Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 11: Journey to the End of the World (11)

Dragon Raja 4

“I can’t promise you what you want on behalf of the college. We have precedents for protecting witnesses, but all of these require applications,” Chu Zihang said.

“Do you want the information delivered to your doorstep? You said it earlier; let’s not interfere with each other!” Reginleif shook off the snowflakes from her clothes and turned to leave.

Chu Zihang watched her retreating figure. She was drinking vodka in the fine snow, looking bold like a bandit who had just robbed you, yet her footsteps seemed to follow a peculiar rhythm.

Chu Zihang returned to his cabin and opened his laptop. EVA had already sent the materials on the Twilight Dogma.

Chu Zihang immediately began studying the documents. The so-called “Twilight Dogma” was actually a small faction within the Secret Party. They believed that Norse mythology recorded ancient history. At that time, dragons and gods were in a state of mutual restraint, until the dragon kings betrayed the tyrannical Black Emperor and allied with the gods to kill the powerful Nidhogg, using a powerful alchemical matrix called the World Tree to suppress his remains. However, the Black Emperor was always destined to resurrect. He would break through the suppression of the alchemical matrix and fight to the death with the gods led by Odin. This destined war was called “Ragnarok” by them.

The followers of the Twilight Dogma believed that Odin was the only one who could stand against the Black King. The fate of the world did not depend on how the hybrid world fought with the Dragon Kings, but on whether they could find the great Odin.

Chu Zihang closed the documents helplessly. As EVA said, although these contents involved sensitive terms, they were just outdated files. The academy did not want these things spread around, not because they were confidential, but because they were nonsensical. They had an imagination that could be described as magnificent, yet there was no factual basis. No matter how elusive the Dragon Raja was, the Secret Party had still discovered relics, but no remnants of the god civilization had ever been found. Fossils as old as the Cambrian trilobites were discovered piled up into small hills, not to mention ancient civilizations that once built cities and palaces.

However, the Twilight Dogma had an explanation for this, saying that the gods’ capital, Asgard, was located in another dimension. To reach Asgard, one must pass through a door constructed by alchemy, which sounded very metaphysical. The concept of a multiverse was more suitable for Marvel movies. In this way, the Far North did inherit some of the Twilight Dogma’s theories. For a hundred years, they had been tirelessly searching for a mysterious door, hoping to reach a sacred place beyond that door. Whether that place was called Asgard or Hyperborea was not important.

“It seems that both the Twilight Dogma and the Far North are just a group of blind believers, lost in their own fantasies,” Chu Zihang said.

“Yes, although Herzog was once a member of the Far North, he was an outlier there. We cannot determine if the Far North’s theories inspired him,” EVA paused, “There’s a piece of not-so-good news for you. The Execution Bureau is considering temporarily suspending your executive officer license.”

“Why?” Chu Zihang immediately sat up straight.

“You know the reason behind it. Your condition is becoming increasingly unstable. To be honest, I don’t even know how much longer you can live. You need a comprehensive treatment plan,” EVA said. “Your current work will also be taken over by someone else. At the next port where you dock, someone will come to take over your duties. Don’t overthink it. Everyone grows up, some people die, and some choose to leave. Even if your body were fine, you wouldn’t always be that young man wielding two swords and roaming the world.”

“Now you sound like an HR manager coming to fire me,” Chu Zihang smiled silently. “But this is all I know. How to slay dragons.”

“The college has no intention of dismissing you, but it hopes you’ll consider a teaching position,” EVA said. “You would make an excellent teacher.”

“After completing the investigation of the Far North, I’ll return to the college’s headquarters to report. We’ll discuss other matters then,” Chu Zihang said.

“I will submit a request via email. During the investigation of the Far North, a witness has requested protection from the college in exchange for providing us with all the information about the Gate of the Divine Kingdom and Hyperborea,” EVA said.

“You mean the young saintess? From the side information I’ve gathered, she’s quite the troublemaker. Last year, when this ship was docked at Aberdeen, an unidentified woman was seen swimming ashore with an inflatable SpongeBob. She was intercepted and sent back by the crew, so it must have been her. It seems reasonable that she would make such a request to you,” EVA said. “But you’ve never liked dealing with trivial matters, except for those involving Lu Mingfei. The saintly young lady’s freedom is not directly related to your investigation. No one on that ship can obstruct your investigation.”

Chu Zihang was silent for a long time.

“Some people say that no bird in this world should be confined in a cage,” he said before ending the communication.

He sat quietly by the porthole, trying to calm his disturbed mind. In fact, he had been waiting for this day for some time. His physical changes could not be hidden from the college. They had assigned him to the relaxed Oslo branch in hopes that he would gradually adapt to a calm and mundane life. The so-called treatment plan was merely a hopeful expectation. Humanity was yet to find a way to steadily reduce the dragon blood ratio. The calmer he became, the longer he might live; perhaps becoming a monk might allow him to become a renowned master. He just didn’t know how to persuade himself to accept that kind of life. When his hand, accustomed to holding a sword, was empty, he didn’t know what to grasp.

Perhaps he really had to change his lifestyle. Before that, he suddenly thought of helping Reginleif apply for the college’s protection. The Far North was likely not an organization to be taken seriously. He would soon sign off on the task report and end this matter. But before that, he could help Reginleif achieve her repeatedly failed escape and give her a chance to have a complete romance. His flightless bird was about to land, and Reginleif was about to take off.

Why help her? It must have been moved by her story of the virgin saint, which inexplicably reminded him of a girl in her lonely, isolated little room.

The internal phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and, after listening for a moment, his expression changed slightly.

Reginleif walked into the top deck cabin. The warm clothing Chu Zihang had lent her slid off her shoulders. She kicked off her slippers and walked on the soft carpet towards her bedroom. The darkness was filled with a slightly sweet scent of frankincense. Behind her, there were faint rustling noises, like a group of mice following her. She walked expressionlessly into her bedroom, locked the door behind her, and kept the noises outside.

She sat at her desk and took out a file from the drawer, carefully reading through it. The file came from Cassell College and contained the resume of a student who had left school for special reasons. Her name was Xia Mi. Along with the file was a USB drive. Reginleif plugged the USB drive into the computer, and the projector displayed a large image on the wall opposite. The footage from a few months of university life showed that the girl often cleverly avoided cameras, so there was little video material. The captured footage mostly showed fleeting glimpses of her in the library and cafeteria. The longest segment was of her carrying a thermos canister through a long corridor in the night, her steps light and rhythmic, surrounded by the sounds of cicadas and fireflies chasing her.

Reginleif stood up and walked barefoot around the bedroom, mimicking Xia Mi’s sense of rhythm.

After a while, she collapsed entirely onto the soft bed. “Still not quite right? Or was I too dull?”

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