Chapter 97 Chapter 97 A Chance to Catch Them All

*

The sky was gloomy, the clouds gradually thickened, and a drizzle suddenly poured down like thousands of dense silver needles hitting the water surface rapidly. The rapid sound of the rain was deafening.

On the choppy waters, a medium-sized bulk carrier was rocking in the wind and rain, sailing at a stiff and slow speed.

Black smoke billowed from the stern, the engine emitted a loud roar, and the propeller submerged in the water spun at high speed, stirring up layers of waves, but the ship could not increase its speed because it was towing a shabby, powerless small cargo ship behind it.

The atmosphere in the cab is a little subtle.

Duan Yueyan sat upright in the captain's chair, steering the ship with both hands, looking straight ahead, concentrating on steering the ship.

It was a normal and harmonious scene, nothing wrong with it.

But the five men behind him seemed to have sensed some kind of danger, and they retreated to the door of the driver's cabin on tiptoe, trying to escape the scene, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

Before they successfully walked out the door, an impatient "tsk" was heard.

It was a total no-brainer. Duan Yueyan turned his head suddenly, raised his chin and glared at them, "What are you doing with all that noise? Even sparrows can't make as much noise as you. Can you please be quiet for a while and let me have some peace of mind?"

The five people stood at attention at this shout, looking at each other, and no one dared to say a word.

Are they noisy? They walk in complete silence, and dare not even breathe, okay?

No one dared to talk back. Duan Yueyan was now like a firecracker that could explode at any time.

A group of people drove out in a bulk carrier with high morale, originally planning to go to Huangjiang to find a ship. However, they encountered a small cargo ship in front of a mountain before they even got out of Lanjiang.

The small cargo ship is not the key. The key is that the small cargo ship came from the Huangjiang River. The crew brought intelligence that there was a large-scale water rise in the Huangjiang River and the current was extremely turbulent. They were pushed by the current for more than ten days after the fuel was exhausted and they could not stop at all. If they had not been lucky enough to be blocked by the mountain, who knows where they would have drifted to.

The situation was not good, and the trip to Huangjiang was aborted halfway, so Duan Yueyan had to return home. The small cargo ship that was running out of food wanted to join them, and adhering to the principle that a small boat is also a ship, Duan Yueyan decided to take them back.

However……

The small cargo ship had run out of fuel and had no power. It could still drift downstream but could only be towed upstream.

So the big ship towed the small ship, and it took a whole day to complete a half-day voyage. The delay was a small matter, but the exponential consumption of fuel made Duan Yueyan irritable and increasingly angry.

It was almost there. Through the hazy rain mist, the vast expanse of water and the familiar mountains in the distance were vaguely visible. The five people in the back of the driver's seat, whose hearts had been in their throats, gradually let go and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

But at this moment, the bow of the boat turned and entered Fengjin Lake, the hazy mist was dispersed by the turbulent waves, and two slowly moving huge ships suddenly appeared on the left/front.

The crew immediately took out the ship's telescope to observe the situation. Fortunately, it was not a strange ship, but their neighbors - Feng Yi and Heng Rong Sheng.

The ship that had been anchored in the lake for a long time suddenly began to move and approached the village. Duan Yueyan's brows frowned instantly and he grabbed the high-frequency pager on the cockpit.

"Zizizizi, Xiao Duan? Is that you? ...Are you here?"

Almost at the same time, the high frequencies started to sound, and a slightly distorted and intermittent sound reverberated in the cab.

Without a second's hesitation, Duan Yueyan quickly pressed the pager and answered, "Yes, I'm Duan Yueyan! Is this Master Meng from the Fengyi? Where are you going? What happened?"

The fact that Feng Yi and Heng Rong Sheng moved at the same time was very abnormal in itself.

An ominous premonition surged in his heart. Duan Yueyan had already prepared himself mentally in advance, but when the other party's words came again through the high frequency, his pupils contracted and the hand holding the pager trembled violently.

"Something happened, something happened in the village! A cruise ship came from nowhere, and they brought a lot of people. They looted all the supplies in the village and took everyone away! It's too late, Xiao Duan, hurry up, we must stop them!"

*

"How's it going? Can you open it?"

"This lock is a little different. It feels suspended."

"Hiss, what should I do?"

…

The fourth floor of Ever Leap.

There were three layers of people inside and outside the door of the safety passage, surrounded by a large group of people.

At the front of the crowd, under everyone's expectant gaze, Gu Mengran held a thin wire in his hand and hammered at the lock of the security door for nearly ten minutes, but the tightly closed door remained motionless.

It can’t be opened. It can’t be opened at all. All my lock-picking skills are in vain.

Hearing the sound of discussion coming from behind, Gu Mengran blushed all the way to his ears, and he wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

He had taken on the job himself, and it would be embarrassing to quit. However, this lock was different from the others, and he was not completely sure about it. Opening it any further would only waste time.

Just as he was hesitating, a bony hand reached out from the side and took the thin wire from his hand without hesitation. Then, Liang Zhao's deep voice echoed: "The lock is difficult to fix and can't be opened. Think of other ways."

It was purely because of the heavy burden, and no one blamed Gu Mengran for his poor skills.

As soon as the words fell, the villagers came up with ideas:

"Why not just use a saw to break the door open? It's very powerful."

"Yeah, don't we still have this good stuff?"

"What are you thinking? This is not the wooden door in our village. This is a boat. This safety door is just a steel plate. It can't be sawed open."

"Well, what should we do?"

"How about finding another entrance?"

"There are only two roads in front of us. Besides the security gate, there are only stairs."

"Be quiet, be quiet."

After talking for a long time, no solution could be found. Zhou Jing waved his hand and asked everyone to be quiet. Then he pointed to the stairs behind the crowd and raised his chin slightly, "Let's go upstairs, go around the open deck on the fifth floor and see if we can enter through another door. If that doesn't work, then-"

"So what?" someone asked.

Zhou Jing held the hemp rope on his shoulders, his eyes firm, "Take the empty road."

"Come on, there's no need to go around and look, just go straight." Sister Fang suddenly interrupted. Seeing that everyone was looking at her with doubtful expressions, she explained again: "We went there before and it didn't work."

"Why!"

Amid sighs, the group climbed up the stairs in a mighty procession, passed through the hall and corridors, and smoothly and quickly reached the open deck on the fifth floor.

The rain was getting heavier. After arriving at the open deck, Zhou Jing lay on the railing and looked down for a moment. He chose a suitable position, took off the hemp rope and squatted on the ground.

A hemp rope two fingers thick was tied to the bottom of the guardrail and tied into a strong, non-slip icicle knot. The other end of the rope was then thrown down to measure the required length from the fifth floor to the fourth floor deck. Zhou Jing then used a machete to cut the hemp rope into two.

Sliding down a rope is actually very dangerous. Young people with good physical strength and courage may be able to get down with a little effort, but uncles and ladies who have not received professional training... their legs start to go weak just by standing next to the guardrail.

The Ever Given is nearly 30 meters high, and the fourth floor is about 20 meters high, which is equivalent to the seventh or eighth floor of an ordinary residential building. At this height, if one slips and falls, he or she may be seriously injured even if there is water below.

There was no other choice, they had to make this journey anyway. To prevent the uncle and aunt from accidentally falling, Zhou Jing quickly made a simple safety noose with the remaining ropes, adding an extra layer of insurance to this difficult and dangerous journey.

The process went very smoothly. After the preparations were completed, a group of young people took the lead, holding the ropes and sliding down little by little, slowly climbing over the fourth-floor railing and successfully reaching the open-air deck on the fourth floor.

A good start boosted the morale to a great extent. Some people were protecting above and some were supporting below. Uncles and aunts also started trying. Soon more than 20 people came down from the open deck on the fourth floor.

He was one step closer to the driving seat and closer to success. It seemed that everything was moving in a good direction. However, after Gu Mengran stood still and looked around, he felt inexplicably uneasy.

It was so quiet, so quiet that it was eerie. It was like being on a deserted ghost ship. No one was in sight, no sound was heard, and time seemed to have stood still.

We encountered two groups of reinforcements on the second floor, about fifty people, and there were about thirty people scattered in the room. Fang Jie, Liang Zhao and others encountered a total of about fifty people on the fifth and sixth floors, which means... together they were fewer than the villagers of Shijin Village.

Dong Hongbo seemed fearless and bold, but Gu Mengran knew that he was actually very cautious and cherished his life. If he had not had the upper hand and was certain, he would not have rashly come ashore and attacked Shijin Village.

He has a backup plan, there must be someone else on the fourth floor.

Gu Mengran didn't know exactly how many people there were, and he didn't really care, because it wouldn't be too many. He was more concerned about one question: what exactly was Dong Hongbo waiting for?

The villagers had already reached the fourth floor, but no one was sent out to stop them, waiting for them to enter the jar to catch the turtle? Or were they too confident in the steel door of the Ever Leap, and were sure they couldn't get in?

No, Dong Hongbo is not that naive.

He was waiting for an opportunity, a chance to catch them all in one swoop.

When is the best time to take action? Gu Mengran noticed something and turned his head to look at the villagers who were lying on the guardrail to provide support, and Uncle Liu who was hanging in the air and descending little by little. His heart suddenly skipped a beat.

The best chance... is now!

“Woo woo woo—”

A deep and long whistle sounded through the sky. Standing tall in the water, a huge object like a steel city began to move without any warning.

The cruise ship swayed violently with the current, like a pendulum that was started at a click of a button, and the unsuspecting people were thrown to this and that. In just a short moment, the open deck fell into chaos.

Uncle Liu, hanging in the air, was about to touch the guardrail, but the sudden shake threw him far away. He was like a fish hanging on the fishing line, struggling desperately but to no avail.

Strength will eventually run out, and everyone on the deck will fall down, with no one to help him. Gu Mengran finally stabilized himself with the help of Liang Zhao, and when he raised his head again, Uncle Liu, who was hanging in the air, let go of the rope and fell straight down.

"Uncle Liu, Uncle Liu fell down!"

"Woo woo woo, Uncle Liu!"

"Don't panic, hold on to the guardrail! Hold on tight!"

“Aaaaaa——”

The roars of fear, panic and despair were deafening.

Before one wave of troubles subsided, another wave of troubles arose. With a loud "creak", another large object fell from the fifth floor. It fell so fast that before Gu Mengran could see clearly, people fell one after another from above his head like dumplings.

"The guardrail upstairs has fallen off, be careful!"

"Quick, get away from the guardrail! Stand against the wall and grab the handle at the back!"

“Bang, bang, bang…”

Several muffled noises sounded like torpedoes exploding, and layers of water splashed. The villagers who had submerged in the water disappeared almost instantly, being crushed by the huge bottom of the ship, swallowed by the high-speed rotating propeller, and turned into bright red blood.