Chapter 179: Deadly Fuel

Cargo hold!

This does not refer to the storage space for passengers' luggage!

Rather, it is a "side business" developed by every airline!

For example, express packages and other items for rapid transfer!

Chekov was staying in such a place. The two of them had sneaked in along with the cargo, and they were likewise planning to get out from here!

Chekov had already prepared two sets of parachutes!

He was just waiting for John to adjust the course, take the plane further away, and then they would bail out!

Chekov needed to stay alive!

Compared to John's uncertainty about the future, Chekov had to ensure his own survival!

He had to take revenge! To take revenge on the organization that had abandoned him... This left Chekov's heart cold!

Having given up everything, Chekov had devoted himself heart and soul to contributing to his country, yet now he was discarded... And they originally had the ability to guarantee Chekov's safety, especially given the efforts Chekov himself had already made.

Yet they did not do so; instead, they kicked him while he was down. This filled Chekov with sorrow and indignation...

"Who is it?" Chekov suddenly started, shouting loudly.

"As a person in hiding, you are truly unsuited to shouting out loud in an occasion like this! And you did it almost instinctively, which shows that your inner self right now is extremely unsettled and nervous... In other words, you are scared! Aren't you?" Shenfeng walked out slowly, appearing right in front of Chekov.

Of course, Shenfeng was speaking in Russian... Although Shenfeng didn't like the country of Russia, who made certain people over there possess some rare treasures? Therefore, for the sake of those treasures, Shenfeng had no choice but to learn Russian!

Facts proved that Shenfeng was still very clever, as could be told from his current fluency in Russian.

"Who are you?" Chekov looked at Shenfeng with vigilance. Unfortunately, Chekov had no gun in his hand... The only weapon he had was taken away by John! Like a stray dog... one simply could not hope for complete equipment.

"Does it matter who I am? Actually, I have no interest in who you are, what you are here for, or what you intend to do. But unfortunately... you disturbed my flight! That is what you did wrong! So I must stop you," Shenfeng said with a smile.

"You stop me? You?" A sneer hung on Chekov's face. As an agent, Chekov still possessed his own pride!

"Then let's give it a try!" Shenfeng smiled slightly, and swiftly lunged forward!

---

The hijacker was subdued, the flight attendants stepped forward to calm the passengers' emotions, and the security personnel had already transferred John...

Airborne medical personnel had also begun follow-up treatments for Liu Qigong and Huang Jie.

A hijacking incident seemed to have calmed down!

What was even more commendable was that the passengers' panic did not last long...

They had found out quite late to begin with, had never seen the hijackers with their own eyes, and had not been threatened by them. For them, lacking a direct cognitive awareness, the fear was not overly intense.

And when Shenfeng escorted Chekov out and interrogated him, learning that there were only the two of them, the threat posed by the hijackers had been completely eliminated!

However...

These passengers, and even most of the flight attendants, did not know... right now the airplane was in an even greater and more severe danger.

"Boss, what's going on?" Shenfeng walked into the cockpit with a solemn expression.

"You're done dealing with your end? How did it go?" He Tian's expression was also very solemn, but he truly did not want to be distracted by other matters!

"Rest assured, there were only two people in total, and that guy has been subdued by me! What is going on with you here? Are there no reserve fuels?" Shenfeng asked.

"It has been preliminarily determined that there is no extra reserve fuel on the plane. Damn it, I don't know how the plane was allowed to take off without reserve fuel!" He Tian said angrily, "This is dereliction of duty by the relevant personnel!"

"Boss, can we land safely?" Shenfeng asked softly.

Well, Shenfeng could be considered a jack-of-all-trades, but flying a plane... Shenfeng knew nothing about it.

Flying a plane couldn't get one any treasures, so... Shenfeng hadn't learned it.

"I am attempting it right now... trying to fly a greater distance while keeping the fuel consumption low, but from the looks of it now, even so, the possibility of successfully returning to Tianhai Airport is not very high," He Tian said solemnly.

"An emergency landing?" Shenfeng asked.

"The plane itself has no mechanical issues... but running out of fuel is extremely dangerous. If we cannot land before the fuel is completely exhausted, we will crash... By then, I'm afraid not a single person on the entire plane will survive," He Tian said solemnly.

"Boss, think of something! You don't know, just now I saw Xiaohong, Huihui and the others, they were truly brave... completely overturning the impression of panic and helplessness they gave me earlier! At the critical moment, they really pulled through!" Shenfeng said earnestly.

"I am contacting the ground... As long as they can provide a landing spot before our fuel runs out, we will be safe," He Tian said in a deep voice.

---

On the ground, the Tianhai Command Center!

Right now, it was a hive of activity here, and the atmosphere was extremely tense and solemn.

Upon learning that the plane had encountered an accident, it had greatly shocked the command center and the personnel waiting at the airport!

Just as they were busy brainstorming countermeasures and determining the plane's location, they suddenly discovered that the plane had returned to normal and was flying in the direction of Tianhai Airport!

"Flight ATH3862 requests communication!"

Suddenly, inside the command center, a liaison officer shouted loudly.

Leaders of Tianhai Airport, leaders of Tianhai Airlines, and a group of waiting State Security Bureau officials rushed over to the liaison officer's side.

Because the Security Bureau had notified Tianhai Airport and Tianhai Airlines that there were two local agents on Flight ATH3862, the leaders of both sides had accompanied the State Security Bureau group, which happened to coincide with their command over this unexpected incident.

"I am the person in charge of Tianhai Airport, my name is Yang Haitao. Are you Captain Liu Qigang?" Prompted by a nod from Tianhai Airlines president Hu Hailiang, Yang Haitao immediately and unceremoniously grabbed the communicator to inquire.

"I'm sorry, I am not Captain Liu Qigang! Captain Liu Qigang and Copilot Huang Jie were both hit in the head by the hijackers and are still unconscious, not yet completely out of danger. I am an ordinary passenger, my name is He Tian... Right now, both hijackers have been subdued by me and my companion! The plane is no longer in danger of being hijacked!" The communicator was on speakerphone, and as He Tian spoke these words, everyone in the silent command center heard them very clearly.

Immediately, a burst of cheers erupted!

Hu Hailiang gave a slight wave of his hand, which allowed the entire command center to quiet down again!

"Mr. He, we thank you and your friend for the contribution you have made. We will..." Yang Haitao also let out a slight breath of relief! If the plane continued to be hijacked, if the plane truly suffered any accident, then he and Hu Hailiang would bear inescapable responsibility! When the time came, whether they could keep their current positions would be hard to say!

And now things were fine! They had turned danger into safety!

"I heard cheers? Well then, I regret to inform everyone! Although I have learned to fly an airplane and am very confident in my piloting skills, I must tell you some unfortunate news! I don't know why the plane only has enough fuel to normally reach Tianhai Airport... and because of the hijackers' earlier hijacking, the fuel has been abnormally consumed by a large amount. Even though the hijackers were subdued quickly, the lack of fuel is already a fact," He Tian said in a deep voice. "Either provide an airport closer than Tianhai Airport for us to land right now, or immediately dispatch an aerial refueling tanker to replenish us! Let me clarify, we can only hold out for another fifteen minutes! We can only hold out for fifteen minutes!"

The command center, which had just been filled with cheers, instantly fell silent. Everyone's expression became extremely ugly and solemn...

This gravity made them interrupt their speculation about the man named He Tian just now; they no longer had the heart to care about how He Tian managed to subdue the hijackers, how he knew how to fly a plane, and other such questions!

The imminent crisis right now was... the plane was out of fuel!

And for a plane on a normal flight to actually lack fuel, it was certain to be a massive oversight!

Regardless of whether the plane ultimately turned out fine or not, the relevant personnel supervising this aspect would definitely face severe disciplinary action.

"An aerial refueling tanker, prepare, take off, and then rush to the location... Fifteen minutes is definitely not enough," a State Security Bureau colonel said, shaking his head helplessly.

"What do we do?" Hu Hailiang was starting to panic a bit now... The plane belonged to Tianhai Airlines of theirs, and once it truly crashed, such responsibility was simply not something he, Hu Hailiang, could bear.

Hu Hailiang looked at the colonel from the State Security Bureau, a trace of anger in his eyes! It was this colonel who had insisted on communicating with the plane and making them change their landing location...

And right after that conversation, this unexpected change had occurred; clearly, this was the fuse that triggered the incident...

If not for his reservations about the State Security Bureau department... Hu Hailiang really wanted to point at the colonel's nose and curse!

"Old Hu... do you think we should contact the military? Isn't there a military airport on Zhoushan Island?" Yang Haitao immediately thought of an airport closer to the plane's current location.

"Right, right, Zhoushan, Zhoushan has a military airport, although not large, it's enough for the plane to land. No matter what, let's have them land temporarily first!" Hu Hailiang said in a deep voice, "I'll contact the military, you contact that He Tian immediately, tell him to fly in that direction... Technicians, give them the coordinates immediately! Make it fast!"

"Mr. He, Mr. He... Now, you need to fly to Zhoushan Airport, the coordinates are... Is the fuel enough?" Yang Haitao asked with great trepidation in his heart. If the fuel wasn't enough, Yang Haitao would be utterly powerless...