Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 130: Tomb of God (3)

Dragon Raja 3

“Calling Sumeru Throne, calling Sumeru Throne.” He connected to Chisei’s channel. “Did you see it? Did you see it?”

“We saw it. The Norma system and the Huiyue system are currently saving the videos and images you sent back and analyzing them. What you need to do now is to control the camera to point in different directions. Every second of the video you shoot is priceless; this is our first direct observation of an ancient dragon city. This is first-hand information for our research on dragon history and culture. Professor Schneider is currently writing an email to report this discovery to the principal and the school board. According to the oxygen levels, you still have about 30 minutes of underwater activity, so please hurry to find the embryo,” Chisei said.

“The embryo should be in these ruins, but with such a large city, where should we start looking?”

“The Trieste ship has a sonar system; you can try using the sonar to search for its heartbeat.”

Caesar activated the sonar system, and the Trieste ship began receiving sound signals from all directions. Seawater is an excellent medium for sound, and sound waves are the most powerful tools for exploration underwater. With the equipment department’s technical strength, they could capture the embryo’s heartbeat signal at the surface, so the Trieste ship should be able to accurately locate the embryo nearby using sonar.

“Strange, there’s a lot of noise,” Caesar frowned. “It sounds like there’s an echo here, and rhythmic heartbeat sounds can be detected in all directions.”

“Could it be that there are dragon embryos everywhere?” Lu Mingfei felt his liver quiver at the thought.

“If these things could be mass-produced, we wouldn’t need to struggle anymore; no one could stop the dragons from dominating the world,” Caesar said. “But it is indeed strange; it seems the heartbeat sound is coming from below the ruins, not from a specific point but as if the entire ground of the ruins is vibrating. It’s like… the heartbeat of these ruins.”

“Should we just throw the sulfur bomb down directly?” Lu Mingfei suggested. “Whatever it hits, I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

“It wouldn’t help; the embryo cannot be as big as an entire city. It should be that its heartbeat is causing resonance in the center of the ruins,” Caesar said. “Let’s keep looking.”

“Look at that thing ahead; doesn’t it look like a torii gate?” Chu Zihang pointed ahead.

Directly in front of the deep submersible was a slanted structure that indeed resembled a torii gate found in front of Japanese shrines, like the small torii gate at Seishinji Temple. This thing is actually a very simple structure, supported by two pillars and a horizontal beam, with worshippers passing under it.

However, to the priests, the torii gate symbolizes a barrier; once one passes under it, they enter the realm of the gods. Typically, torii gates are built from rock or vermillion-painted wood pillars, but that structure had a dark blue glow to its surface and appeared metallic like the tower. Even the famed Senbon Torii in Kyoto Fushimi is less than ten meters high, but this torii-like structure stood nearly fifty meters tall, making one feel that only a towering giant could have passed beneath it in the past.

During the eruption of the underwater volcano, the high-temperature lava likely invaded this place, filling the roads beneath the buildings with black volcanic rock. The buildings themselves had melted halfway, with molten iron flowing down and solidifying into jagged iron teeth. Chu Zihang adjusted the focus of the underwater telescope, revealing the ancient patterns on the surface of the buildings. The carvings were in a realistic style, and such rich details were undoubtedly extremely precious. Caesar turned the camera to take a picture.

Seconds later, the photo was transmitted to the central control room, appearing on the large screen. Schneider and Manstein, who had encountered many dragon relics, were still struck by the intricate carvings. Paintings, sculptures, and writing are the most valuable antiques; from these, one can infer the lost ancient civilizations, from their lifestyles to their beliefs, and from their craftsmanship to their political systems.

Archaeologists had previously discovered wall paintings of Egyptians paddling canoes in the tombs of pharaohs, but present-day Egypt is a desert, and the Nile alone wouldn’t support a waterborne civilization. Thus, archaeologists believed it was an Egyptian fantasy, stemming from their dry environment and longing for a rebirth in a land abundant with rivers. However, ancient meteorologists found that Egypt was once a moist and rainy place with a network of rivers, and the Egyptians indeed needed to use canoes frequently. This was not a fantasy but a real part of ancient Egyptian life. The Egyptians believed that after death, pharaohs rode the solar boat to the underworld; during that era, boats were the only means of transportation connecting the north and south of Egypt.

These carvings depicted thousands of spirits in battle, and the images of these spirits had never appeared in any civilization. If that war truly happened and wasn’t fictional, one could only imagine its brutality surpassed any war in human history.

“The image of a human with a serpent’s tail is very rare,” Manstein remarked.

“In ancient civilizations, the only ones I remember with a human body and serpent tail are India’s Nüwa, China’s Nüwa, and Greece’s Medusa,” Schneider said. “There’s never been a record of dragons appearing in the form of a human body with a serpent tail in literature.”

In the carvings, various spirits all appeared with human bodies and serpent tails. Because of the realistic style, one could imagine the serpent-tailed monsters entwining around each other’s necks, spewing toxic flames while wielding deadly swords. The scene of that battle was carved too vividly and too astonishingly, as if it contained too many imaginative elements.

“Is this really an ancient dragon city?” Manstein asked.

“We suspect it’s an ancient dragon city simply because human civilization cannot construct such a tower,” he replied.

“There are too many astonishing things; it’s overwhelming,” Schneider said. “Although this is a rare opportunity, I have an unsettling feeling. It’s about time to return; since we’ve already located that city, there’s still a chance to dive down to resolve the embryo issue.”

Manstein stared at the photos on the large screen, and his expression suddenly changed. “The gate… the torii gate is a kind of door! Damn it, they really saw a door underwater!”

A massive fear erupted within Schneider. Yes, the torii gate is essentially a door, though it is a symbolic door like a triumphal arch, not connected to walls, yet it is indeed a door because it separates the inside from the outside! They had become so immersed in this astonishing discovery that they forgot about the door. Aside from the pressure relief valve malfunction, everything had been proceeding smoothly, causing them to let their guard down. The story from ten years ago was playing out again—descending, discovering a door, moving towards it… The video showed the Trieste ship heading straight for the torii gate, and in Schneider’s eyes, that eerie structure instantly transformed into a twisted giant mouth, ready to swallow everything.

“Don’t get close! Don’t get close! Return! Return!” he shouted uncontrollably; the mental imprint from ten years ago was too deep, and at this moment, he completely lost control of himself.

No one responded. The communication channel fell eerily silent; Chisei didn’t speak, the Trieste ship was silent, and even the Huiyue system of the Japanese division did not reply.

“Reporting to Professor Schneider, five seconds ago the Huiyue system disconnected from all connections with us. We have lost contact with the Japanese division and the Trieste ship. I am trying to repair it, but the Huiyue system is unresponsive,” Norma’s voice echoed in the central control room, and Schneider watched in shock as the light on the screen indicating the Japanese maritime area went dark.