Sky-cracking Rider

Upon hearing Chen Fei's words, Pu Aihua's eyes immediately dimmed, and he cried out in a loud, despairing wail.

"I am innocent, I am innocent, unjustly accused, such injustice..."

However, the two men in black suits from the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not hesitate to escort him out of the hangar, fearing that if they delayed, something untoward might occur.

As Chen Fei watched Old Piao being taken away, his cart remained there; he felt someone pat his shoulder. Turning around, he saw the mechanic, Xiao Ming, shake his head slightly without saying a word, and then he left with a crowbar in hand.

Big Brother Xiao was not good at comforting others; he was not the type to speak eloquently or incessantly. He preferred expressing his thoughts in this manner.

It contained two meanings: one was understanding the friendship between Chen Fei and Pu Aihua. After all, Chen had just arrived, and Piao had been the first to connect with him, with many interactions since. Now that trouble had arisen, it was natural to feel sympathetic.

The other was hoping that Chen Fei would remain calm and not rashly get involved. For Pu Aihua, like a drowning man, was already in disarray. Any misstep not only wouldn't help but might also drag him down.

If this businessman were truly faultless or even wronged, the innocent will prove their innocence, and those muddied will remain muddled. The Ministry of Internal Affairs would surely give him an explanation and return him to his post if he was innocent.

Even though the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not have a good reputation within the company, even disliked by many, cases of wrongful accusations were extremely rare. Once the arrest and interrogation phase was reached, there usually was solid evidence.

Otherwise, if the Ministry of Internal Affairs were to act arbitrarily without checks, the atmosphere in such a large corporate conglomerate would always be anxious and wholly disordered.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

Unaware of any of this, the fledgling continued to cheerfully roll around in its nest.

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Suddenly, personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the headquarters of the corporate conglomerate arriving at the Aircrew Base 911 did not just take canteen assistant Pu Aihua. The businessman was not the first or the last; there were other group's employees, such as those from the control tower, storerooms, even security staff, totaling up to seven or eight people.

Many were terrified to go to and from work, fearing that at any moment they too could be handcuffed and dragged away from their posts.

As people were continually arrested, the Aircrew Base 911 inevitably plunged into a state of anxiety, filled with unease and even affecting normal operations, with frequent incidents occurring.

The executive manager, Morris Morgan, whose head was as big as a bucket, had no choice but to order the group leaders of each department to stabilize the workforce, commanding all employees not to engage in any rash actions, to wait for the investigation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to conclude, so as not to cause any uncontrollable situations.

With the mechanic, Xiao Ming, in charge of the mechanic team and the mechanics being men of few words, focused only on their tasks, it actually became the quietest unit within the base. This allowed Chen Fei, who was initially somewhat uneasy, to feel more at ease as well.

In fact, he thought there was nothing to worry about. As a new employee with "no three things," he had spent nearly half his time lying in a hospital bed on sick leave. Returning to the Aircrew Base from eight in the morning to nine in the evening, never venturing beyond the gate or stepping out the door, what trouble could possibly involve him?

This was probably why the mechanic head, Big Brother Xiao, was willing to vouch for Chen Fei.

Although Pu Aihua was taken away by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he had still managed to bring Chen Fei the things he needed most urgently.

Having received enough chick feed and mealworms, Chen Fei decided to change up the diet for the fledgling. After all, egg yolk was only suitable as a temporary food, and long-term feeding was not conducive to the fledgling's normal growth. Both the professional feed and mealworms were nutritionally more complete.

To his surprise, the fledgling, accustomed to eating egg yolk, showed no resistance to the feed that looked like concocted granules of medicinal herb or to the wriggling live mealworms.

This little glutton would eat anything given, without a hint of unfamiliarity or discomfort. It would devour at least four or five mealworms in one sitting and still peck at Chen Fei's fingers, hoping for more—a real little greedy guts.

But Chen Fei did not indulge it. Chef Abel had taught him from his experience that fledglings, if overfed, could easily harm themselves.

Three days after businessman Pu Aihua had been taken away by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Chen Fei had a rare day off.

Not just him, the entire mechanic team finally ended their hectic round-the-clock shifts, allowing them a moment to breathe.

After the battle with the Metallic Dragons, besides the two Z-9 armed helicopters, Aircrew Base had only four A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" light turboprop attack aircraft left, slightly damaged to varying degrees.

Though the required labor hours were substantial, with so few planes, the maintenance team could at least allocate two people for each one—far easier than handling six fully equipped aircraft.

Having finally reached a rare day off, Chen Fei didn't plan to continue cooping up in his dormitory, burying his head in technical manuals. Learning needed a balance of exertion and relaxation, and when it was time to relax, it was crucial to take that time.

He borrowed a pistol for self-defense from the security team, entrusted the clingy fledgling to Chef Abel at the cafeteria, then packed some things, shouldered his backpack, and prepared to leave Aircrew Base for the nearby Patan Village School. It was a good chance to return the Type 95 automatic rifle he had borrowed last time and bring some gifts to express his thanks.

As he walked out of Aircrew Base's main gate, he saw a noisy group approaching, armed with guns and leading dogs.

Leading them was Major Chekhov Leonidovich Ivanov, the leader of the Combat Flight Squadron, now wearing a cap covering a large Band-Aid, no longer with his arm in a sling, shaking his head as he walked—his robust recovery evident, reminiscent of a bear's.

When he spotted Chen Fei, he immediately started waving from afar.

"Rookie! Where are you off to alone? There's a band of outlaws nearby, not very safe. How about we accompany you? We can have a barbecue together; we've got plenty of game!"

With the four turboprop aircraft still under maintenance and unable to fulfill daily patrol duties, relying just on those two Z-9 armed helicopters was indeed insufficient. Since no new combat aircraft had been supplied, the grounded Combat Flight Squadron was effectively left unrestrained.

Taking advantage of this lull, Major Chekhov led a part of the bored pilots and personnel from other units into the Xingdu Kush Mountain Range for a hunting expedition, combining sightseeing with hunting.

Guns and dogs made the hunting more fruitful, and with a mortar at hand, they freely roamed the mountains.

This group wasn't just hunting; it was more akin to a massacre, with even the most dangerous wolves and leopards in the mountains staying well away.

Big Bear boasted proudly of their gains from the days spent hunting in the wilderness, his arm just healed enough to handle a gun. For perspective, another pilot, "Braised Sauce" Jack Brown, was still wheelchair-bound, needing at least another month before he could walk.

One wolf, a dozen wild chickens, two rams — all hung upside down, bled out, eviscerated, then treated with coarse salt and Sichuan peppercorn, prepared to be dried or smoked, serving as an additional dish for the coming period.

If they decided to switch to barbecue, it would be equally excellent.

Unfortunately, there were no rabbits; the mountain bunnies were trickier than foxes, darting into burrows at the slightest rustle, only catchable by eagles and old foxes, or perhaps only with tear gas or cloud bombs to flush them out.

Using tear gas was one thing, but cloud bombs... resorting to such drastic measures for a rabbit, as if cloud bombs were cheap, was utterly insane!

Might as well use a Forbidden Curse, raze a mountain, and get everything.

Now, having received news that the four "Big Mouth Monsters" had been repaired, this group finally returned after wreaking havoc far and wide.

"No need, I'm just going to visit a fellow villager nearby, not far, and return a gun!"

Chen Fei patted the Type 95 automatic rifle slung behind him, his pocket filled with two magazines loaded with bullets.

Shen Fei's school wasn't far from Aircrew Base, just a three and a half-hour walk. If he quickened his pace, he could reduce the time even more.

Major Chekhov, warm-hearted, asked, "Are you sure that's safe?"

After all, they had gone through dragon-slaying together, a bond forged in the heat of battle.

"Absolutely no problem; I also have signal flares."

Chen Fei then pulled out three "Small Batons" issued by the security team for self-defense, a standard twin set for going out.

Just twist off the cap at one end of the "Small Baton," pull out the safety pin, aim at the sky, and press the launch button. Three seconds later, three red signal flares would shoot into the air, reaching a height of about 80 meters, each firing a wireless signal every five seconds for 12 hours.

These could be received by land-based antennas and search helicopters to pinpoint and initiate a fully committed rescue operation immediately.

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