Police in Los Angeles

Torrance apparently shared Jack's view: start by organizing everyone to work together, fostering a sense of teamwork, while gradually revealing the current predicament as the passengers calmed down.

While Torrance was reassuring the passengers, the two FBI agents were busy. Gigi turned on her phone's GPS, using a considerable amount of battery to confirm their current coordinates with the weak GPS signal.

Unfortunately, their phones didn't have pre-downloaded offline maps, but cross-referencing with a physical map confirmed that Captain Torrance's calculations were correct. They had indeed crash-landed on the ill-fated Holo Island, located not far from the southwestern coastline.

Jack pondered this as his finger traced across the map, stopping on the nearby Mindanao Island to the north, recognizing a familiar name—Marawi. Just like in his previous life, in May 2017, this city had witnessed a so-called anti-terror war that lasted for five months.

Three years ago, the "Abu Sayyaf" group and another notorious Filipino terrorist organization, the "Maute group," had seized the city. The Philippine government then mobilized tens of thousands of their so-called "elite" troops and police, including all six of their special forces units, along with their few armored vehicles and air force assets. It took 150 days to raze over 95% of the city's buildings to the ground.

Marawi once had a population of over 200,000. After five months of relentless bombing and intense street battles, about 180,000 people were displaced. The official figures released by the Philippine government reported nearly a thousand terrorists eliminated, over 1,600 military and police casualties, and 87 civilian deaths. These absurd and misleading numbers, much like the earlier hostage crisis Jack had mentioned, served only to highlight the inefficiency of the Philippine government.

Jack's only thought now was that they couldn't afford to sit and wait for rescue. Hoping for a rescue from the small airline company was unrealistic; they were likely more aware of the island's dangers than anyone else. Counting on the Philippine government was even more unrealistic; their only move would likely be to negotiate for more ransom on behalf of "Abu Sayyaf" while pocketing a share for themselves.

Their only hope was to contact the FBI, possibly sending a SEAL team or something similar for extraction. However, this required him to protect the passengers as much as possible to prevent them from becoming hostages. If the U.S. government deemed the operation too risky, they might also opt for negotiations with the terrorists, which would spell disaster for the passengers and crew.

In such a case, Jack would have to abandon them, turning into a Rambo-like figure, leading Gigi and a few others into the jungle to seek an escape route or find a port.

As dawn broke, the sounds of the primeval rainforest grew lively, filled with various bird calls and the roars of unknown beasts. The temperature also began to rise. After confirming that the plane posed no fire risk, head stewardess Bonnie and the other two surviving crew members led the passengers into the cabin and cargo hold to unload all the luggage.

Under Bonnie's guidance, everyone changed into long sleeves and pants to minimize exposed skin. Although some might have been vaccinated against diseases like meningitis, yellow fever, and cholera, there was no common vaccine for malaria.

Luckily, having just faced a life-and-death situation, most passengers were still in shock and followed group instructions without anyone acting out. Gigi, who could become a liaison officer for the BAU, had more than just a pretty, friendly face; she had substantial expertise in psychology, more than enough to handle ordinary people. Her masterful communication skills soon had most passengers responding positively.

Unfortunately, their attempt to repair the radio failed. Even with Jack's help, they couldn't do anything about the thoroughly charred PCB board and battery. The 50-amp circuit breaker hadn't protected the circuits.

With fewer passengers, there was less luggage and cargo, only some cold-chain packaged tropical fruits. Bonnie had everyone eat the fruit, then packed the leftovers into backpacks. The collected food and drinking water were minimal, with fruit as a supplement.

Jack discreetly asked Bonnie for the passenger list and did a rough analysis. There were sixteen remaining passengers, with the majority being American, and the rest from Canada, Germany, and Japan. Among them were five couples from these countries, two female college students traveling together, three lone male travelers, and a Black prisoner.

There were five crew members left: three flight attendants, including Bonnie, who were all American; Captain Torrance, who insisted he was Scottish despite being British; and co-pilot Samuel Del, a Hong Kong native without a Chinese name.

Establishing a sense of community was crucial. The five couples were easy to unify, as they naturally sought a collective presence. The two female college students, also in a vulnerable position, would likely seek the group's protection. The three lone male travelers were more problematic, especially the older two who had complained the most and seemed to be businessmen, often more trouble than they're worth.

"Let's gather everyone for a talk; it's time they knew more about our situation," Jack suggested to Captain Torrance.

---

"Why can't we just wait here for rescue, maybe light a signal fire or something?"

"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have taken this damn flight."

"Are you making this up? Is this place really that dangerous? Can't I just pay a ransom myself?"

"I have Muslim friends; they're pretty friendly."

As expected, after Captain Torrance explained the situation, the passengers, especially the men, began to speak up. Among them, the bald white man was the loudest complainer.

"Please, can you all just shut up?" Finally, the more attractive of the two female college students snapped.

"He did his best; we were lucky to land safely."

"We should listen to him; he's the captain." This was the wife from the German couple speaking, with Gigi winking at Jack from her side.

"Alright, listen up. Our plan is to head southwest through the jungle to the southern coastline. From the map, there's a town there," Captain Torrance cut through the argument, outlining their plan.

"We'll split into two groups. Officer Tavola from LAPD has volunteered to scout ahead."

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