Chapter 70: The Problem of Food for Gold Coins

"That’s right! This plan requires your involvement to be perfectly executed," Colonel Xie said, noticing Lin Mo’s doubts. He nodded firmly, affirming his statement, and quickly saluted Lin Mo. "Captain Lin, we need your specialized skills, and you are the only one in the whole squad suitable for this task. Destroying the ‘Red Scorpion’ fighter jets is easy, but to create more problems for them, we need to eliminate this threat quickly. Please help us with this; don’t worry about your safety, as we will send our most elite operatives to protect you in secret!"

Colonel Xie’s plan was truly unfathomable, perhaps precisely because it was so unexpected that the enemy would not even conceive of how to guard against it. After all, it was impossible to be on guard all the time and everywhere; even God couldn’t manage that.

Lin Mo hesitated, "Am I really up for this?!" As a former Dragon Knight, he could handle fighting and dropping bombs, but when it came to disguise, infiltration, and sabotage, he thought these tasks were naturally suited for Captain Geldael and his shadow dragons.

Aside from flying fighter jets, he relied on the instincts of a Dragon Knight. As for plans and proposals, Lin Mo had never taken them seriously; he could simply charge in and start slaughtering with the gold giant dragon. He could leave a trail of blood if need be.

The Intelligence Group’s combat plan clearly did not anticipate that Captain Lin Mo held another identity. In the face of absolute strength, all schemes and plots were nothing but jokes; releasing him was akin to unleashing a beast!

Lin Mo held the proposal in his hand, but his thoughts wandered to an unexpected concern—he realized that the food supply for the gold giant dragon was running low. With just his salary, he could only afford a few titanium rods online and pick up some bullet casings, which were nothing more than snacks for the dragon, certainly not enough to feed it.

Regular steel cost 4,000 yuan per ton, and even the cheapest stainless steel, type 201, started at over ten thousand yuan. Prices doubled with each grade, and even if Lin Mo’s salary could stretch that far, he couldn’t openly transport steel ingots to the base; the sheer size of the metal ingots wouldn’t go unnoticed and would raise suspicion immediately.

Unlike a gold element slime, the gold giant dragon required enormous energy. During their days in the other world, he needed thousands of pounds of black iron ingots (essentially pig iron in this world) each month to sustain it. No wonder it was impossible for ordinary folks, even nobles, to afford a giant dragon; only by exhausting national resources could one assemble a Dragon Knight Corps with over a hundred dragons. Even that was the limit for the Su Lan Empire, while a thousand dragons darkening the sky to showcase overwhelming strength would remain a dream—much like the idea of filling the skies of all of China with J-20s being impossible.

But now, Lin Mo was no longer a Dragon Knight of the Su Lan Empire. The pressure of feeding the giant dragon fell solely on him. The dragon provided protection for him, while he provided food for the dragon, achieving a mutually beneficial relationship. Compared to their previous world, where metal resources were abundant (easily found wherever there were people), he could collect scrap metal under various pretenses.

Once in "Night," Lin Mo found that discarded metal resources quickly dwindled. The nearby area was primarily farmland, and there wasn’t a single metal recycling station within several kilometers. The most common discarded metal in the base consisted of bullet casings, which were practically useless for his purposes. What’s more, he couldn’t casually go outside, and the gold giant dragon couldn’t venture out for wild food either. The base’s radar system operated around the clock without any concept of low-altitude radar blind spots; if Gold Coin dared to appear alone, it would undoubtedly be detected by metal detectors or radar. Then, it would get blasted apart—no better than the first time it excitedly flew out of Base 7759 only to be shot down again.

A single outing would also mean that Gold Coin could get a food supply. Since the day before yesterday, he had fed it nails and surplus metal fixtures from the J-10 packaging crates.

If he couldn’t find a solution soon, Gold Coin would retreat back into the metal coin for its hibernation, which would not be good for Lin Mo. He had grown accustomed to using the gold giant dragon as a tool; without it, he would be hesitant to practice various aerial maneuvers, and consequently, his flying skills would not improve quickly. Falling behind would mean getting hit, a universal reality in any world.

As Lin Mo contemplated various possibilities, his expression remained unreadable, causing Colonel Xie to start feeling uneasy.

"Rest assured! We will conduct several tests first, and then we will have the best specialists provide you with intensive training to ensure the highest chances of success in the mission. We have plenty of professionals in this regard!" Colonel Xie said carefully while watching Lin Mo’s facial expressions carefully.

"Little Lin, don’t pay any attention to that scoundrel! Just focus on being a pilot; your accomplishments will stand out with military honors. Don’t worry about other matters; Captain Pan has your back! Don’t fear him!" Captain Pan’s voice called out from a distance, as though he had forgotten the previous argument. Although he had been driven away, his fierce gaze remained vigilant; Lin Mo was his prized asset in the Aircrew Group, and he couldn’t let other groups easily take him away. Whether they could return after going outside was beyond the command of the Aircrew Group, which was not even a combat department.

Upon hearing Captain Pan’s words, Colonel Xie’s face paled slightly, but he did not refute. He understood that the power to decide lay entirely with Lin Mo; whether he agreed or not depended solely on Lin Mo’s judgment—a matter that was ultimately futile for him to discuss further.

At that moment, the head of the Intelligence Group was in disarray, lacking his usual calmness and decisiveness. This was truly an instance where care leads to confusion. The last mistake had dealt a significant blow to the Intelligence Group, putting them under immense pressure. Everyone united to resolve the situation, aiming for a glorious comeback and hoping to maximize the benefits from their action plan.

Dispatching troops to the target area under the pretense of joint military exercises would be costly and risk evolving into a small-scale war, impacting both international and regional situations. China was acting while neighboring countries were watching; this was not something that could be settled overnight. With external forces supporting the separatist warlords, it would be like harvesting one crop only to see another sprout. Being stuck in this mire indefinitely equated to a bottomless pit of war for China. Instead, it was better to stir up trouble among them, creating irreconcilable local chaos that would distract them from other matters, resulting in greater effectiveness and cost efficiency.

However, the fighter pilot Lin Mo from the Aircrew Group was an indispensable part of the entire plan, which was indeed a helpless situation. The Intelligence Group was originally responsible for gathering and analyzing intelligence, using all means to maximize execution efficiency, and this plan was approved by Staff Group Leader Ji Konglin, indicating that it was entirely feasible. Although the risks were considerable, the rewards would be greater.

"Alright!" Lin Mo nodded in agreement, though his reasons were unknown to Colonel Xie and the others.

It was time to go out and find some wild food for Gold Coin. This was the cost of raising a giant dragon. Had he ever contemplated such matters in the other world? If he ended up in a world with better metal smelting technology, he might as well have fed himself to the dragon for simplicity’s sake.

Not far away, Captain Pan’s frown tightened, though he stayed silent, his frustration and confusion evident.

"Really!" This twist of fate delighted Colonel Xie, who quickly grasped Lin Mo’s hand, thanking him excitedly, "That’s fantastic! Thank you so much, Captain Lin! We will double your mission allowance. Rest assured, we will be protecting you in the shadows."

"Not a problem. I’ve been in the base for a while now; I’ll treat this as a trip!” Lin Mo casually justified to himself. Central Asia’s Gobi was either sand or rocks, unbearably dry, with no beautiful scenery to speak of. If it weren’t for Gold Coin’s food supply, he wouldn’t bother to make this trip. He needed to stock up Gold Coin’s food supply for the entire year, and thankfully, this dragon only needed enough to stay satisfied; otherwise, he’d indeed run himself into poverty.

"Sure, but this trip will be a bit thrilling. Please wait a moment; I’ll arrange for the tests and training experts right away!" Colonel Xie seemed to completely forget his age as he darted off to make arrangements.

As for himself, it was a rare moment he could be undisciplined. Lin Mo smiled and stuffed the plan into his pocket, then returned to attend to his beloved fighter jet.

With his belongings in tow, Lin Mo boarded a train from Urumqi, heading northwest alone.

Inside the carriage, most passengers were foreigners with deep-set eyes and prominent noses, talking in languages he didn’t understand. Among them were Uighurs and Han Chinese from China, as well as Kazakhs and some Russians. It felt like being abroad without crossing the border. Lin Mo had booked a soft sleeper; among the four bunks, only two lower ones were occupied, with an empty one across from him.

The tickets he used to change routes were printed accurately on original printers with precise data in the database.

Although the Intelligence Group claimed they would secretly protect him, Lin Mo hadn’t noticed any signs of them so far. Perhaps they would appear after crossing the border, or maybe he just didn’t see them.

The intelligence network in "Night" overlapped to some extent with other special operations units and the national security, defense, and police systems to ensure effective utilization and avoid wasting resources. Some diligent and talented intelligence informants led rather comfortable lives.