Fang Chenyi, however, had no time to deal with him.

Ignoring the stares and whispers of those around him, Fang Chenyi made his way to a row of window seats.

The two women in masks, seeing Fang Chenyi heading straight for them, felt their hearts skip a beat. ’Has this handsome young man recognized us? Is he a fan?’

The woman in the aisle seat tugged at her mask and spoke, her voice laced with annoyance.

"You recognized us even though we’re this bundled up? Don’t try anything funny, though. Everyone’s watching. If you want an autograph, we can give you one."

But they were clearly getting ahead of themselves. The young man reached their row, completely ignored the woman who had spoken, squeezed past her, and pressed himself against the plane’s window.

Seeing this, the other passengers watching nearby grew confused, wondering what the young man was up to.

The woman who had just spoken, in particular, was mortified.

At the same time, any shred of goodwill she’d felt toward the young man vanished, replaced by disgust. She began to scold him.

"Hey, what are you doing! Get away from us!"

But Fang Chenyi wasn’t paying any attention to the two women. His eyes were glued to the engine, his brow furrowed in concentration as he muttered calculations under his breath.

"Something’s wrong. The engine isn’t running properly!"

He was thinking so intently that he had said it aloud without realizing.

But as soon as the words were out, everyone nearby heard him. They all scoffed and jeered. The two women heard him clearly as well, and smirks of derision formed on their lips.

"Tch, is there something wrong with this kid’s head? He’s just spouting nonsense."

"Hey, don’t jinx us! Young man, you’ve got to watch your mouth!"

...

It all happened in a flash. Only a dozen seconds had passed since Fang Chenyi had entered the cabin. The plane was still shuddering, and a flight attendant’s voice came over the PA system again. This time, however, she was paging someone.

"Captain David, please report to the cockpit immediately! Captain David, please report to the cockpit immediately!"

The announcement stunned everyone. ’Why are they paging the captain? If the captain isn’t in the cockpit, who’s flying the plane? It’s not flying itself, is it?!’

"AHH!! Oh no! Everyone, look! The engine’s smoking! The engine’s smoking!"

While everyone was still bewildered, a middle-aged man by a window—one of the same people who had just been mocking Fang Chenyi—suddenly pointed outside and shrieked.

At his cry, every passenger with a window seat looked out simultaneously. Those without craned their necks, trying to see.

Sure enough, as they looked out the windows, they saw the massive jet engine billowing thick, black smoke. Not only that, but streams of sparks occasionally shot out from it.

Seeing this, the passengers could no longer remain calm. The entire cabin instantly erupted into chaos, with people wailing and screaming in terror.

As the engine situation developed, Captain Lü Dong, who was still gritting his teeth at the controls, was hit with a flurry of instrument alarms. The gauge for the left engine had turned blood-red, a large exclamation point flashing relentlessly as alarms blared frantically throughout the cockpit.

"Xiaozhou! Did you notify Captain David?! Why isn’t he here yet?! Quick, go hurry him up! I can’t handle this in my current state! Also, have the flight attendants calm the passengers! Whatever you do, don’t let them start causing trouble!"

Xiaozhou, who had never once flown solo, was completely stunned. ’An engine fire... Isn’t that the kind of thing you only see in movies?’

...

"Ladies and gentlemen, please do not panic. The aircraft’s left engine has malfunctioned and caught fire. Please remain calm, return to your seats, and fasten your seatbelts. Please trust us; we are professionals. Rest assured, an airplane can fly safely with just one engine."

Although the flight attendant was doing her best to soothe everyone, how could they possibly calm down when the engine right outside was still spouting flames?

As for Fang Chenyi, his heart sank as he saw his prediction come true—one of the plane’s engines had failed.

’This was supposed to be a direct flight, but I remember a flight attendant mentioning we’d have to detour over the Black Sea because of air traffic control somewhere. I just checked the time... it’s been two hours and fifteen minutes since takeoff. That means we should be somewhere over the middle of the Black Sea right now.’

’A plane can’t fly long distances on a single engine. Getting to the nearest airport won’t be easy at all.’

Of course, he would never say that out loud. The priority right now was to get everyone to settle down. After all, desperate people could do desperate things.

With that in mind, Fang Chenyi suddenly roared, "Everyone, be quiet! Stop shouting!"

Fang Chenyi’s voice was powerful and explosive. The shout stunned everyone into silence, and all eyes turned to him.

Seeing that it had worked, Fang Chenyi stood up straight and continued in a loud voice.

"Calm down! Now is not the time for hysterics! Our lives are in the hands of fate now. All we can do is trust the flight crew, or you can say a silent prayer. But do not cause a commotion! If you distract the pilots, you could be sealing your own fate!"

As his words fell, many people nodded in agreement. But before Fang Chenyi could even breathe a sigh of relief, the middle-aged man who had sniped at him earlier spoke up again. "Calm down, my ass! The engine is on fire! How are we supposed to calm down? Huh? Are you telling us to just sit here and wait to die?"

The man’s words instantly reignited the panic that had just started to subside, and the passengers grew restless again.

Glancing at the man, Fang Chenyi fought the urge to go over and kick him. Taking a deep breath, he strode forward, grabbed the man, and hauled him to his feet. Then, he boomed:

"Fine! You don’t want to wait to die? Then you fly the plane! Go on, go fly it right now!"

The middle-aged man hadn’t expected the young man to be so strong. He was even more surprised that he would dare to get physical in front of everyone. He immediately wilted.

"I... I don’t know how..."

Tossing the man back into his seat, he said coldly:

[To be continued...]