Earth Era

Part 50

Today was a particularly tough day for Qin Feng. After several hours of reconnaissance, Xiao Ya didn't say a word to him. He didn't know where he went wrong and was hesitant to ask.

After the disbandment, seeing her walking silently towards the dormitory, Qin Feng still didn't know how to approach her. After thinking for a while, he finally gathered the courage to call out one word, "Hey!"

Xiao Ya turned back, frowning. "Got questions? Ask the instructor. Maybe he knows who 'Hey' is."

"Um... I mean, are you hungry? Want to grab something to eat?"

"Not hungry. You go ahead," she replied, turning away.

Beside him, Zhong Yuanjie tapped his shoulder, asking, "What's going on? What's up between you two?"

Qin Feng shrugged. "I'd like to know too. Weird situation... After dinner, Qin Feng went to Xiao Ya's door. Zhong Yuanjie said, "Good luck!"

Nodding, Qin Feng took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

But before he could knock twice, the door swung open, as if she had been waiting for him.

"Um... have some noodles, just a little bit. It's not good for your stomach to eat nothing."

Xiao Ya glanced at the noodles, then at him, hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching out to take the noodles. "Thank you."

The "thank you" felt unfamiliar to Qin Feng. As she closed the door, he asked, "Why?"

"Why what?" she replied.

"Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something to upset you?"

"No."

"Then why? I feel uneasy when you're like this."

She smiled. "It's nothing, don't overthink it."

"Really nothing? Are you feeling unwell?"

She shook her head. "Don't worry, there are always a few days each month when I don't feel well. Just need to rest."

"Then drink more hot water..." Before he could finish, the door slammed shut, leaving Qin Feng standing alone in the wind.

At midnight, while most people were asleep, Qin Feng was wide awake, unable to sleep because he couldn't stop thinking about Xiao Ya.

Suddenly, an urgent alarm sounded!

Qin Feng shuddered! At the same time, the room was filled with the sound of an emergency assembly alarm!

He quickly put on his clothes and rushed out of the room, Xiao Ya and Zhong Yuanjie were already outside.

"What's going on?" Qin Feng asked.

"No idea," the two of them shook their heads, looking bewildered.

"Maybe it's the Raiders launching an attack!" Zhong Yuanjie suggested.

Qin Feng looked up at the sky and said, "Doesn't seem like it. Come on, let's go assemble."

By now, the Shield Mountain defense shield had become nearly transparent, revealing the massive mothership above. To be precise, there were four of them, but they couldn't see the positions of the other three.

It seemed like Shield Mountain wouldn't hold out much longer, and that was probably why the alarm had sounded.

Everyone gathered on the playground, silently awaiting the next orders, still on high alert.

The ground began to shake violently, not from an earthquake, but from several runways for fighter jets opening up like a giant door splitting the ground, emitting a grating metallic sound.

From the sound, it was clear that this door hadn't been opened in a long time.

Then, rows of brand-new fighter jets emerged from underground. These were the same ones Qin Feng and the others had seen parked underground before!

It seemed like the aerial defense zone was ready to go all out, revealing all their assets.

Zhong Yuanjie was dumbfounded. "Wow! There are enough fighter jets for each of us to have ten!"

"But you only have one life," Qin Feng doused the enthusiasm with a dose of reality.

"Uh... so, are these fighter jets just for show? There aren't enough people for the whole aerial defense zone," Zhong Yuanjie remarked.

"Most of these are drones, like the SkyNet, they don't need pilots," Xiao Ya explained. The instructor added, "But their autonomous systems require escort fighters, which follow behind your jets and carry out strikes on targets through their autonomous systems."

"Will they accidentally attack us?" Zhong Yuanjie joked.

To everyone's surprise, the instructor nodded seriously. "There's a possibility. Right now, they're still in the testing phase."

No one knew if he was serious or not, but after hearing his words, everyone felt a chill down their spine as they looked at the rows of autonomous fighter jets.

The instructor clapped his hands. "The United Coalition has issued the final order..."

He continued, "The Raiders are about to breach the Shield Mountain defense layer. The United Coalition has issued the final order, requiring us to prepare for anti-aircraft defense at all costs!"

"That's easy for them to say. What are they doing? Hiding in their bunkers like turtles?" someone muttered.

Unbeknownst to them, the instructor overheard. He said sternly, "We don't need to worry about whether they're hiding like turtles. But we absolutely will not! Because we are the last hope of Satian!

At that moment, there was a sharp crack overhead, like the sound of breaking glass. Everyone looked up and gasped in horror!

The sky was splitting open! Like the cracked ground during a drought, there were fissures spreading out in all directions.

This was clearly beyond everyone's expectations because the command center hadn't even issued a warning yet. The Raiders' actions must have been ahead of schedule!

Without waiting for the instructor's order, everyone ran towards their respective fighter jets.

Just as Qin Feng sat down in the cockpit, he heard a thunderous boom from above, as if the entire fighter jet had trembled slightly.

Looking up, he saw Shield Mountain's defense layer being blasted open once again, leaving a huge hole!