"Hello, Professor?"
"What is it, Little Chen? Finished the books from last time?"
Professor Zhang's robust, smiling voice came through the phone. It sounded like he was in a good mood today.
"No, I've been tinkering with machines these past couple of days."
Chen Yi did not deliberately try to hide anything. Looking at the image projected by his AR Glasses, he got straight to the point. "My new drone was completed today. While conducting test flights and collecting data, I discovered an eighteen-meter Big Black Eagle crossing the border."
"But my drone is still in the test-flight and data-collection stage, so there's nothing I can do about it for now. That's why I'm calling to tell you."
"An eighteen-meter Big Black Eagle."
Professor Zhang froze for a moment. Then, as if he had realized something, his pupils shrank and he shouted, "Where?
"Latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, direction!"
"24.35 north latitude, 118.05 east longitude, altitude eighteen thousand meters, cruising at Mach 1.8, heading north by negative 2.3 degrees."
"Alright, keep an eye on it. I'll notify the relevant people immediately!"
Professor Zhang did not waste any time. He spoke rapidly and hung up just as quickly.
Less than two minutes after the call ended.
Chen Yi's drone radar detected takeoff signals from their side.
Four flight formations launched in succession.
No. 20, Master Wei, led the way, with No. 16, Brother Lang, following behind.
After flying for some distance, the four formations immediately engaged afterburners and scattered supersonically in four directions—left, right, above, and ahead—forming an encircling pocket as they pounced toward the Big Black Eagle.
"One minute and fifty-four seconds.
"The launch speed is a little beyond expectations. Looks like they have warmed-up engines on standby at all times on the ground.
"But why isn't Master Ba in the formation?
"These fighter jets can't match the Big Black Eagle in either ceiling or speed. Once it spots them, it could easily escape."
Chen Yi watched the radar image projected by his AR Glasses, took a sip from the cola bottle sitting by the air-conditioner vent, and felt somewhat puzzled.
After thinking for a moment, he set down the cola bottle and controlled his drone to skim across the sea toward the open waters.
Elsewhere.
At the command center.
A massive screen over twenty meters wide displayed the scan interfaces of various ground-based radars in different sections, along with the real-time positions of the four flight formations.
Beyond that, the most eye-catching thing was the life-sized real-time map in the center of the screen.
A red dashed trajectory stretched across the map.
A Big Black Eagle formed from dashed lines was flying north along the route at Mach 1.8.
"This is the Wildlife Protection Center calling all units. Report in order. Have you found any trace of the rare Big Black Eagle?"
After waiting for a while and seeing that the four flight formations had nearly approached the Black Eagle, the commander of the command center picked up the microphone and asked each formation for an update.
"Protection Formation One, no sign of the Big Black Eagle."
"Protection Formation Two, no sign of the Big Black Eagle."
"Protection Formation Three, no sign of the Big Black Eagle."
"Protection Formation Four, no—Formation Four has spotted the target! Rare Big Black Eagle confirmed! The target is within the intelligence route. Requesting authorization to carry out the eagle-capture mission!"
Along with Formation Four's shout, vast amounts of radar data refreshed across the large screen.
The dashed Big Black Eagle instantly solidified, and its previously dashed flight path became solid as well.
"These parameters..."
Looking at the precious radar cross-section data, the commander's breathing quickened.
Then, seeing that the Big Black Eagle was still following its calculated route and clearly had not realized it had been spotted, he swiftly gave the order.
"Hunter No. 8 hasn't arrived yet. Do not capture it for now. Continue building the cage.
"Keep your distance. Gather as much information as possible before it notices us. Circle around it, flank it, and seal off every escape route."
"Understood!"
Having confirmed the target's trail, the four flight formations were no longer in a hurry.
They pulled farther apart once more, circling around and flanking it, intending to block all of the Big Black Eagle's escape routes.
Everyone understood that, as a hypersonic drone.
Whether in flight ceiling, speed, turning, or acceleration, it vastly surpassed their manned fighter jets.
After all, drones had no pilots, so there was no need to worry about the limits of human endurance. They could accelerate and maneuver far more freely.
Before the encirclement was fully sealed, the cage completed, and the hunter in position.
If the target discovered them, the duck that had flown right into their mouths might very well escape.
As the encirclement was taking shape.
Elsewhere.
After checking the map coordinates, the Big Black Eagle's operator contacted the base.
"Sir, the Black Eagle has entered the target airspace. Requesting authorization to activate reconnaissance and surveillance mode to scan and collect intelligence."
"Base acknowledges. Authorization granted to activate reconnaissance and surveillance mode."
"Yes, sir."
After receiving the base's approval, the operator activated the reconnaissance cameras, infrared and electronic detectors, synthetic-aperture side-looking radar, and other surveillance equipment, aiming them at the area below and ahead.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The instant the radar and other systems activated.
A piercing alarm suddenly sounded.
The operator looked at the drone's radar display.
Seven or eight targets had been detected.
According to the radar data analysis.
They were all Weilong fighter jets and Roaring Wolf electronic warfare aircraft.
Judging by their flight paths and formation, they had already formed several flight groups and were closing in from the outer perimeter.
"Shit! Who leaked the intelligence!"
A flash of terror appeared in the operator's eyes.
If this Big Black Eagle got captured under his watch, he would be picking up soap in prison for the rest of his life.
"Calling base! Intelligence leak, intelligence leak!"
"After activating reconnaissance scanning, the Black Eagle detected enemy Weilong and Roaring Wolf aircraft forming flight formations and encircling it. The closest distance is less than eighty kilometers. Requesting authorization for the Black Eagle to return immediately!"
"Base acknowledges. Return authorized!"
Having received authorization to return, the operator let out a breath of relief.
He immediately pulled up, intending to roll the aircraft over and fly back out.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
But just as the altitude rose less than a thousand meters, static and mosaic distortion appeared on the avionics control display before him. The signal had become unstable.
"Oh God, electronic suppression! Roaring Wolf!"
The operator cried out in terror and quickly pushed the throttle to maximum.
Before the signal was completely cut off and lost, he activated the Black Eagle's autopilot program and ordered it to return at its maximum speed and highest altitude.
The returning Black Eagle's exhaust flames surged.
It shot upward toward twenty thousand meters like a rocket launched from flat ground.
In less than a minute, the Black Eagle crossed twenty thousand meters, reaching Mach 3.
Rumble!
The turbojet engines shut down, and the ramjet engines activated.
After entering the twenty-thousand-meter altitude range, the Black Eagle did not stop accelerating. Instead, it surged even faster.
Its altitude rapidly climbed to the critical altitude of forty thousand meters, while its speed rose from Mach 3 to Mach 4.8. It switched into scramjet mode and continued charging toward Mach 6.
At the command center.
Watching the Big Black Eagle suddenly seem as though it had been pumped full of adrenaline, rapidly climbing to forty thousand meters and accelerating toward Mach 6.
The commander slammed his fist against the table in fury.
"Damn it!"
"Has our Zhenba drone arrived yet?"
The Big Black Eagle had now built up both altitude and speed, exceeding the climbing and speed limits of the four flight formations, even surpassing the speed limit of air-to-air missiles.
If they wanted to intercept it, they could only hope that Hunter No. 8 would arrive as quickly as possible.
"It's coming at full speed, but it's still one hundred and two kilometers away."
"At that distance, it's already too late to intercept and capture it. By the time we catch up, the Black Eagle will have crossed the boundary."
The staff member beside him reported through gritted teeth.
As he spoke, he stared at the image on the large screen, his eyes reddening and his fists clenched tight.
"Maintain electronic suppression. Even if we can't capture it, we can't let them have an easy time."
The commander took several deep breaths and tried to control his emotions.
Although they had anticipated the possibility of failing to capture the eagle when planning the operation.
Watching the enemy stroll through their own territory while they could do absolutely nothing about it.
And only watch them leave openly and without consequence still made him feel stifled and furious.
Elsewhere.
Chen Yi was eating snacks and drinking cola when Master Ba's signal appeared on his radar display.
He calculated the distance between Master Ba and the Big Black Eagle, then could not help shaking his head.
At this distance, by the time Master Ba caught up, the Black Eagle would already have crossed the boundary.
By then, it would be difficult to make a move even if they wanted to.
"This is a little awkward. They shouldn't have planned to use electronic suppression and attempt a full capture.
"They should've fired an over-the-horizon air-to-air firework the moment they met.
"They're both drones anyway. There's nobody inside. If it blew up within the boundary, then it blew up."
Chen Yi shook his head.
When he made the call earlier, he had assumed they would set an ambush and send it a firework.
After all, a Big Black Eagle like that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Blowing it up would still count as a considerable achievement, and they could analyze some of its technology afterward by collecting the fragments.
But he had not expected their appetite to be so large. They actually wanted to use electronic suppression to capture an intact Black Eagle.
"Fortunately, I sensed something was wrong when Master Ba didn't appear at the start, so I hid in the bushes along the way in advance."
"Now it's my turn!"
After finishing the last sip of cola, Chen Yi looked at the drone's remaining forty-eight percent battery.
He sent a signal and dumped the drained battery into the sea.
He turned the ion thrusters to maximum power. The entire drone shot skyward as lightly as a swallow, charging from the outside inward to intercept the Big Black Eagle's signal on the radar display.
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