Chapter 690: Chapter 690: Hurricane at Sea
Rong Ling said, “Yufei, don’t think too much.”
Li Yufei hesitated a few times.
Rong Ling glanced back; the narrow duct was especially dark, making it hard to see his face, but she could feel it, there was light in his eyes: “With me here, you won’t get hurt.”
Li Yufei: “What about you?”
Rong Ling: “We’ll leave here together, we’ll be fine, safe and sound…”
Li Yufei: “You promised me, don’t go back on your word.”
After saying this, she immediately followed.
Just like that, she followed Rong Ling, not knowing how long they crawled through the ducts. Suddenly, she heard Rong Ling’s voice: “I see it.”
Li Yufei: “See what?”
Rong Ling: “The sightseeing elevator.”
He elbowed a grille, it fell, and he jumped down through the window, landing steadily on the ground.
The ground was two meters high.
He looked up at Li Yufei, still in the duct: “Can you jump down? I’ll catch you.”
After saying this, he looked around, and after confirming no one was there, opened his arms to her.
Li Yufei said, “No need to catch me, I can jump on my own.”
She was concerned about Rong Ling’s injuries, not daring to let him catch her.
Even though she was light, she didn’t want to aggravate his injuries.
Rong Ling said, “I’ll go press the elevator first.”
He remembered that from the sightseeing elevator he could go directly to the third floor.
The lifeboats were docked on the third-floor deck, and by then, with a simple operation, they could safely leave the lifeboat.
Li Yufei leaped down from the duct opening, and being barefoot, almost twisted her leg upon landing, fortunately catching herself with her hand, or she would have sprained her ankle for sure.
How did he land so easily from this height?
Rong Ling pressed the elevator: “No one, come over.”
Li Yufei immediately ran toward him.
The two entered the elevator, and as the doors closed, Li Yufei asked nervously, “Are we going to the third floor now?”
Rong Ling: “Mm.”
He hesitated briefly, then pressed the button for the “1st floor.”
Li Yufei knew he did this out of caution.
The cruise ship’s third floor was deck level one, where the lifeboats were docked, and Sang Qin’s men had surely moored their vessel beside the cruise ship, hooked and climbed aboard forcibly.
He was afraid Sang Qin’s men were on the third floor.
The sightseeing elevator descended slowly.
Soon, passing the third floor, Rong Ling glanced out the window and suddenly saw a few scattered patrolling people on the deck.
Li Yufei: “There are three people.”
Rong Ling said, “After the elevator stops, we’ll climb to the third floor via the stairway.”
Li Yufei: “Lowering the lifeboat takes time, what if they notice us?”
Rong Ling: “According to standards, lowering all lifeboats shouldn’t exceed 5 minutes.”
Li Yufei: “Do you know how to operate a lifeboat?”
Rong Ling: “I’ve learned.”
Before, he had found a job as a cargo ship escort, so he understood some basic maritime knowledge.
Operating a lifeboat requires relevant certification, and training in various aspects is necessary.
Though he didn’t have such certification, he’d received some training.
The elevator doors opened.
Rong Ling recalled the map, took Li Yufei’s hand, walked through a corridor, and after who knew how long, finally found the stairway.
Through the stairway, they could silently climb to the third-floor deck.
After the two reached the third-floor, stepping outside for the first time, the evening sea breeze was terrifyingly strong. Li Yufei shivered slightly from the wind, feeling a biting cold.
“The wind is strong.”
Rong Ling also noticeably felt the ship getting more turbulent; looking out, the sea surface whipped with waves. In the pitch-black night, moonlight illuminated the sea, and the vast ocean seemed endless in the distance.
The nighttime sea had a suffocating sense of despair.
Arriving at the third-floor deck, Rong Ling said to her, “You stay here, hide yourself. I’ll go release the lifeboat.”
Lowering the lifeboat required some time.
On the deck, the wind would only be stronger.
Rong Ling: “If there’s no accident, in 5 minutes, come find me.”
Li Yufei nodded: “Okay…”
She hugged her knees, sitting down with her legs together, using a board to shield from the wind.
Before tonight, she never thought such a calamity could befall her.
This trip, she had kept a low profile, with no itinerary announcements. Considering her worth, security measures were most crucial, but compared to airplanes and high-speed trains, cruise ships were the riskiest.
Even though she had two bodyguards with her, who would have thought they would encounter Sang Qin.
Now, the entire cruise ship was hijacked.
The cruise ship was unarmed.
All she could do was try her best to get out alive, then seek help via radio immediately.
After counting silently for 5 minutes—
She stood up and walked toward Rong Ling.
Not far away, only hearing a “squeak,” the lifeboat davit began operating, Rong Ling was already lowering the lifeboat.
“Yufei!”
He called to Li Yufei softly: “Come over!”
Li Yufei jogged over, Rong Ling grabbed her hand, and they entered the lifeboat one after the other. As they got inside, Rong Ling said, “Find a spot, sit down and fasten your seatbelt.”
“Okay.”
Li Yufei immediately found a seat, fastened her seatbelt, and observed the interior of the lifeboat.
Rong Ling closed the hatch, pulled the hydrostatic release unit, then activated the lifeboat’s internal emergency power, and turned on the radio.
This lifeboat hadn’t been upgraded and wasn’t equipped with a GMDSS distress signal, so he had to manually send out the SOS.
He located their current coordinates and began urgently searching for a signal.
Since they were in Public Sea, he sent out distress calls in both Chinese and English.
“Beep—”
“This is Ocean Monarch-290 lifeboat, coordinates -55.67831, -57.99394, the cruise ship is under illegal hijacking, requesting rescue.”
“Beep—”
“This is Ocean Monarch-290 lifeboat, coordinates -55.67831, -57.99394, the cruise ship is under illegal hijacking, requesting rescue.”
Rong Ling searched signals on high and medium frequencies separately.
Soon—
The radio crackled: “This is the International Maritime Rescue Center, received, please respond.”
Rong Ling replied: “Received.”
After half a minute, a signal came again: “Confirm coordinates -55.67831, -57.99394, received, please reply.”
Rong Ling: “Coordinates confirmed.”
After another half a minute, a final signal came: “Detected coordinates -55.67831, -57.99394 in a hurricane danger zone, please take emergency precautions.”
Hurricane…
Rong Ling’s expression changed drastically: “What…”
A hurricane at sea…
Is this a joke!!
Rong Ling continued to search for signals.
However, the radio couldn’t transmit anymore.
The radio system seemed to have a minor malfunction, needing maintenance.
Li Yufei said, “Rong Ling, what’s wrong?”