Sky-cracking Rider

"Jiu?"

Princess Lin Ziyu looked at Little Bird in amazement, not expecting the creature to possess such abilities.

"Jiu?"

The little one met Her Royal Highness's gaze head-on, cocked its head slightly, looking somewhat baffled!

The environment of Cangqiong Star was more suitable for Magical Beasts; the Pure Light Sparrow thrived here as naturally as a fish takes to water or a bird returns to the forest, far more active than it had been on Blue Star.

Both the human and the bird were clueless about what the other was talking about. What on earth were they saying?!

The Princess was not Chen Fei, not quite familiar with the little one's many gestures combined with its chirping which represented different meanings and emotions.

Eventually, the bewildered Princess Lin Ziyu turned to the main subject and asked, "When are you planning to make your move?"

The target's location had been determined; everything was ready except for the action, and they could capture the individual at any moment unless something unexpected happened.

With the Royal Family's support, capturing a few individuals within the Imperial Capital Delan City was as easy as playing a game, presenting no difficulty whatsoever.

"We still need to further confirm the intelligence, let's send a few drones to keep an eye on them first."

Chen Fei wanted to capture not just Xia Ji but also trace his network completely, hoping to capture them all in one swoop.

His right wrist-mounted Space System Alchemy Storage Device housed more than a hundred drones of two types; each had official flight permission and could create a net in the sky.

Chen released the Mobile Base Vehicle, began to pinpoint Xia Ji's location, and sent the first batch of three propeller-driven drones flying out towards the main urban area of Delan City.

The propeller-driven reconnaissance drones, possessing a higher altitude capability, longer endurance, and more comprehensive reconnaissance module functionality compared to a slightly smaller model of quadcopter drones, were adept at both high-altitude surveillance and low-altitude searching.

"Do you often do this kind of work?"

Princess Lin Ziyu curiously watched Chen Fei swiping the touchscreen, fine-tuning the propeller-driven reconnaissance drones' module functionality as she followed the Mobile Base Vehicle.

The Artificial Intelligence AI "Adam" was synchronously taking over, but it was Chen Fei who needed to make adjustments based on personal preferences.

"To be precise, it is the AI 'Adam' that often does this; I am responsible for making decisions. How to control it is not my capability."

Chen Fei snapped his fingers, and the Mobile Base Vehicle automatically started up, ready to exit the cave dormitory.

Whether it was his past experience in team 04 or Miyoshi Monk's Huntsman Squad, he had accumulated vast experience and could quite rightly claim to be an expert in this field.

The female Metallic Dragon Yilan brought her large head close to the window and asked from outside, "Need help?"

When the Mobile Base Vehicle was released, she knew Chen Fei was planning to go out, and having promised to help, she certainly intended to follow through.

"Of course, I will send you the coordinates later. You will be responsible for standing by overhead, waiting for my command."

Chen Fei thought for a moment and nodded to Yilan outside the vehicle.

The Mobile Base Vehicle had adequate defenses but lacked offensive capabilities. It was only suitable as a means of transport, a rest point, and a command and communication node, definitely not a true battle vehicle.

If a real fight broke out, having the combat power of Metallic Dragons involved would compensate for this shortcoming.

"Where are you going? I'm coming too!"

Cobalt Luo, having suddenly volunteered, had no idea what he was thinking.

"I'm going too!"

"And me!"

Thukadi and Benali, the two young dragons, jostled each other, eager to go first.

"Huh?"

Princess Lin Ziyu was somewhat astonished. When had these Metallic Dragons, who usually liked to eat, sleep, and ideally do nothing, become so enthusiastic?

Maybe they ate the wrong Metal Ingot?

"Scared of quizzes!"

Chen Fei spoke the truth with a single phrase.

The task of 200 pounds of homework forced the three Metallic Dragons to temporarily change their demeanor. As long as they didn't have to do homework, even learning to bark at the park's entrance would do.

What is integrity?

For a Metallic Dragon, is that something edible?

"Hah?"

Lin Ziyu looked towards the enormous stone table inside the cave, which was almost bigger in length, width, and height than the Mobile Base Vehicle, the latter even able to comfortably drive under the table.

"Hehehe..." x3

The three young dragons issued awkward yet polite laughter.

"Tomorrow, 400 pounds!"

Yilan had no intention of letting these three younger brothers off the hook.

"Then I'm not going!" x3

Including Cobalt Luo, the three young dragons instantly reneged on their words. If they had to do quizzes even after going out, it was better to just stay in the cave and do an extra pound or two of homework.

"Not going? Do 600 pounds!"

The elder sister emitted a cold, ruthless laugh, so characteristic of a Metallic Dragon.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Like dominoes, the three young dragons fell to the ground one after another, shaking the earth, yet appearing barely alive.

Yilan could easily guess their little schemes; everyone was from the same clan, cut from the same cloth, and there was no fooling her.

Two hundred pounds of homework a day, that was the baseline.

Learning was a path of no return, the sea of books was boundless, and to look back was to face death. Once one embarked on it, escape was not an option, for what other way was there to attend university?

If one failed to get into university, the Human Race could still resort to manual labor, but the Metallic Dragons had it worse. They had to burrow like rats, never seeing the light of day, mining until death took them. If careless, they might even be buried deep beneath the ground, and if unlucky, they could only wait for three to five hundred million years until a civilization of the next era might dig up a dragon-shaped fossil.

"Are you coming or not?"

Yilan was a very qualified gang leader, making the younger brothers tremble in fear.

"We're coming!" ×3

What else could the three young dragons do? Life was tough!

The ones who understood the Metallic Dragons best were indeed the Metallic Dragons themselves.

"Shared joy is better than solo joy…"

Cobalt Luo muttered quietly.

Not long after the Mobile Base Vehicle left the cave dormitory carrying Chen Fei and Princess Lin Ziyu, four Metallic Dragons rose from the mountaintop platform, their left and right wingtips and tail spears adorned with navigation lights (left red, right green, tail white) twinkling in the night sky as they flew towards the Imperial Capital's main urban area.

Three propeller-driven drones arrived first at the designated airspace, circling at different radii, maintaining surveillance over the ground.

Xia Ji's hiding place was in one of the eight major urban districts, a residential area divided into rental apartments, commoner, citizen, and noble communities, each offering different public services.

After all, social classes could not truly be completely eradicated; they would naturally emerge and become increasingly distinct over time. Their existence was justified, so it was better to arrange them early to prevent intensification of social class conflicts.

The Mobile Base Vehicle stopped at the boundary between the noble and citizen communities, where a ten-lane dual carriageway separated the two large communities.

At first glance, the differences between the two large communities were quite apparent.

The architecture in the noble community primarily consisted of courtyards, with premises starting from acres in size, and buildings over five stories were rare.

The citizen community featured detached small houses, row houses, and high-rises; each household had at least two hundred square meters. The higher the corresponding economic strength of the social class, the higher the comfort and enjoyment experienced.

For the external workers in the commoner community and rental apartments, having a place to stay and enough space was satisfying enough; they would not even think of luxuries like large libraries or swimming pools.

"Ice Flower Road No. 14, found it. The property is registered to Baron Flan's private courtyard, occupying 5 acres with a building area of 430 square meters, two stories above ground, and one below."

The propeller-driven drone sent back footage, and Chen Fei confirmed Xia Ji's last known location. He then released another quadrotor drone, which drifted into the noble district. As a special-purpose aircraft, it had higher security privileges than community security permissions, so it did not trigger a low-altitude alarm and smoothly arrived near Ice Flower Road No. 14.

The intelligence submitted by Xiao Jiu and Princess Lin Ziyu matched, confirming it was the same address.

Unexpectedly, Xia Ji, a member of the "Water Bear" organization, was able to live in the noble district; Chen Fei had originally thought the other party would choose the more densely populated rental apartments.

Princess Lin Ziyu pointed to a display screen and said, "There are people inside, more than one!"

The screen showed dual imaging with air sonar and infrared.

"Deploy the mechanical spiders!"

Chen Fei ordered "Adam."

The quadrotor drone flew over the main building in the courtyard, where four palm-sized octopedal mechanical spiders attached themselves to the roof before quickly scurrying on their slender legs to find entry points into the building.

Soon, two of the octoped mechanical spiders found different ventilation shafts. The metal filters did not stop the spiders equipped with the "Mind Brand" magic array, and they entered the building smoothly.

The other two followed through a balcony and a kitchen window.

The "Mind Brand" magic array enabled use of Chen Fei's Metal Elemental Psychic Power within a certain range.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

At that moment, someone knocked on the door of the Mobile Base Vehicle.

Chen Fei and Princess Lin Ziyu looked over together, and two patrol police officers had noticed the Mobile Base Vehicle parked on the roadside.

Whether it was the noble or citizen community, the frequency of patrols by security personnel was relatively high, and it was natural for them to check a vehicle of unknown origin.

After the vehicle door automatically opened, two police officers peered inside. One of them said, "Please show your identification and driving license."

Just as Chen Fei was about to present his personal documents, Princess Lin Ziyu stopped him.

"Let me!"

She took out an employment ID and flashed it before the two police officers.

"Eh?"

Both patrol officers were surprised to see the style of the work ID and immediately took out a standard identification verification device to scan it.

Yu Zilin, female, 29 years old, Imperial Security Department, Third-Level Investigative Agent, employed for five years.

The credentials were authentic, and Yu Zilin's personnel file, as well as a detailed resume, could be found within the Imperial Security Department.

"We apologize for the disturbance!"

The two police officers immediately realized that the Imperial Security Department was carrying out a special mission, which was not their place to inquire about. They retreated as far as possible, fearing any trouble.

"All clear!"

Yu Zilin waved the ID in her hand and winked at Chen Fei.

After all, the entire world belonged to the Slan Royal Family, and it was only natural to reserve some "real" alternate identities.

"Alright, let's continue, there's sound now."

Chen Fei didn't mind and handed a headset to Her Royal Highness.

According to the positions of the people inside, the four octopedal mechanical beings equipped with optical lenses and microphones dived into hidden corners, finding suitable angles.

"Mr. Xia Ji…"

This finally clinched the identity of the person of interest.

However, the second sentence that came through made Chen Fei and Her Royal Highness exchange glances.

"This place has been exposed, we need to move immediately!"