Chapter 1873: Chapter 1866: Support Arrives

“Prepare to launch the signal flare!” Luo’er ordered.

“Understood!”

Baiyue nodded.

Another signal flare shot into the sky, and the aircraft flying high above immediately noticed the light, beginning to dive towards the Advance Team.

Hu Daoke looked at the aircraft diving towards him and couldn’t help but joke, “Maybe it’s going to dive and drop bombs.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, you jinx.”

Cheng Ziang gave him a sideways glance.

Accompanied by a whistling sound, the aircraft continuously lowered its altitude, ultimately skimming the treetops, and when it was about two kilometers away from the Advance Team, its speed brake started to rise, slowing its pace.

The combat lift of the High-peak people’s aircraft mainly relies on anti-gravity engines, so even when slowing down, there’s no concern about the aircraft crashing.

The safety of this aircraft is very high. As Baiyue put it, if a competent person is piloting it, unless this person intends to mess around, there’s virtually no risk of crashing.

The Advance Team acted quickly; as the aircraft dived, they’d already lit a bonfire. The non-combustible wood and grass produced thick white smoke, waving up into the sky with the gentle breeze.

The aircraft seemed to notice the smoke as well and kept adjusting its course, finally gliding at a slow speed above everyone’s heads.

At this moment, the Skylark Fighter was in a stationary hover state. The copilot opened the glass canopy, a dwarf pilot peeked down, seemingly confirming the identity of the group.

Upon confirmation, he withdrew his head, and the aircraft began to descend slowly, stopping about a meter above the ground.

Facing the familiar aircraft, Luo’er, full of excitement, stepped forward. The dwarf pilot vigorously pushed open the canopy overhead, stood on the seat, and peered out while asking in Tasta language, “Are you Captain Luo’er?”

“I am,” Luo’er nodded in response.

Upon hearing this, the dwarf pilot gave a standard military salute and said earnestly, “Captain Luo’er, we are ordered to search for you. The relevant information has already been sent back to the mothership. Please wait here for rescue.”

“Thanks for your efforts,” Luo’er returned the compliment, saying with some emotion.

“Not at all,” the dwarf pilot said, looking as if he had more words but then breathed a sigh of relief, saying solemnly, “As long as you all are safe, our trip was worth it.”

“May I ask how many of you are searching for us?”

“Just one flagship, the Mugaliya, the others are docked at West Outer Heaven,” the dwarf pilot replied.

“The Mugaliya…” Luo’er was somewhat surprised.

“Oh, it’s the Helrandum-class No. 2 ship,” the dwarf pilot explained.

“I see,” Luo’er nodded and then asked, “But I heard the No. 2 ship is still being refitted?”

“The refit has been completed,” the dwarf pilot said proudly. “The revamped Mugaliya’s speed is more than twice that of Helrandum. It only took half a month to fly from the Western Continent to the East Continent, and that’s maintaining sync speed with accompanying airships.”

“Thus, the Western and Eastern Continents are truly connected…” Luo’er lamented, somewhat wistfully.

“Please maintain ground communication, Mugaliya is sailing along the reconnaissance route. Please keep in contact; we will ascend for intermediate message guidance.”

The dwarf pilot said this, handing Luo’er a brick-sized metal object covered with a small handbook.

“What’s this…”

Luo’er reached out with both hands to receive the object, feeling its cold texture and weight, and couldn’t help but feel curious.

“This is a Magic Crystal communication device, and the booklet contains the codes. You can use this device to call us, and we will relay messages to Mugaliya for you,” the dwarf pilot explained.

“Thank you,” Luo’er said, moved.

“No need for thanks. Our main purpose in this East Continent trip was to search for you. Now that you’re safely accounted for, half of our task is fulfilled.”

The dwarf pilot said this, retracting back into the cockpit and sealing the canopy. The fighter jet began to ascend on the spot.

Luo’er watched the ascending fighter, feeling unprecedented relaxation. They had struggled on the East Continent for many years, but it hadn’t been in vain. The nation hadn’t forgotten them, and the headquarters had never stopped the search.

Luo’er had no doubt the dwarf pilot’s words were true, for the value of the Advance Team justified headquarters hiring an entire fleet of dwarves to search for them.

As he turned to head back, the Advance Team members all cheered jubilantly; Hu Daoke and Cheng Ziang hugged, tears brimming. Baiyue also had red eyes, watching Luo’er approach her.

“For you, you’ll get the hang of it quickly,” Luo’er smiled, not crying, though his eyes were slightly red.

“Mm.”

Baiyue wiped her tears, took the communication device, and hugged it tightly to prevent it from falling.

Luo’er walked towards the carriage, where Tangmo sat with Tang Guo in her arms, eyes red and asked, “Are we going home?”

“Mm,” Luo’er nodded lightly, smiling as he replied, “This time, we really are going home.”

“That’s wonderful…” Tangmo’s eyes sparkled with tears as she looked down at Tang Guo and sobbed, “We’re going home.”

“Home?”

Tang Guo tilted her head, looking at her.

“Yes, our real home, where your sister and dad are…”

Tangmo said, glancing at Luo’er.

“What generation, how come I’m the dad?” Luo’er couldn’t help but chuckle wryly, shaking his head.

But this warm scene didn’t last long; soon, a cold voice extinguished everyone’s homesick enthusiasm.

“Everyone, load your guns and prepare for combat readiness. The enemy is approaching; prepare to engage.”

Fulajie’er’s untimely voice poured a bucket of cold water on everyone.

Based on Luo’er’s setup for Fulajie’er, she could immediately enter command mode in case of an enemy assault to direct all Advance Team members in combat.

“Direction, distance, scale, intention!” Luo’er asked as he prepared his weapon.

“Northeast direction, about two kilometers away. Approximately five thousand strong. As for their intention, firing first is always right,” Fulajie’er answered.

“Five thousand, that’s a campaign size,” Hu Daoke said, setting up his machine gun while clicking his tongue.

“No worries, we have aerial support. At worst, we can evacuate from the air,” Cheng Ziang said while tossing the assembled Origin Submachine Gun to Feng.

“Send a message to the aircraft, request air support,” Luo’er shouted to Baiyue.

“Got it, sending a message now.”

Baiyue set up the communicator, flipping through the codebook hastily while sending the message.

“Can you manage that?” Hu Daoke asked concernedly, peering over.

“Relax, I’ve piloted fighter jets. Mere codebook…” Baiyue answered absently without lifting her head.

Luo’er looked up at the aircraft, which originally hovering above, now started climbing and circled around the Advance Team.

Dwarven aircraft rely on anti-gravity engines to stay aloft, in principle, they can hover continuously, instead of circling.

While that aircraft maintained an even circling motion, it should be keeping its flight inertia, allowing it to immediately adjust course and join in ground support.

Don’t underestimate it as a light reconnaissance aircraft, this Skylark Fighter is equipped with a 12.7mm machine gun and a 20-shot rocket pod on either side of the fuselage. Such firepower is enough to suppress battalion-sized ground forces.

“Even leaving isn’t reassuring,” Cheng Ziang lamented while loading rounds, shaking his head, “Kyushu is truly a heartbreak…”

“Since there’s air support, we don’t need to summon the Liseya Battle, right?” Luo’er asked tentatively.

“Up to you, in any case, dying by a plane is still dying,” Cheng Ziang shrugged indifferently.

Honestly, even Cheng Ziang was genuinely afraid of Liseya’s destructive power. With her as a trump card, the Advance Team wasn’t worried about being surrounded.

On the other hand, Baiyue finally managed the communicator and received a reply from the aircraft. The support squadron was already airborne and en route.