For the first time, Cheng Anya felt dizzy from sitting in a fighter-bomber. As it was nighttime, it was pitch black and she could not see a thing. Third Young Master Ye flew the plane relatively smoothly, and the bumpiness disappeared after a moment.
As she felt much more comfortable, she praised somebody and Third Young Master Ye was clearly in glee.
He felt his self-image greatly elevated.
When Cheng Anya saw him gloat in glee, she felt the urge to troll him. As they were flying at high altitudes, the risk factor from provoking him and losing their lives in the process was too high. Cheng Anya, clearly, was not stupid.
“There’s nobody pursuing us, huh?” Cheng Anya asked in a worrying tone.
“Even if you do not know a thing, you still must have common sense. Can helicopters catch up with us?” Third Young Master Ye looked sideways at her and laughed. He said, “Relax. Get some sleep, and we should have landed once you are awake.”
“What knowledge and common sense is this? Do normal people have such ‘common sense’?” Cheng Anya could not help but rebut. She was indirectly saying that Third Young Master Ye, Ye Wei, Eleven, and their ilk did not belong to her simple world.
This was a dark, yet extremely powerful, world.
Where might was right.
To say that everybody else was at their behest was no understatement, and Cheng Anya sighed. Her darling young kid would traverse this dark world in the future, and she felt unwilling as she thought about it. It was far too easy to die.
For example, when flying a fighter, how else could one end up if they were pursued by several others? Being superman was clearly no option.
“Look, your tough talk comes out when I call you stupid.” Third Young Master Ye smiled. He wanted Cheng Anya to get some shuteye as she seemed very tired. She, however, was unable to fall asleep and merely closed her eyes and occasionally talked to him.
“Tell me, is Ning Ning…” Cheng Anya was about to speak but she stopped. Third Young Master Ye asked her what was up, and she opened her eyes and saw the pitch-black night sky. As she remained silent, her eyes were as dark as the night.
There was a resolution and decisiveness in those pitch-dark eyes.
She seemed extremely skinny and calm under the light.
After all that she had been through, she felt that it was time she should let Ning Ning do what he ought to do. Ye Wei had elaborated, both explicitly and implicitly, that might was right in their world.
Most of them started training when they were a few years old. They learned what they had to and strengthened themselves so that they could make a statement in the world.
Ning Ning had probed her before, and Cheng Anya, in her brilliance, knew that Ye Wei and Ning Ning were deliberately preparing her.
In the past, Cheng Anya would have been unwilling, but she had to yield herself despite feeling otherwise. With Ning Ning next to her, he would not learn anything. Since she could not stop her son from taking his own path, she had to support him the whole ten yards.
She would not stop him anymore.
She, after all, had witnessed the cruel reality of the world where might was important. Her darling son must remain alive. She would support him if he raised the question again unless he changed his mind.
Third Young Master Ye could tell that she was thinking of something, but he had no idea. This would save Ning Ning effort as he, in principle, supported Ning Ning. While Anya was the obstacle, her coming to terms with it was better than anything else.
“Where do you plan to go?” Cheng Anya thought about her darling child’s situation and how he would leave her in the future. She was already dejected and shook her head, not wanting to think about it.
“To Rome!” Third Young Master Ye said flatly.
“Isn’t that Louis’ turf?” Cheng Anya felt a little uneasy. Italy used to be her favorite country, but mentioning Italy gave her goose bumps as Louis’ association with Italy ruined her good vibes about the country.
That’s why it’s said that the image of an influential person has a substantial effect on the image of the nation they are from.
“Relax, we will be safe,” Ye Chen smiled and said firmly. His ease and confidence under the lights made people respect and trust him.
“Okay!” Cheng Anya nodded. “Are we able to contact the outside world?”
“There is something off with the transponder. I can’t send a signal out.” Third Young Master Ye fiddled with the settings several times. As the system was more complicated, and since he could not spare a hand to check, he had to make do. Once he reached Rome, ways to contact men from the Dragon Gate were aplenty.
“Ye Chen, why do I feel so uneasy? It’s as though something is going to happen. My eyes are twitching frequently.” Her intuition was always spot-on.
“Get some sleep. You’re tired,” Third Young Master Ye turned his head and said. As he felt that she was emotionally unstable, he reached out and wanted to caress her hair. As he did it through gloves, it felt extremely uncomfortable.
But that was all that he could do.
Cheng Anya looked at him and turned, closing her eyes without speaking. He was right. She was very tired.
An hour into the flight, Third Young Master Ye started to feel that something was amiss. Rome, which was not too far from the Atlantic Ocean, should have been reachable within an hour. However…
The displayed distance increased!
Something was amiss.
Third Young Master Ye squinted. After the airplane took off, he broke off all contact with the control tower. Hence, there was no reason the control tower could control the plane. Third Young Master Ye’s first guess was that the plane’s systems were controlled from outside!
Damn it!
That said, he could still be making circles over the Atlantic Ocean.
He turned and saw Cheng Anya next to him asleep. She seemed calm, and he could not tell whether she was asleep or not. His heart ached at her pale and skinny side profile.
If the plane had been diverted from its flight path, it would mean an exponential increase in the risk factor. What if…
While he had no qualms with that, he could not afford to take chances as Cheng Anya was onboard.
As her life was much more important than his, he had to drive carefully, let alone fly carefully.
But if they did not divert from their flight path, Louis would have perfect information on his location and they would end up in Louis’ clutches when they landed at the location Louis designated.
His heart struggled.
Third Young Master Ye decided to take a chance!
He changed the flight path and did not follow the prescribed flight path. He did not awaken Cheng Anya as he did not want to worry her. Once night passed and the day arrived, he would be able to accurately gather his bearings.
Another half an hour into the flight, warnings indicating incoming aircraft started to blare. Third Young Master Ye’s heart went cold. Louis’ men were catching up.
They had.
He coldly smiled. Since Louis would definitely want them alive, he still had hope. He coldly smiled and activated combat mode.
The plane suddenly tilted forward and Cheng Anya grabbed her seatbelt as she almost slipped out of her seat. She was jolted awake and looked out of the window in panic before falling back.
“Ah Chen, what’s going on?” Cheng Anya had some cold sweat on her face. Gosh, was this really aerial combat? She wasn’t dreaming?
“We’ve got company!” Third Young Master Ye simply said as he brought the plane to full speed and tried to outrun the fighters pursuing him. As he was in the range of their radar, Third Young Master Ye was unable to break contact despite his speed.
They were only out of shooting range.
Cheng Anya knew that Third Young Master Ye was nervous and looked back. She only saw an extremely tiny red blip that was extremely far away. She smiled and said, “Ah Chen, this isn’t too bad either. Dying together is bliss.”
“We will not die!” Third Young Master Ye said flatly. “No more nonsense from you.”
Cheng Anya smiled and acknowledged. “Actually, it’s quite cool. What used to be reel life is real life.”
“You damn lass!” To think she still had the mood to joke about.
As the plane flew, Third Young Master Ye abruptly lost altitude and flew nap-of-the-earth. She was shocked at first look as they were no longer above the ocean but above the desert…
Cheng Anya was shocked. What had happened?
Images of the desert bordering the Atlantic Ocean flashed through Third Young Master Ye’s mind as he frowned. Could they be that unlucky?
With the fighters behind them in close pursuit, he lost altitude and they followed suit. Third Young Master Ye coldly smiled as he turned and flew into them. Cheng Anya was utterly terrified and nervous at what was happening.
All of a sudden, one of the wings was damaged and the fuselage of the fighter violently tilted to one side and rapidly descended. To Cheng Anya, it felt like zero gravity. Her petrified heart almost leaped out of her mouth. She suddenly lowered herself and hugged Third Young Master Ye’s thigh tightly.