Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 14: Journey to the End of the World (14)

Dragon Raja 4

Chief Engineer Orev and First Mate Nijinsky lifted the gradually stiffening body of Lady Cassandra and placed her into an aluminum alloy coffin—such equipment was available on the Yamal for situations where passengers unexpectedly died during the long journey. Sasha took one last look at that enchanting face and closed the coffin lid. Around them, the crew was methodically arming themselves, strapping on bullet belts and placing knives in their shoulder straps. Heavy weapon crates were scattered across the floor, filled with wild bull submachine guns, equipped with backpack-style magazines that could hold 500 rounds each. These men were not ordinary sailors but retired officers recruited by Sasha from the Alpha Unit. They boarded this ship for one purpose—this battle.

“I’ve told you many times, this is a Russian ship. Even when rented out to foreigners, it is still Russian territory. Everyone onboard must submit to our authority.” Sasha slid a Coberg tactical knife into his boot. At that moment, he reverted to the formidable officer he once was on the battlefield, every wrinkle on his face radiating sharpness.

It was time to end this expedition. Whatever conspiracy the people in the upper deck cabins were plotting, it had to be stopped. If they dared to kill a passenger who was close to uncovering the truth, it meant they were willing to disregard human laws for their goals. Detonating the nuclear reactor was the last resort; before that, they needed to trust in the weapons they held.

“They have about fifty men, each rigorously trained, with combat abilities on par with ours. We must immediately gain the upper hand and force them to surrender their weapons, or else this will turn into a chaotic fight, and the death toll on the ship could reach unimaginable levels.” First Mate Nijinsky checked the spring of his handgun. “All combatants will act according to the plan. Team A will control the helicopter deck, Team B will secure all routes leading to the upper deck cabins, and Team C will handle door breaching and assault. You have the authority to shoot anyone who refuses to cooperate. In five minutes, we will issue a storm warning, instructing all passengers to return to their cabins, and the doors will be locked. You don’t have to worry about hurting innocents.”

“Mr. Chu will be acting with Team C, right? You can’t miss the moment when the truth is revealed,” Sasha nodded towards the pile of weapons. “Are you comfortable with Russian-made gear?” Chu Zihang unzipped his travel bag, revealing the hilts of ancient swords. “I brought my own weapons. You may be dealing with more than just bullets.”

He agreed with Sasha’s plan for immediate action but couldn’t gauge the balance of power between the two sides. He had never encountered abilities like those of Hervor and Olrune, who moved in the shadows. And with the way Reginleif wielded her axe-spear, she could easily kill veteran soldiers armed with automatic weapons. The hybrids had powerful regenerative abilities, and regular bullets might not incapacitate them, which was why the Secret Party had never abandoned cold weapons—on a battlefield of dragons, alchemical weapons were the ultimate deciding factor.

Chu should have reported this operation to EVA, but five minutes earlier, the communication officer had informed him that all external communication devices on the ship had been disabled. The vacuum tube circuits, originally resistant to atomic blasts, had mysteriously burned out. Someone must have overloaded the circuits. The entire ship was now trapped in an information blackout. Chu Zihang couldn’t contact the college, and Sasha couldn’t reach the Federal Security Bureau. The final decision rested in their hands. If this desperate raid failed, the massive ship, infested by the ancient dragon embryo, could become the steel grave of many.

Yet, a vague sense of unease lingered in his mind. Everything had happened too suddenly. Vincent and his Northern Territories group should have known that Lady Cassandra had escaped their control, but they hadn’t taken immediate action. An hour had passed since the incident, and the people in the upper deck cabins remained silent. There were still passengers dining and gambling in the restaurant and casino, as if nothing had happened. With both sides equally matched, the first to act would likely gain the upper hand.

Who exactly was Lady Cassandra? Was she a rebel from the upper deck, or did she, like Chu Zihang, carry out some mission on this ship? In the end, she fled to Sasha’s cabin. Was she seeking the captain’s help, or…?

Chu Zihang suddenly stood up, walked over to Sasha’s desk, and stared at the notebook on it. “You invited me to your cabin for drinks. If I’m not mistaken, you invited Lady Cassandra too.”

“Nothing happened between us. I just wanted to get some intel out of her while she was drunk,” Sasha replied, looking slightly embarrassed.

For a man and a woman to lean against each other openly on the foredeck, it seemed unlikely that in the privacy of the cabin, where their eyes met and alcohol flowed, they would remain so reserved.

Chu Zihang turned the laptop toward Sasha: “I need your password.”

Sasha froze. “You mean she came here not to see me, but to use my computer?”

“There are four maritime satellite phones on this ship, three of which share the same frequency band and can be rented by anyone on board. But one of them is exclusively for you to report to the Federal Security Bureau. The entire ship’s communication system is under surveillance from the upper deck cabins, except for your private line. If Lady Cassandra wanted to send a message without the upper deck noticing, she would need your laptop. That’s the real reason for her flirtation with you,” Chu Zihang explained. “It’s not easy to hack into the Federal Security Bureau’s system, but she survived the Swordmark camp, so it’s not surprising if she could do it. All she needed was a moment.”

Sasha’s face darkened, he entered the password, evidently agreeing with Chu Zihang’s theory. He had tried to extract information from Lady Cassandra by getting her drunk, but had inevitably gotten half-drunk himself. During the time he left for the restroom, Lady Cassandra likely accessed his laptop. He was a battlefield expert, but with computers, he was only marginally better than an idiot. It was like a polar bear trying to hunt a cunning tern, only to have the tern steal its food.

A moment later, Chu Zihang found a hidden folder on the laptop. Earlier, he had also searched through Lady Cassandra’s computer but found only an empty email inbox. Perhaps the previous intruder had deleted all critical information, or maybe, like Chu, they had found nothing. It turned out Lady Cassandra had cleverly stored the important files on Sasha’s laptop. That’s why the intruder had to sabotage the ship’s communication system—to prevent anyone from sending out the information Lady Cassandra had left behind, which was crucial.

As he worked, Chu noticed the keyboard felt sticky. It was likely that when Lady Cassandra last used the laptop, blood from her fingers had seeped into the cracks between the keys. She had wiped away the blood with her last bit of strength before collapsing on the couch. Chu deduced this because he had also been using Sasha’s communication line, though unlike Lady Cassandra, he hadn’t needed to work as hard. With EVA’s powerful decryption capabilities, the Federal Security Bureau’s encrypted line had been cracked in just a few hours. He didn’t even need to touch Sasha’s laptop.

Lady Cassandra had deleted the file from the hidden folder, but Chu Zihang quickly recovered it. About an hour ago, she had sent out a video using Sasha’s laptop.

Sasha waved his men away, and Chu Zihang pressed the play button.

The video had been recorded secretly. In a dimly lit cabin with a starry sky overhead and flickering candlelight on the table, Vincent, dressed in clerical robes, sat across from the flame. Behind him stood black-cloaked figures holding knightly swords, with their unmistakably graceful figures suggesting they were Hervot and Olrune. The scene perfectly matched the mysterious aura of the Twilight Dogma, but it also felt like a transaction.

“Dear Lady Cassandra, do you know the price of a ticket?” Vincent asked softly.

“Twenty million dollars, one-way, no return,” Lady Cassandra replied, breathing on the silver ring on her pinky and polishing its intricate design. “Cash is too heavy, so I brought diamonds of equivalent value.”

She pulled a small black velvet bag from her tote, spilling a handful of sparkling raw stones. “All mined from South Africa, the highest color and clarity, unregistered by any company, so they can be used as currency.”

“Coming here alone, bringing such a fortune with you, aren’t you afraid this is a scam?” Vincent signaled with his eyes, and one of the knights immediately took a diamond and handed it to him.

“As far as I know, you’ve sold tickets to several distinguished individuals in the underworld. They all recognize the legitimacy of this deal.” Lady Cassandra leaned back slowly in her high-backed chair, her gaze drifting toward the starry ceiling. “I’m sure you’ve looked into my background before meeting me. I accidentally killed my husband. My family will hunt me down. There’s no safe place for me in this world anymore. All I have left is this money, and I want to use it to buy a passage to the Divine Kingdom.”

“It wasn’t an accident; you couldn’t suppress your dragon blood anymore. The desire for slaughter roars silently within you. Your family isn’t hunting you because you killed someone, but because there’s no place left in this world for people like you. Dying before you fall into becoming a Death Servitor might preserve some dignity for you and your family.” Vincent toyed with the raw diamond. “Do you even know what the Divine Kingdom is? If you think it’s some sort of paradise, I’m sorry to tell you, twenty million dollars won’t smuggle you into heaven.”

“That place is an alchemical miracle, where worlds intersect and fate pauses. That’s…” Lady Cassandra slowly raised her eyelids, her pupils glowing with a fiery brilliance. “Odin’s Valhalla!”

Watching the video, Chu Zihang was inwardly shocked. The Twilight Dogma began to reveal itself, along with the mention of that ancient, mysterious god.

Since he was fifteen, Chu Zihang had been a hunter of that ancient god. It sounded absurd—an ancient deity riding his eight-legged horse across the heavens, while a stumbling boy with a wooden sword doggedly chased after him.

He had to kill that god, no matter the cost. Kings and gods alike could not underestimate the desperation of a man with nothing to lose.

Series Navigation

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