Chapter 98: The Night Is Dark and the Wind Is High

The night sky at ten thousand meters—that is, above the cumulus clouds and below the ozone layer.

It seemed as if it existed in another vast dimensional space, pitch black all around, with the howling gale at high altitudes never ceasing.

A transport fighter jet had been severely destroyed, its fuselage blazing into a blazing fireball, plummeting downward like a miniature sun. Just a short distance away to the side, unnoticed by anyone, another single-pilot fighter jet was losing control, rotating with its nose pointing earthward, accelerating towards the clouds and ground below.

“Successfully destroyed the target transport fighter jet!”

“Continue spiraling to search and confirm if any enemy has been forced to bail out and jump.”

“Report, report, this is Purple Lightning-02… ah!”

A sudden scream of agony echoed loudly on the communication channel shared by the fighter jet squadron. The next moment, it faded into complete silence.

“What happened to the 02 pilot? What’s going on over there?” The captain of the elite fighter squadron frowned and asked into the intercom: “Reply if you hear this! 02, please reply immediately!”

*Rustle…*

The 02 pilot who had been ejected from the cockpit had no way to respond. On the connected channel, the chaotic wind noise from the walkie-talkie could vaguely be heard coming from that direction.

“Captain, the signal of the 02 fighter jet has disappeared from the detection instruments. It’s estimated…” One pilot spoke up, causing a layer of gloom to fill the hearts of the other five pilots flying single-pilot fighters, including the captain who was a top ace pilot.

The captain paused, then raised his voice: “Heighten your vigilance! Confirm if there are any other enemy fighter jets in the surrounding airspace besides the destroyed one!”

As soon as his voice sounded on the channel, a sudden explosion boomed in the high altitude nearby. Another single-pilot fighter jet belonging to the companion was mysteriously damaged, trailing thick smoke and flames, and crashed down to land.

“06 fighter jet?!” The captain exclaimed in shock. The damaged fighter jet was just right above his side, plummeting straight down, nearly colliding with his own.

Fortunately, he was also a top pilot in the Japanese Air Force. He controlled the jet to speed up and bank, beautifully evading this catastrophe.

“Captain! The jet’s rear wing received some unknown attack. At this altitude, I’m afraid I’m going to be done for.” The 06 pilot’s voice sounded on the communication channel, getting weaker and weaker: “Wait, I think I see something…”

He saw something before dying, but before he could say more, the communication with the channel was cut off.

“Have you detected any enemy fighter jets? What is going on here?!” The captain roared angrily in a low voice, using this to vent the fear in his heart. He had lost two fighter jets in a row, but still didn’t know who the enemy was or where they were.

As a pilot for over a decade, this was the first time he had encountered such bizarre things at ten thousand meters high.

“No traces of enemy fighter jets detected.”

“I’m the same here. It’s too weird.”

“What should we do, captain?”

Listening to the replies from the remaining pilots coming in one after another, the captain said in a deep voice: “Form up, let’s gather a bit closer and descend our flight altitude a little.”

“Yes!”

The five fighters reacted quickly and formed a similar square formation in the high altitude, with one in the middle, parallelly descending in height.

*Boom…*

After the fighter jets collectively descended several thousand meters, the clouds below flashed with lightning, and occasionally, flashing purple arcs illuminated the night sky.

“Cumulonimbus clouds, what bad luck. It’s a bit off tonight. Since we’ve successfully destroyed the target transport fighter jet, why don’t we turn back to the base?”

One member spoke with a hesitant and uneasy voice, suggesting a retreat.

The other pilots remained silent. The captain’s heart moved slightly, thinking of defaulting to this proposal.

At that moment, one member called out in horror: “Captain! There’s something on your jet!”

This bizarre statement made everyone subconsciously look towards the fighter jet in the middle of the flight formation.

Just then, a massive thunderbolt flashed through the clouds below, and in the blink of an eye, the light illuminated the fighter jet’s fuselage brightly.

There, behind the single-pilot fighter jet, a young man in black combat attire was crouched, with both claws embedded into the steel fuselage of the aircraft, firmly clinging to it.

The gale blowing in his face sent his blonde hair flying high. His body under the tight black night combat suit was like steel, looking like a humanoid demon.

“This is impossible?!”

“Captain, there’s someone on your fighter jet!”

“It must be a monster, how could it be a person!”

The other pilots were shocked beyond words. The captain’s body went cold with fear. He gritted his teeth and turned his head to look. At this time, Kyle, with the strong wind pressure, had crawled to the cockpit where there was just enough space for one person.

Kyle’s face was expressionless. His left hand with sharp claws dug into the outer shell of the aircraft to steady his body. His right fist, protected by a vibranium arm guard, was raised, charging up, and then slammed heavily onto the protective glass.

Under the captain’s wide-eyed stare, the thickened glass was covered with spiderweb-like cracks centered on the fist impact from the outside inward.

“Please, don’t!” The captain’s face was deathly pale inside the cockpit. Kyle ignored his plea and delivered another punch to the already damaged glass.

The terrifying impact force of over a ton, along with the shattered glass, exploded inward and sprayed. One piece of shrapnel directly flew into the captain’s wide-open eye socket, killing him on the spot.

“Third one.” Kyle silently thought, stood up arrogantly on the fighter jet, and scanned the remaining four fighter jets around him with a steady breath.

Tit for tat!

Since you’ve sent yourselves to the door, none of you should be allowed to escape!

Losing control of the pilot, the fighter jet he was on tilted slightly and plummeted down like the previous damaged ones.

Kyle slightly crouched with his feet, leaped forward in advance, jumping towards the single-pilot fighter jet at the parallel height behind.

His astonishing jumping ability allowed him to leap out more than ten meters, and he struck the other fighter jet flying towards him head-on with his right elbow.

This monstrous, desperate non-human attack took effect with a simple blow. The windshield shattered, and the pilot, along with the jet, lost control and flew downward towards the thunderclouds.

Kyle let out a painful hum. His body was also thrown away by the shock, his Venom combat suit overflowing with red blood. He barely opened the gliding wing and floated stably in the high altitude.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The self-healing factor worked quickly in his body, suppressing the wound while continuously healing the injuries to his body surface and internal organs.

In just a few seconds, the injuries that weren’t considered severe were completely healed!

There are still three!

Kyle’s face was cold and indifferent. With his dark wings edged with blood, he sprinted to close the distance to the nearest remaining fighter jet.

The pilots in those jets saw that in the blink of an eye, the captain and his two companion jets were destroyed by a humanoid monster. They didn’t dare to linger, and hurriedly pulled up to take off.

Kyle raised his eyes, looking at the fighter jet that had climbed up more than twenty meters in the distance ahead. His eyes narrowed slightly.

The Venom gliding mode, even in dive, could reach supersonic speeds. The only drawback was that it couldn’t actively increase altitude. This was the biggest difference between flying and gliding.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t climb in height in the air.

Kyle maintained the gliding state, his rear wings tightly pressed against his back, his feet bent in preparation, then he pushed off the air underneath with force—

A dark red energy tide erupted beneath his feet, causing a series of white air clusters to leave behind in place. He sprinted upwards and crossed nearly thirty meters into the high altitude.

Aerial sprint!