The aircraft Xie Sen was in flew all the way to the gate of Star City and landed for inspection. A long line of shuttles and aircraft awaiting inspection lined up ahead of them. Long
Teng stuck his head out the window and exclaimed in surprise, "So many people."
The pilot replied, "It's been like this every day these days. None of our company's aircraft are available. If you don't reserve one in advance, you won't be able to get one on short notice."
He sighed, "How can it be so easy to get to the danger zone? So many people have been in trouble lately. You're so young, are you sure you don't want to consider it?"
"No," Maine said swiftly.
Xie Sen glanced at the aircraft's speed and estimated it would take another ten minutes before their turn. He opened his wristband, ready to check the reports from deep in the forest, but upon opening the Star Network, he saw the headlines about Maine.
"The Kes family has announced they have severed ties with Maine Kes!"
Xie Sen thought for a moment, realizing that such news couldn't be concealed. He extended his hand to Maine, motioning him to read the news.
After seeing this, Maine snorted coldly, "Just what I want."
He casually grabbed Xie Sen's hand and held it, placing it between their seats. "Don't overthink it. Get some rest. There might not be any rest in the forest."
Xie Sen glanced at his held hand and twitched his fingers. Maine closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat, seemingly oblivious to the situation, holding onto his hand tightly.
Xie Sen recalled getting dressed that morning. He had no experience tying up his combat uniform, cuffs, and trousers. Maine had done it for him personally, and after tying his cuffs, he took his hand and kissed the back of it.
He still remembered Maine's movements, smooth and effortless, as if nothing was wrong.
It had to be a lie! Maine was even closer to him than before, constantly touching him.
Xie Sen tilted his head to look at Maine's delicate profile. His fair skin was flawless and perfectly smooth.
A thought suddenly occurred to him: Would biting it leave a mark?
When Xie Sen realized his thought, his face flushed crimson. He averted his eyes, screaming inwardly, "What a pervert!" Maine absolutely couldn't let him know he'd even thought this!
Ten minutes later, the four of them passed inspection. The pilot reminded Long Teng to close the windows and continue the flight.
A little over an hour later, at 9:15, the aircraft arrived at Maine's designated destination, over the middle of a dangerous area in the wild forest.
The pilot, somewhat worried, asked, "The last aircraft we encountered was at least a hundred kilometers from here. Are you sure we can land here?"
"Yes," Maine said. "Hover."
The pilot, congratulating the group for their bravery, followed Maine's instructions and hovered.
Maine opened the window, retrieved two unmanned probes, and slowly guided them into the forest. He then activated his wristband, checked the probes' feedback, expanded the virtual screen, and projected the image in front of him.
Xie Sen looked at the projection. The probes' view became increasingly clearer. As the forest drew closer and closer, a continuous line of tall trees appeared on the projection. As the probes descended, the view grew dimmer.
This area was densely wooded, completely obscuring the forest below.
Suddenly, the heavy breathing of a ferocious beast emanated from the detector, followed by the projection of a palm-sized emerald green eye.
"Oh, such a big eye! It's a giant creature," Long Teng exclaimed excitedly.
Xie Sen glanced at him, genuinely impressed by his bold approach. Hadn't he considered that the more ferocious the beast below, the greater the danger they would face once they descended?
The forest was dense with tangled branches, and Maine's hands moved the tester with incredible speed, almost like a game of obstacle course. He was undoubtedly a top-notch expert.
About fifteen minutes later, the image from the detector cleared again. It was located on a high, sparsely treed slope. Not far ahead, a cliff appeared, as if a whole mountain had been suddenly split open.
Maine made an immediate decision, pointing to the spot where the detector was located: "Land there."
The pilot steered the aircraft toward the spot Maine indicated and couldn't help but ask, "Your detector is amazing! Where did you buy it?"
Maine replied, "I made it myself."
The pilot looked at him in amazement and was about to offer some praise when Maine said, "Open the door and lower the traction ladder."
The pilot instinctively followed his instructions, opened the aircraft door, lowered the traction ladder, and then turned on the display screen at the front of the aircraft, which showed the traction ladder in its entirety.
The pilot said, "We're too high above the ground. We need to descend. Hold on to the handrails."
Xie Sen reached out to grab the upper left handrail, but just as he did, someone grabbed his waist. He turned to see Maine's left hand around him and his right hand on the upper right handrail.
Seeing this, Long Teng turned to Bai Jiao, "Are you afraid? How about I..."
"No need," Bai Jiao said, chuckling before he could finish, her hand firmly grasping the handrail.
Xie Sen coughed dryly and tilted his head to look down. The canopy of the nearby tree was clearly visible.
"Alright," the driver said shortly. "Who's going down first?"
"I'll go first." Maine let go of Xie Sen and moved toward the door.
Xie Sen looked at the display screen ahead. The traction ladder swayed slightly in the wind. It stretched straight to the ground, taller than the nearby trees, at least thirty meters long. Xie Sen's heart raced. It was too high!
Maine remained calm. He grasped the door's handrail and leaned out, stepping onto the ladder before letting go and grabbing each side with both hands.
He took two steps down, his body swaying slightly with the ladder. Xie Sen couldn't help but crane his neck to look out the door, his face tense.
Maine seemed to sense something and looked up. Seeing Xie Sen, a faint smile played on his face. "It's okay, don't be afraid. I'll be waiting for you down there."
Xie Sen clenched his fist and nodded. "Okay, be careful,"
Maine replied, lowering his head to climb down.
Xie Sen couldn't see Maine from the doorway, so he looked at the display screen again.
Maine's speed was so great that the traction ladder was swaying even more violently. Xie Sen couldn't help but worry, "Is the quality of this ladder a problem?"
"Of course not," the driver said confidently. "It's made of the most resilient material. Ten of them can handle it."
Maine made it halfway down smoothly, and Xie Sen breathed a sigh of relief at his relaxed demeanor.
"Kaa..."
Suddenly, a resounding bird cry echoed from below, and then, like a cannonball, a jet-black bird swooped up from below, hurtling towards Maine.
Xie Sen leaned forward suddenly, "Maine!" Maine
grabbed the side of the ladder with one hand, bending his body inward and then back, swinging the traction ladder forward violently, dodging the blackbird's attack.
The blackbird flew past him, quickly turning back and flying towards him again.
Maine, using the momentum of the reverberating kick, raised his leg and launched a powerful kick at the blackbird. The blackbird dodged, flapping its wings, and lunged forward to continue its attack.
Maine released his grip, his body naturally falling.
Xie Sen's heart nearly stopped, and he breathed a sigh of relief only after he saw Maine dodge the attack by falling, hooking his foot onto the traction ladder in time.
"That's it," the pilot licked his lips nervously.
Xie Sen glared at him. "Don't talk nonsense."
He summoned the watermelon vines and ordered them to bind Maine's waist. He did nothing else, emphasizing that if Maine fell, they should be lifted up in time.
He didn't dare let the vines do anything else, fearing that it would affect Maine's counterattack.
"What is this?" the pilot exclaimed in surprise. "Why did the vines suddenly appear?"
Xie Sen ignored him, anxiously watching Maine fight the blackbird. He looked at Long Teng and Bai Jiao. "Anything?" Bai
Jiao shook her head anxiously. Long Teng touched his left earring, a look of confusion on his face. After a moment, he smiled. "This is it!"
He said, pulling a launcher from his backpack. A cylindrical object, resembling a small rocket, was embedded in the groove of the launcher.
The pilot, seeing it in the rearview mirror, was startled. "How did you get a rocket launcher? Do you have permission to buy one?"
Long Teng moved to the door with the rocket launcher. Xie Sen, worried he might fall, grabbed the handrail with one hand and his arm with the other.
Long Teng peered down through the scope. "Permission? Asen told me to prepare more weapons, so my grandfather helped me prepare some... No, Maine and the Blackbird are too close, and there's a chance they might get hurt."
He took a step back, dropped the rocket launcher, and said, "I'm going straight down."
"Don't," Xie Sen quickly grabbed him. The traction ladder was shaking so much that transferring from the aircraft to it was already dangerous, not to mention the long climb down.
Long Teng anxiously asked, "What should we do then?"
Xie Sen replied, "Take the standard Blackbird rocket launcher. I have a way to move Maine. How far is safe?"
"At least ten meters," Long Teng asked, puzzled. "How do you move him?"
Xie Sen offered no explanation. "You'll find out in a moment. Get ready."
Confused, Long Teng followed his instructions, picked up the rocket launcher, and aimed at the Blackbird. "Aim, ready."
Xie Sen glanced at the screen in front of him. Maine had just dodged a Blackbird attack. He mentally ordered: Get Maine to a position one meter above the ground, twenty meters from the current position.
Maine was about to switch hands to grab the ladder when he was suddenly pulled down by the vines around his waist, stopping only one meter from the ground.
At the same time, a loud noise echoed from above. A wisp of gray smoke dissipated in the air, and the Blackbird's body plummeted downwards, landing with a thud not far from him.
Xie Sen ordered the watermelon vine to release Maine, recalled the watermelon vine, and contacted Maine with the communicator: "Are you okay?"
"No problem," Maine looked up, "Is the vine yours?"
"Yeah."
Maine looked around and found no danger: "You come down first."
"Okay." Xie Sen responded and cut off the connection.
"Cool!" Xie Sen just hung up the communicator. Long Teng looked at him with sparkling eyes, "I want to play too, get me down!"
Xie Sen was very upset: "I'll get hurt."
Although it was safe to tie people with watermelon vines, it was not thick enough and it was easy to hurt people when pulling people at high speed. He was very worried about Maine now.
"Don't be afraid! I want to try it!" Long Teng said expectantly.
Xie Sen had no choice but to say: "Okay, I'll go down first and let you try later."
The pilot was stunned: "You... who are you?"
This is too awesome!
No wonder they dared to land directly in the middle of the danger zone!