The "Shadow" engine compartment rear cover was disassembled again.
Under Mingzhao's personal guidance, the most experienced technicians carefully installed the damping plates, which were covered with "temporary armor," into their designated positions.
The torque of each bolt was rigorously calibrated. Mingzhao held a highly sensitive vibration detector and repeatedly scanned the installed area to confirm that no new stress points or micro-deformations had been introduced due to the installation.
Jiang Feng was in charge of the "Iron Curtain" operation for the entire base.
Counter-surveillance shielding is activated at maximum power, and all non-essential communications are silenced. Personnel access is subject to the strictest controls, and suspicious targets are closely monitored.
He was like a lurking cheetah, ensuring that the "ghost's" existence and status were not detected by any electronic or human reconnaissance means before the "falcon" arrived.
The intelligence agencies were operating at full capacity, using the Galaxy satellite and all available listening resources to comb through every inch of electromagnetic waves in the sky like a fine-toothed comb, trying to capture more precise takeoff times and flight path details for Operation Falcon.
Time slipped away second by second, like sand about to run out in an hourglass.
We are getting closer to the estimated 72-hour window.
Finally, 24 hours before Operation Falcon was scheduled to begin, a top-secret, encrypted instruction from the highest levels arrived at the base:
"Shadow Strike Permission Issued! Mission Code: Sky Curtain! Objective: Defend dignity, deter powerful enemies! Spare no expense, strive for complete success!"
Below the instruction was the powerful signature of the top leader.
The atmosphere at the base instantly became extremely tense, like a fully drawn bowstring.
"Operation Sky Curtain, countdown begins!" Zhang Meng's voice rang out over the base's loudspeaker, calm yet containing a volcanic force. "On your marks! For 'Shadow,' for victory!"
The massive hangar doors slowly opened. The "Shadow," having completed its final checks, was slowly pushed out.
The dark gray fuselage was bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, and its streamlined silhouette appeared even more mysterious and deadly in the twilight.
Beneath its belly, instead of weapons, lies a specially designed high-definition camera reconnaissance pod. Its mission is to capture images of the enemy's terrified faces.
Old Zhao, wearing a brand-new anti-G suit, walked towards his car.
His steps were steady and powerful, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, showing no fear, only boiling fighting spirit and a resolute determination to avenge his comrades.
He walked up to Mingzhao and solemnly saluted him.
Mingzhao looked at him without saying anything more, and simply handed him a small, tightly sealed USB drive: "Extreme parameter package. If uncontrollable thermal signals or abnormal vibrations are encountered during the mission, execute the contingency plan according to the priority sequence."
"Understood!" Old Zhao solemnly accepted it, as if accepting a belief in certain victory.
Mingzhao's gaze passed over Lao Zhao and landed on the newly installed area covered with a gray-black ablation coating at the rear of the "Shadow" engine compartment.
In the setting sun, that area appeared slightly rougher compared to the other smooth skin, like an unhealed scar.
She knew better than anyone how long this "temporary armor" could withstand the high temperatures generated by the extreme high-speed friction of the SR-71, which was a huge unknown.
Beneath that coating, the material's degradation process continues silently, like a countdown hourglass.
She turned her gaze away, looked at Old Zhao, and said only two words: "Alive."
Old Zhao grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth: "Don't worry! I still want to see 'Vulture's' terrified face!"
He turned around, nimbly climbed the gangway, and slipped into the cabin.
The hatch slowly closed, obscuring Old Zhao's resolute figure. The low growl of the engine starting echoed in the twilight, carrying a suppressed, predatory power.
The "Shadow" glided to the end of the runway, its dark gray silhouette blending into the increasingly dense night.
Inside the control tower, Mingzhao sat at the main control desk, the screen in front of her lit up, divided into satellite cloud images, real-time weather, fighter jet status, and most importantly, a wide-area situation map transmitted by the "Galaxy" satellite. Zhang Meng, Jiang Feng, Su Xuan, and Wang Tiezhu stood solemnly behind her, their eyes fixed on the screen.
Over the radio, Lao Zhao's steady voice confirmed: "'Sky Curtain' is ready and requesting takeoff."
Mingzhao took a deep breath, and her clear, cold voice rang out distinctly in the silent tower:
"'Sky Curtain,' take off! Follow the predetermined route and execute a silent stealth maneuver! Target airspace: Above the sky, beside a formidable enemy!"
The black "ghost" unleashed a deep, furious roar, tearing through the night like a drawn shadow blade, piercing the perilous, murderous heights of ten thousand meters.
Its goal is not destruction, but to announce the arrival of a new era in the most shocking way and to crush the enemy's arrogance underfoot.
Outside the tower's enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, the night sky was as deep as ink, and the stars were hidden.
Only the two eerie blue flames from the "Shadow" exhaust nozzles, like cold road signs leading to an unknown battlefield, quickly disappeared into the dark horizon.
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