Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 339: Monster Combination (4)

Dragon Raja 3

Meanwhile, helicopters flew through the heavy rain, overhead were dark clouds, and below, the jagged red-stone mountains.

A fleet of CH-47 transport helicopters, all painted black, bore the sun flag emblem of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. High-strength steel cables hung from the helicopters, suspending an oversized container that required eight CH-47s to lift. Neither the pilots nor the special forces providing security knew what was inside the container. They had been ordered to take off from a Self-Defense Force base in Hokkaido, fly to Aomori Prefecture at the northern tip of Honshu to load the cargo at the Shirakami Mountain Base, and then head to the Tama River mountains west of Tokyo. In the span of one morning, they had flown across all of Japan. They avoided large cities as much as possible, opting instead for sparsely populated mountains and wilderness. But when they occasionally flew over highways, the enormous container flying just 100 meters above the ground caused gasps of astonishment. The giant container seemed like a space battleship cruising slowly through the atmosphere. On a clear day, it would have blocked out the sun.

Parents nervously speculated that it was some kind of top-secret weapon, while excited children pointed at the massive black silhouette in the rain, shouting, “Gundam!”

Chisei sat in the most prominent seat of the helicopter cabin, dressed in an all-black suit, a black-sheathed katana at his side. This was the seat of the commander. Officers in Self-Defense Force uniforms hurried around the highest leader of Japan’s underworld.

“Commander, we are approaching Tokyo’s military exclusion zone. Our squadron does not have permission to enter Tokyo. Please advise on the next course of action,” a major saluted and reported to Chisei.

“Here are the coordinates. Give them to the pilots. Drop the cargo at the designated location,” Chisei handed over a white card.

The major hesitated for a moment, glancing out the window at the lush, verdant mountains below. The sprawling forest, covering millions of hectares, rose and fell with the terrain. Dense green beech, red pines, and five-needle pines interwove, creating an impenetrable canopy. Graceful weeping mountain cherry blossoms grew at the highest points.

On the map, this area was marked as a government-protected environmental zone. The forest was so dense that even constructing small mountain roads was difficult, so no villagers lived nearby, and there were no public facilities. Although it wasn’t far from Tokyo, it was essentially a no-man’s land. Yet, the commander had ordered the cargo to be dropped here.

“Commander, we have arrived near the coordinates, but there doesn’t seem to be an airport nearby for landing,” the major said.

“The target is the mountain lake just ahead,” Chisei replied. “Order the helicopters to hover directly above the lake.”

The mountain lake wasn’t very large, with a surface area of less than one square kilometer. The water was a dazzling emerald green, and the shore was lined with wild weeping cherry trees and green beeches, whose petals and leaves drifted gently onto the calm surface. The lake lay between two mountain ridges, likely formed by springs deep in the valley, where underground water had gushed out to create this lake high above ground level.

“We’ve reached the lake. Please advise on the next step, Commander,” the major asked.

“Prepare to unload the cargo,” Chisei said, rising and walking to the cabin door.

“But below us is just water… are we supposed to drop the cargo into the lake?” the major asked, confused.

“Water?” Chisei patted his shoulder. “Major, haven’t you noticed something strange? In this stormy weather, the lake surface remains perfectly calm. It should be churning like the ocean.”

A thunderous rumble echoed from deep within the mountain lake. Something unimaginable began to happen beneath them. The lake, dotted with cherry blossoms and beech leaves, split apart. The surface of the lake divided into two, and the gap between the two halves of the water widened, like the Red Sea parting for Moses.

A giant turbine, dozens of meters in diameter, appeared beneath the lake. Around it, a ring of several large turbines whirred slowly, their blades turning as the heavy rain fell upon them. Red navigation lights illuminated, and a massive engineering platform, large enough to unload cargo, rose from the center of the turbine array. The major’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“The project name is G-Cans, with the codename ‘Iron Dome Temple’ during development. Publicly, it’s known as the new Tokyo Water Management System. This is one of its core components: Reservoir 13, built between two mountains. It’s 120 meters deep and can hold as much water as a medium-sized underground lake.”

Its purpose is to regulate the groundwater levels in the mountainous regions, preventing an excess of underground water from flowing into Tokyo and causing flooding in the capital’s economic zone. What you see as the lake’s surface is a camouflage; the real water surface is deep underground, 20 meters below the turbine assembly. This is one of the crucial safeguards keeping Tokyo from becoming a waterlogged city,” Chisei explained slowly.

“It’s… a miracle!” the major exclaimed in awe.

“We are the designers of the Iron Dome Temple, Ganryū Research Institute, and the builders, Maruyama Construction. Due to recent abnormal weather and continuous heavy rain, we need to conduct emergency operations on Reservoir 13 to increase its efficiency. Please verify the signature of the Chief Cabinet Secretary and proceed with unloading the cargo onto the engineering platform,” Chisei handed the official documents to the major.

“Yes, sir!” the major replied loudly.

The massive tunneling machine was located at the Shirakami Mountain Air Force Base in Aomori Prefecture, hundreds of kilometers away from Akai Well. Weighing 120 tons, no engineering flatbed could transport it in one piece. Disassembling and reassembling it would take several days, so Chisei decided to leverage his influence within the Self-Defense Force to mobilize all large transport helicopters to airlift the entire tunneling machine to Akai Well, where work tracks were already in place. Within hours of its arrival, the machine could start drilling. The military procedures were legitimate, and the Chief Cabinet Secretary’s signature was genuine. The Yamata no Orochi may be a yakuza group, but it was far more than just that. When it was in full motion, it could pull the entire nation along with it.

Once the patriarch’s orders were issued, the Yamata no Orochi operated like a well-trained army. Tachibana met with influential political and business figures to secure the excavation permits for Akai Well; Sakurai Nanami handled the logistics, using her beauty to navigate the business world with ease; Shio supervised the excavation. Meanwhile, Fūma Kōtarō, the leader of the ninja clan, covertly summoned the clan’s military force, a highly trained ninja unit hidden in the forests below. Should any remnants of the Oni Clan attempt to seize control of the god at Akai Well, they would be silently eliminated in the dense woods.

Ryoma Genichirō, the head of the Ryoma family, was tasked with the most special duty. He was temporarily enlisted into the Japan Self-Defense Force through special procedures, becoming a “First-Class Colonel” in the reserve forces, equivalent to a colonel in other countries. At this moment, this reserve colonel was commanding an air squadron stationed at an air base near Tokyo for defense exercises. If necessary, he had the authority to deploy attack aircraft to bomb Akai Well. This plan had been laid out by Tachibana ten years ago. Ryoma Genichirō had kept a low profile within his family because he was a soldier and had always been a First-Class Colonel in the reserves, ready to be summoned to active duty at any time.

To kill a god, any and all forces could be mobilized, including the military might of the Self-Defense Force, which was part of the Yamata no Orochi’s grand plan.

The only one without any specific task was Chisei, who simply had to wait—for the decisive battle. He was the general, and when the general rose, victory or defeat would be determined.

The helicopter’s winch slowly rotated, lowering the massive container steadily toward the marked platform, guided by red beacons. Shio stood beneath the rotor blades, his white lab coat whipping in the wind.

He wore a gas mask and carried the slender sword Kikuichimonji Norimune. From deep within the well below him came the resounding echo of liquid pouring. Five thousand tons of mercury were being poured into the well, which would settle at the bottom and be sealed by the groundwater. After the tunnel was dug, the water from Akaoni River, along with thousands of dragon subtypes and the god currently incubating, would fall into the well. When they touched the mercury at the bottom, it would be their death.

Shio raised Kikuichimonji Norimune high in the air, saluting the indistinct figure on the helicopter. He knew that person must also be raising the ancient sword Kumogiri in salute. It was a warrior’s mutual respect.

The container landed heavily on the engineering platform. The helicopters released the hooks and turned back, flying toward the air base in Hokkaido. The massive well cover above Akai Well rumbled as it closed, and just before the last sliver of sky disappeared between the cracks, Shio saw a lone mountain cherry blossom petal drift through the gap.