Although Harding went directly to the lifeboat and waited, Dena did not follow his advice, because she still had to find Alice and the two Blackwater agents who had just followed her. Just now, the two agents didn't get into the cab. They stood outside in the unobstructed corridor and waited, and after such a big wave passed, their situation was probably more than lucky.

Sure enough, when Dena came out of the cab, she looked around and couldn't find any trace of what they had done. Not only are they all gone, but the crowd that was bustling on the deck just now is gone. Dena hurried to the deck, came to the side of the ship and looked down, and sure enough, she saw something floating in the sea in the distance.

At this time, several sailors also rushed over. Glancing towards the sea, he began to lower a dinghy at the command of a sailor. Paddled towards the floaters. Seeing that she couldn't help much, Dena remembered that she was still in the room to help her organize her things, and hurriedly ran towards her room again.

At this time, the whole ship was in chaos, and the huge tremor just now of course alarmed every passenger on this ship, and now the people in those rooms closer to the deck rushed out to see what was going on. As soon as Dena ran up the stairs, she saw a large crowd of people rushing down like a tide. They were going in the opposite direction to Dena, making it difficult for Dena to move an inch.

When he was anxious, suddenly a hand grabbed Dena's arm.

"It's good that you're okay, Miss Dena." A voice said.

Dena turned her head to see that it was Blackwater's agent Smith.

"What about Alice? How is she? Dena asked.

"I'm here." Alice's voice came from the side, and he followed the sound and saw that Alice was a little above the stairs. She shouted at Dena with a waving hand, and squeezed towards her. Dena noticed what appeared to be a small cut on the left side of her face.

But since there are no major things, Dena is also a lot more relieved. At this time, Alice also crowded to Dena's side, and several people went down to the deck together.

"Miss Dena, that wave just now is terrible." "The glass in the cabin shattered almost all at once, and the shards were like throwing knives...... Ah, how many of them? ”

Alice suddenly discovers that the bodyguards who had been with Dena are gone.

"They...... They were all in the corridor when the big wave came just now, and when the big wave passed, they were all gone. Dena bowed her head and replied, "Hopefully they're okay." ”

"Hope they're okay." Agent Smith also said, "May God bless them." "But they also all know that the chances of surviving exposure to such waves are slim to none.

"Just now I saw something floating on the sea, it may be a person who has fallen into the water, several sailors have rowed over, I don't know if I have found a survivor." Dena said.

The three of them walked together to the stern of the boat. It was already crowded with people, and everyone craned their necks to watch. Smith and the rude parted the crowd and forced a vacant seat for Dena and Alice to follow.

Dena saw that the dinghy had begun to return, and there seemed to be one or two people lying there in addition to the sailors, but they were motionless and their lives were unknown.

The dinghy approached, the ship's crane lowered the cable, several sailors took it and hung it on the hook, and then the sailors waved and the dinghy was hoisted up and lowered to the deck.

By this time, the security guards who were maintaining order had already set up a cordon, and several doctors ran over to take a look, shook their heads, and left—apparently, the few people who had been fished up had long since died.

Dena, who was watching from the sidelines, noticed that the bodies that were fished up were not the missing security guards, and although she knew that those people must have died, she was still relieved that their deaths had not been confirmed. At the same time, she also noticed that at this time, not only was the captain and first mate not here, but none of the ship's senior managers appeared here.

"Something must have been more severe than this." Dena thought. At this moment, the ship jerked to the right, and the deck was full of seawater, and some people were not paying attention, and even fell directly to the ground.

……

"Captain, the power room is starting to get flooded." One sailor said to Captain Grant, "The water is coming in faster than we can drain the water." The water level is rising rapidly. I think we should turn off the boiler right now and get the lads out of there. ”

"Are there still only two pumps available?" Captain Grant asked. The damage caused by the oncoming waves is secondary. When a big wave hits, the entire hull is lifted to a high place, and then it falls down again, and the damage is the most severe. The structure of the hull may have been damaged, and many pipelines and equipment were also damaged, and there were water leaks in many places. However, many pumps were also damaged, so this is the case.

"Yes, Captain." The head of the damage management department replied sweatingly.

"How long will it take to fix the other pumps?" Captain Grant asked.

"It's going to take at least half an hour to fix one, and it can take four hours to fix it all. Moreover, other cabins, such as the cargo hold, also had a leak. The coal bunkers have been largely completely submerged. We estimate that the overall water inlet rate has exceeded the discharge rate even when the pump is intact. ”

"How's the leak plugging?" Captain Grant continued.

"It didn't work out because we didn't know how many places were leaking, where the leaks were, and the size of the gaps in each leak. In many places, the leak is already very deep underwater, and we can't stop it at all. ”

Captain Grant thought for a moment and ordered, "Let the lads turn off the boilers, withdraw, and seal all the cabins that cannot control the water ingress." May God bless us. ”

Captain Grant knew that the problem was big now, and under normal circumstances, the enclosed inlet compartment would ensure that the ship would continue to float, but now no one knew whether the watertightness of the other compartments and the inlet compartment had been broken. If these places are also damaged and destroyed, abandoning ship is almost the only option. But he at least had one more thing to reassure him, and that was that the lifeboat on his ship was still sufficient, and as it stands, the boat would last a long time. Enough for all the passengers to get out.

"Keep an eye out for the other cabins. If you have any problems, report them to me immediately. Captain Grant concluded.

More than ten minutes later, the damage management department brought bad news to the captain: the front left cargo compartment was also leaking, and because the boat had now lost power and the pumps were not working, they were unable to plug the leaks.

Captain Grant knew that once this cabin was submerged, the sinking of the ship was inevitable. So he said to the others, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are ready to abandon ship." ”

……

The order to abandon ship was not given to all the cabins at once, and it was the first-class passengers who were given the order to abandon ship. Of course, there are still rules. That is: women and children get into the lifeboats first. When the women and children in first class are finished, it is the turn of women and children in second class, then women and children in third class, then adult men in first class, then second class, then third class. In order to ensure order, the sailors first locked the passage of the third-class cabin to the deck. They were also asked to pick out the women and children first and let them stand in front so that they could get into the lifeboats first.

"Miss Dena, it's time for you to get on board." A sailor said to Dena.

"Thank you." Dena said as she planned to get into the lifeboat with Alice. At this time, she suddenly heard a gunshot.

Smith, who was standing aside, immediately pulled out his pistol. And Dena also asked the sailor, "What's the matter?" ”

The sailor told Sùdena that perhaps some of the third-class people were worried that they would run out of lifeboats, so they made a fuss.

"You tell me honestly, is the lifeboat enough?" Dena asked.

"It's definitely enough, and there's even a surplus." The sailor replied.

"Is there enough time to retreat?" Dena continued.

"Very adequate." Captain Grant walked over and replied.

"That's good." "I have a way to quiet them down." I think this should improve the efficiency of the retreat. ”

"Miss Dena, what do you want to do?" Smith's eyes widened.

"Do what a member of the MacDonald family does. Think of what my uncle, Mr. Scrooge MacDonald, would have done if he were here. Dena replied. Then she turned her head to Captain Smith and said, "Captain, please take me there." ”

Dena followed Captain Smith to the locked exit on the upper deck of the third-class cabin. She saw a man lying behind the iron gate, covered in blood. A sailor is wielding a pistol to maintain order.

"There are lifeboats for all people, don't disrupt the order!" The sailor shouted.

"We don't believe it!" Someone responded. "Please open the door and let the woman and the children go up first." Someone else shouted.

"Listen to me!" Dena pushed the sailor aside and whispered to the third-class passengers.

"My name is Dena MacDonald. She is the niece of the billionaire Scrooge MacDonald. I came from above and saw with my own eyes that there were enough lifeboats on it. To prove it. I would like to come to you and be with your wives and children. ”

With that, Dena turned to the sailor and said, "Please open the door." ”

The sailor turned his head to look at the captain, and then opened the iron gate. Dena walked in, and Alice immediately followed. Smith snatched the key directly from the sailor's hand and walked inside. Then he closed the door, locked the lock again, and put the key in his jacket pocket.

As Dena identified herself, as she did walk in. Among the passengers of the third class, there was a buzzing chatter.

"This is Mr. MacDonald's niece? Oh my! I heard that Mr. MacDonald's assets are more than a billion dollars. ”

"Oh my God, I've been talking to this young lady for a while. I can't imagine it! ”

"Is this true? But if you look at the gun in the hand of the attendant next to her, it's a high-end item that costs three hundred dollars a piece. And his clothes are also worth a lot. It shouldn't be fake. ”

"I've heard that Mr. MacDonald is a saint, just look at his niece."

Hearing such a discussion, Dena couldn't help but frown, what kind of person Uncle Scrooge is, Dena doesn't know. But she wasn't too affected, and turned away. Said to Captain Grant, who was looking at him like a saint, through the iron gate:

"Mr. Captain, you should go up there and coordinate."