"Yes. Of course, this method might not necessarily work, but it's the simplest and most likely method."
Zhang Lisheng thought about it and a gleam flashed across his eyes as he nodded approvingly. "This is indeed a good idea. It's much better than blindly turning around in the sea. Have you told the captain about your idea?"
"The captain has already thought of this without me reminding him. When the cruise ship was stranded, he's already asked the navigator to check the route recorded on the nautical instrument.
Besides, our primary problem now is not how to return but how to get the ship out of the stone pillar. "
The boys in the US high school were generally not that smart and knew how to cooperate. Their personality was competitive and childish. However, it was apparent that this Eudora was completely different from his classmates. His words could always hit the main point.
His performance gained Zhang Lisheng's approval. "Then, do you have any solution to this, Eudora?"
"It's fortunate that these two big pillars are erected in the sea. My idea is to fill the bottom of the stone pillars with wood and make a bonfire when the tide is low so that we can continuously heat the stone pillars.
When the tide is high, the thermal expansion and contraction, coupled with the ship's huge torque, I hope we can break the stone pillars. "
Using the principle of thermal expansion and contraction to break a stone pillar that was more than ten meters thick sounded like a fantasy, but in fact, it was very feasible.
One could even say that as long as the stone pillar's material could conduct heat, without the help of the Elizabeth Holiday's torque, as long as the base was damaged by thermal expansion and contraction, the giant pillar would collapse from its own weight sooner or later.
"This method sounds very feasible?"
"Our captain said so too. I guess he'll gather people to the shore to chop wood when the tide is low.
Such a large cruise ship should have enough fire axes. By then, the key would be whether the indigenous people on the island are kind Tin Woodman or the evil Queen? "
The Tin Woodman and the Queen were both characters in Alice in Wonderland. The former was the protagonist's powerful helper while the latter was the villain.
"I hope they're all Tin Woodman," Trish, who had been absent-minded all along, suddenly whispered.
Compared to the Catholic girl, after listening to Eudora's words, Zhang Lisheng was thinking about a more critical problem instead. Destroying the huge stone pillars in the sea would take time. Since the Elizabeth Holiday's original plan was only to sail around New York's coastal waters, the food that it brought along must be very limited.
Once there was a shortage of food, the motley crew on the ship would immediately fall into chaos. At that time, it would only be a joke to say that they would work together to cut down trees, light fires, and destroy the stone pillars.
Naturally, the Elizabeth Holiday's captain, Fjodna, could think of the problem that Zhang Lisheng could think of as well. When dawn was about to break, he dragged his exhausted body back to the steering cabin and asked the third mate who had counted the supplies, "Angela, how much food is left on the ship?"
"About 1,400 pounds of uneaten cake, 3,700 eggs … 1,000 pounds of flour, enough for everyone on the ship if we eat sparingly …"
"There's not much fuel left on the boat. We only have one chance to break free from the stone pillar. If we talk about saving food now, we'll be courting death.
Pile the food on the table at dawn and all the men who disembark the ship to cut down trees can take whatever they want. As for the men who are unwilling to contribute, just give them two pounds of bread just like the women … "
"Sir, in this case, I'm afraid that the people's hearts that have finally calmed down will collapse right away."
"That won't happen. As long as there's a way to escape, the people's hearts will not collapse. However, if the ship can't break free from the stone pillar when the tide rises … Young man, let's pray!
Let's hope that God will bless us … "
When the old man uttered his last sentence, the first ray of sunlight on the horizon slowly broke through the dark sea.
"It's dawn! It's dawn! Look at that sun! That's obviously Earth's sun! W-We're still on Earth …"
"Still on Earth? You mean we've circled around New York's coastal waters and discovered a new continent just like Columbus?
Wake up, buddy! We must have arrived at a supernatural realm! A supernatural realm whose sun is very similar to Earth … "
"The sky has already turned bright but those torches are still approaching us. Looks like the aborigines of this world are really slow." The sudden appearance of the sun caused a commotion among the people on the deck who were already a little dizzy after a tense night.
All of a sudden, a tall boy pointed excitedly at a short figure wearing black animal skin who was holding a torch and walking out of the jungle and shouted, "W-They're very short! Sh * t! Have we arrived at the Dwarf Kingdom?"
"That's a dwarf! Sh * t! We've come to the world of Dungeons & Dragons! This is amazing!"
"That's not the dwarves in Dungeons & Dragons. They don't have big beards so they look more like gnomes. However, the civilization of the gnomes should be higher."
"Speaking of civilization, I think your civilization should be higher. Don't tell me that you don't know the fear that the primitive people don't know?" Listening to the heated discussion of the young people around him that was gradually getting excited, Zhang Lisheng muttered with a grave expression as he looked at the increasing number of gnomes on the shore who looked very similar to the people who had their eyes dug out last night.
"They're really gnomes! Perhaps we should get in touch with them. They're so short and skinny so we can tell that they're harmless and kind just by looking at them. Don't you think so, Lisheng?"
"I'm also considered short and skinny compared to you. Do you think I'm harmless when facing strangers who can't distinguish between friend and foe?"
Zhang Lisheng's words stunned Tina for a moment. Then, the girl could not help but shudder when she recalled the young man's resolute attitude towards strangers who might be potential enemies. "W-Why do you say so …"
Zhang Lisheng looked at the gnomes who were shouting and waving their hands in joy as they looked at the Elizabeth Holiday that was stuck on the stone pillar. Zhang Lisheng made a shushing gesture at Tina. "Don't ask anymore, Tina. In short, you just have to remember that those gnomes are very dangerous creatures. You can never come into contact with them alone."
Under the young man's gaze, the gnomes on the shore shouted excitedly for a while before suddenly kneeling down one by one and worshipping the huge steel ship.
"Those natives are kneeling down and saluting us! Perhaps they're treating us as God!
Oh, this is so funny … "
"In the eyes of the primitive people, we're actually similar to God. We can just casually take a lighter from the ship and give it to them so that they don't have to drill wood to start a fire and change the course of their entire civilization …"
"Don't say that, Jack. As outsiders, we shouldn't think that we're above those aborigines. Instead, we should tell them that we're a group of victims who need their help …"
When the young people on the deck saw the aborigines kneeling down and worshipping the ship, the fear in their hearts lessened a lot. An inexplicable sense of superiority crept upon their faces as they pointed at the gnomes below the ship and discussed among themselves. Some of them even had the idea of getting off the ship to communicate with the aborigines on the island.
Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, looked at the gnomes kneeling down and worshipping on the sharp sand that could easily cut a human's skin without any injuries on their bodies. At once, he could not help but tighten his grip on Mountoad in his arms.
"Sir, I think we should get in touch with the aborigines on this island. They seem to respect us very much. As long as we maintain a good attitude, I believe that there won't be any accidents." In the steering cabin, the first mate, who wanted to atone for his mistake, suggested to the captain when he saw the gnomes kneeling on the beach like beans far away from the observation window.
"When I was young, I was the third mate on the cargo ship Iceberg and ran the route from New York to the Congo. These gnomes look very similar to the aborigines of the African tribes.
In other words, their way of thinking might be very strange and completely different from our logical way of thinking. Showing respect doesn't mean that there's no danger. "
"But didn't you want to gather people to disembark the ship to cut wood?
If those gnomes don't leave, we'll have to get in touch with them. Why don't we … "
"Wait, wait patiently for Harry. We'll disembark the ship and get in touch with those gnomes if they still don't leave when the sky turns bright and the tide recedes completely.
Get someone to prepare the safety axes. Also, get the ship's security to load the bullets. "
"Yes, Sir!" Harry nodded and strode out of the steering cabin to instruct the sailors to get ready to disembark.
As a luxury ocean liner, even though the route that the Elizabeth Holiday usually sailed on was very safe, the necessary measures to prevent maritime disasters were very comprehensive. Under the order of the first mate, not long after, over 50 sailors holding safety axes and ten security guards holding long guns were ready.
At this time, the gnomes on the shore had already worshipped the Elizabeth Holiday for a long time. Perhaps they felt that they had already expressed enough sincerity, for under the lead of a leader who had a long fluttering feather tied on his head, they climbed up from the sand and ran into the forest while squealing excitedly.
Seeing that the gnomes had left from the observation window, the captain breathed a sigh of relief. After personally watching the last aborigines enter the forest, he picked up the microphone on the broadcasting station and said loudly, "Dear dear passengers, I'm Captain Fjodna Nightingale of the Elizabeth Holiday.
I think everyone already knows that we've fallen into a predicament inexplicably.
As the captain, I'll do my best to lead everyone out of this predicament and return to New York victoriously. However, in order to do this, we need all of us to work together … "
After comforting and encouraging everyone, and after thoroughly analyzing the stakes of destroying the giant pillar that was stuck on the ship with the method of thermal expansion and contraction, Fjodna proposed to let the men on the ship disembark voluntarily to cut wood. Of course, due to the limited tools, most of them actually went into the forest to pick up branches.
The New York boys, who had never experienced any danger before, did not need the temptation of food at all. One by one, they excitedly expressed their willingness to disembark the ship to help the Elizabeth Holiday get out of danger as soon as possible.
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