Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 13: Journey to the End of the World (13)

Dragon Raja 4

“When I arrived, her blood hadn’t even coagulated yet. This happened less than half an hour ago,” Sasha said in a low voice. “If I had returned a few minutes earlier, I might have heard her last words.”

Chu Zihang’s thoughts, however, were no longer on the murder case. He walked slowly through the crimson passage, feeling as though the dragon blood within him was being activated by the pungent odor, rapidly rushing through his veins. A terrifying roar echoed in his heart, seemingly harmonizing with the monster dwelling deep in the ship. He quickly assessed the situation because he had heard of similar occurrences before. The ship that departed from Black Swan Bay to Tokyo had also experienced something similar—a terrifying embryo cohabiting with the steel giant ship. It corroded the ship’s hull and mechanical systems, turning the entire vessel into its own shell. Its will then guided the ship into the submerged ancient city of Takamagahara, using its own flesh and blood as a sacrifice to awaken the supreme beings slumbering within.

History often repeats itself. Dragon cities seem to always require the blood of ancient dragons as sacrifices to be opened. This set of rules, which Cassell College doesn’t understand, is indeed familiar to some. They continuously repeat this process, opening one forgotten dragon city after another. Herzog was likely just an agent, someone who, while thinking he was about to ascend to the throne of the world, was being silently observed by others behind the scenes, watching him succeed in placing the crown only to have his crowned head taken away almost immediately.

Today, he himself was on this ship heading to hell, yet he felt not fear but a shivering excitement.

“You said you wanted to cooperate with me, but you didn’t tell me the most crucial things,” Chu Zihang said, turning to Sasha. “When did this situation arise? We always thought they were hiding something special in the bottom cabin, which is why we went to great lengths to open a passage to investigate. The passage was opened only last year, and back then, it was just a sea of red water. But these blood vessel-like structures are something we’ve only recently discovered. Our superiors said they would send someone to inspect it next time we dock. What we need to worry about now is whether we can dock again at all.” Sasha tapped one of the ship’s ribs with his tactical knife. “Fortunately, it seems this thing hasn’t made the ship’s hull more fragile but rather more resilient.”

“Have you found the source of this thing?” Chu Zihang asked again.

Sasha shook his head. “The source of the blood vessels is the heart, but we haven’t found the heart. These things are moving towards the nuclear reactor’s chamber. Our greatest concern is that they might invade it.”

“Their target is the reactor?” Chu Zihang pondered.

The ship named Peter the Great was also nuclear-powered, and everything was done according to standard procedures. After Peter the Great sank into the trench, there was no nuclear leak. Perhaps the nuclear power compartment was disintegrated and absorbed by the embryo before the ship sank. Opening a Nibelungen door required immense energy. After the energy in the nuclear power compartment was absorbed by this half-metal, half-biological entity, it transformed into a frenzied spear that opened a passage on the Nibelungen’s interface, as the ones behind the scenes… didn’t have the key! He wasn’t the master of the ruins, so he had to forcefully open the door.

Various clues seemed to be coming together: Herzog’s plan, the Door to the Divine Kingdom, the endless journey through the ice sea. In these seemingly peaceful years, the world had never truly been calm, like the turbulent ocean currents surging beneath the ice. But this was the world he had been anticipating. He wasn’t ready to return to the college to take up the teaching baton or go home to inherit the family electronics factory.

“There is something awful hidden in your ship. We need to find it,” Chu Zihang said, looking at Sasha. “Before it takes control of the nuclear reactor.”

“Extraterrestrial creatures? Demons?” Sasha said. “My superiors seem to want to wait until it grows up before making any moves. Should we go deal with the cult in the top cabin now? They would kill a beautiful woman to keep their secret, and they would kill us to protect their secrets as well. It seems we don’t get to decide whether to turn against them.”

“To some, that thing is a god. In ancient times, humans built temples for them and gave them various names. Those names don’t matter,” Chu Zihang said, patting Sasha on the shoulder. “There’s something I don’t understand. With such a serious incident on board, why didn’t you think of immediately sailing back but instead followed your superior’s orders and only brought an unknown helper like me to solve the problem? This doesn’t seem like the Sasha Rybalko you described, someone who has laid down the dignity of a soldier.”

“If you insist on knowing, then I’ll tell you the worst news as well. Since last week, we’ve lost control of this ship. It is still following the designated route; it has taken over the propulsion system, and we’ve also found similar blood vessel-like structures on the propeller blades,” Sasha said slowly. “If things continue to go bad, we’re left with one final choice: overload the nuclear reactor to cause an explosion. Although it would contaminate the Arctic Ocean for hundreds of years, at least we won’t open any hellish passages.”

“Your ship, however, drifts like a ghost toward an unknown destination, and your passengers live in drunken revelry on board,” Chu Zihang recalled the dazzling carnival.

Humans are often so naive, only concerned with immediate pleasures while forgetting that the “Divine Punishment” hangs above them. He pondered for a moment. “It’s not time to act yet. Let’s first check Lady Cassandra’s cabin. I hope it’s not too late.”

The current information is still too complicated. Where did the Twilight Dogma or The Far North obtain a dragon embryo? Such a thing hasn’t even been obtained by the college. Vincent doesn’t seem to be someone of high rank. The hybrids Hervor and Olrune he summoned to deal with Chu Zihang were only A-Ranks. A group like this possessing a dragon embryo is as unbelievable as Herzog holding the secret of the Evolutionary Path. They still can’t pinpoint the mastermind behind the scenes, so it’s not yet time to wrap things up.

When they arrived at Lady Cassandra’s cabin, it was filled with the pleasant scent of lavender essential oil. The bed was made, and the luxurious first-class cabin awaited the guest’s return for a good night’s sleep.

However, there was a burned passport in the ashtray, and another one in Lady Cassandra’s drawer. She lived alone in this cabin and held two passports. Although a few countries recognize dual citizenship and some people have two passports, the obvious truth was that the name ‘Lady Cassandra’ was fake, and her real name was written in the burned passport. Someone had come before them, destroyed all evidence, and now they only knew that a woman whose true name was unknown had died on this ship.

Sasha immediately called the crew in the surveillance room, while Chu Zihang opened the wardrobe. Lady Cassandra’s suitcase was inside, and now the wardrobe was in disarray, with expensive cosmetics and delicate lingerie scattered everywhere. It looked like the luggage of a wealthy young woman traveling, but Chu Zihang soon found a thick sponge pad at the bottom of the suitcase. The sponge was hollowed out in the middle and stuffed with two large-caliber pistols and four magazines, as well as a dagger with a knuckle guard. Unregulated mercenaries often favor such dangerous weapons.

The intruder had accurately destroyed all marked items, but Chu Zihang suspected she was most likely a hunter. Hybrid hunters don’t belong to any organization; they are just mercenaries making a living by their skills. They often receive training in obscure places, like the Swordmark Camp. Perhaps some intelligence could be found on hunter websites, but why would a hunter have the qualification to visit the top-level cabin to meet the Saintess? Although the college views both the Twilight Dogma and The Far North as nothing more than blind followers, they wouldn’t easily allow an outsider to meet Reginleif.

“The surveillance room couldn’t find anything. The footage suddenly stopped half an hour ago,” Sasha said.

“You talked with Lady Cassandra for a few hours. Didn’t she reveal any information to you?” Chu Zihang asked. Sasha thought for a moment. “Lady Cassandra asked me a very strange question, whether the captain bought a ticket to board the ship. I told her as the captain I didn’t need a ticket, and she suddenly seemed to lose interest in me.”

“Let’s assume there are two types of tickets on this ship—one for going to the North Pole and another for going to the Divine Kingdom. It makes sense, doesn’t it? You wanted to get information from Lady Cassandra, and Lady Cassandra wanted information from you. But if you didn’t have a ticket to the Divine Kingdom, you wouldn’t even qualify to converse with her,” Chu Zihang surveyed every corner of the cabin. “From this perspective, you and I are outsiders. So how many insiders are there on this ship?”

“Are all outsiders destined to die, leaving the ship to traverse the gate to the Divine Kingdom with the insiders?” Sasha whistled. “In any case, we don’t have to worry about piloting the ship right now.”

“You seem quite relaxed,” Chu Zihang observed.

“They might want to kill us,” Sasha said, drawing a Makarov pistol from his back waist. “But it depends on who holds the gun. 

Reginleif sat naked from the waist up on the sofa, watching the girl jumping around in the projection. As she turned, her long hair spread out in the sunlight, with every strand gleaming with a golden halo.

That is what they call the college, where the sky is uniformly azure, as blue as the sea in the endless day. The sunlight always seems bright, and even on rainy days, classmates with umbrellas often invite others to walk together, usually sharing an umbrella between a couple. Relationships there can last for weeks, months, or even years, with no need to rush. Reginleif was waiting for her back wounds to heal. By then, her back was covered with scars, it was nothing to her.

The blood slowly crawled on her back, soon drying and scabbing. It made her feel stiff all over, like a wooden doll.

Perhaps she had always been a wooden doll over the years, hanging here to be worshiped by some and used as a tool by others. Meanwhile, the girl in the projection danced like an elf, her long ponytail swaying with the rhythm. Perhaps this is why she could never quite emulate her. She could learn to walk like that girl and mimic her lively expression, but that girl grew up under the sunlight and blue sky, while she grew up on the icy sea, with the sun never directly shining on her head. So she watched the projection and practiced walking a thousand times, learning only a wooden doll’s exterior.

She suddenly reached for the internal phone, dialed Chu Zihang’s cabin number, and held her breath, waiting to see the reaction of the person who received her call in the middle of the night.

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