King of the Wilderness

Lin Yu’an just glanced at it and immediately answered, "Approach from downstream against the wind, choosing the lightest and driest area."

"Before touching down, maintain a high nose attitude, have the rear wheels contact the ground first for a three-point landing to maximize impact absorption and protect the landing gear and propeller."

"Absolutely correct!" Hank exclaimed loudly, "Now, let’s do something more thrilling!"

He suddenly pushed the control stick, piloting the plane at an extremely tricky angle toward the narrow canyon. The plane flew almost brushing against the mountain walls on both sides.

"In the jungle, there are no standard runways!" Hank’s voice was a bit hoarse with excitement, "Sometimes, you need to land in places like this! You need to practice short field takeoffs and landings!"

As he explained, he skillfully landed the plane on a riverbank just a few hundred meters long with an impressive maneuver.

Then, in the same short distance, he suddenly pulled up, roaring back into the sky.

By the afternoon of the fourth day, with a total of 24 flight hours accumulated, Hank noticed that Lin Yu’an could perfectly replicate all his jungle flying techniques.

Even handling some details more delicately and precisely than himself, he finally conceded completely.

After a perfect landing, Hank unbuckled his seatbelt and walked straight off the plane.

He said to Lin Yu’an in the cockpit, "Alright, Lin, everything this plane can teach you, you have learned. The rest is your own dialogue with the sky."

The fifth to the seventh day: The solo expedition

The following three days were Lin Yu’an’s solo flight training time. He needed to complete the FAA-mandated long-distance cross-country solo and night flight training.

Before takeoff, Hank only helped him check the aircraft and confirm the flight plan, then sat on the cabin’s porch drinking beer, watching the red-and-white speck fly freely and alone through the vast sky.

Lin Yu’an flew over the Arctic Gate National Park’s uninhabited areas, overlooking glaciers reflecting a ghostly blue glow in the sunlight.

He chased the remnants of the sun’s glow, skimming low over the winding Yukon River, running alongside the North American caribou herds on the ground.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, he climbed in altitude, steering the plane into the heart of the Alaska Range.

Inside the cockpit, only the monotonous yet reliable hum of the engine could be heard.

The final rays of dusk filtered through the windows, blending the instrument panel’s dim light with his calm profile.

Beneath the wings, the continuous glaciers and canyons sank into deep blue silence.

He thus journeyed alone through the domain of the gods!

As the last golden light disappeared from the peaks, the northern sky’s ethereal green band began to dance without warning.

He adjusted his course, flying towards the curtain of lights to dance with the planet’s most magnificent miracle until the sky turned white!

On the evening of the seventh day.

When Lin Yu’an completed his final night flight training and brought the plane to a stable stop at the runway end, Hank solemnly signed his name in his flight logbook.

On that page, it clearly recorded:

Total flight time: 40.1 hours.

Instructor-led flight: 22.5 hours.

Solo flight: 17.6 hours.

All FAA-required subjects completed, and even exceeded.

Hank closed the logbook, handed it back to Lin Yu’an, and said just one sentence, "Go schedule that toughest exam. If they dare to fail you, I’ll fly over and flip the exam room!"

The ninth day.

Anchorage International Airport, general aviation area.

Hank steadily parked the red-and-white Cessna 185 in the designated parking spot.

He sat in the captain’s seat, while Lin Yu’an sat in the co-pilot’s seat. As a student, Lin Yu’an was not yet legally allowed to conduct long-haul solo flights across multiple controlled regions.

This journey was in Hank’s name, but in fact, except for takeoff and landing, Hank spent almost the entire time resting, leaving the controls entirely in Lin Yu’an’s hands.

"We’re here." Hank opened his eyes, glancing at the familiar FAA office building outside the window. "Don’t be nervous, just treat this like our usual training. Remember, you’re the best."

"Don’t worry." Lin Yu’an unbuckled his seatbelt, wearing his usual calm expression.

The examiner he was scheduled with was Alaska’s most stringent one, notorious as a student slayer, Daniel Hansen.

A guy reputed to send more than half of his test-takers crying home during the oral exam phase.

What Lin Yu’an didn’t know was, even before he entered that office, his name had already drawn Daniel Hansen’s special attention.

The oral exam took place in an oppressive office.

Daniel Hansen, a retired Air Force colonel with steely hawk-like eyes and graying hair, sat behind the desk, expressionlessly reading through Lin Yu’an’s information.

On his desk lay a printed score report.

It was exactly the one from Fairbanks eight days ago, where Lin Yu’an achieved a perfect score of 100 in just fifteen minutes on the theory test.

"Lin Yu’an." Daniel slowly raised his head, his gaze piercing as though to see through Lin Yu’an completely.

"Your written test results are... peculiar. John Miller from Fairbanks even called me specifically, saying he encountered a monster."

He paused, his tone revealing no emotion. "So today, I won’t be asking you those textbook standard answers. Let’s talk about something real."

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