251: I will become a hero—even if only for a moment.

Climbing into the cockpit and feeling the seatbelt securely wrap around him,

Wei Lai felt himself briefly transported back to that afternoon when he received Warship flight training years ago.

Most Aerospace Fighters deployed by The Corporation were actually intended to suppress rebellions, and the majority of their mounted weapons were for ground attack.

In other words, once they flew into low-Earth orbit, their only useful weapons remaining were a few dogfighting missiles, the pipe-like Autocannon, and the Warship they themselves were piloting.

After checking that the basic instruments were functioning correctly, Wei Lai sent a reply to the control tower: "All normal, ready for takeoff."

"Warship 224, your takeoff runway is designated as Runway 8, Position 3! Please taxi to the takeoff location within five minutes!"

"224, understood."

Donning his oxygen mask and activating the graviton jamming device, Wei Lai slowly pushed the throttle. The Warship turned around on the runway and taxied slowly toward the designated position.

"Plasma nozzles normal! Takeoff!"

As the final check concluded, the control tower formally issued the takeoff command.

The throttle was pushed to maximum, and two beams of deep blue plasma erupted violently. Feeling the intense G-force, the silver-gray Warship, lifted by the wind, soared up from the runway like a noble swan.

When the last batch of Warships successfully launched, a command crackled over everyone's headsets—the speaker was the Air Formation Commander, appointed in an emergency.

"Attention all Pilots! I am now announcing the upcoming combat mission!"

"First and Second Formations! The enemy is highly likely to provide support to the Sanatorium in the suburbs of Liu Shi City!"

"Given that you are currently providing ground support in that area, your assigned mission is to secure air superiority in the region!"

"Attention remaining formations! Our enemy is the Warship overhead!"

"Focus your attack on the marked Warship! Do not entertain any thoughts of luck! This charge is a one-way trip!"

"End transmission!"

..."Enemy aircraft detected."

Inside the H50 serving as the flagship among the fleet slowly entering low-Earth orbit.

After requesting authorization, the Radar Operator uploaded the image displayed on the radar screen to the central console.

The Commander of this fleet, Wodejier Shigediao, looked at the small dots rushing toward them with a look of mockery and laughed, saying:

"Look, these idiotic consumables are already impatient to rush up here and die."

Having managed to become a high-ranking officer in The Corporation's fleet, Wodejier had a clear understanding of how useless the Warships provided by The Corporation to the Planetary Defense Force were:

Main structures that fell apart with one hit, weak and powerless primary engines, and meager firepower only suitable for ground-based security skirmishes.

Even in front of the trashiest frigate, those planes would only feel the helplessness of a little loli facing a tentacle monster.

"These foolish slaves have only grasped a little bit of military strength, and they dare to bare their fangs at us like beasts?"

"Hmph! Utterly ridiculous!"

As he spoke, he looked at the Armory Chief and asked:

"Is the anti-air firepower lock-on complete?"

"Report! Target lock-on is complete! However, because the electronic system failure hasn't been fixed yet, we cannot share the lock-on data..."

"Then don't bother sharing it—" Wodejier interrupted the Armory Chief directly,

"Let them lock on themselves! Fire on their own!"

The Armory Chief was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and replied:

"Understood!"

Wodejier then looked at the Communications Officer and said loudly:

"Send the command to everyone!"

"Free lock-on! All anti-air firepower, open fire freely!"

"Once ground-attack weapons are ready, release them immediately!"

"Crush these bugs!"

The dark hatches opened, and the long-silent close-in defense systems roared out a long-awaited fury at the small, wobbling Warships flying toward them.

Countless missiles and close-in defense cannon shells flew fiercely forward like bloodhounds.

Conversely, among the aircraft formation charging the Warships, although they had spread out maximally to disperse the Warships' anti-air firepower, Warships were constantly being turned into dazzling fireballs during the charge.

"Fire control radar lock-on detected!"

"Chaff released!"

"bu hao! Missile incoming!"

"Push the afterburner valve all the way! Disable the limiter! Shove that throttle into the fuel tank!"

Wei Lai sat in the cockpit, the alarm blaring "di di di di" non-stop. Some of the shells and missiles flying from afar left visible bright streaks that could be seen with the naked eye.

This sent his adrenaline soaring.

"Lock-on warning! Lock-on warning! Lock-on warning!"

Just as he was getting closer to the target Warship, the airborne radar still issued a lock-on alert.

Wei Lai's heart tightened. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately pulled the release lever for the jammer.

Less than five seconds later, several sharp "ding-dang" sounds were transmitted through the fuselage to the cockpit—that was the sound of scattered fragments hitting the fuselage after the missile exploded against the jammer.

"Di di di—Warning! Debris detected in the right acceleration coil!"

"Di di di—Warning! Right Engine One error!"

"Di di di—Warning! Power attenuation 33.33%! Acceleration efficiency reduced by 42%!"

But before he could even celebrate, the onboard computer reported an error—

Fragments from the missile explosion had flown into the right engine!

Damn it!

Wei Lai looked at the operational screen, which had turned red, and the approximately five minutes remaining until contact, cursing softly in his heart.

Suddenly, the familiar voice came through the headset again:

"Enemy Warships have begun ground strikes!"

Sure enough, hatches opened on the bellies of the Warships, and streamlined missiles and aerial bombs were launched, flying rapidly toward the planet below like arrows released from a bowstring.

The slightly slower biological bombs, after being ejected, began secondary acceleration in mid-air.

"Groups Three and Four! Intercept the ground attack objects with full force!"

Following the command, dozens of Warships quickly changed course, noses down, chasing after the bulky biological bombs.

Meanwhile, the Pilots still charging, like Wei Lai, immediately felt the pressure intensify.

"BANG!!!!"

Suddenly, Wei Lai felt a violent shudder run through his fuselage. A piercing noise accompanied the shaking, followed by a large area of "Damage" error notifications appearing on his display screen.

It turned out that a close-in defense cannon shell had grazed the outer armor on the left side of his fuselage. It had luckily ricocheted away because the angle of incidence was too low—

But even so, the shell had stripped away an entire section of the outer armor.

"Di di di di—Warning! Minor cracks detected in the keel! Please reduce high-intensity maneuvers to avoid disintegration!"

"Outer armor damage level: 47%. Recommend return to base! Recommend return to base!"

Return to base? Where else was there to return to?

Wei Lai scoffed, then immediately shut down the onboard error reporting system.

Immediately, the world became quiet.

He glanced at the target distance again; contact would be made in one minute.

The silver frigate targeted was already visible within his sight.

Before this, he had already evaded three missiles flying toward him, and with his wings constantly trembling due to the unstable maneuvering engine, he had narrowly missed countless hot electromagnetic cannon shells;

The most thrilling moment was when the onboard Autocannon suddenly malfunctioned and fired, directly shooting down a missile flying straight at him—even Wei Lai himself found it incredibly unbelievable at the time.

After switching off all the malfunctioning onboard displays, the only things still working in his field of view were a few primitive mechanical gauges and the rudimentary graviton control device.

Wei Lai said in a self-mocking tone,

"Although I don't know why, my luck today seems exceptionally good—"

"Does this mean I've saved up all the luck of my lifetime for this one moment?"

As he spoke, he looked again at the engine's emergency restart button, speaking as if to himself, yet also to the battered Warship beneath him,

"If that's the case..."

"Brother! Let's see if you can burn out with me one last time!"

Having finished speaking, he slammed down the restart button with a "patta."

A sound like flatulence exploded in his ears. The broken engine nozzle at the tail suddenly spewed out several bursts of blue flame, and then a stubborn arc of deep blue light emerged.

Immediately, Wei Lai in the cockpit felt a strong G-force press against his back—

The engine restart was successful!

The broken Warship accelerated miraculously, even starting to exceed the limits of the graviton jamming device. Wei Lai in the cockpit began to feel an immense pressure being exerted upon him.

The blood throughout his body began rushing toward his brain, and his vision started to blacken.

At this moment, Wei Lai was incapable of thought, but his two hands remained clamped tightly onto the control stick like iron pincers, not moving an inch.

[I said it! I will become a hero—even if only for a moment!]

Before he lost consciousness, a sentence appeared in his mind.

And then—

["BOOM!!!!!!!!"]

There is no sound in space, but there was oxygen inside the ship's cabin.

Blue light, firelight, flying debris... In the dark night sky, an incomparably dazzling ring-shaped flower exploded... (Homework suddenly popped up, I was halfway through writing the next chapter when I was called away to finish notes.)

(The next chapter will be posted tomorrow morning.)