Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

Hantong International Airport, Terminal 2.

Outside the security checkpoint of the VIP lane.

Ding Yizhen wore a wig on her head. Large sunglasses covered most of her face.

He hunched his thick neck and squeezed into the middle of the line waiting to pass through.

He gripped his passport tightly with his right hand.

He swallowed hard. His throat was so dry it felt like it was on fire.

It was finally his turn.

The security officer was a young woman, wearing a crisp blue uniform. She reached out, took the passport, and looked it over.

"Sir, please remove your sunglasses for the examination."

Ding Yizhen trembled as she gripped the edge of her sunglasses with one finger and pulled them down with shaky steps.

The security officer stared at the screen, then looked at the face in front of him, comparing it over and over again.

clack.

A red stamp was firmly affixed to the inside page of the passport.

"Information verified. Have a pleasant journey." The passport was pushed back onto the counter.

Ding Yizhen grabbed the green booklet, stumbled through the security gate, and ran wildly toward the boarding gate.

United Airlines flight UA857. A massive Boeing 777 wide-body passenger plane.

The first-class cabin was extremely spacious. Ding Yizhen tilted her head back, completely relaxed, and gasped for breath with her mouth wide open.

A feeling of being pushed back came over me. The passenger plane accelerated on the runway, then pulled up its nose, broke through the thick night in Handong, and plunged into the sky.

Outside the porthole, the myriad lights of the main urban area of ​​Jingzhou City grew smaller and smaller, eventually merging into a small, blurry patch of light.

Ding Yizhen rang the service bell.

A blonde, blue-eyed flight attendant with a stunning figure pushed a cart gracefully in. Her white shirt was plunging low into the neckline, revealing a large expanse of fair, delicate skin. Her navy blue pencil skirt was ridiculously short, tightly cinching her voluptuous hips. Her long legs were encased in sheer black stockings, their movement exuding a sensual allure that was sure to make one's blood boil.

The flight attendant bent down and asked about his needs in extremely soft English. That deep, white cleavage was right in front of Ding Yizhen's eyes.

This foreign woman is really something! When I get to Los Angeles, I'll be changing mansions and foreign women every day.

Ding Yizhen waved his hand and pointed to the drinks on the cart.

"A glass of chilled champagne!"

The wine glass was handed to him. A layer of crystal-clear water droplets clung to the glass.

Ding Yizhen raised his wine glass high, gazing out the porthole at the vast night sky. A smug, arrogant grin spread across his face.

He tilted his head back and gulped down the chilled liquor. Refreshing!

The Luzhou Municipal Party Committee building served as the temporary command post arranged by He Xia.

The heavy wooden door was pushed open. Zhou Weiguo strode in. His crisp training uniform still carried the chill of the night breeze.

Shen Zhong sat behind his desk. On the screen of the high-performance military terminal in front of him, surveillance video clips of Ding Yizhen disguising himself and sneaking through security were playing on a loop.

This surveillance data was forcibly extracted by the military region's intelligence department through direct hacking into the airport's system.

"Sir." Zhou Weiguo stopped and quickly raised his right hand in salute, his movements swift and precise. "Target Ding Yizhen took off three minutes ago on United Airlines flight UA857. Route: New York."

Shen Zhong leaned back in his chair and let out a cold laugh.

The politicians in Handong are a bunch of hopeless incompetents.

The fierce competition and infighting effectively bought the giant rat a full three hours to escape.

Run away? If they run away, who will settle the billions of yuan in bad debts owed to Dafeng Factory? How can Zhao Lichun's overseas money laundering network be completely eradicated?

Shen Zhong reached for his phone on the table and made a call.

"Old leader," Shen Zhong said calmly, without any unnecessary words. "Something went wrong in Handong. Ding Yizhen, the key figure in the Dafeng Factory case, was arranged by the Zhao family to board a United Airlines plane."

The sound of a pen nib scratching across paper came from the other end of the phone.

"These scoundrels! They've got their hands on the sky!" Old Xu's loud, energetic voice rang out.

"I would like to request the Air Force's cooperation in intercepting the aircraft directly," Shen Zhong requested.

"Five minutes." Communication was cut off.

Handong Air Traffic Control Tower.

The electronic instruments beeped and clicked. Several night-shift air traffic controllers leaned back in their chairs, yawning. On the large screen, dozens of green cursors representing civil aviation aircraft slowly moved across the flight path map.

Flights are least frequent in the early morning hours. The atmosphere is extremely relaxed.

The tranquility was shattered by an unexpected turn of events.

The airspace route map for the entire Handong area on the main screen suddenly started flashing violently. Green coordinates turned black one after another.

The flight route data on the screen all turned into glaring red codes.

Immediately afterwards, a red warning sign indicating extreme danger completely filled all the operating terminal screens.

The homeroom teacher jumped up, knocking over his thermos. Hot water spilled onto his trousers, but he didn't care at all.

In the very center of the entire interface, a forced control dialog box with the August 1st Army emblem pops up. All the combination locks turn gray.

All command channels were completely locked.

Supreme military control directive.

This would be impossible in an inland province during peacetime. This is a true upheaval.

The audio equipment emitted a sharp electrical noise.

A synthesized female voice with a strong metallic feel and devoid of emotion forcibly overwhelmed all communication bands in the control tower through the highest-authority channel.

The sound not only echoed within the control tower, but also directly connected to the VHF communication system of the cockpit of every civil aircraft in the airspace of Handong.

"Attention all units. Our department is currently investigating an extreme national security threat who has defected while carrying core state secrets."

The homeroom teacher's legs were trembling, and he clung tightly to the edge of the control panel.

Defection with core secrets. Endangering national security. If this charge is leveled against them, the entire Handong Provincial Party Committee will be in deep trouble. Just how big of a mess did they make to warrant the military's intervention?

The synthesized voice continued broadcasting mechanically.

"Your department is hereby ordered to immediately transfer airspace control of Handong Airport to the military! All civilian aircraft in the air are to immediately follow the order to circle and stand by, awaiting further instructions from the military!"

"Those who disobey orders will be subject to military law!"

"Repeat, this is not a drill!"

The control tower was deathly silent. Everyone stared, mouths agape, faces ashen. In their decades-long careers, they had never even dreamed of witnessing such a shocking scene of the military forcibly taking over civilian aviation. The entire night sky over Handong had, at that moment, become the military's private hunting ground.

A top-secret air force flight base in Handong Province.

The heavy explosion-proof hangar doors slid slowly to both sides, driven by hydraulic motors.

The runway guide lights illuminated one after another at night. Two straight, dazzling light strips stretched into the depths of the night.

Two J-8 fighter jets painted in low-visibility mode were towed out of the hangar by a heavy-duty tractor.

These two killing machines lay silently on the concrete tarmac. Two white, live air-to-air missiles were prominently displayed beneath their wings.

This heavy air combat firepower, with its real destructive power, exudes a chilling and oppressive aura under the searchlights.

This was precisely the trump card that Shen Zhong was trying to obtain from his superiors.

These two fighter jets are like hellhounds that have just been unleashed. Tonight, they're going to bite that fat rat that's run into the sky right down from the clouds.

Two fully armed pilots strode up the boarding stairs and swiftly stepped into the cockpit.

The transparent glass canopy closes and locks down.

"Tower. Falcon 01 is ready."

"Falcon 02 is ready. Requesting scramble to intercept the target."