132: Chapter 132 Joint Investigation Team

After Deputy Commander Ran finished speaking, he walked down from the podium, and the foreign military attachés and pilots below began to whisper among themselves.

"Viktor, did you see that just now? What the hell was that, a Transformer? It took a high-explosive air-to-ground missile head-on!"

Levjet recalled the scene, unable to help but look back at the sky. There wasn't a shadow of it left in the air. The only thing that could prove it wasn't a hallucination was the faint smell of gunpowder lingering in the air.

"Not only did I see it, but I also recorded it! This footage is definitely going to blow up the internet; it's too sci-fi!"

Viktor touched the phone in his pocket; he felt as if he had seen an opportunity to get rich.

"Really? Let me see."

"Not now, Levjet. Wait until we leave Chinese territory. If they find out, we won't be able to take anything back."

Viktor glanced at the armed guards surrounding them. Although China and Russia had good relations, he didn't want to take the risk.

The two continued talking as they walked out with their country's officials.

Little did they know that Chu Ge had heard every word of their conversation. After a moment of contemplation, Chu Ge walked up to Deputy Commander Ran.

"There must be many foreigners who secretly filmed the [Soul Blade]. Do we need to arrange for them to be searched?"

Chu Ge felt that this involved national secrets and didn't dare to be careless.

"The higher-ups' intention is not to make things difficult for these people. They are all friends with good relations with our country. If this spreads back, it will inevitably cause a stir; wouldn't that just be handing a knife to certain countries?"

"Besides, the leaders have another intention: since we aren't afraid of publicizing the aerospace carrier, our handsome Mecha Warrior should also make an appearance. Haha, I'm just afraid certain countries won't believe it even if they die. Plus, there are hidden moves behind this—testing the waters. You'll understand later."

Deputy Commander Ran stopped mid-sentence and smiled, patting Chu Ge on the shoulder.

Chu Ge didn't fully understand, but he decided to let them be. He wasn't good at the leaders' grand strategies, but with Deputy Commander Ran speaking to this extent, he could vaguely guess something.

The exercise site soon quieted down again, and the foreign friends were escorted by Wang Kai and his team to the nearest airport.

The Russian fighter jets at the backup airport were queuing up for takeoff. They would form up in the air and then be escorted out of the territory by Chinese fighter jets.

Of course, the two F-16s that had withdrawn from the exercise earlier were still grounded, and their country's pilots and military attachés were discussing something with Chinese officials.

This wasn't considered detention; the two crashed planes were still being searched for. High-level joint investigation teams from both sides and relevant technical support groups were on their way here. Seeing that Deputy Commander Ran was quite busy, Chu Ge stood up and said goodbye to Commander Leng.

After the two returned to the Weapon Experiment Base by car, they headed toward the temporary station of the [Soul Blade]. Although Chu Ge had confidence in the [Soul Blade]'s armor protection, after all, an air-to-ground missile had more power than an ordinary artillery shell.

"Academician Chu, Deputy Commander Ran has already raised the alert level at the Weapon Experiment Base. Our equipment tests can proceed according to the original plan."

On the way, Commander Leng didn't forget to tell Chu Ge about Deputy Commander Ran's arrangements.

"Alright, but I don't think this incident was aimed at us. Tampering with the exercise fighter jets is more likely targeted at the joint exercise itself. I was only invited to observe on the spur of the moment."

After analyzing the whole incident, Chu Ge replied firmly. He didn't believe G Istanbul had the guts to be an enemy of China; the most likely possibility was that someone with ulterior motives had tampered with it.

However, if your military aircraft can be led by the nose, there must be a mole; detaining people and planes was perfectly normal.

Chu Ge and the others walked into the [Soul Blade]'s station, where Yu Yiyang and his team were busy giving it a full-body inspection. A group of people were bustling about, really looking like "nannies."

"Engineer Yu, how is it? Is the [Soul Blade] hurt?"

Yu Yiyang only turned his head when he heard Chu Ge's voice, then hurried over.

"Academician Chu, sorry, I didn't see you come. The [Soul Blade] has no problems, but the few pieces of armor that took the worst of the blast impact need to be replaced. Although you can't tell from the outside, our instrument tests show that the internal structure has been damaged."

Yu Yiyang briefly explained the inspection procedure to Chu Ge. Apart from what he just mentioned, everything else was basically unscathed.

"Hmm, it's thick-skinned. It seems that the warhead of that air-to-ground missile had quite a lot of explosive charge. According to my calculations, it should have been able to take that missile head-on."

Chu Ge shook his head after speaking. The armor material was still not good enough. The performance data of this set of armor in the Military-Industrial System was the trashiest kind. No wonder that brother kept teasing about Blue Star's resources being exhausted; Chu Ge now thought that person seemed to be stating facts.

"[Soul Blade]"

Chu Ge looked up at the [Soul Blade]. Uh, it was too tall; standing underneath it, he couldn't see its head at all. It seemed he could only talk to the [Soul Blade]'s feet.

[Here, Academician Chu. What are your orders?]

"In the future, if you encounter missiles, large-caliber shells, or anything like that, don't take them head-on if you can avoid it. Everyone knows you're thick-skinned now. Oh, and the base's military dogs know you're handsome too. So, in future combat, be more agile. Otherwise, you'll have to have someone else serve you to change your armor when you get back. Isn't that tiring?"

Chu Ge originally wanted to say that this piece of armor was more expensive than that air-to-ground missile and that he should save money, but then he thought that this guy probably didn't know what money was, so he didn't continue.

[Yes! It won't happen again, Academician Chu!]

"Hmm."

Yu Yiyang was surprised by Chu Ge's commanding attitude and couldn't quite wrap his head around it for a moment. Commander Leng, standing beside him, had no expression but whispered an explanation to Yu Yiyang.

"That's how a father disciplines his son. You'll get used to it."

"Oh, Commander Leng, you are indeed knowledgeable."

"Haha, no, I just heard my subordinates mention it."

As the two were chatting about the ethical issues between Academician Chu and the [Soul Blade], there was a commotion outside, and a group of people came in. Commander Leng took a look and saw it was Li Gang, Wang Yi, and the others.

"Commander, we just heard about the exercise. Are you okay? Is Academician Chu okay?"

Wang Yi rushed in, not having seen Chu Ge, who was blocked by the [Soul Blade]'s large feet.

"You kid, you're asking about me, but your eyes aren't on me. You want to ask about Academician Chu, right?"

Commander Leng mercilessly exposed Wang Yi.

"Uh, Commander, didn't I see you?"

Hearing the sound, Chu Ge walked over and waved at Wang Yi and the others. Li Gang nodded at him, also letting out a sigh of relief.