Addicted: Book Two – Chapter 64

Looking for some Excitement

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The moment Gu Yang left, Zhou Lingyun trailed behind him.

However, before he could set foot outside the room, two armed officers acting as guards immediately blocked his path. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Zhou Lingyun’s eyes faintly swept over them, “To help Gu-zong intercept a fighter jet.”

“Didn’t you just said a second ago you’re not helping?” The armed officer’s suspicious gaze remained on him. “‘The nation’s machineries are not yours to casually use for the sake of resolving your personal conflicts.’ Weren’t those your exact words?”

“But this is not a personal conflict. One of the nation’s first-class pilots has been abducted in a hijacked jet. I’m going to ensure his safety and since it’s an internal affair, it’s essential to safeguard and uphold the strength of the Air Force.” Zhou Lingyun calmly elaborated on his many excuses.

The two armed police officers looked at each other, then gave their commanding officer a call to obtain an authorization for release. Once they were able to get the approval, one of the officers grabbed Zhou Lingyun’s arm and said with a determination, “I’ll go with you!”

Bai Luoyin piloted the jet until it pierced through the clouds and reached a safe and steady altitude. From the look of it, they would be able to reach their destination without any mishap.

After the long silence, Tong Zhe spoke.

“Can you smoke in the cockpit?”

Bai Luoyin, “Whatever.”

Gu Hai, “No.”

Bai Luoyin and Gu Hai replied at the same time, but with two entirely different opinions that made the cigarette in Tong Zhe’s hand come to a complete standstill. Bai Luoyin maintained an indifferent attitude while Gu Hai refused. If it was just an ordinary helicopter, it wouldn’t have mattered much but smoking in this kind of fighter jet would interfere with the pilot’s judgment.

Tong Zhe shot Bai Luoyin a glance only to notice that he was a cool looking pilot with a laid-back type of nature and physique that implied he did not care much for such trivial things.  

“Nevermind.” Tong Zhe placed the cigarette back into his pocket.

But Bai Luoyin simply turned to face Tong Zhe and reached his hand out, “Give me one.”

Seeing that, Gu Hai put his hand on Bai Luoyin’s hand with a slightly tight grip and softly spoke. “You can smoke when we get back. It’ll take less than fifteen minutes until we’re home.”

Bai Luoyin shook Gu Hai’s hand off and continued to use his eyes to hint at Tong Zhe.

Gu Hai could faintly sense that Bai Luoyin’s mood wasn’t very good. But for the sake of their safety, Gu Hai no longer went against Bai Luoyin and let him do as he pleased.

Soon, a cloud of smoke spread throughout the cockpit.

Since he was pulled up into the cockpit, Tong Zhe had noticed that Gu Hai’s eyes were fastened to Bai Luoyin. Aside from certain times, he was practically unable to take his eyes off of him. Bai Luoyin held onto a nonchalant attitude, who knew if it was because piloting required him to completely focus or that he had something against Gu Hai.

In short, Tong Zhe felt that there was a deep entanglement between them.

Suddenly, an abnormal signal appeared on Bai Luoyin’s LCD screen appeared, causing him to immediately tense up. He quickly shoved the cigarette into Gu Hai’s hands and took hold of the control lever while keeping his eyes close to the control panel.

Soon, the fighter jet Gu Yang was in appeared in his field of vision—the pilot and Bai Luoyin had met face to face before but have never competed. During the last air practice in the desert, they were placed in two different teams which would allow them to have a showdown but due to Bai Luoyin’s foot injury, that opportunity, unfortunately, was missed.

That fighter jet was flying to Bai Luoyin’s right. When Tong Zhe leaned to the side for a look, he could only see that fighter jet firing waves of missiles in their direction. Their intention to engage in battle was crystal clear as they put forth a very fierce stance. Without delay, Bai Luoyin quickly reacted and let the jet dive down to avoid them but missiles, weighing several hundreds of kilograms, simultaneously sailed toward them with incredible speed to oppress the body and internal parts of his jet, creating a spectacular mess.

Bai Luoyin clearly understood the opponent’s purpose. It was nothing more than an attempt to intercept and force his fighter jet down so that he couldn’t smoothly return to the military base. And who that person was, he knew clearly in his heart.

Adopting a defensive method, Bai Luoyin dodged left and right. If he was able to avoid it, he would since he did not want to damage the jet or worse, provoke any more trouble.

Suddenly, the jet behind them ascended with awe and appeared in front of Bai Luoyin’s aircraft. The body of the jet suddenly shook as the wings banished two fiery trails of fire that resembled fire breathing dragons before a group of missiles shot out from the sky…

Such a sudden attack did not give Bai Luoyin enough time to avoid it as the body of his jet took a hit and shook violently. Gu Hai could barely endure it while Tong Zhe felt as though his own heart was going to burst any second. That kind of live ammunition combat was common during training. Gu Hai could imagine the danger and difficulty but actually being in that kind of circumstances himself was another feeling in and of itself.

Fuck! … Bai Luoyin secretly cursed, since you refuse to do this the easy way, then we’ll just have to do it the hard way. It did not take long for his fighting spirit to be set aflame. His eyes became exceptionally sharp, his thoughts clearer, and the movements of his hands quicker and more decisive. He regarded this fierce confrontation as a combat exercise.

Soon, both sides officially engaged in the fire.

Back in the monitor room, the Chief of Staff and Regiment Commander were discussing the soldiers’ initiative during training when suddenly the screen flashed only to display two fighter jets that were engaging in combat before their very eyes. For a split second, they could not help but expose a satisfying expression.

“If every soldier has that kind of lively and adventurous spirit, we will have several more talents like Xiao Bai in the military.”

The two fighter jets battled intensely with each taking damages but neither refusing to concede. The fierce air battle persisted for more than half an hour with the potential to become even more critical and intense. Not only did Bai Luoyin wanted to be victorious, but he also wanted to shift the battle to the north as much as possible. Only that method would guarantee they would get to the military base before the fuel was completely depleted.

Gu Yang could see through Bai Luoyin’s attempt. He calmly faced the pilot and reminded him, “We must prevent them from heading north.”

Surprisingly enough, the pilot was also a battle lunatic who adored live ammunition combat—the missiles ejections, raging fire, and thrill completely energized him. The stronger his opponent was, the more excited he was. He incessantly bombarded the opposing side and relentlessly pursued, closing in step by step.

Just as both sides were battling it out, another jet emerged in Bai Luoyin’s line of sight.

What the fuck, how come there’s another one?… Since he never made any contact with the base for assistance, Bai Luoyin knew perfectly well that the fighter jet was not here to help them.

Seeing the appearance of the new jet, Gu Yang’s complexion changed before he turned to ask the pilot, “Did you request for a rescue aircraft?”

The pilot was dumbfounded, “Definitely no!”

While Gu Yang was having doubts, that aircraft started to open fire at Bai Luoyin’s aircraft. Gu Yang immediately grabbed the pilot’s arm to hold his fire. “Hold back and don’t do anything yet. Let’s watch for a while first!”

Once that aircraft undertook its attacks, it revealed a grand demeanor. The pilot and aircraft had reached the peak of unity as man and machine seemed to have become one. Whether it flipped, rose or turned in circles, that displayed the operator’s enthusiastic and phenomenal flight skills. The unpredictable positions were overwhelming for Bai Luoyin’s eyes while the rhythm of the attacks was flashy and disruptive—every shot seemed to be an empty flicker but each time it struck, it was solid and bore fruit.  

Bai Luoyin had already guessed who the pilot in the opposing fighter jet was, but he did not understand why Zhou Lingyun would side with Gu Yang.

“How marvelous!” The pilot in Gu Yang’s jet exclaimed in admiration, “He is truly worthy of being the trump card of the Air Force.”

Gu Yang was also puzzled, didn’t Zhou Lingyun say he wouldn’t help? How come he’s here?

“How about we cooperate with that jet to completely destroy this jet?” The pilot eagerly said, wearing an extremely excited expression.  

“Fuck that shit!” Gu Yang could not help but to explode in curses, “Are you fucking blind? Don’t you see that jet is about to fall apart? Quickly provide support to it now!”

“Provide sup…support?” The pilot was stupefied. Just now, you wanted me to completely destroy it. Why is there a need to suddenly provide support?

Gu Yang shouted in rage “Both my brothers are in there!”

Hearing that, beads of sweat abruptly exploded on the pilot’s forehead. “What the hell. Why did you tell me to open fire on your own family, huh?”

“Can you handle it? Hurry up and go support them. If anything bad happens, it’ll all be on your head!”

The pilot felt apprehensive and couldn’t help but mutter to himself. Who was I tricked by and who did I provoked?

In the end, they were still a step too late. By the time, the jet that Gu Yang was in made it over, Bai Luoyin’s fighter jet was already spiraling downward. It fiercely lanced through the multiple layers of cloud and began to dive down fast toward the ground.

Bai Luoyin expended a great deal of effort to control the jet while telling the two at his side, “Hurry and parachute out!”

“I want to jump out tied to you,” Gu Hai said.

Even after hearing that, Bai Luoyin’s complexion was as dark and gloomy as ever.

“Jump by yourself, I won’t be tied to you.”

Gu Hai insisted, “I will be tied—together—with—you.”

When Bai Luoyin could vaguely see the outline of the earth, he instantly became anxious.  

“What are you wasting time for? I’m telling you to jump so just jump!”

“If you don’t jump with me, I won’t jump.”

“It is dangerous to jump tied together.”

“I don’t care.”

Tong Zhe cleared his throat, “You two can talk it over, I’m going to jump first.”

With that, a shadow leaped into the blue sky while the remaining two people continued to argue endlessly. With not much time left, Bai Luoyin had no choice but to comply with Gu Hai’s wish. He quickly and efficiently tied them tightly together and jumped out from the cockpit door.

“There’s no need to assist them now, right?” The pilot cautiously asked.

Gu Yang’s face instantly became gray without a trace of blood.

Just as the pilot intended to return to the point of departure, he suddenly suffered a surprise attack by the fighter jet ahead of them (the one that had just attacked Bai Luoyin’s jet). The wings caught on fire and the body started to shake violently. With great difficulty, the pilot managed to control the jet but before he could maneuver away, it was struck by another missile, causing the entire body to tilt substantially.  

“What’s going on?” The pilot was dumbstruck. “Isn’t he on our side? Why did he open fire on us?”

Gu Yang firmly gritted his teeth. How would I know?

Soon, the fighter jet Gu Yang was in could no longer withstand the swift and heavy attacks from Zhou Lingyun’s jet— it broke through the clouds and rapidly dove toward the vast earth.  

The armed officer sitting beside Zhou Lingyun broke out into sweats from head to toe. On the one hand, his body’s endurance was insufficient, and on the other hand, the scene was too nerve-wracking and exciting. It wasn’t until the aircraft came to a steady pace that the armed officer let out a sigh of relief.

“What exactly did we come here for?”

Striking out one fighter jet after another, the armed officer could not understand Zhou Lingyun’s mentality.   

To his surprise, Zhou Lingyun simply played-down the situation and said four words.  

“Looking for some excitement.”

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