Jiang Ye sat at his desk. The room was warm, spring-like, with over a dozen dishes laid out on the table.
The windows were covered with blackout cloths, and all the lights in the room were extinguished, plunging it into absolute darkness.
Only one spot was illuminated: the holographic projection in front of Jiang Ye, displaying the cockpit of the lead aircraft from a one-to-one perspective. With this projection, Jiang Ye could see the front-line situation while sitting in his office, issue commands in real-time, and conduct remote operations via a dedicated satellite line with a delay of less than half a millisecond.
The lead aircraft, piloted by Bansaka Ryosuke, had already left land and reached the sea. The dark blue surface was dotted with chunks of ice, their origin unknown, floating like white ships, a thousand sails setting forth.
Jiang Ye ate slowly and silently, occasionally glancing up at the scenery outside the cockpit.
Liu Jizi sat at a distance, silently watching her superior. She felt that her superior's demeanor at this moment was somewhat like a cat, chewing slowly on food, occasionally looking up with a cold gaze at the movements around him.
No, not a kitten, but a big cat, a tiger. Only a tiger possessed such composed grace.
"The sound is a bit low, turn it up," Jiang Ye suddenly turned his gaze to her.
Liu Jizi fumbled for her phone and slightly increased the volume.
"Turn it up to the same level as the cockpit sound," Jiang Ye said.
Liu Jizi cranked the volume to the maximum. The roar of the aircraft's engines suddenly filled the office. Closing her eyes, she felt as if she were sitting in the cockpit. Even the water glass on the table rippled slightly.
Jiang Ye continued to eat amidst the deafening noise.
Finally, at the edge of the dark blue ocean, a snow-white continent appeared.
"90 kilometers to Zone B, all teams check if normal." Bansaka Ryosuke's voice came through.
"Unit 2 normal."
"Unit 3 normal."
The chorus of "normal" responses was followed by silence on the communication channel. This was the final check before reaching the B settlement.
Jiang Ye had also finished his meal. He slid his chair back, propped his feet on the desk, and continued to stare at the holographic projection.
Liu Jizi immediately stood up and cleared away the bowls, chopsticks, and plates.
As soon as she left, the office door clicked and locked from the inside.
Liu Jizi froze for a moment, understanding that with her rank, she was not privy to what would happen next. Therefore, the commanding officer had locked the door, barring her from entry.
As soon as the ornithopter formation reached the adjacent continent, they encountered a blizzard.
The office echoed with the piercing shriek of the wind, and large swathes of white slammed against the glass windows like darts. Jiang Ye instinctively reached for a sweater, then realized he was in a warm office and withdrew his hand.
Bansaka Ryosuke issued commands frequently, adjusting the altitude of the ornithopter formation, trying to find an altitude layer with minimal wind and snow impact.
Jiang Ye could see the instrument data from the aircraft. The blizzard was quite fierce, already reaching 60 km/h and still rising.
"Bansaka Ryosuke, your weather is very bad, do you need to return?" Jiang Ye activated the voice.
"Report, no problem," Bansaka Ryosuke's voice was steady.
Jiang Ye said nothing more and continued to watch.
"Southeast direction," Bansaka Ryosuke finally said, "We've reached Zone B."
Jiang Ye lowered his feet from the desk, pulled his chair closer, and leaned forward towards the projection.
Visibility was very low. The blizzard was too intense; the air seemed to have solidified into white. The dense snowflakes were reminiscent of the static on an old television, and the wind noise completely drowned out the sound of the ornithopters. The weather was as foul as if devils were lurking.
However, amidst the vast white, faint black dots could be seen in the distance, clinging to the snowfield like an ant colony.
Jiang Ye clicked on the projection, switching to the satellite view. Indeed, the ornithopter formation had reached Zone B.
Switching back to the real-time projection, Bansaka Ryosuke was directing the formation to spread out and descend to an altitude of fifty meters.
The black dots grew closer, revealing themselves to be numerous base vehicles, each piled with a layer of debris, resembling a slum. In fact, the entire B settlement was indeed a slum.
Perhaps sensing the commotion, more and more people emerged from the base vehicles, all clutching assault rifles and gazing up at the sky with difficulty.
"Prepare!" Bansaka Ryosuke said, "Drop the leaflets!"
Jiang Ye switched the view to the crew cabin. Two soldiers had just opened the cabin door, unlatched the boxes filled with leaflets, and tilted them downwards. The strong wind and snow poured in, sucking out hundreds and thousands of leaflets, turning them into a vast, fluttering sheet. The same action was being carried out by the entire ornithopter formation, and tens of thousands of leaflets were quickly scattered. Da Feng Novel Network.
From beginning to end, the ground personnel did not open fire. Even if they had, assault rifles would have had difficulty shooting down the ornithopters.
"Report, leaflet drop at Point B completed, no attack encountered, proceeding to Point C to continue mission." Bansaka Ryosuke reported.
Jiang Ye secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Very good."
The fleet turned and continued forward, heading for the C settlement.
The C settlement was further away, and it would take some time to fly there. Jiang Ye was too lazy to watch continuously and got up to go to the restroom. He was in a good mood; the troops were lucky today, and after scattering leaflets in Zone C, they could call it a day.
When squatting on the toilet, one must play with their phone. He opened the private chat interface with Che Zhen and typed a message.
Jiang Ye: "Has the sand-fixing grass started being planted?"
Che Zhen: "Report, planting is in progress. Approximately ten thousand seeds have been sown."
Immediately, a photo was sent. At the edge of the desert, many spider-like armored vehicles stood ready, and soldiers, carrying seed boxes, stood in the sand, bending to sow.
Although the weather was freezing, the information on the sand-fixing grass stated that it would root and sprout regardless of the temperature, growing easily once thrown into the sand.
Jiang Ye: "Good, send me photos when the seeds sprout."
He put away his phone and stood up. The toilet flushed automatically.
Jiang Ye washed his hands and went to brew some red tea for himself.
Before the tea was ready, Bansaka Ryosuke's voice suddenly rang out, unusually tense, "Northwest direction, what is that thing? Unit 2, accompany me to scout it. Other units, hover in place."
Jiang Ye immediately ran back to his desk and stared at the holographic projection.
Something black stood on the snow, like a small mountain. Bansaka Ryosuke's ornithopter was approaching it.
It was quite far away, and the snow was too heavy to see what it was clearly.
But it could be vaguely determined to be a large object, as its height was comparable to a low building. In such a desolate place, it was impossible for a low building to stand. What could it be? A giant animal?
Jiang Ye pressed his face almost against the projection, trying to get a clear look. But the snow was too heavy, the white curtain obscuring the giant object's form.
Five hundred meters, four hundred meters, three hundred meters, two hundred meters...
The wind and snow suddenly paused, as if a curtain had been lifted, and the giant object revealed its clear form.
It was clearly a man-made object, with a three-story steel shell that gleamed a distinct iron-black in the sunlight. It had a cylindrical body, but its surface was covered with honeycomb-like black eyeholes. The giant object was still operational, its tracks at the bottom moving slowly, emitting puffs of white smoke.
"Frog Mother!" Jiang Ye suddenly realized what it was and exclaimed, "Bansaka Ryosuke! Ascend! Pull up with all your might!"
Almost simultaneously, the advancing Frog Mother stopped. A fierce white smoke erupted from its entire body, like profuse sweating. With a deafening roar akin to a barrage of artillery, brilliant sparks shot out from the black apertures. Hundreds of Frog Bombs were launched together, whistling towards the ornithopters!