Sky-cracking Rider

In order to cater to the almost completely inexperienced "rookie" Chen Fei, the deputy leader of the "Genuine Fragrance" squadron and veteran pilot Irinei Rusios even prepared teaching materials, tapping a small stick against the LCD teaching board, making a snapping sound as she highlighted the key points.

"...Centered around Aircrew Base 911, with a patrol and combat radius extending 500 kilometers around, you've read the technical manual and should know that the actual combat radius of the 'Big Mouth Monster' is not limited to this distance.

Now look around 911, to the east there's 912, to the west 910, to the south 909, and to the north 913, the base numbering follows a pattern of even numbers horizontally and odd vertically. This is the grid-like patrol and defense system of the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area, where each Aircrew Base has its own patrol area, as well as the obligation to support neighboring bases.

So, 500 kilometers is a very reasonable figure, allowing for fuel reserves needed for the 'Big Mouth Monster' to support other aircrew bases. Despite the long cruising time of the light turboprop aircraft, you still need to keep a constant eye on the fuel reserves.

If the fuel is exhausted, don't panic, as the 'Big Mouth Monster' uses a statically stable aerodynamic design, which allows for a gliding landing in emergency situations, provided you find a landing site that is as flat as possible. An open grassy field is the best choice, preferably over two hundred meters in length."

After circling the key points, the short-haired girl saw Chen Fei raise his right hand and asked, "Any questions?"

Chen Fei curiously asked, "I want to know what the 'Genuine Fragrance' squadron's main combat targets are. Metallic Dragons, or those bandits?"

He had personally blown up a Metallic Dragon, almost costing him his own life.

Such combat targets were truly terrifying. Without a powerful weapon like the Dragon Slayer Missile, it wouldn't matter if it were just Aircrew Base 911 or even if the combat flight squadrons from several other bases joined in.

In front of the ferociously brutal Dragon of Slaughter, it would still be no different than sending lambs to the slaughter, and there would be no outcome other than total annihilation.

Chen Fei had heard from Teacher Shen Fei at the nearby Patan Elementary School that bandits roamed this area. He found it strange, wondering if the Xingdu Kush Mountain Range was essentially a huge bandit lair that required multiple air bases to work together to maintain basic law and order.

If that were the case, it seemed that Teacher Shen Fei, who stayed here to support the education in remote mountainous areas, was always in danger and could have faced unexpected incidents at any time.

"Metallic Dragons? Bandits? Hahaha..."

It was as if she had heard a very funny joke. Irinei Rusios, with her hands on her defined waistline, laughed out loud.

Seeing Chen Fei baffled by her laughter and wearing a face full of confusion, she shook her head and said, "Metallic Dragons are an accident. If our mission targets were always such terrifying foes, sorry, but we'd have to switch to fighter jets, only Crystal Jets would be able to handle them, and we'd have to be paid more!"

Not all pilots are capable of handling a Crystal Jet, which is the dividing line between pilots and Sky Knights.

If it hadn't been for two MiG-28 jet fighters being blown up by a Dragon Spike before they could even take off, the 'Genuine Fragrance' Combat Flight Squadron wouldn't have had such a hard time when facing the Metallic Dragons.

After all, relying solely on the A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" light turboprop attack aircraft — a combat aircraft designed for ground targets — was a bit too much of a strain.

Moreover, the salary of the combat flight squadron was far from enough to keep them risking their lives like this; the real danger pay wasn't even close to their rate.

But in the end, they didn't lose out. After the Dragon Slayer Missile KDK-1 air-breathing hypersonic smart missile successfully blew up the Metallic Dragon, the entire 'Genuine Fragrance' Combat Flight Squadron received a substantial bonus.

Even other departments benefited, each receiving an additional three months' salary as a collective reward.

An outstanding combat team needs the unconditional full support of an equally outstanding logistics team to perform at one hundred percent capacity.

With high rewards comes bravery; with the right amount of money, everything is negotiable.

Chen Fei nodded in understanding, feeling a sense of agreement.

If someone offered him ten million Star Yuan, he would still dare to charge at the Metallic Dragons with a Dragon Slayer Missile for an act of mutual annihilation, so the words of the 'Devil Pepper' spicy teacher made perfect sense.

However, if we were to clash with the Metallic Dragons every day, neither the Metallic Dragon Clan nor the Human Race could withstand it. It would be mutually harmful, a situation where both sides would suffer—any craziness on either side could prove deadly.

Irinei Rusios mentioned another point, saying, "Neither our 911 Aircrew Base nor the other aircrew bases will pay attention to the bandits in the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area. Generally, the well water does not violate the river water. So, these bandits are not our target; our targets are..."

The image on the liquid crystal teaching board changed, and a dozen or so phantoms appeared.

Taking advantage of the tide, the focus shifted again!

"Uncontrolled otherworldly creatures and mutants!"

The liquid crystal teaching board was tapped again with a small stick, making a snapping sound.

"Let's start with otherworldly creatures. There are two types of loss of control. The most common is the uncontrolled proliferation of a species, similar in nature to invasive species. In the process of exchange with the Cangqiong Realm, through various channels, these beings have been introduced into the natural environment of the Blue Star Realm.

Due to a lack of supervision, without natural predators, and unable to form new ecological food chains, not only otherworldly creatures, given enough time, any species would reproduce explosively at a geometric rate, leading to overpopulation.

Most otherworldly creatures that tend to cause population imbalances are of small size, primarily including creatures such as armored scale pigs, six-toothed swine, blue moon rabbits, wind lice, heart-eating butterflies, rock spike fish, and gold-eating ants—a total of fifty-seven small otherworldly creatures and nineteen medium-sized ones.

They often possess some magical elemental affinity and a few relatively simple magical skills. Wind lice and rock spike fish frequently appear in the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area, and occasionally you might see six-toothed swine and armored scale pigs.

The second type involves the behavior of uncontrollable otherworldly creatures, including highly intelligent magical beasts, those that break free of safety constraints or exhibit aggressive behavior towards humans."

Instances of uncontrollable behavior of magical beasts only occurred in densely populated areas, usually involving medium to large magical beasts, and they were often instigated by someone being foolish, provoking the creatures that possess a certain level of intelligence.

Whether it's the Cangqiong Realm or the Blue Star Realm, highly intelligent magical beasts willing to register their identity information with the human civil affairs departments and pass special assessments may enjoy certain citizen rights, such as education, employment, and healthcare.

It's not uncommon to see magical beasts working in human society in both realms, and some even become hosts for TV channels, thriving in their careers.

Even animals like chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, cats, dogs, pigs, horses, sheep, cows, monkeys, dolphins, and orcas can earn a living in human society after training, enjoying various benefits.

Those magical beasts with comparatively higher intelligence, even to the extent of speaking human language and communicating normally, face even less difficulty in integrating, and humans tend to accept and treat them as equals.

For intelligent species, differences in physical appearance do not become barriers to communication, and species discrimination is never tolerated.

"Mutants are a rather troublesome matter, and there isn't just one cause for their occurrence; they can broadly be attributed to three categories. The first type are radiation-induced mutants—thirty years ago, the Fusion War made extensive use of nuclear weapons, whose residual radiation catalyzed the emergence of a large number of mutant creatures, including humans.

The second type is interbreeding mutants—where a small amount of reproductive-capable mutants interbreed, either among themselves, with normal Blue Star native species, or with otherworldly creatures. In any case, the offspring produced are mutants.

The third type concerns natural mutations that arise as otherworldly creatures adapt to the environment of Blue Star, or when Blue Star's native species come into contact with the Magic Element. Although most natural mutations are benign, some unforeseen manifestations may arise. With mutants, our consistent policy is to prevent mistakes as much as possible but never to let them slip through."

As the short-haired Irinei Rusios continued with her incessant introduction, phantoms materialized one after another on the liquid crystal teaching board, revealing their distinctly terrifying real forms, akin to demons and monsters.

Then, the page refreshed over and over again, displaying all the known uncontrolled otherworldly creatures and mutants within the Blue Star Realm, an alarming array of species. And these didn't even include the myriad of deadly microorganisms that sprouted like bamboo after a rain following the great battle thirty years prior.

Chen Fei frowned at the sight of those otherworldly creatures with appearances vastly different from Blue Star's native species. He continued asking, "Are there mutants in the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area as well?"

Otherworldly creatures at least evolved naturally, although they might be a bit unsightly. But those bizarrely shaped mutants were so hideous that they were unbearable to look at.

The Xingdu Kush Mountain Range was clearly not as simple as Chen Fei had previously understood. The local, belligerent mountain people armed to the teeth had to deal with more than just the bandits who roamed and committed crimes. There were also those uncontrolled otherworldly creatures and mutants.

Thinking about how he had trekked almost three hours on foot from Patan Elementary School to the 911 Aircrew Base, he realized he had quite some nerve. No wonder Teacher Shen Fei insisted on lending him a gun for self-defense—the dangers in the wild mountains likely involved more than just wolves and bandits.

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