Chapter 799: The Underdog’s Counterattack

Miyazawa Mu was completely at a loss for words. The moment the fighter jet’s engine roared to life, he felt a wave of heart-pounding anxiety wash over him, followed by an overwhelming force that pressed down, making it feel like a heavy stone was weighing on his chest, even making breathing difficult.

Is this the overload of a fighter jet?

How terrifying!

Even without any aviation experience, Miyazawa Mu finally grasped why he had to wear such a clumsy “suit” (perhaps he hadn’t associated it with the pressure suit yet).

He couldn’t imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t been wearing this strange outfit that constantly provided various points of restraint. Maybe he would have coughed up blood on the spot.

The pilot in the front seat wore something completely different, appearing both capable and heavy in an oddly contrasting way, certainly not resembling a pressure suit either.

What amazed Miyazawa Mu even more was that despite the distressing overload pressure, the pilot seemed completely unaffected, effortlessly gripping the control stick in one hand while manipulating the instruments with the other. If it were him, even dressed in such thick clothing, he wouldn’t be able to lift a hand.

What kind of extraordinary being was the pilot sent to bring him back home?

No wonder pilots must be meticulously selected; the physical fitness of ordinary people truly cannot handle a fighter jet.

At this moment, the speed of the "monstrous" soared to 3 Mach with the enhancement of the repulsion shield’s perfect aerodynamic shape, and the external temperature of the shield reached 300 degrees Celsius, enough to melt aluminum alloys. However, this extreme heat was isolated by the force field, and the surface temperature of the "monstrous" remained below 20 degrees Celsius.

The two F-2s from Misawa Base hadn’t even arrived at the highway near Akita Prefecture before they were left far behind.

By the time they reached the site where the Self-Defense Forces’ automated mechanical unit had been attacked, the perpetrator had already long since escaped.

The two F-2s could only helplessly witness the unidentified flying object vanish in the distance.

An OH-1 "Ninja" armed reconnaissance helicopter had been shot down, and including the fallen pilot, no one had even seen what kind of enemy they were up against.

…

When the Self-Defense Forces’ powered armor and robots arrived at the highway, they found they had completely lost their target. The surging waves of the sea nearby filled the air, and the highway lay empty—oh no, only the recently freed vehicles, long blocked, sped away.

The cars raced back to make up for lost time, casting bright white lights that illuminated a powered armor unit standing dumbly in the middle of the road.

"What is that? An alien?"

The gigantic humanoid constructs and the grotesque multi-legged monster by the roadside left the night bus driver dumbfounded, terrified to the point of panic. In his fluster, he crashed through the guardrail.

Inside the bus, the passengers shrieked in extreme fear, colliding head-on with the wave-dissipating dam nearby. With a massive bang, concrete fragments, various metal pieces, and countless shards of glass flew everywhere as sparks exploded, causing the severely impacted dam to tremble slightly.

"Damn it!"

Startled, the powered armor pilot cursed angrily. Nearby, human bodies, like discarded rag dolls, lay sprawled everywhere, while the robots and other arriving powered armor units stood there, stunned.

The severe consequences of not following traffic rules fell solely on the Self-Defense Forces. Even Amaterasu couldn’t help.

Now, it was certain that they couldn’t escape the wrath of their superiors. Better to quickly commit seppuku, they thought.

The few helicopters from the automated mechanical unit were ineffective against the X-8 "monstrous" variable wings fighter jet, which had already disappeared into the clouds. They were only suited for powerful land combat systems, but like tanks, their air defense capabilities were quite limited. Detecting and attacking a high-speed stealth fighter was nearly impossible.

What helicopters couldn’t do didn’t mean other types of aircraft were powerless.

"Detected infrared signal sources, suspected stealth fighter! Speed is incredibly fast, at least 2.5 Mach, unknown model, possibly a MiG-25! No other signal sources detected; suspected radio silence."

The RC-135 proved to be America’s most advanced strategic reconnaissance aircraft, with its onboard infrared detector quickly picking up anomalies.

Although Lin Mo was unaware that another RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft was watching from even further away, he deliberately maintained electromagnetic silence, even shutting down his satellite connection to minimize exposure, avoiding the watchful eyes of electronic reconnaissance aircraft.

"This is ‘Tsuno,’ we detected an unidentified infrared source! Altitude 5560 meters! Moving speed between 2.4 and 3 Mach, appears to be a stealth fighter, not an American aircraft, and we cannot identify the electronic signal features. We are actively tracking the target and need assistance."

The Japanese and American electronic reconnaissance aircraft almost simultaneously detected the tail flame from the "monstrous" after its engine had erupted, while Japan’s EP-3 "Aries" electronic reconnaissance aircraft lagged in performance and equipment, unable to collect precise data. However, it was still an essential node for Japan’s air combat command center.

The infrared heat source reaction completely failed to lock onto the target. The two electronic reconnaissance aircraft from Japan and America could only detect intermittent infrared signals. The high-altitude air currents and the low temperatures of the night quickly cooled the expanding hot air from the twin engines. With the gusts of wind, the once highly obvious infrared heat signals rapidly dimmed, like hot water poured into ice water, disappearing in an instant.

“The target has entered Japanese territory! It’s moving so fast, like it just jumped through space, it has already crossed the ?u Mountains and will soon appear over Sendai City!”

The technical officers responsible for infrared reconnaissance in the RC-135 and EP-3 crews exclaimed in unison.

Japan, as a small island nation, had no geographical advantages, much less any depth, as the speed of the X-8 “monstrous” soared. After reaching three Mach, it effortlessly pierced through Japanese airspace.

This was a fighter jet’s counterattack deep into enemy territory.

Suddenly, the piercing alarm sound echoed from the tall buildings across the now-dreaming Sendai City.

Many citizens, still awake or just roused from sleep, widened their eyes in confusion, unclear about what was happening.

“What’s going on? Why is it so loud?”

“It’s so noisy! It’s really too loud, I can’t sleep! I’m going to complain to the city hall, this is serious disturbance!”

“Whose prank is this? How despicable!”

“Hey! This is… this is…”

“It’s the air defense alarm! Air raid!”

“Air raid? Quick, call the police!”

“Where is the Self-Defense Forces? Our Self-Defense Forces!”

Finally, someone snapped back to reality; this wasn’t an exercise—it wasn’t a test for the air defense alarm system.

Chaos erupted on the streets as many citizens rushed out of their homes, glancing around in panic, looking up at the sky, but unsure of what to do.

The duty police, receiving orders from their superiors, rushed out from police stations at various street corners, leading more and more confused citizens toward the nearest air raid shelters.

Just like in their training, they entered the evacuation process in an orderly manner. Many community groups joined in, with only a small number of places experiencing robbery, assault, and vandalism.

More police officers, who were off duty at home, rushed to the streets after receiving calls from their colleagues, selflessly carrying out their duties. Despite the chaos, they demonstrated the discipline and obedience that the Japanese people had honed over centuries.

But this was just the beginning of the game.

The 7th Air Wing at the Hyakuri Base, located southeast of Ibaraki Prefecture, was the operational force for Tokyo’s defense tasks, possessing an excellent “5-minute standby” emergency response capability. It comprised 40 F-15 fighter jets from the 204th Squadron and the 305th Squadron, forming the aerial attack force. Upon receiving the alert from the airborne electronic reconnaissance aircraft, six F-15s from the 204th Squadron immediately took off to establish an air defense perimeter over Tokyo, and the 305th Squadron dispatched two F-15s armed with air-to-air missiles toward Sendai Prefecture to intercept the unidentified flying object. The entire Japanese air force base was being rapidly awakened and automatically entering combat readiness.

With countless training sessions under their belt, the “5-minute standby” 7th Air Wing achieved an impressive response speed; only 4 minutes and 15 seconds had passed from receiving the takeoff order to the fighter jets leaving the ground.

At this moment, however, Lin Mo activated the rarely used ground reconnaissance system of the “monstrous” variable wings fighter jet, carelessly scanning the geographic data below and capturing ultra-high-definition photographs with a small synthetic aperture laser radar that would not emit electromagnetic signals.

The speed of the “monstrous” quickly stabilized. As the aircraft adjusted to the increased speed, the immense G-forces rapidly eased off, and Miyazawa Mu finally had some strength to move a little, the earlier sensations leaving a lasting impression on him.

Amazed by the level of technology in the country, it felt like he was from the future. The enclosed cockpit display screen seemed almost real, presenting a nearly three-dimensional image. If he leaned closer to examine it, he might feel that the screen wasn’t just a thin layer, but a multi-layered structure creating a special 3D effect.

Behind the seat in front of him, a sizable gun made Miyazawa Mu gasp with astonishment. Just moments before, it was this weapon that had cleanly and decisively taken down an armed helicopter, resolving their urgent crisis.

Just as Miyazawa Mu curiously examined the electromagnetic railgun fixed in its slot, Lin Mo’s voice came from beside him.