Quit Yapping and Do It Yourself

"Chicken Coop, Three-Yellow Chicken and Barred Chicken are ready for takeoff. Requesting two-aircraft takeoff!"

The base's runway wasn't very long, but it was wide enough for two aircraft to take off at once. Li Zhi, the flight lead, was requesting clearance.

"Station pressure 985, northwest wind force 5, gusting to force 6. Cleared for takeoff. Stay safe!"

The wind was strong today. In fact, it wouldn't be light for the next two months, thanks to the terrain across the entire southwest.

Rumble~~~

Rumble~~~

The two fighter jets, one about two meters behind the other, lifted smoothly off the runway and headed for their assigned mission area.

"Barred Chicken, how low can you fly?"

Although they served at the same base, Li Zhi and Liao Yifei hadn't had many chances to work together, so Li Zhi didn't know Liao Yifei's capabilities particularly well.

"Fifty meters is no problem at all!"

Fifty meters was already extremely low, and that was only possible because the surrounding forests were uninhabited.

In a city or a place with lots of people, even 200 meters was an extremely dangerous altitude. Those movie scenes of fighter jets weaving through city streets were completely fake!

For a fighter jet with a cruising speed above 400 knots (750 kilometers per hour), the only option upon encountering a dense cluster of tall buildings ahead was to climb.

Anyone who dared plunge straight in would find only death waiting for him!

At that speed, no human could possibly react in time. Even if he dodged the first obstacle, he definitely wouldn't dodge the second.

Only if the fighter slowed to the threshold of stalling might it be possible to perform such a stunt.

But there was no practical point to it. Such a low speed was no help in combat, and the pilot would have to stay alert for a stall at all times. It wasn't worth it.

"Let's play with them in a bit. It's been a while since I took them flying at low altitude!"

Liao Yifei knew perfectly well who Li Zhi meant by "them." Who else could it be but Peacock's fighter jets?

"It'd be great if we could bring one down. Then I could paint a star on my jet!"

Liao Yifei still couldn't stop thinking about painting a star. He imagined he could repeat what Li Zhi had done last time. Bringing down a fighter jet indirectly still counted as a combat achievement!

"Sure. We'll get one each, then!"

"It's a deal!"

Li Zhi was somewhat speechless at Liao Yifei's wishful thinking. It was like buying a lottery ticket: it was all down to chance. Last time had just been a lucky coincidence.

As they chatted, the two reached the vicinity of the border, then changed course and began flying along it.

The two Peacock fighter jets on the other side arrived as expected. When the two Peacock pilots saw the number on the fuselage, they knew it was Li Zhi, that harbinger of doom. Both looked as though they'd swallowed a fly.

Although nearly a month had passed, Li Zhi's fearsome reputation hadn't faded with time.

Anyone who could drive a well-trained pilot insane was more terrifying than they could imagine. Neither of them wanted to encounter Li Zhi.

Eagle Country's cover-up had also indirectly helped forge Li Zhi's fearsome reputation, though he wasn't about to thank them for it.

Peacock's two fighter jets kept well away from Li Zhi and his wingman, as though Li Zhi were a ferocious beast.

"Barred Chicken, let's go down and simulate a low-altitude penetration!"

Li Zhi didn't make a separate call to the tower. He knew the people there could hear their conversation too.

"Understood!"

Liao Yifei followed Li Zhi into a rapid descent.

The Peacock pilots noticed the two descending and decided to split up.

They dared do this only because they were certain Dragon Country wouldn't attack them. In a real battle, splitting up in this situation would be courting death!

This was also their tactic for dealing with Li Zhi. Last time, it had been one-on-one, and the Peacock pilot had made an error in judgment, ultimately leading to the tragedy that followed.

Afterward, Peacock's pilots had analyzed how to respond to such a situation.

They concluded that, one-on-one, they should stick close to Li Zhi no matter how he provoked them. Li Zhi wouldn't actually attack them anyway.

A many-on-many situation was easier to handle. They only needed to split up, with one pilot watching from high altitude while the other followed Li Zhi.

That was the case this time. One of them stayed high up to guard against Li Zhi turning back for a surprise attack, while the other followed him down in a dive.

Seeing that only one fighter jet had followed them down, Li Zhi thought the other side was being too cautious. But he made no move against the lone jet, because he had not been authorized to attack.

"Here we go!"

Li Zhi was warning both Liao Yifei and the tower: they were about to disappear from radar!

Li Zhi and his wingman's blips were also appearing and disappearing on the radar screen of the Peacock fighter jet at high altitude.

That was because they were flying too low. The high-altitude fighter's radar could no longer detect them, but its pilot could still track them using radar data shared by his teammate.

But Li Zhi and Liao Yifei were flying too low, and the Peacock fighter that had followed them down didn't dare stay at such a low altitude for long.

That was why the two kept appearing and disappearing on their radar screens, detectable one moment and gone the next.

"Sanjay, they've disappeared!"

The terrain on the two sides wasn't exactly the same. A stretch of rolling hills lay directly ahead of the fighter following Li Zhi and his wingman, so for quite a while, there was no sign of them on the radar screen.

"I know. I can see them!"

Although they had disappeared from radar, Sanjay could still see the two Dragon Country fighter jets with his own eyes.

"Sanjay, still nothing?"

The terrain in this area was relatively high, and Sanjay didn't dare descend any farther, so he still couldn't pick up Li Zhi and his wingman on radar. Fortunately, he could see them with the naked eye.

Sanjay's teammate at high altitude didn't know any of this, so he was getting anxious.

"Quit yapping. If you can do it, why don't you?"

Sanjay was concentrating intensely. He was flying at ultra-low altitude, where a moment's inattention would mean the destruction of his jet and his death. He also had to divide his attention to answer his teammate's questions, so naturally his tone wasn't very pleasant.

The Great Snow Mountain lay ahead. In the end, Li Zhi and his wingman hadn't shaken Sanjay off. It wasn't that Li Zhi had no way to do it, but that the method involved taking some risks.

This mission was only to familiarize themselves with the terrain. There was no need to take that risk.

As the Great Snow Mountain drew closer, Li Zhi and his wingman had to climb. The Great Snow Mountain stood over seven thousand meters high, and it would be rather dangerous not to climb in advance.

Seeing the two start to climb again, Sanjay let out a long breath. In just a few minutes, the inside of his flight suit had become drenched in sweat.

The Great Snow Mountain separated the two countries, so Sanjay and his teammate's surveillance mission ended here!