The crowd dispersed in several directions and began drilling into the grass to deploy their net. Good heavens, no one would know if they did not disturb the grass, but once they did, rabbits popped out like ants on a hot pot. Grey, black, yellow, mixed colored, there was probably more than one breed of rabbits here.
Lin Mo had never thought that there would be so many small creatures on the base. They almost flooded the entire area, and more than a dozen ran out onto the runways as well. The total population of the humans on this base was probably only a fraction of the rabbits.
“I stopped them!”
“Use the sling. I want a live one.”
“Old Hu, where are you poking with your throwing knife? I want a whole hide.”
“Brother, you’re an amazing shooter. Sniper grade!”
“That’s not the case. You’re too polite. Be careful! A rabbit is hitting your leg! Old Li, you have to break its leg!”
“Wow! These rabbits have gone mad. Those with nets, quickly surround them.”
“This sweep today is enough to feed our entire base for several days.”
Runway 1 and 2 were extremely lively. The more than thirty people on them were like throwing a small stone into a small pond. They yelled and shouted endlessly, enjoying the one-sided slaughter.
The results were even better for the others. The laser pointers on the crossbows locked onto the rabbits, and the bolts killed them with ease. Those using nets, slings, and ropes caught them live. They held them by the ears and stuffed them into sacks to await the judgment of the kitchen knives.
Some of them did not even use anything at all. They raced the rabbits with their legs, grabbed their ears with their bare hands, and threw them into the sacks as well, showing their might in their own way.
Old Hu from the fuel depot held a mop without the head while muttering to himself. “Bang! One down! Bang! Two! Bang! Three!” He counted the rabbits while hitting hard on their heads as they were chased mercilessly to his direction. None were spared!
Lin Mo obviously had no pressure when dealing with small things like rabbits that did not possess any attack power. The slingshot in his hands flung out the steel balls one after another. Although the slingshot did not have a long range, its advantage was its speed and easy aim. The steel balls penetrated the heads of these rabbits and killed them even before they fell to the ground. He used up his bag of thirty steel balls in a matter of minutes.
After using up the steel balls, he learned from the guards and went against the rabbits barehanded. Although the poor rabbits were bouncing with all their might on all four limbs, no matter how fast or agile they were, they were no match for the Dragon Knight from another world. He was like a human tank as rabbits flew everywhere he went and fell to the ground, twitching.
The cooks were busy skinning and deboning as blood flowed like a river. The result was about four hundred dead wild rabbits and one hundred live ones after nearly three hours of work. Everyone did their part brilliantly.
Except for a few particularly smart rabbits that hid in underground caves, they nearly cleared up all the rabbits near the runways. None of the thirty-odd men participating in the hunt pitied these small animals. Each was more ruthless than the last.
The commotion near the runways was getting rowdier, and the spoils of the battle were too rich. Others on the base could not help but join in. The nets crossed over multiple times, realizing the idiom ‘sit around and wait for the rabbit’. Some of them even ran to the cooks in panic.
When the sun set, the rabbits would not be able to recover for two to three years. Other than the rabbits, they also caught more than ten snakes, a few badgers, and more than one hundred mice. They piled up like a small hill, their smell stinking up the air. These fellows who were hunting the rabbits like crazy actually wanted the mice as well. The cooks did not refuse either, and there were always some ways to deal with them.
They boiled pots of water one after another, and the peeled skins hung in the air drying like flags. After cleaning out their guts, they smoked the meat that was not going to be used tonight and the next day. The cooks calculated based on the number of heads to distribute uniformly, but most of them would be used in cooking on the base.
For the next few days, there was roasted rabbit meat, sauced rabbit meat, stewed rabbit meat, braised rabbit meat, etc. The cooks displayed their skills for a rabbit feast. Also, the snakes were skinned and found their way into wines. The snake galls were first soaked in wine and then grabbed to be swallowed. Everyone knew their effect. The one hundred mice were also fried and were not even enough to feed the three dozen people that joined in the hunt. They left a few bowls for the base leaders, and everyone below the middle level did not even have the chance to smell them.
This rabbit feast was enough to feed the base for a week. Some of them liked it so much that they were clamoring about heading out of the base to hunt them in the mountains. In the end, the commander of the base reprimanded them. It did not matter if they cleared the rabbits out of the base to ensure they were able to fly safely, but what did that have to do with the animals outside of the base. They would get into trouble if they did not know how to control their mouths.
Lin Mo’s slingshot had done a great job in the rabbit hunt, but in the end, it was conveniently taken away by a higher-ranking officer. He did not see it again, saddening him.
After slamming a few bites of the rabbit feast into his mouth, the heavy-hearted Lin Mo arrived at a blue and white European-styled villa at 6:50 p.m., following the order Hao Dali delivered in the morning.
When he stepped into the base’s high-level officer’s office, Lin Mo started to feel uneasy. He had never been called upon by the senior commander-level leaders before. Could he have really made some mistake recently?!
Or did some bastard make him a scapegoat?! Lin Mo had met many such people in the other world.
Although he might joke around with and tease his fellow comrades, he always maintained a serious attitude toward his superiors. Military order tolerated no jokes, and it was universal no matter which world he was.
Lin Mo believed that he had been very cautious no matter whether when he was in the Dragon Knight Legion or this Air Force base. He was never a troublemaker and had never skipped out on his responsibilities if he did do something wrong. He quickly calmed down and knocked on the black walnut door of the commander’s office a few times.
“Sir, I’m here!” Lin Mo said loudly and forcefully as always. His steel style had never changed.
“Enter!” A deep, magnetic voice came from within the office.
Lin Mo pushed the door open and entered. An extremely spacious, bright, and classical-styled office came into view. But the one thing that did not fit with this room was an electric retractable map of China of about one hundred inches. There was also a large table with eight legs with nothing on it. But Lin Mo was amazed to find that the table was actually a huge touch screen panel showing simulated aerial combat. It had a 3D effect map and red and blue fighter planes. The images and effects were both extremely realistic and detailed.
How advanced. It’s faster than the magic arrays of magicians!
Lin Mo knew this world had technology so advanced that ordinary people did not know about them, and the military had always used technology that was at least one to three generations ahead of civilian use.
The combination of modern and classical styles in the room formed a strange complementary fusion that he had never seen before. The design of this office had taken quite a lot of thinking.
A half-grey-haired, sturdy soldier was staring at the map on the table. He was pressing on certain modules on the desktop from time to time, seemingly calculating all sorts of data. The two shiny golden beans were telling Lin Mo that this was the top boss of everyone on the base. Commander Ma was actually a lieutenant general.
The leader of a base actually needs to be a lieutenant general?!
He looked at the eight-legged desktop display again and suddenly remembered the harsh conditions for the selection of pilots. This base that was hidden deep within the mountains and his unit were not as simple as he thought they were.
If it were an ordinary training course, Lin Mo and his comrades would not have been exposed to jet fighters so early. Moreover, they were brand-new Chengdu J-10s. This base was of high secrecy and was by no means comparable to general aviation schools.
“Report! Second Lieutenant Lin Mo of Unit 11, 1st Flight, 3rd Squadron, 7759th Aviation Regiment, code name ‘Gold Coin’ reports to the commander!” Lin Mo’s feet were on the solid, dark red South African teak floor as he saluted the silver-haired lieutenant general and clearly reported his official position.
“Hello, Second Lieutenant Lin Mo!” The silver-haired lieutenant general looked up with a piercing gaze, as though he was sizing Lin Mo up with an X-ray scan. He gave a textbook salute back to Lin Mo.
He had the temperament of an Emperor Eagle watching the world from above and tearing everything apart with his sharp eyes. Lin Mo felt as though he was standing in front of the commander of the Dragon Knight Legion in the other world.
“Take a seat first. Don’t feel restrained!” Commander Ma’s serious expression suddenly turned amiable, like the spring sun melting snow. Appearing to see the trace of tension in Lin Mo’s heart, he waved his hand for Lin Mo to sit down. “Hehe. There’s nothing big today. We’re just going to chat!”
“Yes, Sir!” Lin Mo did not dare to neglect this lieutenant general, who seemed to be able to make others submit to him in fear. This was at the same level as the commander of the Dragon Knight Legion.
“What would you like to drink? Coke? Sprite? There’s coffee too!” Commander Ma walked to the small fridge at the corner of the room. He opened it, took a can of Jianlibao, and shook it. “Young people like to drink such carbonated drinks.”
“I would like some tea, please!” Lin Mo glanced at the kung fu tea brewing on the desk as he waited for Commander Ma to enter the main subject.
End of the first volume of Dragon Mount Mecha.