NOVEL NEXT Chapter 243: Airdrop (Part 2)
Hearing Chen Jian's voice, Shen Yue instinctively turned his head.
"What's up?"
Chen Jian relayed Lei Jie's question to him, and Shen Yue immediately laughed.
"Professor Lei, you're truly more suited for burying yourself in research."
"It's a simple principle, can't you really figure it out?"
"...I didn't think it through."
Lei Jie awkwardly grimaced, and then asked:
"So what exactly needs to be done?"
"It's very simple."
Shen Yue replied:
"You already mentioned the premise, which is that they will eventually return to Jinling."
"Returning to Jinling means returning to the Mechanical God Sect."
"And as long as they are in the Mechanical God Sect, they will inevitably see us as potential enemies."
"If they intend to see us as potential enemies of the city, they must find a way to confront us."
"And now, what the captain is demonstrating to them is a 'method to confront us'."
"Once they've tried it, they will discover a truth."
"To defeat us, they must first become us."
"Once they've truly become us... do you think the existence of the Mechanical God Sect can still continue?"
"...Understood."
Lei Jie exhaled deeply.
"Is this also He Shuo's plan?"
"That's right."
Chen Jian nodded.
"Whether this plan can be effective... depends on if we can come back safely this time."
"Hurry and get your EVTOL ready."
"We'll head to Han Shui in half an hour."
"Understood!"
...
30 minutes later, Chen Jian and his team of six boarded the transport aircraft.
This time, for the parachuting operation, they deployed two planes in total.
One was responsible for personnel transport, and the other for delivering redundant supply materials.
The two planes took off from 011 Airport, crossing hundreds of kilometers to land in Han Shui, briefly resupplied, and then took off again, heading straight for Mountain City.
The planes maintained an altitude of around 6000 meters until reaching Mountain City's radar monitoring range, then lowered to below 2000 meters.
Through the porthole on the side of the cabin, Chen Jian saw the Mountain City shrouded in mist not far away.
At this moment, he couldn't help but feel his heartbeat quicken.
Mountain City.
Since he entered this world, this name had been intertwined with the entire exploration process.
At the beginning, these two words were almost synonymous with "forbidden land," and Chen Jian even once believed it was a mysterious area shrouded in abnormal physical rules, not belonging to this world.
But gradually, the image of Mountain City began to change.
It was no longer an elusive concept, but slowly gained logic, acquired a basic framework and image.
According to various clues, his speculations about it became more numerous and clearer.
Until now.
The mist was completely torn apart, and this city, too, was finally exposed before them.
"This... is this Mountain City??"
Amid the roar of the propellers, Guo Xu asked, his voice trembling.
Perhaps he never thought he would arrive at Mountain City in such a way, nor did he expect that the first sight of Mountain City would be so... ordinary.
It seemed no different from any other ruins.
There were no legendary dazzling lights, no massive shadows hidden beneath the mist. The city was indeed magnificent and presented a "brand-new" state unlike other ruins.
But... that's all there was to it.
Was it due to the impact of those nuclear bombs from the Huaxia Army?
Was this city, representing the "Holy Land," already destroyed??
But it shouldn't be...
"Where are those monsters? Where are those level-one monsters??"
Guo Xu continued to speak, and Ji Xing pointed to the side.
"I see it."
Ji Xing said in a deep voice:
"That monster!"
"Our previous team died at its hands... it's not an ordinary monster!"
"But it's strange...."
"Why do I feel no anomaly when I see it now??"
"It looks just like an ordinary monster... not even particularly large!"
"But when I faced it last time...."
"I can't describe it."
Ji Xing's lips trembled slightly, the mere memory of the scene then seemed to terrify her.
"I couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't move...."
"Had I not turned around quickly enough, I would probably have been inexplicably killed by that mysterious force, like the others."
"That monster represents death itself... that's my intuitive feeling back then."
"But now... it's completely different!"
"It's unrelated to my experience, not because I saw something in the Huaxia Army that relieved my fear."
"This monster has changed, it..."
"This monster hasn't changed."
Chen Jian interrupted Ji Xing.
"Distance."
"Distance is the key."
"We're too far from it."
"Pheromone."
"Perhaps what it controls is some kind of pheromone."
"I don't understand... but..."
Ji Xing's expression changed slightly, and Chen Jian interrupted again:
"No need to say more."
"This time we won't have any conflicts with those monsters."
"Jiang Yu, go a bit farther around!"
"Note that there's monster activity 4 kilometers southwest!"
"Understood."
Jiang Yu's voice came through the headset, and the transport plane tilted slightly, drawing a smooth curve before beginning to spiral upwards along the edge of Mountain City.
"Rapidly ascend to 5000 meters, prepare to parachute."
"Understood, preparing to parachute."
The plane continued to ascend, and below the wing, the other transport plane had already opened its hatch.
A multitude of cargo boxes, equipped with parachutes, were dropped, targeting a wide grass field within a park at the city's center.
Chen Jian watched the parachutes closely, finally exhaling a sigh of relief once he confirmed the supplies landed accurately in the park.
Good.
Though lacking extensive experience, the principle of delivering supplies is akin to dropping bombs.
This fledgling pilot executed the mission superbly.
"Check the parachutes! Check the parachutes!"
Chen Jian shouted commands, and in the cramped cabin, the six individuals began checking each other's parachutes one by one.
"Main chute check complete!"
"Reserve chute check complete!"
"All systems go!"
"All systems go!"
Responses echoed, and at this moment, Jiang Yu's voice again sounded in the headset.
"Altitude 4500!"
"Approaching jump altitude!"
"Countdown 30 seconds!"
"Understood, countdown thirty seconds!"
Chen Jian gestured to convey signals to everyone, and after receiving affirmation, the transport plane reached the prescribed altitude.
"Open the door!"
"Open the door!"
Chen Jian repeated the command.
The next second, the door opened, and ferocious winds surged in.
"Go!"
"Go, go, go!"
Chen Jian nudged Guo Xu ahead of him.
The latter hesitated for a moment, looking back at Chen Jian.
Through the goggles, Chen Jian couldn't see his expression.
But it was clear, Guo Xu's hesitation wasn't out of fear.
He just hadn't crossed that mental barrier yet.
Beneath them lay the Holy Land.
Jumping off, the "clay idol" of the Holy Land would be completely shattered.
Jump, or not to jump?
The next second.
Guo Xu leaped off.
And then the other four jumped in turn.
"Jiang Yu, return swiftly!"
"Safe travels!"
"Received!"
"Commander, safe travels!"
As the words fell, Chen Jian jumped off.
The wind roared past his ears, he calmly adjusted his posture, descending toward the park in the center.
For him, high-altitude low-opening jumps were as simple as routine; he pulled the parachute open not till the altitude reached 600 meters.
At this time, others who opened their parachutes at 3000 meters were still descending slowly.
But Chen Jian had already set foot on solid ground.
Part detached, chute retracted, gun at ready.
All around was silent, but from the woods at the edge of the grass field came faint deer calls.
Chen Jian activated the infrared viewing mode to observe the surrounding area, intending to first eliminate nearby threats and establish an observation post.
But just when his gaze swept the woods, he suddenly discovered an anomaly.
Blood.
A deer head.
A deer head severed by a sharp instrument, already slightly rotted.
Someone!
No!
It couldn't be the Mountain City People.
It must be Lin Yu.
They might still be alive!