Legendary Captain

Chapter 324 All combat models! A one-size-fits-all solution!

Fortunately, the Southwest Selection Center is not far from Luoyang Aviation Industry's flight base, less than a two-hour drive away. Xu Xian's mindset was different this time when he came here compared to last time.

Last time I came here with the mindset of having a fun trip, but this time I guess I'll be staying here for quite a while.

Just like last time, the security guard specifically inquired about Xu Xian's situation when he passed through the gate. However, Xu Xian's name had already been entered into the system beforehand, so the guard simply verified it and let him through, making it much simpler than the various checks he had last time.

"We need to go to the information department to enter your details later so we can get your official work permit. From now on, apart from your flight pass, which will be separate, all access and purchases within the base will be made using your official work permit," Ye Qing said to Xu Xian. Suddenly, she glanced at Xu Xian and said, "Should we get you a room to wash up before entering your information? You don't look your best right now; we'll be taking pictures later."

Xu Xian had a full day of medical checkups and was exhausted. He also traveled for two hours, looking travel-worn and not in his best condition. The information being entered later won't be easily changed unless absolutely necessary, and if a photo of him looking like this is taken, it'll probably stay with him for a long time. If we don't get it satisfactory now, it'll be much more troublesome to change it later.

Xu Xian glanced at himself in the rearview mirror. His hair looked a bit messy, and his complexion wasn't great. He clicked his tongue and said, "You want to take pictures, right? Then, would it be convenient to book a room?"

"What's inconvenient about that? Shall we go get a room first?"

Xu Xian agreed: "Okay, I'll go wash up first, it won't delay anything."

"No, what's the harm in washing up? I just need to contact my friend." Ye Qing said with a smile.

The two agreed that after parking the car, they would head straight to the guesthouse. Xu Xian's work permit hadn't been issued yet, so he couldn't book a room at the apartment building. Ye Qing, strictly speaking, didn't belong to this base, so she couldn't book a room at the apartment building either. Therefore, the two had no choice but to go to the guesthouse.

However, since Ye Qing hadn't informed the guesthouse beforehand, and Xu Xian wasn't considered a foreign guest, the guesthouse initially refused to book rooms for them. The last time Xu Xian came, they were able to book rooms because Ye Qing had applied in advance, and there was a record, making things easy. But this time, coming to the guesthouse was entirely impulsive; how could Ye Qing possibly have applied beforehand?

Because Luohang Industry involves many classified matters, the entire company, from top to bottom, has an almost obsessive adherence to rules and regulations. Even after Ye Qing showed his work ID as the director of the Advanced Technology R&D Department at Luohang Industry headquarters, the receptionist at the guesthouse still refused to give them a room. In the end, having no other choice, Ye Qing had to ask the friend who was originally supposed to show Xu Xian around the base for help.

Shortly after, a tall, beautiful young woman entered the lobby of the guesthouse. As soon as she entered, Ye Qing immediately went to greet her.

"Yan Yue, you've finally arrived." Ye Qing pointed awkwardly to the front desk: "The front desk at your guesthouse is so difficult to get through to. I begged and pleaded, but they wouldn't give me a room."

Zhao Yanyue chuckled and said, "It's only right that I don't open it for you."

With that, Zhao Yan Yue walked past Ye Qing to the front desk and said to the staff, "Where's the guarantee form? I'll sign it! Please give them a room."

"Okay, Director Zhao." The receptionist took a guarantee form from the drawer and handed it to Zhao Yanyue, while simultaneously searching for suitable vacant rooms on the computer for Ye Qing and Xu Xian.

The rules of the guesthouse are that if someone has special circumstances and wants to stay there temporarily but does not have the corresponding documents, they can find someone with more than two years of service at the base or a department leader to act as a guarantor.

Ye Qing's rank is high enough, but his work is at the headquarters of Luohang Industrial, not at this base, so he cannot sign the guarantee form.

After Zhao Yanyue signed the guarantee form, the front desk issued the room key and handed it to her.

Zhao Yanyue handed the room key to Ye Qing, her gaze falling on Xu Xian beside him: "This should be the person I'm bringing today, Xu Xian, right?"

"Um, I'm Xu Xian, and this is..." Xu Xian couldn't help but look at Ye Qing.

Ye Qing quickly introduced Xu Xian: "This is Zhao Yanyue, the director of the base's general affairs department. She's the friend I told you about who will show you around the base later."

"Oh, oh!" Xu Xian quickly gave Zhao Yanyue a smile: "I might have to trouble you these next couple of days."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. I don't have much to do here anyway. Showing you around the base will give me a chance to get some exercise too, which is fine." With that, Zhao Yan Yue gave Xu Xian a slight bow. "I have some things to attend to, so I'll be leaving now. See you at the Information Department in an hour, okay?"

"An hour? That's more than enough, absolutely enough. See you then," Ye Qing said.

After seeing Zhao Yanyue off, Xu Xian and Ye Qing went upstairs together, and Xu Xian was quite curious about the relationship between Ye Qing and this Zhao Yanyue.

"What are you thinking? It's just a simple friendship." Ye Qing was extremely dissatisfied with Xu Xian's filthy thoughts: "Is that all you think about in a relationship? Is there nothing else?"

"A purely platonic relationship between a man and a woman?" Xu Xian sneered. "Either the man is too ugly, or the woman is too ugly, or one of them is a lesbian. Otherwise, I don't believe there's any such thing as a purely platonic relationship between a man and a woman."

Ye Qing was taken aback by Xu Xian's words: "You're really direct, kid. You don't believe I don't have any female friends?"

"I'll take it." Xu Xiangan uttered two words, then abruptly stopped, his face turning away as he walked past Ye Qing, leaving behind the final remark: "Boring!"

After washing up, Xu Xian and Ye Qing met up with Zhao Yanyue at the information department. The data entry was nothing more than routine information collection, including identity, address, and family details, so it wasn't too troublesome. Afterwards, Xu Xian had his photo taken. He looked much more energetic after washing up; the effect of checking into a hotel and showering was definitely there.

After all the information was collected, the staff turned the computer screen to Xu Xian. It showed an electronic spreadsheet containing various information about Xu Xian.

This was Xu Xian's last verification. Everything else was fine, except that the organization section didn't list Luoyang Aviation Industry, but rather the Third Air Division of a certain theater command.

"What is this Third Division? Is it part of the Air Force?" Xu Xian asked curiously. "Didn't you say this wasn't part of the military?"

"Don't you even use your brain? How could the country allow a completely independent fighter jet fleet to exist? So fundamentally, the Luoyang Air Force fleet is still under the jurisdiction of the Air Force, and nominally, it belongs to the Third Division. However, most of the time, they won't interfere here, so don't worry, I'm not kidding you," Ye Qing explained.

Xu Xian quickly seized on the loophole in Ye Qing's words: "Most of the time? That means there will still be times when the Third Division will be in command here?"

"Yeah! Sometimes they'll take us along on military exercises, and sometimes they'll even ask us to help out when they're short-handed for defense, but it happens very rarely. Think about it, even civilian pilots get called up to the battlefield in certain situations, so it's normal for us to cooperate with their exercises, right?" Ye Qing didn't hide anything about this: "Anyway, you're concerned about the physical training on the ground, and I can assure you, the Third Division will absolutely not interfere with our physical training."

"That's good!" Xu Xian breathed a sigh of relief. When he first saw that he belonged to the Third Division, his heart skipped a beat, fearing that Ye Qing had been lying to him. But after this explanation, Xu Xian felt relieved.

However, Xu Xian vaguely remembered hearing about the "Three Divisions" somewhere, and suddenly it dawned on him: "Is this the same 'Three Divisions' that Chen Zhan mentioned during the physical exam? Is it the same one?"

He remembered when Chen Zhan inexplicably made some harsh remarks to him, mentioning that he would be assigned to the Third Division. At the time, Xu Xian didn't understand what was so special about being assigned to the Third Division. Now it seemed there was some hidden meaning behind it.

"Of course it's the same one. There's only one Third Division here in the Western Air Force. Could there be a second Third Division?" Ye Qing said confidently.

Xu Xian's face stiffened: "Then what did Chen Zhan say about us meeting in heaven?"

"Of course it's true!" Ye Qing said seriously, "Our airport is within the jurisdiction of the Third Division, so the probability of you meeting us in the air in the future is not small."

Well! So he really was just making threats beforehand. Xu Xian had initially thought Chen Zhan was out of his mind, but it turns out he was just ignorant.

"Then I don't understand. Chen Zhan is described as a future star of the Air Force, so why don't you recruit him? Didn't you say you only recruit elites?" Xu Xian asked.

Ye Qing had previously told Xu Xian that Luohang's fleet preferred to recruit experienced pilots from the Air Force and was not keen on training its own, unless the pilots were exceptionally promising.

According to Ye Qing, Chen Zhan not only comes from a family of aviators, but also underwent various simulated flight tests beforehand, demonstrating exceptional flying talent. This wasn't some child's play game; it was a professional flight simulator that could realistically recreate aerial combat scenarios, making the maneuvers performed within it highly valuable for reference. And Chen Zhan's flying talent displayed in the simulator was truly terrifying.

At least in Xu Xian's view, isn't Chen Zhan's skill and talent enough to be selected for the Luohang fleet? Are the selection standards for the Luohang fleet really that high?

"This..." Ye Qing hesitated for a moment, but Zhao Yanyue, who was next to him, interrupted directly: "He did meet the recruitment standards of our Luohang fleet, but... I rejected him."

"Rejected? The General Affairs Department can handle pilot recruitment?" Xu Xian was stunned. In his mind, wasn't the General Affairs Department similar to the Logistics Department? How could the director of the General Affairs Department influence pilot recruitment?

Ye Qing patted Xu Xian: "Don't ask anymore, anyway, Chen Zhan can't get in. You should check if there are any errors or omissions in the information."

It was obvious that this strikingly beautiful young woman was no ordinary person, merely the head of the general affairs department. Since Ye Qing had already started to change the subject with jokes, Xu Xian naturally wouldn't be so tactless as to persist.

However, Zhao Yanyue spoke again: "Ye Qing, which squadron do you plan to assign him to?"

The Los Angeles Airlines fleet has one flight group, which is divided into four flight squadrons. Generally speaking, new pilots need to choose a squadron to stay in.

Hearing about this important matter concerning the future flight environment, Xu Xian couldn't sit still any longer and asked, "What are the differences between each squadron?"

"Here, the first squadron mainly flies the C-15, the second squadron mainly flies the C-16, the third squadron mainly flies the C-20, and the fourth squadron has the fewest members. They are not limited to one type of aircraft, but can fly all types. Which squadron do you want to join?" Ye Qing added, "Currently, the third squadron has the most members because the C-20 is the most advanced domestically produced fighter jet in China. Those top fighters from the Air Force have a special affection for the C-20 and tend to choose the third squadron. The C-15 and C-16 are both imitations of foreign models, so the instruments on the C-15 and C-16 are all labeled in foreign languages. However, I feel that with your talent, you should be able to fly all the main aircraft types. Anyway, I can provide you with enough training time. As long as you want to learn, I will arrange it for you."

"So your opinion is that I should join the fourth squadron?" Xu Xian asked with a smile.

Ye Qing shook his head: "That definitely depends on your opinion. However, I still don't want you to fly only one type of aircraft, because that could restrict your thinking. Only by being familiar with various fighter aircraft can you maintain a strong and divergent thinking ability for combat flight. Of course, if you find it too tiring, it's understandable if you don't choose the Fourth Squadron. After all, I can understand your thoughts."

Ye Qing knew that Xu Xian was lazy, but if he wanted to learn about various aircraft models, he would have to put in a lot of time and effort. If that were to happen to Xu Xian, he might not be willing to accept it.

"Furthermore, don't worry about data recovery. You've already fulfilled your promise by participating in this Air Force physical examination. Even if you don't follow my advice, I will still do my best to help you recover the data. I can guarantee that." To dispel Xu Xian's last remaining concerns, Ye Qing spoke frankly. He was worried that Xu Xian might subconsciously comply with his advice regarding data recovery, even if it might be a decision against his will.

Ye Qing wanted Xu Xian to make a genuine choice and dedicate all his energy to it, rather than making a decision he might not like due to external factors.

Ye Qing hoped that Xu Xian could be selected for the Fourth Squadron, but he would never force him to do something against his will.

Zhao Yanyue looked at Ye Qing with considerable surprise. Her sharp, sword-like eyebrows twitched slightly, and she parted her lips slightly: "Ye Qing, this is the first time I've seen you speak so seriously about something."

Ye Qing sighed: "Because I'm talking about serious business!"

"If we choose the fourth squadron, can the C14 and C18 also fly?" Xu Xian suddenly asked with a smile.

"Huh? Of course it is!" Ye Qing didn't expect Xu Xian to suddenly mention C14 and C18, and didn't react for a moment.

"Then why didn't I hear you mention a squadron whose main aircraft are the C-14 or C-18?"

Ye Qing said helplessly, "Xu Xian, the C-14 and C-18 are both main carrier-based aircraft, things the Navy has to worry about. Why would we need a fleet of C-14s and C-18s? To compete with the Navy for business? The C-14 and C-18 are only a few types of aircraft here, not forming an independent squadron. However, if you want to learn them, it's not impossible, but can you keep up with the energy if you try to learn them all at once?"

"Just treat it as an elective course. Who knows, maybe one day I'll have a chance to land on an aircraft carrier!" Xu Xian said dreamily. "Then I'll choose the Fourth Squadron!"

"Landing on an aircraft carrier?" Ye Qing's lips twitched. "Good heavens, your goal is the stars and the sea!"

Just as Xu Xian was making outrageous demands at the Luohang base, demanding to learn how to operate all types of aircraft, an unexpected visitor arrived at the entrance of the Xingyou Aviation base building. Seeing that the man wasn't wearing an identification badge, the security guard approached and asked, "Are you looking for someone?"

The woman took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of bright eyes. She smiled at the security guard and said, "That's right, I'm looking for Xu Xian from the flight department!"

(End of this chapter)