Dragon Raja; Chapter 90: Stars and Flowers (16)

Dragon Raja

Next to the bookshelf was something he had been dreaming of—a campus map. The entire layout of the college was clearly presented, even including the underground tunnels.

The underground passage from the library he was in led directly to a marked red area—“Icehouse: Alchemical Equipment and Specimen Exhibition Hall”! There were also red warning words: “High Risk! Entry prohibited without a special permit!”

The library was quiet and there was no one to help, probably because there was nothing important here, so No. 13, who was a road idiot, could study the route in detail. It turned out to be a full map of the campus. It seemed that this college had no concept of confidentiality. The entire structure of the college was clearly presented, including the function of each building and even the underground passages. No. 13 praised these fantasy game enthusiasts for being so considerate, while the employer who hired him here was so unkind that he didn’t even prepare a map for them.

“This is… too easy, isn’t it?” Number 13 felt a kind of joy, as if a pie had fallen from the sky and hit him.

Wait a minute…underground passage…No. 13 suddenly discovered something important.

He was a bounty hunter, taking missions on a secret website for money. This mission was categorized as a “3A” level high-difficulty task with a huge reward. Many people had wanted to take it, but only he passed the employer’s screening. Those who were rejected had speculated that the danger of this task must be extreme—rewards in this line of work were always proportional to the danger. But now, it seemed like this “Icehouse” wasn’t a heavily guarded place at all; it was merely an exhibition hall, with some underground passages leading to it.

An underground passage led from the library where he was to the red-marked area, the “Ice Cellar”! There was even a note next to it, “The official name is the ‘Collection of Alchemical Equipment and Important Specimens’, and access is restricted. Except for those with special authorization, if you need to enter, you must apply to the principal’s office with your teacher’s qualification or student ID.”

“Damn, this is too easy!” No. 13 was very excited. He didn’t know why such an easy task was classified as an “S” level difficult task and offered such a high bonus. He couldn’t help but praise Lady Luck. He got a cup of soda from a nearby vending machine, forgot about the Valhalla meeting point, and studied the map while heading to the entrance of the underground passage.

The map indicated that the underground passage led through the “Central Host Control Room” before reaching the “Icehouse,” with the name “Norma” written beside it.

No. 13 was a little puzzled as to what “Norma” meant. He felt that it was like when he was playing “Dungeons & Dragons” with his friends, a secret treasure maze appeared on the map with “Dragon Treasure House: Black Dragon King” written on it. The name at the end was obviously the boss hidden inside.

“Boom!” No. 13 made a gorgeous gun-pulling gesture and simulated the sound of a gun. “If there’s a Boss, I’ll blow you up!”

He became happier and happier. The nervousness he had felt at the beginning of this mission completely disappeared. He walked in the empty library hall, feeling as if he was strolling in a garden.

The entrance that appeared in front of him was exactly the same as the one shown on the map. “Central Host Control Room: Special Pass Required to Enter.”

Guderian glanced at Manstein, who was sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed. Manstein was commanding his “Snake” to search the entire campus. “Snake” was particularly good at detecting metal, but searching for people took more time.

Guderian moved beside Schneider, watching the campus map on the screen with him. The bright dots were densely stationed in various areas, but one building was almost blank.

“You didn’t deploy guards at the library? The Central Host Control Room and Icehouse are two of our most important areas, and there’s no one there.” Guderian pointed at the empty space.

“I was only worried about the entrances to Valhalla and the chapel. No one can break into the Central Host Control Room—it has Norma. Her self-defense system is the strongest on campus. If she detects danger, she can electrify the entire metal passageway with hundreds of thousands of volts, enough to incinerate even a mosquito!” Schneider said.

“Central Host Control Room”—this was the sign at the entrance in front of him. After cutting the power to the surveillance cameras, he approached the heavy metal door and pushed, feeling at a loss.

No. 13 was walking in a metal passage. At first, he felt a little intimidated by the equipment here. But after he gently pushed the first metal door and it opened, he realized that it was all for show. All the access control systems had green lights, and the pretentious cameras were all turned off. There was even a black access card inserted in the door in front. I don’t know which careless programmer forgot it when he left.

No. 13 was very happy. He took out the map from his butt pocket and studied it again. The underground passage was through the room in front.

He took up the black card and put it in the card slot for a moment. With a “beep”, he passed the access control.

Access granted.

Number 13 stared in amazement at the black card, then at the black passageway ahead of him. The walls of the passage were covered in metal panels, and red lights lined the way, with infrared rays as dense as thorn bushes. The gap between beams was only about two fingers wide—too narrow even for a rat to squeeze through. Surveillance cameras looked down from both sides every few meters, covering every angle.

But now, all of these tight security measures were shutting down just for him. The infrared beams turned off one by one, the cameras powered down, and the red lights turned green.

Within seconds, the passage was completely open—all green lights ahead.

“Whoosh!” Number 13 walked through the passage, patting the lowered cameras as he went, feeling an overwhelming sense of ridiculous good luck.

What kind of security system was this? Just one black card and it’s all bypassed—nothing but a display.

What he didn’t know was that a certain deadly system had also been disabled for him. The deadly high-voltage static electricity between the metal plates, reaching hundreds of thousands of volts, would have instantly charred any mosquito entering this space. He made his way through, reaching a vast space—clearly where the central host was kept. Black metal boxes were stacked from the floor to the ceiling, with countless blade processors assembled together. Indicator lights flashed rapidly; this massive, multi-story system was processing a tremendous amount of data.

“So high-tech!” Number 13 marveled.

“Hee-haw hee-haw hee-haw hee-haw hee-haw!”

The strange sound startled Number 13. He turned, gun drawn.

“Good evening, sir! Would you like a drink? It’s a wonderful night, isn’t it?”

Where his shotgun was aimed stood a half-human-height metal puppet, made of a pile of shiny metal rods, like magnetic toys for children. But the little guy not only bowed but also had a fawning smile on its comical face.

“Don’t come any closer… If you do, I’ll… I’ll blow you up!” Number 13 was unsure about the identity of this opponent and couldn’t help but feel a bit tense.

“My name is Adams. We offer beer and pretty ladies!” The little creature was eager to please.

“What… what… what is this high-end toy?” Number 13 couldn’t take it anymore and kicked the puppet, scattering it into a pile of metal rods.

He looked around. This was obviously a room that stored the central mainframe. Black metal boxes were stacked from the ground to the roof, with flashing indicator lights exposed. It looked like countless blade processors were put together. Apart from that, there was nothing else in this place. The only large display screen was also black. Of course, the underground passage on the map was still there, right in front of the disaster relief center, next to the mainframe cabinet group.

“Amazing place.” No. 13 originally thought that he should shoot down the mainframe, so that the warning system might be paralyzed. However, he didn’t want to expose his position, nor did he want to destroy the things of the campus fantasy lovers. This college has been very friendly to him so far, which made him a little touched.

The pile of rods rolled around and reassembled itself into the puppet’s form. It rolled behind Number 13, mumbling, “EVA, our place is getting trashed! EVA, our place is getting trashed!”

“What nonsense?” Number 13 turned around, his heart suddenly clenching as if it almost stopped beating.

“Hey, good evening!” He blurted out, smiling instinctively.

Behind him was a faint beam of light, shining from above. Standing in the light was an almost transparent figure—a girl with long hair, wearing silk pajamas, so adorably unreal that it made Number 13 feel ashamed of his disheveled appearance. For a moment, he felt like he had intruded into someone’s bedroom.

The girl even nodded to Number 13: “Who are you?”

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