I'm in Conan, I'm not a gangster

Chapter 655 Controlling the Aircraft (3rd Update)
Inside the dimly lit and noisy cargo hold, the cold air was mixed with the smell of aviation fuel and metal.

Shiraishi quickly checked the gap in the hatch that had been simply blocked. After confirming that it was safe for the time being, she immediately turned around and whispered to the three still-shaken people, "Be careful. The explosion just now must have alerted them. Someone may come to check at any time."

As he spoke, he unhesitatingly pulled out the pistol he had "borrowed" from the Muddy Association, skillfully removed the magazine to check the bullets, cocked it with a click, and released the safety. Throughout the process, his eyes were sharp and calm.

Watching his movements, Sato Miwako, suppressing the slight trembling of her hands from the shock of being high in the air and the cold, took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

She followed suit, taking out the pistol she had obtained from the gang. Although her movements were a little stiff, she still completed the inspection and was ready to fight at any time.

As a criminal investigator, the tactile feel of weapons brings a sense of familiar security.

However, Miyamoto Yumi and Miike Naeko on the other side did not recover so quickly.

The two remained slumped on the cold floor, their faces as pale as paper, gasping for breath, their bodies trembling uncontrollably, as if still immersed in the extreme fear of being suspended high in the air.

They stared blankly at the guns in Shiraishi E and Sato Miwako's hands, their eyes filled with confusion and lingering fear, utterly powerless to do anything.

Sato Miwako glanced at her friend, her heart filled with worry, but she still reminded Shiraishi E first, her voice tense: "Shiraishi-kun, if possible... try not to fire indiscriminately! We're at 10,000 meters in the air, stray bullets could penetrate the bulkhead and cause depressurization, then we're all doomed!"

Gunfights at high altitudes are exponentially more dangerous.

Shiraishi E nodded, indicating that she understood: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll try to resolve this quietly."

As soon as he finished speaking——

With a soft click, the heavy, soundproof door leading from the cargo hold to the passenger cabin was opened from the outside!
Shiraishi E and Sato Miwako reacted extremely quickly, immediately slipping behind the nearest pile of shipping containers and holding their breath.

But Miyamoto Yumi and Miike Naeko were in a much worse situation. Their limbs went weak, and they didn't have time to hide. They even let out a short gasp in fright.

Two security personnel armed with MP5 submachine guns cautiously peered in.

They immediately spotted Miyamoto and Miike, who were slumped on the ground and clearly trespassers. Their faces instantly contorted with surprise and ferocity, and they immediately raised their guns and pointed them at them!

But soon they discovered that the two women were trembling like leaves, their eyes unfocused, and they posed no threat whatsoever.

One of them relaxed his guard slightly and said into the walkie-talkie, "Two have been spotted..." He was about to report the situation.

In this split second!

Hidden behind the cargo box, Shiraishi E pounced out silently like a ghost!

His target was the security guard who was on the phone!
A precise and ruthless chop to the side of the neck struck the man, who collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound.

Another security guard was terrified and immediately turned his gun on Shiraishi E!
But at almost the same time, Miwako Sato also appeared from another direction!
Using the cargo box as cover, she delivered a swift sweeping kick to the second security guard's lower body! Caught off guard, the guard lost his balance and fell forward.

Sato Miwako showed no mercy, and before he could get up from the ground, she smashed the back of his head hard with the butt of her gun!

The other person suddenly went black and lost consciousness.

The whole process was clean and efficient, completed almost in the blink of an eye, without firing a single shot.

Seeing the two lying on the ground, Shiraishi E and Sato Miwako exchanged a glance and immediately began to act.

They quickly dragged the two unconscious security guards to a corner, stripped them of their black combat uniforms and helmets, and hurriedly put them on themselves.

Although it may not fit perfectly, in this dimly lit environment, it is enough to fool the eye.

Just then, an urgent voice came from the walkie-talkie that the security guard had dropped on the ground: "Hello! Yamada! What's going on? Report the situation! Please respond if you hear me!"

Shiraishi immediately picked up the walkie-talkie, cleared her throat, and imitated the security guard's tone, even adding a touch of impatience and complaint: "Roger, robber! It's nothing! A screw securing the cargo door came loose and flew off, giving us quite a fright! Looks like this crappy plane hasn't been properly maintained in a long time!"

The person on the other end of the walkie-talkie seemed to believe it, and immediately launched into a furious tirade: "Damn it! Those bastards in the repair team must have secretly replaced the old screws with the old ones to save money! We're going to settle accounts with them when we get back! Check the rest of the equipment to make sure everything is okay!"

"Understood," Shiraishi E replied calmly, ending the call.

He breathed a sigh of relief and gestured for the three still-shaken individuals to follow.

Miyamoto Yumi and Miike Naeko had also managed to regain some strength and helped each other to their feet.

Emi Shiraishi and Miwako Sato, disguised as a human, took the lead and carefully pushed open the door leading to the passenger cabin.

The sight behind the door made the four of them gasp instantly, as if their hearts were blocked by a blockage of ice, feeling an inexplicable chill and fear!
This is not a normal cabin at all.

The lights were dimmed, and all the passengers—men and women, all of whom looked young—were slumped in their large airline seats, clearly unconscious.

Their hands and feet were firmly strapped to the armrests of their seats with professional restraints, their mouths were taped shut, and their eyes were covered with black blindfolds. Like cargo awaiting processing, they were immobile and silent. The entire cabin was eerily quiet, with only the continuous roar of the engines. Seeing this nightmarish scene, Yumi Miyamoto was instantly overcome with compassion and a sense of justice. Her first instinct was to reach out and tear the tape off one of their mouths.

"Don't move!" Shiraishi grabbed her wrist, her voice low and stern. "Untying them now will only cause chaos and panic."

"If they start crying and struggling, it will only seriously hinder our subsequent operations and may even provoke the remaining terrorists to harm the hostages. It's not too late to rescue them after we have complete control of the plane!"

Miyamoto Yumi paused for a moment, then realized that Shiraishi E's words made sense, and stopped her rescue attempt.

The four continued to move cautiously toward the cockpit.

Shiraishi E and Sato Miwako, dressed in security uniforms, disguised themselves as patrol officers and easily approached the other two thugs on guard at the rear of the cabin. Taking them by surprise, they used silent fighting techniques to quickly knock them down, knock them unconscious, and drag them to a corner to hide.

Now, only the last and most crucial target remains—the captain in the cockpit.

However, when they dealt with the last bandit, they seemed to make a slight noise, which was noticed by the vigilant captain.

Suddenly, the captain's arrogant and triumphant laughter blared from the cockpit's loudspeaker: "Haha! Fools! I didn't expect you guys could still sneak up here!"

"However, you've already missed your best opportunity! If you had attacked me first, I might have fallen for your trap!"

"But now, you can't even get through this reinforced bulletproof door! Once the plane lands, you'll be dealt with!!"

His maniacal laughter echoed through the cabin.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi E remained calm and took out a professional thermal cutting welding gun from "the side"!
Sato Miwako and the other two were all astonished: "Where did you get this?"

"I just picked it up from next door... I don't know why I got it." Shiraishi E casually replied before gesturing for them to step back a little.

The captain was still feeling smug in the cabin when he suddenly heard an extremely piercing "zzzzzz" sound coming from the direction of the cabin door!

At the same time, the cabin door alarm light in front of him suddenly started flashing wildly!

The captain froze, looking back in disbelief, and saw a spot on the heavy bulletproof door rapidly turning crimson and beginning to melt!
The molten metal is dripping down!

"This...this is impossible?! Where did they get the welding machine?!" The captain was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped; he couldn't understand it at all.

But time was running out for him to think about it!

The hatch was about to be welded open!

In a panic, the captain immediately pulled out a spare pistol from under his seat, aimed it at the doorway that was being melted through, and prepared to fight back to the death!
However, just as a sufficiently large gap was welded into the hatch, before the captain could even fire, a small cylindrical object was precisely thrown through the gap, landing on the cockpit floor with a soft "clang".

"What is this...?" The captain subconsciously looked down.

The next second—

boom! !

A muffled thud was followed by an extremely blinding burst of light that instantly filled the cramped cockpit!
Flashbang!
"Ah—my eyes!!"

The captain let out a piercing scream as their vision was instantly taken away, leaving them with nothing but a white blur and intense ringing in their ears!

The excruciating pain and extreme panic drove them to lose their minds.

Despite being completely blind and suffering from tinnitus, the captain frantically pulled the trigger towards the direction of the cabin door he remembered, guided only by his senses!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several gunshots rang out in the cockpit, bullets hitting the sophisticated instruments, sparks flying, and the alarm blared shrilly!
Shiraishi E and the others hid on either side of the door, listening to the chaotic gunfire and screams inside.

Soon, the gunfire inside stopped, leaving only instrument alarms and painful groans.

After waiting for another ten seconds or so, Shiraishi E cautiously peered inside through the welded hole before pushing open the damaged hatch and stepping into the chaotic cockpit.

The captain slumped in the cockpit, a bullet hole gushing blood from his chest, his eyes unfocused, still clutching the pistol in his hand—he died from a ricocheting bullet fired in his panic.

Seeing the scene before her, Shiraishi E expressionlessly checked the captain's carotid artery, confirmed his death, and then said to the three policewomen behind her, "Good news, threat eliminated."

The three policewomen breathed a sigh of relief, their faces beaming with smiles of relief.

Shiraishi E continued, "The bad news is the pilot is dead... Do any of you know how to fly a plane? Or at least, how to keep it from crashing?"

The smiles on the three policewomen's faces froze instantly.

(End of this chapter)