Volume 12: Yaguna Kotor Chapter 590: Aerial Surprise Attack (Part 1)
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Yagunakotor , core power room, front-line supply base.
"What happened? Did the transport plane carrying the experts from the research institute deviate from its course?" Ke Lan questioned the other people participating in the remote meeting on the screen.
"According to our judgment, the transport plane was most likely hijacked." Schroeder said seriously, "The situation is not optimistic."
"Who is leading the team responsible for escorting this group of experts?" Ke Lan asked again.
"It's Lin Qiming." A familiar name came out of Schroeder's mouth.
"As I recall, only you, Lin Qiming, and professors in the institute have the authority to view this information... So, how many professors are still alive in the institute?"
"There are six in total. Apart from Dr. Norison who is on the plane, the other five professors have been detained by us." Schroeder said, "But I am almost certain that the news was not leaked from them."
"But besides us, there is another group of people who know this news..." Schroeder said again.
"Don't... don't stare at me!" Ye Yan panicked and waved his hands repeatedly. "Although the transport plane was provided by our Ye Group, I can guarantee that neither the port and airport staff nor the crew knew the content of the mission or the identity of the passengers... They only knew that they were escorting a batch of expensive equipment to Yaguna Kotor, and all other information was kept confidential!"
"Are you sure?" Schroeder's tone was very suspicious.
"I'm sure! The only person who knows about this is the one who is responsible for the contact. That person is my second uncle. He can't be a member of a heretical sect." Ye Yan said solemnly.
Ye Yan's second uncle Ke Lan had also had several contacts with him. This person had a very high status and prestige within the Ye family, almost on par with the head of the family. If even a character like him was a pawn planted by the heretical sect, then the entire Ye family was probably inseparable from the heretical sect.
If it were in a normal TV drama or novel, Ye Yan's second uncle might choose to "cooperate" with external forces such as heretical sects because he was unwilling to be just a second-in-command. But the problem is that the Ye family's inheritance system is to select the best person among all the direct descendants to serve as the next head of the family. The best young man of this generation of the Ye family is not Ye Yan, but Ye Yan's cousin, who is the son of his second uncle.
Ye Yan had stated publicly many times that he had no interest in being the head of the Ye family. He preferred to be a playboy rather than spending all day in the office reviewing endless documents and files. It was almost certain that his cousin would become the next head of the Ye family.
From this point of view, Ye Yan's second uncle had absolutely no motive or reason to betray.
"By the way, Ye Yan, can you guys contact this Hercules transport plane?" Ke Lan asked.
"We can't get in touch. The transport plane unilaterally cut off the communication." Ye Yan sighed, "I have sent you the list of crew members... To be honest, I don't know who the traitors are."
"The rescue operation is very difficult if the plane does not land... We must prepare for the best and worst," Schroeder said.
"What is the worst plan?" The fat on Ye Yan's face twitched violently.
"Shoot down the plane - even if it means killing these experts, it is better than letting them fall into the hands of the heretical sects." The expression on Schroeder's face was very determined.
"That's the last resort. Before that, let's find a way to organize a rescue operation." Ke Lan said.
"Ke Lan, just tell us what you think. As long as it is something our Ye family can do, we will fully cooperate." Ye Yan immediately agreed.
He didn't want things to really develop to that point - the loss of a Hercules transport plane was probably not even a drizzle for the Ye family, but the lives of those people on the plane... that responsibility was not something the Ye family could afford... Although the Ye Group seemed to ordinary people to be an unshakable behemoth, only they themselves knew that if the Undead Crew wanted to purge the Ye family, the Ye family would not even have a chance to resist.
"I just looked through the crew list you sent me, and I always feel that... even if the heretical sect wants to plant a pawn in the Ye Group, it is impossible for the entire crew to be their people... What's more, this operation was decided at the last minute, and the Hercules transport plane just happened to be available. If it happens that the entire crew is a traitor, I think I can go buy a lottery ticket."
Ke Lan paused and continued, "No, even buying lottery tickets is not so outrageous. After all, this is equivalent to winning 100 million in a lottery with a total prize pool of 5 million - it is simply impossible."
"Airport." Schroeder suddenly said, "Contact the airport control center and ask them to deploy surveillance equipment throughout the airport. Don't miss any corner. Also, get a list of all the people who entered and left Yong'an Port today."
"Okay, okay!" Ye Yan responded.
"Chief Schroeder, do you suspect that someone broke into the airport and stole the plane?" The representative of the Security Bureau who had been silent spoke up.
"Instead of someone sneaking onto the plane, I think... the crew members were replaced," Schroeder said word by word.
"Substitution? These crew members should be familiar with each other, right? If a stranger sneaks in, he should be recognized at the first moment, right?" the representative of the Security Bureau asked doubtfully.
"What if the entire crew... were all replaced? There are so many planes and airships flying in and out of the airport every day, and the airport ground staff may not know every crew member." Schroeder said.
Without waiting for the person from the Security Bureau to say anything, Ye Yan, who had disappeared from the screen for a few minutes, hurried back and said, "The inspection results are out! Six cameras outside Yong'an Port were damaged, and the computer in the monitoring room was found to have been implanted with a Trojan horse. In addition, the cameras in the bathroom and locker room on the first floor of the airport were all damaged , and the security equipment at Gates 4 and 5 had inexplicable malfunctions!"
"Where is the list of people coming in and out?"
"I haven't figured it out yet. Yaguna Kotor just sent some supplies today, and the number of people entering and leaving Yong'an Port is at least 8,000... Wait a minute! Just now, there was news from the airport that three people are missing, and they haven't been found yet!"
"Three people? Which three people?" Ke Lan asked.
"Two are airport security guards, and the other is a 'water supply and drainage engineer' hired by the airport..."
"Water supply and drainage engineer? What? Is there a problem with the airport's drainage pipes?" Schroeder asked, "Could it be that these things sneaked into the airport through the pipe system?"
"The autonomous cleaning robot in the pipeline got stuck on the track, and then the maintenance robot seemed to be stuck as well, so we had to start the manual troubleshooting procedure... But the engineer named Jimmy Galligan disappeared not long after entering the airport, and no one knows where he went."
"Could it be that this Jimmy Galligan is from a heretical sect..." Ye Yan interrupted the man from the Security Bureau before he finished speaking: "Well, when Jimmy Galligan entered the airport, the transport plane had already flown away from Yong'an Port..."
"Is this Jimmy here to inspect the underground drainage pipes?" Ke Lan suddenly asked.
"Yes." Ye Yan nodded.
"Where is the entrance to the underground drainage pipe?" Ke Lan asked again.
"There should be several entrances...but the most commonly used ones are either in the bathroom or the toilet..."
"Did you just say that the cameras in the bathroom and the locker room were destroyed? Hurry up, organize a team now, go to the bathroom where the camera is destroyed, and enter the underground pipe from the entrance over there! There must be something down there!"
"I'll get someone to do it right away!"
"Where is this transport plane now?" Ke Lan looked at the security bureau representative again and asked.
"1,100 kilometers due north of the Ark, it is still flying north. The First Fleet has sent two fighter squadrons to intercept it... However, the other side simply ignored the warnings issued by the fighters." The representative of the Security Bureau said with a bitter face, "But without permission from above, we cannot open fire on them..."
The permission mentioned above naturally refers to the Undead Crew Council - before the Undead Crew Council nods, neither the Crisis Management Department nor the Security Bureau has the authority to shoot down this Hercules transport plane.
"Is there no other way to stop the plane?"
"Someone proposed destroying the aircraft engine and then using a flying mecha to forcibly drag the transport plane... But we can't guarantee that after the plane loses power, the hijackers will not take extreme actions... For example, killing the hostages..."
"But this is a solution." Schroeder continued, "If Lin Qiming is still alive, with the help of the chaos we created outside, he should be able to solve the problem from inside the plane."
"The premise is that the hijacker's strength is inferior to that of the Crisis Management Department's operators... But from the clues we have so far, the hijacker is most likely a member of a heretical sect, which means there must be a container that is parasitic with the seeds of erosion... We can even not rule out the existence of a black cardinal." Ke Lan pondered.
"One black cardinal is enough to wipe out Deputy Section Chief Lin's entire team." The representative of the Security Bureau also said solemnly, "We can't pin our hopes on a person whose life or death is still uncertain."
"Chief Schroeder, have you contacted Lin Qiming?" Ke Lan continued to ask.
Schroeder shook his head. "The transport plane has activated its shielding device. The personal communication devices they carried have all been disabled."
At this moment, Ye Yan returned to the screen again. Looking at his breathless appearance, it was obvious that he had run all the way back.
“Ke-Kekekekelan! You…you, you, your guess is right! I, I asked someone to check the underground drainage system—corpses! There are corpses down there! We found a large number of corpses in the management!”
"Whose body is it?" Ke Lan, Schroeder and the representative of the Security Bureau suddenly looked tense and asked.
"The engineer named Jimmy and the bodies of the crew members...the entire crew of Class B were killed!" Ye Yan shouted breathlessly.
"That is to say... the entire crew of the transport plane is disguised by the hijackers." Schroeder said in a deep voice, "Even if there is no Cardinal in Black, the combat power of Lin Qiming and his team is probably not optimistic... What's more, without their knowledge, the hijackers have absolute initiative..."
"Then what should we do? Apply to... the higher-ups..." The representative of the Security Bureau stopped talking halfway through. The "application" he mentioned was naturally an application for permission to act - and an action that required approval from the Undead Crew Council would necessarily be one that would result in large-scale casualties.
There is a high possibility that what they will get in the end is the wreckage of an airplane and dozens of mutilated bodies.
"How about this, I'll carry out the rescue operation." Ke Lan said, suddenly standing up.
"You go...how are you going?" Schroeder asked after a moment's pause.
"Of course I'll take the high-speed fighter jets of Fleet Zero. I can't fly." Ke Lan smiled and said, "With the speed of the fighter jets, we should be able to catch up with the transport planes before they fly over the White Ridge Mountains."
"Then what? What are you going to do?" The representative of the Security Bureau looked at Ke Lan with confusion. "The fighter formation of Fleet No. 1 has been following the transport plane all the way, but they also have no way to deal with them."
"Of course, jump onto the plane and kill the hijackers inside."
"???"
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At this moment, on the A-136 Hercules transport plane, Lin Qiming, holding two guns, was squatting in the aisle outside the bathroom. Using a cart for cleaning tools as a cover, he carefully peered into the cabin to observe the situation.
There were six "stewardesses" in the first-class cabin, two of them were sitting near him, and the other three were sitting near the cockpit. The eight crisis management officers were scattered in various corners of the first-class cabin. If he jumped out and shot and issued orders to his subordinates, he should be able to cooperate with them to kill these "stewardesses" and control the first-class cabin in the first place - but the problem was that his subordinates could kill the stewardesses, but they could not kill the monsters lurking in their bodies.
Although each operator carried active ammunition, the gun chambers and magazines were still loaded with conventional ammunition. Even Lin Qiming himself changed the magazine only after he noticed something unusual.
He had to let his subordinates prepare the active ammunition first... Lin Qiming glanced at his communication equipment and found that the signal shielding device on the plane had been turned on. If he wanted to convey this message to his subordinates, he had to say it himself.
But if I go out now, the disappearance of "Helen" will definitely attract the attention of other "stewardess", and they might even take the initiative to attack me.
In addition, they also have people in the cockpit and cargo hold. Once a fight breaks out, the first-class cabin will be attacked from both sides and will be in a very unfavorable situation.
Although these people do not have guns, the "Seeds of Corrosion" in their bodies is a fighting force that Lin Qiming cannot ignore, especially in a narrow and compact space like an airplane... If they cannot keep their distance, it will be difficult for them to gain an advantage even if they have active ammunition.
Moreover, Lin Qiming could not stay in this place for too long, otherwise it would also attract the attention of those "stewardess" - after all, if he had been killed by "Helen", it would not take too much time to hide a corpse.
We can't delay any longer, we must make a decision quickly!
