Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 25: Burning Christmas Eve (6)

Dragon Raja 3

At the end of the pier, the doctor and Bondarev turned to look back at Black Swan Bay engulfed in flames. Every window spewed fire, explosions echoing one after another. The cheerful sounds of an accordion and Christmas carols were faintly heard amidst the explosions. The people in the Golden Hall were entirely controlled by the hallucinogens, imagining they had returned to a prosperous and joyful Moscow.

“Could the flames here be observed from Verkhojansk already?” Bondarev asked.

“No, they can’t. Visibility is too low in the blizzard. But the infrared signal can be observed by the orbital satellite,” the doctor replied. “The air force squadron will send Su-27 fighters to investigate, but the weather is too bad, even ace pilots will need plenty of preparation before taking off. I calculate they will arrive around 23:45. If they hover in the air, the vacuum bomb’s blast will be enough to take down the Su-27s, making everything look more like an accident.”

“You really are the most wicked villain in human history,” Bondarev said.

“In the dragon’s worldview, there is no good or evil—only strength and weakness,” the doctor replied.

Two sleds pulled by dogs were stationed on the frozen sea. One carried four sleeping boys, while the other had two metal incubators side by side. Bondarev opened one of the incubators to check—a pair of infant boys lay inside, both less than a year old. They had feeding tubes and oxygen masks. They had never been seen in Black Swan Bay, nor had they ever seen sunlight.

“The second-generation products, flawless, carry the power to change the world.” The doctor gazed at the boys’ faces.

“When we have more finished products, we can rewrite human history and firmly control this world in our hands!”

“Take one last look at the place that helped you fulfill your dream.” Bondarev looked towards the building engulfed in roaring flames. “At least mourn for the dead; to seize control of the world, one must inevitably stain their hands with blood.”

“Your compassion sounds hypocritical, Your Highness, but pretended compassion makes for a good leader,” the doctor said. “I only regret that we couldn’t take the dragon bone with us. We haven’t finished our research on it.”

“It was simply too large and embedded in the rock. We didn’t have enough time to dig it out. However, the vacuum bomb’s power is mainly concentrated on the surface and won’t harm it. It will be reburied underground, and no one will be able to drill through the permafrost to dig it out. Once we have conquered the world, you can revisit this place and dig it up, putting it in your museum to admire every day.”

“Not a bad idea,” the doctor nodded. They each boarded a sled, shaking the reins. The sled dogs growled but didn’t move; they scratched at the ice and barked loudly at the burning Black Swan Bay, as if unwilling to leave something behind.

“Damn it, I forgot to bring the female dog!” The doctor frowned. “All the sled dogs here are descendants of two females, Mia and Agata. Mia was brought out, but Agata is probably still in the kennel. The sled dogs on your sled are all Agata’s offspring. Forget about them; if Agata’s children won’t run, neither will Mia’s. One sled is enough for us to leave. Transfer the cargo to my sled.”

Suddenly, the doctor heard a change in the wind behind him, and a spotlight beam shone on him. He quickly turned around to see a massive shadow hovering in the air, its rotors churning the snowstorm into a whirl. It was the “Halo,” the heavy helicopter from the Lenin, which had risked coming to Black Swan Bay in such severe weather.

“Didn’t you say that the Halo couldn’t fly in such a blizzard?” The doctor froze, feeling something hard pressed against his back—Bondarev’s Makarov pistol. Steel-core bullets tore through the doctor’s chest one after another, shredding his aged heart into countless pieces. The doctor spat out blood mixed with fragments of his lungs, which had also been destroyed in the process. He struggled to turn his head to look at Bondarev, his eyes filled with shock.

“Without me… you won’t be able to complete the research…” he said hoarsely.

“We never intended to complete your research.” Bondarev’s pupils shimmered with a glorious golden hue.

“Who are you… really?”

Bondarev supported the doctor and injected him with adrenaline using an air syringe. “Hang on for another minute; witness the grandest scene.”

Suddenly, Black Swan Bay shook violently, and the sound of continuous explosions spread from underground. But it wasn’t the vacuum bomb going off ahead of time. If it were, the surrounding one square kilometer would have been razed to the ground. A flare of light rose as countless fragments of permafrost scattered over the frozen sea.

“Engineering blasters?” the doctor asked hoarsely.

“A new type of engineering blaster. Even the permafrost, if drilled properly, can be blown open. There is now a massive pit 180 meters deep that leads to Rasputin’s cave, where we will use lasers to cut through the ice and take away the precious artifact that once belonged to you,” Bondarev said. “You’ve been isolated from the outside world for too long and are unaware of the advances in engineering. Nowadays, drilling through permafrost in an instant is not difficult, as long as I can determine its location.”

“You… want to take the dragon away!” The doctor understood.

“Yes.” Bondarev changed magazines, walked over to the sled, and shot four bullets into the chests of the four boys.

The children, still under the influence of a potent sedative, died without a struggle. It was pure slaughter.

“For the sake of a great cause, it wasn’t just you who was willing to sacrifice lives.” Bondarev placed his hand on his chest, silently mourning for the children he had just killed, his expression pious. He took out an ice axe and began digging a hole in the ice. “I need to dig an ice hole to hide you. The vacuum bomb can’t completely destroy your body, but it will damage it beyond recognition. The investigation team from Moscow will identify you based on your burned bones, which is how I plan for a ‘no survivor’ destruction. And I am not part of Black Swan Bay; no one will think to search for my body.”

Snowflakes fell into the doctor’s wide-open eyes, not melting for a long time. In such frigid conditions, a person cools down quickly once dead. A pack of sled dogs ran toward the burning Black Swan Bay, probably searching for their mother.

Renata held Zero’s hand, running through the labyrinth-like corridors, Zorro strapped to her back. In her hand, she carried a small bundle containing the few clothes she had—underwear and a small nightdress. She was wearing her only nice outfit.

The ceiling of the hallway was also starting to catch fire, with pieces of the floor falling, shattering on the ground. Scorching white steam shot out from the cracks in the ventilation ducts, while the red-hot steel pipes began to bend. The cacophony of sounds merged into a swan’s death song, a final dirge for this Black Swan Bay. Outside, the massive spotlight on the high tower swept aimlessly, like a helpless one-eyed giant surveying a desolate wasteland.

Series Navigation

<< Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 24: Burning Christmas Eve (5)Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 26: Burning Christmas Eve (7) >>