Long-term salvation

"For the sake of the intelligence, they'll let us off, Zero," Rhodes replied softly. He pressed a button beside the screen, replaying the photos he had just taken. "Maybe we'll even get a promotion."

The photo on the screen finally stopped at the fully-loaded FFR-31MR/D.

Chapter 535: Inquiries from Superiors

"That was undoubtedly a Earth-type SuperSylph... You attacked despite visually observing the enemy aircraft."

The cold voice of inquiry echoed in the dim headquarters hall, causing the highest commander of the Fialli Air Force, Lieutenant General Gibri Leyton, to raise his eyes and look at the two pilots standing upright opposite him - even he often heard about these two talented troublemakers. Of course, the complaints mixed with pride from Brigadier General Lydia, their direct superior, were also indispensable.

"Yes."

Rhodes spoke in a relaxed tone, and Shenjing Ling added:

"Xuefeng didn't object to our opinion either."

Now these two guys... are in quite a bit of trouble in every sense of the word.

Thinking of this, Lieutenant General Leighton looked at Major General Linneberg, the superior unit of the Special Warfare Forces and the Prime Minister of the Intelligence Corps. The latter sighed helplessly and said to his subordinates:

"Colonel, please continue."

"Okay, sorry for the rudeness then."

Colonel Anser Longbottom nodded slightly in response. He was the commander of the analysis department of the Fialli Air Force Intelligence Corps, an outstanding intelligence talent, and a warrior worthy of the name of "human". Now, the colonel was looking through Xuefeng's combat records and the photos he had taken, and continued:

"According to your statements, the unidentified aircraft has no identification markings, no serial number, and no indication of communication... However, Lieutenant Rhodes, the accusation of 'a fake created by Gumm' is completely baseless."

"If the accusation is proven, then it can't be called 'unfounded,' right?" Rhodes replied calmly. "Everyone, please take a look at the enemy aircraft images numbered 1403 to 1535. These were taken during the brief lull in our missile war with them."

The generals and colonels subconsciously looked towards the projection screen. The images there slowly passed by one by one. Anyone who paid attention could notice the difference:

The two enemy planes, before and after the time, restored their original number of missiles after launching them - just like when Gam launched missiles in the battle, they appeared and disappeared out of thin air.

A fake? A copy! If this were real... a terrifying possibility immediately loomed over everyone present:

If one can perfectly replicate a new fighter jet, then replicating past models or even humans is not impossible.

After all, humanity's understanding of the planet Fiali, and of the nature of Gam, was practically zero. Conversely, Gam likely had no shortage of human "samples" on hand, given the numerous crashes of human fighter planes and the disappearance of pilots and other personnel on this alien planet over the past few decades.

If we think about it a little deeper...

"Because of this, I think it's most likely an enemy aircraft disguised by the GAM," Rhodes continued, his voice low, focused on the ears of the attendees. "After all, the GAM TYPE2 appeared on the battlefield in large numbers a few months after the FFR-31 entered combat, quickly gaining an advantage over human aircraft. The aliens are analyzing everything about humans, while we still know nothing about the enemy."

"That's nonsense."

Lieutenant General Gibri Leyton spoke immediately, but his eyes flickered slightly as he looked at Rhodes. After a few seconds of silence, he said seriously:

"While there will be no prosecution or punishment, given your violations of battlefield discipline and your duties, you two must return home immediately to reflect on your actions and not mention this battle to anyone! Major James Polk, you will be held responsible. As for Brigadier General Lydia... you remain. We need to discuss the punishment regulations for these two individuals."

Hearing this, Brigadier General Lydia nodded slightly. She suppressed her uneasiness, looked up and glared at the two nonchalant guys, and said unhappily:

"Let's go, Lieutenant Rhodes, Lieutenant Fukai Zero—next time, there won't be this kind of good thing where you can get promoted while being court-martialed. Save me some trouble!"

Rhodes and Fukai Zero saluted solemnly, then turned and left.

Major Poker sighed and had no choice but to hurry up and leave - he couldn't attend the next meeting. It would be more accurate to say that he himself had been given a "gag order"... In the foreseeable future, the intelligence corps of the Fialli Air Force would be very busy.

But, this possibility is indeed too scary.

Colonel Poker's hands clenched subconsciously, and his eyes fell on the two people walking in front of him.

As soon as he left the headquarters, Rhodes extended his hand to Major Poker and said triumphantly:

"I win—I told you we'd both be promoted, even to captain soon, if they could verify the intelligence in the meantime."

"Take any boomerang you like from my office. And please don't shout about this in the hallway," Major Poker put his hand on his forehead as he pushed Rhodes and Fukio Zero outside, avoiding the gazes of the onlookers. "You should be thankful that the leaders of the Fialli Air Force aren't idiots. If it were those 'people from Earth,' you'd be ready to be shot by now."

"It's okay. If you really want to execute me, that would actually be more convenient—watch me show you what the Lord of Iron and Fire is!"

"Yes, yes, great savior, can you please go to the supermarket with me to buy some food for the celebration banquet?"

"The celebration for the promotion will be in about three days."

Facing the slightly surprised looks of Rhode and Fukai Zero, Major Poker, who didn't have to witness his two friends being executed, smiled and said:

"Those guys from the 5th Squadron heard about your court-martial and are threatening to write a joint letter to Brigadier General Lydia—at the very least, they want you to be sent to the prison corps to redeem yourself for your crimes... Rhode, call your princess. There aren't many entertainment facilities in the Fiali underground space, so come over and listen to our chat and have some snacks."

"I'll ask."

Rhode replied with a smile. He patted Ling's shoulder and said:

"Zero, come join us! Don't be so quick to refuse. We definitely can't go see Yukikaze right now... But I got a great thing from the logistics department. It's a mobile, high-efficiency data terminal that will allow Yukikaze to communicate with you via data link. Of course, you can also use it in your own room."

As he said this, Rhodes took out something that looked like a camera in front of Shenjing Ling and Poker as if performing magic. It had a camera in the front and an LCD screen in the back.

When Fukagami Zero took it in his hand, the screen automatically lit up and a few lines of English appeared on it - that was Xuefeng saying hello to Zero - and not only the screen, Zero also pulled out a pair of headphones from the side, and when he put them into his ears he could hear the voice simulated by Xuefeng using the machine.

The cold voice simulated by the machine made Fukai Zero vaguely imagine what Yukikaze looked like in human form in his mind:

It was a fairy with transparent wings, with long snow-white hair flowing down the curve of its body, soft breasts, a tight waist, long legs, and a beautiful face that could not be seen clearly - the fairy's figure became blurred, transforming into a darker and colder color - the double vertical tail, the main wing, the body code under the base of the canopy, and the Chinese characters "Snow Wind" on the nose.

FFR-31MR/D fighter, Snow Wind.

These imaginations quickly dissipated in his sadness and gratitude.

"...Thanks, Rod." Fukari Rei's expression softened. He looked at the words on the screen, his lips curled up slightly. "I don't know how to repay you."

"As long as you're alive, it's fine. If I can marry Yukikaze in the future... ahem—but having said that, Zero and Poker, would you two like to work for me in the future? That Colonel Lombard is a pretty good guy... I've always paid my subordinates very well, definitely more than I did in the Fialli Air Force."

Rhode touched his chin. He looked at the two people in front of him with expressions that said, "You really have bad intentions." Just as he was about to say something, he heard Major Poker teasingly ask:

"Are you planning to recruit soldiers and bring Princess Abigail back to her hometown? Anyway, I still don't know where she's from..."

"You'll find out, Pork."

An inexplicable smile appeared on Rhode's lips. Humph, you want to escape? As the overtime candidate selected by the Lord of Humanity, all they had to think about was "serving human civilization with loyalty"—of course, they could still enjoy some relaxing time before they really started working.

"Let's have a party!"

Chapter 536: A Simple Celebration Banquet

Except for those who were preparing for battle and launching attacks, all other members of the 5th Squadron of the Special Warfare Force "Boomerang" gathered in an unused maintenance room at the edge of the base.

The space here is not very big, so drinks and other food can only be placed on tables and chairs, but the pilots don't care about this.

Of course, it's not that no one could sit down - Abigail was sitting on a bench, enjoying being fed by the two female pilots beside her.

"Mmmmm, very good, human. I will protect your lives."

Abigail contentedly munched on the desserts and cookies, occasionally sipping the milk tea offered by the older sister next to her. Her adorable appearance brought smiles to the faces of the two female pilots, who, after sending the men away, chuckled softly and said,

"Ah, that's so cute." / "Abigail, what else would you like to eat?"

"Send Shantak here."

“What is that???”

Looking at the offspring of the evil god who was contentedly enjoying the service of humans, Rhode sighed, bent down, picked up the black cat Pickman, and held it on his head. He turned around and shrugged at the others.

"Taking care of a princess is indeed troublesome."

"More than one, right? You're on Earth... Puff!"

After shutting the idiot up with a punch, Rhodes reached out and took a bottle of beer from the table and said unhappily:

"Think about yourselves first. The one who pursues the clerk from the next-door army only to find out he's a sissy, the one who wears a pain suit on vacation, the one who hugs a 2D cosplayer and licks her feet, the one who calls a lolita "mommy," the one who takes his own fighter jet as his wife... Oh, it's nothing, Zero, sit back down, no one's calling you."

Someone patted Fukari Zero on the shoulder and took off his headphones. He poked his head out from the crowd, but after hearing what Rhode said, he shrank back expressionlessly. He huddled in the shadows, chatting with Xuefeng in a low voice, which made Major Poker next to him look like "this guy is hopeless."

"Fuck, is Special Warfare some kind of mafia lair?! Ahem, that's not right," Rhodes said angrily, squashing his empty beer can. "Can this flight team even muster a few normal people?!"

"How dare you, a serious criminal who hangs out with lolita girls, say that about us? I heard the other two princesses are a JK girl and a maternal queen... What the hell is this, Princess Connect?!"

You'll know your mistake when you see their parents one day, Rhode said inwardly with dead eyes, but he continued to yell:

"Damn it, Lieutenant Bakdish, you'll be the first to initiate the next assault on Gam's lair!"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're really holding a grudge," the pilot whose name was called laughed out loud. He clinked the beer can Rod had just brought with him and said, "The people working under you are sure to be treated badly... Be careful of being shot in the back, Rod."

Hearing this, Rhode just smiled. After taking a sip of beer, he restrained his smile and said seriously:

"Major Poker should have told you this more formally, but after talking with him, I'll just briefly share this with you here and now... After all, you're all comrades in the same squadron, and I can't just watch you die."

Before the final battle, every bit of strength must be carefully preserved.

The air froze completely. The preparation room, which had just been filled with the smell of alcohol and laughter, seemed to have been instantly vacuumed. Everyone calmed down and cast their eyes at Rhode.

No matter how despicable they were in their daily lives, they had now become warriors who controlled metal warhawks and held the power of killing - pilots - the elites of the 5th Special Warfare Squadron. Now, these people were waiting for Rhode's next words, because his experiences during this period were truly bizarre.

"You need to be prepared to handle engine failures, system lockups, and other mid-air emergencies caused by the aircraft during operations. You must also learn to manually override system and engine operations. Although these are all written in the manual, I still hope you can pay more attention to them."

Rhodes shook the beer can in his hand slightly, causing the remaining half of the beer to make a strange swishing sound in the can, which was particularly clear in the preparation room.

"If Zero and I were to go missing in action someday, you'd better be extra careful... The enemy isn't just out there; it could be something familiar, something approaching us."

Even from a purely imaginary perspective, these words seemed ridiculous and terrifying enough. However, after spending time with him day and night, the pilots knew that Rhodes was not the kind of idiot who spoke without restraint and nonsense - except for being stubborn about his crimes and private life.

"Is this why you and Zero went to the military court and returned unharmed?" a pilot asked. "I know that quite a few fleets have been completely wiped out after sorties recently. If what you're saying is..."

"Rod didn't say anything, and you didn't hear anything."

Major Poker spoke immediately, slamming the beer can on the table. His usually gentle eyes became particularly sharp at this moment.

In fact, the major did not quite agree with Rhodes revealing some details before confirming them, but Brigadier General Lydia seemed to have tolerated this behavior in the past few days and quickly launched a preliminary investigation within the special warfare force - a force that was almost an independent kingdom - especially those who handled highly confidential intelligence.

"This is just a possibility. The rest of the matter is up to Brigadier General Lydia. Once she has an idea, she will definitely discuss it with you in detail, both openly and secretly."

Rhodes quickly echoed Major Poker's words. He looked into the eyes of the others and said softly:

"If you find any strange questions, you can try to create a small wound on yourself or on the skeptic, just enough to bleed... The rest is the 'truth'."

The laughter and noise that had previously surrounded the preparation room were now replaced by a huge, silent fear—a fear that did not come from any specific orders or reprimands, but from human imagination, from the terrifying possibility that seemed to grip the heart:

This possibility is not impossible, but rather it is extremely likely. After all, they have been fighting against Gam for more than 30 years. Even if the enemy is a human army, they should have learned to sow discord in the enemy camp.

At this moment, the only sound in the huge preparation room was the crisp sound of Abigail crunching cookies.

The descendant of the evil god savored the fear of mankind with great interest, while thinking in his heart how his loved ones would use his power next.

"It seems we need a way to identify the enemy," someone whispered, "but that's not enough. Intelligence, we need more intelligence about Gumm."

"Yeah...intelligence."

"...After [that incident], Zero and I will definitely become the enemy's primary targets. Perhaps we'll be caught in a future attack, but there's no gain without risk."

Rhodes said calmly, reaching out to grab the frowning Major Poker. The worried Major was about to say something when he heard his friend say:

"Don't worry, I will bring Zero and Yukikaze back safely—this is my oath."

+ + + + + + + +

"B3, contact lost near Sugar Rock."

"Lane search radar, secondary search radar, lost—primary radar and communications, all unavailable now."

"Confirm again!"

"…It has been confirmed four times."

"Then send out the air rescue team and call in the special warfare team—"

"Major Poker," Brigadier General Lydia's voice came from behind the anxious major. He turned around and saw his superior holding a coffee cup with his usual arrogance and indifference on his face. "If you yell again, I will send you to a military court."

"..."

"Back to your work, Major. No one in special warfare wants this to happen, whether it's their deaths in the plane crash or your sentencing." Brigadier General Lydia took a sip of coffee, the gloom and uneasiness in her eyes almost overflowing. "Those two guys will definitely come back and cause me more trouble...especially Rhodes."

That possibility is being verified, Rod - you really are good at causing trouble for others.

Chapter 537 I Talk to You in the Name of the Lord of Mankind (3K)

hours ago.

"Check course, set cruising altitude... Nothing happened this time. We can return, Zero."