Just as the thunder roared, Chen Hao opened his mouth as if to say something.
Before he could utter a single word, a gust of wind slammed into the hull, causing the entire wooden boat to tilt violently, as if it had been kicked from the side. The canvas overhead was ripped open with a whoosh, and rain poured down like water.
"Holy crap!" He was thrown directly onto the rudder, his shoulder throbbing painfully.
Nana's voice immediately rang out: "Storm center locked on this ship! Wind speed 38 meters per second, wave height expected to exceed 7 meters, please immediately enter emergency mode."
The test tube in Susan's hand flew out, rolled a few times on the deck, and fell into the sea. She instinctively reached for it, but Carl grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Don't move!" Karl yelled, nearly slipping himself.
Another giant wave crashed against the side of the boat, sending spray flying high into the air, making it hard to open one's eyes. The bow of the boat rose up, then slammed into the next trough of the wave with a dull thud.
Chen Hao clung tightly to the helm, bracing himself against the deck to avoid being thrown off. He caught his breath and yelled to the others, "Abandon the pursuit! Steady the helm, secure anything, hold on tight! Back to your positions!"
No one responded, but the action had already begun.
Nana crouched in the middle of the deck, supporting herself with her hands on the ground, her eyes flashing blue. As she read the data, she reported the direction: "Veering five degrees to the left, decelerate for ten seconds, prepare for the next main wave."
Chen Hao gritted his teeth and adjusted the rudder angle. His palms, which had just scabbed over, were now being rubbed raw again by the rough wooden handle, and blood mixed with rainwater dripped down.
Susan climbed towards the supply crate, trying to re-tie the loose ropes. A wave crashed over, flipping the crate over and sweeping away half of the food bags inside.
"No! I can't tie you up!" she shouted.
"Use a rope!" Carl pulled a spare spool of rope from the hold and tossed one to her. "Tie yourself to the mainmast first!"
The two men quickly secured their safety ropes to the mainmast's anchor rings, then used thick cables to wrap the remaining supplies around them. Seawater kept crashing onto the deck, each slap sounding like someone hammering the ship's planks.
"The buoyancy tank on the right is loose!" Carl noticed the connection was wobbling.
He lunged forward, pressing down on the interface with one hand, while his other hand reached for the toolbox to tighten the screws. But the toolbox was already empty, with only a pair of pliers remaining.
"Nana! I need backup!" he called out as he turned around.
"I can't move." Nana continued the calculation. "The system needs to continuously output heading correction values, and I can't interrupt the calculation."
“I’ll do it!” Susan untied a short rope and put it on her wrist, then moved closer to Carl. Together, they put the buoyancy tank back into the support and tied it tightly with double-stranded rope.
Another huge wave crashed in, tilting the ship at nearly forty-five degrees. Everyone slid to one side, their fingernails digging into the cracks in the wood to keep from falling.
Chen Hao was pinned between the rudder and the gunwale, his ribs aching from the pressure. He held his breath as he waited for the ship to right itself, muttering to himself, "If this lousy ship falls apart, I'll be reborn as a rock in my next life, at least I won't move."
"You still have the energy to tell lame jokes?" Carl cursed, panting.
"I'm going to cry if I don't tell jokes." Chen Hao grinned, not daring to loosen his grip even slightly.
Nana's voice rang out again: "A crack has been detected at the stern joint, with a water seepage rate of approximately two liters per minute. Repairs are recommended as soon as possible."
"Now? Are you serious?" Susan looked up at her.
"This is not a suggestion, it's a warning," Nana said. "If it's not dealt with, the accumulated water may affect the center of gravity balance in two hours."
"Then let's wait two hours!" Karl yelled, turning to Chen Hao and shouting, "Can you still hold on?"
"I won't die!" Chen Hao replied, glancing down at his right hand. His palm was covered in blood; the cloth strips had long since been washed away. He simply tore off a piece of his clothing, wrapped it around his hand a few times, and then gripped it again.
The wind grew stronger, and the raindrops hit our faces like pebbles. The sky was as dark as night, with only the blue light in Nana's eyes illuminating a small area.
"The power system is short-circuited," Nana suddenly said. "The lighting is out."
The lights on the ship went out.
In the darkness, only the sounds of waves, wind, and creaking wood remained.
"Can it still be counted?" Chen Hao asked.
“Yes, it’s possible. The built-in power supply supports the core module’s operation,” Nana replied. “But my field of vision is limited, and I need to rely on passive perception.”
"Then keep calculating, we're listening." Chen Hao took a deep breath. "You tell me where to go, and I'll turn the steering wheel that way."
"Seven degrees to the left, maintain current speed for thirty seconds."
Chen Hao did as instructed. The boat rocked even more violently, but he sensed that this wave crest had avoided a direct impact.
"It works!" he shouted.
“Don’t celebrate,” Nana said. “The peak hasn’t arrived yet.”
The words had barely left his mouth when a bolt of lightning struck in the distance, illuminating the rolling dark clouds. Immediately afterward, a thunderclap boomed almost overhead.
The boat seemed to be pushed up from underwater by something, and then crashed down heavily.
Everyone was thrown off the ground and slammed back onto the deck. Chen Hao almost lost his grip on the helm with one hand, managing to keep it in control only by bracing himself with his elbow.
"Damn it!" he cursed, feeling his arm go numb.
“That wave was probably eight meters high,” Nana said. “The next eight minutes are crucial. The storm’s path is about to shift, and the wind will drop by forty percent. If we can get through that, we’ll enter a relatively stable zone.”
"Eight minutes?" Susan leaned against the box, her hair plastered to her face. "How can it be so precise?"
"Based on airflow models and ocean current feedback," Nana said, "the error is no more than thirty seconds."
"So, what we're really fighting for now is these eight minutes?" Karl wiped the water off his face.
"precise."
Chen Hao looked down at his hand. Blood had already flowed down his forearm to his sleeve, but he didn't have time to care.
“Okay,” he said. “Eight minutes it is.”
He lowered his center of gravity, using his shoulders and back to control the rudder. With each wave, he could react half a second in advance, avoiding the most dangerous angle.
Susan and Carl huddled together under the mainmast, conserving their energy. Their ropes were tied together so they could help each other if one of them slipped.
Nana remained kneeling, her eyes flickering. Her voice began to sound delayed, as if the signal was unstable.
"Left... six degrees... slow down... five seconds... prepare... face the wave..."
Each instruction is short, but precise.
Chen Hao carried out the orders one by one. His movements were no longer fluid; he was only holding on by sheer willpower.
Finally, an even larger wave crashed in, lifting the bow of the ship high, almost vertical. Everyone thought the ship was going to capsize.
But at the highest point, the wind suddenly weakened for a moment.
The wave has passed.
Then came the second and third downpours, their intensity noticeably decreasing. The rain wasn't as dense anymore, and several grayish-white cracks appeared in the sky.
"The wind is weakening," Nana said. "We expect to enter a calmer flow area in three minutes."
No one spoke; they were all panting.
Chen Hao slowly relaxed his grip, but his hands remained on the rudder. He knew he couldn't let go yet.
Susan tried to stand up, but her legs gave way and she sat back down. Carl reached out to help her, and he swayed as well.
"We...survived?" she asked.
“For now,” Karl said with a wry smile. “The ship is still here, and the number of people hasn’t decreased.”
Chen Hao looked up at the sky. The dark clouds were still there, but they were no longer pressing down on the sea. The waves in the distance had dropped to less than three meters high, and although the boat was still rocking, it was no longer in a state where it seemed about to fall apart at any moment.
"Nana, how is it?" he asked.
“The worst of the storm has passed,” she said. “But I detected a slight overload on the system, with a 15 percent drop in computing efficiency, requiring a short cooling period.”
"Then you take a break," Chen Hao said. "I'll keep an eye on things."
He looked down at his right hand. The wound had reopened, and blood soaked through the bandage. He forced a smile, thinking that this time he would need to rest for a few days.
Susan began to take stock of the remaining supplies. A third of the food was gone, two sampling devices were missing, and although the buoyancy tank was saved, the connector was deformed.
"We need to check the cracks in the stern once the wind subsides a bit more," she said.
“I’ll go,” Carl said. “You keep an eye on the rest of the place.”
Nana slowly straightened up, the blue light in her eyes flickering. She didn't move, just stood there quietly, as if waiting for the system to recover.
Chen Hao leaned against the helm, too exhausted to move. He looked at the calm sea and suddenly smiled.
"After that last wave, I thought we were really going to be fish food."
“Haven’t you always wanted to see what’s down at the bottom of the sea?” Susan glanced at him.
"I want to see, but not in the form of corpses," Chen Hao said. "Could we try a gentler approach next time? Like during the day, on a sunny day, and maybe bring a lifeboat along?"
No one laughed.
But they all knew that they had won the battle.
The wind is still blowing, and the rain hasn't stopped, but the rhythm has changed.
The boat moved slowly forward, with the soft sound of water seeping from its stern.
Chen Hao raised his hand and looked at the injury on his palm.
The blood is still flowing.
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