Chapter 65: Old Pan, the Protector of the Young

Colonel Xie seethed with anger, grinding his teeth. If a fighter jet worth nearly two hundred million was shot down, his position as the head of the Intelligence Group would likely be on the line.

Moreover, Lin Mo’s exclusive aircraft was just the base model; with a full set of equipped upgrades, it turned into a modified semi-combat third-generation fighter, worth at least seven hundred million yuan internationally.

The thought of the J-10’s costs made everyone in the Intelligence Group feel weak in the knees.

Captain Feng, usually calm and composed, let out a long sigh, slowly returning to his seat on the couch. “Night” truly struck gold this time.

As if straight out of a movie, the scene of the fighter launching missiles concluded, bringing everyone back to reality as the sounds of gunfire erupted anew on the battlefield.

In the ongoing fight, Lin Mo, wary of the "Vanguard-4," kept his distance, diligently taking aerial photos at four thousand meters, leaving the ground combat to the First Squad.

The fighter jet wasn’t a jack-of-all-trades, and Lin Mo learned a valuable lesson from this real-life experience.

As for the Gold Coins, they seemed to have hidden away, missing their chance to shine; even if they needed to take a hit for the J-10, that wouldn’t be a major issue.

Lin Mo’s single aerial attack marked the end of the battle, resulting in only scattered resistance. The First Squad quickly brought the fight to a close, even capturing the person who dared to fire a “Vanguard-4” at Lin Mo.

Half an hour later, the large screen in the command hall displayed a notification that the battle had ended. The battlefield observer quickly listed the casualties on both sides and the seized supplies.

The spoils of war exceeded “Night’s” expectations. Most of the haul consisted of recently harvested rare herbs, as well as poached items like the skins of Tibetan antelopes. Astonishingly, there were even a few high-end weapons issued by domestic troops, not only the "Vanguard-4" infrared-guided portable air defense missiles but also Red Arrow-8 anti-tank missiles, all classified as single-person high-tech weapons—few in number, just one or two pieces, mixed among the herbs and poached goods.

The "Red Scorpion" wasn’t just conducting regular business; they had also opened up domestic trading channels. Had they not been intercepted, the loss of China’s most advanced weapons to other nations could have brought immense trouble to bordering countries.

Over half of the thirty-plus members of the "Red Scorpion" were killed. Following field interrogations, their leader was fortunately gravely injured but still alive, having lost an arm to the cannon. After emergency treatment and stabilizing the bleeding, he remained conscious, while the others were all injured to varying degrees, with few escaping without some wounds. However, none of the horses that were shot down by the cannon survived.

Most of the severely injured "Red Scorpion" members were taken out by Lin Mo’s J-10, suffering horrifically. Despite immediate morphine injections, many succumbed to their injuries soon after, highlighting the grim reality for those caught in the line of fire.

In contrast, the First Squad had five or six members severely injured and one killed, tending to their wounded amidst a solemn battlefield.

Even the best dogs eventually lose their lives on the mountain, and generals cannot avoid dying in battle.

Everyone quietly followed the training protocols and standard procedures.

All captives and seized materials would be transferred to the border defense units, with the nearest army aviation unit dispatching over a dozen transport helicopters.

At 4 AM, Lin Mo’s J-10 returned to the base airport. The entire Aircrew Group had been awake all night, with the medical team already waiting in the cold dark for two Mi-17 transport helicopters to land.

As soon as Lin Mo stepped off the plane, a few female nurses from the medical team grabbed him and moved him directly onto a stretcher.

Having undergone two extreme overloads, even someone with flying knowledge would be frightened; even a tough person could get injured.

Captain Feng rushed to instruct the medical team to include Lin Mo on the injury list. As the only fighter pilot, and with such outstanding flying skills, losing him would mean the J-10’s worth couldn’t compare to a top ace’s life.

Lin Mo wasn’t in the mood to be treated like a wounded soldier. Claiming he was fine and arguing against the checks on his heartbeat and blood pressure, he eventually convinced the medical team to let him go, but they insisted he wear an identity wristband on his left wrist and an additional life monitoring wristband, allowing them to monitor his health data around the clock. If anything seemed off, the life monitoring wristband would alert the medical team immediately.

After the J-10 was rolled into the hangar, Lin Mo heard that Captain Pan had gone to confront Colonel Xie from the Intelligence Group.

Due to the intelligence error, Lin Mo nearly faced a demise, and as Captain Pan, the immediate superior, could hardly contain his worry—it felt as if his heart raced like the song “Uneasy.”

Lin Mo hurriedly asked around and rushed to mediate the argument.

Someone who typically kept their cool was suddenly blowing up; was everything alright?

Navigating through the underground base’s twists and turns, he finally reached the command hall. Before entering, he already heard Captain Pan’s thunderous voice, like a jet engine roaring.

“What are you guys in the Intelligence Group doing? You’re getting a large intelligence budget, yet you can’t even investigate one piece of intel clearly? What does the country pay you for?”

“That’s a ‘Vanguard-4,’ not a matchstick! Such a massive item, and you didn’t realize? This is murder, pure and simple murder! Murder…”

A crowd of people was there trying to persuade each other, creating quite a chaotic scene.

Lin Mo pushed the door open and entered the command hall, only to see a group gathered around Captain Pan and Colonel Xie.

Captain Pan was red in the face, his large centipede scar twisting from the corner of his mouth to his eye, as he mercilessly scolded Colonel Xie from the Intelligence Group, who was left speechless.

“Old Pan! Stop talking, let’s go back!” Lin Mo squeezed in and pulled at Captain Pan.

“Hey! Lin Mo, you’re here! Is everything okay? Are you hurt? Let me see!” Captain Pan quickly shifted his attention from Colonel Xie to his precious Aircrew member, Lin Mo. One Lin Mo was worth a whole squad, bringing both military honors and prestige to the Aircrew Group, and Captain Pan couldn’t be happier.

“I’m fine! See? Everything is normal, nothing happened!” Lin Mo waved his arms and moved his feet, showing off his strong and healthy appearance to Captain Pan.

Captain Pan, still worried, circled Lin Mo three times, inspecting him from top to bottom and side to side, then patted him on the body, finally sighing in relief. “That’s good! You had me worried to death! Come on, let’s go reason with the Intelligence Group! If this keeps up, our Aircrew Group will have such little combat power; how can we let them exhaust us like this?!”

“Let it go, let it go, Old Pan. There will always be some surprises. We can only say the enemy is too cunning; maybe they already discovered our intelligence personnel and are hiding the truth from us. You shouldn’t be so hard on Colonel Xie; it’s not possible to investigate everything, even down to what color their underwear is, right? Let’s go! Enough said!” Lin Mo felt touched by Captain Pan’s unexpected protective behavior but didn’t want to create animosity between the Aircrew Group and the Intelligence Group.

Seeing Colonel Xie’s dark purple face and his grinding teeth, barely containing his emotions, Lin Mo knew he was under a lot of pressure. Intelligence work involves sifting through true and false information, especially in reconnaissance and undercover missions, which carry risks that most cannot imagine.

“You…” Captain Pan wanted to say more, but Lin Mo forcibly dragged him out of this troublesome place. The strength of a Dragon Knight was far beyond that of an ordinary person, and that one hundred-plus-kilogram man was pulled out effortlessly.

“Let it go! I’m fine, so trust me! I’m the ace!” In the corridor outside the command hall, Lin Mo patted Captain Pan’s back to ease his worries.

“Hmph! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t let that scoundrel off the hook!” Captain Pan’s anger finally began to fade.

“Go back now! The First Squad should be back soon; they had quite a bit of damage this time!” Taking the opportunity, Lin Mo urged Captain Pan to shift his focus and not dwell on this issue any longer.

“Okay, I’ll head there now!” Captain Pan finally remembered there were many people waiting for him in the Aircrew hangar. Arguments aside, work couldn’t be neglected; otherwise, he would be the one facing the music. He patted Lin Mo’s shoulder before saying, “You should rest too! It’s almost dawn! Pilots must never wear themselves out.”

“Ha! I know! Go ahead!” Lin Mo smiled and stretched his body a few times.

Noticing the life monitoring wristband on Lin Mo’s left wrist, its light flashing softly to indicate it was working, Captain Pan’s face clearly relaxed a bit.

He saw Captain Pan turn and anxiously leave. All the Aircrew members, just like the First Squad, had a sleepless night.

Around noon, Lin Mo finally woke up and felt something unusual on his wrist. Looking down, he remembered the medical team had put on the life monitoring wristband, still tracking his health data. In this world, the physical fitness of aerial knights was significantly inferior to what Lin Mo was used to; this level of overload and acceleration felt like a child’s play.

When a Dragon Knight charges at full speed, the Giant Dragon’s impact speed and the air resistance the knight must endure are enough to crush an ordinary person into a pancake, far beyond just nine times the force of gravity.

He needed to return the wristband to the medical team later; he already had too much strapped to him. In addition to the identity wristband, he needed to leave space for the Gold Coins—quite uncomfortable.

Arriving at the cafeteria, he ordered himself a large meal. With flying allowances plus special forces pay, he certainly earned more than the average worker, and with a bigger appetite than usual, Lin Mo could always fill his stomach easily. The army never lacked high-energy food.

Heaped plates of stir-fried dishes, roasted pork legs, smoked sausages, and roasted turkey—at least the first-line combat troops certainly enjoyed meals that were no worse than those of big restaurants outside. Lin Mo was most satisfied with China’s rich culinary culture.

Just as he carried a double portion of food, Lin Mo casually looked for a spot in the spacious dining area.

As he broke open a pair of disposable bamboo chopsticks and was about to dig in, suddenly, a military boot stomped down fiercely on the edge of Lin Mo’s dining table, creating a loud bang.