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Dark Rebirth (An ATG Fanfic)

Chapter 1: Yang Tian (1)

At Beijing Capital International Airpot, China…

It was one of the largest international airports in China. A lot of people were roaming inside the airport, some rushing towards their flight. And, some people were relatively calm and talking with their family members and friends.

Around this time, a group of students from one of the best universities of China, the National Beijing University, were also walking towards their respective plane.

This was a group comprising of the first-year students of the National Beijing University, numbering 20 or so students.

It was the time of their summer break, and they couldn't help but feel excited over the prospect of spending their first summer break in university with their friends, moreover, that too in Italy!

Many of them held prestigious identities, whether it was a son of a businessman, son of a someone working in a multinational firm, the son or daughter a reputed doctor, or being the son of an actor or actress.

These students met up with each other after entering university. Many of them became friends with one another despite their different streams. Some got to know each other through the same streams, same clubs, or some people were roommates.

Within them, one such person was Yang Tian. He was an intelligent person who studied Psychology. Although his parents had distinguished statuses, he got into the National Beijing University through his perfect score in high school.

His reason for choosing Psychology was not because he wanted to open a clinic or it had something to do with his career ahead. He was aware that he didn't have such a luxury to choose his own career ahead.

Psychology was something that just much interested him… The theory and examples stated in the books were so impressive that he wouldn't grow tired of reading it.

Other than Psychology, he was a fan of Japanese anime. From a young age of 8-years-old… He had started to browse Japanese animation and would get engrossed while watching it.

He had practically finished quite a few top tier animes by the time he was 14-years-old. Naturally, new anime seasons were being launched by Yang Tian liked to binge-watch them.

Waiting for an episode for one whole week was just torturous after all…

That is why, to curb his boredom, Yang Tian started to read novels. Light Novels… Web novels…

While he kept his interests, he never dared to show slack down on his academics. After all, his parents had informed Yang Tian that if his grades suffered, he would be pulled out from the school or his university and start helping his father in his work.

Although Yang Tian knew that he couldn't escape his fate of succeeding his father, he at least wanted to enjoy his youth. This was good enough for him... After that, he wouldn't have an issue in succeeding his father in his work.

This was good enough explanation which convinced his parents.

Right now, he was on summer vacations to Italy. His parents naturally covered all expenses of his travel and gave him a lot of money to enjoy there…

He was a little excited as he couldn't help but wish for time to fast forward itself and reach his destination.

He started talking with his friends and soon went over to the counter where each one of their group showered off their identity papers, passport…

After waiting for nearly 30 or so minutes, Yang Tian and his group were allowed to move towards the Platform No.1 where their plane had been stationed.

They only needed to spend some time in the waiting area before they were allowed to board the plane. During this time, other than occasionally talking with his friends, Yang Tian was reading a novel named [Rising Warriors] in his tablet.

(A/N: I know it's a pretty shameless way of advertising my original novel xD. Hope you will give it a read as well.)

Soon enough, Yang Tian and his group boarded the plane and took their seats. Yang Tian's position was next to the window seat… The one seated on the window seat next to his own was his good friend, Qiu Shan.

Qiu Shan was the son of a businessman, and his family spoiled him a lot. Well, he was studying computer engineering, and it would generally be difficult for the two of them to interact, let alone become friends.

But Qiu Shan liked to play games even though he wasn't that good at the games. The two of them met at a gaming competition that Yang Tian had gone to on a whim.

Yang Tian participated in a competition of C.O.D and somehow passed the group stage and reached the semi-stage of the tournament before his team was eliminated. Qiu Shan was one of his teammates he met during that time.

The two started talking to each other and found that their interests were quite similar. Whether it was in terms of games, animes, or… women.

The plane soon took off from the airport. Qiu Shan talked with Yang Tian for some time before he fell asleep. The journey was going to be quite long, so Yang Tian didn't plan on disturbing his sleep.

He silently pulled out his kindle and started reading the novel he had been reading on his tablet earlier.

At that moment, Yang Tian raised his head as he heard a sound. It sounded as if metal hit metal… He was familiar with this sound.

A frown appeared on his face as he concentrated a bit more and didn't hear any sound this time. He let out a relieved sigh while thinking 'I guess it was just a false alarm.'

He continued reading the book… As he was reading the book, he felt a wave of weakness and thought 'If I stay in the same posture, I might have muscle cramps… That wouldn't be good.'

He raised his head and noticed a beautiful Air Hostess appearing and whispering something in the ears of a man, who was seated 6 seats ahead of Yang Tian.

Upon hearing the words of the air hostess, the man with a rough face and broad chest nodded his head. He then gave a signal for someone, and suddenly 5 men stood up.

They followed the air hostess to the direction of the cockpit.

Yang Tian had a bad feeling upon seeing the face of the man and the way he used signals to communicate with his group.

It felt awfully similar to him…

However, he consoled himself quickly 'No… I am just overthinking it. This is a place which had taken off from one of the most secure international airports of China.'

But after around 10 minutes, 5 more men stood up, and they walked towards the cockpit as well.

This made Yang Tian a bit more anxious… Whether it was the timing or the fact that precisely 5 men stood up before walking in the same location as the ones before them… It was highly suspicious.

He nudged his friend, Qiu Shan. But Qiu Shan was in a deep sleep and didn't seem to be in the mood to wake up.

He mumbled while sleeping, "Mhm…Yes… I finally got it. The SSR card…"

Yang Tian let out a sigh as he said, "I am getting anxious here, and he is dreaming about games…"

He slowly shook up Qiu Shan while speaking, "Wake up, you idiot…" And slowly, Qiu Shan opened his eyes.

Upon waking up, Qiu Shan's typically white eyes were slightly red since he was woken up from his half-sleepy state.

"What do you want?! Can't you let me sleep in peace?!" He spoke indignantly. He couldn't be blamed since he really was angry at the person who forced him to wake up from his remarkable dream.

Upon noticing that it was Yang Tian, he was even angrier. Yang Tian should know better than anyone to let him sleep in peace.

However, before he could start shouting at Yang Tian in his anger, Yang Tian raised his finger and said, "Shh… Don't speak anything. I am sorry for waking you up like this. I just wanted you to remain ready."

Upon seeing the serious look on Yang Tian's face, Qiu Shan swallowed his anger and asked, "What happened? Why are you talking with such a low voice?"

"If my guess is right… Soldiers have boarded this plane. And their numbers are no less than 10," Yang Tian whispered while pulling his hands away.

"How are you sure about this?" Qiu Shan asked Yang Tian with a low voice.

"I am not sure. It's merely a possibility. I just wanted to wake you up and inform you of this possibility. If it turns out that this plane has been highjacked, you must not make any suspicious moves. They shouldn't target us or kill us as long as we don't make any moves against them…" Yang Tian explained to Qiu Shan slowly.

"You mean to say there is a possibility that the military is in this plane or the plane is going to be hijacked? Should we tell others as well?" Qiu Shan asked Yang Tian, who frowned a bit.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to talk to anyone else and highlight ourselves. We can't send a message through our phones, so it's better to just sit tight and not make any suspicious moves. There could be an accomplice mixed with the other passengers." Yang Tian calmly explained it to Qiu Shan, who slowly nodded his head.

Internally, Yang Tian added 'Besides, I am not sure about it. This might just be me being paranoid. If it turned out to be false, that would be quite embarrassing.'

However, after 15 or so minutes, Yang Tian's possibility transformed into reality.

7 men whose bodies were entirely covered with thick leather black jackets appeared. Each one of them holding a gun, from its shape, it was an assault rifle and semi-automatic guns.

One of the men among them declared, "No one move from their spot! This plane has been hijacked by us!"

This declaration was far too sudden for some people. The people who had been sleeping or talking with their friends or family were frozen upon hearing those words.

They soon regained their consciousness and stared at the 7 men standing in front of them. Each one of them was holding an assault rifle or another gun which they didn't recognise…

At that moment, a man in one of the front seats spoke out with a frightened look, "W-What? What is going on? Who are you, and what do you mean by your words?"

"Are you stupid? Do you need me to repeat myself?" One of the terrorists said while pointing his gun at the man who had asked the questions.

The man who was pointed by a gun nervously laughed while speaking, "This… This is a prop, right? There is no way it can be real… You are pranking me, right?"

Upon hearing the words of this guy, the terrorist couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, "A prop, you say?"

BANG!

Suddenly, all the people heard a loud bang and saw a bright flash from the small hole of the gun.

Soon enough, silence descended in the entire plane before the woman seated next to that man who was shot suddenly screeched, "KYAAAA!"

She wasn't related to the man who was seated next to her, but she was really disturbed as this was the first time she was witnessing someone using a gun. Moreover, this man died just because he had asked a few questions…

"Stop screaming woman because I won't mind putting some lead in your head as well…" The man who had just shot with his assault rifle said to the woman quite viciously. He was really annoyed by this woman's scream.

The man then raised his head to look at the other passengers before asking, "Is there anyone else with doubt over whether the gun is real or not?"

Not a single person spoke… How could they? They had just witnessed the man using that gun to kill someone.

It was already an alarming sight for them. Even if they twice the guts, they wouldn't dare to open their mouths right now.

Meanwhile, Qiu Shan stared at Yang Tian and saw no trace of surprise or remorse for the dead man. He was quite calm over this whole matter…

'I guess it's natural considering who his father is…I shouldn't do anything foolish and highlight myself. They wouldn't just choose me as a target from all the people after all…' Qiu Shan thought while staring at the 7 terrorists in front of his eyes.

"Good… It appears that you all understand the situation. You are now our hostages. And instead of Italy, we will be turning the plane to middle-east where we have our base. You better hope that your government agrees to our demands or else not a single one of you would have a good life ahead of you." The man said to the passengers with a feral grin on his face.

Almost all the passengers gulped a mouthful of saliva. They understood what this meant…They would either be killed or could be sold to someone as a slave.

Many of them were quite distinguished people in this plane, they were naturally unwilling to live such a life. But no one dared to make a sound since they didn't possess the weapons or a way to fight against these terrorists.

Meanwhile, Yang Tian was thinking 'I see… This guy is trying to scare us since we have more value in being alive than dead. He killed that man just to show that he wouldn't hesitate in killing someone if that person annoyed him. As for his demands… How are they transmitting it to the government? There is no network at such high altitude…'

Yang Tian suddenly remembered a fact and thought 'Ahh… I see. They are using the pilot's mic to communicate with the control station at the airport.'

He whispered slowly while staring ahead, "Just stay silent and continue to stare ahead. They shouldn't target us for any reason… My father should hear about this soon enough. He will surely think of a way to save us." Yang Tian consoled his friend but didn't hold much hope about that in his own heart as he thought 'Well… That's only if this information reaches my father's ears. It's more probable that the authorities would give an answer before consulting with my father.'

"Okay…" Qiu Shan replied while staring nervously. He couldn't help but grab both his hands and pray in his heart for some sort of miracle to save them from this situation.

For half an hour, nothing happened.

After that, another man appeared from the cockpit, he whispered something to the man who had shot the gun.

The man nodded his head before turning towards the passengers, "Looks your government doesn't plan on agreeing to our demands… Hahaha…"

And the reason behind his laugh? A few women naturally knew the reason behind it. They had seen this man's lecherous gaze upon their bodies and seen him licking his lips…

He once again gave them the same look as before, this time, his eyes held a hint of boldness that wasn't present in them previously.

One such woman was also from Yang Tian's group, who was going to Italy to enjoy her summer vacations. She was an ex-girlfriend of Yang Tian named Mei Xin… They two had broken up a month before this.

The reason for their break-up wasn't that deep. Mei Xin simply started losing feelings for Yang Tian and started to gain feelings for Pie Lin, the man seated next to her.

Yang Tian was depressed for a few days before he got over her. It was Qiu Shan and a few of his other friends who consoled him during that time.

Mei Xin was even quite frightened as she noticed the lewd gaze of the 3 to 4 terrorists stopping at her figure for some moments.

She unconsciously held Pei Lin's hand even tighter… but she still couldn't dissolve the anxiousness in her heart.

Mei Xin was aware that upon reaching the Middle-east, her fate would be even lesser than a prostitute.

She unconsciously turned her head towards Yang Tian to see how he was faring. Upon staring at her ex-boyfriend, she saw not a trace of worry on his face.

It was as if he was sure that nothing would happen to him.

At that moment, she remembered something.

She then whispered something in Pei Lin's ears. Pei Lin's eyes widened a little as he stared at Mei Xin with a hesitant look on his face, "A-Are you sure I should say this?"

"Yes! We must save our lives first… With this, I believe there is a chance that we can save our lives." Mei Xin looked quite confident as she said this.

"Okay, Xin…" Pei Lin took a deep breath and stared at the terrorist direction.

"Respectful Sir… Please don't make your decision so quickly. I have information through which the higher authorities would not only hear your demands, but there is some good chance of the authorities to fulfil it as well." Pei Lin sounded quite respectful and confident in his words.

One of the terrorists pointed a gun at him while speaking, "Then speak! Don't you dare lie to us or else you won't even realise when this bullet goes past your head!"