Wave after wave of spherical robots emerged, quickly forming ranks, then passing new bombs to the fuselage in relays, filling the bomb bay.
Jiang Ye stared at the screen as the bomb bay’s empty slots were filled one by one.
Finally, the prompt [Loading Complete] appeared.
Jiang Ye clicked the screen repeatedly, issuing commands.
The bomber spewed flames, an astonishing burst of energy erupting. The ground behind the runway was churned up in a vast cloud of yellow dust by the blast wave, as if a monster had descended.
The bomber taxied rapidly, then lifted off, ascending into the clouds with a deafening roar. Its posture was so graceful it seemed less like a cumbersome bomber and more like a nimble fighter jet. Its speed quickly broke the sound barrier, and its altitude climbed sharply.
In the time it took Jiang Ye to drink a glass of water, the bomber had crossed the sea and reached the third continent.
Wide-area scanning was activated, and a waterfall of information poured onto the screen. The bomber advanced while simultaneously probing the conditions on the third continent.
Despite the sheer volume of data, there was almost nothing of value.
Jiang Ye stared at the screen for a long time. Finding nothing interesting, he turned to chat with the accompanying officers. After only a few topics of conversation, the bomber had sliced across the entire third continent like a swift blade and was once again over the sea.
Its speed had already exceeded Mach 5. To fly that fast while carrying a full load of bombs was truly astonishing.
Some older missiles couldn't even keep up; the further they chased, the greater the distance became, and soon they were exhausted and fell behind.
Jiang Ye, wanting to test the bomber's performance, clicked the screen, pushing its speed to the maximum, then descending in altitude.
The bomber plummeted from the sky, reaching the sea's surface like a meteor before leveling out.
From the satellite video feed, where the bomber flew past, massive ripples spread across the sea’s surface. Each ripple was a colossal wave! The effect was akin to blowing a hairdryer into a basin of water, creating nothing but waves. Countless small fish in the shallow waters were likely stunned by the spray.
The narrow strait was quickly crossed, and the bomber arrived at the fourth continent.
As soon as it reached the fourth continent, a warning message popped up, enlarged and displayed on the screen.
[Suspected Threat Detected!]
[Threat Type: Frog Mother]
[Quantity: Approximately 25]
[Engage Automatic Strike?]
On the satellite map, a solid red circle marked the edge of the fourth continent. Jiang Ye double-clicked to enlarge it. The solid red circle was actually composed of twenty-five hollow red circles, all representing detected Frog Mothers.
Jiang Ye clicked [Yes].
The rapidly advancing bomber slowed down, turned, and soon flew over the Frog Mothers again.
On the screen, the one hundred slots in the bomb bay flashed for a few seconds, then turned into empty slots, indicating that one hundred bombs had been dropped, descending like rain onto the ground.
Jiang Ye watched the satellite feed. Seconds later, the location of the Frog Mothers was engulfed in explosions!
The blast radius was immense, with white smoke billowing. The cluster bombs carried by the bomber detonated everywhere, each one equivalent to a company’s worth of rocket-propelled grenade volleys.
The bomber circled once, then flew over the Frog Mothers again. The one hundred slots in the bomb bay flashed and then emptied as another round of bombs was dropped.
This was followed by a third drop. The bomber changed course and continued its advance in the original direction.
Jiang Ye didn't know the fate of the Frog Mothers, but after being covered by over three hundred cluster bombs, they likely wouldn't have many intact parts left.
The bombing zone was undoubtedly riddled with holes, more numerous than those in a sponge cake. The vast white smoke in the satellite image hinted at the dust clouds that would have obscured the sky at the scene.
Impressive! Truly impressive!
Bombers were indeed cheap and effective. A few bombs didn't cost much, but the results were undeniably powerful.
Jiang Ye watched as the bomber continued forward.
The fourth continent was vast, so it took more than half an hour to traverse.
Then it reached the fifth continent, which was small, and it was pierced through in three minutes.
The accompanying officers were getting tired standing up, and Jiang Ye finally remembered them.
“You all may leave now. I plan to operate this for a few hours,” Jiang Ye waved his hand.
The officers dispersed, leaving only Secretary Liu Jizi, who sat quietly watching.
The bomber sped onward, streaking across continent after continent, occasionally discovering a group of Frog Mothers and quickly dropping bombs on them.
As bombs were continuously deployed, the bomber’s speed increased, approaching Mach 6.
Most importantly, this speed was incredibly stable, with fluctuations only in the decimal places. This indicated that the Harrier unmanned bomber’s power system was truly extraordinary. At least, Jiang Ye couldn't comprehend how a bomber could achieve such excellent performance.
Although it had a large payload capacity, dropping bombs consumed a lot of energy. Soon, the bomber’s bomb bay was empty.
Jiang Ye did not recall the bomber but instead had it continue forward.
“Have you heard of ‘Nanyuan Beizhe’?” Jiang Ye suddenly spoke.
“There was a person in ancient times who wanted to go south but traveled north in a carriage. It’s a metaphor for being on the wrong path; no matter how hard you try, it’s in vain,” Liu Jizi looked at Jiang Ye confusedly, not understanding why he was asking such a basic elementary school question.
“Actually, if you want to go south, you can also go north by carriage. As long as your carriage is good enough and its speed can reach six times the speed of sound, it won’t take long to circumnavigate the planet,” Jiang Ye smiled.
Liu Jizi wore an awkward yet polite smile. A carriage traveling at six times the speed of sound… What kind of horse could run that fast? Was that still a horse? It was an intercontinental missile!
Jiang Ye actually had the bomber circumnavigate the planet and return to base.
Slowing down, it landed.
The bomber touched down, braked at the end of the runway, and sank into the hangar. Its energy was just about depleted. If this planet had been any larger, it wouldn't have made it back.
Various robots swarmed over, attaching themselves to different parts of the bomber, inspecting and repairing it.
Watching the real-time feed from the hangar, Jiang Ye felt a sense of detachment. Had this thing really flown around the entire planet?
Its speed made the planet seem small, but if one were to walk around it on foot, it would take many years.
Jiang Ye recalled a person from the Republic of China era named Pan Deming, who pushed a bicycle, walking and riding, and took ships across oceans. From 1930 to 1937, he traveled around the world on foot. During his journey, due to his fame, he was received by various prominent figures from different countries. Many of these figures’ actions were quite interesting, and his experiences were nothing short of magical.
[Scan Complete, Integrity 95%, Repair in Progress]
The green prompt interrupted Jiang Ye’s wandering thoughts.
The aircraft had no major issues, but some consumable parts had burned out. Flying at full speed for such an extended period was extremely taxing; the bomber had truly given its all.
However, it didn't matter. The remnants of the consumable parts were quickly removed by the repair robots and replaced with newly manufactured ones.
After a simple maintenance, it was as good as new.
Jiang Ye took out his phone to check the development index.
As expected, what Li Nannan had said was true. Possessing weapons capable of global strikes caused the development index to surge, breaking through seven.
[Jiang Ye Autonomous Region / Development Index 7110 / Rank 8010]
With less than three thousand points left to reach ten thousand, Jiang Ye felt both elated and impatient.