Sky-cracking Rider

Who fired first?

The on-duty manager at Aircrew Base 911, Mahnam, was delighted internally. This was not a complex issue, was it obvious?

That was one of his biggest reassurances; Aircrew Base 911 was definitely in the right on this side.

However, Ximen Temple Kong's facial muscles twitched fiercely as he forced himself to say, "It was 911 that fired first!"

He pointed at Chen Fei as he spoke. Although he didn't elaborate, the severe accusation was unmistakable.

Yet, he deliberately avoided mentioning which side's operational area the crash site of the MiG Squadron belonged to, insisting only on what was beneficial to his side.

Humans are creatures that gravitate towards benefits and shun harm, even to the extent of being shameless and distorting the truth.

"Me?"

Chen Fei pointed at himself, somewhat disbelieving.

Lying blatantly, how could this person be so shameless.

"Yes, you!"

Ximen Temple Kong glared fiercely at Chen Fei, the same way he had just glared at Chekhov.

He never expected that this normally quiet guy was actually the real troublemaker!

"Pfft!"

Unable to hold back, Chekhov Big Bear laughed out loud, banging the table repeatedly. If he hadn't pounded the table, he might have rolled on the floor laughing.

That guy finally caught on to the main point, feeling sorry for himself for having been wrongly blamed for so long.

He could never have imagined that Chen Fei had just finished assembling the F-22 "Raptor" fighter and had taken off eagerly, nor could he have guessed that Aircrew Base 909's MiG Squadron would stealthily cross the border. At that time, the weapon loadout of the F-22 "Raptor" didn't even have a single missile, not even machine gun bullets.

Chekhov wanted to ask that guy from 909 how exactly the first shot was fired without any ammunition, using their mouths to fire?

Chen Fei shrugged his shoulders, feeling very wronged by these groundless accusations.

It was as ridiculous and laughable as a wicked wolf accusing a downstream lamb of dirtying the water upstream, utterly shameless and disgraceful.

"This is slander!"

The on-duty manager of Aircrew Base 911, Mahnam, immediately protested sternly.

"Mr. Ximen, could you explain in detail how exactly the two MiG fighters from your side were shot down?"

Ms. Klaibel continued to inquire impartially, without taking sides.

The real mediation had just begun. Before the truth of this conflict was revealed, let the issues between the two sides soar a bit first.

"I..."

Ximen Temple Kong, the executive manager of Aircrew Base 909, opened his mouth dumbstruck and faltered.

The wreckage of the two MiG fighters had just been retrieved and their black boxes had been urgently analyzed, but nothing was found. There wasn't even a record of being locked on by fire control radar. How was he supposed to know how the MiG Squadron was actually shot down?

There was only a nonsensical "Hurry, move away, it's going to hit!" It was impossible to discern what actually happened, whether the MiG Squadron was hit by a missile or something else.

If Ximen Temple Kong's imagination had been richer, he might have guessed the truth, but common sense blinded his imagination.

Anyway, it was clear that they were shot down by people from Aircrew Base 911, and since the other side had no losses, it was obviously a premeditated and shameless sneak attack on the MiG Squadron from Aircrew Base 909.

"Each party thinks they are right. So if both of you believe you are correct, let us listen to the communication records from that time."

Ms. Klaibel, responsible for this mediation, signaled to the technicians who were ready. Before coming here, she had done a lot of groundwork, not just waiting for the two sides to verbally attack each other and prove their innocence.

Several beams of light converged, becoming more numerous, and a three-dimensional holographic projection appeared above the conference table.

On two parallel interfaces, Aircrew Base 909 and Aircrew 911 were clearly marked. At the same timeline, the voices of both sides started to play, translated into text synchronously, followed by each side's actions in text, scrolling together for prompts.

"Fire!"

The squad leader of the MiG Squadron from Aircrew Base 909, "Wufeng," his shout was immediately highlighted in red and brightened in the three-dimensional projection screen.

Before this, neither the control tower at Aircrew Base 911 nor the two fighters that had taken off had issued any attack commands, let alone any related operations.

"Only four missiles?"

The voice of Chen Fei sounded, representing the MiG Squadron's means of attack.

At that time, four small dots captured by radar moved swiftly in the projection, heading towards the fighter from Aircrew Base 911 intercepting the MiG Squadron. The F-22's weapons configuration was completely marked: Missiles 0, Machine gun ammunition 0, completely empty-handed and unarmed.

And yet, the MiG Squadron still had no way to deal with their opponent; all four missiles missed.

"Prepare the missile, let's go again!"

The MiG Squadron launched another attack proactively.

"Monster, monster! Something is wrong with this fighter!"

"I go left, you go right, let's break away!"

"'Tingyu', be careful, he's chasing you, hurry, move away, it's going to hit!"

"No…"

…

"Call the control tower, both enemy planes have been shot down."

…

"You killed our people!"

"You fired first!"

"You didn't listen to the warning!"
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"You died first!"

The audio playback abruptly stopped.

The latter part, being highly impactful and face-slapping, spared some dignity for Aircrew Base 909 by not continuing.

Blue Star Global United Defense Committee had ultimate authority over every Aircrew Base, empowering them to access all records, thus they gathered all the evidence immediately.

The wreckage site of the MiG Squadron was then marked on the projected map, thoughtfully including distance lines to the two Aircrew Bases; the location fell deep within the patrol radius of Aircrew Base 911.

This was clearly not a case of reading the map wrong, or failing to update an old map.

Who fired first!

Who was illegally invading!

Who was lying through their teeth!

Who was inverting right and wrong!

It was all too apparent.

Chen Fei couldn't help but sneer non-stop.

Chekhov was also sneering non-stop.

Mahnam was sneering non-stop as well.

Ms. Klaibel, responsible for mediating these talks, was also unable to contain her sneers.

Everyone was watching Ximen Temple Kong perform like a clown.

"The main point now is that we at 909 suffered heavily, while they at 911 had no losses at all, this is not fair!"

Ximen Temple Kong, the executive manager of Aircrew Base 909, didn't seem to realize where he had erred and instead felt wronged, shouting his grievances.

The issue had circled back to its beginning.

People at Aircrew Base 909 were incompetent and addicted, causing their own downfall, yet shamelessly blaming others, their moral compass was truly astonishing.

"Absolutely shameless!"

Mrs. Klaibel of the Blue Star Global United Defense Committee muttered to herself, audible only to her ears.

Yet, she hadn't expected that the executive manager of Aircrew Base 909 had absolutely no bottom line, boldly stating, "Ms. Klaibel, please, stand up for our Aircrew Base 909!"

He spoke with an inexplicable sense of grievance in his voice, even choking up with a sob.

Back when he put a gun to his own head, he didn't even care about his life, so what face did he need?

Whatever it took, he was determined to aggressively attack the cursed Aircrew Base 911; he would let no one live in peace.

"Are you serious, Mr. Ximen Temple Kong?"

Ms. Klaibel, pointing to her own head, looked at him incredulously.

She had finally realized it. Preferring the world's disfavor over owing the world, this was the reincarnation of Cao Cao, damn it!

"Of course I'm serious, very serious, Ms. Klaibel!"

Ximen Temple Kong's face was earnest, as if victory was in his grasp.

Klaibel sighed, folded her hands in front of her, and said, "Let's take an example—if someone suddenly provokes you wanting to beat you, but gets killed by you instead, whose fault is it, yours or theirs?"

Ximen Temple Kong, the executive manager of Aircrew Base 909, replied without hesitation, "Of course it's their fault!"

"Your MiG Squadron from 909 provoked 911 and ended up being killed. By the same logic, whose fault is it?"

Klaibel cornered him, employing a taste of his own medicine.

"It's not the same! It's 911's fault!"

Ximen Temple Kong stubbornly defended his position despite being visibly out of arguments.

"So, 911 deserves to be attacked by you, and fighting back is a mistake?"

Klaibel was gradually losing patience, finding it exhausting to converse further with this unreasonable fool.

How did such a moron even become an executive manager?

"Exactly, that's right!"

Ximen Temple Kong stood firm, head held high.

"There's no resolving this, you might as well fight it out!"

Klaibel shook her head and waved her hands off, no longer wanting to deal with this mess.

If you want to reason, then negotiate reasonably; if not, then do whatever, the Blue Star Global United Defense Committee isn't these military contractors' loving parents. If they choose self-destruction, why should it be stopped? Go ahead, go die!

Klaibel wasn't a judge; she could only be effective when both parties showed some respect.

But now, suit yourselves!

"That suits me perfectly!"

Ximen Temple Kong looked towards the three representatives from Aircrew Base 911 with a menacing laugh.

They had come prepared, obviously expecting the hired Beast Tamer to make his move.

"What are you trying to do?"

Mahnam, the duty manager of Aircrew Base 911, turned pale, once again overestimating the opponent's scruples.

With personnel from the Blue Star Global United Defense Committee present, people from 909 were still blatantly trying to commit violence.

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Chekhov nudged Chen Fei and said casually, "Hey, 'Rookie', got any handy weapons? I need something automatic!"

If they were going to fight and he was unarmed, he'd clearly be at a disadvantage.

However, "Rookie" Chen Fei, being a Metal Ability User, could form an AK gun, but not bullets; a firearm without bullets was no better than a fire stick.

He immediately handed over a two-meter-long hollow steel rod, casually sharpening one end into a bevel, turning it into a bleeding weapon.

If it hit the Big Cat, it would likely be fatal.

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