There were not many people who thought the same as Nana Hoshino, and the families of the researchers who went to sea with Uesugi Xiang arrived one after another, and Upper East University sent a special person to receive them, and stepped up contact with the Toei Maritime Agency.

The Explorer III is a small research ship, and in addition to Kata Uesugi, two of her right-hand men, Narimasa and Ryoji Fushiyama, as well as three graduate students and seven crew members.

With the exception of two graduate students whose homes are outside of Tokyo, the family members of the others have basically arrived, filling a small reception room.

Nana Hoshino went door to door and bowed ninety degrees to apologize, her thin body trembled slightly, her little face was serious, and she said loudly, "I'm sorry, please forgive"!

She was apologizing for Uesugi Ka, who had been brought to sea by Uesugi Ka, and whether or not something really happened, the danger itself was causing trouble for these people - she was taking responsibility for her mother.

But not many people paid attention to her, at most she barely smiled, and there were few kind words. Everyone has relatives who are now in danger, and the reception room is gloomy, and many people are praying quietly, praying for the power of the gods in this critical moment.

It's just that in the face of this great power of nature, the power of the gods is not very reliable.

In the evening, the director of Upper East University Kumamoto reported the first bad news - the distress signal had stopped, and the "Explorer 3" had completely lost contact.

The news suddenly made the breath of anxiety suddenly rise, and a choked sound began to appear in the reception room.

Nana Hoshino's face was pale and distracted, and Naoto Yoshihara frowned beside her.

Although science and technology are now developed, human beings claim to have conquered the sea, but when it comes to the sea, human beings are still small and pitiful.

Waves above three or four meters high on the sea are common, it is common to encounter storm crests of more than 10 meters, and there have been huge waves of more than 30 meters in history...... The overwhelming waves are pressing up, and as a human being, even if you struggle and fight at that moment, you may not have a good result.

Making a living on the sea is a high-risk industry, and even if you sail offshore between two ports, there is an average of one boat accident every year, drowning a boatload of people at every turn, and the research ship where Uesugi Xiang is located is still far away from the channel, and I don't know which remote corner it has gotten into, even if it is a mechanical failure or hitting the reef.

Yoshiwara Nao's heart is also bottomless.

Upper East Private University takes this matter very seriously, and while desperately urging the Toei Maritime Affairs Agency, it also keeps conveying new information to the reception room.

"A Panamanian-flagged freighter has accepted the request, corrected its course and rushed to the accident area. ”

"A Chinese squid fishing boat rushing to South America received a distress signal and was heading towards the accident area. ”

"Two Australian freighters have entered the storm range......"

According to the international law of navigation, it is both a responsibility and an obligation to rescue ships in distress, and many ships have taken the initiative to go after receiving a distress signal without waiting for the request of the Dongying Maritime Safety Department.

But the news that could make everyone's hearts relieved never came.

Upper East University provided bento boxes and a variety of drinks, but almost no one touched them. Naoto Yoshihara looked at the sky, sighed, opened a bento, opened a bottle of pure water, and said to Nana Hoshino, "Let's eat something." ”

Nana Hoshino stared blankly, stared straight at her toes, and shook her head slightly.

Naoto Yoshihara broke off his chopsticks, picked up the light vegetables and sent them to Nana Hoshino's mouth, and comforted him softly: "Yoshito has his own natural appearance, don't look back, your mother didn't have an accident, you scared yourself first." ”

Nana Hoshino's eyes moved a little, and she turned her head to look at Naoto Yoshihara and asked, "Do you think my mother won't have an accident?"

Naoto Yoshihara was silent for a while while picking up the vegetables, and after a while, he whispered, "I can't say it either...... I'm sorry. ”

Nana Hoshino is precocious, and at this moment, it means nothing to her to comfort her.

Nana Hoshino reached out and pushed the chopsticks away and shook her head: "It's okay, I'm sure my mother will be fine...... My mother is a kind person, she has never done anything bad, it is impossible for her to have an accident!" she said, but the trembling tone betrayed the fear in her heart - Uesugi was her only support, and it was not too much to say that she was a spiritual support.

Naoto Yoshiwara sighed and said, "I hope so!"

He hoped that Uesugi was okay, but ......

At about ten o'clock in the evening, Director Kumamoto walked into the reception room with a heavy face, his brows furrowed, and he looked around at everyone and stopped talking.

Everyone also looked at him nervously, but seeing that he didn't say anything for a long time, an air of despair began to permeate.

Director Kumamoto bowed deeply, revealing the top of his half-bald head—he maintained a ninety-degree bow and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, I'm really sorry...... 'Explorer III' has already sunk. ”

He waited for a long time, facing the ground, but did not hear a sound, and looked up in surprise, only to see a dead gray face. He suddenly felt a little injured, and reluctantly said: "Everyone, the search and rescue work is still ongoing, and it is not yet a moment of complete despair, please ......."

In the end, he couldn't say any more.

Nana Hoshino muttered a few words, "Impossible", and suddenly stood up and shouted, "How could the ship sink!

Director Kumamoto turned his head and whispered, "It was discovered by a rescue ship, and it is said that the hull of the 'Explorer III' is tilted severely, and it is suspected that the injured side of the hull has entered the water, lost power and was carried forward by the waves...... Although the visibility was poor, they were sure they were right. By the time they tried to catch up, Explorer III had already flipped on its side and sunk. ”

The atmosphere here was too oppressive, and he didn't want to stay long, so after relaying the news, he whispered a word to the escort to ask a doctor to come just in case, and went out with a sigh.

He still has a lot of things to do, and this is really a natural disaster.

Nana Hoshino stood there in a daze, and the reception room began to cry.

Naoto Yoshiwara was also silent, after the shipwreck, if it was not rescued as soon as possible, it would be difficult for people to live - it is true that a few lucky people were rescued after dozens of days of shipwreck, but it was the luck of luck, the miracle of miracles, caused by various coincidences, and it cannot be treated as common sense.

When a person falls into the sea, he has to constantly fight against the waves, and the loss of physical strength is extremely fast, and the seawater is a good conductor of heat, and the body temperature of the person immersed in the seawater drops very quickly.

Generally speaking, the water temperature is about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius, and people can last about six hours without wind and waves, and if they are five to ten degrees Celsius, they can only live for about one hour, and about zero degrees, and it is good to be able to support five minutes - there are lifeboats.

Now the climate in the sea area where the accident occurred is extremely bad and the wind and waves are extremely high, and the lifeboat is not much different from it, if it can't be fished up tonight, I'm afraid Uesugi will be more auspicious.

Thinking about the sound and appearance of Uesugi Xiang back then, Naoto Yoshiwara also felt gloomy in his heart, Sugika is a strange person, left-wing, anti-war and at the same time biased towards liberal anarchists, she cares about human beings rather than herself, the country or the nation, in short, it is a wonder.

Naoto Yoshiwara didn't understand her big truths, and she didn't understand why she cared so much about human beings hating and hurting each other -- the history of mankind is a history of war, and it has been fought for thousands of years, so why do you care so much? Human beings themselves have an animal nature that determines that fighting with each other is the main theme, and peace is just a preparation for the next big fight.

She also always cares about whether there is a future for humanity, and similarly, Naoto Yoshihara doesn't care about those ...... Does it matter if there is a future for mankind, tomorrow the nuclear bomb will explode, then tomorrow, the sky will fall, there will be a tall man on top, what do the little people care about so much?

Uesugi Xiang has the disease of the Virgin Mary and does boring things all day long, and Naoto Yoshihara scolded her for being a bastard, but something really happened to her at this time, even if Naoto Yoshihara is used to seeing life and death, her heart is a little uncomfortable.

Even if she's a bastard, she's a good bastard...... It's a pity to die so early.

With a sigh of relief, he stretched out his hand to block a young woman who was walking quickly, raised his eyes and asked, "What's the matter with you?"