Chapter 277: A sabotaged plane.

The grand elder had gotten a trusted team recommended by Frederick Grey Drake to inspect the plane that was taking him and Maverick to the capital. This was because he was worried that Sabrina might tamper with it as she was very angry right now. In that state, she usually acted first and thought later. Murder was not beyond her expertise.

The first inspection had been done yesterday, and today, another had just been done. The engineers and other experts were now walking away with their tools.

Maverick, who watched over the entire time bordered the plane finally. He slipped into his seat opposite the grand elder. "The inspection is finished, everything looks fine grand elder, at least from what they tell us."

Right before they set off, the old man suddenly stroked his white beard and looked at his wristwatch. He tapped his fingers on the armrest relentlessly, as if he had something on his mind.

"I have changed mind," the grand elder declared, undoing the seatbelt. "My transport beast is much faster than a plane. I am already late for my appointment with the other clan leaders and I have a rule; Never make important people wait, especially if you may need them one day. Eliot just committed a murder; I need to show my face early and reassure them all that the clan is still functioning normally. "

Maverick sighed, bowing slightly. "Understood, Grand elder. The is a transport beast is already outside; you will be in the capital within a blink of an eye. I will meet you there. Samson and Gritt will be in charge of your security in my absence."

"Be careful, Maverick," the grand elder warned, his voice turning serious as he stood up. "Elliot may be in the hospital but he is still out to get you.... avoid the female air hostess. The fastest way to kill a man is by using a woman and lord knows Sabrina has many women in her guild trained in one hundred ways to murder."

The pilot was ordered to wait. Very few people escorting the grand elder knew about this sudden change. This was a private VVIP airstrip, shielded from the public, and only the necessary servants were around.

The grand elder hid his face behind a very lifelike mask, resembling one of the servants. Even his clothes were swapped into ordinary ones. He got on the back of one of the transport beasts used by his guards. Maverick watched from the window of the plane. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Samson and Gritt also climbed onto the backs of transport beasts. Samson, whose face mask gave him the false appearance of the grand elder used the grand elder’s transport beast.

With a loud screech, the beasts blasted into the sky, leaving a cloud of dust in the air.

Once the grand elder was gone, the quiet plane roared to life and took off. Maverick sat alone in the spacious cabin, reading a very old newspaper from the old world. The front page covered the day the Somnivores arrived on earth. After reading it from front to back, he lifted his head and stared out the window. His throat felt dry. He moved to the fully stocked bar area picked up a cold glass bottle of water from the fridge, stared at the sparkling liquid, and then slowly put it back down with a heavy sigh.

"Nope," he muttered to himself. "In such times, unsealed water on a silent plane is just asking for a slow poison. I don’t trust a single breath of air in this place. I should have come with my own water."

Minutes passed. Maverick glanced down at the clouds and frowned. The plane banked hard to the left, shaking violently.

Having studied basic flying techniques during his early soldier training years, Maverick knew the geography of the new world like the back of his hand. "Hold on_ this isn’t the direct to the capital. This is the path toward the Wild Lands! Why is the pilot going East instead of west? Something is definitely not right. "

Because the elder had insisted on maximum privacy, they hadn’t traveled with an entire crew_ just one lone pilot in the cockpit and a single air hostess. Both were considered to be the grand elder’s people.

Maverick stood up, walked down the narrow aisle, and knocked firmly on the reinforced metal door. "Hey! Captain Tyson! You’re off course by about three thousand miles! Are you alright in there?"

The door clicked open. The pilot stepped out, but he wasn’t looking at the controls. He was wearing a parachute pack on his back. Maverick peeked past his shoulder into the cockpit. The dash was glowing red, and a bright green circle was flashing on the screen. Auto-pilot. The Air hostess was in the co-pilot’s seat, obviously dead.

It was not hard to understand what was going on. He caught Tyson by his neck. "How could you betray the grand elder!?"

"I am so, so sorry, Mr. Maverick!" Tyson cried out, big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. "They have my wife and kids and threatened to kill them if I didn’t set the engine to self-destruct over the Wild lands territory!"

"They have your wife and kids?!" Maverick yelled, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You should have told us, we could have helped you!"

"I could not take that risk!" the pilot wailed. "Forgive me!" He took out a small poisoned knife from his pocket and stuck it in Maverick’s chest. "You won’t feel the pain for long, the knife is poisoned." He widened his mouth and bit Maverick’s hand.

Before Maverick could register what was happening, the pilot shoved him aside, raced to the emergency hatch and pushed it open. He pulled his cord and threw himself backward out into the howling wind.

"Hey! Tyson! You won’t get away with this!" Maverick screamed into the empty sky.

He rushed into the cockpit. The engine was screeching a high-pitched death wail. Bright red warning symbols flashed in mid-air: Critical engine failure. Explosion imminent.

"There is zero chance I can fix a sabotage engine in thirty seconds," Maverick grumbled, his heart pounding like a war drum. "Thank the heavens I never trust anyone." The knife wound hurt, but it was not the biggest of his problems.

He unzipped his storage pouch and drank a poison antidote, then pulled out his own parachute, and strapped it on at lightning speed. He sprinted to the open hatch, took a deep breath of the freezing air, and looked down at the dark, beast infested jungle below. "If I survive this," Maverick muttered over the deafening wind, "Elliot will pay for this!"

With a leap of faith, he dove headfirst into the chaotic clouds of the Wild Lands.