Li Zhi and His Wingman Disappeared

"Barred Chicken, can you do it one more time?"

Li Zhi didn't seem to want to end things just yet.

"Twice more would be no problem!"

There was no change in Liao Yifei's voice, proof that the simulated ultra-low-altitude penetration had hardly taken anything out of him.

After all, Liao Yifei was a veteran pilot with over three years of service. Something this minor put little pressure on him.

"All right, let's go back the way we came and give them a surprise!"

"Roger~"

Liao Yifei hadn't had his fill either. He was still thinking about the stars, and he didn't want to let any opportunity slip by.

After executing a beautiful, tight-radius turn together at high altitude, the two headed back the way they had come, without changing their flight path at all.

After crossing the Great Snow Mountain, they descended along its steep face and plunged toward the ground.

"They're back!!"

Sanjay, who had already started heading back, spotted two red dots reappearing on his radar.

The Great Snow Mountain had blocked the radar just now, so they hadn't been able to see that Li Zhi and his wingman had turned around.

Now that the two had flown beyond the Great Snow Mountain, the radar could naturally pick up the two Dragon Country fighters again.

The two red dots remained for only a dozen seconds or so before vanishing completely.

Ultra-low-altitude flight again. Sanjay didn't even have to think about it. Given the direction Li Zhi and his wingman were flying, the only way they could disappear from radar was by flying at ultra-low altitude.

"Xiaerdi, it's your turn this time!"

Having already flown at ultra-low altitude once, Sanjay simply couldn't do it again now. He could only leave it to his teammate.

"Sure, I'll show you how it's done!"

Xiaerdi had never experienced it himself, so he was brimming with confidence. Sanjay said nothing more and waited to see him make a fool of himself.

Xiaerdi estimated the position of Li Zhi and his wingman, then began to descend.

But he found no sign of the two Dragon Country fighters where he expected them to be. Xiaerdi began to panic and started searching along the border.

By now, Li Zhi and his wingman were already ahead of Xiaerdi. He had used his own speed in his estimate, so of course it was inaccurate.

He couldn't imagine that Li Zhi and his wingman were flying much faster than he was. Peacock's pilot training still wasn't as rigorous as Dragon Country's.

As for this kind of ultra-low-altitude penetration, Li Zhi didn't know about other places in Dragon Country, but the Chicken Coop Base practiced it at least once a month.

No aerial combat skill could be mastered as soon as it was taught. They all depended on a pilot's long-term training, plus a little talent.

Peacock had no ability to manufacture fighters of its own, so it often had to rely on Eagle Country to maintain them. High-intensity training, meanwhile, was precisely what wore down a fighter's service life the fastest.

On top of that, Peacock crashed planes every few days, leaving its pilots somewhat resistant to training.

As for Xiaerdi's skills in other areas, Li Zhi didn't know, but when it came to low-altitude penetration, he and his wingman were miles ahead of him.

Xiaerdi searched for two minutes without finding Li Zhi and his wingman. He was sweating profusely with anxiety, and Sanjay, still in the air, could no longer concern himself with watching him make a fool of himself.

He, too, realized how serious the problem was. If they still couldn't find the two Dragon Country fighters, they would definitely be in trouble when they returned.

Sanjay also descended to low altitude and began looking for Li Zhi and his wingman.

There was actually another way to find them quickly, and it would take no more than five seconds.

The two Peacock pilots knew about it too, but they didn't dare use it.

The method was to fly lower than Li Zhi and his wingman, allowing their fighters' onboard radar to scan for the other aircraft.

Sanjay and Xiaerdi were now about fifty meters above the ground. For them, that was already extremely, extremely low. They had never flown so low before.

"Muhante, we lost them!"

Five minutes had passed since Li Zhi and his wingman disappeared, and Sanjay had no choice but to report the news.

The opposing base's call sign was Muhante, taken from the name of the border city, Muhante City.

"Stay alert. I'll send backup!"

Sanjay's luck was poor. Peacock's commander stationed at Muhante had recently been spending his time around the control tower, and he happened to catch Sanjay in the act.

"Yes, sir!"

Hearing Commander Sunak's voice, Sanjay and Xiaerdi's expressions changed instantly.

Although Sunak hadn't reprimanded them over the radio, they both knew this was only the calm before the storm.

They had guessed correctly. Commander Sunak was seething, but he couldn't vent his anger in the control tower.

Because he had previously ordered one of his own side's fighters shot down, Sunak had faced considerable criticism. To preserve what little remained of his good reputation, he had to put on a warm and approachable manner.

Though he was full of anger, he still had to dispatch fighters. Dragon Country had been much less active lately, and Sunak sensed something unusual about it.

There was always a period of calm before a storm!

Sunak dispatched four fighters at once as backup, mainly because nothing was happening elsewhere at the moment. Only the area under the Chicken Coop Base's responsibility was somewhat unsettled, thanks to Li Zhi and his wingman.

Sanjay and Xiaerdi's failure to find Li Zhi and his wingman didn't mean Li Zhi hadn't found them.

Sanjay and Xiaerdi's fighters had never once disappeared from Li Zhi's radar screen!

Watching the two Peacock fighters flying around like headless chickens, Li Zhi was even joking with Liao Yifei. Clearly, this low-altitude penetration hadn't been particularly difficult for either of them.

"Three-Yellow Chicken, their backup is here. Let's go up!"

"Okay!"

The four Peacock fighters arrived quickly, bringing the number of opposing aircraft to six. There was no need to keep hiding.

If the six fighters spread out, they would soon find the two of them!

Li Zhi and his wingman had achieved their objective, had their fun, and completed their task of familiarizing themselves with the area. They had no intention of playing with these Peacock idiots anymore!

As Li Zhi and his wingman climbed and revealed themselves, they appeared on many radar screens.

By now, Li Zhi and his wingman were more than two hundred kilometers from the foot of the Great Snow Mountain, where they had disappeared. The stretch of border under the Chicken Coop Base's responsibility was only a little over two hundred kilometers long!

Watching Li Zhi and his wingman reveal themselves, Sanjay showed no sign of happiness.

It was as if Li Zhi had slapped him hard across the face. He and Xiaerdi were a full hundred kilometers away from Li Zhi and his wingman-they had been searching completely in the wrong place.

Li Zhi and his wingman ignored the six stunned Peacock fighters and chose to return to base. Their fuel warnings had already started going off, so they were in no position to play with the other side.

"Chicken Coop, Three-Yellow Chicken requesting permission to land!"

"Chicken Coop, Barred Chicken requesting permission to land!"