Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Return to Base, Return to Base!
The speed of the light flame spewed by the giant snake was extremely quick, taking only a few seconds from gathering energy to spewing out.
In the command center tens of kilometers away, Lin Li and others were not even mentally prepared.
They only saw this beam of light flame shooting up from the ground, rushing towards the camera like a flash of lightning, and then the entire airborne image lost signal.
The command center instantly fell into a deathly silence.
Lin Li’s pupils narrowed sharply, and he grabbed the communicator:
"Captain Yao, Captain Yao, are you okay? Please respond! Please respond! Damn it, can’t get through!"
Bang!
He angrily smashed the communicator and punched the table, his chest heaving violently like an old bellows.
For a moment, the air in the command center seemed to have solidified.
Wang Qiang’s left hand was tightly covering her mouth, her eyes full of astonishment.
Ma Ning silently placed his thermos on the table, looked up at the dark top of the tent, and sighed with melancholy.
The communication equipment lost connection, along with the last captured image by the camera.
It seemed to foretell a not-so-good possibility.
The helicopter was destroyed, the people...
Just when everyone was on the brink of despair, Bo Binghui suddenly discovered something, and an astonishing brilliance burst forth in his eyes.
Pointing excitedly at the ground tower about three meters beside the screen, he said, "No, the airborne receiving equipment is still working, the tower can still receive radiation signals, look at the navigation indicator, the helicopter... it’s still moving!"
After saying this, he quickly dashed to the tech station, muttering to himself while operating:
"That’s right!
The helicopter has a backup phase signal communication device... must be activated from the tower side....
Adjust the subcarrier frequency 9960Hz offset by 480.... locate the omnidirectional beacon.... backup device activation code is 69437474....
Try to connect!"
Watching Bo Binghui’s series of operations, a glimmer of hope gradually appeared in the eyes of those present.
After pressing a series of buttons, Bo Binghui clenched his right fist and hit his left palm:
"It’s done!"
Half a minute later, a rustling sound suddenly came from the communicator, faintly accompanied by a low mechanical hum.
Lin Li cautiously picked up the communicator, as if any mistake would cut off the signal: "Captain Yao, are you alright? Can you hear me?"
After more than ten seconds, a somewhat exhausted voice of Yao Rong came through the communicator: "Command center, this is 8633, this is 8633, my aircraft has currently left the formation of alien beasts, and my partner and I are in good condition."
With the final reply of ’in good condition,’ cheers instantly erupted in the command center.
Wang Qiang’s left hand, which was tightly covering her mouth, suddenly released as she raised both hands high above her head, jumping and shouting: "Awesome, Captain Yao and his crew are still alive!"
Ma Ning picked up his thermos, took a gentle sip of goji tea, and once again assumed a calm demeanor—if his hand holding the thermos trembled a little less, this appearance of calmness might seem more genuine.
Lin Ziming exchanged a glance with Yan Shaohua, laughed heartily, and the sound of relief laughter dispelled the lingering dull atmosphere.
Lin Li also shed the heavy burden in his heart, let out a sigh of relief, and quickly forced himself to calm down:
"Captain Yao, what happened just now? Why did the camera and communication equipment fail?"
Inside the cockpit, Yao Rong glanced nervously out the window, speaking with lingering fear:
"After the dynamite exploded, the leading giant snake suddenly spewed a beam of light towards my aircraft. Fortunately, I was on alert beforehand and pulled up the control lever early. With the helicopter already in a hovering state, in the one or two seconds from the light beam gathering energy to it reaching us, the aircraft barely managed to ascend three to four meters...
In the end, the light flame grazed past the aircraft’s side wing, destroying the external lead camera and the communication antenna due to the aftermath.
Additionally, the left front landing gear of the aircraft was partially damaged, the side wing door moderately dented inwards, and the power equipment suffered varying degrees of damage, causing the helicopter to temporarily unable to navigate normally above 2000 meters. Currently, my aircraft’s flying altitude is 1300 meters.
After narrowly escaping, the giant snake seemed somewhat lethargic and did not emit any more light flames. Taking advantage of this gap, I withdrew from that area, considering the current condition of the aircraft, request the command center for permission to return, over."
"No problem!"
Lin Li agreed without hesitation, gladly granting permission: "Captain Yao, I’m authorizing your crew to return early in my capacity as the leader of the Fire Squad. Equipment can be repaired or rebuilt—the most important thing is that no one is harmed.
The information your crew has collected this time is very valuable. I will report it truthfully to the main base and apply for a commendation award for you.
You can now rejoin and return, do take care on your way back!"
After hanging up the call, Lin Li turned to Bo Binghui:
"Manager Bu, it seems Captain Yao’s aircraft has suffered some damage.
As an expert in this field, could you liaise with the logistics team to ensure Captain Yao’s helicopter can land smoothly?"
Bo Binghui thumped his chest confidently: "No problem, the damage to one side of the landing gear isn’t a particularly troublesome issue for a light helicopter. Captain Yao is quite close to us and should return within half an hour. Leave this to me, and I’ll ensure the task is completed!"
After Bo Binghui left, Lin Li addressed those present once more:
"Everyone, please quiet down for a moment.
Manager Bu will handle Captain Yao’s return, and we ought to get on with some business ourselves.
Captain Yan and several experts have just arrived at the camp, some information may be relatively delayed, so let me summarize our current exploration progress:
Currently, the area we explored can be divided into two parts.
The first part is the area around the camp, with a radius of about twenty kilometers, which has been thoroughly mapped through human-machine cooperation.
In addition to the initially discovered castle, over the past ten hours, we have successively discovered two rivers, two suspected red soil mine sources, and some normal-form avian figures, forming the core area of thorough investigation.
The second part is the area along the routes flown by two helicopters, one to the south and one to the north, approximately fifty kilometers from the camp in a straight line.
During the exploration of this area, the dispatched crews did not discover large biological colonies but encountered an alien beast formation to the south... By the way, the name ’alien beast formation’ sounds awkward, with thousands of alien beasts pouring in like a tide; I think it should just be called a beast tide instead.
The above is roughly a summary of the current progress. Now everyone can discuss their views on the beast tide."
"Alright, let me say a few words first."
Ma Ning coughed lightly, drawing everyone’s attention:
"According to the information we’ve collected so far, there are currently two race-conceptual forces in this world: humans and alien beasts. Whether there exists a third or even more forces requires further exploration.
Judging from the direction of the beast tide and the city’s preparedness for battle, these two forces are undoubtedly opposed to each other.
Moreover, although the alien beasts’ life forms are animalistic, they clearly possess a distinct hierarchy and a relatively high level of intelligence. Among them, the several commander-level alien beasts could likely have intelligence levels close to or even surpassing humans."
Leader Bao Xin of the medical team listened quietly, then suddenly asked: "It’s plausible that alien beasts have high intelligence, but as for their intelligence surpassing humans? That’s probably not possible, right?"
Ma Ning glanced at him, knowing that this medical expert was still somewhat constrained by ingrained perceptions: "Directing tens of thousands of alien beasts to march together, without scattering, trampling, or even stopping instantly.
Even when the center area was bombarded with explosives, apart from a few moments of panic at the start, the beast tide formation remarkably showed no signs of dispersing, achieving absolute compliance in a ’tens of thousands’-organized structure.
On Earth, only the military can achieve such a level—some armies in countries like Gaul and Ah San might not even measure up to these alien beasts.
This far exceeds the realm of uncivilized beasts. Coupled with their extraordinary power, possessing intelligence comparable to humans isn’t difficult to accept."
Ma Ning shook his head, his tone tinged with pessimism: "Such a level of beast tide, together with those few suspected leaders with high intelligence... To be honest, I’m not very optimistic about the city’s side. Conservatively estimating, this will at least be a fierce battle."