Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 6: Journey to the End of the World (6)

Dragon Raja 4

Three months earlier, EVA discovered from a batch of newly obtained paper documents that Herzog had been a member of the mysterious organization “The Far North,” which opened a new avenue for the stalled investigation. The Execution Bureau immediately dispatched investigators to search for the descendants of The Far North around the world. These individuals no longer cared about Hyperborea; some had heard of Herzog from their ancestors but only knew of his romantic affairs and trivial anecdotes, while others contradicted each other. Chu Zihang’s Arctic expedition was part of this investigation. Maria of the Stars was indeed a significant figure, but Reginleif’s information was not particularly new. Dr. Herzog was intelligent, mysterious, and cruel, a fan of dark sorcery, a high-class person in social circles, a formidable deceiver, and a butcher of children. But these were just aspects of him, possibly his disguises to deceive everyone; they were still far from understanding the real Herzog.

Valuable intelligence included the Galahad Knight, the Holy Grail, and the Tower of Babel. Herzog seemed keen on attaching various mythological labels to himself, and these labels combined to instill fear.

The Galahad Knight comes from Celtic mythology and is the most sacred of the Round Table knights, known for being able to hold the Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail is a complex concept, especially in dark sorcery. It symbolizes the blood and bone of gods and has embryonic connotations. Consuming what is in the Grail, blood and bone combined, would grant eternal life.

As for the Tower of Babel, its imperfect spiral reaches up to heaven, allowing humans to walk directly to paradise, a tower so feared by even God.

Herzog ultimately realized his dream. Uesugi Erii was his Holy Grail, holding the blood of the White Empress. He consumed that blood, evolving into a King along the DNA spiral.

In the distance, a joyful song faintly drifted through the walls: “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way; oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh; dashing through the snow…”

It was the popular Christmas song that was known worldwide. The bar was on that floor, and as time ticked closer to Christmas, tourists were likely dancing and singing under the influence of alcohol.

Chu Zihang suddenly remembered that Christmas in Beijing. That afternoon, he had taken a silver key to an old neighborhood and unlocked a long-sealed door. The room was filled with the glow of the setting sun, and the air was thick with the smell of dust. The room still carried the scent of the girl. He had slept on her single bed and had a very long dream. In the dream, there was a boundless downpour, and he and the girl stared at each other through the rain. Neither approached nor moved away, while outside the rain curtain, a giant music box seemed to be repeatedly playing that song.

The past still confused him. Who was the girl who cheered for him while he practiced basketball under the mercury lights by the court? They never managed to break through the storm of fate. In that late autumn near Christmas, their sled broke down in the fields.

He knew EVA meant well, but of course, he wouldn’t go to the bar because, since that day, he hadn’t celebrated Christmas again.

Sasha descended through the iron ladders, layer by layer, into the deep sections of the ship but encountered a locked security door just as he was about to reach the bottom. He bypassed this door and went to a nearby storage room, entered the code, and unlocked the door. Inside the storage room was a vertical passage leading further down, which had not been part of the YAMAL’s design plans. Sasha had instructed his subordinates to use a chainsaw to cut through the partition to create it.

Below the deck line were the crew’s quarters and engine rooms, and beyond that were the warehouses. According to the rental agreement, Maria’s team had absolute control over the two deepest levels of the ship. They chose to board on a stormy night and demanded a complete lockdown. Even Sasha didn’t know how many items they brought on board. In the end, they sealed every downward passage. Maria of the Stars’ team rarely entered those bottom two layers, only posting armed guards to patrol nearby and forbidding anyone from going down.

But this was no challenge for an old hand like Sasha. He noticed that one of the guards, when off duty, spent all his time in the casino, his eyes constantly lingering on the pretty Belarusian waitresses. So Sasha sent one of his most alluring girls to subtly manipulate him. The guard thought he had found a girlfriend during the dull voyage and occasionally left his post to meet her. Whenever he left, it was Sasha’s chance to act. Tonight was Christmas Eve, and the girl had sent him a few photos of herself in a Christmas mini skirt. As expected, the guard left his post again.

Sasha put on rubber shoes from the storage room and slipped into the dark opening. Moments later, he stood in the bottommost level, submerged in a pool of reddish water. The water was blood-red, evoking images of a blood pool in hell. The air was thick with the metallic smell, and several crew members in rubber shoes were standing beside a raised steel rib, murmuring to each other. The overhead lights cast crisscrossing beams, and a few crew members were on guard with submachine guns, lowering their weapons when they saw Sasha.

The steel rib was the keel of the YAMAL, mostly submerged in the blood-red water. On either side were dense ship ribs, and the dense steel structure looked like the chest cavity of a giant.

“How is it?” Sasha asked softly.

“These things are alive! They are still growing, and the growth rate is accelerating!” Chief Engineer Orev said.

Orev, like Sasha, was superficially employed by Maria of the Stars but was also on the Security Bureau’s payroll. Other crew members were the same. The guards had also served in the Alpha Special Forces, proficient with various automatic weapons, and were battle-hardened. The experienced old sailors had even commanded missile cruisers and could easily handle this massive vessel.

Orev was a top student from Moscow University, a thorough materialist, but his face was ashen now, looking as if he had seen a ghost. He directed the light beam at the keel, illuminating the purplish, tubular protrusions. These structures resembled blood vessels but should not appear on steel. While there are organisms in nature that can corrode steel, they are microorganisms and cannot produce such large blood vessels. These vascular-like structures were also present on the ship ribs, seemingly extending along the keel and gradually eroding outward. The blood-red water was flowing out of the broken tubular structures, and the bulkheads were streaked with blood-like stains.

“Have you found the source? Where are they coming from?” Sasha asked softly.

“Unknown, but they are extending towards the nuclear power room. We also found them on the drive shaft,” Orev handed Sasha a test tube.

The test tube contained a blood-like liquid, which felt very heavy. Sasha swirled it slightly, and the liquid broke into droplets, then merged back together.

“We detected components of seawater and mercury in it. It is not blood, it just looks like it,” Orev said.

“Who knows if it is or not. Maybe there really are creatures in this world with mercury flowing in their veins,” Sasha said. “Is there no way to stop them?”

“We can’t cut the keel,” Orev said. “We injected dye into its veins, and the dye spread quickly. This liquid is indeed flowing.”

“Captain! Why not turn back!” one crew member said. “This ship is cursed! It will take us to hell!”

“We all draw salaries from the Security Bureau. If they forbid us from returning, who would dare to disobey? Even if you manage to get back to Murmansk, what kind of punishment would await you?” Sasha shook his head. “Moreover, we’ve already reached the 76th parallel north. Returning now, the nearest port is a week’s journey away. Reaching it is already in doubt.”

“Our communications officer has been calling for three days without any response. That suggests someone has ordered the other ships to avoid our route. They don’t want to come near us, as if we’ve been infected with a deadly virus,” Orev added. “It’s a pity. If I could write a paper on this discovery, I’d surely earn a doctorate and maybe even a Nobel Prize, but I guess I’ll die before it’s published.”

“I think this deadly voyage is nearing its end.” Sasha patted Orev on the shoulder. “You might not get to publish your paper, but you have a chance to see the truth.”

He turned and walked back through the corridor to the upper deck. At this point, he couldn’t alarm the passengers on board; he still had to deliver a Christmas address to them at midnight.

He did have a liking for that Chinese man named Chu Zihang, but unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t cooperate with someone whose background was unknown. He didn’t know what these vein-like structures were, but he had a vague feeling that the ship no longer belonged to him; it belonged to these bluish-purple veins. They had already taken over the turbines and propellers, and perhaps, in the end, they would even take control of the nuclear reactor.

A few weeks ago, they noticed this strange phenomenon and immediately reported it to the Federal Security Bureau. However, they were instructed not to spread the news or panic. Experts would board the ship to inspect when it docked. At first, Sasha didn’t pay much attention, thinking it was some chemical substance corroding the keel and ribs, causing these vein-like protruding patterns. But as those patterns climbed further along the keel, Sasha became increasingly unsure about what he was sailing. Perhaps it could no longer be called a ship; it might be more of a monster made of steel and flesh.

He didn’t want to die in the Arctic Ocean. He still wanted to return to Moscow. He had spent so much on Anna’s medical bills and needed to wait for her to wake up so he could tell her that he was the man who loved her the most in this world and that those boyfriends who got involved with her after their divorce were all garbage. So he violated the Security Bureau’s orders and teamed up with Chu Zihang, somehow believing that this Chinese man could save him.

He took a recorder out of his pocket: “This is the navigation log for December 24th, recorded by Sasha Rybalko. We are sailing above the Lomonosov Ridge, heading for the North Pole. Those things are still growing, and their growth rate seems to be accelerating. We continue to sail into the unknown darkness, while our passengers sing and dance to celebrate Christmas. The bomb is in an activated state, and if 1943 repeats itself, we will destroy this ship without hesitation. I want to curse the officials who hear this recording. You are sacrificing the lives of everyone on this ship for that damned Hyperborea. God bless; good must prevail over evil.”

All the electronic systems on the ship were controlled by Maria of the Stars’ team, and they could access the navigation logs at any time. Sasha could only use the recorder to leave his true thoughts.

Meanwhile, in the large bedroom of the upper deck cabin, Reginleif still sat on the same chair as before, gazing out through the round porthole. Outside, there was only rolling sea mist.

Series Navigation

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