Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 422: The Boss Lady (2)

Dragon Raja 3

“You’re annoying!” Enxi giggled, poking Caesar’s nose before collapsing onto the sofa and falling into a deep sleep.

“Looks like she’s really out. There’s no way we can get anything more out of her now,” Caesar said, looking at Chu Zihang.

In a secret office, Mai was watching the scene at the bar through a surveillance camera.

“Why would she pretend to be drunk? She’s genuinely a drunkard,” Mai sighed.

Only a few people knew about Enxi’s flaw—she constantly snacked on potato chips, much like how people trying to quit smoking use candy to suppress their cravings. In her case, she was suppressing her alcoholism. This gentle and charming girl had once been a fierce warrior in the world of financial markets, living a ruthless life of plundering wealth from all corners until she became the boss’s chief assistant. Caesar, Lu Mingfei, and the others had no idea they were missing out on the most glorious years of Enxi’s life—a time when she sang and drank with abandon, strong and solitary.

Caesar fiddled with the car key: “Is this her way of hinting that we should hurry up and escape?”

“I think she’s leaving the decision to us—whether we leave or stay and face Chisei tomorrow night,” Chu Zihang said. “Regardless of who her boss is, it seems her job is limited to sheltering us. The choice of how to act is up to us.”

“She used a credit of hundreds of billions of euros to buy us a 24-hour buffer, and now she’s letting us decide for ourselves?” Caesar said.

“So far, everything she’s done has been beneficial to us, though her ultimate purpose is still unclear,” Chu Zihang said.

“What will happen if we stay and face Chisei? We don’t have any real conflict with him. We can forgive him for leaving us in the Japan Trench. Is he really going to hunt us down to the end?” Caesar wondered. “At most, he’ll just force us out of Japan.”

“We both don’t want the gods to resurrect, so we’re not fundamentally opposed. But in the case of Chime, we are in conflict,” Chu Zihang said. “Up until now, Chime has been our ally, and only through him can we find Osho and uncover his plans. If we hand Chime over to the Orochi, first, we can’t guarantee his safety, and second, it would mean losing our last bargaining chip in Japan, and we would be out of the game.”

“No one has ever taken me out of any game, no matter which one,” Caesar said.

“If we don’t want to run and don’t want to be sidelined, the only option left is to convince Chisei—to convince him to work with his brother to deal with Osho. I have a feeling that Osho is even more terrifying than the god in the Well of Hidden Bones.”

“There’s no trust between the brothers, and in Chime’s current state, he’s like a puppet. He’s been in his room for nearly 20 hours, without eating or drinking. His fighting spirit has collapsed, and so has he as a person. I have no idea how the sound of Osho’s bell could have had such a magical effect,” Caesar said. “Handing Chime over to the Orochi is equivalent to sending him to the gallows. The Yamata no Orochi won’t believe that Osho is responsible for drawing out the demon inside him, and even if they did believe it, they’d still kill him because of the demon inside him.”

“We can’t hand Chime over to the Yamata no Orochi,” Lu Mingfei suddenly said.

“What’s your reason?” Chu Zihang asked.

“I just have this feeling… it’s hard to explain, but everything we’re seeing now is just on the surface. The real danger is still hidden behind the scenes. Osho’s plan is far more complex than we think, but only Chime can deal with Osho. Compared to him, Chisei is a fool,” Lu Mingfei hesitated. “He’s strong, but he’s also very stupid—strong and stupid.”

Chu Zihang pondered for a moment and then nodded, “It’s strange, I feel the same way. I also think Osho is planning something far beyond our imagination. There’s something extremely terrifying here, but I can’t figure out what it is.”

“Then I’ll go convince my brother,” a low voice came from nearby, like the sound of wind passing through a crack in a door.

Chime was leaning against the doorframe, looking frail and emaciated. Not long ago, he had been arrogant and defiant, but now he seemed like he could be blown away by the wind.

“You heard everything we said?” Caesar raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t intended to hide anything from Chime anyway.

“With all that noise outside, how could I not hear?” Chime smiled faintly. “Even though I’m basically useless right now, I think I can still do one thing for you. Let me try to convince my brother.”

“You also think Osho has an even bigger plot that hasn’t been revealed yet?”

“I’m certain. Osho is like an iceberg. Only a tenth of it is visible above water; the majority is hidden below. That’s Osho. To kill him, you need ten times the preparation, considering every possible scenario. I didn’t tell you my plan to kill him in mid-air, not because I doubted any of you, but because I feared a leak. The plan only ever existed in my head, and there was no written record. I thought Osho couldn’t possibly read my mind,” Chime said softly, “but I still failed. I thought I knew him well, but what I knew was only the part of him that was exposed.”

“Your brother’s simple-mindedness definitely isn’t a match for Osho,” Caesar said.

“I have this vague sense that something dangerous is coming,” Chime’s eyes showed fear, as if a demon had marked him. “Everything is different from what my brother thinks. Osho’s goal isn’t a perfect evolutionary drug, nor is it the gods. He’s the kind of person who wants to devour everything. No matter how many people compete with him or oppose him, he wants to be at the top of the food chain. Evolving into a pureblood dragon species won’t make him the apex of the food chain. You can kill the Dragon Kings, and you have a chance to kill the evolved Osho.”

“But the Orochi won’t believe you. You have no evidence to support this theory,” Zero suddenly spoke. “Just tonight, they opened the Well of Hidden Bones, and all the dragon subspecies inside flowed into the artificial underground lake made of 5,000 tons of mercury. If the god’s embryo was truly incubating in the Well of Hidden Bones, it would have been fatally harmed. I imagine your brother is already celebrating his victory in foiling Osho’s plot.”

“How do you know?” Caesar was startled.

“I just came from there. The so-called Well of Hidden Bones is actually an underground river called Akaoni River, which is directly connected to a volcanic lava zone. Water and fire mix there, forming a crimson hot river,” Zero said. “Izanagi sealed the holy remains there to provide it with enough nutrients to keep it alive. The Orochi’s historical records glorified Izanagi. From the beginning, he couldn’t bear to destroy the holy remains that were said to help humans evolve into pureblood dragons. The White Empress used human greed to protect it. In the end, the Well of Hidden Bones didn’t become a prison for the holy remains but rather a cradle for the god’s incubation.”

“Is this your real purpose in coming to Japan?” Chu Zihang asked. “Was it arranged by the Principal?”

“Yes. I arrived in Japan at the same time as Finger. The Principal had been worried about Japan for a long time, and exploring the Japan Trench stemmed from that concern. But we didn’t expect the situation to escalate so quickly, so originally my task was just to gather information as part of my internship.”

“The information you’ve gathered seems way too high-level!” Caesar was dumbfounded. While they had been shopping around Japan, one person had already uncovered the secrets of the Yamata no Orochi and the enormous crisis hidden behind it all.

“I used all kinds of methods—sneaking into Genji Heavy Industries, shrines, and the residences of various family heads. Sometimes, I used threats and bribes. A certain shrine priest had an unusual fondness for young-looking girls, possibly due to a psychological disorder. I took advantage of this trait to gather a lot of information from him.”

“How can you talk about something like that in such an academic way?” Lu Mingfei was dumbfounded.

“To put it simply, I seduced that old pervert,” Zero said coldly.

“Alright, alright, it’s better if you keep it subtle…”

“From the perspective of the Orochi, they already think they’ve almost won. The only remaining task is to eliminate the remnants of the Oni Clan, and Osho is, of course, their top priority, followed by you. You once tried to kill Osho, but the Orochi sees it as an internal conflict. You’re a demon, and you’ve already violated the family rules. The Orochi can’t tolerate someone like you,” Zero stared into Chime’s eyes. “Your brother also thinks you don’t deserve to exist in this world—he’s seen the demon in you with his own eyes.”

“Even though there’s no evidence, I will still do my best to convince my brother,” Chime said slowly. “This is the only chance.”

“Do you think we need his strength?” Caesar asked.

“No, this is the only chance I have to reconcile with my brother,” Chime said softly. “He’s determined to be a friend of justice, so he can’t accept a demon as his brother. That’s why we haven’t seen each other in so many years. Sometimes, I hate him. We are the only two people in this world who are absolute blood relatives, yet just because of my bloodline, he would rather kill me and leave me for dead in a well? Is there anything more important in the world than the fact that he is my brother and I am his brother? Justice? What is justice? I don’t believe justice even exists in this world. It’s just a word adults make up to fool children. But he believes in it. He’s willing to give up everything for justice. Is he truly just, or is he heartless?”

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