Code Name: Old Hen

"Li Zhi, the experts from Yu Aircraft have some questions for you. Captain Xu wants you to go over right away!"

At noon the next day, Liao Yifei, who had no mission that day, found Li Zhi reading in the dormitory.

"Okay, got it."

As one of the only two pilots still available for duty, Liao Yifei had to rest whenever he could. He and the other pilot, Zeng Yuan, flew one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, leaving them no free time at all.

When an air situation arose, Xu Feng, as captain, had to cover a shift as well.

Li Zhi had passed his psychological evaluation, but getting back in the air wasn't that easy. He still needed approval from the medical team's examining doctors!

And before the doctors would sign off, he had to remain under observation for a full seven days!

It wasn't that the doctors were being inflexible. These were strict regulations, all intended to safeguard the pilots' lives.

The base had set aside a conference room specifically for the experts from Yu Aircraft to use.

Transporting such a large aircraft back to Yu Aircraft was no easy task. They had to wait until the experts had collected their data before taking it apart and shipping it back in batches.

A copy had also been made of the tower's flight data and communications records. All of it was important evidence for analyzing the cause of the incident.

Of course, Li Zhi knew best what had happened at the time, so the experts wanted to speak with him.

Knock, knock, knock!

Li Zhi knocked on the conference room door, even though it was open.

"You're the pilot who flew the fighter back, aren't you? Heroes really do emerge from the young!"

As experts devoted to studying technology, they were different from other experts who sought fame and praise. They never flattered anyone unless they believed that person deserved their respect.

"I'm Li Zhi. I heard you had questions for me. I'll tell you everything I know!"

Li Zhi respected these experts greatly. Any one of them was about the same age as his grandfather, so by any measure, he ought to treat them with respect.

"Young man, don't be nervous. We just want to ask you a few questions!"

Everyone could see how ill at ease Li Zhi was. They were very fond of the young man who had flown the malfunctioning Eighth Master back in one piece.

"Young man, think back. Did the fighter give a warning first, or did the left engine malfunction first?"

They could find this out by checking the black box's flight log, but that might not be accurate. After all, the flight control system had given a false warning before.

"The warning came first. It told me the left engine was losing power, but, but I didn't feel any change in the aircraft's power!"

Li Zhi had an excellent memory, and the incident had only happened the day before. He remembered it very clearly.

Old Master Liu Xuelin wrote down this important detail. As a senior engineer at Yu Aircraft, he wouldn't overlook the slightest clue.

"I heard that after you restarted the left engine, it returned to normal?"

In fact, Old Master Liu already had a basic understanding of most of what had happened. He was only questioning Li Zhi to fill in the gaps.

"Yes, but after about ten seconds or so, the flight control system started warning me again! And this time, I could clearly feel the power dropping!"

Li Zhi didn't know whether they were aware of this, so he tried hard to recall everything that had happened.

"Did you hear any unusual noises at the time?"

This question was extremely important. Whether there had been an unusual noise was an important factor in determining whether the incident had been an accident.

"No!"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

Liu Xuelin's expression darkened somewhat. The absence of an unusual noise meant this was very likely not an accident.

Since it wasn't an accident, the same thing could happen to every Eighth Master from the same batch. That was the worst-case scenario.

"All right, that's all for today. We'll ask you whenever we have questions, and we hope you'll cooperate!"

"Okay!"

Old Master Liu had other things on his mind and was somewhat inattentive to Li Zhi. His words weren't as pleasant as before, either, but Li Zhi didn't hold it against him.

Liu Xuelin had no time to attend to Li Zhi now. He had to report the situation and recommend that all fighters from the same batch as this Eighth Master be temporarily grounded!

Whether or not the military decided to ground them, he would make that recommendation. This was no joke.

Until the precise cause of the incident was found, he wouldn't recommend letting these problematic Eighth Masters fly.

In fact, after the incident with this aircraft, Yu Aircraft had notified all units using the Eighth Master. When an incident was caused by a problem with the aircraft itself, fighters from the same batch had to be grounded first.

In truth, whether they could identify the problem was no longer particularly important, because in three months at most, all the Eighth Masters would leave the stage of history!

Although the Eighth Master was about to be retired from active service and replaced by the more advanced Jiaolong 10, Yu Aircraft couldn't let this distinguished aircraft, which had served alongside the air force for more than twenty years, disappear from view with questions unanswered.

Although Li Zhi had been told to remain ready for questioning, the experts from Yu Aircraft never sought him out again afterward.

The day after the questioning, Xu Feng personally escorted the expert team back to Yu Aircraft's headquarters in Yuzhou.

The fighter was also dismantled, packed up and sent to Yu Aircraft.

The base's two remaining fighters had now become its treasures. Fortunately, these two Eighth Masters weren't from the same batch as the one Li Zhi had flown before, or the base would have had to shut down.

During this time, Li Zhi became the most idle person on the base. The other two pilots and Captain Xu were all incredibly busy, while he spent his days doing nothing but reading and exercising.

As the looks the others gave him grew increasingly strange, he began avoiding them. Otherwise, he really might end up with a sack thrown over his head.

"Li Zhi, I've got a task for you!"

The day before Li Zhi's flying ban was due to be lifted, Xu Feng came to find him.

"What is it, Captain Xu?"

Xu Feng's smile made Li Zhi a little uneasy. He looked like a weasel that had stolen an old hen, and it made Li Zhi uncomfortable all over.

No, that wasn't right. He wasn't a weasel that had stolen an old hen, but an old hen that had stolen a weasel!

Because Xu Feng's code name was Old Hen!

The first time Li Zhi had learned this, he had burst out laughing. No wonder Captain Xu had always refused to tell him his code name and was so keen on giving other people nicknames.

Old Hen was the code name of the person in charge of the base. Perhaps it was the old captain's twisted sense of humor or a desire for revenge.

Every squadron leader at Chicken Coop Base inherited this code name from the old captain. It was the old captain's final order before leaving, and the new captain had to carry it out.

Despite the reluctance written all over Xu Feng's face now, if he were being transferred away tomorrow, his final order would surely be for the next captain to take over the code name!

Unless a captain was parachuted in from above, this tradition was sure to continue!