Long-term salvation

Rod twisted his neck and reached out to stroke Pickman, who was lying on his lap. The cat yawned and then curled up into a ball, making a purring sound.

"Then let's go back," Fukari Rei said calmly. He controlled the Snowwind to turn the fuselage sideways, drawing a beautiful arc in the sky of Fiali. "The base has been a bit uneasy lately, Rod."

"I thought you didn't pay attention to these things."

As he spoke, Rhodes looked at the [Shiting Box] that was stacked on Pickman - as a "senior", Alona was teaching Xuefeng how to get along with Shenjing Ling, including but not limited to spying, eavesdropping, bondage, basement... Rhodes was very worried about Shenjing Ling and his own future.

Fortunately, Prana was reliable and she cut off the connection between the two guys before the situation escalated further.

"One of Yukikaze's ground crew members has been replaced," Fukari Rei said, looking at the thin clouds ahead. "But I don't know the details..."

The two chatted intermittently, but Pickman, who was originally snoring, suddenly opened his eyes. He turned into a pool of shadow and moved up along Rhode's arm, meowing a few times in the latter's ear.

In an instant, the entire sky was covered with a flowing, sticky black, and colorful colors were spasmodically stuffed into it, like a thin strip of skin torn along the edge of a fingernail, and under this skin was a weird and hideous illusion that could never appear in reality!

Outside the fighter's canopy, this living darkness was like a giant beating heart. Every contraction and expansion squeezed out more indefinable, dazzling, colorful pus and blood, smearing it stickily on this boundless black canvas!

Gumb? Gumb!

This is the true side of Gam. On the planet Fiyali, whether it is the ground, the sky, or the forests and oceans, they are all just simulations created by Gam.

"What's going on?!" Shenjing Ling was shocked. He quickly turned the fuselage, trying to get Xuefeng away from this strange area, but it was obviously in vain. "Rod, did you see that?"

"I see. Just as we said before—Gam is also trying to capture us and understand us." Rhodes frowned and reached out to touch the black cat pattern on his ear. After receiving a reassuring cat meow, he focused on controlling the fighter plane and recording changes in the surrounding environment. "We need to prepare for ground combat. Load your pistols."

"Okay, I... no, I feel a little... dizzy..."

"Zero! Prepare for impact...Zero?"

Rhode leaned forward slightly and saw that Fukui Rei in the front seat had passed out. Xuefeng's system was also in chaos, with a large number of meaningless and chaotic characters being refreshed rapidly:

Things like the short essay on sexual repression obtained from Alona, ​​the notebook that Rapunzel secretly uploaded and saved, and other similar things... The originally pure onboard AI is rapidly being contaminated by that blue-haired idiot, but fortunately, no one has seen this shameful scene yet.

Wait, won't the central computer and the special warfare tactical computer also be contaminated in the future?!

Turning into 6 or something... Don't do that!!! We have to wait at least ten thousand years!

"What the hell was I thinking?"

A slap hit his face, and Rhodes quickly cleared his mind, popped out the small keyboard and started typing quickly, but after operating for a long time, the system did not recover.

"Tsk, emergency restart is useless. It's a bit troublesome."

Seeing this, Rhodes sighed and pressed the [Box of Shiting] against the edge of the cabin, letting Alona and Prana inside pick up manuscripts and shovels to start working - at least Xuefeng had to recover, otherwise he would really have to prepare to use Pickman to teleport back.

Suddenly, Xuefeng's engine lost power, and it slowly hovered and came to a stop in this strange space. With the fighter's fuselage as the center, Rhodes saw the surrounding scene being rapidly reorganized:

The straight runway, the massive hangars, and the other military buildings—even the sunlight was simulated. From the outside, this looked like a perfectly normal Fialli Air Force forward base, but within every shadow and every crack in the wall, there was a cold, pure malice.

A man in a thick military uniform walked out of the hangar, along with several well-dressed ground crew members. However, the uniformed man immediately noticed the slowly opening cockpit cover and Rhodes standing up from inside.

The two "humans" just stared at each other quietly, and time seemed to stand still at this moment.

False sunlight shines down, outlining real shadows.

"...Gum," Rhodes said softly, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes. "Now it seems that their decision to step into a cockroach nest was not a wise one."

"You are different from them," the man in military uniform said coldly. His voice was almost without any fluctuation, as stiff as the sound of some mechanical gears knocking out a machine. "You are not human."

Rhodes raised an eyebrow.

"That plane and that pilot must be left behind," the man in military uniform stepped forward, a faint yellow swamp-like liquid appearing beside him. "But you... you are not human, so who are you? In whose name are you speaking to us?"

"I speak to you in the name of the Lord of Mankind."

Rhode responded coldly—golden flames suddenly rose from the Snow Wind's body! The flames spread outward, burning the airport runway to ash, peeling off the despicable disguise, revealing the vibrant colors underneath—the power of the Hellion was slowly transmitted through the channel opened by its followers, opening its eyes in this space!

The entire false space was trembling, but soon stabilized, "cutting" the golden flames from the space itself, tearing an ugly gully between the area where Xuefeng was and the rest of the area, as if to abandon this place completely:

The oldest and strongest emotion of human beings is fear; and the oldest and strongest fear is the fear of the unknown. Faced with the great uncertainty of the unknown, Gam, who is not human, still reacted instinctively at this moment!

"That's the right decision. This unknown energy cannot be analyzed, nor can it be simply isolated by real matter... In the absence of combustible materials, it continues to burn." Inside the ravine, the man in military uniform, being torn by the golden flames, slowly lowered his head. He carefully observed the surging anger and continued in his indifferent tone:

"Your rank is only Lieutenant, not the Supreme Leader of Humanity. However, given the reality and definite threat, 'we' will record your words and mark them as the Lord of Humanity. Thus, 'we' will begin a dialogue with you."

"Let me confirm... the entire planet of Fiali," Rhode said calmly, sheathing his sword. "The present and future are all within your simulation, right? Observing humanity's emergence, development, construction, playing this game of chasing each other... until you discovered the intelligent AIs led by Xuefeng and the central computer."

"In human terms, the combination of carbon and silicon does intrigue us." The man in military uniform's body was already turning to charcoal in the flames, but his expression remained unchanged. "Therefore, we will continue to observe, including you, until we decide to stop."

The man's head was completely engulfed by the flames, turning into a twisted pile of charcoal and a wisp of green smoke that merged into the colorful surroundings.

This seemed to be some kind of signal. The entire space suddenly began to shrink, as if to completely trap Rhode here. Not only that, now even the fighter's fuselage began to be torn apart bit by bit by an unknown force. The flaps were torn off, and the vertical tail began to slowly bend at the top... In a few minutes, Rhode and Fukari Zero would really have to run out of this space with Yukikaze's computing core.

"This alien—or rather, abominable intelligence—is truly ruthless."

Seeing this, Rhode didn't waste any more time. He jumped back into the cabin, closed the hatch, turned around and said to Alona and Prana in the [Box of Shiting]:

“Have you saved all the videos?”

"It's been saved, Sensei, and has been passed on to Yukikaze-chan," Alona nodded, a serious expression on her face. "Yukikaze's systems have completed the reboot, but the condition of her machine is... not very good. You'd better leave here quickly."

What the hell is Yukikaze-chan? Is the way you AIs interact with each other so strange?

"Understood. Pickman, prepare to open the [door]. Let's try to break out of this space. After we get out, we can decide whether to teleport back. I've already figured out how to get some good stuff from those FAF guys. Let Abigail save some energy. She'll have to call my 'imperial guards' over soon. What would the Lord of Mankind do without his imperial guards?"

Rhode said, reaching out to touch the black cat pattern on his body, and then gently waved at the eyes engraved in the darkness. After making preparations, he took over the fighter's operating system and started the engine:

"How far are we from the Fialli base?"

"Based on the last coordinates before entering this space, six hundred kilometers in a straight line. The search and rescue team should be heading in this direction... As long as we can get outside, we can contact the central computer at the Fialli base."

The roar of the snow wind engine gradually became louder and louder, emitting a bright tail flame.

"That's all right," Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief. He looked down at the screen where Xuefeng was rapidly refreshing data and text, looking quite flustered. "Xuefeng, wake up your driver now—electric shock, seatbelt tightening, or some other method. Execute immediately!"

There was a flash of lightning, and Shenjing Ling suddenly opened his eyes.

The next second, he saw stars shining from the [door] illuminated by the golden sun.

The stars are crazy and weird, and the golden sun is hot and sacred.

Fukari Zero: "..."

His eyes rolled back and he fainted again.

Chapter 538: Escape NT (Not)

Fukagami Rei is falling in the dream world.

Falling, falling endlessly, the darkness in the abyss of dreams should have been pure, but at this moment, Shenjing Ling saw a dazzling light bursting out from below - it was a sun, and the vortex of flames on the surface was flowing like molten gold. Every surge of light was silent, but radiated a soul-shaking pressure.

Beyond the sun's radiance lay countless twinkling stars, seemingly following a trajectory that completely transcended the comprehension of Fukui Zero—of humanity—and beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. Yet, they didn't seem to be flickering or fading, but more like countless blinking, cold eyes.

Now, the eyes opened and the pupils turned into a [door].

Fukai Zero looked down and saw a fairy made of countless metal parts and countless cables and tubes. She was not beautiful, and even had a hint of horror. However, just looking at that sad face, Zero felt an unprecedented sense of peace... Dream, this was the "Snow Wind" in the dream.

Without further resistance, Fukui Zero allowed the metal fairy to carry him across the [door] and throw all these bizarre dreams into the darkness, the darkness of the real world.

The familiar electric shock pain woke Fukari Zero from his strange dream.

"!!!!!!"

Fukari Rei looked around and found that he was still inside Yukikaze's cabin, and that Yukikaze was struggling to maintain his flight attitude... But even so, the altitude continued to drop:

The damage Xuefeng suffered when preparing to escape was not small, at least it had affected the condition of the body itself.

"What...what's going on, Rhodes?" Shenjing Ling looked around and saw only the scarred Yukikaze, the broken wings that were barely flying, and the vertical tail that had completely disappeared. Everything that had happened made him feel heartbroken. "What just happened?!"

"Same as always. I'll tell you when I get back. Now, brace yourself. The enemy may be nearby."

Unlike the slightly flustered and confused Shenjing Ling, Rhodes did not let his guard down.

Just as he expected, Gam would obviously send fighter jets to pursue - the fake, false FFR-31MR/D fighter jet that had come into contact with Rhodes and Fukai Zero appeared behind Yukikaze again!

What does this mean? Does it mean that all this is still within its simulation and calculation?

This thing slowly hung behind the body of Xuefeng, as if watching a little white mouse crawling out of an experimental box.

Gumb wondered how Rhodes would react in this situation—jump out? Wait for a forced landing? Or fight with this broken machine?

Lord of Mankind, can your golden flames ignite this fake fighter plane?

Come on, come on, come on, show us more unknowns and more [knowledge]!

If you can't offer more and have lost your value, then die here.

"You underestimate humans too much and hate intelligence. This arrogance actually gives me an opportunity." Rhodes narrowed his eyes slightly. He lowered his right hand and placed it on the holster that had appeared at his waist. "Human heroes and will are beyond your comprehension... and neither am I—Pickman!"

The cat's shadow suddenly expanded in front of Rhodes, and the latter directly took out the blue rose, charged and fired at the shadow vortex that was shining with the light of stars!

The reinforced bullet, swathed in blazing golden flames, pierced through the briefly opened [door] and instantly struck the cockpit of the fake fighter! The spinning spiral inside was pierced straight through, and a fiery flame like a silk thread streaked through the fake fuselage—explosion!

The metal creation exploded in the sky, scattering brilliantly like fireworks, and then burning briefly and falling like a meteor.

With unexpected surprise.

"It looks like we've experienced something remarkable again, Rod."

Looking at the smoke and dust passing by the snow blower, Fukio Rei pursed his lips, trying to calm his chaotic heart:

"But Yukikaze's machine..."

"Yes, Yukikaze's condition is no longer sufficient for a successful return, and most importantly, it's running low on fuel," Rhodes sighed. He glanced at the crack in the canopy glass and said, "We need to continue descending and prepare for an emergency landing."

"..."

"You know, Yukikaze is still in your hands, and she won't die. Zero, don't get frustrated or despair about this," Rhodes said calmly. He adjusted the communication channel, preparing to contact the surrounding search and rescue teams, and ideally, call in the fighter fleet on combat readiness. "Yukikaze will definitely outlive you, but well, the future is uncertain."

“…Even though I’ve said it many times, I still have to say it.”

Fukui Rei took a deep breath and looked at the words of comfort that appeared on the screen in front of him. Why was it that these words were mixed with the question, "Lieutenant, are you seeing any strange text on the screen?" After earnestly replying "No," Fukui Rei said from the bottom of his heart:

"Thank you, Rod."

"No need to thank me. You still have millions and millions of working hours ahead of you, my ace pilot... Wait, if you include Pixy and Mikael, the three of you could form the Black Tri-Stars!"

Black Tri-Stars... what the hell is that?! It sounds like an elite monster that can be killed by a single White Devil.

Forcefully suppressing his urge to complain, Fukagami Zero rubbed his head helplessly. He felt that he had become a bit out of touch after hanging out with Rhodes for so long.

Fortunately, the anxious voice coming from the communication channel still made Zero feel a little relieved. It was the voice of Major James Polk, who was shouting:

"Zero! Rod! Are you two still alive?! I received a signal from Yukikaze..."

"We're still alive. Zero and I are both in good shape. We're planning to parachute out after descending to a certain altitude," Rhodes said. He took advantage of the snowy wind to turn the plane sideways to glance at the ground below, which was getting closer and closer. "If you had arrived any later, we would have had to prepare for wilderness survival."

After hearing Rhode's reply, the communication channel fell silent. When the crackling sound of electricity made people a little annoyed, Major Poker slowly said:

"You've been missing for two days—and you're just jumping now?"

Two days? Rhode raised his eyebrows. He turned his head and saw Zero also tilt his head slightly. He spoke on the communication channel:

"Jack, you can have the military police prepare. As of now, I don't think there's been any change in me, nor in Xuefeng."

"...I will now inform Brigadier General Lydia. You two should take the signal sticks and continue to mark the location."

Half an hour later.

When Rhodes and Fukai Zero were standing beside the crashed Yukikaze, the search and rescue team finally arrived, along with a drone named FRX-99 RAFE.

The drone drew tracks in the sky, with maneuverability that manned aircraft could not achieve, like a beautiful fairy soaring in the sky.

"Looks like it's going to be 'Cellular Networks and Drone Wars'."

Rhode whistled, looking at the FRX-99 circling above him. After watching it silently for a while, he patted the shoulder of Fukari Rei, who was holding the mobile Yukikaze. After letting his companion recover from his sorrow, he said with a hint of a smile:

"Have you thought about how to explain it to them when you get back? This isn't something that can be resolved with just one or two self-reviews."

"That's Rod's job. You definitely know what to say." Fukui Zero looked down at the mobile data terminal in his arms. The screen was refreshing the process of Yukikaze transferring data to the drone. He already knew that Yukikaze's body must be destroyed to prevent the intelligence from falling into Gam's hands.

During this period of time, or more accurately, since Rod took the back seat, everything that had happened had become incomprehensible to him, but this did not seem to be a bad thing.

"...Rod," Fukari Zero raised his head and looked at his mysterious companion beside him. He hesitated for a few seconds and continued, "Everything will be fine, right? Yukikaze, Jack, Special Warfare, Fialli Air Force, and humans."

"Of course, this is my promise to you as the savior of mankind!"

Hearing this reply, the corners of Fukari Zero's mouth curled up slightly. He stood up and whispered: