CHAPTER 214: CHAPTER 215: ANOTHER ACCIDENT

After all, passengers his age were a rare sight in first class, but it was just a passing thought.

The plane took off quickly, and it wasn’t long before it entered the stratosphere.

"Don’t move!" A cold shout suddenly rang out, followed by a commotion in the cabin behind Xia Liang. Several burly, masked men were brandishing guns. Despite the masks, their fierce and malevolent expressions were plain to see.

I’d love to know how these guys got through all those security checks. Xia Liang thought. In no time, the men had taken control of the entire aircraft.

Running into hijackers on a plane... I guess I really am the protagonist. Xia Liang rubbed his head and gave a resigned, wry smile.

"Brother, get down, quickly!" Seeing Xia Liang’s nonchalant expression, a frantic Luu Qi tugged on his arm to get his attention.

Although she’d been enhanced, and she was confident she could take them all out in a one-on-one fight, they had guns, and she hadn’t reached Xia Liang’s level of being bulletproof.

Shi Qiang couldn’t help but whisper urgently, "Yeah, Brother Xia! They have guns! Now is not the time to act tough!" The worry was etched on his face.

"Don’t worry," Xia Liang said softly. Instead of crouching, he turned his head to assess the hijackers behind him.

"We don’t intend to kill you," the leader announced, stepping forward. "We just need to use your lives to make the Dragon Country agree to one of our demands."

Faced with the hijackers’ dark gun barrels, these elites—people who earned fortunes by the minute—began to cry in fear.

There were eight hijackers in total, all masked and armed, watching the passengers’ every move. Two guarded economy class, two were in business class, and two watched first class. The leader and the last hijacker kept their guns on the flight crew.

In front of Xia Liang sat a portly, middle-aged man who was trembling nonstop. They can’t see me, they can’t see me... he prayed silently. He was just a moderately wealthy businessman who had never witnessed a scene like this. Head down, he didn’t dare look at the hijackers, burying his face in a blanket like an ostrich, terrified of being seen.

The hijackers used their guns to control the crew, preventing them from contacting the outside world. One pointed his gun at a flight attendant’s head and sneered, "My apologies for the interruption, beautiful. But there are a few things we need your help with."

Though her face was etched with terror, the flight attendant forced herself to remain composed. "What... what do you want?" Her voice trembled, betraying her fear, which was hardly surprising.

Even though flight attendants went through rigorous training, facing the dark muzzles of guns was another matter entirely. Not just women, even the most timid men would likely be scared witless.

The leader chuckled menacingly. "Heh, you’ll find out what we want from you soon enough."

The lead hijacker then roughly grabbed the flight attendant and tossed her aside with a look of ease. He turned to a large man beside him and asked, "Number Three, how are the preparations?"

The man, codenamed Number Three, gave an "OK" sign. "Everything’s ready."

"Good. Well done."

As the hijackers muttered among themselves, Xia Liang watched everything silently. I’m confident I could take this gang of ruthless bandits down myself, but Luu Qi and Shi Qiang are right here. I should play it safe.

Fortunately, after those two enhancements, my Spiritual Power has been refined to the equivalent of ninety years. I can fill the entire plane with it and control them with Spiritual Power alone. The only problem is that it spreads a little slowly.

While he was planning, the hijacker called Number Three turned, and Xia Liang clearly saw a belt of explosives strapped to his body.

With gear like that, it goes without saying this gang of vicious thugs isn’t after money. That makes sense. If it was about money, robbing a bank would be much faster. What on earth do these guys want?

I can withstand the blast, and I could probably protect Luu Qi and Shi Qiang, too. But the plane can’t. We’re ten thousand meters up in the air, for crying out loud. If something happens to the plane... I’ve never tried using my light-footed techniques to descend from this high up with two other people.

Xia Liang decided not to act rashly. He would wait until his Spiritual Power had filled the entire cabin.

Meanwhile, having gotten the confirmation from Number Three, the leader nodded. He walked back to the flight attendant, pulled her to her feet, and offered a predatory smile. "My dear lady, I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Now, would you be so kind as to contact the Dragon Country officials? I need to have a little chat with them."

The flight attendant took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm. "What do you want?"

Instead of answering, the hijacker pressed the gun to her forehead. "Just do as I say! You don’t want a bloodbath here, do you?"

Staring down the cold barrel of the gun, the flight attendant’s resolve crumbled. She quickly activated the radio.

"Flight 686, we’ve received your call. What is your situation?" a voice responded from the control tower.

The leader snatched the handset from her. "Your plane has been hijacked," he snarled. "If you don’t want everyone on board to die, you’ll do exactly as we say!"

"This is... a hijacking!" the person on the other end exclaimed.

Before they could recover, the leader continued, "I know you can contact your higher-ups. Tell them they have one hour to release Weiss! If I don’t get a definitive ’yes’ within that hour, I will kill everyone on this plane. Starting now, I will execute one person every five minutes! I suggest you get me an answer quickly!"

With that, he disconnected the call, plunging everyone into despair. It was obvious these weren’t just criminals. No, they were terrorists. They weren’t joking. This was a terrorist attack, and they were capable of anything.

All the passengers prayed silently for someone to save them. But on a plane where the enemy had guns and bombs, their lives were no longer their own. Who would be willing to be the first to die?

So these hijackers are using the lives of these ordinary people to force the Dragon Country to release this Weiss person, Xia Liang mused. From what the man had said, he could make a rough assessment. As vicious as they are, they won’t escalate things until they’ve achieved their goal.