Chapter 0181


    Chapter 0181


    Shihua, overhearing their conversation, let out a disdainful chuckle.


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    Leck, ever perceptive, nced back at her. Though Shihua had a bit of fame abroad, she wasn’t a


    household name.


    At least, not to someone like Leck, a leading figure in National Airlines, who hadn’t heard of her.


    “Lady, I fail to see what’s amusing,” he said.


    Shihua was of course aware of Leck. Initially curious about his prowess, her opinion plummeted


    when she heard that he had been bested by Madison in a solo performance at an international


    civilian flight show.


    “It’s nothing,” Shihua retorted with an offhand dismissiveness that didn’t escape Leck’s notice.


    However, with the assessment at hand, he chose not to dwell on the


    slight.


    The assessment began.


    Madison’s assigned ne was not far from Charlie’s, with the three aircraft adjacent, Charlie


    sandwiched in the middle.


    She wasn’t overly concerned; in full view of everyone, Charlie surely wouldn’t sabotage her own


    flight.


    Then…


    Madison cast a nce at the pilot to her left.


    This person wasn’t next to her during yesterday’s assessment. A


    random switch by the organizers?


    Madison stayed vignt throughout.


    Coincidentally, the ne she was assigned to faced directly across from Leck’s.


    Leck waved to her from a distance, signaling a friendly gesture.


    Madison waved back in kind.


    Once aboard, an official co-pilot handed eachpetitor special sses.


    Through them, Madison and the others saw the virtual markers, disying longitude andtitude,


    cardinal directions, but no actual proportional distances.


    They had a minute and a half to memorize the markers. When the time was up and the sses


    were removed, they had to navigate their nes around the marker they’d seen, in the actual space


    in front of


    them.


    Calcting the correct proportionate size and circling around without touching the marker was


    deemed a pass.


    It was a task of considerable difficulty.


    Madison took a deep breath and, upon the start signal, pushed the throttle, guiding her ne to


    move smoothly along the ground.


    With everyone’s markers differing, Madison’s was to the left, while Charlie had to reverse.


    It was a scene of chaos, as a hundred nes spun in ce like headless flies.


    Madison’s focus was mostly on locating her marker, though she kept a watchful eye on the ne to


    her left, suspicious it might be one of


    Shihua’s pawns.


    At first, the pilot seemed earnestly engaged in the assessment, prompting Madison to gradually


    lower her guard.


    She piloted her ne around her marked point, earning a silent nod of approval from the co-pilot,


    who seemed impressed.


    The pilot before her hadn’t just failed to pinpoint the marker; they had crushed half their ne onto


    the wrong spot, scoring zero.


    Scores from each task were fed directly into the system, awaiting the final assessment to dere


    the rankings instantly.


    As Madison circled, she caught something in her peripheral vision that made her instinctively veer


    left to avoid a collision with the adjacent ne.


    But if she moved even slightly, she’d touch the marker and score zero.


    “What?!” eximed the co-pilot, witnessing the impending conflict.


    But the pilot in the other ne was oblivious, stubbornly swinging their tail toward Madison’s


    aircraft.


    She had to choose: dodge and score zero, or stay put and risk a collision, leading to the other pilot’s


    disqualification.


    As she hesitated, the other ne’s tail was nearly upon her.


    With a “click,” the co-pilot’s eyes widened, speaking rapidly in English,” Move and you’ll touch the


    marker, scoring zero!”


    Madison backed away, allowing her left wing to pass over the marker.


    She spoke evenly, “An assessment can be retaken. But an aircraft is national property, safeguarded


    by whichever country sponsors it, ensuring the safety of countless lives. For that, I am willing to


    stand guard.”


    Her words stirred the burly co-pilot, almost moving him to tears.


    3.5


    The pilot on her left, seeing Madison’s retreat, broke intoughter.


    His smile, along with his actions, was captured in full by the aerial


    cameras.


    At the seats beneath therge screen, a stir erupted among the


    onlookers.


    They noticed two nes had ground to a halt, and one pilot disembarked, signaling to international


    judges for a pause in the assessment.


    It was Leck.


    This unexpected halt led to an announcement across all the headset radios: “Assessment paused.”


    The hundred nes stilled, and pilots disembarked.


    As judges approached to understand the situation, Leck charged across the field andnded a


    punch on the face of a fellow pilot!


    Nearby pilots and judges from the same country rushed over to break up the fight.


    The main judge demanded to know what had happened.


    Madison remained silent, her expression icy as she indifferently watched the male pilot get hit.


    Though she didn’t understand why Leck had suddenly halted the


    assessment.


    Leck, pulled away, pointed at the assaulted pilot, furiously shouting, ” Assessment rankings are


    based on skill! Sabotaging another’s assessment – is that how our national instructors taught you?


    You’ve disgraced our country’s pilots!”


    His words, in clear English, reached all the pilots, casting a certain


    look upon the punched pilot.


    Leck addressed the chief judge, “I saw everything from my angle. He intentionally forced the


    adjacent ne to evade! Furthermore, his tail exceeded the field boundary, a vition. Why didn’t


    the judges stop him?”


    Leck detested assessments andpetitions marred by corrupt judging.


    In personalpetitions, scheming might be the norm, but here it was a matter of assessing


    individual ability.


    Leck found such conduct shameful!


    Madison’s co-pilot stepped forward to negotiate, “As an assessment official, I witnessed the entire


    scene. The other pilot deliberately forced evasion, causing my pilot to touch the marker. And then I


    saw his triumphant, malicious grin!”


    With even the international co-pilot corroborating, the male pilot faced many scornful nces.


    He could only stammer a defense, “I was avoiding my marker sol chose a wider circle. There’s


    nothing wrong with that!”


    “But after exceeding the line with your tail, your co-pilot and the fi judges should’ve stopped you


    from moving further. It could affect the pilots around you!”


    Leck pointed at him, “You’re unworthy of being my colleague!”


    In that moment, the male pilot looked desperately towards Charlie, amid the crowd with a grim


    expression, hoping for support.


    But when Charlie noticed him looking her way, she vanished into the throng, showing no intention of


    intervening.