Chapter 22

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Chapter 22: The Maginot Defense in the Restaurant

“It’s fine, there aren’t many of them, and they’ve been gone for a while!” Chen Haiqing couldn’t guarantee everything would be alright. If those two thugs hadn’t blocked the way for a moment, the reinforcements would have only seen Lin Mo and the others as passersby and ignored them.

“Thinking of calling the police? Hmph!” The arrogant lead thug snorted. “It’s too late. The chief of the local police station is connected with us; he’s practically family. You can just wait to crawl out of here with broken legs today; you’ll come in standing but leave lying down.” He flashed the butcher’s knife, making it clear that while he might not kill, he sure would draw blood, which frightened many of the students.

As future pilots, they were unique and understood the threat posed by the butcher’s knife far more than the average person; their health checks were incredibly strict, even forbidding scars.

At high altitudes and in low-pressure conditions, the pressure difference inside and outside the body worsens, and scars can easily rupture, leading to rapid blood loss — much faster than on the ground — often before the body even has a chance to clot. This made the situation potentially fatal.

Before, when they had the upper hand in numbers and thrown a few beer bottles and chairs at the thugs, they could get away without any injuries. But now, with reinforcements arriving, chaos could lead to injury. It wouldn’t just be a school disciplinary issue; their future as pilots could be jeopardized. The thought was disheartening.

Many students began to regret their lack of experience and vigilance. Why hadn’t they struck first, preventing the thugs from calling for reinforcements?

“Damn it!” someone shouted, and an unopened beer bottle flew directly at the lead thug’s head.

Bang! The lead thug felt a sharp pain as the beer foam exploded into his eyes, and in that moment, a chorus of future pilots descended upon him like wolves.

These students were chosen nationwide to become future pilots; their mental fortitude was exceptional. No one at that moment blamed fate or shirked responsibility. Instead, they instinctively chose to unite against the threat, deciding to subdue the thugs in the restaurant first before negotiating with the larger gang outside. After all, the aviation university had people, guns, and planes — could these thugs really contend with that?

Beer bottles and benches flew through the air like projectiles. With their sharp eyesight, all the students aimed carefully, understanding the principles of precision and force. A coordinated volley caused the thugs in the restaurant to scramble for cover, forgetting all about their butcher’s knives.

This exchange of firepower wasn’t something that could be turned around just by the spur-of-the-moment bravery wielding butcher’s knives; the lead thug wanted to retaliate, but seeing the shade of a dozen benches flying at him made him think twice. The knives went flying too.

With seven or eight students surrounding a thug, there was nowhere for him to escape. The sound of punches and pained cries rang out, showing just how badly the thugs were faring. A strong dragon couldn’t overpower the local snake, and when the dragon had several times the strength of the snake, things were entirely different. They all knew the principle: you must secure the inside before you can fend off outside threats.

The thugs might call for reinforcements, but could the students be outmatched? The local police force may have been corrupt, but could they corrupt the university’s staff as well? The school wouldn’t just sit idly by.

Even if the future pilots hadn’t yet earned their flying licenses, any trouble they got into could have serious consequences.

In less than half a minute, all seven thugs in the restaurant were defeated, nursing bruised and battered faces, barely able to make any sounds. The restaurant staff, who had long harbored hatred for these thugs, actively brought out ropes to tie them up, treating them like pigs.

However, Chen Haiqing didn’t breathe a sigh of relief. Instead, he hurried to organize his fellow students, arming them with sticks and makeshift weapons, fortifying the restaurant’s doors, windows, and other points of entry.

The internal situation of a few thugs was minor compared to the larger gang outside. Chen Haiqing and the students saw this as a defensive battle.

Some of the sharper students had even opened several bottles of high-proof liquor, tearing cloth strips, mixing them with cheap plastic lighters to make Molotov cocktails. They even brought kerosene from the kitchen, causing the restaurant owner to feel dizzy. What kind of people were these? They resembled professionals, possibly even terrorists.

“I’m sorry! Boss, we’re causing you trouble!” Chen Haiqing shouted while directing the fortifications. “Don’t worry, I’ll compensate you; my friends can cover it,” treating the whole situation like an exciting real-life PK game.

“Ah! It’s all my good-for-nothing son’s fault! I’m going to teach him a lesson for getting me into such a mess!” Gold Boss couldn’t even hear Chen Haiqing’s reassurance. He slumped down like a deflated balloon, watching his staff follow the students, moving everything they could to fortify the place.

These thugs seemed bent on pushing people against the wall, and the staff had all been holding in their rage for too long.

With sheer numbers and strength, in the blink of an eye, the entire restaurant was transformed into a makeshift battlefield, layered defenses in place. Chen Haiqing felt a surge of pride; with their preparations, even if many attackers approached, they wouldn’t get through without cost. If they could just hold out a little longer, Lin Mo would bring the school’s people to support them, creating a combined effort. He thought slyly, “Oh, you thugs? You think you’re tough? We’ll sweep you all away.”

Outside the restaurant, silence reigned. The sounds of life and footsteps had disappeared, as if the thugs had noticed the commotion inside and were forming plans to attack. The students inside heightened their vigilance, prepared for the fight.

Chen Haiqing’s tactic was to create an "oil warfare strategy," leaving an opening for the attackers to enter, taking them down one by one. His intent was to apply significant psychological pressure on the opposing side and buy time for his group.

Creak! Suddenly, the restaurant door opened a crack, and a burly student called out excitedly from behind it, raising a rolling pin. Yet just before swinging it, he halted, exclaiming, “Lin Mo! Is that you?” All the students in the restaurant echoed his surprise.

The rolling pin stopped just ten centimeters from Lin Mo’s head. If the student hadn’t reacted in time, his skull would have had an unintended close encounter with it.

“Hey! What are you guys doing?” Lin Mo asked, appearing harmless and curious as he took in the transformed restaurant, where everyone was armed and barricaded with various makeshift objects, confused by the scene.

“You! Why are you back? Didn’t you take those girls away? Why are you back? Did they corner you? Damn! This is bad!” Chen Haiqing hurriedly lunged forward to pull Lin Mo inside, showering him with questions like a machine gun, his heart racing at Lin Mo’s unexpected return.

“I’m fine!” Lin Mo shrugged. “I sent them off in a taxi, watched them go, and came back. I’m still hungry.”

“…” Chen Haiqing and the others finally grasped Lin Mo’s true nature — he was a foodie!

“What about those guys outside? They didn’t do anything to you, did they?” Chen Haiqing quickly snapped back to attention, anxiously watching Lin Mo. He didn’t dare look outside, unsure if any thugs were carrying guns just waiting for an opportunity to strike. In the northern regions, such risks were very real.

“Them?” Lin Mo pondered. “They’re all on the ground practicing dog crawls!”

“What?” The restaurant patrons froze in shock.

“Are you serious?” Chen Haiqing’s trembling voice echoed the group’s disbelief.

“I’m perfectly fine!” Lin Mo blinked playfully, shrugging again.

“I’ll go take a look!” The burly student who had been guarding the door replaced his stick with the butcher’s knife, took a swig of liquor for courage, and volunteered to scout ahead.

Peeking carefully through the door crack, he saw no enemies on either side. But as he stuck half his body out, he froze, seemingly witnessing something extraordinary. He suddenly burst through the door, shouting with excitement, “Wow! Wow! They’re all down, really practicing dog crawls! What a miracle!”

Everyone in the restaurant exchanged bewildered glances. What on earth was happening?

The freshman pilots, unable to contain their curiosity, rushed toward the door, pushing and shoving to get out. They were stunned by the scene outside.

Scattered across the ground lay weapons — knives, guns, and sticks — and even the bird guns Chen Haiqing had feared were present, yet all of these weapons had lost their lethality and no one could wield them anymore. A mass of people in various positions writhed on the ground, manifesting all manner of expressions of pain. Some were unconscious, others curled like shrimp, gasping and writhing as if enduring immense suffering, and no one could even scream for help.

Upon counting quickly, they found over fifty unsavory characters sprawled in a disorganized fashion in front of the Korean restaurant, creating quite the spectacle.

Students and the restaurant staff all gasped in shock, feeling chills run down their spines.