Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 254: Divine Hall of Murals (8)

Dragon Raja 3

Just a moment ago, Genji Heavy Industries was brightly lit. Now, as per Tachibana’s command, the lights began to extinguish floor by floor, starting from the bottom, leaving only emergency lights. Fire exits and emergency doors locked down, separating the building into restricted zones. Anyone trying to move from one area to another would have to break through walls or doors, which would be immediately detected by Kaguya-hime. Snipers took positions on the rooftop, aiming downward to cover the exterior walls. If anyone attempted to rappel down using ropes, they would be shot mid-descent. These security measures had been rehearsed countless times, and Genji Heavy Industries’ security far exceeded Caesar’s expectations. However, tonight was its most vulnerable due to the impending police raid the next day.

“Once the building enters full lockdown, no rat, no matter where it came from, will be able to escape,” Tachibana said icily.

Chisei glanced at the floor indicator—just a few more floors until they reached the mural hall.

“Hurry! Hurry! We need to retreat now!” Caesar shouted while reloading his gun. “They’ll be here in less than thirty seconds!”

Chu Zihang finished photographing the last mural, packed away the camera, and rushed over to meet Caesar by the elevator. There was no way they could face Chisei, a super hybrid, unprepared. Even with their pride, neither Caesar nor Chu Zihang was willing to take that risk lightly.

“What about Lu Mingfei?” Chu Zihang glanced at the floor number of the freight elevator. Even with the VIP elevator in safety mode, it would still reach this floor first.

“Leave him to the super hybrids. There’s no way that turtle will believe Lu Mingfei killed the Execution Bureau agents. They’ll just lock him up, maybe rough him up a little. We have to trust our teammate—I believe he can handle it,” Caesar said.

“Handle torture?” Chu Zihang shook his head.

“He won’t need to. All he knows is that we’re hiding in Takamagahara. As long as we leave Takamagahara, there’s nothing else for him to confess. So even if he can’t handle it, he has no valuable information to give. The turtle might be a jerk, but he’s not a bloodthirsty maniac who’d tear Lu Mingfei apart,” Caesar shrugged.

Meanwhile, Lu Mingfei was completely bewildered.

He had just reached the freight elevator and was about to celebrate escaping the lion’s den when he heard gunfire from the adjacent elevator shaft.

Could it be that Caesar and Chu Zihang had gotten into a gunfight with the Execution Bureau? Oh man, he thought, as he fumbled for his gun. This wasn’t his forte, but in a situation like this, it’s always good to have a weapon for self-defense, just like in the movies where the hero hands the heroine a small pistol and says, “Remember how I taught you to shoot?” In the crucial moment, the little gun is what takes down the villain.

But why did thinking about this make him feel more like the heroine? Lu Mingfei clutched his gun nervously, crawling between the file boxes, looking for a hiding place. He didn’t want to step out of the elevator only to be caught in a hail of bullets.

Suddenly, the elevator jolted, and the lights flickered a few times before plunging into complete darkness.

“Damn, Caesar, are you in a gunfight or an artillery battle? You’ve even knocked out the power!” Lu Mingfei muttered fearfully.

But Caesar hadn’t brought any rockets… And even if he had, what reason would there be for the entire building to shake like this? Was he on an elevator or a pirate ship in an amusement park? He hadn’t even had much to drink, but at this rate, he was going to throw up.

Then, it hit him—this wasn’t a gunfight, this was an earthquake!

Lu Mingfei suddenly remembered that Japan was a country that had frequent tremors—mild quakes were common, but this felt like it was over magnitude seven. Mild tremors were nothing, but strong ones could be deadly.

Without warning, the freight elevator plummeted, the brakes failing as the elevator fell with a screech of metal grinding against the tracks. The sparks lit up the shaft as the elevator descended uncontrollably. The earthquake’s magnitude had exceeded the design standards of the Maruyama Construction Company. The brakes failed, and the freight elevator, accelerating at one G, hurtled toward the ground!

At that moment, only three words could express Lu Mingfei’s thoughts on his absurd fate. And they weren’t the heroic exclamations like “screw this!” but rather: “Help! Me!”

Tachibana slammed into the elevator wall, blood streaming from his forehead. His reflexes were much faster than the average person, so it wasn’t usually this bad. However, he had been aiming his revolver at the elevator door, fully focused, and was completely unprepared for the violent sway of the cabin. It wasn’t just “swaying”—the entire skyscraper was moving side to side by over a meter, tossing its occupants around like a pirate ship ride.

Most people believe skyscrapers stand still, completely unmoving. But that’s just an illusion. The steel frames that support these massive buildings have a certain flexibility. When subjected to external forces, they bend and absorb the energy, then return to their original shape. Under normal circumstances, buildings like Genji Heavy Industries would sway by a few centimeters during strong winds, but the amplitude was so small that most people wouldn’t notice. However, in a powerful earthquake, the entire skyscraper swayed like a forest of tall pines in a storm, causing everything inside to tremble violently.

Chisei swiftly stabbed Kumogiri into the elevator wall, steadying himself as he helped Tachibana to his feet. The elevator came to a halt, the steel cables struggling in vain to pull it, but it was stuck in the shaft, unable to move. While the VIP elevator was built to withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake, it couldn’t function normally during such a quake. The seismic waves had caused the elevator shaft to bend slightly, and even the best design by Maruyama Construction couldn’t allow the elevator to move in a bent shaft.

Chisei’s phone buzzed in his coat pocket. He glanced at it—it was a text message from the city hall: “Earthquake alert. Fifteen seconds ago, a shallow earthquake hit Tokyo with a magnitude of approximately 6.5. The shockwave will reach Saitama in 15 seconds and Yokohama and Osaka in 30 seconds. Please take precautions.”

“A quake, right at this moment!” Tachibana muttered, looking at his own phone.

The building was still in lockdown, meaning the intruders hadn’t escaped, but if they didn’t lift the lockdown, the people inside the building couldn’t evacuate. While the Execution Bureau members could remain calm, ordinary workers still in the building might panic during the earthquake.

Outside, hurried footsteps could be heard. The workers were following the rehearsed “Earthquake Emergency Evacuation Plan,” with department heads instructing managers and managers guiding regular employees in an orderly evacuation to various safety exits. Everything was running smoothly. Japan, being a country prone to earthquakes, was used to such scenarios. The citizens were known for their discipline and calm during emergencies, but this composure wouldn’t last long. Once they reached the emergency exits, they would discover the doors were locked due to the lockdown.

When people realize they are trapped, panic sets in. Even the most disciplined workforce could dissolve into chaos, pushing, shoving, and using anything at hand to break free. If that happened, the earthquake itself wouldn’t be the cause of death—fear would be.

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