Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 331: Crimson Soil (4)

Dragon Raja 3

The workers grabbed the little fish from their visors and stuffed them into glass bottles, intending to keep them as specimens. Suddenly, the fish opened their mouths—enormous mouths, filled with crystalline fangs—and in an instant, they transformed into furious little serpents!

One worker, frightened by the hideous appearance, was just about to let go when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his palm. Looking again, only the swinging long tail was left in his hand—the fish had bitten through the protective suit and burrowed into his palm. Another fish stared at a worker through the visor’s tempered glass for a few seconds before suddenly starting to gnaw at the top of the visor, burrowing into the helmet and then into the worker’s nostril. Within ten seconds, dozens of fish had drilled into the protective suits, with their long tails still wriggling outside the cracks.

“Help me! Help me!” the worker screamed, stumbling as he ran.

More glowing points fell from the sky, and the crimson water was now teeming with these fish, each one frantically leaping.

“Where’s the first aid kit?!” the project supervisor screamed hoarsely.

“The first aid kit is useless now. Can’t you see they’re already dead?” Sakurai Masahiko said coldly. “Those things are like a plague. Once touched, they’re dead. All we can do is burn the bodies—bring the fuel!”

“Sakurai-kun, you’re committing murder! These are our colleagues!” the project supervisor was horrified.

Just as a worker was about to escape the perimeter, the medic rushed to help him. Sakurai Masahiko suddenly pulled out a Glock pistol from his work uniform, firing a shot that hit the worker squarely in the forehead. The worker stumbled forward a few steps before collapsing at the medic’s feet.

Everyone was stunned. No one could believe that the usually gentle Dr. Sakurai would be carrying a gun, let alone have such precise marksmanship. That shot had pierced the worker’s skull, destroying the brain directly.

Sakurai Masahiko pointed the gun at the project supervisor’s temple. “Do as I say! Bring the fuel! Quickly!”

The worker lying in the pool of blood suddenly twitched.

“Get back!” Sakurai Masahiko shouted.

He was trying to warn the medic, who was already paralyzed with fear, but it was too late. Silver-blue points of light leaped from the back of the dead worker’s skull, darting into the medic’s mouth. The medic collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony, unable to make a sound. More of the little fish wriggled out of the protective suit, swarming like bees returning to a hive, entering the medic’s body. The medic’s entire body was covered in tiny wounds. Sakurai Masahiko raised his hand and fired a shot, piercing the medic’s temple. This was actually the kindest thing to do, sparing him from suffering. Anyone touched by these fish was as good as dead because they were ghost tooth vipers…

The Dragon’s Executioners—the Ghost Tooth Vipers.

These creatures should have gone extinct tens of thousands of years ago. But the Diriašte had infiltrated Takamagahara and discovered the nest of the Ghost Tooth Vipers in the depths of a trench. Now they had appeared in the Akioni River. They were the ones who had destroyed the drill bit, gnawing at the hard alloy! Though only a small subspecies of the Dragon Clan, the Ghost Tooth Vipers were the most crazed bloodthirsty creatures. Their sharp teeth could tear through steel. Once inside their prey, they wouldn’t immediately kill but would savagely gnaw at the prey’s organs, carving pathways inside the body. The skin of the prey remained intact, but inside, it was filled with these bloodthirsty little fish.

These creatures must be destroyed. Even if a single one made it into the human world, the consequences would be terrifying.

Under Sakurai Masahiko’s orders, the workers carried barrels of fuel. Fortunately, the drill hole was located in the center of a depression, and more and more dragon vipers were gathering around the hole, but for the moment, they couldn’t leave the depression. They bounced around in the scarlet water, making the depression look like an eel farm. Fuel was poured into the depression, and some workers used long tools to push the “infected” people back into the depression near the perimeter.

The infected within the safety zone continued to wail, but they wouldn’t die immediately. This was the most terrifying aspect of the dragon vipers—they voraciously devoured blood-rich internal organs, all the while secreting something similar to adrenaline to keep their prey alive. They didn’t like to eat dead things, so even though the infected were riddled with holes, they couldn’t die quickly. Sakurai Masahiko took aim and fired consecutive shots, each one a headshot. Once the prey died, the dragon vipers would retreat from the body, and the swarm of fish, like silver-blue water, would “flow” out of the gaps in the protective suits.

“More fuel! The fuel has to completely submerge them!” Sakurai Masahiko shouted.

The dragon vipers’ weakness was similar to that of the corpse guardians—their fat was excellent fuel. Once ignited, it would burn until even their bones turned to ash. However, if the fuel didn’t completely saturate them, the vipers trapped below would remain unburned due to the lack of oxygen. Sakurai Masahiko couldn’t allow a single dragon viper to escape the depression. If even one mating pair entered Japan’s rivers, it would lead to the worst biological disaster in history. These small creatures would breed at an alarming rate and eventually consume everything, including the dams. Only the dragon clan knew how to control them, but that method had long been forgotten along with dragon civilization.

“The fish are jumping out!” the project supervisor yelled.

The swarm of dragon vipers was leaping upwards, their small bodies propelled by incredibly strong muscles, bouncing like silver-blue marbles. Countless silver-blue marbles were bouncing on the rocks, beautiful beyond words, yet all who saw them felt only fear.

The project supervisor had just poured a barrel of fuel into the depression when he suddenly dropped the barrel and ran back. Without hesitation, Sakurai Masahiko fired a shot, piercing the project supervisor’s forehead. He stepped forward and kicked the body into the depression just as a silver-blue tail flashed in and out of the supervisor’s mouth.

The project supervisor was a man in his forties, considered Sakurai Masahiko’s senior. He had always looked out for Masahiko since he joined the research institute, and Masahiko had called him “brother.” He hadn’t intended to disregard the life of such a mentor, but Sakurai Masahiko couldn’t allow the dragon vipers to escape using the supervisor’s body. This was a battlefield in the war between humans and dragons—right here, in this depression. There could be no weakness or hesitation on the battlefield. Every family leader had undergone similar training: if they ever faced dragons, they would stop at nothing, using every form of violence available. Because these were dragons, the world’s largest and only demons. Without using your full strength, without the utmost cruelty, you couldn’t defeat them! And behind you stood humanity—you had to defend this line!

The silver-blue fish had already reached the edge of the depression, like silver-blue wine about to overflow its cup.

“Light it!” Sakurai Masahiko ordered. Any further delay and it would be too late.

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