Earth Era

Part 52

A beam of light pierced through both aircraft, and before the two could react, Qin Feng saw his own aircraft catching fire from behind!

Meanwhile, Xiao Ya's wing was hit, causing one side of her aircraft to be torn off, and her aircraft started to spin.

"Parachute!"

With a "bang!", Qin Feng ejected from the cockpit.

But he saw that Xiao Ya didn't parachute out. Her aircraft continued to spin, and as the speed of descent increased, the rotation grew faster and faster.

"Xiao Ya! Parachute!" Qin Feng shouted into the headset.

No response...

He thought to himself, 'This is bad!' When an aircraft spins out of control, the pilot is likely to black out. And if the pilot blacks out, the result is inevitable – the aircraft will crash and the pilot will perish!

Qin Feng felt a sense of urgency as he continued to call out to Xiao Ya, but she never responded.

He could only watch helplessly as both aircraft plummeted rapidly towards the ground, unable to do anything...

His desperate cries were met with boundless silence.

The wind howled in his ears, laser beams darted back and forth beside him, and suddenly, he saw something ejecting from Xiao Ya's cockpit – it was Xiao Ya!

His eyes lit up, and he cheered loudly, "Yes! Yes! Yes!!" "I thought I was going to lose you," Qin Feng exclaimed excitedly.

Xiao Ya retorted, "What's this? Another mid-air confession?"

Qin Feng fell silent, and Xiao Ya thought the communication device was malfunctioning, as she continued, "Hello? Can you hear me? Hello? Hello..."

After a while, she tried again, "Hello? Can you hear me? Where are we going to land?"

"Anywhere you choose," Qin Feng said.

The two successfully landed in a ruin in the Jia City district. Qin Feng surveyed the surroundings and found no immediate danger. "We're too far from the air defense zone here, and we don't have any weapons. What should we do?" Xiao Ya asked.

Qin Feng sat down and took out a loaf of bread from behind the seat, along with the parachute. "What's the point in worrying about that now? You need to eat to keep up your strength," he replied, biting into the bread.

"At a time like this, you can still eat?" Xiao Ya scoffed.

"What else can we do? We need energy to keep going," Qin Feng explained between bites.

"Um... is there any more food?" Xiao Ya asked hesitantly.

"Yes, there is," Qin Feng said, pulling out another loaf of bread from behind the seat and handing it to her.

"Wait, I have some water here," she said, retrieving two bottles of water from under her seat.

The two exchanged smiles and sat among the ruins, eating and drinking.

After they were both satiated, they began to analyze their current situation.

"This is a ruin, quite expansive. It was probably a massive building before," Xiao Ya remarked.

"Could it be Solway Square? It's the largest building in the Jia City district," Qin Feng speculated.

"How can you tell? Just because of the size of the ruins?"

"No, because it says so," she pointed to a sign buried in the distance rubble.

Most of the sign was buried under sand, with only the faintly visible words "亚广场" (Asia Plaza).

"Um... have you been here before?" Qin Feng asked.

"I've been here once."

"Then it's easier. Which way should we go?"

"I don't know."

"..."

Now, with Zong Yuanjie's fate uncertain, the two were trapped in this desolate city area, while the aerial warfare intensified. They were like two homeless children, or even worse off than homeless children.

They not only faced shortages of food and water but also the constant danger of raiders descending at any moment.

After a period of calm reflection, Qin Feng believed they should conserve their strength, identify the direction of the air defense zone, or send out a distress signal and wait for rescue.

Xiao Ya said, "Where's the rescue? By the time the rescue team arrives, we'll have starved to death. Moreover, a distress signal may not necessarily attract a rescue team; it could attract raiders. Besides, what good would it do to find the direction of the air defense zone? The ground is too dangerous. We should follow the same approach as last time and find the nearest subway station. It's safer underground."

Qin Feng said, "Where are the nearby subway stations?"

"There must be one near such a big plaza."

"Even if there is, the entrance is likely buried under sand. Look around, this place has been abandoned for who knows how long. Moreover, searching for the entrance is time-consuming and laborious. Even if we find it, the underground tunnel may have collapsed. It's better to determine the direction of the air defense zone, keep heading in one direction, and maybe we'll encounter a subway station along the way. Perhaps we'll even find Zong Yuanjie if he's still alive..."

This approach was indeed much more time-saving and effortless than Xiao Ya's suggestion, but it overlooked the danger on the ground.

Xiao Ya said, "I see your main goal is still to find Xiao Jie, isn't it?"

Qin Feng shrugged, "Maybe he's still alive. We can't just leave him behind, can we?"

"He didn't parachute out, we both saw that."

"But it was so high, are you sure you saw it clearly?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Alright then, let's do as you say."

Then the two began to identify the direction. They were about 200 kilometers away from the air defense zone, in the central district of Jia City. There must be a subway station nearby, but they didn't plan to spend time searching for it.

They drew a rough map on the ground based on the position of the sun, then confirmed the direction of the air defense zone, and after repeated confirmation, they finally devised a travel plan.

They would head south first. There should be a bridge about twenty kilometers away, although it might have collapsed by now, it shouldn't be difficult to find. Once they found the bridge, they would follow it to get to Silver City. Once they reached Silver City, things would be easier because they knew the way. Then finding the air defense zone shouldn't be difficult.

Although the route was planned, there was a fatal problem – food and water.

They took out all the food and water they had, leaving only three loaves of bread and a bottle of water. How could this sustain them for over two hundred kilometers?

Qin Feng shrugged, "There's no choice, we'll figure it out as we go along. We'll look for food while we walk."

Xiao Ya rolled her eyes at him and said, "Who asked you to eat so much just now? Now what? We'll definitely starve to death on the road, over two hundred kilometers! We can't walk that in three days and nights."

"You ate a lot too just now. How can you blame me?" Qin Feng replied. "To be precise, it shouldn't be over two hundred kilometers because once we reach Silver City, everything will be easier. It's probably just over a hundred kilometers. Let's go."