Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 170: Girl with Sandalwood Scent (2)

Dragon Raja 3

“Oh, so this is an internet café?” Caesar nodded slightly, feeling like his life experience points had just increased.

Before this, Caesar knew nothing about internet cafés. He didn’t quite understand why there needed to be a special place for internet access. To him, you could go online anytime, anywhere—you could be barefoot on a beach, basking in the Florida sun while surfing the internet, or riding an elephant through the rainforests of Thailand. Of course, you could also soak in your home’s whirlpool bathtub, browsing the Night Watcher forum gossip. All it took was an iPhone, iPad, or a laptop. Caesar rarely had to set up his own internet connection. As a VIP, whenever he entered a familiar hotel, his devices would automatically connect to the network. When he left WiFi range, 3G wireless internet would kick in. So, he was connected 24/7, with every device in the world welcoming the young master of the Gattuso family.

In contrast, back in high school, Lu Mingfei had to share an outdated laptop, retired from his uncle’s use, with his cousin. During normal hours, little chubby Lu Mingze would hog the laptop, chatting with female classmates. If Lu Mingfei wanted to go online, he’d have to wait until Lu Mingze fell asleep, then quietly crawl out of bed and cover himself and the laptop with a towel to prevent the screen light from waking Lu Mingze. Compared to this, the environment of an internet café was heaven. At least for the two hours he paid for, the seat belonged only to him. He would touch the ash-covered keyboard and mouse, commanding his Starcraft army across the screen, feeling as though he were a king holding a scepter.

So when Caesar asked Lu Mingfei if he had ever been to an internet café, Lu Mingfei nostalgically and somewhat solemnly said, “Internet cafés are like the underworld. Boss, do you know what the underworld means?” Caesar replied, “I know. It’s the stage for your Chinese knight-errant novels, where knights from different organizations fight for their ideals, treasures, artifacts, and princesses. There’s also something called ‘secret manuals’…” Lu Mingfei’s intent was to say that all kinds of people frequent internet cafés, giving off a hidden masters vibe—people smoking and sipping nutrient drinks while nonchalantly typing away, their faces full of arrogance. But it was hard to convey this to Caesar, so he just nodded and said, “Yeah, pretty much like what you understand.”

Caesar then asked, “So what do you do in internet cafés?” Lu Mingfei replied, “People do all sorts of things. I mainly played esports. Back in my second year of high school, we even had a team.” Caesar nodded slightly, thinking that they gathered there to fight as well.

In Caesar’s understanding, internet cafés were very mysterious—a place where young people gathered to fight… It sounded quite dignified, like a medieval knight’s meeting hall.

The black-and-gold glass doors did indeed have an air of sophistication. Caesar climbed the steps, and the doors automatically opened. On both sides, girls in short skirts, black stockings, and high heels bowed in unison: “Irasshaimase!”

A feeling of being right at home welled up in Caesar’s heart. As a VIP of many hotel chains, he was often treated to similar grand welcomes upon check-in. This internet café indeed felt classy and high-end. On first impression, Caesar rated it 80 points. The only drawback was that the girls’ skirts were too short, revealing the edges of their stockings, which seemed to lower the place’s elegance. However, Caesar had just read Ruth Benedict’s The Chrysanthemum and the Sword on the plane and learned about the erotic side of Japanese culture. Japan, being a country so obsessed with propriety and rules, had its people living under great pressure. To release this, when they let loose, they did so a hundred times more than any other nation. Caesar held a tolerant and understanding view of this—after all, Italians weren’t much better.

(A side note: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword is a book by American author Ruth Benedict about Japanese culture. Its origins are quite interesting. After defeating Japan in the Pacific War, the Americans knew almost nothing about Japanese culture. U.S. politicians had no idea how the Japanese viewed defeat and occupation and urgently needed a booklet to guide their strategy. Benedict was commissioned to collect materials and write the book, which turned into a “mini-encyclopedia” of “Japan through American eyes.” It was only through this book that Americans barely grasped concepts like Japanese notions of “great duty,” “the way,” and “loyalty.” Caesar’s knowledge of Japan amounted to what he learned from this little booklet.)

A girl approached him. Caesar handed her his school badge, looking directly into her eyes. The badge was also a token of the Secret Party. The managers of safe havens were not members of the Secret Party and knew nothing about the Dragon Raja. They only recognized the token. If the token was correct, they would provide assistance.

“きれいですね，ありがとうございます。” The girl’s eyes lit up as she sweetly said, “How beautiful, thank you.”

Caesar snapped his fingers in satisfaction, thinking she had understood his identity.

A short, stocky manager came out from behind the counter and approached Caesar, bowing while babbling in rapid Japanese. Caesar had no idea what the overly eager man was saying. He was in dire need of food and water, nearly starving, but unfortunately, his Japanese was non-existent.

“Mi-shi?” The manager, surprisingly perceptive, seemed to guess that Caesar was famished.

Caesar nodded happily.

“Shi-ri-pu?” The manager clasped his hands together and placed them beside his face, looking at Caesar in an adorable way.

After a moment, Caesar realized the manager was trying to speak English, asking if he wanted “sleep.”

“No, no sleep, I just want food and the case,” Caesar attempted to communicate in the simplest English possible, using hand gestures. By “case,” he meant the equipment chest. Every safe haven had an equipment box—a large trunk filled with weapons and emergency supplies.

“And I need cumputer,” Caesar mimed typing on a keyboard. “Computer.”

“Ha-i, ha-i!” The manager smiled knowingly, signaling for Caesar to follow him.

At this moment, Cassell College’s central control room was ablaze with lights. The Execution Bureau’s technicians were all working overtime, scouring the internet for news about Caesar’s team.

The firewall constructed by Kaguya-hime was incredibly powerful. She controlled all gateways connecting Japan to the outside world, and the moment she detected any access attempt from Cassell College, she would immediately sever the connection. It was a virtual wall of copper and iron, even Norma couldn’t break through.

However, Norma was no longer in charge of the college’s mainframe.

A few hours earlier, in front of all the technicians, Schneider and Manstein had simultaneously inserted black cards into the slots and turned the metal handles on the control panel. A flurry of electrical sparks flashed across the console’s surface, black smoke and the smell of burning plastic wafting from the server racks. The system was clearly overloaded, with far more current flowing into the chipsets than they were designed for, melting the plastic motherboard due to the excessive heat. The technicians were just about to grab fire extinguishers when they heard a whirring sound entering the control room from below, like a heavy-duty helicopter hidden in the basement.

The sound didn’t come from the basement, but from the massive computer 50 meters underground. There, dozens of server racks stood side by side, densely packed with CPUs forming a honeycomb-like rectangular array.