184: Chapter 184 Watching His Emergency Water Landing Live Globally

The channel went silent for four seconds.

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming's thermos clattered onto the desk.

"Repeat that."

Li Li stared at the navigation screen.

"Victoria Harbour, ditching on water."

"Fuel won't last to the airport. The final leg must be done by gliding."

"I need a stretch of water that is wide enough, long enough, with small waves, and can be cleared immediately."

He paused for half a second.

"Victoria Harbour fits the criteria."

At the Southern Theater Command command center, the flight path was immediately projected onto the big screen.

Current position of CX890.

Hong Kong.

Victoria Harbour.

A straight line was drawn across it.

The air defense staff officer marked the obstacles.

"The highest point of the Tai Tam Country Park ridge is over four hundred meters."

"Based on the current descent rate, the clearance margin when flying over the ridge is about one hundred twenty meters."

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming didn't say anything.

One hundred twenty meters.

Enough for a normal flight.

For a boeing 777 with a dead right engine, a single left engine, a damaged airframe, and a fuel leak, it wasn't enough room.

The staff officer continued.

"The highest building in the Happy Valley area is fifty-eight meters; the clearance height is sufficient."

"The Central building complex is on the right side of the flight path, with an offset of about eight hundred meters."

On the screen, Two IFC was marked in red.

Four hundred fifteen meters.

"The descent angle must be precise. If the yaw exceeds two degrees, it will enter the building clearance zone."

Lieutenant General Zhao Ming stood in front of the big screen, his face darkening.

This flight path was very simple.

Over the mountain.

Past Happy Valley.

Skimming past the Central buildings to enter Victoria Harbour.

Finally, putting a boeing 777 down on the sea surface.

He picked up the communicator.

"Notify the Hong Kong SAR Government."

"Evacuate the coast from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui Victoria Harbour immediately."

"All vessels are to cease operations."

"Clear the entire surface of Victoria Harbour."

He added.

"Immediately."

Hong Kong.

9:00 PM.

The Central harborfront promenade was lively.

The lights on both sides of Victoria Harbour were on, the Star Ferry was still going back and forth, and tourists were holding up their phones to take pictures of the night view.

The next second.

All the phones rang.

Not just one.

The whole city.

Hong Kong Island.

Kowloon.

New Territories.

Tens of millions of phones popped up an orange alert simultaneously.

[Emergency Notice from the SAR Government]

[Immediate emergency evacuation initiated for the coast from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui Victoria Harbour.]

[A civil airliner will conduct an emergency water landing in Victoria Harbour within twenty-five minutes.]

[All coastal residents and tourists, please evacuate to a safe distance immediately.]

[All vessels in Victoria Harbour must cease operations and dock immediately.]

[This is not a drill!]

[Attention, this is not a drill!]

At the Central Pier plaza, a few tourists stood in place, dragging their suitcases.

Sirens blared from three roads simultaneously.

Hong Kong Police tactical unit vehicles pulled over to the side of the road.

"Everyone, evacuate towards the inland!"

"Don't stop! Don't take pictures!"

"Leave the seaside immediately!"

The loudspeakers were blaring until the sound distorted.

Officers put up cordon lines, stretching all the way from Central Pier to Wan Chai, then circling to Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom.

Fire engines arrived on the scene.

Ambulances arrived on the scene.

The Government Flying Service helicopter took off from Chek Lap Kok, its searchlight sweeping over the surface of Victoria Harbour.

The gates of the Stonecutters Island Naval Base opened.

Patrol boats rushed into the western waters first.

Marine police ships entered from the east side.

All vessels in Victoria Harbour began to dock.

The Star Ferry ceased operations.

Yachts ceased operations.

Sightseeing boats ceased operations.

A small boat that hadn't reacted in time was ordered to stop directly by a patrol boat.

"Clear the flight path immediately!"

"A boeing 777 is coming down right above your head!"

The skipper stood on the deck, stunned for two seconds, then turned and rushed into the wheelhouse.

Two IFC in Central.

The security supervisor roared into the walkie-talkie.

"Evacuate the entire building!"

"Don't ask why!"

"The airliner's flight path is eight hundred meters west of the building; theoretically, it won't hit."

Someone on the walkie-talkie was anxious.

"Theoretically?"

The security supervisor cursed.

"Are you going to go discuss theory with the airplane?"

Happy Valley.

The duty manager of the Jockey Club was eating instant noodles.

The phone rang.

He picked it up, chopsticks still in hand.

"What?"

"The plane is passing by me?"

The person on the other end corrected him.

"Not by you, but above the museum."

The duty manager slapped his chopsticks onto the table.

"Is there a difference?"

"Evacuate quickly."

The instant noodles were still steaming.

He had already run downstairs.

Tai Tam Country Park.

There weren't many people on the mountain at this hour.

But the Flying Tigers still went up the mountain.

At the highest point of the ridge, two red strobe lights were fixed to the ground, flashing towards the night sky.

That was for Li Li.

This is a mountain.

Don't descend.

Don't hit me.

Thanks.

Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront.

The Avenue of Stars was cleared.

In front of the Bruce Lee statue, the last old lady who refused to leave was being helped back by two Firefighters.

The old lady cursed while holding her thermos.

"Young man, I've been watching the night view here for forty years, and no one has ever chased me away!"

The Firefighter was so anxious that he was sweating.

"Granny, tonight is not the time to watch the night view."

"An airplane is about to land in the sea."

The old lady stopped.

"Which airplane?"

"A Cathay Pacific airliner."

"How many people?"

"Over three hundred."

The old lady stopped cursing.

She started walking out on her own.

After walking a few steps, she turned back.

"When it lands, help me record a clip."

The Firefighter almost knelt down.

"Granny, hurry and leave!"

Within ten minutes.

Both sides of Victoria Harbour were completely cordoned off.

Vessels were cleared.

The sea surface was cleared.

Warships, patrol boats, and rescue ships lined up on both sides.

Searchlights swept the ditching area over and over again.

Since the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR Government, the largest emergency evacuation for a non-natural disaster had begun.

There was only one reason.

A mainland amateur who came to record a variety show was going to land a boeing 777 in Victoria Harbour.

Global media had exploded.

CNN cut their original program to livestream the aerial view of Victoria Harbour.

On screen, police lights flashed on both banks, the water surface was cleared, and rescue ships entered their positions one by one.

The host looked at the script in their hand and got stuck halfway through reading.

"According to current reports, the person piloting CX890 is not a registered civil aviation pilot."

The aviation expert next to them added.

"If the report is true, this will be an extremely rare ditching incident in civil aviation history."

"A boeing 777, over three hundred passengers, single engine, fuel leak, water landing."

"Any one of these conditions taken alone would be enough to be written into an accident report."

In the BBC studio, the anchor had already gone through three cups of coffee.

"Many viewers will think of the Hudson River ditching."

"But that was an Airbus A320, with one hundred fifty-five people."

"Tonight is a boeing 777."

"More importantly, the pilot is not a captain."

NHK studio.

The anchor looked down at the script and paused for two seconds.

"The pilot's name is Li Li."

The director cut to a photo.

Short, messy hair.

Work jacket.

Li Li.

TikTok variety show guest.

One hundred million followers on TikTok, 130 million global followers.

The anchor looked at the photo and flipped the wrong page of the script.

"He... isn't he a singer?"

The guest next to them added.

"Data shows he also participated in a firefighting variety show."

"Additionally, he is an architect."

The studio went silent for two seconds.

The comment section went crazy first.

The top three spots on Weibo trending topics were all taken.

First: Victoria Harbour emergency evacuation.

Second: Li Li boeing 777 water landing.

Third: Who on earth is he?

The number of viewers in the TikTok livestream no longer displayed specific numbers.

The entire technical team was working overtime.

The comments were flooding in.

[Wasn't he there to record a variety show?]

[Why would you get chased by missiles while recording a variety show?]

[How many side jobs does this guy have?]

[A food delivery driver who can fly a 777, is this reasonable?]

[Forget about whether it's reasonable or not, just pray he lands alive.]

[What about Jiang Rumu? Has Jiang Rumu seen the livestream?]

Beside the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier.

Outside the cordon.

Shen Jue was holding his phone, his face deathly pale.

Cen Ye stood beside him, hands in his pockets, silent.

Han Shubai, usually the calmest, wasn't saying anything either.

Wen Zhuotang was squatting by the roadside, not having taken a single sip of the milk tea in her hand.

Fang Ruowei kept refreshing the news page.

The cameraman was still shouldering the equipment, the lens shaking constantly.

The Busy Roommates Production Team had originally arranged a night scene shoot at Victoria Harbour tonight.

Shen Jue, Cen Ye, Han Shubai, Wen Zhuotang, Fang Ruowei, and guest Gu Zeyan and Qi Wanyin were in this group in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Yin Ruoying and Jiang Rumu had gone to a cocktail party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Central.

Later, hearing that Jiang Rumu was feeling unwell, she went to The Landmark Mandarin Oriental on her own to rest.

It was right nearby; the two hotels were very close.

Then, the alert sounded.

Shen Jue watched the livestream on his phone.

The screen only showed the aerial view of Victoria Harbour.

The pitch-black sky.

The cleared water surface.

The constantly sweeping searchlights.

The airplane hadn't appeared yet.

But everyone knew it was coming here.

Shen Jue cursed.

"Why does something happen every time he gets on a vehicle?"

No one answered.

Director Pei Zhao stood behind, spinning the prayer beads in his hand several times.

Qi Wanyin just waited quietly.

Gu Zeyan looked up at the sky.

There were only helicopters in the sky.

And the white light flashing beneath the clouds in the distance.

His throat moved.

"Li Li, don't you dare fall into the sea and fall apart."

Hong Kong Island.

The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.

Jiang Rumu sat by the bed.

The TV was on.

The news channel was broadcasting the evacuation of Victoria Harbour on a loop.

Her phone was on her lap, and the TikTok livestream was also on.

It wasn't her own livestream.

It was the news channel's livestream.

There was a flight path diagram in the corner of the screen.

A small green dot was moving towards Victoria Harbour.

Every time it jumped, the distance shortened.

There were already over a dozen unread messages on her phone.

Lu Cheng.

Yin Ruoying.

Her mother.

The Production Team director.

She hadn't opened any of them.

On the TV, the anchor was reporting.

"According to the latest news, CX890 is expected to enter the airspace above Victoria Harbour in ten minutes."

"The rescue forces on the scene have completed their deployment."

"All citizens, please stay away from the coastal area."

The phone vibrated.

A new message popped up.

Sender: Li Li.

Jiang Rumu's hand froze.

She opened it.

There was only one line of text in the chat box.

"If I'm alive and well in ten minutes, without missing any arms or legs, will you be my girlfriend?"

Only the sound of the TV remained in the room.

Police lights were still flashing on both sides of Victoria Harbour.

Over three hundred lives were hanging in the air above Hong Kong.

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide were watching the livestream.

Jiang Rumu looked at that line of text.

Her hand hovered over the screen.

The content she had typed out wasn't sent.

She was afraid that any message would distract Li Li.

And at this moment, distraction was the greatest taboo of all.

Any slight mistake would mean the plane would crash and everyone would die.

The content she had edited on her phone was.

"Li Li, whether you live or die, you are my boyfriend."