Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 20: Burning Christmas Eve (1)

Dragon Raja 3

Christmas was approaching day by day. Although the snow piled so high that the main gate of Black Swan Bay couldn’t even be opened, the place was getting warmer and warmer, with indoor temperatures reaching an unprecedented 28 degrees. Because Christmas was coming, the Doctor provided an extra two tons of fuel to the boiler room, ordering them to make sure the rooms were as warm as spring, so the girls could wear beautiful dresses and dance.

Except for Party members, everyone in Black Swan Bay was an Orthodox Christian, and each year there was a festive Christmas celebration, with men and women singing and dancing. The Doctor also gave the children Christmas trees decorated with gifts, and each child received a set of new clothes. Only around Christmas could the children at Black Swan Bay be like the ones described in books about those living in Moscow, wearing festive clothes, fur hats with ear flaps, and enjoying popcorn and ice cream. The Doctor announced over the broadcast that Major Bondarev from Moscow was helping Black Swan Bay solve its winter supply issues, and that soon supplies wouldn’t be a problem. Since supplies weren’t an issue, there was no need to save; the Doctor generously provided the officers with liquor and cigarettes, gave the nurses perfume and stockings, and ensured there was potato stew with beef for dinner every day. The nurses cut colorful streamers and pasted them on the hallway walls and decorated a giant Christmas tree with lights, placing it in the golden hall where Lenin’s portrait hung. The tree reached up to the ceiling, and the children could crawl under it.

“Have you heard that Major Bondarev is going to send us to Moscow to attend high school in batches?” Sergei lowered his voice while they ate.

“Where did you hear that?” Yakov stopped with his spoon in mid-air.

“I heard the head nurse talking to the other nurses, saying there aren’t any teachers here to teach high school courses, so it’s time to send us to Moscow for our education.”

“You sure you heard right?”

“Absolutely. The head nurse even specifically mentioned that there are only four of us here who are old enough for high school: you, me, Khorkina, and Anton,” Sergei said. “The first batch will be us four.”

“It’d be great if the four of us could go to the same school.” Yakov sneaked a glance at Khorkina, who was sitting opposite them. “Going to high school in Moscow would be so cool!”

“What you really mean is that it would be great if you could go to the same school as Khorkina, right?” Sergei grinned. “No place for me or Anton.”

“I didn’t say that, you’re just imagining things. We’re all good friends, of course we should go to the same high school.” Yakov’s face turned a little red.

“I’m not competing with you for Khorkina. I’m not even taller than her yet,” Sergei whispered. “There are bound to be beautiful girls in Moscow’s high schools. I’ll find one there. But you better watch out, Yakov. Once Khorkina gets to Moscow, there will be plenty of guys more handsome than you chasing after her.”

“I’m not saying anything about Khorkina! I said we’re all friends!” Yakov emphasized, but everyone could tell he was not being honest.

“I don’t want to go to high school in Moscow… I don’t have any relatives in Moscow, and it’s so far away,” Anton said sullenly.

“Don’t be foolish; going to high school in Moscow is a rare opportunity!” Sergei said. “I heard that food rations in Moscow are much better than elsewhere. We’ll have the chance to work for big institutions. People in Moscow have small cars, vacation homes, and can even buy foreign goods.”

“I think it’s pretty good here…” Anton licked the beef sauce from his lips and stared at the slender white figure at the end of the dining table. The girl’s platinum blonde hair had grown long, hanging down to cover half of her face.

Renata finished her last piece of potato, got up, and carried her stainless steel tray to the dish rack. Both Anton and Sergei watched her back as she walked away.

“Anton, do you like that paper doll?” Sergei chuckled. “She doesn’t even have a fully grown chest yet!”

Despite what he said, looking at that slender figure, Sergei also felt a bit moved. To him, Renata was still far from being as beautiful as Khorkina, but recently, this once inconspicuous “paper doll” seemed to have suddenly grown prettier. Her pale skin had become more vibrant, her eyes were livelier, and though she was still thin, the slender legs under her skirt, with ankles barely bigger than a fist, had a graceful line to them, like a budding willow tree that made one want to climb up and wrap themselves around.

“All girls will develop; someday Renata will be even more beautiful than Khorkina,” Anton whispered. Khorkina suddenly stood up, glanced at Anton, and left with her tray.

“Hahaha, Khorkina has the sharpest ears; you said the wrong thing!” Sergei laughed.

Renata put the cleaned tray back into the dish cabinet and, using her body as cover, took the small wrench from the bottom of the cabinet and tucked it into her sleeve.

Outside, a blizzard was howling. Renata hugged Zorro and crawled quietly through the ventilation ducts. Her undeveloped, slender body was just thin enough to pass through these ducts, which were less than 40 centimeters in diameter. To make it easier, she wore only her underwear so that even if she got her body dirty, she could just wipe it with snow, avoiding suspicion from the nurses. Warm air flowed through the ducts, so it wasn’t too cold.

“These ducts supply warm air to different areas. Using them, you can reach restricted zones,” Zero’s instructions were detailed. He had drawn a wiring diagram of the ducts for Renata in the snow. “To get out of here, we need food, a means of transportation, and weapons… heavy weapons.”

Renata stopped at the 58th vent, using the small wrench she had stolen during dinner to unscrew the bolts. After carefully removing the filter, she threw down the worn-out mat she had brought with her.

“Climb out of vent 58. There are many pipes there that you can use to climb down step by step. But the top pipes are very hot, so you need to have something insulating to put under your feet.” Zero had advised her.

Renata lowered herself to the ground, crouched, and ran to a pile of junk, flipping over a large cardboard box and putting it over her head. A few minutes later, she heard the heavy steps of military boots. Guards holding PPSh submachine guns opened the warehouse door and shone bright flashlights all around. They didn’t see anything suspicious, so they closed the door and left.

“Patrolling in the warehouse happens every 15 minutes, with three soldiers per group. They only take a cursory look. With your size, if you hide under a large cardboard box, you’ll be very safe. There are many such boxes there.”