The morning, around eight.
With the support of aerial combat jets, the sea beast tide within Xicheng was finally under control. At this time, most of the Crimson Moon transport aircraft had exhausted their ammunition and fuel. Following Lin Zhao's orders, most of the planes returned to the base for resupply and brief maintenance. The moment Lin Zhao's Yunying-class aircraft slowly landed on the tarmac, a group of ground maintenance personnel rushed forward, quickly resupplying and checking the aircraft's condition.
Lin Zhao stepped out of the cockpit and walked with Chen Xue towards the mess hall for a meal. After only a few steps, they saw several figures standing under the eaves of the base not far away. It was Ding Chi, Zhang Jun, Shen Xingchen, and others. Among them, Luo Man looked at Lin Zhao with red eyes, tears filling her sockets.
"Brother..."
She deeply wished Lin Zhao would bring good news, but unfortunately, although Lin Zhao had traced the location of Luo Man's parents' mobile phones, the people themselves were nowhere to be found. There were only two possibilities: either they were swept away by the chaotic crowds and got lost, or they had already been killed by the sea beasts. Those sea beasts were man-eaters, and many of the victims had become their food.
By morning, major news channels were already filled with reports about Xicheng, with all sorts of gruesome scenes. The psychological trauma to Luo Man was imaginable.
"Mm."
Lin Zhao walked forward, gently ruffling Luo Man's hair at the back of her head and said, "Before we find them for sure, things might not be as bad as they seem. Slowly, try to be more optimistic. Perhaps there will be a turn for the better."
"Mm!"
Luo Man nodded, tears falling along with her words.
Lin Zhao felt a pang of sympathy but didn't know what else to say. He could only let Chen Xue comfort her good sister. Ding Chi, meanwhile, frowned and asked, "What's the specific situation in Xicheng?"
"Compared to last night, things are better now."
Lin Zhao said as he walked, "The leader of this sea beast tide was an S-class Kui Jia Mother Beast. It was killed yesterday under the firepower of the Chinese military. Its corpse is currently lying in a wasteland east of Xicheng. However, the sea beast tide has not completely receded, and many sea beasts have become stragglers, scattering in the wilderness between Xicheng and Sucheng. After we resupply our ammunition, we will have to go back out."
"Mm!"
Ding Chi nodded.
Just then, the doors of several Yunying-class aircraft opened, and a group of men and women emerged, some with their families, totaling about fifty or sixty people.
"Guiyuan!"
Ding Chi recognized someone in the crowd at a glance. It was a young man wearing thick-rimmed glasses, with a scholarly air, clearly a shut-in. He was a squadron leader of the Crimson Moon Knights and one of the guild's main forces. Beside Guiyuan was his mother, her face still streaked with tears, because last night, her husband had died under the claws of a sea beast while saving his family.
"Ding Chi..."
Guiyuan spoke with some hesitation, looking at Ding Chi and giving a wry smile, "I didn't expect to see you all again..."
"Yeah..."
Ding Chi stepped forward and shook his hand. Given that the other party's father had been killed by sea beasts, he didn't linger for pleasantries. Zhang Jun and Mo Chenxue also walked over and nodded to everyone in the crowd. Many of them were acquaintances they usually chatted and laughed with in the guild, but they never expected their first real-life meeting to be under such circumstances.
"Lin Zhao."
Shen Xingchen linked arms with Luo Man and said, "Let's go eat something at the mess hall. You and Chen Xue have been busy all night, you must be exhausted and sleepy."
"Mm."
Lin Zhao glanced at Luo Man and asked, "Slowly, will you have something to eat with me?"
"Oh..."
Luo Man had no appetite for food. It was only when Lin Zhao called her that she nodded.
In the mess hall.
Lin Zhao and Chen Xue each took a generous portion of food and wolfed it down. In one night, they had either been shooting sea beasts or had been battling them in streets and alleys wearing Xihe-class armor. Both of them had consumed a great deal of energy, not to mention the constant rescue efforts. They were already completely exhausted.
After eating and resting for about half an hour, Lin Zhao and Chen Xue both rose and headed to the tarmac. Then, one by one, the Crimson Moon transport aircraft, fully resupplied with ammunition and fuel, took to the skies. Shen Xingchen, Ding Chi, Luo Man, and the others could only look up and bid them farewell, unable to help in any way with this matter.
...
At around nine o'clock in the morning.
The roar of fighter jets echoed through the skies above Xicheng. Large numbers of sea beasts were being cleared, and the human army's defense line was gradually pushing north of Xicheng. Numerous engineers began repairing shields and various defensive fortifications within the city.
Lin Zhao, leading the Crimson Moon transport aircraft, shuttled between Sucheng and Xicheng, rescuing stranded civilians, constantly searching for sea beasts. At the same time, he deployed numerous drone swarms, using facial recognition systems to search for Luo Man's parents and those Crimson Moon Knights who were still unaccounted for.
Near ten o'clock, Lin Zhao's Yunying-class exploration interface displayed a dense cluster of small red dots. At least forty sea beasts appeared in the wilderness northwest of Xicheng. Even drone footage showed civilians being chased by sea beasts. Without hesitation, Lin Zhao led four Yunying-class aircraft to rush towards them.
Amidst the fierce roar of the aircraft engines, Lin Zhao continuously lowered the altitude of his Yunying-class, almost leveling the nose of the aircraft with the treetops. Just ahead, a lean young boy suddenly dashed out, his clothes torn to shreds by the thorns in the jungle, his body covered in bloodstains. The will to survive drove him to keep running forward, and he quickly waved towards the Crimson Moon transport aircraft: "Help... Help..."
Without a second thought, Lin Zhao placed his hand on the machine gun button and pressed it. A series of machine gun rounds landed in the jungle with loud "boom boom boom" sounds. Six sea beasts consecutively collided with the machine gun fire trajectory, quickly being blasted into a pile of碎渣 (suì zhā - debris). He then turned the aircraft and fired two infrared-guided missiles into the depths of the forest.
"Boom boom!"
Flames erupted, and in an instant, another dozen or so sea beasts were eliminated by the missiles. The other four Yunying-class aircraft quickly moved in, firing bursts from their machine guns, swiftly dispatching the remaining group of sea beasts.
"Lin Zhao."
Chen Xue said, "I'll go down and pick up the child."
"Mm, be careful."
Lin Zhao opened the cabin door, remaining on guard. Chen Xue activated her Xihe-class, leaped down, picked up the boy, and then activated the auxiliary flight system. With a swift movement, she soared back into the Yunying-class. After placing the still-shaken boy down, she gently asked, "Where are your family? Where are they?"
"Th-there..."
The boy pointed north and said, "Many people were captured. There were bad people..."
Lin Zhao frowned. The Yunying-class's detection screen also showed several aircraft of the same type. In the sky deep within the forest, at least more than ten Yunying-class aircraft were circling.
Chen Xue quickly sat down and checked the opponent's identification code. Her eyes then turned worried as she looked at Lin Zhao. "According to the channel identification code of the opposing aircraft, they are Brotherhood planes."
"Brotherhood?" Lin Zhao was surprised.
"Mm, a large mercenary group operating in the wilderness along the Yangtze River. They possess nearly 40 Yunying-class fighter jets and over 240 infantry fighting vehicles, with a total force exceeding 3,000 men. They call themselves mercenaries, but in reality, they are no different from bandits. I heard that after Han Feng of the War Axe Gang was dealt with by us, he defected to the Brotherhood."
"Is that so..."
Lin Zhao frowned. He said in a deep voice over the Crimson Moon transport channel, "They mean trouble. We've encountered Brotherhood planes. Huo Dao, bring two Chi You-class aircraft. All Crimson Moon transport forces, converge on my coordinates as quickly as possible. I'm heading there now."
"Yes, boss!"
Huo Dao responded extremely quickly.
...
Lin Zhao piloted a Yunying-class aircraft, with four other Yunying-class aircraft following behind him, and swiftly charged into the depths of the forest. In a clearing in a wasteland, he saw at least over 200 stranded civilians from Xicheng trapped in an open space. Their cars had even been destroyed by machine gun fire. The expressions of the group ranged from indignant to numb. By the edge of the woods lay several corpses, riddled with bullet holes and emitting smoke.
In the sky, 16 Yunying-class aircraft were positioned. The camouflage of these Yunying-class aircraft was significantly different from the low-visibility camouflage of Crimson Moon transport. They were painted with blood-red paint, and a skull was painted outside the cockpit. These were all Brotherhood aircraft.
"Lin Zhao."
Chen Xue suddenly froze and pointed at the screen from the facial recognition system. "There are two people from our Crimson Moon Knights among the crowd, they seem to be from your first regiment."
"Ah?"
Lin Zhao blinked in surprise and then, through the public channel, communicated with the Brotherhood aircraft: "This is Crimson Moon Transport. May I ask the friends from the Brotherhood why you are harassing the civilians on the ground?"
"Does it concern you?"
A rude voice came from the other side, it was Xia Houyan, the leader of the Brotherhood mercenary group.
Lin Zhao frowned and motioned for Chen Xue to lock onto the opponent's aircraft with radar. Even the two Chi You-class patrol aircraft in the sky had their railguns locked onto the enemy's aircraft. A battle was imminent.
"There are people from our Crimson Moon Transport among this group."
Lin Zhao continued to stall for time. "We hope that Captain Xia Houyan can give Crimson Moon Transport some face and let them go. Crimson Moon Transport will offer generous compensation."
"Do I care about that?"
Xia Houyan scoffed. "Lin Zhao, don't think we won't know if you lock onto us with your radar. The moment you activate your fire control radar, I knew you had no good intentions. Brothers, lock onto them with your radar and prepare to fire!"
In an instant, Lin Zhao's Yunying-class was locked onto by at least four enemy aircraft.
At that very moment, suddenly, birds in the depths of the forest flapped their wings and took to the air in disarray. Immediately after, Lin Zhao's exploration radar emitted urgent "beep beep beep" sounds – it was a sea beast proximity alarm.
"Hm?"
Lin Zhao raised his hand to activate the aircraft's shield system, preparing to maneuver and evade while looking up. He saw dense figures emerging from the depths of the forest in the morning light. They were hunched over, resembling seahorses from the sea, but with wings, flying at high speed. Fire jets sprayed from their raised tails.
In an instant, Lin Zhao's heart chilled. They were still sea beasts, but... were they a new species of sea beast?