Legendary Captain

Chapter 221 Cargo Hold Explosion (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Xu Xian's expression changed: "Brother, don't talk nonsense! What if it comes true? Don't you know the company has been in turmoil lately?"

Honestly, it seems like Star Travel has been cursed lately, with one thing after another going wrong. Although the company has been severely punished by the infuriating authorities, thankfully, there have been no casualties.

However, the scale and frequency of this incident are enough to raise alarm. Sometimes, it's necessary to believe in superstitions, especially for someone like myself who is prone to misfortune.

Even though Xu Xian wanted to find an opportunity to prove himself, he hadn't yet reached the point where he hoped special agents would come knocking on his door. If he ever actually had that thought, he would probably choose to quit, just like Xu Qing. That kind of mentality would be too dangerous for a pilot.

"You've been through one emergency before, and you're still traumatized. That won't do!" Wang Qian initially didn't care about any mystical explanations: "Once bitten, twice shy. How can you fly well with that kind of mentality? God is fair. Since you've already made an emergency landing on the Kunyang River once, how can it happen a second time? There has to be some room for others! The probability of a pilot encountering a major emergency is about the same as the probability of being struck by lightning. Didn't they do a statistical analysis of the probability of a person being struck by lightning? One in six hundred thousand, right? If you have another accident, it's like being struck by lightning twice in a row. What's the probability then? One in six hundred thousand squared! It's practically negligible!"

Wang Qian got more and more carried away as he spoke: "So, those ignorant people think flying with you is unlucky and brings bad fortune. But in my opinion, flying with you is the safest. I've already won the grand prize once, I refuse to believe I can win again! There's a reason for everything in the world, and we can't ignore reason, right?"

Xu Xian, who was initially worried, was completely stunned by what Wang Qian said!

Good heavens, this captain is a logical genius! He completely baffled Xu Xian. Although it sounded like utter nonsense, he couldn't find any reason to refute it.

Xu Xian was rendered speechless by Wang Qian's evasive answer, and could only give an awkward laugh: "That seems to make sense!"

"What do you mean 'seems like'? I'm telling you with facts and evidence, so don't disbelieve me. Right now, you're the safest person in the entire company."

"real?"

"Really! But that's all based on the premise that you uphold the Basic Law."

Xu Xian's face suddenly flushed slightly: "What if we don't talk about the Basic Law?"

"Then there's no telling." Wang Qian scratched his head. "You still haven't said what will happen if something really goes wrong with that allyl cyanide?"

"I just don't know if we can get up quickly. In the Yunnan-Yunnan region, it's really slow to get to a certain altitude." Xu Xian noticed in the flight route weather report that the Yunnan-Yunnan region, Chengdu region, and Shangdu region were all covered by large areas of thunderstorms. If they couldn't get to a certain altitude quickly and had to fly directly over the top of the thunderstorm clouds, the plane would probably be very bumpy.

While the two were discussing, the flight attendant leaned in and asked, "Captain, there are empty seats in first class today, so I'll have one of the extra crew members upgraded to first class?"

According to Star Cruises' crew regulations, captains and above can automatically upgrade to first class if there are available seats. However, first officers below the captain level cannot upgrade without notifying the captain on duty and obtaining their consent.

"Of course! We're family, it would be a waste not to sit down when there are empty seats. And the meal is included, right?"

Despite this rule, in reality, most captains are easy to talk to and will allow their own passengers to upgrade as long as there are available seats.

The flight attendant smiled and said, "It's all served to first-class standards, Captain, don't worry! When will the fruit platter be brought in?"

Upon hearing that there was a fruit platter, Wang Qian's eyebrows shot up, and he exclaimed, "It's really great to fly on a plane with first class; you can even get some good food for free!"

Star Travel only has a portion of its aircraft equipped with a first-class layout. Wherever there is a first-class cabin, the catering company provides an extra portion of first-class food. This extra food is often excessive, and sometimes the crew shares the surplus. Fruit platters are not included in the crew meals; they are only served in the first-class meals.

"Okay, it'll be quite bumpy at low altitudes. Once the plane is cruising at a higher altitude and has stabilized, you can come in. The plane will likely be quite bumpy for the first hour and a half after takeoff. I won't give you any more reminders except for moderate or severe turbulence; just be mindful of it yourselves."

Generally, the cockpit will send a signal to the cabin when it detects that the aircraft is about to enter or has already entered a state of light, moderate or severe turbulence.

However, according to the weather report for the flight route, the aircraft is likely to experience continuous mild turbulence before crossing the commercial area. If mild turbulence signals are given continuously, it will be tiring for the cockpit and annoying for the passenger cabin, and the effectiveness of the warning will be weakened if the signals are given too often. Therefore, the cockpit will not give signals for mild turbulence, and will only send signals to the passenger cabin for moderate or higher levels of turbulence.

The flight attendant frowned: "There has been mild turbulence for an hour and a half? They didn't even tell us about it during the pre-flight coordination."

Normally, the cabin crew should begin cabin service 20 minutes after takeoff, barring unforeseen circumstances. However, if there is continuous mild turbulence for an hour and a half, the purser will need to re-plan the cabin service. Services requiring extended movement may need to be postponed or expedited.

This kind of turbulence information should have been communicated to the cabin crew by the captain during pre-flight coordination so that the purser could make plans in advance. Now that boarding is almost here, the purser doesn't have much time to think. That's why the purser's tone was slightly complaining.

"Um... I forgot for a moment, is that alright?" Wang Qian was a little embarrassed. He was aware of the unusual weather along the flight route, but he had forgotten to mention it during the pre-flight coordination.

The flight attendant gave Wang Qian a slight glare: "Let me think about it first, there should still be time."

As he spoke, he prepared to discuss with his team members again how to deal with the bumpy ride.

Wang Qian, still feeling uneasy after the flight attendant left, turned around and called out to the cabin, "Once takeoff, don't move around unless absolutely necessary."

"I know!" came the flight attendant's somewhat exasperated voice in response to Wang Qian.

Wang Qian awkwardly pointed to the cabin: "Listen, how energetic our chief flight attendant is, and how loud her voice is."

In first class, Lian Shanxue was already seated. Looking at the flight attendant who came out of the cockpit with a displeased expression, she asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"It's alright!" The flight attendant brushed aside a few strands of her hair that had fallen down. "The captain has already approved your upgrade. There's no one else in this whole row, so you can sit anywhere. Dinner can be served a little later."

Lian Shanxue's eyes flashed: "Is the weather bad along the flight path?"

"Hmm! They said there would be slight turbulence for about an hour and a half after takeoff, so I thought I'd postpone dinner a little longer."

Lian Shanxue nodded, "That's standard procedure."

"Was it described as a mild bumpy ride?"

The flight attendant confirmed, "Yes! I'll see myself then. It wasn't bumpy at all when we came from Chengdu this afternoon. Is the weather changing that fast? Maybe it really will only be a little bumpy!"

This flight attendant crew flies an extra segment compared to the main flight crew. They fly from Chengdu to Yunnan, then leave the airport, and then join Xu Xian and the others to fly a single segment to Binzhou.

Not long ago, when they traveled from Chengdu to Yunnan, they experienced no turbulence at all. It's worth noting that their initial flight route to Binzhou overlapped with their return route that afternoon.

In just two or three hours, things have changed so much. Is it really true that the weather can change so unexpectedly?

Sometimes, the weather reports for the flight route aren't very accurate. They might say there's always slight turbulence, but it might just be an occasional turbulence that doesn't actually affect the cabin service!

She'll make her own judgment after takeoff.

"Yeah, sometimes the weather reports for the flight route aren't accurate. We need to communicate with the cockpit about the situation after cruising," Lian Shanxue said. "Dinner is fine as long as it's not later than 8:30. You can make my dinner whenever you have time."

Lian Shanxue was quite reasonable.

Upon seeing Lian Shanxue's gentle and soft-spoken manner, the flight attendant felt an irresistible itch, like being scratched by a cat's claws. She sat down next to Lian Shanxue, grinning as she leaned closer: "Are you and the co-pilot in the cockpit a couple? I watched your year-end celebration video, and I've seen the news about you two online. I'm a huge shipper for you two!"

The chief flight attendant, who was one of the performers in the Star Travel Airlines year-end celebration video, had the opportunity to see the finished video in advance. She noticed that Lian Shanxue and Xu Xian interacted very closely in the video. Coupled with the cabin sound during Lian Shanxue's decompression that had been leaked before, many people naturally assumed that Lian Shanxue and Xu Xian were a couple.

Suddenly, many fans online started shipping Lian Shanxue and Xu Xian as a couple, and this flight attendant was one of them.

Nowadays, CP (couple) fans are a huge group online. They pair up all sorts of people and enjoy it in their own private world. Compared to some forced pairings, Lian Shanxue and Xu Xian are based on facts, and their looks are simply a match made in heaven. Under such circumstances, it's no surprise that they have a large number of CP fans.

Lian Shanxue was naturally aware of the existence of these CP fans online, but she didn't expect that her colleagues on the flight attendant side would also ship her and Xu Xian.

"Um...we're just ordinary friends!" Although she really hoped something could happen between her and Xu Xian, the reality was that they were only slightly closer than ordinary friends, far from having developed feelings for each other. At least, Xu Xian didn't feel that way about her.

"Just friends! I know!" The flight attendant winked at Lian Shanxue, thinking that Lian Shanxue was just shy, so she didn't expose her: "I understand, I understand! I have to go now, I won't keep you company."

Looking at the flight attendant's meaningful expression, Lian Shanxue felt somewhat helpless, but she was too lazy to explain. No means no; she couldn't possibly expect Xu Xian to fall in love with her out of thin air, could she?

The flight attendant took a couple of steps, then suddenly remembered something, stopped, and turned to Lian Shanxue, asking, "We've served dessert today. If the ride isn't too bumpy later, I'll serve you dessert earlier! Eating dessert too late isn't good for your figure!"

"Dessert?" Many girls can't resist sweets. Lian Shanxue thought for a moment: "If it's just a slight bump, it shouldn't be too bumpy. Serve it to me after cruising. If you serve dessert, you don't need to serve dinner."

The flight attendant understood, gave Lian Shanxue an OK sign, and went back to work.

"Fine, it was my fault!" Lian Shanxue looked at the pudding twisting and contorting on the plate, and her right hand, which was completely out of control. She gave up. "Take it back now, we can't eat it!"

More than an hour after takeoff, the flight attendant noticed that the turbulence seemed to have lessened slightly, so she secretly served Lian Shanxue a caramel pudding. But as soon as the plate was placed down, the turbulence suddenly intensified, so much so that the flight attendant who came to deliver the dessert was unsteady on her feet and sat down in the seat next to Lian Shanxue first, fastening her seatbelt.

"I'll take it back later!" the flight attendant said.

The plane is currently experiencing severe turbulence, and even though the purser's seat is only a few steps away from the front cabin crew compartment, she really can't maintain her balance while dragging a dessert plate. She needs to wait for the plane to stabilize a bit.

Even with the seatbelt fastened, the flight attendant's body was still not completely secured, demonstrating the severity of the turbulence.

"Is this still considered mild turbulence?" the flight attendant couldn't help but complain.

As soon as she finished speaking, the plane suddenly lurched, catching the chief flight attendant off guard and causing her to let out a soft gasp. Meanwhile, Lian Shanxue, sitting next to her, swiftly pulled out a waterproof paper bag from in front of her and placed it on top of the crème brûlée, preventing it from bouncing upwards.

If Lian Shanxue had been any slower, Pudding would have most likely been thrown onto her face.

The violent turbulence only lasted a moment. Once the plane stabilized, Lian Shanxue opened the paper bag and found that the caramel pudding had completely deformed.

"What a pity!" This pudding is no longer edible.

The flight attendant glanced at the pudding and said, "I'll take this for now, and I'll bring you another serving once the plane has settled down."

The plane is no longer as turbulent as before, and the chief flight attendant is preparing to collect the trays and return to the front cabin crew area.

Lian Shanxue placed the cutlery on a plate and handed it all to the flight attendant: "Never mind, it looks like we're going to be bumpy for quite a while. By the time the bumps stop, it'll probably be late, so I won't eat. You should go back and prepare the food!"

At this moment, inside the cockpit, Xu Xian and Wang Qian were extremely agitated. All around them were radio communications requesting detours and changes in altitude, and they couldn't get a word in edgewise.

After waiting a while, Xu Xian seized the opportunity and interjected: "Chengdu traffic control, Xingyou 6333, experiencing continuous light to severe turbulence at 10100 meters, requesting permission to continue ascending!"

Now that it was completely dark, Star Travel 6333 had reached an altitude of 10100 meters. However, to Wang Qian's surprise, even at an altitude of over 10,000 meters, there was still continuous turbulence, and the turbulence was quite noticeable, exceeding mild turbulence for most of the time.

At an altitude of 10,000 meters, which is already considered the bottom of the stratosphere, the airflow should be relatively more stable compared to the troposphere. However, the persistent and significant turbulence was unbearable for the two people in the cockpit. This constant jolting felt like their internal organs were about to be shaken out; it was truly an unpleasant experience.

So Wang Qian and Xu Xian decided to climb higher. Since the plane wasn't carrying many passengers today, it wasn't too heavy, and they could climb to 11300 meters. Of course, they didn't necessarily need to climb to 11300 meters; 10700 meters would probably be more suitable.

However, the air traffic control frequency was extremely busy at the moment. Xu Xian had barely finished his application when another crew took over, leaving no room for air traffic control to respond. As a result of this interruption, when air traffic control finally had a chance to respond, the response was given to another aircraft, without addressing Xu Xian's application.

"Have you forgotten about us?" Xu Xian asked, seeing that there was still no response from the control side after waiting for a while.

Wang Qian picked at his ear: "The frequency is like a damn marketplace, it's driving me crazy. I'll try to apply again sometime."

Actually, Star Travel 6333 wasn't in the clouds; the dangerous weather was all below them. Xu Xian could even occasionally see flashes of lightning in the clouds below. Fortunately, when they were in the Yunnan cloud region, air traffic control was very swift, allowing them to ascend directly to a high altitude without much interruption; otherwise, they would have experienced even more turbulence in the clouds.

This kind of weather already existed in the Yunnan-Guizhou region, and it was the first time Wang Qian had ever seen such a large-scale, dangerous weather event. Fortunately, although their current altitude was quite steep, they were not in the thunderstorm clouds below, so there was no other danger.

Because the hazardous weather covers such a large area, not all aircraft can fly at high altitudes. Aircraft at low altitudes have to use their own methods to protect themselves, which is why the frequency is so high right now, and this was expected.

"Oh dear, I'm so busy with this frequency that I really can't bring myself to eat. I finally found an opportunity, but I'm not confident I can squeeze in again," Xu Xian said helplessly.

These days, conversations on this frequency are so fast-paced, one sentence after another without pause. If you can even manage to get a word in edgewise, you're lucky.

Doesn't Xu Xian want to go up? The plane has been shaking non-stop since takeoff. The snacks he ate before the flight almost made him throw up. If he really had a chance, why would he suffer at this altitude?

"Fine! Let's just lie here!" Unable to get a word in edgewise, they had no choice but to lie flat.

The moment Wang Qian finished speaking, the turbulence on the plane intensified instantly. Even Xu Xian and his companion, who had their shoulder straps fastened, felt their bodies rise slightly. If it weren't for the straps securing them, that slight movement would have been enough to lift their buttocks off their seats.

"Damn! That almost felt like a serious jolt." Luckily, the jolt only lasted a moment, but it still left Xu Xian feeling shaken. He had never experienced a truly serious jolt before.

"Activate the ignition switch continuously! I can't take it anymore!" Wang Qian commanded.

At such a high altitude and with such turbulent airflow, Wang Qian had no choice but to put the starter switch in the continuous position, otherwise he was really afraid that the aircraft engine would suddenly shut down!

Xu Xian nodded and reached for the starter switch with his left hand.

In first class, the chief flight attendant saw that the plane seemed to have stabilized, took the meal tray handed to her by Lian Shanxue, unbuckled her seatbelt, and prepared to get up and go back to the front cabin crew area.

Just as the flight attendant stood up, a tremendous tremor shook the entire cabin, followed by a deafening roar that echoed like thunder. The purser was so shaken that she lost her balance. The sudden loud noise startled her, causing her to lose her footing. Her hand slipped, and the tray fell to the ground with a shattering sound.

Lian Shanxue was about to close her eyes and rest after delivering the food, but the commotion instantly woke her up.

"What was that just now?" The flight attendant's heart was pounding in her throat. The commotion was truly astonishing; just that one moment almost made her soul leave her body.

"Was that thunder?" The flight attendant took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"No!" Lian Shanxue shook her head. "Why does it sound like an explosion?"

In the cockpit, Xu Xian's left hand, which had just touched the start switch, suddenly stopped. The deafening roar, like a thunderbolt, was clearly heard in the cockpit as well as the shaking of the aircraft, which was even more pronounced than the severe turbulence just now, all indicating an extremely dangerous situation.

"Brother?" Xu Xian called out softly to Wang Qian.

Wang Qian was also looking at Xu Xian: "Don't look at me, I have no idea what's going on either!"

Just as the two were looking at each other, a rapid fire alarm sounded. Xu Xian looked down and saw that the fire alarm in the cargo hold had gone off!

I'm asking for monthly votes! I'll try my best to write a long chapter tomorrow to reach the 1,000 monthly votes for last month!

(End of this chapter)