Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 651 Italian Fighter Jets: Fiat CR.42 "Eagle", the Treasure of Lake Tana

Outside the room, Steve and two bodyguards stood waiting on the street.

The surrounding environment made him nervous, and he hoped that Fang Wen would come out soon.

The wait didn't last long.

Fang Wen and Ali walked out together.

"How is it?" Steve asked anxiously.

"It's settled. Ali will be our guide. Without further ado, I've decided we can set off now."

Steve didn't dwell on it. The disappearance of the contact had made the plan unreliable, and the sooner they got to their destination, the higher their chances of success would be.

Who knows if the Germans from the World Heritage Association have already gone to Lake Tana!
He nodded: "Okay, let's go."

Immediately afterwards, Fang Wen and his men left with Ali and two of his men.

Instead of returning the way they came, since the Italian army was still searching for Ali, they took a detour outside the city and came to the port via a side road.

But there are also troops guarding the port.

Fang Wen and his group, who were observing from the shadows, were therefore unable to board the plane directly with Ali.

Fang Wen asked in a low voice, "Can you swim?"

Ali and his two subordinates nodded: "Yes."

"Alright, let's find a way to get into the water and meet up there." Fang Wen pointed to a body of water outside the port.

"Ok."

Ali left with two of his men.

Fang Wenze and Steve went out.

They headed toward the dock, where Italian soldiers guarding the dock scrutinized Steve and Fang Wen's group before blocking their path for inspection.

The inspection was not very thorough; they simply checked everyone's identification documents and then let them pass.

After the inspection, Fang Wen and his team returned to the plane. Fang Wen said to the two Boeing pilots, "We need to take off and head to our final destination. Have you replenished your fuel?"

"Just refueled," the pilot replied.

"Alright, we'll depart in 10 minutes. Follow my radio instructions."

After Fang Wen finished speaking, he led Gong Xiuneng to his plane to refuel it.

The two men connected the fuel line to the large fuel tank in the rear cabin, inserted the other end into the fuel inlet in the aircraft cabin, and used a manual pump to pressurize and inject fuel.

A few minutes later, the fuel was replenished, and Fang Wen went to sit in the cockpit.

"Gong Xiuneng, untie the mooring ropes and close the cabin door."

He then picked up the microphone and called out to Boeing 314: "Are you ready?"

The radio replied: "Ready, everyone board."

"Alright, you can take off after I take off."

Fang Wen started the engine, controlled the aircraft to adjust its direction, and taxied away from the dock.

After gliding for several hundred meters, three planks floated ahead, which Ali and his group were holding onto while waiting on the water.

Fang Wen controlled the plane to taxi to a stop next to the three people.

"Gong Xiu can open the hatch; Ali and the others are outside."

Gong Xiuneng quickly opened the hatch, peered out, and saw the three people underwater.

He stepped onto the buoy, reached out and pulled Ali up, then pulled up the other two as well.

As the hatch closed, Gong Xiuneng said, "Ali and the others have come in, and the hatch is now closed."

Fang Wen then controlled the plane to accelerate and take off.

Subsequently, Boeing 314 also took off, and the two aircraft flew in a southwest direction.

A large compound on the east side of the Massawa port city area.

Nominally a villa for Italian colonial officials, it was actually an intelligence outpost for the German SS Security Service (SS) in North Africa.

The World Heritage Association's personnel sent to North Africa are also here.

Inside the villa, American businessman Jackson was tied to a cold iron chair, his wrists and ankles marked with red welts from the thick hemp rope, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and his left eye swollen shut.

Two Germans stood before him: a tall, thin, middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, Heinrich, the head of the intelligence outpost; and a burly man with a face full of scars, holding a blood-stained rubber baton, who was his deputy, Klaus, in charge of the interrogation.

At this time.

The roar of an airplane engine came from outside the window, growing louder and louder.

Heinrich walked quickly to the windowsill, lifted a corner of the heavy curtains, looked up at the sky, and saw two seaplanes, one large and one small, fly away.

A flicker of anxiety crossed his eyes. "They left so quickly? Did they have other plans?"

Heinrich lowered the curtain and turned around, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses turning sinister. He grabbed Jackson's hair and slammed his head against the armrest of the iron chair. "Tell me! Where are they going?"

Jackson groaned in pain, more blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, but he stubbornly turned his head away: "I don't know... I'm just a businessman, they only hired me to help contact the guides..."

“Lying!” Klaus stepped forward, his rubber baton slamming into Jackson’s shoulder with a dull thud.

Jackson arched his back, veins bulging on his forehead, but he gritted his teeth and didn't utter a single plea for mercy.

Heinrich wiped the blood from his hands, took out a pack of German-made "ATIKAH" cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one.

The strong smell of Turkish tobacco made Klaus cough involuntarily.

"Cough cough cough, boss, do all the SS smoke your kind of cigarettes? The smell is too strong. Why don't you try mine?"

Klaus took out a pack of cigarettes with a mountain on the label, along with signs in French and Chinese.

Heinrich lit a cigarette and took a drag: "Okay, I like this kind of cigarette. What's it called?"

"Taishan brand. It's a cigarette made in the East, and the French especially like it. They even sell it in their North African colonies. I spent 20 lira to buy a pack."

At that time, 20 lira was equivalent to 1 US dollar, and Heinrich immediately abandoned his plan to buy such expensive cigarettes.

After he finished his cigarette, he walked up to Jackson.

“I know you’re an American intelligence agent, and working for Steve is your side job. If I tell the Italians about you, you’ll be imprisoned for intelligence work. Even if you’re released, you’ll be punished by your government for exposing your identity while doing things outside of your job. Do you think it’s worth risking your career for that?”

As everyone involved was an intelligence agent, the lecture, delivered with a sense of shared experience, caused a flicker of tension to cross Jackson's face.

Heinrich continued, "I just want to know where Steve went? If you tell me, you can leave now."

His promises lowered Jackson's guard.

In order to get them out of there, Jackson replied, "All I knew was that they were going to Lake Tana, so I found them a guide from the vicinity of Lake Tana."

After obtaining the information he wanted, Heinrich prepared to report to the World Heritage Association. Klaus came over and asked in a low voice, "Boss, what should we do with him? Are we really going to let him go?"

“We can’t afford to antagonize the US government right now, so he’s never come here. Do you understand?” Heinrich replied meaningfully, then walked toward the door.

The moment he opened the door, he heard a struggle behind him, but he left without stopping.

He left the room and went up to the second floor.

The entire second floor is occupied by people sent by the World Heritage Association.

There were armed personnel transferred from the military, as well as scholars and priests.

Heinrich went to the second room, knocked on the door, and entered.

"Professor Achim, it has been confirmed that the Americans are heading to Lake Tana."

Professor Achim, seated in his armchair, put down his pipe. "It seems their research direction is the same as ours. The area near Lake Tana is the last remaining site of Solomon's kingdom, and also the most likely place to find the Ark of the Covenant and the King's treasure." "Professor, they've already taken off. We need to leave immediately to arrive before they find the treasure."

“Alright. Notify everyone to assemble, and we'll fly over too. Also, I think you should use your resources to get the Italians to help us stop them.”

Heinrich immediately understood the meaning behind Professor Achim's words.

"Okay, I'll send a telegram to Asmara immediately, instructing the Italian air force to intercept those two aircraft!"

The journey from Massawa port to Lake Tana is over 600 kilometers and is expected to take 2 hours.

Fang Wen piloted the plane in front, leading the way, with the Boeing 314 following behind.

Such a long-distance flight, spanning the Atlantic Ocean and then across the African continent, is something only Fang Wen can accomplish in this day and age. Anyone else would need a lot of time to prepare for such a flight, otherwise something bad would definitely happen along the way.

Half an hour of flight time had passed, and Fang Wen felt relieved. At this rate, it wouldn't take a month, maybe even a week, to find the treasure. Then he could fly back to the base in northern Myanmar to get back to his business.

But just as this comfortable thought arose, the small bronze cauldron in the inner pocket began to vibrate.

Danger warning!

Fang Wen immediately became alert and used his mechanical perception ability to merge with the aircraft.

Although this aircraft was a civilian version and did not have radar installed, Fang Wen quickly discovered the problem from the perspective of mechanical perception.

Two biplane fighter jets were flying towards us from behind.

It was obviously directed at them.

Fang Wen had never seen this fighter jet in person, but it was recorded in the company's collection of information on fighter jets from various countries.

It is the Italian Fiat CR.42 "Eagle" fighter jet.

An old-fashioned biplane fighter that has been phased out by the Italian military.

Unexpectedly, it was still being used for military flights in the North African colonies.

Fang Wen picked up the microphone and called to his comrades behind him: "Attention, there are two Italian military aircraft following us. Judging from their intentions, they probably want us to fly back."

A response came through the radio; it was Steve's voice.

"Fang, we can't go back. Can we shake them off?"

Fang Wen recalled the data for the Fiat CR.42 "Eagle" in his mind.

This old-fashioned biplane is fairly agile, but it is lacking in speed and climb rate.

In terms of speed, the two seaplanes probably couldn't shake each other off, but they had an advantage in climb rate.

After all, both their own aircraft and the Boeing 314 have pressurized cabin technology to maintain cabin pressure, allowing them to fly at altitudes of over 6000 meters.

The maximum altitude for a biplane is only about 5000 meters. Any higher and the aircraft's engine and the pilot would not be able to withstand it.

Therefore, Fang Wen announced, "Attention, we are about to begin climbing flight, target altitude 6500 meters."

The Boeing pilots understood Fang Wen's intentions and carried them out immediately.

The two planes tilted their fuselages and flew into the sky.

The two Fiat CR.42 Eagles behind were still some distance away and could not catch up immediately, so they could only follow and climb.

All four planes in front and behind were climbing.

As the altitude increased, a completely different situation emerged.

At 5000 meters, inside both Fang Wen's and the Boeing 314 aircraft, everything was normal.

The Italian biplane, however, experienced a power shortage due to a decrease in engine combustion efficiency.

The plane's speed also decreased accordingly.

The two Italian pilots, somewhat unwilling to give up, communicated with each other using hand gestures and continued the pursuit.

The altitude is still increasing.

We've reached 6000 meters.

The interiors of the two seaplanes, being enclosed, remained largely unchanged.

At this moment, the two Fiat CR.42 Eagles began to shake.

The driver's face was covered in icicles due to the extreme temperatures.

This is not a game.

The two Italian pilots immediately abandoned the pursuit and descended to a lower altitude.

Fang Wen used his mechanical perception ability to observe the movements of the two fighter jets below. Seeing that they had not completely given up, he picked up the microphone.

"Maintain altitude and wait until the Italians leave before making any decisions."

And so it flew, two high and two low.

Half an hour later, the two Fiat CR.42 Eagle fighter jets finally turned around and returned to base.

Only after they had gone far away did Fang Wen pick up the microphone and instruct the Boeing 314 to descend to an altitude of 4000 meters and fly.

No further problems were encountered during the remainder of the voyage.

An hour later, the two planes arrived over their destination, Lake Tana.

The plane circled in the air as Fang Wen looked down, searching for a place to land.

This lake is the largest lake in the Ethiopian Highlands.

Abundant freshwater has nurtured the people, animals, and plants of the plateau.

However, the lake water near the shore is quite shallow, making it difficult for planes to land in these areas.

The plane was still circling, and Fang Wen's gaze swept along the lakeside, searching.

After a while, Fang Wen suddenly sensed a fluctuation of energy.

A thought flashed through his mind: Could this be the Child of Light he was looking for?
He then piloted the plane in that direction.

It's located in the southern part of Lake Tana, quite far from the lakeshore, so it must be very deep.

Near the energy signal area, there is also an island in the lake with some local-style church buildings.

The water here is deep enough for landing, and there's also a pier on the island.

Fang Wen decided to land here.

He instructed Boeing 314 to land alongside him.

The two planes landed at a certain altitude, creating large waves on the lake, and then decelerated after gliding for a while.

After the plane came to a stop, Fang Wen stepped out of the cockpit. "Ali, do you know where we are?"

Ali looked out through the window on the side of the cabin.

He looked at the small island in the lake in the distance: "It's Dek Island, the largest island in Lake Tana. There are several Amhara churches on the island."

What religion does Amhara follow?

"It is Ethiopian Orthodoxy, an indigenous religion that has been around for many years, as old as Byzantine Orthodoxy."

Fang Wen nodded. After all, this was the site of the former Kingdom of Solomon, and it is estimated that Christianity began to spread here at that time.

In this way, the legends of the Ark of the Covenant and the Children of Light become more plausible.

The task now is to immediately establish contact with the people on the island and then find a way to guide the treasure hunt to the waters north of the island.

(Dek Island, Lake Tana)
(End of this chapter)