UAAG CH20

Noisy and clamorous sounds surrounded the hospital gate, like locusts swarming during harvest season. They rampaged forward, holding microphones high as sharp weapons for charging into battle.

“Madame Truffaut, was your son on the plane?”

“Madame Truffaut, when did you receive the news?”

“Madame Truffaut…”

Schaffhausen is a small town, covering only dozens of square kilometers with a small population. The only hospital in town is not large, only five stories high. It had never welcomed so many guests; the stone slabs in front of the hospital entrance were almost trampled to pieces by these visitors.

The guests all looked at the noble lady in luxurious clothes, turning a blind eye to others beside her.

Zhuo Huan’s face became gloomier, the displeasure in his eyes accumulating deeper and deeper. Like a gathering storm, as long as it broke through the bottom line, it would erupt. Fu Cheng knew this lord’s temper and naturally wouldn’t let him speak in front of the global media.

However, just as Fu Cheng took a step forward, preparing to speak, someone actually stood in front of him beforehand.

Under the bright sunshine, this ordinary-looking Chinese investigator stood in front of the media, shielding the speechless and pale Madame Truffaut behind him. He solemnly held up the ID card on his chest and said sternly: “EASA. The incident has been taken over by us, and the investigation has begun. Once there is a conclusion, EASA will immediately hold a press conference. Before that, please do not obstruct us from performing our official duties.”

The reporters were stunned for a moment.

A reporter interrupted, “We just want to confirm whether one of the pilots on board was the only son of the Truffaut Group.”

Gao Yun: “No comment!” He turned to his subordinates and said, “Please ask these reporter friends to leave in an orderly manner.”

EASA investigators immediately took action.

“Please leave immediately.”

“Do not obstruct us from performing our official duties.”

“Sir, if you continue like this, I don’t mind calling the police and suing you for obstructing official duties.”

Gao Yun turned his head and looked at Zhuo Huan and Fu Cheng. His expression was solemn: “Mr. Zhuo, Major Fu, can you please tell me now, what exactly happened?”

“Martha Airlines Cargo Plane Crashes in Schaffhausen, One Pilot Identified as Truffaut’s Only Son”

“Truffaut Heir Pilots Plane into Mountain, Dies in Crash”

“According to Agence France-Presse, at 1:19 on the 3rd, a Martha Airlines cargo plane crashed in the mountains south of Schaffhausen. One pilot on board was killed, confirmed to be the Truffaut heir…”

Hotel, guest room.

Su Fei stood helplessly on the side, watching Old Joseph comfort the incessantly sobbing Lina.

Old Joseph gently comforted Lina.

Lina had long guessed she would be separated from her friend by death; she had even prepared for everything before stepping into the morgue. However, life and death partings are always so unexpected. Even with 10,000 percent preparation for death, after seeing her best friend’s almost completely destroyed face, her psychological defense line collapsed in an instant.

“He loved to smile very much. Even if he encountered great difficulties, even if he was kicked out of the house, he never gave up smiling.”

“He has been afraid of pain since he was a child; Gerard is afraid of pain. When I went to his house as a child, his finger accidentally got burned a little by charcoal fire, and he cried from the pain.”

“How could it be Gerard? Why is it him? Last month he told me he was too busy; when I went on a business trip to Finland, he didn’t even have time to see me. He felt very sorry.”

“He said that when he took a leave, he would go to Shanghai to see me. He said it, Gerard said it…”

With a choking, trembling voice, Lina was on the verge of collapse.

Old Joseph said softly, “I really don’t know what to say to comfort you, my baby. But I hope you know that the Lina I know is a tenacious and resilient girl. Gerard is no longer in this world. I believe his friends will definitely find the cause for him so that he can rest in peace.”

Lina said hoarsely, “Joseph…”

Su Fei suddenly exclaimed. Old Joseph looked at him in surprise, intending to tell him to be quiet and not disturb Lina at this time. Unexpectedly, Su Fei looked horrified, holding his phone, and said to Old Joseph, “Just now, a news alert popped up on my phone saying… the deceased co-pilot is the Truffaut heir. Now media reporters have surrounded the hospital.”

Old Joseph opened his eyes wide in surprise. The next moment, he looked down at the blonde woman in his arms.

Lina also looked up. Her face was wet with tears, and she was still sobbing, but she wiped away her tears. She suddenly realized she had forgotten something crucial. Forcibly suppressing her heavy grief, Lina looked at her two friends: “It was my mistake. We leave for the hospital immediately.”

In the West, media reporters have the right to know; they have the right to report any news event.

Although EASA members threatened them with charges of obstructing official duties and demanded they leave, they were long accustomed to such tactics. They dealt with the government more times than ordinary people ate meals.

When Lina and the other two arrived at the hospital entrance, the reporters blocking the place had not decreased but increased, blocking the hospital gate so tightly there was almost no gap. No matter how the EASA investigators tried to persuade them to leave, they ignored it.

Lina’s expression darkened. She walked into the middle of the media and said, “Everyone, I am Stephanie ‘___te’, the diplomatic officer of UAAG. If you have any questions, please come here and ask me; do not block the hospital gate. Also, before you ask me questions, I hope you can call your superiors first to confirm whether you want to ask me questions.”

Lina’s voice was calm and profound, clearly audible even in the noisy environment. The reporters all looked towards her.

Seeing Lina arrive, Fu Cheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

A male reporter looked at Lina, intending to say something. But his phone suddenly rang. Immediately after, one phone after another rang. Like a movie scene, they answered their phones together, and then the expressions on their faces changed from excitement to astonishment, and finally to deep bewilderment.

After the reporters left one by one, Fu Cheng looked at Gao Yun and said to him, “Mr. Gao, I believe you should have understood just now that among the two pilots on this plane, the co-pilot was the heir to the Truffaut Group.”

After experiencing the trouble just now, how could Gao Yun not understand? He was also very helpless; he shook his head and gave a bitter smile at this absurd world. “In fact, this plane crashed at 1:00 AM today. At 2:00 AM, our investigators crawled out of their dreams, quickly formed an investigation team, and rushed to the hospital immediately. I have stayed in this hospital for ten full hours. Except for reporters coming to investigate the situation at the beginning, no reporter has cared about this matter in the ten hours since.”

Gao Yun looked at the departing interview vans and suddenly became confused. “Aren’t they all human lives? Is there such a big difference between the life of a luxury brand heir and the life of an ordinary airline co-pilot?”

Hearing this, Fu Cheng’s heart trembled, but he had no words to reply.

Zhuo Huan gave Gao Yun a meaningful look, then said to Lina, “Madame Truffaut has arrived; she should be in the morgue now. Go see her. I leave the media matters to you; I don’t want anyone to affect the aircraft investigation.”

Lina: “Okay.”

Zhuo Huan then said to Old Joseph, “One thing is strange. I haven’t seen anyone from the airline yet. Go investigate Martha Airlines and contact their person in charge.” Finally, he said to Gao Yun, “Now, can we go to the accident scene?”

Martha Airlines Flight 123, or MS123, crashed on a hill south of Schaffhausen.

The plane fell and hit the mountain, smashing straight into the mountainside. Consequently, from the mountainside to the foot of the mountain, aircraft parts were scattered everywhere. Because the plane crashed only ten minutes after takeoff, there was still a lot of fuel on board. Upon crashing, it exploded and caught fire, burning more than half of the mountain. The trees on the side of the impact were all burned down, leaving only bare, scorched earth.

After driving for half an hour, the four arrived at the accident scene.

At the accident scene, there were already quite a few EASA investigators taking photos to collect evidence.

Fu Cheng pulled open the yellow cordon tape and walked into the accident area. Looking at this messy scene, he frowned slightly, indescribable emotions surging in his heart—

This plane crashed too tragically.

From the mountainside to the foot of the mountain, it was almost shattered; aircraft wreckage could be seen everywhere.

The smallest fragments were not even the size of a palm!

One can imagine what kind of impact force the pilots sitting in the cockpit at the very front endured when the plane crashed. This terrible force almost smashed a complete plane to pieces!

Zhuo Huan looked around and asked, “What information have you investigated?”

Gao Yun opened the folder. “This is an ATR-72 aircraft manufactured in ’88, with an age of 32 years. It once served in Aeroflot and was bought by Martha Airlines last year for use as a passenger and cargo plane. When the accident occurred, this plane was transporting cargo, taking off from Zurich to be delivered to Berlin.”

Fu Cheng heard an important piece of information and asked in surprise, “Took off from Zurich? Zurich should be less than thirty kilometers from here; we came from Zurich Airport.”

Gao Yun: “Yes, this cargo plane took off from Zurich Airport. Only ten minutes after takeoff, ground control received a Mayday request from the captain, but before he could contact the captain again, the plane disappeared from the radar. It crashed into the mountain.”

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday.

The internationally accepted radio distress signal.

Using radio communication to call “Mayday” three times continuously is regarded as sending an emergency distress signal.

Ordinary emergency accidents cannot use the Mayday distress signal; only when aircraft or ships encounter life-threatening, extremely serious dangers can the Mayday distress signal be used. For every air traffic controller, hearing a pilot shout “Mayday” three times means a nightmare: there must be casualties, and a disaster is inevitable.

Gao Yun pointed to the boxes and equipment scattered all over the hillside. “Those are the goods transported by this plane. The front and rear sections were severely burned, but the middle was slightly lighter, so very few goods were not completely burned.”

Zhuo Huan: “All these goods must also be moved away for testing.”

Just as he was speaking, Gao Yun’s cell phone suddenly rang. He said, “I’m going to take a call.”

When he came back after answering the phone, Fu Cheng saw the young EASA senior investigator looking strange. He looked at Zhuo Huan, somewhat helpless. “I just received a call from headquarters. This accident will be led by UAAG, with EASA coordinating and assisting. Mr. Zhuo, I have to work with you again.” Saying this, he extended his hand.

Given Lord Zhuo’s temper, the possibility of not reaching out to shake it was extremely high. To prevent Gao Yun from being embarrassed, Fu Cheng immediately reached out, wanting to shake the other’s hand. However, his hand was only halfway out when Zhuo Huan’s long, slender hand flashed past his face and gently grasped Gao Yun’s hand.

Zhuo Huan nodded and said, “Thank you, happy cooperation.”

His tone carried a rare seriousness and sincerity.

Martha 123 crashed in the early morning. It wasn’t until 9:00 AM that EASA investigators rushed from London to Schaffhausen and arrived at the accident scene. Since the plane was smashed too badly, taking photos for evidence took a lot of time. By 8:00 PM, the investigators finished photographing all the wreckage fragments.

After the on-site photography was finished, the next step was to move the wreckage to a suitable place for detailed investigation and testing.

This matter gave Gao Yun a big headache.

Schaffhausen is a small town. There are no spacious public places like gymnasiums in the town, and the mayor couldn’t find him a non-open-air placement site. Besides, he also needed to contact large trucks and workers to transport the aircraft wreckage from the mountain to the town.

After the photos were taken, Gao Yun was worrying about this matter when Zhuo Huan received a call from Lina.

Hanging up the phone, Zhuo Huan turned and said, “Trucks are coming soon. Please arrange the investigators and tell those workers how to move the wreckage fragments.”

Gao Yun was stunned. “Ah? There are trucks?”

Ten minutes later, five large trucks drove to the foot of the mountain. More than thirty workers got off the trucks and went up the mountain to start moving things.

By the time they moved all these scattered aircraft wreckage onto the trucks at extremely fast speeds, Gao Yun was still a bit dizzy. Sitting in the car, he snapped back to reality and couldn’t help touching Fu Cheng’s arm. “Major Fu… where did all these trucks come from?”

Fu Cheng smiled. “If I guessed correctly, Lina should have arranged them.”

Gao Yun: “Lina? She arranged all of this? What about the warehouse? These wreckages need to find a place to be put; there are no suitable places in town…”

“We bought a candy factory.”

A cool male voice sounded, interrupting Gao Yun. Gao Yun turned his head in astonishment to look at that man. This time, even Fu Cheng was a bit surprised.

After a long while, Fu Cheng asked, “…Bought a candy factory? So we are now putting all these wreckages into the warehouse of the candy factory?”

Zhuo Huan kept looking down at his phone screen. He spoke without lifting his head; because he was multitasking, his voice was slightly soft and prolonged. “Mn, these trucks also belong to the candy factory… Buy one get five free, quite a good deal.”

Fu Cheng smiled slightly.

Gao Yun: “…”

The next moment: “Excuse me, is your UAAG still hiring?”

Fu Cheng: “…”

The truck drove smoothly on the mountain road. Because it was loaded with many precision parts, the return trip to town took twice as long as the arrival.

The sky was pitch black. By the time everyone returned to town, it was 10:00 PM.

Fu Cheng and Gao Yun directed the workers to move the aircraft wreckage into the warehouse according to category. Pieces of charred aircraft wreckage were carefully sent into the warehouse by workers and then sorted by category.

The last truck also slowly drove into the factory. Su Fei jumped down from the passenger seat. He raised his hand and took the black box handed over by the driver. This thing was extremely heavy; carrying it, Su Fei’s shoulders couldn’t help but sink a few degrees. Seeing this, Fu Cheng walked over. “Need help?”

The punk teenager waved his hand. “Hey, no need, I’m used to carrying it. Last time RIP made me carry this thing from Boston to Finland, okay?”

Fu Cheng looked down at the pitch-black black box.

The originally orange-red black box was now burned to a charred black by the fire. Because of the violent impact, a shallow dent was smashed into its surface, and all eight corners were worn. Besides the obvious dent, there were many fine scratches. Fu Cheng estimated that when the black box was thrown out of the plane, it was scraped by aircraft parts.

These fine scratches didn’t matter much; Fu Cheng’s gaze stopped on that dent.

Aircraft black boxes are required to have extremely high resistance to impact, high-temperature fire, acid corrosion, etc. Its production materials are very expensive, and ordinary falls and pressure won’t cause any marks on the surface.

Fu Cheng: “It looks like the impact force during the crash was huge. Will it affect reading the data?”

Su Fei observed carefully. “Shouldn’t be. Wait for me to repair it tomorrow and see the situation.”

While the two were talking, a low voice sounded from behind them.

The candy factory Lina bought was on the outskirts of Schaffhausen town, close to the surging Rhine River. The famous Rhine Falls was right next to it. The crashing sound of water was the only noise in the quiet town’s moonlit night, white river water rushing down, splashing snow-white foam.

Zhuo Huan’s voice was mixed with this loud water flow sound, almost devoid of any emotion. At least Su Fei and Gao Yun didn’t notice anything strange; only Fu Cheng looked up at him in surprise.

“Regarding Martha Airlines, Old Joseph found some information.”

…Lord Zhuo seems, very unhappy.

Next to the candy factory warehouse was a four-story factory office building.

Bright high-wattage lights dispelled the dark night, making the meeting room bright as day. Zhuo Huan wiped the candy factory’s sales data off the whiteboard cleanly and wrote a word in English with a black marker—

“MARSHA”.

Then, he continued to write three lines: “Martha Flight 123,” “Gerard Truffaut,” and “Leon Lorraine,” and then used the marker to connect Martha Airlines and Martha Flight 123. Everyone looked at the whiteboard seriously, waiting for Zhuo Huan to continue connecting Martha Airlines and the names of the two pilots, but saw Zhuo Huan purse his lips and coldly draw a big cross between the two.

Everyone froze.

Zhuo Huan turned around and capped the marker.

After a crisp click, he threw the marker onto the table with a displeased expression.

“In fact, Martha Flight 123 does belong to this airline, but these two pilots… are not employees of Martha Airlines.”

Fu Cheng said quickly, “The pilots don’t belong to the airline; what does this mean?”

Zhuo Huan turned to look at him, his voice extremely cold, seemingly suppressing anger: “Literal meaning. This airline owns a total of five aircraft and has flight permits for passenger and cargo transport within Switzerland and EU member states. But all five of Martha Airlines’ planes are currently safe and sound. This Martha Flight 123… is the sixth plane.”

Gao Yun exclaimed, “How is that possible? Before we rushed to the scene, the hospital had already contacted the relatives of the two pilots. They asked Martha Airlines for the pilots’ emergency contact numbers. If they are not pilots for Martha Airlines, why were they flying this plane, and why did Martha Airlines have their emergency contact numbers?”

Zhuo Huan raised his hand backward, curled his fingers, and knocked forcefully on the whiteboard with his knuckles.

“You should ask first, since this mysterious plane doesn’t belong to Martha Airlines…”

“Why is it called Martha 123.”

Scotland, East Lothian.

The south bank of the Firth of Forth is a vast plain. The River Tyne flows through it like a white jade ribbon inlaid on the green earth. Under the slowly sprinkling moonlight, ripples of light appeared.

Walking about two kilometers west from the banks of the River Tyne, on a cliff, a majestic and ancient castle stands atop the waves.

This is a Baroque-style ancient castle. The gray-black outer walls record its illustrious history of weathering wind and rain. A deep, fractured gap by the gate pillar is a heroic trace left by enemy attacks in the 14th century.

Inside a room in the castle, wall lamps reflected dim yellow light.

Urgent footsteps came from the corridor outside the door. This person walked fast and anxiously, leather shoes stepping on the castle bricks, making a tapping sound. But despite being mad with anxiety, he suddenly stopped when he reached the door, knocked gently, and waited for the person inside to allow entry.

“Come in.”

The carved door was pushed open. A middle-aged man in a suit, eyes red, said, “Sir, Madam has confirmed it. It is… it is Young Master Gerard.”

In front of the tall floor-to-ceiling window, the silver-haired Mr. Truffaut closed his eyes.

The butler said, “Sir, shall I prepare a private jet for you to go to Schaffhausen?”

“No need. Wait for him to come back.”

With a hoarse voice, the butler finally couldn’t help saying, “But Sir, Young Master Gerard is gone!”

Mr. Truffaut’s gaze passed through his cold gold-rimmed glasses, looking back at him, and said coldly, “So I said, wait for his body to return.”

Switzerland, Schaffhausen, Town Hospital.

Schaffhausen’s town hospital had never received so many guests. During the day, it was surrounded by reporters. It wasn’t until Lina sent the reporters away that it returned to its usual tranquility.

At the door of the ICU ward on the third floor of the hospital, Leon Lorraine, the captain of Martha Flight 123, lay quietly on the hospital bed. almost all the skin on his body was burned rotten; not a single piece of intact skin could be found. Even his eyelids were scorched, revealing terrifying eyeball blood vessels.

The doctors also wanted to bandage his wounds so that the burned epidermis wouldn’t be exposed to the air, but that would be tantamount to accelerating his death. The burned parts were all ulcerating and oozing pus; if gauze touched it, it would stick, and pulling it off would tear off a large piece of bloody skin.

Blood and pus covered the bed.

The doctor said his survival was simply a miracle, yet no one knew if he could survive tonight or how many days he could live. He was still in a coma, but perhaps a coma was the best ending for him. Because as soon as he woke up, he would definitely encounter the most terrible pain he had ever experienced in his life. And this pain would accompany him for the rest of his destined short life until he died.

Outside the ICU ward were his wife and daughter. The two had long cried until they had no strength left, sitting on chairs leaning against each other.

When Fu Cheng walked to the third floor of the hospital, what he saw was the mother and daughter embracing and sleeping. He stopped and watched for a long time, ultimately unable to bear waking these two people who had finally found peace. He went downstairs to the first basement floor.

At the door of the morgue, Madame Truffaut leaned into Lina’s arms, trembling all over, sobbing in a low voice.

Fu Cheng stepped forward, squatted down, and said softly, “I’m very sorry to disturb you, Madam. Please accept my condolences. I am a UAAG investigator and also Lina’s colleague. Currently, my colleagues are inspecting the aircraft wreckage and investigating Martha Airlines’ information. We have some doubts about the two pilots’ profession, so Zhuo Huan… Patrick asked me to make some inquiries with the pilots’ families to see if we can get any clues from you.”

Madame Truffaut looked at Fu Cheng weakly. She wanted to speak, but her choking throat prevented her from uttering words.

At this moment, Lina’s hoarse voice sounded. Fu Cheng looked up at her.

“Ask me. Auntie Truffaut doesn’t know about Gerard’s situation. Fu, whatever you want to know, you can ask me. Regarding Gerard’s affairs in recent years, I am probably the person who knows best in the world. The emergency contact he left at the airline… is me.”

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