Ch5: Master Among The Civilians

I knew that everyone who came here to fly their models was well aware of the nearby military management area. We had always maintained a peaceful and respectful relationship with them.

None of us had any interest in spying on military secrets. We didn't even care what the buildings looked like. We just wanted to enjoy our hobby.

We always made sure to keep a reasonable distance while flying. Everyone in our group had proper licenses for aeromodels and drones, making our activities completely legal. The soldiers stationed in the military zone barely paid us any attention.

Most importantly, our models were real hobby-grade—limited by line-of-sight flying. There was no way any of us could push them beyond that limit like Mo Yichen just did.

But then again... what is human madness? I had always been careful and followed the rules, but under the rush of adrenaline, Mo Yichen completely let loose.

The thought in his head was simple: How can I make this look as flashy as possible? I spent half a million on this thing—might as well show off.

Meanwhile, Tian Lei was gripping the remote control, desperately trying to regain control of the model. Even though the signal had been lost, he still twitched the joystick instinctively, hoping for a response. But it was useless.

Yet, he couldn't back down now—not in front of Mo Weiming.

---

On the other side, deep within the equipment rooms of the 78835 Special Air Defense Company, a young soldier around twenty-four years old grinned widely.

"Heh, I've had my eyes on you for a while. Finally, you're mine!"

"Dafeng, did you take control?" Another soldier swiveled his chair and leaned over.

"Of course! A civilian drone like this is nothing. Even if an American Global Hawk flew over me, I could take control of that too."

Lou Dafeng was one of the technicians here, responsible for ensuring that any aircraft—civilian or otherwise—flying within range could be intercepted and either controlled or, if necessary, eliminated.

Though Liang City was near the sea, it wasn't quite a coastal town like Zhoushao. Even so, China's coastline often saw drone incursions from foreign forces. Dafeng had long wanted to be transferred to the frontlines, dreaming of making a name for himself by dealing with real threats. But every year, his application disappeared into the void.

So, in his boredom, he found amusement in monitoring the local aeromodeling enthusiasts.

And today, finally, one drone strayed too far. Hacking into a civilian-grade drone's system was laughably easy. Its firewall barely lasted a few seconds before he cracked through, seizing full control.

"Don't brag," the other soldier chuckled. "If a real Global Hawk flew by, let's see if you could even detect it."

"Ah, don't rush to land it yet. Let me play with it for a bit first."

For about three minutes, the drone looped around the air defense perimeter. Then, without warning, its tail engine stopped.

Lou Dafeng shoved Qiu Han aside. "Damn it. It's out of fuel. I'll use our drone landing pad to bring it down."

---

Back on our end, Fang Hao was staring at the screen. "Looks like we lost control. See this?" He pointed to the fuel gauge, which was flashing red. "No fuel left."

"They're preparing to land it... wait, what the hell?! Is that a military drone platform extending into the sky?" Someone gasped in disbelief.

A few guys turned to Mo Yichen with teasing smiles. "Yichen, your sacrifice was worth it. Without you, we'd never have gotten a glimpse inside this military zone."

Even I was stunned. China's military technology was almost always classified. Even when new weapons were revealed, they were usually announced as if by an old rich man casually pulling out treasures: Oh, by the way, we've developed this new tech that fills a critical gap in our country's defenses...

It was a recurring theme. The world only realized what China had when it was too late to catch up.

Then—pop! The screen went dark.

"The drone's entered a signal-jamming zone,"

Ben Yuan muttered.

Mo Yichen was unfazed. "No worries, I have connections. I donated a thousand air conditioners to the military last Army Day. I'll just call them up."

His father had served in the army, and Yichen had grown up idolizing soldiers. Even after founding his company, he continued visiting military bases every year.

Dialing a number from his phonebook, he quickly explained the situation. "Thanks, Commander Li. I'll visit again soon." Hanging up, he turned to us with a grin. "We'll get it back."

---

Meanwhile, in the air defense duty room, Company Commander Wu Wen sprinted inside.

"What the hell is going on? Lou Dafeng, what did you do?"

Wu Wen had mixed feelings about Lou Dafeng. He appreciated the soldier's skill and technical brilliance, which had earned him plenty of recognition. But at the same time, he constantly wanted to lock the guy up in solitary confinement for being a troublemaker.

"Company Commander, it wasn't me! The drone crossed the perimeter. I was just following protocol—"

"Shut it. Just return the damn thing before this turns into a bigger mess." Wu Wen cut him off. "I know you too well. You just wanted to show off again."

Lou Dafeng scratched his head, embarrassed. "Well... I would, but it's out of fuel."

He glanced back at the screen, then suddenly froze. His face contorted in disbelief.

"No... this doesn't make sense."

Wu Wen was about to scold him again, but he stopped short when he saw the flight data.

Something was off.

Aircraft don't just descend in a straight line. Even drones need to gradually step down their altitude, adjusting their speed accordingly. But this drone's trajectory was smooth—too smooth.

The landing platform usually moved like a spinning carousel, adjusting dynamically. But now, it wasn't making any major adjustments at all.

"This isn't normal," Lou Dafeng muttered. "The drone is adjusting its own landing angle." He pointed at a graph on the screen. "Our landing platform refreshes its tracking data every 0.78 seconds. Right now, it's not making any corrections because the drone is already compensating perfectly."

He watched as the numbers shifted slightly.

"There! It just corrected again. Horizontally and vertically—it's dead-on perfect!" His eyes gleamed with excitement. "Company Commander, this is new tech! There's a master out there among the civilians!"