Lu Mingfei had no idea that these snake-headed statues didn’t always maintain their bowing posture.
They journeyed for a long time. The dye line guided them through the labyrinthine corridors of Bronze City until they arrived at an open space.
The water in the corridor flowed into a lake, dark blue to the point of near blackness, icy cold, with an unknown depth.
Lu Mingfei looked up, letting the headlamp on his helmet shine upwards. He saw a bronze dome that resembled the sky. It had a massive tree that seemed to grow out from the center of the bronze dome, its branches and leaves forming numerous patterns, like a vast fractal diagram. Just looking at it made his head spin.
“This is the place where Ye Sheng and Aki came before. Do you remember that diagram?” Nono whispered.
“You mean the place where Ye Sheng and Aki died.” Lu Mingfei looked scared. “This place is unlucky.”
“We have you, our little map expert.” Nono patted his shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”
Nono shone her flashlight onto the water’s surface. The dye line was still moving slowly, getting closer and closer to the lake’s center, but then it stopped as if something had blocked it.
“Is the water here stagnant?” Lu Mingfei murmured. “Then this is the end. Let’s plant the bomb and get out of here!”
“Hold on, look at that.” Nono pointed the flashlight ahead.
A gigantic snake-headed statue sat against the bronze wall, utterly different from the previous ones. It was 20 meters tall, like a god in an ancient Greek temple. Even from a distance, Lu Mingfei and Nono had to tilt their heads to look at it, like pilgrims before a sacred idol.
“If those snake-headed statues from earlier represent different metal elements,” Nono whispered, “then this one must be the master of those elements—Dragon King Norton himself. Look closely, his design is different from those snake-headed statues. Pay attention to the patterns on his arms. Those are also draconic scripts—symbols that, like Yanling, can summon power. In the Middle Ages, they said witches had hidden markings on their bodies, and they were referring to things like these.”
“I told you this was the right place, didn’t I? Just take out the bomb, plant it, and let’s leave! Or do you plan on swimming over to carve ‘Nono was here’ on it?” Lu Mingfei said.
“Exactly.” Nono kicked Lu Mingfei in the butt, sending him into the water. Then she dove in herself, grabbed him firmly, and refused to let him swim back to the shore. “Let’s swim over and take a look.”
Lu Mingfei had no choice but to let her drag him to the center of the water until they reached the place where the dye line had stopped.
“Look at the line.” Nono put on her mask and dove underwater.
Lu Mingfei followed suit. Only then did he realize why Nono insisted on bringing him to the center. The dye line didn’t just stop—it was going straight down once it reached the center.
“The water is flowing downward here. There must be an outlet below. Do you remember the Bronze City map you deciphered? If we keep going down, there’s an exit. Ye Sheng and Aki must have passed by the Dragon King’s chamber along the way,” Nono said.
“The chamber isn’t here?” Lu Mingfei surfaced and looked at the towering snake-headed statue. “Look, the master’s statue is right here. This should be the chamber. Just like where you hang wedding photos—that’s the bedroom… My guess makes sense!”
“Shut up!” Nono said. “Stop making dumb jokes. This is where ancient people paid homage to the Dragon King. According to the Ice Sea scrolls, they entered on rafts and saw a giant bronze emperor under the dome, which must refer to this statue. But this is not the actual chamber; it’s the temple—a place for worshipping the idol. There’s no record of anyone seeing the Dragon King himself.”
“What’s the deal with this guy? Living in such a huge house isn’t enough for him, he also needs a temple and a chamber,” Lu Mingfei muttered, disappointed that his hope of just planting the bomb and leaving was dashed. “What’s even in the chamber? Him and his beloved female dragon?”
“You should find an ‘egg’ in the chamber,” Manstein’s voice came through.
“A dragon egg? Would it be really big?” Lu Mingfei was curious.
“Big?” Manstein pondered for a moment. “Oh, do you mean ‘quiet’? Yes, it will be very quiet because it’s not yet time for it to hatch.”
“You even managed to explain that… I really gotta hand it to you!” Lu Mingfei said.
“Dive down! If you want the tiger cubs, you must enter the tiger’s den!” Nono pushed Lu Mingfei’s head down.
“When you steal cubs, the mother tiger isn’t home! But the old dragon is home right now!” Lu Mingfei sighed.
Aboard the Maniakh, Manstein watched as Nono’s helmet camera descended. The deep blue water was very clear, with no visible floating particles or fish illuminated by the searchlights. It was a dead body of water, without a trace of life.
“Ah!” Lu Mingfei screamed.
“What’s wrong? Answer me! Lu Mingfei, respond!” Manstein was shocked.
“What are you screaming for? Don’t grab onto my leg! Use some courage, rabbit!” Nono said angrily.
Zero glanced at Caesar, who remained expressionless.
“Let me adjust the camera,” Nono said. Under her forceful suppression, Lu Mingfei seemed to regain some composure.
When the image displayed on the screen, everyone gasped. The lakebed was covered with an endless field of white bones, densely packed without any place to step. The distinctive skulls and ribcages indicated that they all belonged to humans—tens of thousands of people had perished here, their remains settled for thousands of years.
“I told you we should just plant the bomb and leave! Now we’re in some graveyard!” Lu Mingfei complained.
“Oh wow, it’s so scary with all these skeletons around! Close your eyes and let big sis hold your little hand, okay?” Nono said sarcastically. “Ugh! What’s there to be afraid of with a bunch of bones? They’ve been soaking here for thousands of years; they’re not going to come back to life!”