Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 35: New Testament (5)

Dragon Raja 3

“As long as we follow the tracks, we won’t get lost. These tracks belong to the K4, and they’ll lead us to China.” That’s what Zero had said.

It seemed his plan was to walk all the way to Beijing. From the map, the railway spanned 7,000 kilometers. No ordinary person would make such a grand travel plan, but Zero said he was insane, so it wasn’t surprising.

Renata’s awakened physical strength was far superior to that of an ordinary person, but even so, after trekking 120 kilometers on the sleepers, she was starting to struggle. Her legs felt like they weren’t her own anymore.

“Women are delicate; what can you do? I’ll carry you,” Zero said. He took off Renata’s boots, wrapped her blistered feet in gauze, and carried her on his back.

Sleepiness washed over her in waves, and Renata was drowsy on Zero’s back. His body shielded her from the cold wind, and his back was warm.

“I’m not planning to walk all the way to Beijing,” Zero said. “Once we reach the next station, we can hop on a tanker car. The strict lockdown is just in Moscow. Hang in there; by my calculations, we have about… hmm… 800 kilometers to go.”

“Okay,” Renata said softly.

“Hey, hey! Don’t fall asleep! If you sleep in this weather, you’ll catch a cold!” Zero shook Renata vigorously. “Out here in the ice and snow, I’m the only warmth you have. I wouldn’t mind stripping down to hold you, but aren’t you afraid of me? Hehehe, maybe I’ve already started to grow up, you never know.”

“Oh,” Renata said, too tired to even open her eyes.

“No choice then, I’ll tell you about your parents. That should keep you awake,” Zero said.

“Okay.” Renata opened her eyes.

Zero licked his chapped lips from the cold wind and snow, “Your father was a professor at the college of Sciences, a genetics and biology professor. He was a bit bald… that’s from what I saw in the photos… but still kind of handsome. His research wasn’t that great, honestly. He lost his title as a professor a few years ago due to an evaluation issue, and since then he worked in a library. He was the first to notice how unusual you were—he was a perceptive scientist. He liked drinking, and he could hold his liquor quite well.”

“Really,” Renata said softly.

“Your mother, though, she was a beauty! I think all of your good looks came from her. She must have been in her forties… I mean, before she passed away… but still, she was a charming lady. Many well-connected men in Moscow admired her, but there were no issues in your parents’ marriage. Oh, and your mother liked dancing. Every weekend, she would go dancing behind the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. When we get to China, you could try learning to dance.”

“Really,” Renata said again.

“Sadly, they passed away,” Zero sighed. “The Chinese have a saying, ‘Good people don’t live long.’”

“How did they die?” Renata asked.

“Cold weather led to the flu. Your father got sick first, and while taking care of him, your mother unfortunately caught it too. The flu turned into pneumonia, and they passed away around the same time,” Zero wiped the sweat from his forehead. At the moment, he looked rather disheveled; his well-tailored black wool coat was draped over Renata to keep her warm, his woolen jacket was crooked, snow was hanging from the front, and his shoes were covered in mud.

“You killed them,” Renata said.

She said it so calmly and indifferently, as if she were simply stating a fact, and it had nothing to do with her.

Zero’s body stiffened slightly. He stopped walking, slowly stood up straight, and turned to look at Renata, “How did you know?”

With his pride and laziness, even after being exposed, he didn’t bother denying it. He had reluctantly told a lie to comfort the girl, but was too lazy to weave more lies to cover it up.

“You have the smell of blood on you,” Renata said, “And when I looked into your eyes, I knew you were lying.”

Zero glanced at the inside of his sleeve, where there were faint traces of blood—splashes from when he had stabbed Mrs. Chicherina in the chest. Normally, such tiny traces of blood wouldn’t even be detectable by police dogs.

He sighed, “That’s because of your ‘Mirror Eyes’ ability. Your true gift is analysis and replication, so the closer you are to me, the stronger your ability to replicate becomes. It looks like I can’t lie to your face anymore. Your father, that idiot, thought you had devilish intelligence, but in reality, you were just analyzing the structure of the radio.”

“Why?” Renata asked.

Zero shrugged, “Alright, alright, I lied. Your father was a useless academic who was good for nothing except drinking, and he only got the title of professor by offering you to the state. That title was soon taken away because he rambled nonsense at an academic conference. Your mother’s beauty was real, but she was promiscuous—I’m putting that lightly; I could even call her a whore. She was indeed a good dancer, so the playboys frequenting the dance hall loved giving her small gifts, taking the chance to touch and grope her while dancing. She had a few ‘boyfriends’ who had connections, and it looked like she was soon going to divorce your father. In short, your family was a complete mess. You wouldn’t have wanted to go back there—it was worse than Black Swan Bay. If you went back, you might even be forced into prostitution.”

“Were they really like that?” Renata lowered her head, and Zero couldn’t see her face.

“And they didn’t care about you at all. They were even considering having another child to take your place. I told them I could send you back to them, but they said, ‘No, no, no, keep that cursed child away from us!’ Then I told them I was willing to buy you for a hundred thousand rubles. They were ecstatic, practically eager to kneel and kiss my feet and begged me to change your name—preferably not Chicherina anymore,” Zero grumbled. “What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to come back and tell you that your family was full of scumbags? Damn it, I thought that was too cruel, so I figured it’d be easier to just solve the problem!”

Renata nodded and said nothing.

“Alright! This time I’m telling the truth. Any more questions? If not, I need to keep walking! You’re being carried like a princess, and my shoes are soaked!” Zero said impatiently.

“No more questions,” Renata said softly.

They continued on in silence, the sound of the wind and snow howling around them. After a long while, Zero felt something warm dripping down his neck.

“What now?” He sighed.

“They… don’t love me,” Renata’s voice was distorted by her sobs. She had awakened, evolved, strengthened her bones and muscles, and had ancient dragon blood flowing in her veins, but she couldn’t make her heart invulnerable.

“What good is love?” Zero shouted impatiently. “You never had that kind of thing to begin with! You’re a Hybrid, do you understand? You aren’t human. When you gained power, you could no longer stay among people. You’re destined to be alone, like a genius, a hero, or a madman. You don’t need love—power is enough to survive!”

“I understand,” Renata said.

But the warm droplets kept dripping onto Zero’s neck, and when the wind blew, they froze, making him shiver.

“Still crying? You’re so annoying! You know that?” Zero finally ran out of patience, his shouting echoing across the snowfield. “You get ugly when you cry! I hate it when my subordinates look bad!”

Renata wiped her face, but her eyes were still swollen and red. She didn’t want Zero to be angry with her, although, when he was angry, it wasn’t so bad—he looked more like a kid when he was mad.

“Listen up! Remember this! I spent hundred thousand rubles to buy you from your father! You’re mine from now on!” Zero said fiercely. “From now on, you’re no longer Chicherina, and your name isn’t Renata. You are called…”

He thought for a moment, “You’ll be called Zero. You belong to me, so you’ll use my name! If you need to love something to have the will to live, then love me! At least I won’t sell you out like that scumbag father of yours just for some pathetic benefit! If I ever sell you out, it’ll be for something of great value!” Zero spat fiercely. “Scum!”

“Alright…” Renata’s reply was swallowed by the wind and snow.

Zero didn’t respond. Maybe he was tired of the conversation, or maybe he hadn’t heard her at all. He adjusted Renata on his shoulder and continued trudging forward, step by step, across the ice-covered railroad ties.

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