Volume 1, The Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 52: Changing Course
Having figured this out, Yang Hongtao finally breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, as long as he controlled those two magazines, it was like pulling out the tiger's teeth. In the event of a hijacking that could happen at any moment, he had already gained the upper hand.
Doing it this way is much better than just taking out and destroying those two magazines. Even if Yang Hongtao does it discreetly and manages to evade the terrorists' notice, who knows what other tricks the terrorists might pull if those two magazines are gone?
Who knows if there were only two magazines hidden on this plane?
Although Yang Hongtao believes that the terrorists are most likely to take action when the plane arrives in Yunnan, in a place closest to the border, because this way, if they succeed, it will be easier for them to get the plane abroad. Otherwise, if they hijack the plane in the inland area, even if they succeed, there is still a long way to go before they can fly out of the country, and things could change in the meantime.
However, this was just Yang Hongtao's idea; he dared not wait until the plane was almost in Yunnan before creating an independent soul within the magazine.
If his judgment is wrong and the terrorists arrive early to retrieve the magazine, his plan will be completely ruined.
Given his current abilities, he can only create independent soul entities within relatively static objects. Once someone takes out the magazine and moves around, he's basically helpless.
Although the independent soul entity will continuously weaken over time after its creation until the soul power that formed the soul entity is completely dissipated, in order to ensure this hidden move, Yang Hongtao had no choice but to replenish the soul power of the independent soul entity when it was almost exhausted.
This would definitely consume a lot of soul power, which would make Yang Hongtao very distressed. However, this was a matter of life and death, and he couldn't afford to be stingy.
It took less than half a minute to finish one magazine, and a minute later, both magazines contained a brand new, independent soul entity.
To Yang Hongtao's great surprise, probably because the structure of this magazine is simpler, the soul power consumed when creating an independent soul body is so little that it is almost negligible. The soul power consumed by the two magazines is basically only equivalent to the soul power that can be absorbed from a half-residual soul.
The pure soul power generated by the old ghost that Yang Hongtao devoured a couple of days ago was equivalent to the energy of more than two hundred ordinary remnant souls. So even if Yang Hongtao replenished the soul power in these two magazines ten or eight more times, it would not be enough to seriously injure him.
With this assurance, Yang Hongtao felt more at ease. He simply unfolded the blanket and covered himself, preparing to pretend to be asleep for a long time so as not to be disturbed by Xin Yue beside him. At the same time, he carefully observed the actions of everyone in the cabin, even the delicate and beautiful flight attendants were among Yang Hongtao's main targets of attention.
On the other side, they constantly checked the state of the independent soul entities inside the magazine. As soon as the two independent soul entities weakened to a certain extent, they would immediately and without hesitation release enough soul power to replenish them.
Yang Hongtao discovered this when he captured the transformer parts last time: the weaker the independent soul, the greater its dependence on him as the main soul, and the less it rejects him.
The independent souls within the magazine were undoubtedly weaker, so they offered almost no resistance to Yang Hongtao's soul power. This allowed Yang Hongtao to replenish these two independent souls at any time.
As Yang Hongtao had predicted, the plane flew smoothly over the clouds for more than two hours without any abnormalities occurring in the cabin. According to the distance calculation, the plane should have already entered Yunnan Province and would arrive at its destination—Kunming Airport—in about twenty minutes.
If terrorists were planning to hijack the plane, they would likely do so now; any later and it would be too late.
Yang Hongtao could no longer pretend to be asleep. He reached out and threw off the blanket hanging over his body, sat up straight in his seat, and unbuckled his seatbelt. He didn't want to be unable to run away because of the seatbelt when a desperate criminal pointed a gun at his head.
"Hey...you're awake! What a pig...how could you sleep with such a beautiful woman in front of you!"
Xin Yue was extremely dissatisfied with Yang Hongtao's performance. She glared at him with resentment in her watery eyes and said, "I thought traveling with you would be easier, but who knew you'd be so much more boring than my old grandfather! I should have known better than to come..."
Just as Yang Hongtao was about to say, "I didn't ask you to come, and maybe your grandfather and I will have more in common," he suddenly felt the plane shake violently.
In that instant, the entire plane swayed violently from side to side and up and down for about ten seconds before finally stabilizing.
After all that commotion, several passengers who had secretly loosened their seatbelts were thrown from their seats and left in a terrible state. Only Yang Hongtao was prepared; as soon as he felt the plane shaking, he immediately reached out and grabbed the handle in front of him tightly, thus avoiding being thrown out.
"What's wrong? What happened...? Has something happened?!"
"Oh my god... is this plane going to crash?"
Although the plane had stabilized by then, the frightened people only realized what was happening at that moment, and immediately started crying and screaming in chaos.
After all, most people know that flying is not more dangerous than flying by car or train, because airplanes have the most rigorous and thorough maintenance and safety checks of all modes of transportation, and accidents are generally unlikely to occur during flight.
However, everyone also knows that if the plane doesn't have an accident, all the passengers on board will basically die.
The plane just experienced a sudden and severe shaking, which naturally indicates a serious accident, hence the panic among all the passengers.
"Don't worry, everyone! Everything will be alright!" Although the turbulence had left the flight attendants somewhat disoriented, their duty compelled them to patiently reassure the agitated passengers in their sweet voices, saying, "What happened was probably just a turbulence. It's all fine now, isn't it? Please don't panic. Stay seated and fasten your seatbelts. If any passenger was injured, please contact us immediately, and we will take care of you right away..."
After hearing the flight attendant's explanation and seeing that the plane was still flying steadily forward, most passengers believed the flight attendant and thought it was just a false alarm.
Xin Yue was initially startled, her pretty face turning pale, but once the plane stabilized, she breathed a long sigh of relief. Hearing the flight attendant's explanation, she looked down on the passengers who were shouting even more disdainfully: "Honestly... it's just an updraft, just think of it as a roller coaster ride, once it's over, it's over! What are these people yelling about? Really... so rude!" Seeing Yang Hongtao still gripping the armrests in front of his seat tightly without fastening his seatbelt, she frowned and said, "Hey... haven't you learned your lesson yet? Fasten your seatbelt now! Otherwise, if there's any more turbulence, do you want to be playing some kind of aerial acrobatic game?"
Yang Hongtao gave a wry smile and sighed, "What kind of nonsense is going on in your head? Others might believe this updraft nonsense, but you don't believe it too, do you?"
Xin Yue's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she then tried to defend herself, saying, "What could be in my head? Of course, it's all wisdom! Hmph... If we hadn't encountered the updraft just now, how could this plane have stabilized so easily! I think you're just worrying unnecessarily."
Yang Hongtao shook his head, too lazy to argue with her about the issue. He simply pointed out the window and said, "Take a look! Which direction is the plane flying in now?"
Xin Yue looked in the direction Yang Hongtao was pointing, and in an instant her face turned completely pale. She turned her head and grabbed Yang Hongtao's arm tightly, saying in a trembling voice, "The...the plane...changed its course!"
Volume 1 The Rebirth of a Prodigy Chapter 53 The Pistol Revealed
The plane was supposed to land at Kunming Airport in about ten minutes, but it suddenly changed course. If Xin Yue still didn't understand what was going on, then Yang Hongtao would really have to wonder what was going on in this woman's head!
Seeing Xin Yue's completely panicked state, Yang Hongtao could only sigh helplessly. It seemed things were developing far worse than Yang Hongtao had anticipated. The two magazines that Yang Hongtao had captured with his independent soul were still quietly placed in the back of the airplane seats, untouched, yet the plane had now been successfully hijacked.
This means that the terrorists definitely brought more than just two handguns onto the plane; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to hijack it so quickly. The exact number of these terrorists is even more unknown. Since the hijackers were able to change the plane's direction, they had clearly taken control of the cockpit. At this point, Yang Hongtao dared not act rashly and could only proceed cautiously, waiting to see what would happen.
"Little brother... what should we do now?!"
Xin Yue was terrified and pressed half her body against Yang Hongtao, trembling all over. She kept whispering in Yang Hongtao's ear, "Where...where are they taking us? Oh God...are we going to be taken hostage?"
Yang Hongtao felt that half of Xin Yue's full breasts were pressed against his elbow. As Xin Yue's body trembled, the shape of that half of her breasts changed from time to time. Even though Yang Hongtao was in a dangerous situation, he couldn't help but feel a little thirsty.
He didn't want this woman to disrupt his reaction time, so he quickly pushed her away with his arm, gently flicking her bouncy body to the side. He shifted his buttocks outward to maintain a safe distance from her, then solemnly warned her in a low voice, "I don't want to die yet, please don't drag me down with you!"
Xin Yue's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she said, "What...what do you mean by that?"
Yang Hongtao snorted coldly and said, "What do you mean? Don't you understand? Now all the passengers on the plane are implicated because of you. If you keep bothering me like this, I'm afraid I'll be the first one to get shot in the head by a terrorist!"
"I...I don't understand!"
Xin Yue's face turned even uglier upon hearing this, but she stubbornly insisted, "I don't know what happened. Why... why are you saying that I've implicated everyone on the plane?"
At this point, Yang Hongtao saw no need to hide anything further. His eyes, like two knives, stared intently at Xin Yue's cleavage for a moment before he looked up at her pale face and said in a low voice, "Do I have to explain everything? Don't you know why the terrorists hijacked the plane?"
"Ah...you...how did you know! This...this is impossible!"
Feeling Yang Hongtao's blatant gaze fixed on her, Xin Yue trembled, instinctively clutching her clothes tightly. Her eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "You...you wouldn't happen to be...you're one of the terrorists involved in the hijacking, would you?"
"idiot!"
After giving Xin Yue the name for free, Yang Hongtao ignored her and leaned forward, stretching most of his body out of the seat to keep a distance from Xin Yue. His eyes involuntarily glanced at the two cameras mounted on the front and rear ceilings of the cabin.
At the same time, an invisible wisp of soul power was released, silently creating an independent soul entity in each of the two cameras.
As soon as the independent soul was created, Yang Hongtao immediately requested to cut off the video transmission, thus preventing the monitoring room from seeing anything that was about to happen in the cabin.
Now that he knew the plane was under the control of terrorists, he naturally didn't want them to monitor his every move.
In Yang Hongtao's view, since the terrorists had placed two magazines here in advance, they certainly weren't just spares. Their target should be the ruby hanging on Xin Yue's chest. So the most likely scenario is that the terrorists will use these two magazines to control the entire business class, get their hands on the ruby first, and then hijack the plane to escape abroad. Perhaps they can even parachute to safety in mid-air.
Otherwise, once the plane lands in another country, even one that is relatively hostile to China, those countries are unlikely to be friendly to terrorists like them. In that case, they can only rely on the hostages they hold to escape, which is not only troublesome but also quite dangerous.
Now that the terrorists have successfully hijacked the plane, if there were any terrorists hiding in this business class cabin, then they should no longer need to hide!
Sure enough... just as Yang Hongtao was looking around, he suddenly noticed that the other passengers were all listening to the flight attendants and staying obediently in their seats without daring to move, but the two people diagonally opposite him were behaving strangely.
When Yang Hongtao noticed that they were sitting behind the seat back where the magazines were hidden, he immediately became alert.
Upon closer inspection, the two calmly opened their luggage, each pulling out a well-packaged gift box. They then tore open the packaging to reveal two strangely shaped plastic photo frames inside.
Why did they take out two photo frames at this time?
Seeing this, Yang Hongtao was secretly puzzled, wondering if there was a high explosive hidden inside the photo frame.
However, upon further reflection, this seems unlikely. These two photo frames were clearly carried onto the plane by the two individuals. If there were explosives inside, surely the airport's security measures would have detected them completely?
Yang Hongtao's eyes widened suddenly when the two men began to disassemble the two oddly shaped plastic photo frames into individual parts.
Wow... so that's what they brought on the plane! They're so clever! They even disguised plastic pistol parts as photo frames to fool security!
In fact, it was only because Yang Hongtao had a deep understanding of firearms (after all, he had merged with the remnants of several firearms experts) that he was able to see some clues from those messy plastic parts. If it were someone else, it would probably be difficult for them to associate these plastic products with weapons used to kill.
After all, in most people's conventional thinking, firearms should be made of metal, and guns made of plastic... are just toy guns! In fact, even firearms produced by regular arms factories often use plastic polymers to make parts of the gun body, such as the Glock pistol that Yang Hongtao hid in his house.
While guns made purely of composite plastics certainly have many drawbacks and are particularly prone to damage, terrorists only need to use them to hijack a plane once, at most emptying a magazine of bullets, so they don't need to worry about wear and tear on the gun.
The two terrorists, disguised as ordinary passengers, were clearly familiar with the components of these composite plastic firearms. From the moment Yang Hongtao discovered that those things were pistol parts, it took only ten seconds for them to assemble two decent-looking composite plastic pistols. As for the firing pin and spring, they simply removed them from their own belts and attached them to the guns.
Although airport security is quite strict and metal items are not allowed, you can't exactly take off someone's belt! So it was easy for them to carry those two small metal parts onto the plane.
With a "whoosh," the two men immediately tore open the seat back in front of them as soon as they finished assembling the pistol, and pulled out the magazine hidden inside. With a "click," it was already combined with the composite plastic pistol in their hands.
"ah--"
Only then did the passengers next to them finally see what they had been busy doing all day. Screams erupted one after another, and two middle-aged women with less courage rolled their eyes and fainted.
"Shut up, all of you!"
Two armed terrorists calmly unbuckled their seatbelts and stood up from their seats. They raised their pistols, one pointing forward and the other backward, the muzzles of their guns slowly swinging back and forth, subtly targeting every passenger in the cabin.
Volume 1 The Rebirth of a Prodigy Chapter 54 The Bullet Won't Load
The passengers in the entire cabin were stunned. They never imagined that such a hijacking, a scene usually only seen in movies, would actually unfold before their very eyes. Staring at the dark muzzle of a gun, not a single person dared to utter a sound. Even the terrified women could only cover their mouths tightly, sobbing silently. Of course, no one had the courage to jump up and fight the terrorists.
Everyone wants to be a hero, but nobody would be interested in being a martyr.
The slightly overweight terrorist, seeing that everyone in the cabin was firmly under control, nodded in satisfaction. He first called over several flight attendants and had them put their hands behind their heads and squat in the aisle. Then, carrying a plastic pistol, he swaggered toward Yang Hongtao and Xin Yue's seats.
When Xin Yue saw the two men magically conjure two guns in their hands, she had already slumped in her seat. When she saw the terrorist approaching, she knew that his next move would definitely be to take the priceless gem from her body. She didn't know where the strength came from, but she suddenly ripped off her seatbelt and jumped up...
Then she grabbed Yang Hongtao's waist and pleaded urgently, "Mr. Zhou... help me... you must help me! I know you're not an ordinary person, you can definitely help me..."
Yang Hongtao's forehead was covered in black lines. He had warned Xin Yue not to drag him into this mess long ago, but who would have thought that this woman would pull such a stunt at the crucial moment! Now, even if the two terrorists hadn't paid any attention to him before, they would definitely see him as the number one obstacle to completing their mission!
Yang Hongtao gritted his teeth, and at that moment he really wished he could grab Xin Yue by the hair and throw her out of the airplane window!
Sure enough… upon seeing this situation, especially after hearing Xin Yue repeatedly say that Yang Hongtao was no ordinary person, the terrorist immediately became more alert. He pointed his pistol directly at Yang Hongtao's forehead and said coldly and menacingly, "Kid… don't move! Hands behind your head…"
Yang Hongtao naturally didn't dare to move, and immediately and obediently put his hands behind his head, cooperating as much as possible. As for the sexy beauty clinging to him, he didn't even glance at her.
Although Yang Hongtao had completely controlled the magazines in the two men's pistols, ensuring that the bullets wouldn't be forced into the chambers, the current situation was... even without guns, Yang Hongtao wasn't confident he could handle them! After all, Yang Hongtao himself was unarmed, and in hand-to-hand combat, with his small, scrawny physique, he probably wouldn't even last a single slap! Therefore, Yang Hongtao could only patiently wait for an opportunity to seize the two plastic pistols from the enemy. With guns in hand, and given his marksmanship, he would have nothing to fear.
Yang Hongtao had just tried to let the independent soul inside the magazine control the entire pistol. If this method really works, it will be much simpler. He only needs to control the two guns to fire them, and he might not even need to lift his hand to easily take down these two terrorists!
However, this idea was indeed a bit far-fetched, and the result was naturally not optimistic. Just like last time he created an independent soul in a component inside the transformer, it was naturally impossible to make this independent soul, which belonged only to a component, control the entire huge transformer.
This time, although the difference between the magazine and the gun body was not that great, it was still difficult to achieve. At least Yang Hongtao tried several times, but there was still no response.
However, Yang Hongtao wanted to play the coward and hide for a while, but the slightly fatter terrorist seemed to have decided that Yang Hongtao was the only unstable factor in the cabin. Moreover, if the two of them wanted to intimidate all the hundreds of people in the cabin, they needed to kill someone first to establish their authority. Therefore, although Yang Hongtao acted very timid and cooperative, he still reached out and rubbed his gun without hesitation.