183: Chapter 183 Not enough fuel? Use gliding!

The right engine fire warning light was going crazy.

Red alarms hammered into the cockpit again and again.

Li Li's right hand reached for the right engine fuel supply switch without hesitation.

Cut fuel.

The switch was flipped down.

The right engine fuel flow dropped to zero.

The RPM plummeted.

Outside the porthole, the fire on the right engine nacelle was torn apart by the airflow, the orange-red flames receding in sections.

The thick smoke remained.

The fire was out.

The voice of Nighthawk One cut into the channel.

"CX890, the open fire on the right engine has been extinguished."

"The thick smoke is subsiding."

"The right engine nacelle is severely deformed, and the blades are visibly damaged."

Li Li scanned the right engine parameters.

RPM at zero.

Exhaust gas temperature at zero.

Thrust at zero.

The right engine was completely dead.

This engine wouldn't give him any face tonight.

He shifted his attention to the left engine.

Just a moment ago, to let the J-20 lock onto the tomahawk missile, he had manually cut the fuel and shut down the left engine.

Now the right engine was totaled.

The left engine was his only way out.

If the left engine wouldn't start.

Thirty-two thousand feet.

More than three hundred people.

The boeing 777 would become a piece of iron smashing into the sea.

Li Li pushed the left engine throttle lever back to the start position.

He pressed the start button.

On the dashboard, the N2 RPM of the left engine began to climb.

Five percent.

Eight percent.

Twelve percent.

Then it stuck.

The needle wavered twice and dropped straight back to zero.

Start failed.

No one in the cockpit made a sound.

Snow hugged the hard drive, huddled in the corner of the jump seat.

He didn't understand flying, but he understood red lights.

The more red lights there were, the closer one was to writing a will.

Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun guarded the cabin door, a fire extinguisher tucked under her arm, the back of her hands covered in sweat.

The co-pilot on the floor woke up, making muffled sounds from beneath the tape.

Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun lowered her head and stepped on his back.

"Don't move."

The co-pilot behaved.

Li Li ignored them.

Second attempt at starting.

The N2 RPM climbed again.

Five percent.

Ten percent.

Fifteen percent.

It stopped again.

Dropped to zero.

Second failure.

A blue message popped up on the system panel.

[Friendly Reminder: Continuous start failures for the left engine. It is recommended that the host prepare a last will and testament, keeping the word count under 140 characters for convenience in posting to Weibo.]

Li Li stared at the start button.

He didn't curse.

He didn't laugh either.

Both engines were completely stopped.

Altitude was dropping.

Two thousand feet per minute.

That meant he had about ten-plus minutes.

In ten-plus minutes, this plane would crash into the sea.

Not a forced landing.

It would shatter.

Li Li pressed the third start attempt.

The N2 RPM climbed.

Five percent.

Ten percent.

Fifteen percent.

Twenty percent.

The needle wavered again.

Chief Flight Attendant Chen Xiyun held her breath for a split second.

Snow hugged the hard drive even tighter.

Li Li's hand pressed onto the throttle lever.

Twenty-five percent.

It didn't drop.

Thirty percent.

It passed.

Forty percent.

Fifty.

Sixty.

The left engine ignition was successful.

The engine stabilized at idle, and thrust returned.

On the dashboard, the left engine parameters turned green.

The rate of descent began to slow.

The altimeter stopped at twenty-eight thousand feet.

It was alive.

Li Li leaned back in his seat, his palms covered in sweat.

The system's blue message popped up again.

[Congratulations to the host for successfully restarting the left engine!]

[Only one final step remains to complete the "Extinguish Aircraft Fire" mission—landing safely.]

[Keep it up! Literally.]

Li Li looked at the line of text and couldn't be bothered to respond.

Single engine failure.

Emergency landing.

That A380 trip to Dubai flashed through his mind.

Back then, the system's reward for him was mastery of global sea, land, and air vehicle operation.

It also included emergency operation for extreme conditions.

Single-sided engine failure.

Hydraulic failure.

Emergency landing.

At that time, he had thought the system was absurd.

A contestant on a Dating Reality Show, what would he know about flying a plane?

As it turned out, he didn't use it for Ala Country Airlines.

He used it for Cathay Pacific.

If he had known the system was preparing for this trip, he would have bought thirty million in insurance back then.

Li Li pressed the communication button.

"Lieutenant General Zhao Ming, CX890 has entered single-engine flight."

"Left engine is normal."

"Right engine is totaled."

"Requesting to replan the flight path and return to Hong Kong."

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming replied quickly.

"Received."

"New flight path uploaded."

"Heading zero eight five, descend to fifteen thousand feet."

"Additionally, your original J-20 formation is low on fuel and will be returning soon."

"A new escort formation is approaching."

"Model J-35A, four-aircraft formation."

"Codename, Rock."

Li Li adjusted his heading without interrupting.

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming paused for half a second.

"You just focus on flying to Hong Kong airport."

"The orders received by the Rock formation are as follows."

"If another missile attacks."

"After all interception methods fail."

"They will use their own airframes to block the missile for CX890."

The cockpit fell silent.

Only the hum of the left engine remained.

Li Li's hand was still on the control stick.

Blocking with the airframe.

Translated, that meant crashing into it.

The pilots of the four J-35s were probably only in their twenties.

Perhaps they had just started dating.

Perhaps their families were still urging them to get married.

Perhaps before the mission, there were still unread messages on their phones.

Li Li held the communication button for three seconds.

"...Thank you, Motherland."

No one answered in the channel.

No need to answer.

Outside the windscreen, the navigation lights of the two J-20s flashed one last time, then they pulled up their noses and turned north.

A few minutes later, four dark gray fighter jets cut in from the southeast.

J-35A.

Four-aircraft formation.

One in front, one behind, one on the left, and one on the right, locking down the four positions around CX890.

The navigation lights flashed twice.

Li Li couldn't respond.

The boeing 777 didn't have that function.

He could only continue flying.

Ten minutes ago, the video taken by the passengers had already spread across the globe.

The technical team of the Southern Theater Command intercepted footage involving military secrets, but ordinary videos were allowed through.

J-20s were flying alongside outside the window.

The cabin was shaking violently.

The light of an explosion burst from behind.

In another shaky video, four flashes of light lit up the distant sea surface.

The tomahawk missiles surfaced.

Within fifteen minutes, the number one global trending topic was occupied by the same headline.

"Cruise missile attacks civilian airliner!"

Cruise missile.

Civilian airliner.

When these two terms were put together, global public opinion exploded.

BBC cut off its program.

CNN connected to the Pentagon.

An analyst from Al Jazeera cursed on live broadcast.

The top ten trending topics on Weibo were all replaced by CX890.

"tomahawk missile hits airliner".

"East China Sea missile attack".

"US military submarine".

"Li Li is on the plane again".

This last one had the fastest rising popularity.

The comment section had gone crazy.

"Wait, isn't he there to record a Dating Reality Show?"

"What about Jiang Rumu? Does Jiang Rumu know?"

"Stop asking about Jiang Rumu, I just want to know if this guy can still land alive."

Seven minutes later, the White House held a press conference.

The spokesperson stood behind the podium and flipped through the draft three times.

"The United States government confirms that an Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarine, the uss louisiana, in the East China Sea, carried out an unauthorized weapon launch."

"This action was not authorized by the President."

"It does not represent the will of the United States government."

"Currently, the uss louisiana has lost contact."

The press gallery exploded on the spot.

"Unauthorized? An Ohio-class launch requires authorization codes!"

"Four tomahawk missiles launched from the tubes at the same time, and you say it doesn't represent the government's will?"

"Then who does? Did the captain represent it in his dreams?"

"Is the uss louisiana lost, or has it already sunk?"

The spokesperson only repeated one sentence.

"We are investigating."

No one bought it.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the East issued a statement ten minutes later.

The wording was very short.

"The US side must provide a comprehensive and transparent account regarding the incident of attacking a civilian airliner."

"The Chinese side reserves all rights to pursue accountability."

The last sentence was even shorter.

"As for the US claim that the submarine has lost contact, the Chinese side can responsibly confirm that the US knows exactly what the current status of that submarine is."

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently issued one.

"If you need to salvage the wreckage, we can provide assistance."

Global public opinion was completely out of control.

Inside the cockpit.

Li Li looked at the fuel numbers.

Not right.

He double-checked.

Still not right.

The current fuel consumption rate was forty percent higher than normal single-engine cruising.

Although the right engine was shut down and fuel cut off, explosion debris might have punctured the lines.

Fuel leak.

Li Li calculated quickly.

Current fuel level.

Current consumption.

Distance to Hong Kong airport.

The standard approach would still require a large detour.

At least fifty minutes.

But there was only enough fuel for about twenty minutes.

A difference of nearly half an hour.

Li Li pressed the communication button.

"Lieutenant General Zhao Ming."

"Speak."

"The plane has a fuel leak, consumption rate is abnormal."

He reported the data.

"According to the standard approach procedure, there isn't enough fuel."

The channel was quiet for a few seconds.

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming was calculating on his end.

Soon, the reply came.

"Confirmed."

"According to the current flight path, CX890 cannot complete the standard approach."

The cockpit fell silent again.

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming didn't speak again.

The Rock formation didn't make a sound either.

General Jiang Zhan's channel was still connected, also without sound.

Li Li glanced out the porthole.

Below was the sea.

He couldn't see the waves clearly at night.

But he knew clearly that with the boeing 777's current weight and status, touching water directly in the open sea would result in an ugly, high probability of the airframe disintegrating.

He lowered his head and zoomed in on the navigation display.

Current position.

Hong Kong airport.

The standard approach route was winding and circuitous.

Not enough fuel.

Li Li reached out and drew a straight line on the screen.

From current position to Hong Kong.

About two hundred and forty kilometers.

At the current speed, there was still not enough fuel to cover the entire distance.

But the final stretch could be glided.

The problem was, there was no runway at the end of this straight line.

Only Victoria Harbour.

Victoria Harbour.

Li Li stared at the harbour area on the flight map for three seconds.

US Airways Flight 1549.

Hudson River landing.

One hundred and fifty-five people all survived.

He looked down at the control stick.

boeing 777.

Single engine.

Fuel leak.

More than three hundred passengers.

The water surface of Victoria Harbour was wide enough.

The wind and waves were smaller than in the open sea.

But this wasn't an A320.

This was a 777.

Li Li continued to zoom in on the flight map and measured the distance from Central to the harbour water surface.

Building height.

Glide slope.

Remaining speed.

Gliding distance.

Every number was tied to human lives.

He pressed the communication button.

"Lieutenant General Zhao Ming."

"Please have the military help me calculate the height of the buildings near Central on the way from my current position to Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong."

The channel was quiet for half a second.

Li Li finished the second half of the sentence.

"I may have to glide and land on the water surface of Victoria Harbour."