120: Chapter 120 A Gift from the Sky

Li Gang obediently shut his mouth. His colleagues around him were holding back their laughter, not quite daring to let it out; Group Leader Li Gang still held a certain level of authority over them.

In the deep blue sky, "fat girl" flew very steadily. About an hour later, a "beep-beep-beep" sound echoed in the cockpit, and the co-pilot put on his headset.

"Report, the escort fighter formation requests communication."

The pilot nodded and picked up the headset.

"Transport aircraft No. 11142, this is the Longhang Brigade escort fighter formation. We are now approaching the limit of our escort range. The rest of the journey will be relayed by the Western Base's fighters. Goodbye, and have a safe journey."

"Thank you for the escort. Good work. Wishing you a safe journey as well."

The pilot looked at the fighter jets outside the window and gave a salute across the empty air. The dark gray fighter on the left rocked its wings from side to side before performing a side roll and diving away. When the pilot looked to the right again, the fighter formation was already gone.

Five minutes later, eight grayish-white fighter jets came roaring in.

"01, two transport aircraft ahead. Identified as Cargo No. 1 for our relay escort. Requesting to enter escort formation in groups."

"Understood, execute according to the established plan."

"02 received."

"01, what's the good stuff in Cargo No. 1? It needs a relay escort? Could it be some secret weapon? Something like the [Soul Blade]?"

"02, you were lectured by the regiment commander after the last exercise for talking too much. Have you still not learned your lesson? Mind the discipline!"

"Received. Being taught a lesson by Academician Chu's mecha is also an honor; that scolding was worth it."

"02, next time you say these things, can you not do it on the public channel? You ***"

The roaring voice of the Air Force base regiment commander came through the formation pilots' headsets at the same time. Dai Lin hurriedly pulled the headset away from his ear, stuck out his tongue, and then switched the communication to formation mode.

Perhaps the regiment commander's warning just now had intimidated 02, as he kept himself as quiet as a mute for the next half hour.

"02, inform the comrades on the transport aircraft that they are to follow our fighters for the approach in 30 minutes."

The pilot of wingman 02 was Dai Lin, a JJ-10C fighter pilot of the Flying Dragon Brigade in the Western Military Region. His strength: excellent skills, a "golden helmet" ace pilot. His weakness: a chatterbox, a well-known figure in the brigade who had caused countless troubles because of his mouth.

Just after informing the transport pilot of the relevant procedures, his mouth couldn't help itself again.

"11142, what's the big treasure in Cargo No. 1? Could it be some new weapon or equipment?"

"Brother, you really dare to ask. Even if you ask, I wouldn't dare to answer. All I can say is you'll find out once we land."

"Understood, that's exactly what I wanted to hear, haha. See you on the ground, over."

The transport pilot took off his headset, shook his head, and turned to complain to the mechanic behind him.

"They say fighter pilots are gutsy, and today we've seen it, haven't we?"

"Haha, indeed. But this isn't exactly a secret; basically everyone in the military system who can know about Academician Chu's trip knows about it."

"Hmm, true. Alright, everyone get ready, we'll be descending soon."

Over 20 minutes later, "fat girl" jolted, and Chu Ge woke up. Li Gang and the others also woke up; these top students from the Research Institute had all been catching up on sleep during the journey.

Chu Ge looked out the window. "fat girl" was descending. As the features on the ground became clearer, Chu Ge knew their destination had arrived. Nearly half a year had passed in a flash; since they delivered the [Soul Blade] last time, Chu Ge and the others hadn't been back here.

Chu Ge felt inexplicably excited. "fat girl" landed steadily on the runway, and after taxiing for a while, it came to a stop. A green light lit up at the front of the cabin, and the pilot's deep voice came through the loudspeaker.

"Academician Chu, we have arrived safely at our destination. Please be careful when disembarking."

"Okay, thank you."

"No, it's what we should do. The crew is honored to serve you."

Chu Ge smiled happily. This was why he liked being in the military; everyone was very sincere, all of them flesh-and-blood Huaxia soldiers.

Chu Ge stepped off the plane. Chief Engineer Chen of the experimental base, Division Commander Wang, and many guards were already waiting there.

"Academician Chu, it's been more than a few months since we last met. I didn't expect to see you here again."

Wang Yi, commander of the 115th Heavy Armored Division of the A Army Group, was the opponent of the [Soul Blade] during the last exercise.

"Division Commander Wang, it's good to see you again. Why are you at the experimental base too? Don't tell me you haven't left since the last time?"

Chu Ge shook Division Commander Wang's rough hands and asked in confusion.

"You're actually right. After the last exercise, the troops stayed here and haven't left. At first, we were the opponents for the [Soul Blade], and now we are the guard unit for the [Soul Blade] mecha group."

Division Commander Wang said proudly, not at all upset about being crushingly defeated by the [Soul Blade] last time.

"Academician Chu, I heard from our commander long ago that you're here to test a new weapon. Where's the equipment?"

Chu Ge pointed at Li Gang and the others, helplessly complaining in his heart that these military big shots were all cast from the same mold—all of them were impatient.

Chu Ge, Division Commander Wang, and the others walked to the other transport aircraft, where Li Gang and his team were unloading the equipment.

"These are all just big iron boxes; I can't see anything."

Division Commander Wang craned his neck to look for a long time and said with a hint of disappointment.

"Haha, sooner or later, these will all be transported into the base. Are you afraid they'll run away?"

Chu Ge also looked for a long time, wondering where the Electromagnetic Pulse Railgun was. On second thought, he figured it was probably too large and might be coming by land transport.

"Academician Chu, would you like to go to the base to rest for a while? With the base's professional personnel and the people from the Research Institute here, there shouldn't be any problems with the equipment."

Seeing Li Gang and the others working busily, Chief Engineer Chen made a timely suggestion to Chu Ge.

"That works. We can't really help much here anyway, don't you think, Division Commander Wang?"

Division Commander Wang nodded. The group walked toward the jeeps by the runway. Wang Yi was so preoccupied with the new equipment that he kept looking back with every step.

Just as Chu Ge's group was about to get into the car, a group of officers ran over from the distance. Chu Ge looked closely and saw they were wearing Air Force uniforms; they must be pilots.

"Division Commander Wang, Chief Engineer Chen, the entire Flying Dragon Brigade salutes you!"

The leader was Cheng Changkun, the fighter brigade commander who had just provided the escort. He was standing at the front of the line, staring at Chu Ge after saluting.

Chu Ge wasn't embarrassed and smiled at Cheng Changkun and the eight handsome fighter pilots, including Dai Lin.

Fighter pilot was a profession Chu Ge had dreamed of until he drooled, but unfortunately, it seemed impossible in this lifetime.

"Are you Chu Ge, Academician Chu?"

Dai Lin's words were shocking as usual, but this time he hit the mark.

"It really is Academician Chu!"

The pilots whispered among themselves, as if they couldn't quite believe it.

"Haha, it's me. How could it be fake? If you don't believe me, Division Commander Wang and Chief Engineer Chen here can vouch for me. Haha."

Chu Ge joked while looking at Division Commander Wang and the others.

"Colonel Chu, the entire Flying Dragon Brigade salutes you!"

Cheng Changkun and the others straightened their uniforms and shouted loudly. Chu Ge stood at attention and solemnly returned a military salute. Division Commander Wang and the others looked at the scene and smiled at each other.