Chapter Forty: Sudden Accident—The Plane Crash

"Clearly, everyone seems rather listless this early in the morning!" Observing the assembled team, most of whom still blinked sleepily, Mingchuan made a sarcastic remark.

"More than just that, isn't it? Has Joey not woken up yet? Hey! Joey, are you dozing off again?" Enert, though somewhat more energetic, still sported the unmistakable marks of fatigue beneath his eyes.

"Heh, donuts..." Joey mumbled, drooling as she muttered about donuts—no doubt still feasting on them in her dreams.

"Forget it, let’s just leave Joey behind for now. As for the rest of you, get ready to board the aircraft. Our objective this time is to strike directly at the heart—an assault on the Fortress of the Holy Angel!"

The Fortress of the Holy Angel had been built before the Satanic War, during the standoff between the Arab United Nations and the Jewish State of Israel. It was a colossal stronghold, its scale rivaling that of an entire city district. Yet its defenses were truly unparalleled—it could even withstand the detonation of the largest nuclear warheads known. Moreover, with its fully automated tri-service defense systems by land, sea, and air, the only way to breach it was to infiltrate a special operations team. And that very special force was the coalition at hand.

"Target is five kilometers out, approaching destination!"

"Lower altitude, activate radar-jamming systems, and cut all communications until arrival."

"Understood, roger that!"

The pilots of the four helicopters reminded each other as they dropped lower, but their movement instead caught the attention of the Satanic forces below.

"Don’t be afraid. Relax, there’s no way they can reach us up here." Yet, just as the leader of the Wind Team finished speaking, a giant below grabbed a nearby 'Venom' and hurled it skyward. As 'Venom' rose to the altitude of the helicopters, it spewed forth a torrent of corrosive acid from its body.

"'Wind Hawk' is going down!" The pilot of the Flame Hawk reactivated communications. Seeing the Wind Team’s predicament, Mingchuan quickly readied his combat suit.

"I’ll go help—disengaging!" No sooner had he finished speaking than Mingchuan leapt from a hundred meters above ground. As he neared the earth, he picked out a giant to cushion his fall, dispatching it with his greatsword as he landed.

"Kolt, what do you think you’re doing?"

"Rescuing our comrades. I’m the deputy leader—my call. Winchester, I’m leaving the rest to you!" Even before he finished, Kolt leapt after Mingchuan.

"Winchester, what should we do?" Thomson inquired.

"They’re the best at close combat—let them handle it. We’ll proceed with the mission. This is Thunder Hawk, acting commander of the Thunder Team, reporting to Eagle HQ: Wind Team has suffered a crash, requesting immediate reinforcements. Over!"

Meanwhile, Mingchuan, having parachuted down without a chute, caught his breath and advanced slowly toward the crash site, unchallenged by any Satanic minion. He soon arrived.

"Enert, Bart, are you alright?" Seeing the two still fighting valiantly, Mingchuan was somewhat reassured.

"We're holding on, but the three inside are all unconscious. Since they hadn’t donned their armor like we did, their injuries are much worse."

Hearing this, Mingchuan felt a surge of unease. At that moment, Kolt arrived on a quad bike.

"Need a hand?" Kolt, even as he dismounted, couldn’t resist showing off.

"Of course. There’s a medical kit onboard—tend to their wounds quickly to prevent further blood loss." Mingchuan gave the order directly. Kolt helped get the injured out of the wreckage, applied medicine, bandaged their wounds, and had them suit up in their armor to stabilize any fractures.

"Calling Eagle HQ, this is the acting leader of Wind and Thunder Teams at the crash site. Three members are unconscious, requesting support!"

"Eagle HQ here. Reinforcements will arrive in twenty minutes—find cover. Repeat, reinforcements will reach you in twenty minutes—seek cover."

Kolt said, "There’s an abandoned hospital nearby. Let’s head there—at the very least, there’ll be medicine for the wounded."

"Understood—everyone, withdraw and bring the injured!"

With that, Mingchuan tossed a black hole grenade, and under the cover of the miniature singularity, they pressed on toward the stronghold...

-- Author’s Note --

At last, winter break has arrived, and I, the Knight, can finally update properly. But since I’m now in high school, I’ll have about twenty-one days—three weeks—which should mean about nine chapters! I hope I have enough drafts saved up~~