Chapter 375.1: The Doggy Developers Are Up To Something Again?!

Above the clear sky, a W-2 Mosquito attack plane skimmed the edge of the clouds, heading towards Lucky Valley Municipality.

About 30 kilometers behind it, a Dragonfly transport plane followed closely behind. It was equipped with a hydrogen balloon communication system.

Tail was right. The administrator wouldn’t neglect his players. The moment they lost signal, he generously sent a second set of communication equipment.

However, as generous as it was, the balloon wasn’t cheap.

Before dropping the second airdrop, Chu Guang needed to figure out what exactly happened to the previous communication base to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Sending the army would be too slow. Without a proper road network, they couldn’t speed over. Even if the Storm Corps was equipped with the most basic exoskeletons, they could only cover 30 kilometers a day.

Although the players’ corps has strong combat capabilities, who wouldn’t lose morale anyway, their discipline would plummet when they were bored. It would be unrealistic to expect a forced march for over 100 kilometers.

Therefore... It was up to their air force!

"This is Falling Feather... We are approaching the target airspace, searching for ground signals."

Glancing at the VM strapped to his thigh, and seeing Lucky Valley Municipality getting closer, Falling Feather pushed down his joystick, controlling his mount to emerge from the clouds.

According to the mission requirements, he needed to make contact with players on the ground, find out what happened to their signal tower, and report the information back to the Dragonfly transport plane behind him, while also taking a few photos.

The task was too damn easy... It was going to be easy he was yawning as he made the final approach.

However, the feeling didn’t last for long. Just as he was about to establish contact with the players on the ground, a shadow on the distant horizon caught his attention.

"Holy shit..."

"What the fuck is that?!"

A towering steel airship, like a Roc spreading its wings could be seen in the distance.

Its huge metal body wasn’t the only thing shocking about it. Instead, the myriad of weapons it was decked with was a horrifying sight.

It was hard to imagine how such a massive object managed to float. Even more unimaginable was that it was powered by a long row of parallel propellers.

On the giant structure, the concept of both the primitive world and the more advanced utopia coexisted miraculously.

Falling Feather's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Soon, his shock turned into intense excitement and awe.

This... This is so fucking cool!

But...

The giant structure seemed to be running into some trouble.

Falling Feather vaguely saw one of the propellers flickering with sparks, as if it had already caught fire.

Just as he was thinking of getting a closer look, he suddenly noticed a large cannon on the top of the airship slowly turning to aim straight at him.

That... That gun was probably a 100mm cannon!

The moment he met the barrel, Falling Feather's complexion instantly changed.

"Oh fuck me!"

He pulled the stick in his hands without hesitation, trying to fly under the ship.

At the same time, he switched the communication channel to the Dragonfly transport plane 30 kilometers behind him, reporting the situation he was facing. "Airship! An unidentified armed airship spotted over Lucky Valley Municipality, suspected..."

He hadn't finished his last few words when a burst of orange flame cut off his vision.

He didn't even hear the cannon fire and a blue popup window reading was projected into an abyss of darkness.

[Connection Lost]

Slowly removing his helmet, Falling Feather sat up on his bed at home. He looked around bewildered for a good while before snapping back to reality.

Holy crap!

They fired without warning.

Absolutely dishonorable behavior!

...

"Airship?!"

"Wait, suspected what?"

"Hey, brother, are you still alive?"

Above the clear sky... Sitting in the cockpit, Unprofessional Retort repeatedly tried to confirm the situation ahead with Falling Feather.

However, the voice that was cut off never responded.

Listening to the static coming through the communication channel, Unprofessional Retort gradually realized that the situation might be more serious than he thought.

With that, he no longer hesitated. Pulling back the throttle while tilting the plane to the left, he controlled it in a beautiful arc to head back to the airport north of Dawn City.

A tri-engine transport plane made entirely of A3-Type Aluminum, equipped with a full set of instruments, was far more precious than the hastily made W-2 Mosquito.

Sitting in the rear cabin, Ice and Fire yelled, "... Why are we turning? Weren't we heading to Lucky Valley Municipality?"

"The situation has changed... Falling Feather said he saw an airship."

"Airship?!" Ice and Fire was somewhat bewildered.

Antiques like that were almost phased out after World War I, what was there to fear?

It's a pity the 37mm cannon was installed on another Dragonfly.

If he had the angle, he even had the confidence to shoot that thing down with his gunboat.

"I don't know... I feel it's not just a simple airship, to be able to shoot him down the moment Falling Feather spotted it... They definitely noticed him a long time ago.”

"You mean that airship has radar?" Ice and Fire exclaimed in surprise.

Unprofessional Retort thought for a moment and said, "Probably. A radar isn't that hard to come by. If even an airship has it, it definitely doesn’t belong to marauders. However, it probably doesn’t have guided weapons. They probably shot him down with anti-aircraft guns or something else.”

After all, if they had missiles, they would probably have been shot down before even entering visual range.

World War I flight technology, World War II fire control systems... What kind of industrial waste is this?

But even if it was trash, it wasn’t something their old transport plane could handle.

Unprofessional Retort sneered. He felt that he didn’t even need such advanced technology. Even if they gave him a Nanchang CJ-6, an old propellor plane, he would have been able to shoot them down with a pair of 7.62 aviation machine guns... He wouldn’t even need air-to-air missiles!

Well... That was if nothing unexpected happened.

Whatever it was, Unprofessional Retort didn’t hesitate to push the throttle to the max to flee at the fastest speed possible.

...

In the bridge of the Heart of Steel.

Looking at the handful of black slag on the table, after a brief moment of astonishment, anger quickly filled McClennan's eyes.

"What is this?"

"General, this is what got tangled in our propellers, it was hanging under a balloon, it seems to be a string..."

Standing in front of General McClennan, the engineer dressed in high-altitude workwear bowed his head, swallowing nervously while speaking quickly.

The military technician stepped forward half a step. He pinched the thread between his fingers and started to think of what it could be.

"... It contains carbon and silicon. It looks a bit like optical fiber."

That was a common material found in the wasteland. It could be found in all types of construction.

It was said that in the distant Prosperity Era, humans were creatures that would die if they didn't speak. Everyone's body was covered with speakers, and every wall was filled with radios or similar devices.

Optical fiber, made of silicon carbide composite material and as thin as a hair, crawled like capillaries throughout every corner of the city, forming a vast and complex information matrix.

Although the technology has been systematically lost, those hair-thin strings survived just like the concrete rubble.

It was light enough, and it was hundreds of times more durable than ordinary string. It wasn’t as strong as metal wires, and it wasn’t as heat-resistant. As such, scavengers wouldn’t go out of their way to collect it.

Of course, that wasn’t absolute. Some survivor settlements use it to transmit information, though it wasn’t common.

"... It seems that someone tied this fiber to a hydrogen balloon, and it just happened to get sucked into our propellers."

"A short circuit caused the hydrogen in the engine to ignite, igniting the oil on the transmission shaft." The navigator made a judgment based on his experience.

However, the aide standing by was not satisfied with his explanation.

"Coincidence? I don't think it's a coincidence, who would release balloons into the sky for no reason, this is clearly a deliberate and malicious trap!"

"I think so too, it should be an anti-air balloon..." The staff officer pondered and continued, "We've encountered similar things in survivor settlements in the west before."