Chapter 127: Reckless Flying (Silver Alliance Leader Zhuo Xiao Extra Chapter 8/50)

“Mm.” Natalia nodded.

“She is one of Earth’s guardians. I share a deep bond with her. When the time is right, I will tell you and Elena. But for now, please forgive me for not being able to say more.”

“All right.” Deep down, Natalia was a very obedient and trustworthy woman. Today’s events had already shaken both her and Elena profoundly.

His extraordinariness, his mystery, and his strength had long been imprinted in the deepest recesses of their still young hearts, indelible and unshakable.

Thirteen or fourteen is a rebellious age for most girls.

For orphaned girls who had lost their parents, it was an age of premature maturity.

No matter how much they pretended to be strong, the void left by emotional loss was irreplaceable.

Beneath their tough exteriors lay a fragility and loneliness they never revealed to others.

The sudden appearance of Mei Mumu filled a certain emptiness in their souls quite perfectly.

Perhaps he was a brother, half a father, half a mentor.

They were somewhat rebellious, yet in a place like the Red House, that rebellion was buried deep within their hearts. However, when Mei clandestinely bestowed upon them a “mental shield” during the festival and they discovered the intelligence agency’s brainwashing efforts, that rebellion seemed to find a channel for release...

Just because they didn’t speak didn’t mean their anger did not exist.

After Gu Yi left, Mei Mumu returned to the pilot’s seat. In the pitch-black night, the plane continued performing daring maneuvers. Flying at high speed close to the mountain ridges was initially terrifying, but after Mei Mumu proved himself, the passengers aboard treated it with nonchalance.

Suddenly, the navigator woke up.

“Uh, what happened to me?”

“You nodded off,” Elena ‘kindly’ reminded him.

“Really? Sorry, please forgive me.” The navigator nearly cried. Falling asleep on duty was a capital offense. He hurriedly resumed his role and immediately noticed something was wrong. “Wait, Captain, our latitude seems off. Why are we flying southeast? Isn’t the homeland northwest?”

Mei Mumu turned his head, a faint, almost sinister smile on his face. “During the interrogation just now, we found out there’s actually a radar station where we are. Maybe an American electronic warfare plane passed by and suppressed the radar, so we barely slipped through. To get back safely, we have to fly this way.”

“Really?”

“Do you think I have any reason to lie to you, Second Lieutenant Basenov?”

The poor second lieutenant shuddered. He suddenly realized something but dared not speak.

Sleeping on duty meant dereliction of duty. Even if Mei Mumu shot him on the spot, the internal affairs department wouldn’t bat an eye.

But the navigation instruments’ data were glaringly wrong!

Suddenly, a series of flares lit up ahead. The experienced pilot immediately recognized the telltale signs of anti-aircraft machine gun fire.

“Have we been spotted?”

“No! They’re firing at American planes!” Since inheriting Valira’s template, Natalia seemed to have acquired the Blood Elf’s innate “dark vision.” The planes Mei Mumu needed the system to detect, she could see with her naked eye.

It was quite fascinating. Thanks to Howard Stark’s help, the Americans had long possessed the B-29. At this point in time, before the Battle of Midway even began, B-29s with an astounding combat radius of 3,100 kilometers were already swarming over the Japanese islands.

In this parallel universe, Japan’s Battle of Midway had become an effort to destroy the American bombers’ transit capability.

But Japan’s 75 to 100mm anti-aircraft guns were simply no match for the B-29 flying high and fast.

“It’s okay, as long as we don’t get too close...” The navigator hadn’t finished when he saw Mei Mumu recklessly bring the plane within the firing range of what had to be a 20mm anti-aircraft cannon.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” The B-24 shook under a barrage of hits.

“Ah! We’ve been hit!”

“Watch out!”

“Damage report! Damage report immediately!”

The plane erupted into chaos, but after a thorough check, it seemed there was no major damage.

The flight remained steady, with no loss of pressure or stall.

“Cockpit! Cockpit! Are there any hits or casualties?”

“The cockpit was hit; some instruments are broken, but it’s not serious!” Natalia replied.

Cold sweat dripped down the navigator’s face. As a veteran with over 1,000 hours of flight time, he knew well that a 20mm cannon hitting the cockpit at this altitude would normally be fatal.

What was strange was that two anti-aircraft shells had flown horizontally into the cockpit from the left and coincidentally destroyed the navigation instruments?

The navigator was stunned.

He thought of a possibility but dared not speak aloud.

Mei Mumu sneered. Without a global positioning system like GPS, planes relied on radio beacons and instrument navigation.

The secret mission B-24 had already gone radio silent, and in enemy territory, no one would assist with positioning. They had to rely on instruments.

And now, the navigation was broken?

Theoretically, they could only navigate by sight or fly blindly.

With crosswinds, heavy rain, and lightning outside... well, it was entirely reasonable for Mei to have flown off course.

So it was no surprise they accidentally ended up over Tokyo.

The navigator was flabbergasted but not foolish. He immediately recognized that the two powerful and beautiful female agents were Mei Mumu’s team. He made a decision: as long as the mission was completed, he would keep silent.

Joking around and offending such a formidable figure could mean death without knowing why.

Moreover, if he confessed, Mei would surely punish him for dereliction of duty. Either way, he was doomed.

And so, Mei Mumu piloted the B-24 into Tokyo.

In those days, no one practiced ultra-low altitude flying, especially not with a massive B-24. Low-level flight dated back to World War I, when wooden planes simply couldn’t fly fast.

A B-24 with a nearly 30-meter wingspan skimming the ground looked like it was about to crash.

This created a peculiar situation. At three in the morning, the Army Ministry, Navy Ministry, and the wartime joint headquarters—who had spent the entire day bickering—each received reports of an American plane approaching from the northwest of Tokyo.

The reports were chaotic: some said an American plane had crashed on the northwest outskirts, others claimed a large iron bird was flying in, and still others insisted it was an entire squadron.

Yet when several top officials called the radar stations, they were told the American planes had already left; there were no new targets on the radar.