Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 12: Journey to the End of the World (12)

Dragon Raja 4

The bedroom door was forcefully pushed open. Reginleif barely had time to turn off the projector and didn’t even have time to put on a garment before Vincent had arrived at the bed in his wheelchair.

“Get dressed and come with me. The investors are all waiting for you.” Vincent’s tone was stern, not like a humble servant speaking to a master.

He was still hunched over, but he no longer looked as frail as he did during the day. His eyes seemed to burn with a ghostly fire, and his gaze slid down Reginleif’s curves. Reginleif quickly covered herself with a bed sheet, jumped up like a fawn, and ran behind the screen to change into the black backless dress from the previous night, tying the heavy black skirt around her waist. When she emerged from behind the screen, she had transformed into the youthful yet dignified Saint of the Stars from the night before. The large painting silently moved aside, revealing the exquisite small chapel. She walked into the chapel with her head held high and chest out, while Vincent put away his lecherous expression and followed humbly behind her.

Beneath the vaulted ceiling adorned with a starry mosaic of gemstones, a long conference table was set up, empty except for beams of light shining down from above. Each beam contained a laser-projected World Tree emblem, a total of nine emblems, each labeled from “01” to “09.” Reginleif sat at the head of the conference table, while Vincent, Hervor, and Olrune formed a semicircle around her. Her expression was proud and aloof, her head slightly tilted back, her neck as graceful as a swan’s.

“Vincent, we have waited thirteen whole years. When will the new dawn finally break?” The World Tree emblem marked “01” lit up, and a voice filled with ancient authority spoke.

“We have recalibrated our course according to the position of Aldebaran. We are certain that we are heading towards the Gate of the Divine Kingdom,” Vincent said respectfully.

“We have spent 1.3 billion dollars on your plans over the past thirteen years! You have claimed four times that you had reached the gates of the Divine Kingdom, yet in the end, you achieved nothing!” The voice from the World Tree emblem marked “08” was even more severe.

“The Gate of the Divine Kingdom has been there for thousands, even tens of thousands of years. It is already fortunate to have a distant view, let alone to arrive.” Vincent said slowly. “And this time, we are truly going to open that gate.”

“Vincent, every time you summon us, it’s just for money. State your numbers and don’t waste our time,” said the World Tree emblem marked “09.”

“The final 500 million dollars will be paid in the form of electronic promissory notes. Once that money enters our account, we will release the route map.”

“I would have mocked your greed, selling the secrets of the Divine Kingdom for this price, akin to Judas betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver,” said the World Tree emblem marked “07.” “You can receive that money, but as a greedy person, don’t you yearn for the wealth within the Divine Kingdom? Compared to that, worldly currency is nothing but waste paper.”

“Esteemed investors, forgive my bluntness, but when the gate of the Divine Kingdom opens, only powerful individuals like yourselves will benefit from it. How could I dare to covet the wealth inside? Just as the guide who led Caesar into Rome did not possess the gold of the Pantheon, no, the guide only received the gold coins given by Caesar. The gold, the Pantheon, and Rome all belonged to the great Caesar,” Vincent said with a smile. “If you could generously allow my ship to dock at a certain port and let me spend the rest of my life with some money, it would be an honor for me.” All the World Tree icons went dark and then briefly illuminated again.

“The electronic promissory notes you need will be transferred to your designated virtual account in five minutes. This is our final investment. If you fail again, your ship, your saint, and your cult will disappear in the Arctic Circle,” said the World Tree emblem marked “01” slowly. “But we have an additional request. We need you to prove the saint’s identity. Even though she looks exactly like the previous generation of Maria, appearance is easily faked, and we have not yet verified her lineage on-site.”

Vincent pondered for a moment, then nodded to Hervor and Olrune. With expressionless faces, the two girls lifted Reginleif and forced her to turn around, holding onto the back of the chair, facing away from the conference table. Reginleif’s dress was backless but covered with a layer of black veil. Hervor tore away the thin veil, revealing a barcode near her waist on her porcelain-like skin. The barcode was distinct and glaring, and the nine World Tree emblems projected green laser beams onto it. Reginleif gritted her teeth, enduring the humiliating “gaze” until the laser beams disappeared, and the World Trees did not make a sound, seemingly acknowledging Reginleif’s identity.

“Her serial number is stored with you all. She is a perfect copy from the first generation of Maria of the Stars, the only complete one,” Vincent said slowly. “She is our final Holy Grail!”

The World Tree emblems extinguished one by one. The noble figures were unwilling to continue discussing with this greedy little man. A servant might lead a horse for the nobility, but he was not worth a single additional word from them.

Reginleif angrily pushed away Hervor and Olrune, her long dress draped around her, and stood up to leave the small chapel, but she was grabbed by the arms by the two. Hervor pressed her down onto the conference table, and Olrune raised a horsehair whip and struck her sharply on the back. Reginleif cried out in pain but immediately bit her lip.

Vincent wheeled his chair in front of her, pinching her delicate chin. “Do you know why you are being punished? What did you say to Mr. Chu? Why did you go to the helicopter landing pad?”

“To seduce a man, shouldn’t one go to a private place? Is Mr. Vincent suggesting I bring him to my bedroom? Or to his cabin?” Reginleif replied coldly.

Vincent slapped her face harshly and shouted at Olrune, “Teach her to show some respect!”

Just as Olrune was about to move, Reginleif suddenly straightened her back and kicked her legs from behind. The heel of her boot hit Hervor’s head precisely. The moment Hervor let go, Reginleif grabbed the slim girl and forcefully slammed her onto the conference table. Olrune quickly stepped back, but Reginleif followed up with a kick to her knee and seized the horsehair whip from her hand. Hervor tumbled off the table and drew a pair of Kris knives from her skirt, assuming an offensive stance. Reginleif, however, moved to a more open area, glanced back at them, and began to lash the whip mercilessly on her own back.

Her strikes were harsher than Olrune’s, the first lash causing her to bleed profusely, the radiating bloodlines strikingly vivid. She continued to whip herself, landing thirty lashes in total.

She threw the bloody whip down in front of the stunned Vincent. “Are you worried that I’ve developed feelings for Chu and ruined your plans? Don’t worry, I was just following your instructions, imitating the girl from the video to approach him. People like us have no right to develop feelings.”

She staggered out of the small chapel. Though she was not indifferent to the pain and had indeed exerted all her strength while whipping herself, she still held her head high as she walked out.

Chu Zihang hurried to Sasha’s cabin. As he pushed the door open, he saw the crimson figure sprawled on the sofa, with a slim waist and rounded hips, her dress split open to reveal a strip of pale, dazzling skin. It was originally an alluring scene, but Lady Cassandra had a massive gash on her chest, the blood staining the polar bear skin laid out on the floor. Sasha sat on a side chair, holding a sharp Cyborg tactical knife.

Most of the crew lived below the deck, but as the captain, Sasha occasionally needed to entertain distinguished guests, so he had a spacious suite with a meeting room. Sasha was about to say something, but Chu Zihang waved to indicate it was unnecessary; he already understood the situation.

The scene appeared clear, but Sasha’s Cyborg knife had no blood on it, and there were several bloody footprints on the polar bear skin, leading straight to the cabin door. This indicated that the scene was not the original site, and Sasha was not the perpetrator. Lady Cassandra must have come to Sasha’s cabin after being injured outside, possibly seeking his help, but she died from blood loss before Sasha could return. After returning, Sasha called Chu Zihang, simply stating that there was a dead person in his room.

“The weapon used to attack her was extremely lethal. I examined the wound; even the sternum was severed,” Sasha said, using the knife tip to open Lady Cassandra’s wound.

“She had received rigorous training and broke the door lock with her bare hands,” Chu Zihang said, turning over her forearm to reveal a sword-shaped tattoo from her elbow to her wrist. “There are several little-known mercenary training camps in Siberia that charge very high fees. If you have exceptional talent but cannot afford the tuition, you can work off the debt by helping them afterward. They mark the trainees to keep tabs on the debt, and one such camp is called the Swordmark Camp. Your ship has various strange characters, and a normal lady would not spend years in Siberia practicing combat.”

“Our intelligence network couldn’t trace her background. She boarded the ship alone, and although her title is ‘Lady,’ there was no sign of Ms. Cassandra in any database.

“Why didn’t you notify your security personnel about this incident? I’m not a detective; I don’t know how to handle a murder case.

“Do you want to check out the original crime scene? That place is off-limits to security personnel,” Sasha said, pointing to Lady Cassandra’s feet, which were encased in a pair of oversized rubber boots.

A moment later, Sasha led Chu Zihang down to the bottom level of the ship. Behind a layer of ice-breaking armor, the water outside was near freezing point, and the scraping of drifting ice against the armor created an ear-piercing sound. Blood-red unknown liquid rippled through the cabin, and a strange, pungent odor filled the air. It felt as though they were inside the belly of a monster, with the tubular structures on the ship’s ribs pulsating faintly.

There was no doubt that Lady Cassandra had engaged in a fierce battle here with someone. She had entered this space through a vertical passage that Sasha had secretly opened and had changed into Sasha’s rubber boots, but she had fled through the normal passage while injured, leaving blood on the handle of the security door. Thus, the passage that Sasha had opened might not have been exposed yet. Sasha and his team were always careful to eliminate evidence when they visited, and the red water in the bottom cabin had helped clear the traces. The person who severely injured Lady Cassandra had probably left the bottom cabin afterward, and at this moment, they might be pursuing the injured lady throughout the ship. She had chosen to seek refuge in Sasha’s cabin, and Chu Zihang found it hard to believe that Sasha hadn’t told her his cabin number for a drink.

Series Navigation

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