Painting a Star on the Fighter Jet

By the time Eagle Country made it public, three days had passed since the incident.

Li Zhi had already returned to his usual patrol routine, and Dragon Country hadn't made much of the incident either. After all, it hadn't even counted as a clash.

The previous incident hadn't affected the normal patrols of Li Zhi and the other Dragon Country pilots, and they still found ways to have their fun.

This time, for example, the weather was almost identical to what it had been three days ago, and Li Zhi wanted to pull the same trick again.

But the Peacock pilot on the other side refused to take the bait. No matter what Li Zhi did, the other pilot followed his every move like a timid wife.

Even when he fell behind for a moment, he didn't choose to ignore Li Zhi like the last unlucky fellow had.

Although Eagle Country hadn't made the real reason public, the Peacock Country pilots stationed nearby had remembered the Dragon Country fighter jet numbered J20024.

The pilot had been badly frightened when he took off and saw that his opponent was Li Zhi.

Though they didn't know Li Zhi's name or even his call sign, that didn't stop them from fearing him.

He had driven a Peacock pilot to a mental breakdown without using any weapons. That wasn't something just anyone could do!

Although the outcome had come about through a coincidence, the part Li Zhi had played in it couldn't be ignored.

For three days running, the Peacock fighter jets sent to monitor Li Zhi had behaved like this. Yesterday, two jets had even come at the same time. Apparently, the other side took Li Zhi very "seriously."

Unable to find any fun, Li Zhi didn't continue. After completing his patrol, he returned to base looking dejected.

Li Zhi still didn't know that he had brought down a Peacock fighter jet three days ago and taken out one of their pilots as well.

So it was only natural that he felt a little depressed when he couldn't understand why the Peacock side had suddenly become so wary of him.

The fighter jet soon landed on the base runway. This time, it wasn't towed to the hangar for inspection and maintenance.

Li Zhi still had combat readiness duty that afternoon. Although he didn't have to fly a patrol, he had to be ready to take off at any moment.

Fighter jets didn't need maintenance after every flight. Unless they had performed major maneuvers, they were generally inspected and serviced once every three days.

"Three-Yellow Chicken, you're something, kid! Looks like we ought to paint a star on your jet!"

Liao Yifei had no assignment or combat readiness duty that day. When he ran into Li Zhi, he made a remark that came out of nowhere, leaving Li Zhi utterly baffled.

"What star? Are you still half asleep?"

"Still playing dumb, are you? If Captain Xu hadn't let it slip, we'd all still be in the dark!"

Liao Yifei had accidentally overheard Captain Xu on the phone with division headquarters and learned that Li Zhi had taken down a Peacock fighter jet a few days earlier. But he hadn't dared listen in on the details; that was against regulations.

"What do you mean, playing dumb? What are you talking about?"

Li Zhi genuinely didn't know what he was talking about, but Liao Yifei misunderstood.

"Are you not allowed to talk about it? Sorry. I'm going to eat. Coming?"

"No, I'm going back to the dorm first. What are you talking about, anyway?"

Liao Yifei thought there must be some confidentiality requirement keeping Li Zhi from telling the truth, while Li Zhi thought he was acting a little crazy.

Amid this beautiful misunderstanding, the two ended their conversation. Li Zhi went back to the dorm on his own; he had a personal matter to take care of.

Perhaps his stomach had gotten a little chilled the night before. During his combat readiness patrol just now, his stomach had suddenly started hurting.

Flying a plane wasn't like driving a car. If your stomach hurt in a car, you could pull over and find somewhere to relieve yourself. When flying a fighter jet on a mission, you either held it in or did it right there!

After decades of development, a solution had been found for this particular need of pilots: specially made diapers!

Just like babies, pilots had to wear these specially designed diapers on missions to deal with personal emergencies.

After returning to the dorm and getting himself sorted out, Li Zhi stopped by the infirmary for two pills before heading to the cafeteria.

The base's small cafeteria reserved for pilots, commonly known as the aircrew mess, was on the second floor of the cafeteria building.

Since the entire base had only four pilots, including squadron leader Xu Feng, the second floor felt rather empty.

It was also often used as a meeting room. After all, it was a bit of a waste for just four people to use such a large space.

"Li Zhi, over here! What took you so long? We already got your food for you!"

Liao Yifei and Xu Feng, who were eating, called Li Zhi over. Only Zeng Yuan had a patrol assignment that afternoon.

"Captain Xu, Lao Liao!"

Li Zhi sat down beside Liao Yifei, with Xu Feng across from him.

"You're damn impressive, kid. I haven't managed to bring down a single Peacock plane in four years, and you've gotten one after being here just over a month!"

"Captain Xu, what are you talking about? When did I bring down a Peacock plane?"

This was the second time today, and Li Zhi still didn't know what they were talking about.

"You don't know yet, do you? The Peacock plane that was 'playing games' with you three days ago got shot down!"

"Shot down? Did our side do it?"

Li Zhi was a little surprised. He thought the plane had entered Dragon Country airspace and been shot down by air defenses.

"Not us. They shot it down themselves, and you had a lot to do with it!"

"What does that have to do with me? I barely even saw him."

Li Zhi wasn't lying. He had run the other pilot around in circles the whole time, and the other pilot hadn't even managed to catch a whiff of Li Zhi's exhaust. Naturally, Li Zhi had barely seen him.

"I heard you drove that pilot insane. He flew a fighter jet loaded with ammunition toward a city, and the Peacock side shot him down themselves."

Gone insane?

Wasn't his mental fortitude a little too poor? I didn't think I'd done much to him, and he'd already gone insane?

Li Zhi felt that he hadn't even properly warmed up, yet the other pilot had already reached his limit.

"It's all true. It was on the news. Eagle Country broke the story, and Peacock hasn't come out to deny it. The whole world probably knows about it by now!"

Because Eagle Country had deliberately concealed some of the facts, everyone who heard the news thought the pilot himself was to blame.

"Captain Xu, do you think the higher-ups will reward Xiao Lizi this time? Give him a medal or something?"

Liao Yifei had always called Li Zhi Xiao Lizi. The name sounded like a head eunuch's, and after protesting several times to no avail, Li Zhi had let him be.

"Probably not. After all, they shot it down themselves, and our side can't admit to it either."

There was a note of regret in Xu Feng's voice. Taking down a Peacock fighter jet ought to have earned at least a second-class merit, but that chance had slipped away.

Although Xu Feng wouldn't have been the one to receive it, they were from the same base, and Li Zhi was under his command. It would have reflected well on him too, wouldn't it?

Li Zhi, on the other hand, didn't feel wronged. After all, he hadn't shot it down himself.

Besides, it had only been a few days since he received a medal, and he didn't expect to get another one so soon.