Special Situation

One day later.

Altitude 6,000.

Altitude 7,000.

Altitude 8,000.

Once he had enough altitude, Liu Jun pulled back on the stick and leveled out. The air was denser at low altitude, creating more drag, while the thinner air at high altitude reduced resistance and saved fuel. After adjusting the throttle, the J-15 carrier-based fighter beneath him entered cruise mode.

His gaze swept across the instruments. After confirming that his altitude, speed, and heading were all correct, he relaxed slightly and flew toward the waters where Carrier One was located.

Flying—especially this kind of high-altitude cruising—was no different from driving on the highway, except the car was in the sky. Combat missions were even more so: fly for hours, drop bombs for five minutes, or perhaps the battle would be over before even five minutes had passed.

Liu Jun thought about the Daytime Carrier Qualification Certification he was about to take. It should not be a problem.

He glanced at his skills. They were not tangible game-like attributes, of course, but rather vaguely defined levels. For the time being, he would call them skills.

Skills were divided into combat skills and logistical support. Since he was in the Eastern Great Nation rather than India, Liu Jun had not invested his precious Flight Experience into logistical support for now. If he were in India, he would definitely max out logistical support immediately. He did not want to be flying along only for his aircraft to crash because of a malfunction.

By 2024, India had lost more than 1,600 military aircraft in non-combat crashes—enough to wipe out an entire air force.

Flying Indian aircraft was a nightmare for every pilot, because you never knew whether your beloved aircraft would be missing a few screws after ground maintenance. More likely than not, even the ground crew themselves would not know where those screws were supposed to go.

Visual Acuity Training LV: 1

Situational Awareness LV: 0.5

G-Force Tolerance LV: 2

Physique Enhancement LV: 1

Life Augmentation LV: 1

The levels might have been low, but Liu Jun had accumulated that Flight Experience only by training desperately and never missing a single chance to fly. That was also why he was so eager to earn stick-pulling fees.

Although his levels were not high, they still put his training results far ahead of everyone else's. Still, he always felt that he was gradually turning into an Antonian.

Pulling himself together, Liu Jun looked at the instruments again and confirmed that there were no deviations in heading, altitude, or speed. Through the sunglasses on his helmet, he looked down at the sea. The weather was good today, with clear skies stretching for miles. It was a good omen for the Daytime Carrier Qualification Certification.

With his exceptional eyesight, he could see scattered "pixels" of varying sizes on the sea. He could vaguely make out what those dark specks were. A small portion were fishing boats, while most were cargo ships and cruise liners traveling in groups, like ants moving house, carrying supplies back to Great East from thousands of miles away for processing before selling the finished products across the world.

At the same time, in space, an observation satellite silently watched this busy stretch of sea.

Time: 2024.

Location: Nearby waters at 117.7° east longitude, 15.12° north latitude.

With a whir, the high-precision optical lens zoomed in, enlarging the image again and again until the drilling platform at sea came into clear view. Far out on the water, several small black dots were being secretly deployed by a foreign cargo ship.

In a dim room, a middle-aged man asked softly, "Is everything proceeding according to plan?"

"Yes, sir."

"Leave no traces."

"Understood!"

The middle-aged man silently watched the small black dots, his eyes grave.

Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!

Motors drove the propellers, sending the speedboats racing across the sea. On several boats, dark-skinned monkeys dressed in ragged clothing stared at the drilling platform in the distance.

After loading an old AK-47 with a click and pulling the bolt, the leading man licked his lips as he watched the drilling platform draw nearer. He picked up his radio and gave the order: "Go!"

With their leader's command, several speedboats charged toward the drilling platform from different directions. Some monkeys took out ropes, apparently intending to climb onto the platform.

As soon as they approached the drilling platform, they were spotted. The duty personnel hurriedly picked up the wired telephone and reported, "Manager! Something's happening! Several speedboats are approaching!"

"What?!"

Upon hearing the news, the drilling platform manager immediately put aside his work and rushed to the monitoring room.

Amid heavy breaths, the manager steadied himself and asked solemnly, "Where are the speedboats?"

"They're coming from the east. They're still three nautical miles away!"

The manager picked up a pair of binoculars beside him and looked toward the distant sea. He could clearly see speedboats approaching from different directions. The experienced manager immediately realized what they had encountered—Pirates!

"Report it immediately! Request help from the Coast Guard!"

"Yes!"

In modern society, information traveled in milliseconds. Before long, the special situation involving Pirates at the drilling platform was reported to the Coast Guard and the Command Center.

The location of the special situation was marked on the massive virtual sand table, and the duty commander frowned at once. Not long ago, a Coast Guard vessel had patrolled the nearby waters, yet it had found no sign of Pirates. These Pirates seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"What happened?"

"Based on our assessment, they were likely disguised or deployed by a legitimate foreign vessel. That was the only way they could evade the patrolling Coast Guard."

The commander frowned. This was playing dirty and ignoring the rules, but it made perfect sense at this particular time. However, the highest priority now was not investigating which ship had deployed the Pirates, but rescuing the drilling platform and driving them away.

On the sand table, the Coast Guard vessel almost immediately adjusted course and made a 180-degree turn, racing toward the drilling platform at maximum speed. Yet on the sand table, its movement was little more than a crawl.

It would take the Coast Guard vessel at least half an hour to reach the waters around the drilling platform. That was too long. The commander's gaze swept over the other units on the sand table. Without exception, all of them needed time as well. Clearly, the other side had planned this carefully. They were definitely not ordinary Pirates—at the very least, there was someone behind them who was not a Pirate.

"Hmm?"

Just as the commander was preparing to dispatch other units as support, he suddenly spotted a new unit on the sand table. It was also currently the closest airborne unit to the drilling platform: J-15 carrier-based fighter number 189.

"What's the situation with 189?"

At the commander's question, the technician swiftly pulled up the relevant information on the unit.

"Reporting, Commander! The aircraft is being flown by Naval Aviation trainee Liu Jun. He is carrying out a Daytime Carrier Qualification Certification mission. The aircraft is not carrying any ordnance."

After all, Liu Jun was undergoing Carrier Qualification Certification. Carrying ordnance would increase airframe drag and affect the aircraft's performance. Landing with ordnance was also extremely dangerous.

A trainee? The commander's expression stiffened at the words. After pulling up the trainee's records and carefully reviewing his results, he thought for a moment before saying, "Contact the aircraft immediately. Ask about his status and confirm whether he can carry out a mission to drive off the Pirates."

"Yes, Commander!"