Genius is just the threshold for me!

"Mach 16, Mach 16..."

Three minutes after the blast boost mode was activated, the flight speed on the flight interface successfully broke through Mach 16 and entered Mach 16.2, under the tense gaze of Wang Xingguo and others.

But before Wang Xingguo could cheer, the entire flight interface suddenly paused, and a series of glaring warning messages popped up.

[Beep—Remote communication interrupted! Hot Air No. 5 automatically enters intelligent return-to-home mode!]

[Beep—Remote communication interrupted! Hot Air No. 5 automatically enters intelligent return-to-home mode!]

……

The repeated warnings silenced the entire laboratory instantly, and Wang Xingguo's excited expression froze as he stared wide-eyed at the constantly popping-up notifications.

"Dongdong, the communication has been lost."

Xu Qingling was taken aback for a moment, then turned to Lin Dong and asked, "Have we entered the Black Barrier?"

"Damn it—Identification signal! Hot Hot's IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) signal is down!"

Before Lin Dong could answer Xu Qingling's question, Wang Xingguo jumped up from his seat, swallowing hard and exclaiming, his pupils contracting, "Something terrible has happened! Something terrible is about to happen!"

"...This speed, the mid-course and terminal velocity of a ballistic missile!"

As Xu Ziming watched the 200-inch screen freeze at Mach 16.2, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine: "The Northwest's strategic air defense system is about to be triggered..."

An aircraft with no IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) signal but traveling at Mach 16.2 suddenly appeared over the motherland...

Xu Ziming could hardly imagine how terrified the strategic air defense forces must be at this moment.

In modern warfare, a speed of Mach 16.2 is almost equivalent to a ballistic missile attack.

At the same time, because of this speed, the reaction window for ground interception is very short.

The highest alarm of the air defense system will be triggered directly, and the system will skip manual review and activate automatic defense measures in advance.

To sum it up in one sentence, manual review is no longer an option. No matter what it is, we'll intercept and take it down first!

Jiao You also imagined this terrifying scene and subconsciously looked at Lin Dong: "Teacher Xiao Dong, how long will it take for the Hotline to restart communication?"

"Uh—this is a blackout causing a remote communication interruption, and the intelligent system has taken over and returned to base."

Lin Dong did some mental calculations, then said somewhat awkwardly, "The current speed is too fast. If communication is interrupted and remote control is lost, the intelligent system will adopt a more conservative control strategy to avoid losing control..."

Once the speed decreases, the plasma sheath weakens, the system exits the blackout environment, restarts communication, and then completes authorization verification... the whole process takes about 120 to 140 seconds.

At a speed of Mach 16.2, the Hot Air's flight attitude was maintained entirely by the engine's vector thrust.

At this point, the remote control is suddenly lost, making it impossible to make remote control decisions.

To avoid losing control and crashing, intelligent systems will inevitably adopt an extremely conservative strategy, gradually slowing down and returning to base...

"From 120 seconds to 140 seconds..."

Wang Xingguo's vision went black: "It's over, it's all over."

"Godfather, just treat this as a strategic emergency stress training exercise."

Lin Dong comforted him, "At worst, if the Hot Spicy is intercepted and shot down, we can just build a new one. Headquarters will be overjoyed to know it's Mach 16 and won't blame us."

He wasn't very satisfied with the fact that the engine of the Hot Spicy was taking 15 seconds to start up, and he was already thinking about a plan to improve the engine next time.

If we're really unlucky and get shot down, we can just build a new one.

"Xiao Dong, the Hot Aircraft has an intelligent air combat system, and you've used an AI chip to train and upgrade the entire system. I'm not worried about being blamed, nor am I worried about it being shot down..."

Wang Xingguo said in a trembling voice, "I'm worried... that if they can't take it down, they'll turn around and come looking for me."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

[Beep! Beep beep beep!]

Two seconds after the Hot Hot Signal communication was interrupted, the radar system lost its identification signal.

Within a 600-kilometer radius of the Hot Air, air defense radar stations in the northwest that detected the signal immediately issued warnings.

Immediately due to the alarming speed, the system automatically escalated its response level, comparing signals from multiple radars within the area to determine that it was not a false alarm from a single radar station.

The air defense system's automatic defense was activated without human review...

Bang! Bang bang—

At a secret mobile missile site in Northwest China, the missile troops are still standing guard next to the missile launchers, taking turns eating lunch.

Sudden.

One after another, explosions and ignitions rang out.

Amidst the bewildered, shocked, and tense gazes of all the officers and soldiers, one after another, HQ-12 defensive interceptor missiles suddenly shot into the sky from the launch vehicle, trailing billowing flames and thick smoke.

Powered by solid fuel, the missile rapidly broke the sound barrier, reaching speeds of Mach 4, and, guided by the air defense system, hurtled towards the Hot Air missile at an altitude of over 30,000 meters.

This moment.

Not only this air defense position, but multiple mobile air defense positions throughout the Northwest were triggered.

More than 30 HQ-12 and HQ-16 mid-course interceptor missiles were launched successively from different distances and along the trajectory of the "Hot Shot" missile, forming a three-tiered saturation interception network. The "Hot Shot" missile, with its predicted trajectory, hurtled into the sky from multiple directions...

"Air raid! Enemy air raid!"

"Move to a new position! Move to a new position!"

Once the first wave of interceptor missiles has completed its launch, it quickly disappears from sight.

The commander then realized what was happening, dropped his rice bowl, and roared as he sprinted up the missile launcher.

All the officers and soldiers present reacted quickly, their expressions tense as they rushed to the missile vehicles. The next moment, they started the vehicles and quickly withdrew from the spot to avoid being destroyed by a second missile attack from the enemy because the coordinates were exposed by the first wave of missiles.

[Waaaaah—waaaah—]

The Jincheng Military Region Command, responsible for the defense of the Northwest, was alerted the moment the air defense system was triggered.

The duty officer in the combat readiness room looked at the air raid information that popped up on the system, his pupils suddenly contracted, and without the slightest hesitation pressed the alarm, printed an alarm sheet, and rushed to the military command room next door amidst the wailing of air raid sirens.

boom--

After finishing lunch in the canteen, Chief Zheng Weihong of Jincheng was about to take a sip of water when he heard the alarm and suddenly ran out, almost bumping into the staff on duty. He stopped a moment later and hurriedly asked.

"What happened?!"

"Air attack! Ballistic missile attack! Air defense system triggered..."

The duty officer, without even bothering to salute, hurriedly handed over the printed alarm slip in his hand.

"Mach 16, southeast, landing point unknown... Are those guys along the coast all idiots? How could this thing fly all the way from the southeast to here before it was even spotted?"

"Report this to headquarters immediately, and then notify commanders and staff officers at all levels to come over..."

Zheng Weihong glanced at the alarm message and went completely mad. He gave a few instructions and then rushed frantically toward the air defense system's monitoring center.

"How's it going? Did you manage to intercept it? Are there any casualties...?"

Zheng Weihong rushed to the air defense monitoring room, pushed open the door, and, catching his breath, looked at the large screen and asked the technical staff.

But before he could finish his question, he stopped talking.

The red signal dots displayed on the big screen, along with a group of green signal dots that had already been missed, had already told him the truth.

"Sir, it's not a ballistic missile...it's an aircraft!"

At this moment, the technical staff saw the intercepted data, took a deep breath, and reported to their superior: "This is an unmanned aerial vehicle."

What kind of unmanned aerial vehicle can fly at Mach 16?

Zheng Weihong's eyes widened: "Is this a UFO, or did the Americans dig up aliens?"

"Its speed is gradually decreasing, but its altitude remains at 35,000 meters. Also, judging from its trajectory, it's turning around..."

The technicians said seriously, "This flight path is definitely not a missile."

"Turn around? Turn around and go where?"

Zheng Weihong frowned, but quickly and decisively ordered, "Abort the interception! Don't waste the interceptor missiles! Monitor the situation closely!"

Whether this thing is a UFO or an alien spacecraft developed by the US.

Unless it's a nuclear bomb, it has no lethality at an altitude of 35,000 meters. As long as it doesn't descend, let's see how it flies.

"Found it! This is our aircraft!"

At this moment, another technical staff member stood up and said with delight, "The initial location coordinates of its location matched the location of one of our top-secret test flight numbers, which suddenly lost signal."

This confirms that it likely reached Mach 16 during a test flight, when its communication was suddenly cut off by the blackout, and the identification signal was also interrupted, leading the air defense system to mistakenly identify it as an enemy attack…”

"Top Secret Test Flight Number?"

Zheng Weihong's expression shifted: "Can you find out where it came from?"

"Reporting to the commander, we can only find the location where the signal disappeared; querying historical data requires authorization from headquarters..."

"Authorized by headquarters?"

Suddenly, something occurred to Zheng Weihong. He looked at the staff in the monitoring room and issued a secrecy order: "Then there's no need to investigate. Everyone be careful to keep it confidential. Don't say a word about what happened today. If anyone else in the military region asks, just say it was a live-fire exercise..."

talking.

Zheng Weihong went to a side room, took out his secure phone, and made a call.

beep--

The phone rang twice before being answered.

Zheng Weihong got straight to the point and said enthusiastically, "Engineer Wang, our Northwest air defense positions have just had more than thirty anti-aircraft missiles destroyed... These Mach 16 machines have been put into service. Should we prioritize sending 30 to our Jincheng Military Region?"