The Mysterious Island Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 114: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (45)
I fully understood that what Ned Land said was right, people on land already knew the existence of the "Nautilus".They are trying to find it, control it, bring it to its knees.If we say that seven months ago, when it and the "Lincoln" accidentally met and the Canadian harpoons hit it, Commander Farragut only recognized that this so-called narwhal was actually a strange ship , is something more dangerous than the fiercest humpback whale.Now, then, there can be no doubt that the men of the land are in motion to seek and pursue this dreadful and destructive machine over all the seas, and to put it to death as soon as possible.

I thought of the story of the "Revenge" just now, and I couldn't help but shudder.It would be a terrible thing if Captain Nemo commanded the "Nautilus" to carry out revenge!I vividly remember when we were imprisoned in the little house, right in the Indian Ocean, the "Nautilus" launched a fatal attack on some ships.Didn't the crew member who was solemnly buried in the coral cemetery by Captain Nemo die because of the impact of the "Nautilus"?It seems that things are indeed becoming clearer. Part of Captain Nemo's mysterious underwater life has been revealed. Although his identity has not been finally confirmed, at least some countries have united to find him and want to destroy him. .But for me and my companions it was a complete tragedy, the ship that came after us didn't know we were on the Nautilus or that we wanted to escape and join them.Before our eyes, the battleship was just a merciless enemy, and more shells fell around us, some hit the water, jumped up again, and fell on the sea at a long distance and disappeared. None of them could hit. "Nautilus".

The iron-clad battleship sped in pursuit as it fired its guns, and was now only three nautical miles away.Despite the heavy bombardment, Captain Nemo did not come up to the platform.I thought it would have been fatal to the Nautilus if one of these gigantic cone-shaped shells struck right on the hull.

The Canadian became anxious, and he said to me:

"Sir, we should find a way to change our current dangerous situation. Shall we send a signal? It doesn't matter if the sky is falling, we need to let the people on the battleship understand that there are integrity like us on the Nautilus ,kind person!"

Ned Land swayed in the air with his arms outstretched.But just as he was about to make some symbolic movements with a certain meaning, he was immediately knocked down on the platform by a hand like iron pincers, even though the Canadian manpower is enormous.

"Bastard!" a voice yelled. "When the Nautilus slams into that frigate in a few moments, I'll nail you to the horn first!"

It's Captain Nemo!His voice was full of brutality and brutality, and his face was even more hideous.His face became very pale due to the irregular beating of his heart, and his pupils burst into crystal light.He was literally yelling, bending forward, twisting the Canadian's shoulders with his hands, and pinning the Canadian down on the platform, while turning back to the ship, he yelled viciously:

"Well, you already know who I am, ship of your accursed nation! I don't need to see your flag to recognize you! Look! I'll show you my flag!"

Captain Nemo unfurled a flag on the platform to the wind, the same as the flag he planted on the Antarctic continent, it was a small golden flag.At this moment, a shell hit the Nautilus at an angle, and the shell slid from the smooth ship into the sea before exploding without seriously damaging it.Captain Nemo shrugged his shoulders disdainfully, then turned to me and said to me in a commanding tone:
"Go down, all of you, down, you and your companions."

"Sir Captain," I cried, "will you attack that ship?"

"Yes, Mr. Professor, I'm going to sink it completely."

"You can't do that!"

"Which country's law is this, I am only allowed to be beaten passively, I will do it!" Captain Nemo replied coldly, "You don't want to make any judgments for me, Mr. Professor, fate is destined to make you see what you should not see." It’s nothing, so let’s accept our fate. The opponent’s attack is almost over, and my counterattack will be ten times stronger than their cannon.”

"Which country does this ship belong to?"

"Don't you know? That would be the best! At least its nationality will be kept a secret from you. Get down to the cabin, if you don't want to be blown apart by their shells."

The Canadian, Conseil and I had no choice but to obey.Fifteen or six sailors on the "Nautilus" surrounded the captain, watching the chasing warship with resolute and hateful eyes.As I went down, another shell hit the Nautilus, causing the hull to shake, and I heard the captain shout:
"Fight, stupid lunatics! Fire as much as you want! You can't survive today, the Nautilus's horns are invincible. Your sinking will stain this sacred sea. The glorious wreck of the "Revenge" does not want With you guys!"

I returned to my room with my companions, while the captain and his crew remained on the platform. The propellers of the "Nautilus" accelerated and quickly left the sea in this area, driving to a place where the battleship's shells could not hit.But the battleship pursued closely, and Captain Nemo kept a certain distance from it.At four o'clock in the afternoon, growing anxious and at last unable to restrain myself, I walked quickly to the central staircase and saw that the panel was still open.I ventured out onto the platform, where the captain was still pacing up and down excitedly.From time to time he stopped and stared at the battleship five or six nautical miles away.He commanded the "Nautilus" which was slowly drawing the battleship to the east, but he did not attack.Is he hesitating?I wanted to make one last effort, and I was about to speak when he interrupted me, saying in a venomous voice:
"This is my right! It was given to me by God, and here I am justice! I have been oppressed enough! You see, that is the oppressor! It is they who have ruined everything I love, all my dear Dear, respected ones, including my home, lover, children, and parents, were all destroyed by them! They are the source of my hatred, and they are on that boat! You better not speak!"

I took another look at the battleship, which was coming at full speed.I didn't say anything more, turned around and went back to the cabin, found Ned and Conseil, and said:

"Let's run away!"

"Okay, that's it." Ned said, "Professor, do you know which country the battleship belongs to?"

"I don't know, no matter which country it belongs to, it will definitely be sunk by the 'Nautilus' before night falls. In short, it is better to live and die with the battleship than to sit and watch the 'Nautilus' take revenge."

"That's exactly what I want to say," Ned Land replied coldly. "We'll wait until it's dark."

As night fell, there was no daytime hustle and bustle on board, and a deep silence remained.Judging from the compass, the "Nautilus" did not change direction, and the thrusters were turning vigorously, stirring the sea water rapidly and regularly.It was still on the surface of the sea, and with the waves, the hull swayed slightly from side to side.

My companion and I are determined to escape when the battleship has traveled a certain distance. Perhaps our hasty footsteps will be heard and our distressed figures will be seen, because in three days it will be the full moon day, and now The moonlight is very bright.In any case, as long as we escaped to the battleship, if we could not prevent it from being fatally attacked, at least we did what we had to do.A few times, I felt that the Nautilus was about to attack, but it only brought its opponent closer, and after a while, the "Nautilus" accelerated to escape.

The night is slipping away, and we are still biding our time, ready to act.None of the three of us spoke, and Ned Land made a few rash attempts to jump into the sea because of the excitement, and I forced him to sit and wait.It seemed to me that when the Nautilus was about to attack the double-decked frigate on the water, it was time for us to escape.

At three o'clock in the morning, I couldn't hold back the uneasiness in my heart, and went to the platform to breathe.Captain Nemo was still there, standing at the bow, the flag erected beside him, fluttering back and forth above his head in the breeze.His eyes were fixed on the battleship, and his eyes were as bright as lightning.He saw and saw the battleship like this, as if he was attracting it, but also seemed to be paralyzing it.At this time the moon passed the meridian and Jupiter rose in the east.Behind this peaceful nature lies an aggressive murderous intent. The sea acts as the most beautiful mirror for the moon. I am afraid that this mirror will soon reflect the fire and gunpowder.I feel my body tremble when I compare the tranquility of the sky and the sea with all the volcanic anger brewing inside the Nautilus.

The battleship was still sailing two nautical miles from us, unrelenting, and keeping her course on the Nautilus.I saw the traffic lights on the battleship to show the direction, and the white ship light hanging on the big mast in front.In the night, showers of sparks and clouds of burning cinders spewed from its chimney, showing that it was ramping up its fire and advancing at full speed.

I remained on the platform until morning, and Captain Nemo seemed not to see me, minding his own business.At this time, the battleship was still [-] nautical miles away from us, and when the first light of the new day appeared on the horizon, the battleship's guns boomed again. The time has come for the "Nautilus" to strike back, and the time has come for my companions and I to escape from here completely.

I was about to go down to the cabin to inform them, when the mate came out onto the platform, followed by several sailors.Under the silent watch of Captain Nemo, the first mate led the sailors to start the preparations before the battle. They first put down the wire netting around the platform as railings, and then hid the searchlight and the pilot's cage inside the hull , so that they stick close to the hull out of the water.In this way, the outside of the cigar-shaped steel plate no longer has any protruding parts to hinder its movement.

When I returned to the living room, the "Nautilus" was still floating on the water.The dawn of the morning shines into the water and is fluctuated by the waves, presenting a lively scene.But at the same time, the terrible battle of June 6 officially kicked off.At five o'clock, I saw that the needle of the rangefinder slowed down, and it was estimated that the "Nautilus" was deliberately letting the enemy approach.The sound of the cannons outside also sounded like a burst, and the whizzing shells fell into the surrounding water, bursting out bursts of cracking.

"Friends," I said solemnly, "the time is coming, let's shake hands, and may God be with us!"

Ned Land looked very determined, Conseil looked calm, but I was nervous and could hardly restrain myself.We went to the library, and as I pushed open the door to the central staircase cage, I heard the upper panel snap shut, which was not good news for us.The Canadian scrambled up the steps, trying to do something, but I held back, the power of man and machine was irresistible.With a familiar sound, I knew the water had been sucked into the tank on the ship.After a while, the "Nautilus" dived to a depth of several meters below the surface of the water.

I finally understood its course of action, and our plan had obviously gone awry, causing it to move too slowly.Obviously, the "Nautilus" didn't want to use its angle of attack to deal with the battleship's solid armor. It wanted to dive and take action below the battleship's buoy line, which was not protected by a steel hull.We had no choice but to return to the cabin and prepared to be witnesses to another tragedy against our conscience.We hid in the room, looked at each other, didn't say a word, even our thoughts stopped.I was in a position where I was waiting for an explosion to blow me apart, and it was a horrible feeling.I waited, pricked up my ears, for now I live only by hearing!

After traveling some distance at normal speed, the "Nautilus" suddenly accelerated, it was now taking a forward speed, and the whole hull was shaking.There was a sudden violent jolt, and the impact I expected finally happened, but it was relatively milder than expected.I can clearly feel the penetrating power and travel route of the steel horn. First, the horn tears the hull, and then crashes into it with the strong inertia.In this way, the "Nautilus", under the strong propulsion of the propeller, rushed straight past the lower deck of this steel battleship, just as simple as a sharp pole on a sailboat passing through a piece of cloth sail!I couldn't stand the tragedy happening before my eyes, I ran out of the room like a madman, and staggered into the living room.Captain Nemo was standing in the drawing room, strangely silent, melancholy, and implacable, watching through the port panel the whole process of a tragedy.At this time, a huge object sank to the bottom of the water, and the "Nautilus" descended with it, as if enjoying the painful process before the opponent's death.Just ten meters in front of my eyes, I saw the hull of this battleship burst, and the sea water poured in frantically, and the sea water quickly flooded the two cannons and the hammock cabin.The deck was full of disturbed figures, those crew members jumped onto the mast wall net, grabbed the mast wall, and struggled in the water. There is nothing more tragic than this scene in the world!
My whole body was stiff and numb, my eyes were wide open, I felt out of breath, the curtain of tragedy was slowly being drawn up, without breath, without sound, an irresistible attraction made me stick tightly to the glass !
The huge battleship sank slowly, and suddenly there was an explosion on the battleship. The powerful impact blasted the deck of the battleship, and the force of the influx of sea water was even stronger. Under the sea... I turned my head to see Captain Nemo, the mastermind behind this terrible tragedy, the real Avenger.When all was calm again, Captain Nemo walked towards his door, and I watched him enter the room.On a panel in his room, beneath the portraits of heroes, I saw a portrait of a young woman and two children. Captain Nemo stared blankly at the portrait, and stretched out Kneeling on the ground with both arms at the same time, sobbing and crying bitterly.

Captain Nemo's Last Words
The parlor panels were closed at this point, the lights were not turned on, and the interior of the Nautilus was enveloped in darkness and silence.With hundreds of feet of water under the surface, our boat quickly left this miserable place.Where is it going?north?Or south?After planning and carrying out this terrible act of vengeance, is this strange man trying to escape?Where are you going?When I returned to the room, Ned and Conseil sat silently in the cabin, and I felt extremely disgusted with Captain Nemo in my heart.Although he has suffered greatly from others, he has no right to such cruel revenge.Although he did not compel me to be his accomplice, I was compelled to be a witness to his vengeance!This is unacceptable to me.

At eleven o'clock the lights came on.I went into the living room, but there was no one there.I looked at the various measuring instruments in the hall. The "Nautilus" was heading north at a speed of 25 knots, sometimes on the surface of the sea, sometimes under thirty feet of water.Judging from the records on the map, we passed over the mouth of the English Channel and sailed in the direction of the Arctic Ocean.

At night, we had traveled [-] miles on the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean, darkness fell, and the moon rose in the east.

I went back to the room, but I couldn't fall asleep after lying down. The scene of the destruction of the ironclad battleship and hundreds of crew members frequently appeared in my mind, and became the main content of the nightmare.

(End of this chapter)