Dragon Raja 5; Chapter 176: Leviathan’s Song (13)

Dragon Raja 5

“A signal from those who entered the aurora?” Abbas asks in the video.

Xue nodded gravely. “Dad quickly started the capstan to pull them back in, but some of the ropes had already broken. Those who made it back alive looked terrified. They jumped onto the boat and shouted that they wanted to sail away, as if something terrible was chasing them.”

“Did you see what was chasing them?”

Xue shook her head. “Blood-red water surged in from the direction of the Aurora, and soon the entire ocean turned blood red. The sea was originally calm, but suddenly there was a strong wind and huge waves. Our boat was rocking violently in the waves, as if it would capsize at any moment. When they came back, they brought an iron box that kept oozing blood. At this time, someone shouted to throw the box back into the sea. Finally, they threw the box into the sea, and the waves seemed to suddenly calm down, but I felt something huge swimming under our boat. It was bigger than our boat. They took advantage of the calming wind and waves to escape, but our boat was badly damaged and lost power before we reached the next camp. Those people said they would walk on the ice, but when we got here, the gods were chasing us.”

“You mean, it was that god who killed them?” Abbas asked.

Snow nodded slowly, “I heard it singing. I heard the same song in Sunset Land.”

Rebalco was horrified to find that he was not the only one who could hear the strange infrasound waves. The Inuit girl had almost the same experience as him, except that she did not land on the island.

“Eat something.” Abbas in the video handed a hamburger to Snow, “Get well and wait for your father to come pick you up.”

Snow took the hamburger and looked carefully at the perfectly fried beef patty. It was specially selected from the ingredients that Percy had brought, so that the child could supplement the best quality protein. In the past two weeks, she had only been able to hunt and eat raw food. Fortunately, the Inuit really advocated eating raw food, otherwise she would not have survived.

“My father is dead, isn’t he?” She suddenly stared blankly at the camera. For some reason, everyone in the screening room felt a chill in their hearts.

“No, your father is fine,” Abbas says in the video. “But he has severe frostbite and was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Severnaya Zemlya.”

According to the ship’s doctor, Snow’s stress-induced trauma was far from over, and telling her her father had frozen to death would likely worsen her mental state. So everyone agreed on a common story: Snow’s father was still alive, rescued by a passing research vessel, who had told it that Snow was in the well. The vessel was the YAMAL.

“No, Abbas lied to me.” Snow shook her head. She could pronounce Abbas’ name skillfully. “God will not let him go. God will not let anyone who has seen God go.”

 Snow lowered her head and ate the hamburger in big mouthfuls. “God will come to find me too.”

The video ends here. Schneider first gently said to Rebalco, “I’m sorry, Captain, can you give us a moment to talk privately?”

Rebalco said nothing, stood up and left the screening room.

“How does our captain react to this video?” Schneider asked in a low voice.

“I detected Captain Rebalco’s heartbeat accelerating. Snow’s description clearly triggered some associations in him, but that’s all,” Caesar said. “He’s a highly trained special forces soldier and knows how to control his emotions.”

This wasn’t the first time the three of them had watched the video; inviting Rebalko to watch it was a test. Although auroras aren’t uncommon in the Arctic Circle, Snow’s and Rebalko’s experiences seemed subtly similar.

“It seems that wherever the ‘Goddess’s Skirt’ sweeps, mysterious events always occur, but those who witnessed it can’t clearly explain what happened. Rebalco says he can’t remember, and Snow says she didn’t go in.” Schneider said slowly, “You monitored my heartbeat, too, right, Caesar?”

Caesar nodded slightly, “Similar to Captain Rebalco’s situation.”

After Kamaitachi was released, all movements in the territory were monitored. Rebalko was in his territory, and Schneider was also in his territory.

“Although I’ve never seen such a magnificent aurora, it’s somewhat connected to Leviathan… In Greenland, I even witnessed an entire ocean freeze over in an instant,” Schneider said softly. “Whether by chance or necessity, everyone on this ship is connected to Leviathan.”

“Have I actually boarded such a cursed ship?” Caesar shrugged. “But, it really is an ominous sign.”

“An ominous sign?” Abbas asked.

“A privately funded expedition, hiring a Russian icebreaker, searching for mysterious objects in the Arctic Circle… We’re practically a replica of that expedition,” Caesar said slowly. “The route we’re taking has been taken by others before, and those people never returned.”

After a brief silence, Schneider stood up and said, “We’ll raise anchor and set sail tomorrow morning, following the route the girl mentioned.”

“Yes, boss.” Caesar and Abbas imitated Rebalco’s sailor’s salute at the same time.

    ***

Lu Mingfei woke up on a large golden bed, draped with a massive golden-green covers. This bed alone resembled the tent of a Mongolian noble. He took two deep breaths, gave a “hi!”, and leaped out of bed. He felt refreshed and invigorated; he hadn’t slept this well in a long time.     

This was a large bedroom with a frescoed ceiling. A charcoal fire burned in the fireplace, making it as warm as spring. On the hanger next to it hung a silk nightgown prepared for him. He grabbed it and put it on, then strolled a few steps along the window, stretching his legs and arms to stretch his muscles.