radicalducati Chapter 130 Light Arc Plays with the Iron Bird
Chapter 130 Light Arc Plays with the Iron Bird
Chapter 130: The Light Arc Plays with the Iron Bird
After a leisurely day strolling around Philadelphia and taking Xiao Qi on a "Dancing Miracle" adventure, Lin Yan's heart began to stir again. Daytime belongs to history, while nighttime belongs to adventure.
"Little Qi, do you want to do something more exciting?" In the hotel room, Lin Yan poked the little Qilin who was happily munching on a spiritual fruit—at this moment, it was still that harmless little white puppy.
Little Seven immediately dropped the spirit fruit, her big, dark eyes widening, her tail wagging as if she were about to take flight: "Play! Brother, let Little Seven play! Is it more fun than dancing?"
"Of course," Lin Yan smiled like a cat that had just stolen some cream, taking out two talismans from his storage ring. "Let's add some 'light effects' to those iron birds."
He patted one talisman on his chest and gently placed the other on Xiao Qi's back. As he chanted the incantation, the cinnabar runes on the talismans instantly lit up and then merged into his body.
"Radiant Light Talisman" - a talisman commonly used in the low-level cultivation world for illumination or to interfere with vision, but with Lin Yan's true essence, its effect was amplified several times.
The next moment, Lin Yan and Xiao Qi began to emit a strong, stable, yet harmless pure white light. This light was so intense that it completely enveloped and blurred their human and dog forms. From the outside, all that remained was a blurry, blindingly bright humanoid ball of light, and a smaller sphere of light in his arms. Unless one used their divine sense to examine it carefully, the truth within was completely obscured.
"Wow! Little Seven is shiny!" Little Seven looked down at its glowing paws and whimpered excitedly.
"Let's go!" Lin Yan pushed open the window, and the night wind rushed in. The "Star" sword appeared in response. He held the glowing Xiao Qi in his arms and transformed into a streak of light, shooting straight into the night sky. This time, he made no attempt to conceal himself, and even deliberately illuminated his aura and light like a lighthouse in the sky at an altitude of 10,000 meters. His speed was still maintained at about 1000 kilometers per hour, but his direction was towards the Atlantic coastline, which was a key area monitored by the US military's air defense radar.
Meanwhile, at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Operations Center.
"Report! Target reappeared! Coordinates over Philadelphia, altitude 30,000 feet (approximately 10000 meters), speed approximately Mach 0.8 (nearly 1000 km/h)! Radar reflection signal... God, the signal strength has increased dramatically! Optical observation station reports that the target is emitting a bright white light!" The radar operator's voice was filled with disbelief and shock.
The atmosphere in the entire operations center instantly became tense. The "high-speed target" that had mysteriously disappeared twenty-three hours ago had returned, and this time it was displaying its brilliance so arrogantly!
"Is it confirmed that it's not a known aircraft? Not one of our secret projects?" The duty commander's expression was grave.
"Absolutely confirmed, sir! The signal characteristics don't match any aircraft or missile! It...it looks like a flying light bulb, or...some kind of energy source!"
"Order!" The commander didn't hesitate any longer. "Atlantic City Air Force Base, New Jersey, 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, immediately scramble two F-102 'Delta Sword' fighter jets for emergency interception and identification! Authorization to use weapons if threatened! Also scramble two more for rear support!"
A piercing alarm sounded at Atlantic City Air Base. Four experienced pilots rushed to their aircraft. The lead pilot was Captain Robert "Bob" Lee, a veteran of the Korean War.
"Falcon Squad, check equipment. Target unknown, high-speed luminous object. Remain alert and operate according to the rules of engagement." Bob calmly issued the order over the radio, but his palms were slightly sweaty as he gripped the joystick. The unknown is always the most terrifying.
Four F-102 Delta Striker fighter jets, trailing plumes of afterburner exhaust, roared into the night sky and sped toward the direction indicated by the radar. The fighter jets' climb was as slow as a snail for Lin Yan, but he deliberately slowed down, even circling in the air, as if waiting for their arrival.
The chase begins at 10,000 meters in the air.
"Falcon lead reporting, visual contact with target! God... what is that?" Bob's exclamation came back to base via radio.
Ahead of him, an unidentified object emitting a steady, blinding white light was flying at a uniform speed. The light was so peculiar, unlike a searchlight or any light source he knew, more like... an entity composed purely of light. A blurry humanoid outline could be vaguely seen, but the details were completely swallowed by the light.
"All units, maintain distance and conduct identification." Bob suppressed his inner turmoil and piloted his fighter jet to attempt to approach from the side.
Just then, the ball of light suddenly moved! It stopped flying in a straight line at a constant speed and instead made a sudden vertical leap, instantly gaining thousands of meters in height. Then, it made a right-angle turn that completely violated aerodynamics and swooped down toward Bob's fighter jet!
"It's coming! Take evasive action!" Bob's wingman shouted in alarm.
The arc of light approached at an alarming speed, its brilliance almost blinding Bob, and the fear of death gripped him instantly! He instinctively tried to pull the control stick, but it was too fast; there was no time to react!
Just as he thought he was about to perish together with the unidentified flying object, the arc of light, with incredible agility, almost grazed the F-102's vertical tail just before it was about to hit his cockpit canopy, and "whoosh!" it swept upwards! The resulting airflow caused the fighter jet to shake violently.
"Whoa—!" From within the ball of light, a faint, excited cry could be heard (Lin Yan deliberately let the sound spread through his true essence, making it seem ethereal and otherworldly). Little Qi in his arms also cried out excitedly, finding it even more fun than flying on a sword.
"It...it's playing a trick on us!" Bob was still in shock, his flight suit soaked with cold sweat. Just now, he had truly felt the breath of death.
"Fire! Sir, requesting permission to fire!" The wingman's voice trembled.
"Open fire! Use machine guns for warning shots!" The commander's voice came through the radio, tinged with panic.
"Falcon Squadron, AIM-4 missile locked on... Damn it! Unable to lock on! Infrared seeker can't find a heat source! No heat signature on the target!" The pilot of another fighter jet reported an even more desperate message. The infrared-guided missiles that the F-102 relied on were completely ineffective against Lin Yan, this "cold light source"!
The machine gun's fire streaked across the night sky, but the arc of light that Lin Yan transformed into darted between the shell trajectories like a ghost. Occasionally, he would deliberately fly towards the trajectory of the shells, nimbly dodging them at the last moment, and even playfully circle around the machine gun's fire line. His posture was just like teasing an angry but clumsy beast.
"Brother, the iron bird is spitting sparks! It doesn't taste good!" Xiao Qi said to Lin Yan with its divine sense. It remembered Lin Yan jokingly asking if the iron bird could be roasted.
"Haha, this spark isn't easy to eat." Lin Yan laughed, his playful spirit growing even stronger. He suddenly accelerated, the arc of light instantly widening the distance, and then, in the eyes of the American pilots, he performed a maneuver they would never forget—the ball of light abruptly stopped hovering in the air (completely ignoring inertia), and then began to circle the F-102 at high speed, drawing a perfect luminous circle, trapping Bob's fighter jet in the center!
"I'm surrounded! It...it's drawn a circle around me!" Bob's voice was filled with helplessness and fear. This was completely beyond his comprehension.
Having had his fill of "circling around," Lin Yan felt it was about time. He sensed that the two F-102s providing support from behind were also about to enter visual range, and he didn't want to be entangled by more "iron birds."
"Xiao Qi, get ready, we're going home!"
The arc of light burst forth with an even more intense brilliance, momentarily blinding all the pilots on the fighter jets. When their vision returned, the high-speed target on the radar screen had increased its speed to an unbelievable level, instantly breaking through the radar's tracking limits and disappearing over the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, leaving only four F-102 fighter jets circling aimlessly in the night sky, and the heavy breathing after a deathly silence on the radio.
Afterwards, in the briefing room of Atlantic City Air Force Base.
The pilots' reports were remarkably consistent: an unidentified flying object, emitting bright light and possessing super-high maneuverability and intelligence, which could not be explained by current science, clearly and playfully provoked and interfered with the US military aircraft, and its technological level far exceeded current human understanding.
The report was quickly classified as top secret and sent directly to Washington. Meanwhile, Lin Yan, the instigator, had already quietly returned to his suite at the Philadelphia Hotel with Xiao Qi, who was now satisfied with her play and starting to crave the spirit fruit, a gleeful smile on his face after his prank had succeeded.
"Well, the Philadelphia trip has come to a successful end. Where should we go next?" He stroked his chin, starting to plan a new "game".