“Maybe others can’t talk after they die, but you definitely would still be a chatterbox.” Nono reached over to turn off the valve on Lu Mingfei’s oxygen tank, then turned off her own.
“We should save some oxygen. I don’t know if the air here is breathable.” Nono tried to open the valve on her helmet, and the air with a rusty smell rushed in, but it wasn’t particularly suffocating.
“Chen Motong! Lu Mingfei! What’s going on? What happened?” Manstein’s voice came from the earpiece.
The two of them turned to look at the black tether, which served as both a communication line and a lifeline. It hadn’t broken but was mysteriously embedded into the bronze wall behind them. Nono squatted down and touched it; the area where the tether entered the wall was seamlessly fused, as if it had been cast in.
“Chen Motong reporting. We had a bit of an accident, but we’ve entered the interior of Bronze City, and neither of us is injured. Lu Mingfei’s diving suit is damaged, but we still have oxygen remaining,” Nono said. “The only problem is that the communication line is stuck in the wall.”
“This time, we have experience. Each of you is carrying an extension cable adapter; you can find it in your pocket,” Manstein sighed in relief. “After the Living Spirit identifies the blood sample, it will open the entrance to Bronze City. Once you enter, the door will disappear. The wall is made of regenerative metal, with excellent flexibility, almost like clay. Your communication line will get stuck in it until the door opens again.”
Lu Mingfei and Nono found the spools of extension cable in their pockets. They disconnected the black tether from their diving suits and added the extension cable in the middle.
“Calling Maniakh, can you hear us?” Nono asked.
“The signal is clear, no problems,” Manstein immediately replied.
“Two things are different from our estimates. First, when Ye Sheng and Aki entered last time, the air here was unbreathable due to the long-term oxidation of metal depleting the oxygen, but now the air quality allows normal breathing. Secondly, I didn’t have the chance to use the ‘key’s’ blood before the door opened,” Nono said.
“I can probably answer the first question,” Manstein said. “The air is breathable now because the Dragon King has returned to his palace. As a reptile, he breathes oxygen, and there must be oxygen in his dwelling. In other words, he is somewhere nearby.”
Lu Mingfei nervously glanced around. “Professor, you said he wouldn’t wake up, right?”
“He won’t. To grow a gigantic body is akin to being reborn. The Dragon King should be in an ‘egg’ state now.”
“I can answer the second question,” Lu Mingfei raised his hand. “The Living Spirit opened the door because… it drank my blood. It felt like when they draw blood at the hospital.”
Manstein was silent for a long time. “It can only be explained by your dragon bloodline—perhaps the purity is very high. The ‘key’s’ Yanling can open all the doors in the world, but to open Bronze City, it used its own blood. Not through the power of Yanling, but by the advantage of its lineage.”
“We’re ready. We’ll continue,” Nono said.
“Place the bomb as close to the Dragon King’s chamber as possible. The explosion itself is not particularly strong, but the alchemical agent inside will react violently with the water and metal, rapidly depleting the air in Bronze City. When the hatching Dragon King feels suffocated, he will have no choice but to hatch prematurely. At that moment, he will be very weak, and the storm torpedo will easily finish him off.”
“Understood, but we first need to find the way,” Nono said. “Ahead of us is a corridor, with many snake-headed humanoid statues on both sides.”
“The Sacred Path,” Manstein said. “The Ice Sea scrolls mention this path. During the prime of the dragons, the ancients would traverse this Sacred Path to pay homage to the Dragon King as his subjects. There’s an identical path in the bronze palace in Northern Europe. The snake-headed statues on either side represent the metal elements controlled by the Dragon King—88 types according to the alchemical elements chart.”
“Do you have a map?” Nono asked.
“There is a simpler method. Do you remember what you learned in Alchemy 101? In alchemy, the pentagram represents the five elements, with the bottom right representing fire. This Bronze City was also built on alchemical principles, similar to the Chinese feng shui concept. The Dragon King’s chamber will be located at the lower part of Bronze City. Do you see any water underfoot?”
“Yes.” Nono and Lu Mingfei were standing in knee-deep water.
“Water flows from high to low. The Ice Sea scrolls say, ‘Follow the flow of water, and you will reach the Throne of Flame.’ Lu Mingfei, use the dye you brought,” Manstein said.
Lu Mingfei pulled the dye tube from his diving suit pocket, broke it, and poured it into the water.
The fluorescent yellow dye formed a massive yellow-green stain in the water. Moments later, a thin stream of yellow-green clung to the bottom and flowed away quietly, like a small snake with a mind of its own.
“That’s pretty high-tech!” Lu Mingfei marveled.
It seemed that Manstein knew quite a bit about dragons, which increased the chances of this mission’s success. As the saying goes, “A good leader makes all the difference.” Even if he, Lu Mingfei, was a bit incompetent, as long as Manstein wasn’t, there was hope.
Nono patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder. “Follow that line. Go ahead.”
“Let’s go together!” Lu Mingfei shook his head after glancing at the snake-headed statues.
He hated snakes the most; just thinking about them made him feel cold and slimy. He despised well-dressed, seemingly noble snakes even more. Though these snake-headed people were all slightly bowing, with their bodies leaning forward as if in a polite greeting, Lu Mingfei still found them unsettling.
Nono had no choice but to grab his wrist. “Let’s go together! With how cowardly you are, it’ll be tough for me to look after you in the future!”
The two of them walked side by side through the snake-headed statues.
Once the sound of their footsteps faded, the silent corridor filled with the noise of mechanical movements and the scraping of metal.
The snake-headed statues, which had been bowing in a salute, straightened up in unison, staring straight ahead. The pupils of their silver eyes emitted a cold, silvery glow.