Fortunately, no one was paying attention to Fang Chenyi right now. If they saw him picking up junk at a time like this, they would have had a complete breakdown.

After a moment’s daze, Fang Chenyi immediately called out to the system in his mind. But no matter how many times he called, the system’s voice never reappeared.

BANG. CRACK.

As the plane tumbled across the surface of the sea, a loud bang echoed, and the other wing snapped off.

However, with the breaking of this wing, the entire fuselage miraculously righted itself.

Not only that, but the plane acted like a giant surfboard, gradually stabilizing.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds.

After gliding for nearly a minute, the plane miraculously came to a stop.

Feeling the plane bob up and down on the waves like a ship, Fang Chenyi, Bai Menghan, Lü Dong, and Xiaozhou all let out long sighs of relief. They collapsed back into their seats, feeling as if every ounce of their strength had been drained away.

Words could not describe the joy of having survived the ordeal.

In the passenger cabin behind them, after a moment of stunned silence, the passengers’ relief at surviving erupted completely. Crying, laughing—for a moment, the entire plane was filled with joy.

Lü Dong gave Fang Chenyi a thumbs-up, full of admiration.

"Chairman Fang, I am truly impressed. Your piloting skills are second to none!"

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but Fang Chenyi’s skills were indeed superb.

"Alright, Old Lü," Fang Chenyi said with a smile and a wave of his hand. "This isn’t the time for compliments. We may have landed successfully, but we have an even bigger problem ahead of us."

Lü Dong nodded and said,

"You’re right. We should be somewhere in the middle of the Black Sea. It will take at least an hour and a half for land-based rescue teams to get here. The impact with the water must have caused significant damage to the plane. If the cabin starts taking on water, all our efforts will have been for nothing."

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Fang Chenyi walked over to Bai Menghan. After checking her over and seeing she wasn’t injured, he smiled and helped unbuckle her belt. "You’ve impressed me again, darling."

Nearby, Xiaozhou silently lowered his head.

Seeing this, Fang Chenyi reached out and patted Xiaozhou on the shoulder.

"Xiaozhou, you did great, too. Now, I have an important job for you. Get in contact with the command center and arrange for a quick rescue."

After saying this, Fang Chenyi led the small group out of the cockpit.

As soon as the passengers saw Lü Dong, they once again broke into applause.

"Captain! Thank you! Thank you!!"

"I’m rich! Captain, you’ll never have to fly a plane again! Once we’re on shore, I’ll give you a million-dollar reward!"

Everyone started talking at once, making Lü Dong genuinely embarrassed. He raised a hand to quiet them and said, "Everyone, please calm down. Settle down. I didn’t get to finish what I was saying earlier. Now, allow me to introduce someone." At this, Lü Dong pointed to Fang Chenyi and continued,

"This is the chairman of our Southern Airlines, Chairman Fang. He was the one who personally flew the plane just now. We’re all alive today because of him."

The crowd was stunned. The plane had been flown by this young man? How was that possible?

This was especially true for the middle-aged man in the front row, who had confronted Fang Chenyi twice before and treated him with disdain. He never imagined that not only was the man’s status so impressive, but that this very man would end up saving his life.

The middle-aged man, to his credit, had a sense of integrity. At this realization, he immediately unbuckled his seatbelt, stood up, and fell to his knees before Fang Chenyi. "I’m sorry, Chairman Fang. I was out of line before. It was my fault..."

Fang Chenyi was taken aback. He never expected this man, who had given him such a hard time, to actually kneel before him. And while the guy had been infuriating, they had just been through a life-and-death ordeal together. So, Fang Chenyi stepped forward and quickly helped him to his feet.

"Easy there, brother. This isn’t the time for thanks. Don’t forget, we’re still in the sea. Now, everyone listen up. All passengers, put on your life jackets and grab any survival gear. Flight attendants, gather all edible food and fresh water, then distribute it to everyone. Captain Lü, tend to that wound on your hand first, then I need you to organize the distribution of supplies and review survival procedures with the passengers."

In that moment, Fang Chenyi had become their pillar of support, a god-like figure in everyone’s eyes.

After hearing Fang Chenyi’s words, everyone sprang into action, and the plane quickly became a hive of activity.

Once everyone had settled down, Fang Chenyi nodded in satisfaction. He led Bai Menghan back to the first-class cabin, where he helped her put on a life jacket before slipping one on himself.

After doing all this, Fang Chenyi reached out and took out the woven bag. Under Bai Menghan’s puzzled gaze, he pulled an exquisite slingshot from it.

Fang Chenyi tucked the slingshot into a pocket of his life jacket, then pulled a handful of black, round pellets from the woven bag and began stuffing them into his pocket as well.

Bai Menghan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the sight. ’They say a man is always a child at heart, no matter his age. It’s really true...’

He refolded the woven bag, tucked it into an inner pocket of his clothing, and for good measure, buttoned the pocket shut. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.

「Ten minutes later.」

Standing in the main cabin once again, Fang Chenyi saw that everyone was now wearing a life jacket. At his feet lay five uninflated life rafts.

"The wings are broken, and the fuselage is already taking on some water. The plane will probably sink within half an hour. We need to evacuate immediately, get into the life rafts, and put some distance between us and the aircraft. However, we can’t open the cabin doors. If we do, water will rush in, and we’ll lose our only chance to escape. I need a few strong volunteers to come with me. We’re going to break the cockpit windshield. Lü Dong, you’re in charge here. Keep everyone in an orderly line. No pushing! Everyone is going to make it out!"

After giving his orders, Fang Chenyi led five or six young men toward the cockpit.

When they reached the cockpit, Fang Chenyi found Xiaozhou desperately shouting into the radio. But it seemed to be broken; there was no sound coming from it at all.

He patted Xiaozhou on the shoulder, told him to go put on a life jacket, then pointed to the topmost pane of glass and said to the others,

"First, find something we can stand on. We’re going to break that top window."

The men voiced their agreement and found a meal cart and other objects to stand on. Within moments, they were able to reach the topmost window.

"Okay, now let’s smash it open!"

BANG! 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

BANG!

At Fang Chenyi’s command, the men began swinging the various implements they had found. But the glass was incredibly tough; no matter how hard they struck it, their efforts were useless.

However, just as their faces were etched with worry, two dark, weathered faces appeared on the other side of the glass.

[To be continued...]