was the Rebel Army's assembly point... Chen Xiao'er had indeed chosen a good spot.