Sky-cracking Rider

Like a deflated ball, Ding Xiu slumped in the pilot seat of the flight simulator, muttering to himself in despair.

"Ah, this! What on earth was that just now?"

This time, there really was no excuse; that "Rookie" kid truly fought him head-on with real skill and won.

As for being overwhelmed by the firepower of the Cooperative Ship in the end, it wasn't the key to losing this round at all.

The Crystal Jet "Ratchet" was damaged to such an extent that even a Turboprop Aircraft could easily knock it out of the sky.

"Alright, alright! Get a grip! Time to get out!"

Ke Liang swiftly released Ding Xiu from the cockpit restraints, grabbing him by the collar, dragging him out entirely.

Turning to the comrades gathered around, he said, "Old Ding is fine, just can't handle reality, he'll be all right in a while."

A normal phenomenon of having one's worldview turned upside down; it's not a big deal at all.

Accept a few more blows like this, and it will be fine (numb to it).

"Sheesh, truly miserable!"

"Mad Devil" Sun Ru suddenly felt that being sneak-attacked by Chen Xiao'er and executed from behind weren't so bad after all.

Winning through trickery can occur once but not twice, while victories achieved head-on with real skill will likely persist for quite some time unless something unexpected happens.

A Sky Knight from The First Sovereign tentatively asked, "Big Brother Ke, if 'Rookie' has the qualifications to be a Sky Knight, isn't he at least on the same level as you?"

Sky Knights have varying strengths and weaknesses, and "Light Asura" Ke Liang is at least at the top of the Sky Knight combat pyramid.

Just like the current "ranking battles," simulation battle rankings may not be 100% accurate but represent the closest probability to reality.

"'Rookie's expertise is likely not in the Sky Knight domain, so whether he possesses these qualifications is of little consequence."

Even Ke Liang could see from the start that Chen Fei, even if possessing the qualifications of a Sky Knight, might not be suitable to become a true Sky Knight.

Everyone's eyes weren't blind, and Chen Xiao'er's skill points were all placed in combat spaceships and flying ship cluster battles; the collective battle power of the Airship Battle Group was beyond comparison to a mere Sky Knight and a Crystal Jet.

To maximize combat power, the Sovereignty would obviously not agree to Chen Fei's appearance on the battlefield as a Sky Knight. If something happens, it's not just him who falls but directly affects one or even several Airship Combat Groups. In the civilization struggle against the Parasitic Species, it might even jeopardize strategic objectives.

-

It was not until that evening that the despondent Ding Xiu finally returned to normal, chatting and joking with his comrades as usual, laughing foolishly but tightly clutching a bottle of liquor, soon drinking himself into a stupor.

Even with ranking battles continuing tomorrow, he still paid no mind at all, which was truly inappropriate.

Thus, Ding Xiu owed Ke Liang a 100,000-word self-critique, had to draft an outline first, and must write it promoting unity, urgency, seriousness, liveliness…; without leaving a deep lesson, he probably wouldn't learn his lesson.

Ding Xiu wasn't unhappy about it; if he were sent back to the homeland, it wouldn't be merely 100,000 words.

In the later stages of the "ranking battles," the confrontations grew fiercer, with each position being repeatedly contested until it continued for four more days and finally reached its end.

Due to "Light Asura" Ke Liang's rival, the top Sky Knight of Yangzhou Continent Sovereignty, "Arsonist" Manasseh Cheh, unexpectedly capsizing in battle against Chen Fei, a competitor was invisibly removed, and because Ke Liang was more prepared, he ultimately claimed the first place in the ranking battle.

Chen Fei's luck ran out after defeating "Mechanic" Ding Xiu; his few clever tricks were ultimately seen as not worthy by the true Sky Knights, who were not foolish and quickly devised targeted tactics after thoroughly analyzing him.

After losing multiple games, he finally halted at 27th place, benefiting from defeating Sky Knight "Mechanic" Ding Xiu.

On the contrary, Ding Xiu, having rekindled his fighting spirit after a major defeat, poured all his resentment onto other opponents and secured the 20th place ranking, surpassing Chen Xiao'er.

After a thrilling and intense ranking war, the combat pilots from various sovereignties clearly understood their own and others' strengths, also completing initial integration and mutual understanding. Barksdale Air Force Base, which provided venues and related resource support, achieved a win-win outcome.

Let these proud Sky Knights realize their capabilities and integrate together has always been the sovereignties' intention. Coincidentally, someone took the lead, facilitating the chaos among these combat pilots, although it took considerable time, it saved even more effort.

Barksdale Air Force Base, gathering the army, the day of departure finally arrived.

Besides Chen Fei's Cooperative Ship, more than a dozen medium and large combat spaceships arrived at this primary strategic air force base of the American Federation after the start of the combat pilots ranking battles.

On the newly constructed tarmac for adapting flying ship takeoffs and landings, the Cooperative Ship's 50-meter full length wasn't conspicuous at all.

"'1-2 Cooperative Ship' is ready for takeoff!"

The Cooperative Ship, carrying a fully equipped Mobile Armored Infantry Corps and an Ability User Combat Team, completed the final preparations for takeoff. A 50-person staff group replaced Chen Fei in notifying Barksdale Air Force Base's ground control tower 4 with the official takeoff procedure.

"This is Tower 4, 181@03, barometer: 30, Climb unrestricted to FL200, Heading 90, 20 mile in the box, code******-****-*****… Permission to take off! Good luck!"

(South Wind Level 3, pressure 30, climb to 20,000 feet, heading due east, maintain 20-mile spacing, Identification code:…)(Source? Uncle knows nothing.)

"Ready for takeoff!"

A member of the staff group serving as ground liaison gave a thumbs-up to Chen Fei sitting in the Captain's seat.

"All personnel on board, '1-2 Cooperative Ship' is beginning ascent!"

Chen Fei issued an announcement to the entire ship, unwilling to bother with these procedures if there were no passengers aboard. Wasting this chatter, who was there to listen?

In this temporary fleet, the role of the Cooperative Ship wasn't as the vanguard but to support ground operations and assist once other combat spaceships had consolidated their positions, with tactical units handling air raids and control missions.

Chen Fei surmised that the sovereignties weren't entirely reassured about his Chen Family Disciple identity, thus assigning him to a not-so-important position, tucked within the flying ship fleet. The Mobile Armored Infantry Corps and Ability User Combat Team not only engaged in interception but probably prevented him from engaging in some unnecessary actions.

The machinations at the temple level were all calculations.

The flying ship, numbered "1-2 Cooperative Ship," ascended slowly into the sky to its designated position, followed by the subsequent ascent of other ships one by one.

All Sky Knights and their Crystal Jet mounts had entered two large combat motherships, the lengths of which were more than ten times that of the Cooperative Ship. These motherships not only boasted a massive internal space but also exceptional transport capacity.

In just half an hour, the temporary fleet of flying ships reached their designated position.

"Now announcing destination coordinates, ******, flight altitude set at 25,000 meters, speed 6 Mach, distance between flights 30 kilometers, all ships depart!"

The ground tower broadcasted the final destination coordinates, supposedly the Lin Family's hideout location, perhaps a rendezvous point with the Parasitic Species.

"This location is..."

AI "Adam" marked the coordinate for Chen Fei, near the Tropic of Capricorn in the Atlantic. However, the most detailed map showed only a stretch of open sea, nothing more.

"Destination is 'Atlantis,' an artificial floating island!"

The 50-person staff group provided Chen Fei with the desired answer, simultaneously granting him high-permission-level confidential information.

A silver "snowflake" floated on the ocean surface, reflecting dazzling silver light under the sun: a silver city clustered with skyscrapers.