"Understood! Execute the final correction! Shut down all active sources! Enter absolute silence!"

Old Zhao answered without the slightest hesitation. Inside the cockpit, he decisively turned off all non-essential electronic devices, even adjusting the backlight of the tactical screen to its lowest setting.

The entire cockpit instantly fell into near-absolute darkness and silence, with only a few key indicator lights on the instrument panel emitting a faint glow.

The fighter jets, like shadows blending into the night, completely disappeared into the spectrum of active electromagnetic radiation.

On the main screen of the control tower, the green dot signal representing "Shadow" instantly changed from "Sky Curtain-1" to an extremely faint gray phantom representing "stealth/silence". Its position and status information depended entirely on the passive positioning and data link transmission of the Galaxy satellite.

"Altitude...! Target altitude reached!"

"The speed has stabilized at Mach 2.3!"

"'Shadow' signal disappeared from ground radar screens! Passive monitoring found no abnormal radiation!"

Reports kept coming in. At this moment, the "shadow" was like a real ghost, hovering in the thin atmosphere at a depth of meters.

Below, the US F-15 escort aircraft patrolled in the airspace; higher up, the SR-71 "Blackbird" reached a despairing altitude of 1.5 meters.

"The 'Falcon' formation is expected to enter the ambush zone in 1 minute and 30 seconds!" The tactical staff officer's voice trembled with excitement.

Mingzhao's gaze was fixed on the situation map.

Three red dots representing the "Falcon" formation are rapidly approaching the markers representing the ambush zone.

The gray phantom representing "Shadow" had already positioned itself slightly below and to the side of the opponent's flight path, like a deadly stinger lurking in the path of a deep-sea behemoth.

"Engine compartment rear temperature: T3 point is approaching the red critical point! T5 point has exceeded the red critical point!" The technician's report sounded like a death knell.

In the upper right corner of the screen, several temperature curves surged upwards like runaway horses, while a glaring red warning sign flashed incessantly!

That fragile "temporary armor" is on the verge of collapse under the dual scorching heat of continuous high-speed friction and engine compartment temperature!

Everyone in the control tower was on tenterhooks.

Cold sweat beaded on Zhang Meng's forehead. Wang Tiezhu closed his eyes.

Su Xuan's fingernails dug into his flesh.

Jiang Feng placed his hand on the handle of the gun at his waist.

Mingzhao's eyes remained unwavering, filled only with a cold, resolute determination.

She connected to the "Shadow's" encrypted channel, her voice as steady as ancient ice:

"Sky Curtain, target has entered the hunting grounds. Maintain absolute silence and posture. Execute the 'close-up' reconnaissance plan. Countdown... Begin."

Ten thousand meters in the air, inside the deathly silent cockpit, Lao Zhao's breathing became unusually heavy under his oxygen mask.

He could clearly hear the thunderous roar of his heart pounding under the anti-G suit.

He peered through the narrow canopy at the deep, boundless, dark blue sky.

In the distance, at the edge of his vision, three tiny points of light, flashing navigation lights, were tearing through the thin clouds at an alarming speed, like three shooting stars from hell rushing toward him!

Altitude, speed, distance... all converged wildly under the cold calculations of the Milky Way and the precise predictions of Mingzhao!

Old Zhao's finger gently rested on the start button of the reconnaissance pod.

The cold touch traveled through his flight gloves. He took a deep breath, suppressing the last vestiges of agitation in his lungs. His eyes instantly sharpened like a hawk before its prey, locking onto the F-15 at the front of the three approaching, growing larger "meteors," where the "vulture" insignia was faintly visible!

A silent thunderclap is already brewing, ready to erupt, high above the clouds!