Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 148: The Sea of Hidden Dragons (15)

Dragon Raja 3

“As subordinates, we’re one with the Young Master; wherever you can go, we can too,” Crow wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Though I’m not confident I can handle a place full of Corpse Guardians.”

“I am coming, oh I am coming, baby baby go,” Yasha hummed a strange English song with his Japanese-accented English.

“If we survive, I’ll enroll you in an English class; that way, listening to you sing English songs won’t be so painful,” Chisei sighed.

“We first need to get the winch spinning to reach a certain initial speed. The motor itself isn’t broken; it’s just the starting wheel that’s damaged. Once we reach a certain initial speed, the motor can output normal torque to lift the Trieste,” Miyamoto Shio said. “But to achieve that initial speed, we have to manually rotate the winch, which will require about six people. I’ll arrange another six-man team to come up from here.”

The Japanese archipelago was trembling; the seismic waves from the underwater earthquake had reached the land, and massive waves like walls crashed on the surface. The Sumeru Throne swayed like a small boat in the tidal surge. The heavy rain poured onto the platform at the top of the Sumeru Throne. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, Yasha and Crow began firing wildly, and all around them were Corpse Guardians. The steel-blue bodies of these creatures looked so menacing under the light of the fire; some were gnawing on corpses, while others coiled like snakes above. With each step forward, Chisei was stepping on blood.

“The Earthquake Bureau has just issued an earthquake and tsunami warning; the tsunami will start in seven minutes,” Miyamoto Shio said over the headphones. “The Sumeru Throne can only hold out for 15 minutes at most. The Ganryū Research Institute is preparing to evacuate; please hurry, Young Master.”

“Where’s your six-man team? I can’t find them!”

“There, they look pretty tasty,” Yasha pointed to six bodies in white protective suits near the winch, their steel-blue bodies entangled with the Corpse Guardians.

“Damn! How can we get this thing moving without enough manpower?” Crow looked up at the massive winch, which had a diameter of over two meters, with thick metal cables wrapped around it. In a stationary position, this safety cable could lift five Trieste.

“Didn’t Yasha say he had the strength of two people? I have the strength of two as well. Can you carry the weight of two people, Crow?” Chisei gripped the manual wheel.

The manual wheel was made of iron, about a meter in diameter, cold and damp, with a thick hemp rope wrapped around its surface.

“We can give it a try, but if all three of us are turning the wheel, who will watch our backs?” Crow said.

“I can use one hand with the strength of two people; I’ll use the other to shoot,” Yasha tore his shirt.

Chisei wrapped his tie around his palm and gripped the wheel: “On the count of three, we all pull together.”

The wheel clicked into place, and the safety hook at the top of the Trieste’s structure activated, with Chisei forcefully turning the manual wheel. The massive winch began to rotate slowly, bright sparks flying several meters away, and the metal cable emitted a grating sound, tensioned like a guitar string. The Sumeru Throne and the Trieste were like a mother and her unborn child; the metal cable was the umbilical cord connecting them—if the cord broke, the child would die. Chisei strained his arms, his muscles contracting like tightened ropes. As he pulled and released, he could still feel the wheel heating up from friction through the silk tie, hot enough to feel like a red-hot iron. The torrential rain poured over him, and his high-temperature body evaporated the rainwater. Crow and Yasha shot left and right, driving back the approaching Corpse Guardians.

“Young Master,” Sakura said quietly behind Chisei.

“Great! Sakura, help us guard the rear!” Chisei exclaimed joyfully.

“Young Master, give up. We don’t have enough time.”

“What’s wrong? The tsunami is still seven minutes away,” Chisei was taken aback.

“We just received news that after the Fire Group was wiped out, the Corpse Guardians are trying to tear a hole in the Forest Group’s defenses. According to the sonar scan, there’s also an eighth wave of Corpse Guardians following the Trieste, and the number in this eighth wave is equal to the total of the previous seven waves,” Sakura said quietly. “This is no longer something that can be solved with ordinary force. If the eighth wave of Corpse Guardians surfaces, we won’t be able to control the battlefield at all. The only way is to use Miss Erii’s power to annihilate them before they surface. But that will inevitably destroy the Trieste as well.”

Chisei was stunned.

“It’s Mr. Tachibana’s call,” Sakura handed the phone to Chisei.

“Chisei, I know this is a difficult decision,” Tachibana Masamune’s voice was low. “But a man’s path is always hard. Sacrificing those three is something we don’t want; they’ve just escaped from a desperate situation. But if we don’t make a decision now, everyone will die. The Corpse Guardians will invade Japan, killing people in the streets of Tokyo. We are close to success now; we just need a bit of ruthlessness. You are the leader; you should understand. Erii is about to arrive; I’ve already sent a helicopter to get you.”

Chisei turned to look at the sea surface. Illuminated by the searchlights, a small boat was approaching with the waves. Erii stood at the bow, her dark red hair tousled by the sea breeze. The surface of the water was rolling, but her small boat moved calmly. Nearby, the Corpse Guardians lunged at the boat, and Erii drew her cherry-red long knife, casually swinging it, splitting the Corpse Guardians in half. At that moment, she seemed like an ancient sword saint, but her technique was very rudimentary, akin to a little girl wielding a pencil knife. Yet, in that casual slashing lay an absolute will to cut; she wasn’t just using the knife to slice the Corpse Guardians but issuing commands to tear them apart.

Yanling: Judgement. This is a yanling that has never been seen in history; only legends exist about it. The swarm of Corpse Guardians surrounding the small boat grew denser, and Erii’s slashes became increasingly rapid. The knife in her hand seemed weightless and without form; she simply issued commands of death, death, and death repeatedly. The Corpse Guardians felt the aura of death and gradually dared not approach. Erii didn’t pursue them; she performed these acts with a calmness as if she were playing a fighting game, though this game was exceedingly bloody. She wiped the blood from her long knife in the seawater, rolled up her sleeves to reveal her delicate wrists, and reached out to touch the surface of the sea, as if caressing an agitated cat. In an instant, the sea calmed, and everything fell silent as a huge domain erupted from Erii, suppressing everything within it.

Erii clapped rhythmically, and a corner of the dark clouds in the sky surprisingly collapsed, allowing tranquil moonlight to spill onto the surface of the sea, creating a shimmering surface that resembled a silver ingot with intricate patterns. The temperature of the sea surface dropped rapidly, and the dancing silver waves gradually solidified. A few minutes later, centered around the small boat, ice spread out in all directions. In Chisei’s eyes, the Corpse Guardians were frozen in the seawater, unable to struggle with their incredible strength. In front of Erii, they were like toys.

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