060. Airstrike
Frost-Plated forces moved swiftly. At the temporary airfield on the Grant border, two Z-11 'Vulture' jets, which had just completed a bombing run, spent only three minutes in the hangar. After loading air-to-air missiles, they immediately taxied onto the runway.
The dark starry camouflage paint blended the jets into the eerie skies, their sleek forms propelled nearly silently by triple-vector engines. They quickly disappeared into the endless night like swift-tail swallows.
"Magic Stone Squadron, your urgent mission is to ensure the safe arrival of the transport planes in the operational airspace."
"Roger that."
The command came from the airborne warning aircraft 'Ice Palace'. Magic Stone One was unconcerned, chewing gum as he switched to a private channel, joking with his wingman: "Those women were too confident, daring to take off without waiting for the escort squadron."
"Throttle down a bit, let those Law IV lackeys suffer a little." Magic Stone Two chuckled coldly. "Those dogs, used to being thugs and robbers, are about to experience real war."
"Good idea, but don't make it too obvious. After all, they are our fellow citizens."
"You think of them as fellow citizens? They don't see you as one, just a man."
"Don't say that. They don't hate men; they just despise the poor."
The profession of fighter pilot required a high level of education and physical conditioning. As a result, the air force was the only branch of Frost-Plated's military with a large concentration of highly educated men.
These two fighter pilots saw the war clearly. To them, the Grant forces were defending their homeland, which gave them a stronger fighting will compared to the Law IV agents, who were merely playing at restoring colonies.
More importantly, though the Law IV agents had considerable combat experience, street fighting was entirely different from the battlefield.
They didn't even drop their auxiliary fuel tanks, cruising comfortably at Mach 3. Even if Grant had managed to scramble some outdated Z-08 'Dove' fighters—exported from Frost-Plated—these obsolete jets, lacking stealth capability, would be no match for the advanced 'Vultures'. At most, they could harass unarmed transport planes.
The thought of these old jets trying to go toe-to-toe with cutting-edge Vultures was laughable.
As they approached the target airspace, Magic Stone One connected to the combat data link and his expression immediately changed:
"Something's wrong! There's no enemy aircraft data in the combat system!"
"Could it be electronic warfare?" Magic Stone Two barely finished speaking when they saw a transport plane in the distance suddenly explode into flames, as if a blade had sliced it cleanly in two.
"What the hell is that?"
More explosions followed in rapid succession, transport planes in the dense formation erupting into fireballs one after another, as if struck by arrows, spiraling out of control and crashing.
"My god..." Magic Stone One swallowed. "Nothing is showing up on the radar—it's unidentified flying objects."
"Must be drone support from the Red Arrow Empire," Magic Stone Two speculated. "Those Imperial guys have the most advanced machines—hard not to suspect them."
"There's another possibility." Magic Stone One narrowed his eyes. "Magic Stone calling Ice Palace, we are under attack by unidentified flying objects, suspected Gamma-tier combatant involvement. Requesting approval for the AAF protocol to use TSL (Tactical Laser System)."
"No Gamma-tier biological signatures detected, request denied," came the prompt response from the airborne warning aircraft.
"No, I'm certain it's Gamma-tier."
As Magic Stone One spoke, four more transport planes were sliced in half and fell from the sky. This time, both he and Magic Stone Two saw it clearly:
"—Because no Beta-tier could withstand speeds of Mach 6 and smash through aircraft like that!"
Several transport planes couldn't bear the pressure and prematurely deployed their parachutes. Female agents clutching their weapons donned wingsuits to descend. Just as the lead agents were preparing to jump, a red-black shadow crashed into them. In the blink of an eye, several of the women's upper bodies were shredded into a bloody mist, their lower halves buckling and plummeting toward the ground.
Bang!
The red-black figure burst into the cabin, his gaze sweeping the scene. Sensing something, he immediately stopped in his tracks.
"Oh? Law IV has some interesting toys here."
The faceplate split open, revealing Li Aozi's handsome face. He curiously walked over to the weapons storage, taking down two shoulder-mounted missile launchers.
[True Eye] immediately identified the model: 'Viper' anti-vehicle missile.
The Viper's warhead came with a thermite effect, making it an excellent anti-vehicle weapon. Most importantly, it was cheap, costing only 200,000 derbi. With a bit of luck, two shots could take out an old mobile armor unit.
Li Aozi decided to stash these away for the Bemudes engineers to study, hoping to reverse-engineer them.
"Phew—the radar's clear of that flying target. Thank heavens, we're safe."
"Air Force intel was wrong. Grant still has air power. That speed was terrifying."
The pilot, unaware that the female agents in the cabin had been reduced to bloody chunks, sighed in relief, thinking he had survived.
Li Aozi casually walked forward, gripping the alloy door with both hands. Under his modified arms, the door peeled away like dough. Facing the two pilots who had just escaped death, he smiled slightly before his faceplate closed again.
"Don't rush home yet. It's too cold up here. How about a little stop in hell?"
In the next moment, neuro-tendrils shot from his palms, piercing the pilots' skulls. The tendrils pulsed rhythmically, glowing with vibrant colors, as the pilots shriveled into desiccated husks, collapsing into their seats.
[You have drained the life from two targets. You can now extract their abilities and personalities for refinement.]
[Refinement complete.]
[You have obtained [Human Amber] (Small) – Can be used to craft "Exquisite Craft" quality or higher gear.]
[You have obtained [Fearful Soul] (Small) x2 – Can be used to heal soul damage, craft "Exquisite Craft" quality gear, or as material for eerie-type spells.]
[The targets were filled with fear and hatred. Due to the effects of [Aura of Goodwill], a check will be performed...]
[[Charm] attribute overwhelming success. Check complete, critical success.]
[They choose to forgive you. Their souls have been purified.]
[You have obtained [Cleansed Soul] (Small) x2 – Can be used to heal soul damage, craft "Flawless" quality gear, or crushed for information retrieval.]
Satisfied with his gains, Li Aozi immediately crushed the souls, flooding his mind with a rush of fragmented memories.
First love, college graduation, enlistment, a friend's introduction to marriage, taking his daughter to the amusement park, leaving his hometown for the temporary airfield at his mother's urging.
"—This is it."
Li Aozi was pleased.
"The Eerie Storms in the outlands are so strong, without an airfield, they couldn't have deployed these transport planes. As I suspected, there's a temporary airfield on the Frost-Grant border."
Now it would be easy. Destroying that airfield would cripple Frost-Plated's ability to deploy air power for the time being.