Dragon Raja 5; Chapter 394: For Your Majesty (209)

Dragon Raja 5

“No, the patrol dogs are not accompanied by humans. Humans can’t keep up with those dogs, nor can they withstand that intensity of patrol,” Giovanni said. “It would be more accurate to think of them as wolves. The wolf packs that roam around the harbor will not hesitate to attack any living creature.”

Suddenly, Giovanni covered Lu Mingfei’s mouth and whispered, “Here it comes!”

She handed the night vision binoculars to Lu Mingfei, who looked in the direction she pointed. Ghostly shadows drifted across the ice, as large as leopards, their scales shimmering with light as they trotted silently, their convex faces resembling masks of bone.

Lu Mingfei shuddered violently. Those were undoubtedly hellhounds, exactly the same as the hellhounds in City 023.

“A legacy of the Soviet era, a subspecies of dragon blood bred at a breeding farm in Siberia. It has canine genes, but is more ferocious than lions and tigers. Its scales are the most troublesome part; most bullets can’t penetrate them,” Giovanni said.

No wonder no one follows these patrol dogs. In the vast wilderness, these hellhounds would surely attack humans when they get hungry. They are evil spirits of the wasteland, and this haven is guarded by them.

This haven actually utilized the technological accumulation from the “Tower of Babel” project, which explains its strong Russian style: rough, tough, and cold.

The hellhounds advanced, sniffing as they went. In the icy, snowy landscape, with minimal distractions, the scent of humans became exceptionally clear. Polar bears can detect a human’s scent from a kilometer away, and the hellhounds’ sense of smell was even stronger. They knew their prey wasn’t far away, but they couldn’t pinpoint its exact location.

Giovanni pulled out the python, checked the magazine, and attached a stock, night vision sight, and suppressor, transforming it into a small sniper rifle. Giovanni had originally prepared this gun to deal with the hellhound pack.

She fired, unleashing a barrage of shots from the start. The python’s extended barrel gave it an astonishing effective range, and Lu Mingfei watched as the hellhounds fell one after another. Unlike their predicament in City 023, Giovanni was using Philosopher’s Stone bullets, each shot taking down a hellhound.

More hellhounds appeared in the binoculars’ field of view. The pack was quite large, probably more than a dozen. After a brief moment of panic, they noticed the island in the middle of the lake. The silencers were meant to avoid alerting the pursuing team, but since they were upwind and the pack was downwind, the wind would carry the smell of gunpowder over.

Once the hellhounds started running, they became difficult to aim at, and Giovanni ran out of bullets. She immediately began reloading. The hellhounds often barked during patrols, but when the attack began, they were unusually silent, like ghosts drifting in rapidly on the wind.

Giovanni rose from the bushes, bent a glow stick and threw it onto the ice, then stepped onto the ice with her gun. Lu Mingfei was completely stunned by his mother’s heroic spirit. Giovanni coldly watched the hellhounds, taking a step forward with each shot, killing them with every shot.

She chose to deal with the tracking dogs on the frozen lake for a reason: the hellhounds’ claws would slip on the ice, giving her ample time to take advantage of their range.

“Mom behind!” Lu Mingfei exclaimed in surprise.

While Giovanni was directly confronting the pack of dogs, an incredibly agile hellhound managed to circle around to Giovanni’s back. In the darkness of the polar night, Giovanni was only illuminated by glow sticks scattered on the ice, and Lu Mingfei couldn’t see clearly either. Therefore, the moment the hellhound appeared, it pounced on Giovanni’s back. It was a heart-ripping attack, something wolves often do to remove their prey’s heart to prevent further resistance. Lu Mingfei shouted as he fired repeatedly with the Beretta pistols Giovanni had given him, but his guns were loaded with ordinary ammunition, and the bullets only sparked when they hit the hellhound’s scales.

At the critical moment, Giovanni nimbly turned around as if she had eyes in the back of her head, avoiding the hellhound’s attack. In the instant she brushed past it, she actually grabbed the hellhound’s tail.

The hellhound twisted, trying to bite back, but Giovanni’s gun was already pressed against its anus. The bullet pierced its bloody entrails, spitting out of its mouth. Giovanni stomped on the hellhound’s head, coldly watching the rest of the hellhounds. She was surrounded, but judging from her aura, she was the hunter. The surviving hellhounds circled for a moment, then scattered and howled softly. Giovanni watched them walk away with a cold eye, without firing another shot. Only when the barking had faded into the distance did she slowly kneel on the ice, breathing heavily.

She opened the python’s magazine and poured the spent cartridges onto the ice. All six cartridges were emitting wisps of white smoke. She had actually used up all her bullets, and in that situation, she had no chance to reload.

When she stood up again, she had regained her composure and indifference. She returned to Lu Mingfei’s side and smiled, “That last guy should be their leader. Kill him and we’ll be done. Let’s move on.”

Lu Mingfei looked at her in silence for a long time before saying, “You are not the mother I remember.”

“I told you everyone who appears around you has a reason. Lie down.” Giovanni looked impatient.

She slung the sled’s tow rope over her shoulder and continued trudging across the ice. In the distance, she could faintly hear a different kind of wind—the sound of a helicopter flying low overhead.

Drops of blood fell onto the ice and froze instantly, like plum blossoms scattered along the road. “Mom, you’re bleeding!” Lu Mingfei exclaimed in surprise.

“I told you not to play so many games!” Giovanni said irritably. “What’s there to say about an injury like this? Lie down!”

Lu Mingfei lay down quietly. It was strange. He clearly felt that the woman pulling the sled was completely different from the mother in his memory, but the woman who was controlling and wouldn’t let him argue was exactly like his mother.

***

Lu Lincheng stood on top of a snowmobile as a helicopter passed overhead, disappearing into the distance along the indistinct tire tracks.

“We’ve found the tracks. They’re moving towards the edge of the interface at about a 60-degree angle, at full speed.” Natasha stood behind him, holding a high-powered walkie-talkie.

Around them were more than a dozen fully equipped snowmobiles and snow vehicles, the members all wearing black winter clothing and night vision helmets, and more units had already spread out on the vast snowfield, with countless taillights in sight.

Natasha ended the call and looked at Lu Lincheng from the side. The thin man was only wearing a black overcoat, unbuttoned, the black hem and his gray hair fluttering in the snowy wind.

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