The night before the college entrance exam results were released, I redeemed my Peking University ad

Western Pacific, a certain sea area.

Night fell like a piece of velvet soaked in ink, pressing heavily on the ocean surface.

The moonlight was completely swallowed up by the thick clouds, and the sea and sky blended into one, making it impossible to distinguish where the water ended and the sky began.

In this boundless darkness, several colossal figures silently cleaved through the surging waves.

This is a fully-equipped carrier strike group.

On the deck of the flagship nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the steam from the catapults condensed into pale white wisps in the night, and the signal lights flashed rhythmically, both dangerous and alluring.

With two Ticonderoga-class cruisers flanking them and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers patrolling the perimeter, the entire fleet resembled a swarm of lurking deep-sea predators.

In the bridge combat command center of the USS Ronald Reagan, dozens of screens densely filled the entire bulkhead, with red, green and blue data streams flowing down like a waterfall.

The scanning lines on the radar screen rotated in circles, casting a brief green light on the operator's face with each sweep.

Suddenly, the highest priority encrypted communication alert pierced the silence of the command room, and a scarlet urgent indicator flashed wildly on the main screen.

The colonel on duty strode forward, glanced at the decryption completed command, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

Without the slightest hesitation, he abruptly raised his hand and ordered: "All ships, stand at level one combat readiness! Proceed at full speed to area A17!"

The moment the order was given, the battle alarm suddenly sounded, echoing throughout the entire fleet.

"All ships on Level One combat readiness!"

"Turn left 18 degrees, correct course to 072!"

"With the gas turbine operating at full power, the speed has been increased to 32 knots!"

Inside the bridge, the captain gripped the handrail tightly, while the navigator rapidly adjusted the nautical chart parameters.

The massive hull carved a sharp arc in the waves, and the giant waves cleaved by its bow surged into white trails in the night.

The phased array radar antenna rotates at high speed, and countless detection beams spread out like a giant net, covering the target airspace layer by layer.

Three hours later, the fleet arrived precisely below the designated sea area.

"Sir, target spotted, bearing 035, 400 nautical miles away, altitude 38,000 feet."

"It has been determined to be a commercial airliner, and the flight number has been confirmed, matching the target's characteristics."

The captain didn't speak.

He stood in front of the command platform, his hands resting on the table, staring at the slowly moving green dot on the big screen.

That was just a commercial airliner.

A Boeing passenger plane that was unarmed, unescorted, and even followed a conventional flight path.

Behind him, the aircraft carrier had a full air wing, its Aegis system fully operational, and the vertical launch cells of both cruisers were fully loaded with Tomahawk cruise missiles. The firepower of the entire battle group was enough to wipe out a small country.

Now, all these weapons, all these people, all these hundreds of thousands of tons of steel and explosives, are being redirected by a single order, traversing hundreds of nautical miles, with the target being this civilian airliner.

"God!"

The captain took a deep breath.

He served in the navy for thirty years, carried out countless missions, and witnessed countless battles.

But this was the first time he had ever seen such an order.

There was no authorization code, no mission briefing, and no documented operational instructions.

The order originated from a satellite-encrypted phone call, made directly from Washington to the fleet commander's mobile phone.

The message is extremely concise: Intercept a civilian airliner bound for China. Target characteristics have been sent to the fleet database. Action priority: highest!

The best!

"Damn it! What the hell are they hiding up there?" the captain cursed under his breath, then looked up, his voice hardening again.

"Inform us of the target flight path, speed, and estimated time of entry into the interception window."

"Target course is stable, heading 295, speed 490 knots, expected to enter the interception window in ten minutes."

"Prepare to intercept!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

The command was instantly transmitted to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer via the ship's internal communication system.

On the bow deck, the sailors had already cleared the area, and all non-essential personnel had been evacuated into the cabins.

In the vertical launch system compartment below deck, red lights began to flash. A weapons officer lifted the transparent protective cover on the control panel, his fingers flying across the touchscreen.

A series of white codes popped up on the screen, each line corresponding to a node on the transmission link.

"Target coordinates locked, parameters set."

"Mk41 Vertical Launching System, Units 12 to 16, Launch Silo Cover Open."

"Radar locks onto guidance link, signal strength is normal, tracking is stable."

"preparation……"

"Fir!"

……

Meanwhile, at an altitude of 10,000 meters.

The Boeing 737 cruised smoothly along the edge of the stratosphere.

The cabin lights were dimmed, and most passengers were wrapped in blankets and leaning back in their seats. Some had fallen asleep with their heads tilted to the side, some were watching movies on their seat screens with headphones on, and others were chatting quietly, their tone filled with a sense of relief after surviving a disaster.

A middle-aged man was boasting to his neighbor about how brave he had just been: "Let me tell you, I wanted to rush over and help, but that young man was too fast, and I couldn't make it."

The young man next to him nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, we all saw what you were doing. If your seatbelt hadn't been on, you would have been the first one to rush up."

In the back row, a mother holding her child gently patted the baby's back while humming a lullaby that was out of tune.

The child was already asleep, his little hand clutching her collar, his breathing steady and even.

The mother looked down at her child's face; her eyes were still a little red. When the plane hijacked, she thought she would never see her husband again, but now that she thought about it, it didn't seem so scary after all.

Across the aisle, a girl who looked like a college student was texting her boyfriend.

Although there was no internet on the plane, she still typed a long message, intending to send it as soon as she landed.

The last line reads: "You'd never guess what I went through on this flight. I'll tell you all about it when I get back, I'll tell you for the rest of my life."

Everyone relaxed.

The ten-hour flight included hijacking, bomb disposal, and a mole within the pilot's crew—I experienced every kind of thrill imaginable.

We only have two or three hours left before landing, and then we'll be safe.

After all, that's supposedly the safest country in the world!

……

Inside the cockpit.

Ji Bai sat in the captain's seat, one hand resting loosely on the control stick, the other hand supporting his chin, staring blankly at the churning clouds ahead.

The phrase "Final Destination" has expired after the American calendar day.

【Words Become Law - Youth Edition】 was also valid only on the day of publication and ended up in the recycle bin.

With his two biggest trump cards destroyed, all he has left are master-level combat skills, vehicle proficiency, and bomb disposal expertise.

But Ji Bai did not relax at all.

He always felt that things wouldn't end so simply.

Those people went to such great lengths to set up this trap; there's no reason for them to just stand by and watch him fly back safely.

"I hope I'm just overthinking it."

He muttered something to himself, his gaze sweeping across the airspace ahead.

Just then, a very thin, orange-red tail of flame suddenly appeared in the clouds at the edge of the field of vision, trailing a long plume of smoke, and hurtling straight toward the direction of the flight at several times the speed of sound.

Ji Bai's pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpoints.

Holy crap?

What the hell is that?

You even brought out something like this?