Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 158: Cycle of Catastrophe (1)

Dragon Raja 3

Schneider and Manstein exchanged glances and knocked on the bronze bell at the door.

“Come in, gentlemen.” Anjou’s voice came from inside.

Schneider pushed open the door. The walls were lined with bookshelves that extended to the ceiling of the small building, and golden sunlight streamed into the room filled with ancient tomes. Anjou sat under the skylight on the top floor, sipping tea while squirrels darted across the shelves.

“I already know what you’re going to tell me.” Anjou smiled. “No need to look so grim. Come on up.”

Schneider and Manstein sat across from Anjou, unsure where to begin. So much had happened in the past few hours—an ancient dragon city emerged from the trench, the Japanese branch betrayed them, an underwater volcano erupted, the nuclear power module exploded, Caesar’s team was missing, the tsunami and mermaid tide attacked Atami, and the Seventh Fleet’s weapons system initiated automatic attacks. Since its establishment, the Execution Bureau had never faced such a complex situation.

“It could be worse,” Anjou finally broke the silence, “luckily we had those Tomahawk missiles. Otherwise, tomorrow’s headlines in every major newspaper around the world would be something like ‘Alien Invasion.’”

“We haven’t found out who hacked into the fire control system of the Seventh Fleet, but it seems they don’t want the secrets of the Dragon Raja to get out either,” Schneider said. “But the Pentagon lost a billion dollars worth of missiles. They’ll definitely conduct a thorough investigation, won’t they?”

“There’s no need to worry about that. Since those people were able to gain control of the fire control system, they can also handle the cleanup,” Anjou smiled. “I don’t know who they are, but they are undoubtedly a group of geniuses.”

“We received a collective resignation faxed from the Japanese branch,” Manstein said.

“A collective defection letter would be a more accurate term. Those Japanese bastards finally did what they’ve been dreaming of for years.” Anjou scratched his head. “Still no contact with Caesar’s team?”

“No news,” Manstein replied. “The Trieste broke apart in deep water, and the survival rate was already low. Combined with the volcanic eruption, nuclear blast, and the presence of corpse sentinels… the chances are slim.”

“How slim?” Anjou asked.

Manstein hesitated for a few seconds. “Norma says less than one percent.”

“That kind of chance is like walking into a bar blindfolded, sitting down, and then finding Audrey Hepburn sitting next to you after you take the blindfold off, right?” Anjou sighed. “In that case, some of the students’ parents are going to be furious.”

“To make things worse, Norma can’t be of any use right now. The Kaguyahime system of the Yamata no Orochi has erected a strict firewall, and Norma cannot access the network in Japan,” Schneider said. “Without Norma, it’s like we’ve lost our eyes. Even if Caesar’s team survived, they can’t contact us and will eventually fall into the hands of Yamata no Orochi.”

“Let Eva do what Norma can’t.”

“If we activate Eva’s personality, her authority might even surpass yours,” Schneider reminded him.

“No problem. Eva is our good girl. Issue her the attack order. Since Yamata no Orochi doesn’t want us infiltrating Japan, we must do just that.” Anjou pulled out a black card and slid it across the table to Schneider. “Let Manstein get the other one from the Vice Principal. With these two black cards and the authorization letter, we can activate Eva.”

“Is there anything else the Principal needs us to do?” Schneider took the card.

“Wait.”

“Wait?” Schneider was taken aback.

“I’m waiting for Frost. It’s been six hours since the Trieste exploded. Six hours is enough time for Frost to fly here from Rome. Since I lost their precious heir, I have to deal with the parents, don’t I? As for the rest, we’ll talk after I finish my conversation with Frost.”

The phone on the table rang, and Schneider and Manstein exchanged glances, their hearts pounding slightly faster. Just as Anjou had predicted, the reckoning from the Gattuso family arrived exactly six hours later. Frost Gattuso, surely enraged, was likely already on the CC1000 express train from Chicago to Cassell College. Anjou slowly sat up straight and picked up the receiver.

“Hey, Anjou! You’re in your office, right?” The voice on the other end sounded oddly cheerful, like someone saying, “Hey, brother, I traveled all this way just to hang out with you.”

“It’s you?” Anjou was stunned.

“It’s a long story. There will be more friendly greetings when we meet. Is your skylight open?”

“It’s open… what do you mean? Don’t do anything reckless!” Anjou frowned.

“How could I be reckless? Look up, I’m waving at you. Right now, your closest friend Pompeii Gattuso is only 200 meters away, approaching you at a speed of 3.5 meters per second!”

Anjou looked up through the skylight, and sunlight was blocked by a white parachute descending from the sky. The parachutist was waving at him.

“Pompeii, you lunatic! You’re going to wreck my roof like this!” Anjou yelled.

“Don’t worry, I just won the world championship for precision parachuting!” He didn’t even need to say this over the phone anymore—the parachute filled the entire view, and the man shouted amidst the rustling wind, “Oh yeah!”

Schneider and Manstein were stunned—not because of the man’s antics, but because of his name… Pompeii, full name Pompeii Gattuso… he was Caesar’s biological father, the current head of the Gattuso family!

Frost’s seat on the School Board technically belonged to Pompeii. Ten years ago, this man claimed he “suffered from excruciating heart pain whenever attending crowded meetings,” which led him to appoint his younger brother as the Gattuso family representative at the School Board. It had to be admitted that Frost was indeed a strong-willed figure… though he didn’t fare well against Anjou. Over ten years, Frost managed to strip Pompeii of all practical power, taking full control of the family and leading it to prosperity. It was said that Pompeii’s orders were no longer heeded within the Gattuso family, and everyone followed Frost’s lead. But Pompeii was still Pompeii—the man who bore the illustrious name “Pompeii.”

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