Recaps

Li Zhi survived a hijacking, earned his fighter pilot wings, and joined the Bird’s Nest, where he proved himself during border patrols and a drone intrusion. The arc ended with him returning to base on one engine after his fighter’s left engine failed and caught fire.

• Li Zhi subdued the hijackers aboard CM696, then used his limited flying knowledge and Captain Wu Lei’s guidance to land the airliner safely at Yuzhou Airport.
• Lei Hu helped Li Zhi enter the flying college, where he mastered simulator flying, trained under Liu Jin, and impressed military commanders with his flight assessment.
• After graduating as a captain, Li Zhi joined Lei Hu’s frontline Bird’s Nest unit, chose the code name Three-Yellow Chicken, and flew border patrols with Xu Feng.
• Li Zhi demonstrated advanced maneuvers, earned approval to fly solo, and destroyed a drone that Liu Lei and Liu Xin had used to spy on the base.
• Li Zhi retrieved a night-vision pod, located the fleeing brothers, and directed ground troops to capture them before receiving a commendation.
• Li Zhi’s left engine repeatedly lost power during a border patrol, then failed and caught fire, forcing him to shut it down and continue on the right engine.

After surviving a failed-engine landing, Li Zhi received new fighters and repeatedly outmaneuvered Peacock pilots. When Dragon Country began reclaiming territory near the Great Snow Mountain, Li Zhi drew Peacock’s air force away and helped its ground forces advance.

• Li Zhi landed his burning fighter safely, and Xu Feng arranged for engineers to inspect it while the base faced a shortage of working aircraft.
• After a psychological assessment and questioning by Yu Aircraft experts, Li Zhi received a merit medal and flew a newly delivered Jiaolong 10B back to Chicken Coop Base.
• Li Zhi vanished below radar during a border encounter, prompting both countries to scramble forces, and a Peacock pilot’s damaged fighter was later shot down by his own side.
• Li Zhi and Liao Yifei used low-altitude flights to evade Peacock pilots, and Xu Feng later assigned Li Zhi a mission to buy time for Dragon Country’s ground forces without firing first.
• Li Zhi drew Sanjay and Xiaerdi into hilly terrain, where Sanjay crashed and ejected, while Xiaerdi lost control of his fighter and ejected after it crossed into Dragon Country.
• Li Zhi damaged the unmanned Peacock fighter’s wings and used his drop tanks to knock it into a forest intact, then returned to base to resupply as Dragon Country’s ground forces advanced.
• Li Zhi engaged two Peacock fighters near the Great Snow Mountain while Dragon Country troops cleared Peacock forces, and Steppe Wolf arrived to break off one fighter’s pursuit.