However, this was not what most surprised the 22 people. What baffled them the most was that they couldn’t find any engine anywhere on the plane, not even a suspected engine location.

The aircraft was 15 meters long, with a maximum width of 8 meters and a height of 2.5 meters. Originally, this craft was just a transportation tool for Wu Hao to deliver various supplies to the base. For this trip to South Africa to pick up these 22 people and take them to the Qinling main base, he had specially converted the cargo ship into rows of seats and divided the cargo hold into two separate sections. Wu Hao stayed in the front part of the aircraft, while the rear space was for these 22 people.

As these people were speculating, the aircraft’s door opened, and a notification sound followed: “All personnel please board within 1 minute; exceeding this time will be considered as forfeiting this opportunity.”

Upon hearing this, the 22 people immediately stopped their idle thinking. Since they had traveled thousands of miles to South Africa and arrived in this remote area in the dead of night, if they didn’t genuinely want to join, there was no need for them to be here.

If the Black Hawk Legion became famous in the future and recruited again, it might attract many forces to investigate or even infiltrate the Black Hawk Legion. But right now, the Black Hawk Legion was not well-known to the public.

The only people who knew about the Black Hawk Legion were those who had received invitations and possibly informed their acquaintances.

However, for these mercenaries, even if they knew about such matters, they generally wouldn’t spread it around.

After hearing the notification sound, the 22 people boarded the spacecraft and took their seats in order. Once everyone was on board, the spacecraft’s door closed, and the notification sound played again.

“Welcome to the Black Hawk Legion. You may not understand what the Black Hawk Legion is now, but you will in an hour. So, it’s best to fasten your seatbelts; otherwise, any unexpected situation will be your own responsibility.”

“What do you mean by that?” a large black man asked in confusion.

Before the AI could speak, a white man next to the large black man looked disdainfully at him and said, “You idiot, the plane is about to take off. If you don’t want to be tossed around, fasten your seatbelt.”

“F*ck, if you dare to insult me, I’ll make you regret it!” The large black man was angry and swore, but he still fastened his seatbelt and didn’t immediately cause trouble for the white man.

At this moment, the spacecraft, under Wu Hao’s telekinetic control, quickly ascended. The centrifugal force made the large black man only able to swear a few times.

The distance from the southern tip of Africa to the Qinling in Asia was several thousand kilometers. However, with Wu Hao’s current telekinetic control of the spacecraft, it was entirely possible to reach the Qinling base from South Africa within an hour.

The combat spacecraft being built by the AI was designed to transport combat personnel to any designated location globally within an hour.

True global rapid strike capability, because this is manned transport, not a global strike through force. Many countries can achieve global strikes with force using missiles; countries with intercontinental missiles can meet this requirement.

However, transporting combat personnel to any designated target area within an hour is not that easy. Perhaps only the U.S. military can achieve this globally because the U.S. has military bases on almost every continent or aircraft carrier strike groups patrolling those regions.

Currently, all countries are researching hypersonic aircraft, but they are all fighter jets and still in the research and testing phase, not fully utilized or equipped by their respective militaries.

Creating a hypersonic aircraft capable of carrying dozens of combat personnel is much more challenging than making one solely for combat use. It’s like comparing sending an unmanned probe to the Moon or Mars to sending humans to the Moon or landing on Mars.

Currently, the hypersonic aircraft being developed by various countries are unmanned. Due to immature technology, these aircraft frequently experience accidents and remain in the experimental phase. Achieving stability and the necessary combat capabilities will take a long time or require substantial investment of manpower, resources, and finances to accelerate the process.

A country’s defense technology cannot become powerful by developing a single technology. Of course, developing nuclear weapons is an exception because for decades, people have known that possessing nuclear weapons provides the potential to become a military power.

Nuclear weapons are a strategic deterrent that ensures others cannot easily bully you. For example, if Iraq or Iran had nuclear weapons, how could the U.S. have boldly threatened them?

If these nuclear-armed countries were pushed to the edge, no one could guarantee they wouldn’t use nuclear weapons for retaliation.

For instance, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un shows no respect for the U.S. Indeed, Kim Jong-un’s audacity to challenge the U.S. largely stems from being a close neighbor to China. Regardless of China’s official stance, if the U.S. were to attack North Korea, China would not stand idly by.

Not only China, but the neighboring combatant nation Russia would also not allow North Korea to be occupied by the U.S. After all, if the U.S. did occupy North Korea, it would turn it into a massive U.S. military base right under China’s and Russia’s noses.

Kim Jong-un knows this, which is why he dares to challenge the U.S. and develop nuclear weapons in secret. Although the U.S. frequently threatens sanctions against North Korea, there has been no substantial effect.

However, Kim Jong-un is not a good guy either. He constantly portrays himself as a world power and brainwashes his people from a young age. North Korea is indeed one of the most peculiar countries in the world, living entirely in its own world.