UAAG CH87

November 15, 2021. Five years and five months later, news of Flight Rogue 318 reappeared in the public eye.

This day was no different from any other.

It was late at night in the United States. Many families were eating while the TV was on, providing background noise. At the same moment, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC… anchors received new news notifications. Many of their expressions changed slightly. Soon, they looked up again and began to broadcast in standard American accents: “Breaking news: Rogue Airlines Flight 318 has been confirmed to be under search in the North Pacific waters. It is reported that on June 13, 2016, Flight 318 belonging to Rogue Airlines took off from Boston…”

Immediately after, the scrolling news bar at the top of the news programs also began to loop this news rapidly.

At this moment, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Canada…

Countless people looked at the news pushed on their TVs and mobile phones. At first, they were bewildered. It was like a glass of spicy, strong whiskey being poured into a barrel of wine; the whiskey sank straight in, and neither side knew what had happened. Then came the realization, the understanding, the discovery. The strong liquor and red wine merged fiercely. The world reawakened the heart of the ocean, that plane which had sunk into the sea, from the depths of long-sealed memories.

—Rogue 318!

It was Rogue 318!

When the plane carrying the UAAG members arrived at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, they were surrounded by long-waiting media reporters as soon as they got off the plane. They swarmed forward, microphones frantically thrust in front of Zhuo Huan’s face. Cameras, flashes—reporters had stayed up all night guarding the Alaska airport just to get the news first.

“Mr. Patrick, it is rumored that you have been funding the salvage of the Rogue 318 aircraft yourself. How long have you been funding it?”

“Mr. Patrick, the official announcement says the plane sank in the North Pacific. Can you tell us its specific location?”

“Mr. Patrick…”

The reporters’ questions poured down like a barrage of cannonballs. Zhuo Huan hid his gaze behind black sunglasses. He didn’t speak but turned and walked toward the exit. The reporters immediately followed, but were stopped by a beautiful blonde woman.

Lina smiled slightly. “If you have questions, you can ask me. Everyone has waited a long time, so I will give a brief answer and explanation here. But if you want to know more relevant information, UAAG will hold a press conference in three days. You are welcome to participate then.”

The reporters were slightly stunned, and then began a fierce round of questioning.

The four members of UAAG left the airport boarding gate first and walked toward the parking lot, where Lina had already arranged for a car to wait for them.

Perhaps because the reporters were all crowded at the airport exit, and the UAAG crowd had also generously come out from the exit and left Lina to answer media questions, there were no reporters in the parking lot.

It was already late at night when they arrived in Alaska.

It took 20 hours to rush here overnight. And they wouldn’t rest; in five hours, they would board the speedboat arranged by Lina and head to Unalaska.

The sound of their clicking footsteps echoed in the empty, bright underground parking lot.

Su Fei: “Are we just leaving Lina there? Those reporters were too scary. They looked like they wanted to swallow us alive just now! Lina won’t be eaten by them, will she?”

Old Joseph raised his eyebrows. “Have you forgotten who she is?”

Old Joseph spoke in English, and Su Fei said strangely, “Her? She’s Lina. Who else could she be?”

Old Joseph smiled. “Yes, she is Lina. So trust Lina.”

Su Fei was still worried, but among the UAAG crowd, except for him, no one was worried about Lina being left behind.

Because she was Lina, so she could handle everything.

However, whenever her companions said this, while smiling and accepting the praise, Lina would also modestly state: “Not everything. I really can’t do anything about airplanes.”

The group walked toward the parking spot Lina had mentioned in advance. However, just as they reached Section H of the parking lot, several steady footsteps came from the left. Fu Cheng turned his head to look left. Beside him, Zhuo Huan stopped. He slowly took off his sunglasses halfway, rested the frame on the bridge of his nose, lowered his head slightly, and looked at the approaching people from bottom to top.

Under the white parking lot lights, four men in black suits with work IDs around their necks walked toward them.

Reaching them, the four stopped.

The blond man standing at the very front extended his hand to Zhuo Huan. “Patrick, long time no see.”

Zhuo Huan glanced at him, sneered, and pushed his sunglasses back up. He didn’t shake the hand. Hands in his pockets, he spoke a name with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile: “Levy Andrew.”

Naturally pure gold hair was coated with thick gel, meticulously groomed and swept back. Levy Andrew didn’t react to Zhuo Huan’s rudeness. He withdrew his hand and said, “The Airline 4012 case… thank you to UAAG for the reinvestigation, letting the truth come to light.”

As if hearing something ridiculous, Zhuo Huan laughed exaggeratedly twice and said, “Don’t misunderstand. UAAG only accepted the commission from the airline and the GCAA to reinvestigate this case. It has nothing to do with you or the NTSB.”

Andrew looked at him with a cold face and didn’t speak.

The atmosphere between the two was tense.

Fu Cheng looked at Lovens, who was standing beside Levy Andrew. Lovens threw him a bitter smile.

NTSB Deputy Director Levy Andrew, one of the main persons in charge of the Rogue 318 accident investigation team five years ago. His appearance here was almost inevitable. But his terrible relationship with Zhuo Huan was also well known. When the decision was made to stop salvaging Rogue 318, it was irreversible. The government, the airline, and the aircraft manufacturer couldn’t spend a lifetime fishing for this plane. Their funding had lasted for three and a half years, which was already an astronomical figure.

So before stopping the salvage, the NTSB represented by Levy Andrew wanted to release an interim investigation report. Without finding the plane wreckage, based on reasoning and speculation, they wanted to announce the possible cause of the accident to the public. But Zhuo Huan strongly opposed it and, in the end, single-handedly prevented the publication of this report.

The two had been on bad terms since then, and from then on, according to Lovens, they almost never interacted.

However, dramatically, Rogue 318 had now been found, and it was found by a salvage company hired by Zhuo Huan with his own money.

Andrew was silent for a moment, then said, “When do you plan to make public the specific location information of the wreckage?”

That’s right, UAAG only announced that they had found Rogue 318 in a bay in the North Pacific near Alaska, but didn’t state its specific location.

Zhuo Huan said indifferently, “Why should I make it public?”

Andrew’s face went cold. “Reid Irvin Patrick, salvaging Rogue 318 is not just your personal matter. This is a matter for the whole country, the whole world. At this time, you cannot keep it to yourself anymore.”

Zhuo Huan: “Do you know what I like most about capitalism?”

Andrew: “What?”

Zhuo Huan smiled. “I have money. Now, the plane I salvaged—I possess the primary right of investigation.”

At this time, Lina also got rid of those reporters and walked over. Seeing Andrew, Lovens, and others, she smiled. “Long time no see, Mr. Andrew, and Lovens.”

Zhuo Huan turned his head and said to her, “Let them go find my lawyer.”

Lina’s slender eyebrows moved. “Looks like something happened while I was away?”

Zhuo Huan pointed at the NTSB group and said casually, “Nothing, just telling them whose hands the initiative to investigate Rogue 318 is in.”

After speaking, Zhuo Huan stepped forward to leave, and the UAAG crowd left with him.

Levy Andrew raised his sharp, piercing eyes and watched them leave silently. His stern, rigid face showed no sign of softening, and his lips were tightly pursed. However, from beginning to end, he just watched the backs of the UAAG group coldly without speaking.

Seeing this, Lovens hurriedly shouted to stop Zhuo Huan: “Patrick, don’t be like this. You know this doesn’t comply with federal law. That is Rogue Airlines’ plane, not your private jet. The NTSB will definitely take over the investigation rights.”

Zhuo Huan didn’t even turn his head. “Go tell my lawyer.”

Lovens: “…”

Fuck!

Getting into the car, Fu Cheng thought for a long time, then looked up and said, “The NTSB wants to cooperate.”

Zhuo Huan looked at him. “Oh.”

Fu Cheng: “UAAG is only an air crash investigation consultant. To truly investigate the Rogue 318 crash, we still have to go through the NTSB.”

Zhuo Huan: “I know.”

Fu Cheng was stunned, but then he understood. He nodded. “Yeah, if the NTSB takes over the investigation directly, then the initiative won’t be in our hands.”

Only an air crash investigation led by UAAG could make Zhuo Huan and Fu Cheng feel at ease.

Zhuo Huan looked at him and curled his lips. “That’s one of the reasons.”

As soon as these words landed, everyone in the car was a little surprised.

There were other reasons?

Lord Zhuo took off his sunglasses, leaned back against the soft seat back, and said lazily, “I want Levy Andrew to come crying and begging me.”

Everyone: “…”

Whether the NTSB Deputy Director would come crying and begging Lord Zhuo was currently unpredictable.

But before that, they first boarded the speedboat to Unalaska. After arriving at the small island, Lawrence had been waiting at the pier for a long time.

It was the first time Fu Cheng had seen this young and capable salvage company head outside of video conferences. Without any nonsense, both parties transferred directly to the salvage company’s boat and headed for the bay where Rogue 318 sank.

Inside the cabin, Lawrence’s voice was calm as he spoke seriously and earnestly: “There’s something I think I must tell you, Reid. One piece of good news and one piece of bad news.” Pausing, he said directly, “Don’t look at me like that. I know you’re saying ‘cut the crap, say it quickly.’ So I’ll say it straight. The good news is, I’ve already confirmed with top-tier sonar equipment that the plane on the seabed is definitely a McFly F485. And as you know, there is only one McFly F485 sunk in the ocean in the entire world, and its name is Rogue 318. Yes, that plane is 100% definitely Rogue 318.”

Old Joseph laughed. “We knew this news long ago. If it weren’t, Lawrence, trust me, you would be drowned by the curses of people paying attention to this tragedy all over the world.”

Lawrence: “Alright, then I’ll tell the bad news. Come look at the latest seabed image taken by the sonar.”

Everyone followed Lawrence to the boat’s built-in computer. Lawrence manipulated the mouse a few times and clicked open a sonar scan image.

When this blurry black and white image appeared before everyone’s eyes, they first narrowed their eyes and looked carefully for a long time. Then, Zhuo Huan frowned. He leaned down close to the computer screen and examined it seriously for a long time.

Lawrence: “As you can see, God is kind. The sinking position of Rogue 318 is only 33 meters from the surface. It will take some time to salvage it intact, but this depth is not impossible. With current salvage technology, it can be done as long as money is spent. But at the same time, God is cruel. Look at this strangely shaped reef shoal on the image. Yes, this poor plane is stuck in this reef, which greatly increases the difficulty of salvage!”

At this time, the boat had already sailed to the waters where Rogue 318 sank.

The moment the boat rounded an uninhabited small island, the ear-piercing roar of machinery operating stabbed straight into their ears. It was a lively and grand scene. Three of the world’s top salvage companies had transported the world’s top giant salvage machinery here. And at this very moment, they began to operate together, extending cold mechanical arms into the depths of the ocean.

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