Shock! Spy photos exposed, military fans: Who said they were developing a 4.5 generation? (Seeking subscription)

Chapter 43: Shock! Spy Photos Exposed, Military Fans: Who Said We Were Developing Generation 4.5? (Seeking Subscriptions)

"This timing might be a bit early, Eagle Country's HP pool is still quite thick," Lu Ze murmured.

The current timing was perhaps still a little too early, not quite perfect.

Although Eagle Country had just gone through a huge financial crisis last year, nearly detonating the entire stock, bond, and currency markets, it had still managed to stabilize its foundation by draining the rest of the world.

Despite being continuously bled, its HP bar was still relatively healthy, maintaining the facade of the world's number one superpower.

But if their own father got beaten, could Eagle Country, as the son, just sit idly by? Could those people on Wall Street sit idly by?

"Let's all cheer for them together," Lu Ze said piously.

Justice will prevail, what else is there to say?

Meanwhile, in Great Xia, during the afternoon.

Inside an unknown "New Era" internet cafe, the air was filled with the smell of tobacco and instant noodles.

In this space of less than forty square meters, over fifty computers were neatly arranged, yet it was still packed.

Despite minors being prohibited from using the internet, this internet cafe clearly didn't take it seriously. Several elementary school students stood behind many of the seats.

If I can't afford to surf the web, can't I at least watch? I can even occasionally grab a turn on someone else's leftover game.

Zhang Wei sat down and turned on a computer, ignoring the "clack-clack-clack" of the spacebar coming from his left. His neighbor, a young man with multi-colored hair, was clearly playing Audition.

In Great Xia in 2009, the internet was still dominated by non-mainstream culture.

He skillfully opened "Hello Kugou" to listen to music, avoiding the "ta-da-da" gun imitation sounds from the elementary school student to his right.

Zhang Wei, now nearing middle age, wasn't very interested in online games like CrossFire or Dungeon & Fighter anymore. He preferred to hang out on forums.

One forum he frequented was the Great Xia Military Forum, the gathering place for the vast majority of military enthusiasts.

As soon as he entered the website, Zhang Wei clicked on the top trending post. This post, published only a few hours ago, had already garnered thousands of comments.

[Under what circumstances can a J-8 reasonably eliminate an F-22 fighter jet!]

> OP is an idiot, comparing a Generation 3 aircraft to a fifth-generation fighter? That's the biggest absurdity. > > > Suggest letting Grandpa Five take the stage. Though my Grandpa J-5 is old, he can still fight! > > > > > If we're talking reasonable speculation, the J-8II's high-altitude, high-speed performance, flying above 20,000 meters and using its cannon, might have a slim chance of shooting down an F-22. > > > > > > > Do you think the F-22's avionics are just for show? No matter how fast the J-8 is, can it outrun an air-to-air missile? > > > > > > > Then let a squadron of J-8s go! Exhaust all the F-22's missiles, and I don't believe it won't be taken down!

Looking at the content of these posts, Zhang Wei shook his head helplessly. "How can a J-8II possibly compare to a fifth-generation fighter... the gap is just too vast."

This wasn't just something he knew; it was likely that the netizens debating "J-8 vs. F-22" on the forum also understood this.

But what else could they do? Eagle Country's F-22 loomed over them like a colossal mountain, making it hard to breathe.

Should they compare it to Great Xia's most advanced J-10? That fourth-generation fighter was also completely outmatched. At least the J-8II had the advantage of high-altitude, high-speed performance to try something, whereas the J-10 had no chance of winning.

Just then.

Suddenly, Zhang Wei noticed that the entire forum seemed to be in a frenzy. The latest reply records on the right side flowed down like a waterfall, dense and continuous.

Just as he was about to refresh the page to see what was happening.

Suddenly, the entire Great Xia Military Forum froze. The spinning circle on the screen kept turning, as if the immense traffic had caused the forum's server to crash on the spot.

Zhang Wei anxiously pressed F5, his brows furrowed, and he whispered, "What happened? Why haven't the forum admins fixed it yet?"

"What could have driven everyone on the forum crazy?"

What happened?

He had only seen the reply timestamps on the right frantically jumping from the usual ten or so per second to over several thousand per second, and then the website crashed before he could even refresh the post.

Finally, after he had repeatedly pressed F5 for nearly ten minutes, with even the internet cafe owner standing behind him with a dark expression, thinking Zhang Wei was trying some new trick, the familiar interface finally refreshed.

Instantly, he found the pinned trending post.

Of course, he didn't need to search for it; all the posts on the entire page were discussions about it.

[Is our country's fifth-generation fighter under development? Ground taxi tests seem to be complete, first flight imminent!]

> Fifth-generation fighter?? Our country's fifth-generation fighter? > > > Am I dreaming? We already have the capability to develop a fifth-generation fighter? > > > > > Impossible, OP must be a clickbaiter! The J-10 only recently entered service, a fifth-generation fighter should be at least ten years away, right? > > > > > > > No pictures, no truth. I feel like this is just made up. > > > > > > > The OP's account level doesn't seem like it. They've been registered for almost seven or eight years and are making up this kind of story?

"Could this be a false alarm? Did the forum crash just because of this?" Zhang Wei wondered.

He scrolled down forcefully a few times with his mouse and found the OP's reply on the fiftieth-something floor. He finally understood why the forum had exploded.

On the screen, a few blurry long-range photos appeared at the top.

A fighter jet, with a very unique appearance, a flat body, and painted silver. A serial number, "001," was inscribed on its fuselage.

It spread its proud wings like a six-winged angel, ready to soar through the skies at any moment.

If this isn't a fifth-generation fighter, what is it? Its design concept is completely in line with the F-22 fighter jet. From its appearance alone, it's evident that it must possess super stealth, super cruise, and super maneuverability. If its avionics can achieve super attitude awareness, then it's a qualified fifth-generation fighter.

And with this familiar resolution and refreshing shooting angle, Zhang Wei didn't even need to think to know that this must be a masterpiece from the 'wall-crawlers'.

Moreover, in the past, when faced with such news, Great Xia would immediately issue a denial to prevent any unforeseen incidents.

Yet, even after the post had been up for over an hour, there was still no response or action. This tacit approval solidified everyone's suspicions even further.

In other words...

"Hiss, this is actually real?" Zhang Wei exclaimed, dumbfounded.

At this moment...

The entire military forum was in an uproar.

Good heavens, we haven't even dared to imagine the J-10 being fully deployed, and Great Xia's fifth-generation fighter is almost ready for development?

Just now, they were still discussing 'the possibility of the J-8II challenging the F-22!'.

Now they've dropped the pretense. I want a fifth-generation fighter. Who the hell wants the J-8 grandpa? I don't know them, don't recognize them, don't contact me.

However, some people snapped back to reality at this moment.

"Who was spreading fake news before, saying we were developing a Generation 4.5 fighter?"

"I actually believed you, you old scoundrel!"