Compensation

"Xiao Lizi, want me to have the ground crew spray a star on your plane later?"

There was an unwritten rule among air forces around the world: pilots could spray their kill counts on their aircraft!

It represented a pilot's glory and was also one of the standards for judging an outstanding pilot.

Abroad, pilots with five or more stars painted on their aircraft were even called ace pilots!

Dragon Country didn't use the title of ace. It generally called aces special-class pilots and also awarded them the honor of the Golden Helmet.

The titles differed, but they meant the same thing. Pilots with confirmed kills were exceptionally rare in peacetime.

"I wasn't the one who shot it down. Wouldn't people laugh at me if I painted it on?"

Li Zhi disagreed with Liao Yifei's suggestion. He wasn't the one who had shot it down, and painting a star on his plane would look a little like falsifying his record.

"What a shame!"

Liao Yifei genuinely regretted it. If it were him, he would have painted it on. Flying a fighter with a star on it would be so impressive.

"All right, focus on honing your skills. You'll have plenty of chances in the future. Look at Xiao Li. He's only been here a little over a month, and he's already earned merit several times. You've been here three years, kid, and you've got nothing but two commendations!"

Xu Feng was a little frustrated with him. Comparisons could really drive a person mad. With Li Zhi as the benchmark, Liao Yifei, who had previously satisfied Xu Feng, no longer seemed quite so appealing to him.

He had been calling him "sweet darling" before, but now he was "Madam Ox."

Liao Yifei suddenly felt wronged. He had taken an arrow while lying down.

"You're no different yourself..."

Liao Yifei muttered under his breath, and Li Zhi, standing nearby, happened to hear him. Whether it was because he had been reborn or not, Li Zhi's eyesight, hearing, and physical stamina were noticeably better than other people's.

"What are you muttering about? You got a problem with that, kid?"

Although Xu Feng hadn't heard what Liao Yifei said, he knew it couldn't have been anything good.

"No!"

"A superior officer can crush you just by outranking you. How would I dare have a problem..."

The first "no" was very loud. The second remark was, naturally, another quiet mutter. He wouldn't dare let Xu Feng hear it.

With his head lowered, Xu Feng didn't notice his little gesture. Otherwise, he would have been in for it.

"Xiao Li, the higher-ups know your family isn't particularly well-off, and you've performed exceptionally well lately. They've given you a special allowance and deposited it into your account along with this month's salary!"

This was effectively a reward and compensation for Li Zhi. After all, he had earned merit again this time.

Xu Feng didn't mention the exact amount, but since he had brought it up specifically, it couldn't have been too little.

Of course, it couldn't have been an enormous amount either. This was the military, after all, and everything was governed by regulations!

Strangely enough, every time Li Zhi earned merit, some inexplicable reason seemed to prevent him from receiving the recognition he deserved.

From the drone incident at the very beginning to the Eighth Master, the pigeons at 201 Airport, and now the Peacock aircraft incident.

For various reasons, the higher-ups couldn't commend Li Zhi directly for any of them, so they could only compensate him in other ways.

The most obvious and direct way was, of course, money. It might have seemed a little crass, but soldiers were people too. They had family and friends, and they had to make a living!

What no one expected was that several relatively large transfers in succession would leave Li Zhi's parents so frightened they didn't know what to do.

They even wondered if something had happened to Li Zhi. Otherwise, why would the military give him so much money?

Li Zhi's parents tried everything they could to contact him, but the base where he was stationed was a highly classified unit. They couldn't reach him at all.

That made them even more certain something had happened to him, and they even traveled to Li Zhi's alma mater overnight.

Fortunately, the dean of the academy remembered Li Zhi well. Through his help, they contacted Li Zhi and cleared up the misunderstanding.

Father Li and Mother Li hadn't seen their son in over a year. Their last call had been before he graduated.

It was understandable that such a misunderstanding had occurred.

Since ancient times, it had been impossible to have both family and country. For the sake of countless families and the nation, some people were destined to put the greater good before their own families.

These people deserved everyone's respect!

"Xiao Lizi, are you really not going to consider painting on a star?"

After they finished eating, Liao Yifei tried to persuade Li Zhi again.

"How about I give it to you?"

"No thanks. I'll definitely earn one and paint it on myself someday!"

Liao Yifei had his own pride and couldn't possibly accept Li Zhi's "gift."

Li Zhi went to the duty room and began his afternoon combat-readiness watch.

Having lost five aircraft and four pilots within a month, Peacock was genuinely afraid and had been very quiet lately.

They simply took whatever was thrown at them. No matter how they were provoked, they refused to respond.

As a result, the pilots responsible for patrolling the area had lost much of their fun, and there was nothing to look forward to on combat-readiness watch anymore.

After spending a boring afternoon in the duty room, Li Zhi's assignment for the day ended.

Li Zhi even felt more tired than he would have after flying all afternoon. There were few pilots at the base, and he didn't have anyone to talk to in the duty room. It was practically like being placed in solitary confinement.

Both sides tacitly refrained from stirring up trouble at night. Dragon Country was also deliberately letting its pilots rest and recharge, as though preparing for something.

Over the next half month, the base's patrol duties weren't particularly demanding, and everyone got a good rest.

The pilots in particular had been stretched very thin for over a month, with everyone working nonstop every day.

Pilots were people too. Sustained high pressure was no good for them.

Fortunately, they had gotten plenty of rest over the past half month, and everyone had returned to peak condition!

That afternoon, it was Li Zhi's turn to patrol again. This time, he and Liao Yifei would carry out the mission in a two-aircraft formation.

"Xiao Li, you'll be the lead this time. You'll conduct a low-altitude patrol. The patrols have all been at low altitude these past few days, so take the opportunity to get familiar with the terrain around here!"

As a newcomer, Li Zhi was still able to serve as the lead in a two-aircraft formation. It showed that the entire base recognized his ability, and Liao Yifei had no objections either.

But what caught Li Zhi's attention was the low-altitude patrol Captain Xu had mentioned.

Low-altitude patrols were a regular occurrence and nothing unusual, but this time Xu Feng had deliberately added a sentence.

Get familiar with the terrain!

What did that mean? Captain Xu had to know something, but if he wasn't saying, Li Zhi couldn't very well ask.

"Xiao Lizi, your wingman reporting for duty!"

Liao Yifei, on the other hand, was carefree and even gave Li Zhi a mock salute.

"Get lost!"

"Haha..."

After Liao Yifei's interruption, Li Zhi stopped dwelling on the question. He only needed to follow orders.