Sister-in-Law

Designed and retrofitted similarly to a human fighter jet, but several times larger, CA117 glided smoothly through the dark night. Its speed was not particularly fast. Consequently, the starlight and moonlight that fell across its hull became gentle streams of radiance. A series of roaring engine sounds drifted up from below and to the flank, quickly fanning out on either side. With his line of sight obstructed, Han Qingyu tilted his head in momentary confusion. "What, are there support ships coming along with us this time?" "No." For Yang Qingbai, merely listening to the sound was enough to know these were not source energy airships. "Judging from the identification codes, they should be regular Huaxia Air Force fighter jets—six in total... They're requesting to patch into communications." With that, Yang Qingbai flipped a switch on his own, accepting the Air Force's communication request. "CA117, Major General Yang, greetings! Following communications from the Azure Huaxia Front Council, the Huaxia Air Force, Fifth Special Fighter Squadron, has arrived specifically to escort and see off Stream Blades on this solitary expedition." "Hello. Thank you," Yang Qingbai replied courteously. Then followed a string of greetings and responses; nearly everyone aboard CA117 was addressed. Aside from that, both sides did their utmost to maintain the solemnity expected of soldiers, along with a clearly disciplined politeness. Even the young pilots in the flight squadron strived to suppress the curiosity and excitement surging in their hearts. It felt like a very formal escort and send-off. Yet the appearance of these ordinary human fighter jets also inadvertently reminded Han Qingyu, Wen Jifei, and the others once again that, aside from them, human source energy forces truly had nothing left to provide follow-up support for the lunar battlefield. The Azure Coalition at present had few ships remaining, and no additional high-end combatants who could go and be of any help. The comm channel fell silent once more. Yang Qingbai carefully managed their flight speed and rate of climb. This night escort flight by the Air Force squadron continued until the first faint glimmer of dawn appeared. They had no restrictions on time or distance for this mission, and the fuel in their tanks was still enough to keep flying. What forced them to end this escort was altitude. Any higher, and it would be an altitude that neither they nor their fighter jets could ever reach. "Farewell," Yang Qingbai said, taking the initiative to say goodbye as he reopened communications. "Farewell," the lead pilot of the flight squadron replied. After a slight pause, he continued, "It is our regret that we cannot journey on with you to campaign beyond the vault together. May Major Qing and all of you remain as invincible as ever, and return in victory." "If fortune smiles, we hope we will be the ones to welcome you back," he added at the end. "Yes, absolutely! We hope they'll let us come back for you!" The other pilots in the squadron chimed in one after another. "Thank you," Han Qingyu answered. Wen Jifei said, "Have a safe flight back." Amid the goodbyes, the Air Force fighters voluntarily decelerated, and the distance between them gradually widened. CA117 gave a sweeping Z-shaped yaw of its tail as a final parting salute, then accelerated straight toward the Moon. Those Air Force jets would return beneath the vault of humanity, to await their next ascent into the skies. "It suddenly occurred to me—there was a talk before that since research and manufacturing of source energy engines might be hopeless for decades, Azure was studying plans to retrofit ordinary human fighter jets with small dead iron ramming prows." When the Air Force fighter squadron had completely disappeared from visual range, Yang Qingbai suddenly spoke up, mentioning this. "What would they use them for?" Rusty Sister asked, perplexed. "To ram things, obviously!" Pegmont blurted out thoughtlessly from the side. "They'd definitely use them to crash into Great Spike ships. If they put ramming prows on them, what else would they do?" "Ram your pink head! With the disparity in speed and thrust between the two sides, how could ordinary human fighters ever ram a Great Spike ship?" Rusty Sister snapped back bluntly. Pegmont was left momentarily speechless. "One or two ships certainly couldn't, but what if there were hundreds or thousands of them?" Yang Qingbai picked up the thread, his voice suddenly growing slightly subdued. "If the situation comes down to hundreds or thousands of Great Spike ships plunging in a dense swarm straight toward the Blue Star's zenith, our fighters wouldn't need superior speed or power to pursue and ram them. All they would need to do is charge full throttle straight into the zenith to intercept them head-on." With just a couple of sentences, Yang Qingbai painted a desperate, tragic future scene for everyone in the cabin. If that vision truly came to pass, it might unfold in the very sky they were leaving behind right now. And such ramming attacks might not achieve much effect. At the very least, they could never serve as a primary force capable of halting the Great Spike fleet's advance toward landing on the Blue Star. Yet if things truly reached that point, what considerations of effectiveness would even matter anymore? By then, it would simply be the arrival of doomsday for humanity. Silence. After a silence that lasted more than ten minutes, "Let's hope it never comes to that," Wen Jifei said in a low voice. In truth, they knew better than countless others that such a stage was practically right before their eyes. Han Qingyu: "Yeah." *Beep-beep, beep-beep.* The red light on the ship's communications console began to flash. A communication request from Azure officialdom arriving at this moment felt somewhat ill-timed. Because this was not the set time for the daily battle report, which meant it was highly probable that a major emergency had arisen on the lunar battlefield. And subjectively speaking, in everyone's expectations, the likelihood of good news was very slim. Sure enough, when Yang Qingbai chose to connect, "Report! Urgent battlefield intelligence from Azure!" The Azure communications officer's voice came through with frantic urgency: "At approximately 3:15 AM today, Huaxia time, that suspected hostile craft near the Moon appeared once again. "Faced with pursuit from our warships, someone exited the airlock to engage in combat. Their combat strength was exceptionally formidable. Moving with complete ease in the vacuum of space, they swiftly shot down three of our light vessels before disappearing once more. "According to the reports, the individual who exited the craft had a human physique. It shouldn't be Puta'er." Inside the cabin of CA117, several people quickly exchanged glances. Then, Wen Jifei asked, "Man or woman?" "There is no clear information regarding that. Apparently, they couldn't see clearly," the Azure communications officer answered. "What about the size of the ship?" Wen Jifei pressed. "Medium-sized. Its overall design is rather peculiar. It appears to be a modified Great Spike craft as well, but the modification methods and craftsmanship aren't in our style," the officer continued. "Understood. If there is any further news, report it to us as soon as possible." Wen Jifei ended the call, spun his head around sharply, and looked at the others—especially Han Qingyu. "Ne?" Rusty Sister was the first to speak the name. "Most likely." The one who appeared near the Moon according to the intel ought to be Ne—or rather Alice, or to put it more accurately, Nikola. Regarding that entity housing three consciousnesses in one body, humanity currently did not know much, but they knew a little. At the very least, they knew it was a physical body named Alice, and the one currently dominating her was a former high-tier Great Spike named Nikola. Even so, out of a lingering subjective familiarity, Azure officialdom still preferred to refer to her as: Ne. As for Han Qingyu and the others, from jokes they had made in the past, they actually had a somewhat awkward, specific term for her: "Sister-in-law." Because the original owner of that physical body, that Miss Alice, was the very first person Young Master Shiheng had ever devotedly fallen for in his life—his beloved. Which made her the sister-in-law to this core circle of Stream Blades.