A secret meeting in the basement of the KGB headquarters, where the agenda is still going on.

At the same moment, thousands of kilometers away on the South Asian subcontinent, the time was close to midnight.

At an air base in the southern suburbs of Rawalpindi in northern Pakistan, hidden in a reinforced hangar under a sandy package, the ground officer, Lieutenant Charlie, had already ordered his men to finish their work, and at this time he was stepping on the oil stains everywhere on the floor of the hangar to clean up the pipes and oil pumps. Fuel pilot Michael and his assistant had just finished refueling the black bird in the hangar, and although he needed to leave before the rest of the preparation according to the secrecy regulations, everyone in the hangar was busy now, and no one would pay attention to the rules of this dogma.

Leisurely lighting a cigarette and ignoring his assistant's surprised look, Michael stretched his somewhat tired muscles and sat down in a folding chair.

"Boss, is it really possible to smoke ...... here?"

"Oh," Michael squinted at him, leaning his neck and spitting out a not-so-round smoke ring, "No. ”

“……”

He didn't say anything more, and the assistant sat down next to him and looked at the other people who were busy in front of him, although he also knew that the black heavy oil that had just been poured into the huge body couldn't even be lit with a lighter, but he was smoking in the hangar on a top-secret mission......

Forget it, why do you care about those when you don't have a chief?

Like the assistant's boredom, Michael was not in a good mood at this time.

Since the outbreak of the war, Lieutenant Michael, who was far away from the flames of war, did not immediately go to the front, but stayed idle in the base in Karachi for more than a month; Just when he thought that he could end this period of service and return to China to enjoy the limited life in his hometown, he received a new order, and then he was on the task of maintaining a bullshit reconnaissance plane in this air base under the scorching wind and sun, and there was no outsider in sight.

Speaking of which, he always wondered why, since the above swore that it was impossible for the "Blackbird" to be shot down by those Russians; Then why do you have to go out in the middle of the night and return before dawn every time - why is it so difficult to get a good night's sleep for those who are waiting on these stinky fighters?

The smell of kerosene in the hangar and the beep of electronic equipment detection made people a little drowsy, Michael's eyelids that were already fighting, but they immediately opened their eyes because he saw Charlie and the others: he snuffed out the cigarette butt in his hand and threw it aside, he found that the pilot who entered the hangar today was not the same as before, the familiar little man Baltini did not appear at this time, and behind the commander of the reconnaissance team, Colonel James, was an unfamiliar new face. Is this guy new here?

"Are all the preparations ready?"

James's tone was still calm, and in the face of Michael and the others, who were a little confused, his questioning seemed to be more indifferent than usual.

"Uh- yes, sir! The engine start can be completed after five minutes. ”

"Good. Except for the power group personnel, everyone else left immediately! ”

By the time everyone left the hangar, the huge hangar door was already slowly opening, and the cold night breeze poured into the hangar with a hint of coolness, taking away some greasy kerosene smell. The command tractor dragged the black giant bird parked in the center of the hangar out of the hangar, and the high-powered engine starter was already waiting outside the hangar, and under the bright spotlights, there were only sporadic patrol guards around the empty airport runway in the distance.

Since it was not on the front line of the war, in order to facilitate the operation, there was no need for lighting control.

With the movement of starting the car, under the light of the miserable white light, the black giant bird that was dormant in the light and shadow gradually let out a steady roar, and the whistling sound from the surging air flow spread in all directions, as if the sleeping beast was wheezing when it gradually woke up. In the night, the fighter's black long body looked like a heavy sword with a gauntlet from the side, and the open pilot's cockpit canopy at the front of the fuselage seemed to be a little small and disproportionate.

"- Good luck! Have a great trip. ”

I saw the pilot, who was wearing a high-altitude flight suit and moving a little clumsily, climbing up the boarding ladder with a suitcase containing weapons and tools, and a figure with a huge helmet that looked like an astronaut; James had forgotten the identity of the person who had come by this time, and he just raised his hand mechanically to greet him, shouting out the take-off wish that could not be heard by the pilot in the louder and louder roar.

To his surprise, the pilot, who had already climbed into the cockpit, seemed to hear his roar, and turned around and waved his hand in his direction; If James' eyesight had been better, he might have been able to see the grim smile on the face of the man behind the glass through the coated helmet mask.

It was an indifferent smile; If you look closely at it for a moment, you may be able to see a hint of imperceptible mockery.

The canopy has been closed, the starter car has retracted its tube path and left, and at the top of the take-off runway, which is stained with slippery fuel, the huge black fighter has completed preparations for departure. The dim airport lights came on, and the man in the cockpit easily pressed the intercom to communicate with the tower, completely ignoring the reality that the rear cockpit was still empty; Unlike ordinary strategic reconnaissance operations, in the tasks that he personally arranged, one person was enough to deal with them.

Getting permission from the tower to take off, it was confirmed that the fighter's systems were working properly, and the man was able to maneuver freely in the slightly outdated cockpit of the "Blackbird", reading the information needed from the messy mechanical instruments. A moment later, with a bright long tail flame and a huge roar, the black figure pierced the sky, then gradually dimmed and then dissolved into the dark night sky.

……

Five minutes later, over the western territory of Pakistan.

In the dark night sky, the speed decreased to less than 700 kilometers, and the black giant bird controlled by the man maintained a certain angle of attack and slowly climbed, gradually approaching the target with flashing lights against the background of the sky. The take-off and climb process consumed a considerable amount of fuel in the plane, and in order to prepare enough fuel for the next long-distance high-speed voyage, he now needs to get an immediate post-lift replenishment from the KC-135 tanker.

“Ghost－One，Ghost－One； This is Windmill No. 1, please report your altitude and bearing. ”

"Ghost received; Altitude 21,000 (feet), azimuth 175, gauge speed 403 (knots); Request for refueling twelve units, done. ”

"The windmill received; With Ghost-One, you'll need to reduce your speed even further to three five zeros. ”

"Ghost received, done."

After the radio contact was completed, the "Blackbird" with an odd temper slowed down, approaching the KC-135 tanker plane with a hazy figure in the night from the tail, until the docking was completed and the refueling began, and the E-3A early warning aircraft patrolling the night sky behind still did not send a warning message, and it seemed that it was another calm night. After about eight minutes of flying with the slow and clumsy tanker, the fuel tank inside the plane was completely filled with JP-7 fuel, and the man controlled the "Blackbird" to disengage and steer, and then began to climb and accelerate before entering the intrusion reconnaissance.

At an initial altitude of 6,700 meters and a speed of Mach 0.6, the two turboram combined engines of the "Blackbird" began to gradually exert force, and the dazzling tail flame that dragged on gradually changed color, pushing the dark black body with a length of more than 30 meters to climb and accelerate.

With the continuous increase of speed, the "Blackbird" flying rapidly in the sky, under the skin of the body that is heated by friction with the air, the fuel leakage of the overall fuel tank gradually stops; The afterburner engine greedily swallowed air, the shock cone in the center of the intake tract receded, and the white sonic boom cloud suddenly enveloped the long body and then quickly disappeared. The "Blackbird", which is constantly increasing its speed, is already hundreds of kilometers away from the base at this time, and the southern border of the Red Giant is in sight, and it will soon start a thrilling journey with an uncertain future, penetrating the world's largest and tightest anti-aircraft fire network at an altitude of 27,000 meters and flying more than Mach 3!

For the first time, he piloted the "Blackbird" in a real combat mission to pierce the sky, and the man's control was completely indistinguishable. As a top-notch pilot, no matter what kind of aircraft he flies, although the "Blackbird" does not have the slightest air combat ability, but to spy on the secrets behind the Red Iron Curtain, there is nothing more suitable than it.

After several reconnaissance flights, the records returned were carefully organized, and now the man was almost certain of the land he had been searching for for a long time; All it takes is the convenience of "Blackbird" to go and take a peek in person, and you can confirm whether it is what he is looking for, and then decide on the next action.

Thinking back to the seemingly disorganized reconnaissance information, the vague memories were gradually awakening, and the man knew that he might have approached the key point in his plan, as long as the things that followed were a smooth lì—

Oh, even if it's not good for the time being, it doesn't matter.

Thinking back to the scene before and after the outbreak of the Great War, the man's movements in the fighter plane did not stop for a moment, but the face under the helmet mask showed a smug smile. Driven by the Western world under the leadership of the United States as a tool, this kind of thing can only be done by him. He's a genius, an unborn genius!

No—it would be better to describe it that way, men at this time have already regarded themselves as god-like beings.

The smoke of war burning all over the sky, and the millions of armies fighting against each other, seem to be chess pieces abandoned at will on the chessboard at this time; The man's thoughts gradually became clear, and he intuitively realized that the meaning of his next action would be significant, or that it would be decisive for him to achieve his most secret ultimate goal.

Sitting in the cockpit with dim lights and dark vision, the man seemed to be able to feel the mysterious call from the north; But he didn't really have any idea what that feeling was.

But anyway, the clue has been found!

I'm finally here.

(End of Volume III)