A small business jet carrying psychological counselor Li Bai and his two female assistants glided onto the runway,
moments later, the nose of the plane lifted gracefully, soaring into the sky, and quickly disappeared into the horizon.
No sooner had the three left when the half-mad, half-crazed Chekhov Big Bear was finally released.
Looking up at the sunny sky, he shouted with anticipation,
"Goddess, here I come!"
The picker-upper, "Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios, said irritably, "Your goddess has already left!"
"You're lying! You're lying to me, aren't you?"
Chekhov mechanically turned his head to look at her.
Holding her arms, Irinei Rusios jerked her chin toward the direction of the main runway and indicated, "See for yourself!"
The runway was empty.
Unwilling to accept this answer, Chekhov shuffled and broke into a jog for a distance, only to find the small business jet was nowhere to be seen.
"Nuts... it's gone!~"
The frustrated tease stared desperately at the empty tarmac, finally recalling the recent roar of jet engines, unmistakably those of jet engines.
The only jet planes at the Aircrew Base were those two MiG-28s.
He was in solitary confinement, and the rookie was far from being ready to fly solo; if he could hear the sound of jet engines, then it had to be the visiting business jet at Aircrew Base.
"Look at your pathetic self!"
Chekhov's cowardly demeanor infuriated "Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios on the spot, prompting her to chase after him and kick him flying.
Caught off guard, the Big Bear flopped to the ground, lamenting to the sky.
The short-haired girl smirked relentlessly!
A twelve-seater electric vehicle sped toward them, driven by "Genuine Fragrance" squadron fire control operator "Braised Sauce" Jack Brown, who yelled all the way, "Squadron leader, squadron leader, Third-Level Combat Readiness, Third-Level Combat Readiness!"
The guy's thigh had been pierced by a Dragon Spike from a battle with the Metallic Dragons, Bit, nearly costing him his life.
Now, he had recovered nicely, and aside from using a wheelchair, he could take a few steps with a cane and driving an electric vehicle posed no difficulty at all.
"Third-Level Combat Readiness? What's the situation now?"
Chekhov scrambled up from the ground.
Since he had been in confinement, his phone had naturally been confiscated, and he couldn't receive urgent notifications from the base management instantly.
Third-Level Combat Readiness meant that something had happened, requiring all personnel at Aircrew Base to be on standby, ready to scramble fighters at any moment.
"I don't know, I don't have the clearance!"
"Braised Sauce" Jack Brown braked, shrugging his shoulders.
All pilots always awaited the squadron leader's announcements and mission directives; inquiring independently was against the procedure, and recklessly overstepping one's bounds wouldn't yield any information.
"To the hangar, Irinei, get in the car!"
Chekhov didn't hesitate any longer, pulling the short-haired girl into the vehicle.
Since the electric vehicle used only electricity and not fuel, its maximum range when fully charged wasn't far, just about 50 kilometers, but it moved smoothly within the bounds of the Aircrew Base.
"An diplomatic mission from Cangqiong Star's Sky Dragon City has arrived."
After getting his phone back, Chekhov quickly found out the reason for the Third-Level Combat Readiness through his own access.
Cangqiong Star's Sky Dragon City?
The pilots of the "Genuine Fragrance" Combat Flight Squadron looked at each other, feeling an extraordinarily distant sense of separation.
Cangqiong Star, located on the other side of the "Halo" Dimensional Gate controlled by the digital intelligence construct Cybertrom, is a resource-rich planet that also boasts many intelligent life forms.
Despite nearly thirty years of frequent interactions through the "Halo" Dimensional Gate and the early initiation of inter-dimensional trade, the top leaders of both sides were completely familiar with each other.
However, for the vast majority of the people of the Blue Star Realm who could not freely cross dimensions, their understanding of Cangqiong Star was limited to the internet, television programs, news, and books, without having the opportunity to experience it in person.
The 911 Aircrew Base was just one of several subsidiary aircrew bases belonging to the military contractor Apocalypse Defense Group, and it didn't have many differences compared to its peers.
"What do they want to do?"
"Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios asked, puzzled.
Sky Dragon City, the territory of the Dragon Clan on Cangqiong Star, had suddenly sent a diplomatic team to a small aircrew base on Blue Star, which was truly incomprehensible.
The status of the two parties, from any perspective, was unequal.
"It's for the Metallic Dragon Bit!"
The female executive manager Hanna Gagel of the 911 Aircrew Base had appeared in the assembly area of the "Genuine Fragrance" Squadron in Hangar One, just in time to hear the conversation between the squadron leaders.
"Do they want revenge?"
"Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios exclaimed in shock.
With the combat strength of the dragons, obliterating an aircrew base would be a piece of cake.
Had it not been for the depletion of some of the Metallic Dragon's strength by several other aircrew bases' combat aircraft, coupled with rookie Chen Fei's incredibly lucky shot firing the decisive "Dragon Slayer Missile" at the last moment, Apocalypse Defense Group would never have had the chance to profit so greatly.
If the 911 Aircrew Base had faced the Metallic Dragon one-on-one, the former would definitely not have been a match for the latter.
As the deputy squadron leader of "Genuine Fragrance" finished speaking, the pilots' faces quickly turned sour.
The dragons really had their minds as small as the eye of a needle. Legitimately and lawfully killing a Metallic Dragon was within the rules, yet they even thought of seeking revenge—it was truly damn unreasonable.
"Don't worry, they won't do it, whether it's Blue Star or Cangqiong Star, there are rules," the female executive manager Hanna Gagel dismissed the possibility with a single sentence.
Moreover, the order to kill the Metallic Dragon Bit had traced back to Sky Dragon City on Cangqiong Star, personally issued by the Dragon King.
Anyone could foresee the kind of damage and loss a crazed dragon forcefully entering human society would cause.
Manager Hanna continued, "The group psychological counseling that just concluded was preparation for welcoming this diplomatic delegation, so there's no need to worry."
Not only the short-haired girl "Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios, but even the messenger Chekhov Big Bear was taken aback.
It was clear that the higher headquarters, Apocalypse Defense Group, had received this news long ago, and before the arrival of the Dragon Clan's diplomatic team from Cangqiong Star, they conducted a thorough internal inspection at the 911 Aircrew Base to check for any potential hazards.
Even though the diplomatic rules established by the two planets allowed the "Halo" Dimensional Gate to float constantly open in space, it wasn't something anyone could just come and go through whenever they wished.
The approval process in the Blue Star Realm had secured the Apocalypse Defense Group valuable time to respond.
However, from the report given by the psychological counselor, there seemed to be nothing to worry about.
Even if the dragons from Sky Dragon City came to the 911 Aircrew Base, they were bound to gain very little.
But the true motivations of these dragons remained open to question.
A notification sound went off on the female executive manager Hanna Gagel.
She took out her cell phone, looked at the screen, and then shouted loudly, "Five minutes left, the diplomatic team from Sky Dragon City is about to arrive."
"There's a meteor, coming straight down from the sky!"
Suddenly, someone outside the hangar started shouting loudly.