Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“You’re the captain? Then my dear old friend, do you know where the real captain is at the moment?”
The first officer was stunned for a moment.
“Our captain is at the open air cafe on the fourth floor, accompanying Mr Hudner, the executive director of the Ocean Shipping Company, for some chit chat. I believe he would defiantly mention the postponing of his retirement. With his physical condition along with Mr Hudner’s support, I’m sure there wouldn’t be a problem for him to sign another round of contracts.”
The Elizabeth Holiday was a cruise belonging to the Ocean Shipping Company. If the captain who was already at the age of 58 years old received supports from a powerful person of the company and received the chance to sign another round of employment contracts, this would also mean that Harry’s hope of seeing daylight after two years would burst like a bubble.
If he had to wait for another seven years, his age would be close to 50 years old and the chance of him being promoted to the captain of a large tanker would undoubtedly be very slim. He would most likely end up ending his career at the position of the first officer, just like his predecessor.
Since this concerned his future, horror dawned on Harry immediately the instant he heard his best friend’s words.
“WHAT?! F*ck it! No wonder he’s so kind this time as to let me preside over this voyage!”
“That’s right! A voyage that would only have the farthest distance of 170 nautical miles away from New York City, with no reefs nor any dangerous currents along the way. Harry, how much significance do you think a voyage like this would add to your resume?”
“F*ck it! Why haven’t I thought of this just now! Hey, buddy! Why are you telling me all of these? Wouldn’t it be better for me to bury myself in this beautiful fantasy, basking in the bliss of ignorance? Now look at how depressing this is!”
“Looks like I was wrong to come and tell you the news in secret. You really fail to appreciate my kind favor, Harry. In that case, I might as well take my leave and let you continue on your daydream as you maneuver the rudder.” The cruise’s service manager, who was wearing a suit, turned around and walked towards the door.
“Come on, don’t be angry, Fernand. I just said it casually, I’m not really complaining about you. Wait for me buddy, I’ll brief them a little before I go up to have a drink with you. Since you’re not going to be so busy anyway after the party starts.”
“Good idea. Do you know that this time, the champagne served for the ordinary guests is the Dom Perignon that costs more than 200 dollars each? I suspect just the drinks alone would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars already.”
“Hundreds of thousands… But aren’t most of the guests children?”
“Rich children to be exact! We just placed the alcohol on the tables and put a sign beside it with the words ‘no alcohol is allowed for the underage’ and well…to hell with the rest.”
“How ridiculous.” Harry shook his head before shouting at the navigating officer and the turbine operator in the steering room, “Adelaide, Alessandro, I’ll go out with Mr. Aide for a bit so call me if there’s anything wrong.”
“Yes, sir! Don’t worry!” The navigating officer and the turbine operator of the Elizabeth Holiday smiled and replied with loud voices.
“Sir… What a beautiful way of addressing someone. Now that I’ve become a stand-in captain, I’m no longer First Officer Harry but ‘Sir’ instead…” Harry whispered and said in a disheartened manner.
“Come on buddy! Don’t mull over it that much. Let’s go have a good drink together. Do you know, I’m as disheartened as you are right now. Just now, not long ago, I personally witnessed a kid who was barely 16 years old give out a diamond necklace that was worth a million dollars at the least. I won’t feel anything if he’s the son of those bankers or those businessmen for I’ve seen too many rich people on the ship. But that kid, that kid can’t even carry a ballroom dance! He’s like a fool but he actually gave out my salary of seven to eight years! What the hell is this?!”
“No way! Is there such a nouveau riche in New York City?”
“He’s yellow-skinned so perhaps he’s Chinese.”
“Oh well, this makes sense. I heard of how those super rich children in China ordered the Bugatti Veyron. They basically ordered one color each. Perhaps a diamond necklace worth a million dollars is nothing to them.”
After the two of them walked out of the steering room whispering to each other, they gradually drifted away.
After the first officer left, the hustle and bustle of joyful voices on the deck, as well as the dynamic music playing in the background, quickly made the young navigating officer Adelaide who was just slightly over 30 years old and the wheelman Alessandro greatly tempted. After coming up with an excuse to leave their posts, only the third mate was left staring at the nautical instrument with great patience.
However, as the sky gradually turned dark, when the third mate called for the kitchen to send food to the steering room, he also specifically asked the waiter whom he was acquainted with to “steal” a free champagne for them to enjoy. By the time he had finished the entire high-grade champagne, his gaze started to become clouded, causing the Elizabeth Holiday to be almost entirely navigated by the automatic cruise system.
Nobody could blame the Elizabeth Holiday’s senior seafarers for being irresponsible, for the route this time was just too simple. It would only round the ocean around New York for one cycle so the probability of danger along the way was even small than the Powerball grand prize. However, they seemed to have forgotten one fact, although the odds of somebody winning the Powerball grand prize was only one out of 170,000,000, somebody would still win it in the end.
Late at night, nobody knew how late it was at the moment, the cruise ship cruised brightly in the dark ocean.
Right now, most of the guests on board were already exhausted and had already gone to their cabins to rest. The remaining energetic people also quietened down as they gathered on the open deck of the fourth floor of the ship, enjoying the seabreeze while gazing at the stars.
Zhang Lisheng was one of the energetic people. Wearing a pair of board shorts, he sat on one of the deck chairs by the pool, sipping his cola. Instead of gazing into the starry sky, he stared at the dark Atlantic Ocean with his mouth moving slightly.
Tina had also changed into a sexy casual shorts and shirt. Sitting next to the young man, she glanced at the bright moon before bowing her head down to whisper by the young man’s ear, “Lisheng, what type of spell are you secretly casting now? Are you trying to turn our cruise ship into a swimming gigantic sheep or something?”
“Nah, I merely casted a protection spell just in case.”
“Protection again? This is the New York’s offshore, not some pristine jungle. Trish and Sheila have both gone to sleep and don’t you think it’s time for us to take a rest too? You can always continue the spell tomorrow for our protection.” Tina’s voice became enticing.
“Tina, I’m not joking. Do you remember that before the party started…” Zhang Lisheng was speaking and a sudden loud cry filled the air.
“Sh*t! What is that! Oh no! We’re going to hit it! Turn! Make a f*cking turn! Sh*t! Don’t tell me no one is controlling the ship… My God! My f*cking God! Run, kids! Run!”
Upon hearing this shrill yelp, Zhang Lisheng’s body shuddered. Without even turning his head, he pulled Tina and ran forward with all his might.
Just when both of them were about to reach the edge of the ship, the steel fence surrounding the ship abruptly ruptured.
“Jump with me!” As Zhang Lisheng yelled loudly, he jumped down from the fence’s rupture together with Tina with a loud “AHHHHHHH —”.
At that instant when two of them jumped down from the open deck, the Elizabeth Holiday collided in between the two huge black stone pillars side by side on the ocean at its full speed.
Rumble —
After a loud rumble, the cruise that had half of its hull penetrated between the gap was stuck right there. The quake caused by the impact caused the hundreds of people on the fourth floor’s open deck to lose their balance. Some of them fell and suffered from injuries while some of them fell into the ocean, not knowing whether they were dead or alive.
“What happened? W-What happened, Lisheng?” Tina, who trusted Zhang Lisheng blindly and jumped off from the top of the ship’s deck, was safely carried in the ocean by the Island Dragon that flew upwards after it slammed away the fence and landed on the ground.
“It looks like a shipwreck. Still, the situation is not as bad as I’ve imagined. The ship should be safe for the time being so let us go back,” Zhang Lisheng replied as he commanded the Island Dragon concealing itself on the Crocodragon that was hiding itself in the ocean to leap up and bury its sharp claws onto the Elizabeth Holiday. With two strong bursts of strength, it quietly retreated to a dim corner of the deck.
“S-Some people have fallen into the water. W-We must rescue them, res-”
“We must save ourselves first, Tina. When we’re in the ocean just now, I saw that the ship seemed to be stuck between two stone pillars and is stranded on an island. I’ve never been out in the sea before so do you know where we’re most likely at right now?’
“Island? Could it be Sterling Island? B-But, we shouldn’t have passed by Sterling Island at all. On top of that, it should be far away too! That’s right! There are no stone pillars near Sterling Island that could clamp the ship! I don’t know, Lisheng. I really don’t know. My mind is all jumbled up right now! We shouldn’t have met with any danger at all in the first place!”
“Tina, there’s nothing to be afraid of. There’s always a solution to a problem. With me here, even if everybody on the ship dies and the ship explodes, you’d still be able to return to New York safely. ”
“Even though this statement sounded selfish and I know it’s hard to be realized, it still managed to calm me down. Thank you, baby.” Upon hearing Zhang Lisheng’s exaggerated guarantee, Tina was stunned for a moment before gradually calming herself down. With a complicated expression, she let out a long sigh of relief. “Let us take a look at Trish and Sheila. I hope nothing happened to them.”
After she finished her words, she pulled Zhang Lisheng’s hand and began to run towards the cabin with huge strides.
Right now, the entire Elizabeth Holiday was in a mode of mourning. Basically everybody on the deck was injured, many guests who were already resting and the serving crews who were at the cabin also fell till they began to bleed as well.
The ceiling light on the ship’s corridor had already been extinguished. However, it was fortunate that the emergency light was turned on. Stepping on the green carpet, Zhang Lisheng and Tina ran towards the opposite direction of the panicked guests who were rushing towards the deck and finally came to the first class cabins.
With the help of the emergency light, the girl yelled out, “Trish, Sheila, are you two okay? Sheila, Trish, do you hear me?” She yelled out loudly as she searched for the rooms her best friends stayed.
“Tina? Tina, is that you? My dear, please come save me! My God! Thank goodness you came!” Suddenly, a faint and weak cry for help resonated from a suite not far away at the right side.
