179: Chapter 179 Find the General to Prove I'm Not a Hijacker

The channel was chaotic at first.

Chairs were knocked over.

Someone shouted for the duty manager.

Someone flipped through the emergency manual, the pages rustling loudly.

Li Li leaned back in the captain's seat, his left hand resting on the control stick, his right hand poised near the communication button.

He didn't rush them.

The plane was still flying.

Altitude: 36,000 feet.

He had corrected the course somewhat, but it was still far from the normal flight path.

A dozen seconds later, a voice suppressing its anger drowned out the noise.

"Xiao Zhou, stay steady."

"Ask for his demands first."

The air traffic controller from before reconnected to the frequency.

His breathing had not yet steadied.

"CX890, this is Guangzhou Area Control. Please report your… demands."

The tone had been corrected by his superior.

It had changed from "Who exactly are you?" to "Hello, may I ask what service you require?"

Li Li pressed the transmit button.

"Clear the runway at Hong Kong Airport. I am returning."

He paused for a moment.

"I am Li Li. Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun on board can vouch for me."

"The hijackers on the plane have been subdued or killed. The cockpit is currently secure."

There was silence on the frequency for two seconds.

Then, the other side forgot to turn off the microphone.

Zhou Wei lowered his voice, but every word carried into the cockpit.

"Manager, the person claims to be Li Li, and mentions Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun. He says he has taken over the controls."

The duty manager's voice was even lower.

"Record it as an unlawful interference incident first."

"Note: A passenger named Li Li, suspected of taking over control of CX890, is requesting to return to Hong Kong."

Li Li leaned back against the seat, the blood spots on his face still unwashed.

He had just cleared out five hijackers, saved all the passengers, and even fished out a defecting CIA programmer.

Now, in the system, he was probably labeled a "suspected hijacker."

Absurd.

Snow poked half his body out from behind.

"What did they say?"

Li Li didn't turn around.

"They said I'm hijacking the plane."

Snow paused for half a second.

"Technically speaking, you did take over the plane."

"Shut up."

Snow sat back down immediately.

The co-pilot on the floor was tied up tightly, his mouth sealed with tape, and could only make muffled noises.

Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun stood by the cockpit door, gripping a fire extinguisher.

She didn't trust anyone right now.

Including Snow.

Just as Li Li was about to continue explaining, a new voice suddenly cut into the frequency.

It was very stern.

It was no longer the tone of civil aviation dispatch.

"Guangzhou Area Control, this is the Southern Theater Command Joint Operations Command Center."

"In accordance with Article 37 of the Military Aviation Coordination Regulations, we are now taking over airspace control authority for CX890."

"Please hand over communication frequencies and radar monitoring data immediately."

Guangzhou Area Control didn't waste a single word.

"Received, handing over."

A few seconds later, the new frequency connected.

"CX890, this is Southern Theater Command Air Traffic Control. I am the duty Senior Colonel, Li Qi."

"Please report the situation on board."

A Senior Colonel.

It had jumped straight from local civil aviation to the theater command.

Li Li sat up straighter.

This person was not customer service.

This was someone who could deploy fighter jets.

He pressed the communication button.

"CX890 received."

"About forty minutes after takeoff, I noticed the aircraft's heading was abnormal. Outside the window was the sea, not the city lights along the route."

"Later, it was confirmed that five armed personnel disguised as passengers had hijacked the plane, and the destination was changed to Hanoi, Vietnam."

"The captain died after being stabbed."

"The co-pilot was an accomplice and has been subdued."

No one in the cockpit interrupted.

Only the sound of the engines remained.

Li Li continued.

"Five armed personnel; four dead, one incapacitated."

"The cockpit is under my control, autopilot is disconnected, currently flying manually, and we are turning toward Hong Kong."

"Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun and the crew are maintaining order in the cabin."

"There are no casualties among the passengers for now."

The frequency went quiet again.

This time for longer.

People were talking on the Senior Colonel's end, their voices very low.

Radar data, transponder code, deviation angle, airliner speed.

A few words came through intermittently.

Ten seconds later, the Senior Colonel reconnected.

"Comrade Li Li, we have recorded your situation."

"There is one question now."

"You are requesting to return to Hong Kong; how can we confirm that you will not pose a threat to ground targets?"

He paused.

This question was more direct.

"In other words, how can we confirm that you won't turn CX890 into a second 9/11?"

Li Li's finger hovered over the communication button.

This question wasn't offensive.

It was even quite reasonable.

A hijacked boeing 777.

The captain dead.

The co-pilot turned traitor.

Sitting in the cockpit now was someone claiming to be a passenger.

From the perspective of the theater command, it was impossible to clear him just because he said "I am Li Li."

Just as Li Li was about to answer, outside the windshield to the front-left, a dark gray fuselage slid out from behind the clouds.

The navigation lights flashed twice.

A J-20.

It was very close.

Close enough for him to see the pilot's serious face.

Another one appeared on the right.

Two J-20s, one on the left and one on the right, kept pace with CX890.

This wasn't an escort.

It was a combat air patrol.

As long as the 777's nose veered toward the city, the two fighter jets would open fire immediately.

Over two hundred lives.

Including his own.

Snow saw it too, shrinking his whole body into the seat.

Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun's hands were covered in sweat.

Li Li withdrew his attention and pressed the transmit button.

"Southern Theater Command, I request to contact the Central Military Commission, General Jiang Zhan."

The frequency went silent for three seconds.

Senior Colonel Li Qi's voice tightened.

"Your request can be relayed to our superiors by us."

"You can state the content directly."

"No."

Li Li's tone was very flat.

"I need General Jiang Zhan to verify my identity."

"This is the only way I can prove myself right now."

The Senior Colonel didn't reply immediately.

Li Li could understand.

A person claiming to be a passenger, sitting in the cockpit of a hijacked airliner, with two J-20s beside him ready to open fire at any moment.

Now he was asking for a General.

Anyone would be stunned by this.

A few arguments came from the frequency.

Then, a new voice cut in.

It was steadier than the Senior Colonel's.

"CX890, this is Lieutenant General Zhao Ming of the Southern Theater Command Air Force."

"I am now taking over command of this frequency."

A Lieutenant General.

Two ranks higher.

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming didn't beat around the bush.

"Comrade Li Li, tell me directly."

"Why do you need to find General Jiang Zhan?"

Li Li held the communication button.

"Lieutenant General Zhao, let me ask a question."

"Don't you check passenger information? Hasn't my information been pulled up yet?"

The other end of the frequency paused.

Immediately after, someone started flipping through files.

The sound of pages was urgent.

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming must have been looking at Li Li's file.

At first, it was flipped through quickly.

Dating Reality Show guest.

Firefighting reality show guest.

TikTok followers over 100 million.

May 1st Labor Medal recipient.

Orphanage director.

Zhongtian Wireless drone spokesperson.

Further on, the page-turning sound stopped.

Because the content behind it was all blacked out.

Classified.

The Senior Colonel didn't have enough clearance, but it took a lot of time for Lieutenant General Zhao Ming's clearance to find the information.

It was quiet on Lieutenant General Zhao Ming's end for a few seconds.

High-level classified content appearing in the file of a reality show guest was inherently abnormal.

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming spoke again.

"Comrade Li Li, I have seen your file."

He paused.

"Your resume is very rich."

"But I do not see a direct connection between you and General Jiang Zhan."

"Please explain."

No one in the cockpit made a sound.

The fuel level was dropping.

The course still needed more correction.

The two J-20s were stuck to the outside, never leaving.

If this dragged on, the window for returning to Hong Kong would become narrower and narrower.

Li Li pressed the communication button.

"Lieutenant General Zhao."

"Speak."

"General Jiang Zhan."

He paused for half a beat.

"Is potentially my future father-in-law."

The sound on the frequency cut off directly.

It wasn't a signal disconnection.

It was that no one replied.

Snow had just taken a sip of water and immediately choked, bending over and coughing for a long time.

The co-pilot on the floor had his mouth sealed, and having just woken up, he managed to squeeze out a muffled "Huh?"

Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun saw this and kicked him in the head, knocking him out again against the floor.

The frequency was silent for a full five seconds.

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming's voice came through again.

This time, there was a stutter in the middle.

"…Say that again."

Li Li looked at the J-20 on the left.

The navigation lights were flashing.

He pressed the communication button all the way down.

"I said, General Jiang Zhan, my girlfriend Jiang Rumu's father."

"Is potentially my future father-in-law."

The frequency went quiet again.

This time, another voice cut in.

The voice wasn't loud.

But no one in the entire channel dared to interrupt.

"Li Li."

"You had better explain."

"What do you mean by 'potentially'?"