sbdcsierra Chapter 1910 Undersea Volcanic Eruption
Chapter 1910 Undersea Volcanic Eruption
Chapter 1910 Undersea Volcanic Eruption
They're not the only ones who miss home.
The next day, the crew ate piping hot dumplings, thinking about the winter solstice, and they all missed home, so they sat together and chatted.
They chatted about what delicious food their families prepared for the Winter Solstice in previous years, what kind of dumplings they made, and what other delicacies they enjoyed.
People in the north say it's sauerkraut filling, people in Shandong say it's mackerel filling, and people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang say glutinous rice balls are more important than dumplings.
Every place has its own unique characteristics, and as we chatted, our homesickness was somewhat alleviated.
"When my mom makes dumplings, she always puts some dried shrimp in the filling, saying it enhances the flavor. I didn't like it when I was little, but now that I'm older, I miss that taste."
"In our family, we always eat mutton on the winter solstice. Drinking mutton soup keeps us warm all winter long."
"The mutton soup is delicious, but it's a pity it's not convenient to make it on the boat."
Ye Yaodong listened for a while, then smiled and stood up, saying, "You guys chat, I'm going out for a walk."
Actually, I came out for a smoke. I pushed open the cabin door and the sea breeze hit me, carrying a salty, cool feeling. The moon was very bright, illuminating the deck with a silvery white light.
He walked to the ship's side, lit a cigarette, and stared blankly at the sea. The moonlight spilled onto the shimmering surface of the water, like scattered pieces of silver.
The captain is on duty today, and the chief mate will be on duty in the second half of the night, so he won't have to stay up all night.
After standing there for a while and finishing my cigarette, I thought I'd take one last look at the cockpit before resting.
After walking around again and checking on him from all directions, he finally felt at ease enough to go to sleep.
However, in the middle of the night, he suddenly heard an explosion, which startled him awake, and at the same time, the ship began to shake violently.
The moment he awoke, a cacophony of panic erupted throughout the ship.
He quickly got up, and suddenly another muffled sound came from afar, like someone firing a cannon on the seabed, causing the ship to shake even more violently.
It wasn't just ordinary waves crashing; it was a tremor that came from the depths of the sea. The whole ship felt like it was being held in someone's hand and swayed. He couldn't stand up and fell back onto the bed.
He grabbed the metal bunk bed, got up, and stumbled toward the cabin door; chaos had already broken out outside.
Footsteps, shouts, and the sounds of things falling and colliding blended together.
Fortunately, everyone was resting at midnight, and those on duty, except for those who had to be on duty, were watching videotapes in the restaurant.
When the rocking and banging of the fishing boat started, the people on duty quickly grabbed whatever they could to steady themselves and were not thrown off the boat.
The sudden accident startled the captain, who immediately notified the entire ship to be careful, stay still, not run around, and remain in the cabin.
Then I thought of calling Ye Yaodong.
However, he had already come out of the rest cabin first.
"boss!"
"What happened?" Ye Yaodong scanned the sea surface but found nothing unusual.
"I don't know. I suddenly felt a muffled sound, and then the ship started rocking violently, and the sea surface was also shaking violently. There were several muffled sounds in succession. I couldn't see anything on the sea surface, so I looked around with my binoculars."
The urgent voices of other captains could also be heard over the VHF radio, all asking what had just happened and whether anyone knew or had noticed.
Ye Yaodong's brows were so furrowed they could trap a fly.
Suddenly, another explosion rang out, and his pupils contracted sharply. Along with the sound, a burst of flames shot into his eyes, flickering with fire.
His body was also slammed against the cockpit door by the rocking fishing boat.
On the distant sea, a crimson pillar of light shot into the sky.
The beam of light was terrifyingly thick, piercing straight into the night sky and turning half of it a dark red. The top of the beam exploded, scattering countless sparks like fireworks during the Lunar New Year.
Ye Yaodong stared wide-eyed, mouth agape, then swallowed hard. "An underwater volcanic eruption..."
Everyone stared in disbelief; those lying far away almost mistook it for fireworks over the sea.
Even the VHF frequency was quiet for a moment.
The captain turned to look at him in disbelief, "A volcanic eruption?"
"A volcanic eruption!" Ye Yaodong repeated with certainty.
Volcanoes do not have a fixed eruption season. They are completely unrelated to spring, summer, autumn, winter, cold, heat, dryness, and humidity. They are determined solely by the pressure of underground magma, regardless of weather, season, or temperature.
It can erupt anytime, anywhere, day or night, in all seasons.
The captain swallowed hard and asked dryly, "In the dead of winter, on the high seas... and a volcano erupting?"
“Underwater volcanoes are the primary eruption sites, but many eruptions occur thousands of meters deep on the seabed, where there is no movement on the surface, so they are not detected.”
He never expected that they would hit the jackpot and witness a volcanic eruption in international waters.
The high seas are not only a place where volcanoes erupt, but they are also one of the most active volcanic areas, although they are usually hidden underwater and cannot be seen.
In addition, communication was underdeveloped at that time, there was no internet, people had limited access to news and information, and their education level was also limited, so their knowledge was naturally limited as well.
"Then... what do we do now?"
The VHF radio was buzzing with discussion, with everyone talking about the "fireworks show" they had just seen and asking what to do next.
The fishing boats were still trawling, and everyone had already taken the initiative to move away. The rest of us were unsure what to do.
Since Ye Yaodong was there, they couldn't just say they wanted to go back; they had to listen to their boss.
Ye Yaodong steadied himself in the swaying cockpit, pressed a button, and transmitted commands via VHF.
"All fishing boats immediately head in the opposite direction and quickly haul in their nets to return home."
"receive."
All the captains responded one after another, and felt a little relieved.
It would be good if there weren't any bosses who would risk their lives for money. At this point, I'm afraid I'll have to tell them to stay away and then continue trawling.
That's a volcanic eruption; who knows if it will spread here?
Even from a great distance, the sea is shaking here, affecting fishing boats, let alone the epicenter of the volcanic eruption over there.
Right now, the entire underground must be shaking.
Ye Yaodong kept staring into the distance, and muttered dryly, "Damn! What a stroke of luck..."
No sooner had he finished speaking than another muffled thud was heard.
This sound was even louder than before, making people's ears ring and causing the cabin windows to rattle.
The beam of light grew thicker, and the red light became even brighter, almost blindingly so.
Immediately afterwards, the sea began to churn, not like the churning of wind and waves, but as if something was pushing upwards from below, and the seawater seemed to be boiling, bubbling and gurgling.
Ye Yaodong pressed the station's intercom button, "All ships on alert! Everyone put on your life jackets! We're closing the net and heading back immediately! Except for the relevant personnel, everyone else should stay inside the cabins and grab onto anything that can give you a foothold."
We've been at sea for years and have seen all sorts of things, but a volcanic eruption is something we've never experienced before, so we're all a bit panicked.
But hearing his instructions made them feel a little more at ease.
The boss is here.
Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up; the boss is always there.
Ye Yaodong reassured them, "We're far away, so we should be fine. It looks like we're about 20 or 30 nautical miles apart."
At the same time, he also reassured the crew over the VHF radio: "Pull in the nets immediately, calm the crew down, tell them to put on their life jackets, and we'll return immediately."
The captains were also quickly informing the entire ship of the response measures.
He handed the boat over to the captain and picked up his binoculars to look into the distance.
Flames soared into the sky, thick smoke billowed, and the sea was completely boiling. Giant waves surged one after another in all directions, but by the time they reached them, they had weakened considerably. Although the ship was rocking, it could withstand the pressure.
After everyone issued the response measures and instructions, the fishing boats moved away, the fishing nets were being pulled in, and everything was still under control. They breathed a sigh of relief and were also able to express their shock.
"An underwater volcano eruption? I've never seen anything like it in my half-life!"
"Damn it, everyone's seeing this for the first time, it scared me to death."
"Damn, at first I thought some ship was setting off fireworks."
"You fucking dare to dream, setting off fireworks, volcano fireworks?"
"Doesn't it look like fireworks from a distance?"
"Damn, that was terrifying. It was making a loud rumbling noise. Luckily, it was far away from us. I wonder if there are any fishing boats around or in the center of that area. If so, we'd be in big trouble."
"Even if such a situation existed, it would be hopeless; no one would dare to help."
"Don't even mention saving them, and don't even mention being in the center. Even on the edge, they might not survive. That's a volcanic eruption, not real fireworks."
Amid the discussion, another muffled thud was heard.
This time it was even louder, making everyone's hearts tremble. The red light exploded again, scattering sparks that continued to burn on the sea surface. Thick smoke billowed upwards, obscuring half the sky.
He switched the channel to the international relief channel and listened to some broken gibberish. He couldn't understand a word, but he could feel that the people speaking were very excited and moved.
He kept saying "oh my god, oh my god," and he understood what that meant.
They are calling for God.
And their fleet was fucking, fucking...
The captain, his heart pounding, said, "Boss, how long will this volcano keep erupting? It's been erupting non-stop, and it seems to be getting stronger with each eruption..."
"I don't know, maybe it will stop spraying after it releases the pressure? Anyway, let's hurry up and bring the fishing net in, running as we go. Also, let's remind everyone on deck to be careful and keep their balance."
"Okay, okay, if we keep spraying like this, won't it cause an earthquake and tsunami?"
"Stop jinxing it, just hurry up and run."
The captain slapped his sore mouth and continued to concentrate on navigating the fishing boat, keeping a close eye on the other instruments and equipment, and occasionally reminding the entire crew to be careful.
Ye Yaodong held a telescope, staring intently at the location of the volcanic eruption in the distance.
This was the most spectacular fireworks he had ever seen, and also the most terrifying. He had only ever heard of sparks setting fire to a prairie, but he never imagined that sparks could set fire to the sea. Thick smoke billowed over that stretch of ocean.
Having lived for so many years, this is the first time I've seen anything like this. It would be a lie to say I wasn't afraid, but there's no use being afraid. When you make a living at sea, you can encounter anything.
But after he went back, his mother never went out to sea again.
Ye Yaodong pressed the station's public address system again, "Everyone, while ensuring your own safety as much as possible, speed up the closing of the net so we can escape as soon as possible."
Fortunately, the distance gave them time to react; otherwise, they would have had to abandon the fishing nets to save the cargo, sacrificing the pawn to save the king.
That would be terrible; the losses would be devastating. Now we can only adapt to the situation and try our best to preserve it.
"Other fishing boats should pay close attention to safety and report any situation promptly."
"receive."
The volcano erupted intermittently, sometimes with large beams of light, sometimes with small ones.
After it stopped spraying for more than ten minutes, I thought it was over, but it started again later.
Fortunately, they are slowly moving away.
Just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky.
wrong.
It wasn't lightning.
That was... a storm?
Before he could think it through, a sudden gust of wind blew up.
It didn't start slowly; it came suddenly, as if someone had flipped a switch. The ship lurched violently, and he stumbled, grabbing the bulkhead to steady himself.
"What's going on!" the captain exclaimed.
Ye Yaodong looked outside and his heart sank.
The world has changed.
The moon and stars, which were previously clearly visible, are now completely obscured by dark clouds.
The dark clouds didn't drift in slowly; they appeared suddenly, a dark, low-hanging mass that seemed to be touching the sea surface, spreading from afar.
The wind howled, and the waves suddenly grew larger, crashing in one after another.
"Volcanic eruptions can affect the weather...and may cause earthquakes, tsunamis..."
Ye Yaodong looked at the dark clouds and waves in the distance, his expression changed, and he pressed the station's broadcast and VHF radio.
"Notify us, immediately abandon the fishing nets, speed up, and return immediately."
"Abandon the fishing net immediately and speed up the return journey."
Everyone on the VHF radio responded nervously one after another.
The fishing boats scattered on the sea surface suddenly accelerated, no longer hampered by fishing nets, and immediately sped up.
He could still tell what was more important than what was less important. If he couldn't protect it, then so be it. Now that a storm was about to break out, the most important thing was to return home as soon as possible.
He immediately cut off the "oh my god" cries from the rescue channel; he didn't want to call his mother anymore, he wanted to call his ancestors.
The captain was already muttering to himself, "May Mazu protect us...mazu protect us..."
The torrential rain came crashing down instantly.
It wasn't raining drop by drop, but pouring down in large swaths, as if the sky had leaked.
Raindrops pounded on the deck and the cabin, making a loud, pattering sound.
The wind whipped up torrential rain, making it impossible to open one's eyes.
Ye Yaodong immediately notified the entire ship, "Everyone, do not linger on the deck, return to your cabins immediately."
Nobody was stupid; everyone immediately hid after abandoning the fishing nets.
The ship began to rock violently, even more violently than before. It was now completely overturned, and even with his binoculars, he could hardly see the eruption point of the volcano.
Wave after wave crashed in, tossing the boat up and down, tossing it up and down again.
"Stay calm! Stay calm!"
He shouted but didn't speak to anyone.
The VHF radio became chaotic again.
"Dongzi! Dongzi! How are things over there?"
"The waves are too big! I can't see anything here! I can only keep going on the set course."
"Me too! Damn it, everything was fine just now, how could it change so suddenly!"
"It's alright, everyone stay calm. We're far away, so the impact is only on the edge. Hurry up and run away from this area."
"Accelerating..."
Everything is insignificant in the face of nature.
He'll retire from his life of crime once he gets ashore!
I was planning to make this last trip before the new year, and then I wouldn't be going out again after the new year, damn it.
(End of this chapter)