In the depths of the dark blue sea, a luxury cruise ship, the Gothenburg, is making a slow and difficult voyage.

A month ago, the cruise ship hit a hidden rock, causing the watertight compartment at the bottom of the ship to tilt.

And because of the violent impact, the steam engine and boiler in the cabin also suffered a lot of damage, which caused great panic among the passengers on this luxury cruise ship.

This cruise ship is one of the largest and fastest cruise ships in the Republic of Ireland, and the configuration inside is also extremely luxurious, of course, the ticket is more than ten times that of other ordinary passenger ships in the same mileage.

On the top three floors of the deck are the rooms of the wealthy, each with its own living room and lavatory, with single and shared rooms for the rich and their personal servants.

The first and second floors of the deck are occupied by guest activity areas, with a gymnasium, a variety of specialty restaurants, shops selling daily necessities, and entertainment facilities such as a casino and a theater.

The entertainment venues that were once popular with the wealthy were now empty, and most of the passengers stayed in their rooms, except for a few passengers who were so nervous and nervous from panic that they still made a loud noise at the door of the captain's quarters.

The guests of this luxury cruise ship were not only rich and noble, but also many dignitaries from various countries, which also caused many problems for the management of Hornby during this period, although he was an old captain with extremely good sailing experience.

It was only recently that the guests were restless due to panic and hunger, and they were quiet or irritable in their rooms.

In those rooms, some are praying to the gods they believe in, some are keeping memories of the happiness of their families, and some are enjoying the last pleasures with their partners. There were also some who counted the coins and cursed loudly, and even drank heavily all day long, beating and scolding the servants.

Most of them live in their own pleasures and panics.

The damp ground below deck is the dormitory, dining hall and storeroom for the sailors and staff on board.

Then there was the ship's engine room, where most of the staff were working to repair the damaged cabins and steam engines under the leadership of Captain Hornby.

Although the draft of the cabin was not much, it was still increased daily, and the damage to the steam engine greatly reduced the speed of the cruise ship, although Captain Hornby had already ordered the food of all the staff to be halved, but at this time the food and water stored on the ship could not last for a few days.

And in the time of aimless exercise, in fact, they have completely lost their way.

Lost and lost, Hornby asks himself every day, why did the ocean route he had sailed for decades run into reefs, and he would get lost in the slow voyage?

Hornby couldn't find an answer, but he and his crew tried to keep the ship from sinking, and then waited for the passing ship to seek rescue.

Their odds of survival are honestly not high, and the experienced old captain Hornby is well aware of that.

But he can't panic, and he still looks calm and calm every day. Because he knew that everyone on the ship was watching him, and as soon as he showed any expression of panic and despair, I was afraid that the employees and guests on the ship would fall into fear and despair.

Fear can make people lose their minds, and despair is the biggest breeding ground for crime and the ugliness of human nature.

Then this cruise ship will not wait for the real sinking, and this place will become another kind of distorted hell on earth!

On the empty and damp deck, a tall man with a goblet stood at this time.

The man looked to be less than thirty years old, with short blond hair, dark blue eyes, a deep facial contour, a golden beard under thin lips, and a somewhat decadent expression under his handsome appearance.

He wears a white stand-up collar shirt and a black printed cotton waistcoat with a wide black trench coat on top, a pair of black leather boots shiny from the damp sea fog at his feet, a black half-high top hat, and an ordinary iron-hearted wood-inlaid silver cane in his right hand.

Three months ago, because of the bad and chaotic wedding, as the groom, he had to leave Atlantis, the capital of the Republic of Ireland, and began a purposeless journey, until he received a letter from a friend more than a month ago and embarked on this luxury cruise ship to the kingdom of Artis.

A few days after he got on the ship, he met a lovely aristocratic little girl on the deck, and the little girl in a beautiful pleated dress jumped up in front of him and gave him a pink tulip that had not yet withered, which made his already somewhat indifferent heart a little warmer and more lively.

"Uncle, my mother said that handsome men should smile every day, so that girls will like them. ”

Grace Field squatted down amusedly, patted the other party's head with his right hand, and a smile was drawn at the corner of his mouth:

"Uncle made a note that cute girls should smile every day, but not to make boys like them. ”

"What's that for?" asked the little girl, tilting her head, pulling at the corners of her pleated skirt to make a ladylike shape.

"Because girls who love to laugh are not bad luck. ”

As if thinking of the one who should have married him, and remembering their past, he continued:

"Even on the day of bad luck, a smile will make your own heart strong and you will not be easily defeated by fate. ”

......

Grace, who was standing on the deck drinking alone, remembered the little girl, and couldn't help but smile at the corner of her mouth. After drinking the champagne in her glass, Grace narrowed her deep blue eyes, and in the depths of the misty sea, a small, slightly dilapidated steamship approached.

After a while, the sailor on the lookout seemed to see the shadow of the ship approaching in the distance, and the sailor's expression was first suspicious, and then he picked up the telescope on his waist, and after taking a closer look, he immediately became excited, and without hesitation, he ran to the cabin to find Hornby, who was supervising the staff to repair the cabin.

"Captain, I see it! I see a ship coming towards us! The storm god has not abandoned us!"

When the boatmen in the cabin heard the sailor's shout, they stopped what they were doing and quickly came to the bow deck with the captain in their arms. Hornby took the binoculars handed by the sailors, and could clearly see the small passenger ship heading towards them, and the figures moving on it.

Under Hornby's orders, the sailors on the lookout quickly waved the flag at the top of the Gothenburg:

N+C, I'm in danger!

Because of the noise on the deck, the well-dressed rich people in the guest rooms came out one after another, and in a short period of time, almost all the people on the ship came to the deck, all looking at the steamer gradually approaching in the sea fog in the distance with excitement and expectation.

That was their last straw!

In the expectant eyes of everyone, the sea fog broke through, and the dilapidated and slightly smaller steamer anchored and stopped not far in front of them.

"Everyone's quiet! everyone's quiet!" Hornby, dressed in captain's suit, cried out as he looked at the dozen sailors beside him, "which of you would like to go to that passenger ship for all of us to find out?"

Now the worst-case scenario is that it's a pirate ship!

Several sailors who volunteered stepped forward and went to the steamer in small boats to find their way.

Hornby stares at the moving boat, which is loaded with everyone's expectations and fate.

Even if it's a pirate ship, they expect the other party to only make money and not kill them. After all, compared to their precious lives, it is estimated that those rich people will not care too much about the wealth outside their bodies, and the last thing they lack is gold.

Nearly half an hour later, the sailors returned, and judging by their surprised expressions, the people on board seemed to see a ray of hope.

The crowd greeted several brave sailors, until one of them said in a somewhat strange tone:

"The passenger ship is also departing from the Republic of Ireland to the Kingdom of Artis, and their captain has agreed to carry us for a certain journey, only if we pay the normal food and accommodation fees. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the cheerful shouts of the guests and staff on deck, and the old captain Hornby smiled with relief, he had barely slept these days.

In the sudden change of hope and the drastic change of emotion, everyone ignores the various changes in the details of several of them.