Chapter 153: Desperate Flight

At that moment, another person with an Asian face walked over.

Bai Zhan frowned and asked, "Did you also lose your ID and passport?"

"Yes!" the person said with utter confidence. "But I am a citizen of Great Xia, and I can sing the national anthem to prove it!"

"That won't be necessary," Bai Zhan said indifferently. "There are many ways to prove one's citizenship..."

"There are two elderly people: the old man is called Black Earth; what is the old woman's name?"

The person with the Asian face froze instantly.

What kind of bizarre questions were these, damn it!

For a moment, those international friends who thought they could pass themselves off as citizens of Great Xia just because they knew a little Mandarin were left completely dumbfounded by Bai Zhan's erratic train of thought.

"What is the second battalion commander's weapon?"

"Which academy's excavator technology is the best?"

"What was the name of the owner of the Jiangnan Leather Factory, and who did he run away with?"

"What does YYDS mean?"

Faced with these tricky questions, the international friends who had intended to slip through by masquerading as citizens of Great Xia were utterly dumbfounded... What on earth were these strange questions?

Were these secret passcodes for the people of Great Xia?

Just as Bai Zhan was using his firearm to block these Freedom Nation citizens, a soldier suddenly ran over and shouted, "Sir, all citizens of Great Xia have boarded, but... the cabin is full!"

"What!"

The Freedom Nation citizens shrieked in panic, "Then what about us?!"

The soldier couldn't be bothered to entertain them and spoke at an extremely rapid pace, "We removed the seats in advance, but even standing, it's packed to capacity, and the soldiers' spaces are gone too..."

"All soldiers, including myself, will use the cargo hold!" Bai Zhan's voice carried no emotional fluctuation.

There was no air circulation system in the cargo hold; lack of oxygen and freezing cold could easily freeze a person to death if things went wrong!

"Sir, perhaps you should go into the passenger cabin..." the soldier whispered.

"No, if anyone freezes to death, it will be me first!" Bai Zhan turned around, put away his gun, and walked off. "Quickly distribute all emergency blankets and thermal patches, one for each soldier. Let's go, back to Great Xia!"

With that, Bai Zhan commanded the soldiers to close the cabin door and entered the cargo hold via the freight passageway.

Once inside the cargo hold, while having the soldiers rapidly distribute the emergency blankets and thermal patches, Bai Zhan looked back at the crowd outside and shouted, "Everyone who wants to live, get in here quickly!"

Hearing this, the soldier beside him immediately turned pale with distress and said, "General, we can't wait any longer!"

The surging seawater was already visible in the distance, and the roars of sea beasts could even be heard echoing through the airport.

Bai Zhan cast a complex glance at the Freedom Nation citizens below, took a deep breath, and said, "Fifty-three seconds remaining, line up and enter!"

Ultimately, the people of Great Xia were kind-hearted.

Even though danger could strike at any second, Bai Zhan still wanted to save as many lives as possible.

Yet at this moment, Bai Zhan could not have anticipated that his act of rescuing these Freedom Nation citizens would later become the very pretext used by the high-ranking officials of the Freedom Nation to accuse Great Xia of taking advantage of a crisis and forcibly abducting Freedom Nation citizens!

The crowd below instantly plunged into chaos. Able-bodied white and black citizens of the Freedom Nation aggressively shoved aside the elderly, the weak, women, and children who were standing at the front, rushing frantically toward the entrance of the cargo hold!

"Old woman, get out of the way!"

"Damn it, I'm still young, let me go in first!"

The soldiers of Great Xia were trying to save them out of mercy, but they had already begun shoving and trampling one another!

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Bai Zhan fired three warning shots into the air and said coldly, "Line up according to the elderly, the weak, women, and children. Whoever causes trouble again will not be allowed in!"

Instantly, the queue became orderly.

Bai Zhan looked at these Freedom Nation citizens, who walked into the cabin in an orderly fashion with eyes full of hope and joy, his expression complex.

He knew what this action implied.

Great Xia had taken another country's citizens from its territory without permission.

This... could be considered an invasion!

Bai Zhan took a deep breath. He figured the Freedom Nation couldn't possibly be so shameless—after all, he was currently rescuing these people!

Surely the Freedom Nation couldn't actually have the nerve to use this as a pretext to attack Great Xia!

In truth, Bai Zhan could have completely eliminated this potential risk, but looking at these desperate Freedom Nation citizens struggling against death—even though they had different skin colors and flowed with different blood—he could not simply sit by and do nothing.

Suddenly.

Bai Zhan's pupils contracted sharply.

The wall at the rear of the airport began to vibrate violently.

Then.

"Boom!"

The wall shattered and collapsed with a deafening crash!

A surging wall of seawater came rushing in like a charging beast, sweeping toward them.

Amidst the water were countless ferocious sea beasts, roaring as they charged forward along with the tide!

"Roar!"

"Hurry, let us up!"

"Get us in!" The Freedom Nation citizens who had yet to enter the cargo hold turned red-eyed and shoved their way inside!

Meanwhile, those Freedom Nation citizens who had already managed to get inside the cargo hold began shouting anxiously, "Respected Great Xia General, take off immediately!"

"Forget about them! If we don't take off now, we'll all be in danger!"

"That's right, we're already inside! You need to look at the bigger picture and not gamble with everyone's lives!"

Hearing the urging cries of the Freedom Nation citizens inside the cargo hold, Bai Zhan shouted, "Shut your mouths! You beasts are supposed to be their compatriots—can't you show a shred of empathy?!"

With that, Bai Zhan clenched his teeth fiercely, sweat beading on his forehead as he watched the surging seawater approach, silently calculating the time until three more Freedom Nation citizens climbed aboard.

"Pilot, take off immediately!" Bai Zhan grabbed his walkie-talkie and shouted.

Although he wanted to save the Freedom Nation citizens before him as well... he could not possibly use the lives of all Great Xia citizens as a gamble!

These last three people who had just boarded were the absolute limit of his delay!

The people of Great Xia were kind, but they were not fools!

"Received!"

"Taking off!"

"Boom!"

The engines, which had been idling, roared instantly. Amidst the deafening thunder of the turbines, the Great Xia passenger plane accelerated down the runway like a giant beast of steel!

Behind them were towering, rolling giant waves and ferocious sea beasts.

And right in front of those giant waves were countless weeping and shouting Freedom Nation citizens.

They had been thoroughly abandoned by the higher-ups of the Freedom Nation, and before they could even board Great Xia's evacuation flight, disaster had already arrived!

Though they knew death was inescapable, they still chased after the accelerating aircraft, for it was their only hope!

"Wait for us!"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

"Slow down, let me up!"

Yet.

How could human legs possibly outrun a plane preparing for takeoff?

The seawater churned and rolled behind them like the gaping maw of a giant beast, accompanied by the excited roars of sea beasts.

These Freedom Nation citizens could only run desperately in despair, watching helplessly as the plane's speed grew faster and faster!

"Let us up!!"

"Wait for us!"

Beneath the towering waves, they wept and cried out.

The cargo hold doors began to close. Bai Zhan stared expressionlessly at the crowd left behind by the aircraft, running for their lives under the shadow of the tidal wave.

His fingernails dug deep into his palms, and his eyes were completely bloodshot!

He had wanted to save them all, too!

From the perspective of sharing a common humanity, he even wished he could protect the entire Freedom Nation!

However... the circumstances did not allow it!

Great Xia's national strength was ultimately limited; being able to safeguard Great Xia's territory and guarantee the safety of every single citizen of Great Xia was already the absolute limit!

In this moment of crisis, he had held out until the very last second. His conscience was clear!

"I'm sorry!"

Through the cabin door, watching the desperate crowd chasing the plane—soon to be swallowed by the seawater and torn apart by sea beasts—Bai Zhan slowly lowered his head. "I... I cannot risk the lives of the people of Great Xia!"

"I wanted to save you all..."

"But... Great Xia has done everything it could... Do not blame me; if you must blame someone, blame your own leadership! I'm sorry!"

Agony gripped Bai Zhan's heart. Though he had been through numerous battlefields and could open fire on enemies without blinking an eye... these Freedom Nation citizens were, after all, innocent civilians!

"Boom!"

"Ah!"

"No!"

The seawater swept over them completely. Amidst their desperate running and shrieks, the crowd was brutally flattened and shredded by the immense force of the giant waves, while pack after pack of sea beasts closed in for the kill.