Dragon Raja; Chapter 54: The City of Bronze (5)

Dragon Raja

“Attention, freshmen, please take note: the Magical Mechanical Engineering Design Level One course originally scheduled for tomorrow morning has been canceled. Professor Rundstedt will email the first chapter’s lecture notes to your inboxes.” Norma’s voice echoed through the dining hall.

“How considerate!” Lu Mingfei beamed with joy.

“Professor Rundstedt must be on a mission in China,” Finger said, not even looking up as he continued gnawing on the pork knuckle.

“On a mission?” Lu Mingfei was puzzled.

“Classes at the college are often canceled for weeks because professors have tasks to attend to, and many professors work part-time in the Execution Bureau,” Finger explained, “Secret missions for the Execution Bureau.”

“Could it be…” Lu Mingfei was startled.

“It’s related to dragons. Since they canceled classes, they must have found some clues.”

Late at night, the “Maniakh” tugboat was shaking amidst the storm in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

This was an unusual autumn storm. Rain poured heavily, and the wind reached level five. All other ships had taken shelter along the shore, while only the “Maniakh’s” xenon lights flickered in the rain.

Professor Mance Rundstedt, also the captain of the ship, stood by the window of the bridge. Sheets of rain slammed against the front window, shattering upon impact. The wind howled, the ship swayed, but Mance stood steadily, smoking a cigar, waiting for news.

A baby’s cry echoed faintly from the rear cabin. Mance frowned, “Go see what’s wrong with that kid. He’s crying again. Can’t any of you figure out how to take care of a baby?”

“Professor, none of the main members of the Execution Bureau are married. Where do you expect us to learn how to care for a baby?” The girl sitting at the console replied without even looking up. She appeared to be around twenty-three or twenty-four, with long black hair, a classic Latina beauty, dressed in Cassell College’s custom combat uniform.

“Call me Captain. Right now, my title is Captain of the ‘Maniakh,’ not your substitute professor,” Mance exhaled a puff of cigar smoke. “No one leaves their positions. Since I’m the only married man here, I’ll go check on our dear baby. Selma, keep an eye on their life signs. If there’s any anomaly, cut the line immediately!”

“Understood!” replied Selma, the Latina girl.

“Captain, we received a signal from the Yangtze River Maritime Administration. The storm will continue past midnight, with wind force increasing to level ten, and rainfall reaching up to 200 millimeters. It’s an unusual storm and may bring thunder as well. They’re deploying helicopters to rescue us and suggest we abandon ship,” the third officer reported, taking off his headphones.

“Reply that our ship has a deep draft and is currently stable enough to withstand the storm. We have some patients on board, and it’s not suitable to abandon ship,” Mance said. “There’s no need to worry. This is the ‘Maniakh,’ not just any tugboat; it’s a warship. It can handle a category 12 storm.” He looked out at the dark sky for a moment and then muttered to himself, “But this storm brings back memories of the icy sea in Greenland ten years ago… Every time I approach these things, I get the feeling of impending doom.”

He turned and entered the rear cabin. The people in the front cabin were staring at their respective screens and keeping quiet. All operations were swift and silent. The sound of two intertwined heartbeats echoed in the sound of the current interference in the headphones. On Selma’s screen, in the heartbeat monitoring window, the rising and falling green dots indicated that the two young and strong hearts were still beating normally 50 meters below the water surface.

Ye Sheng turned on a strong flashlight. The beam of light from the xenon lamp could not penetrate far in the deep water. There was only a blue-gray light band, and the end was blurred in the water where tiny organisms floated. The slender figure of Aki Sakutoku floated not far from him. He could pull her with just a hand. This Japanese girl who grew up in the United States was his classmate at Cassell College. They practiced cooperation for five years before they entered the executive department together. They could read each other’s thoughts with just a glance. But they never fell in love, which was forbidden according to convention.

“I heard that the S-Ranked freshman, Lu Mingfei, killed Caesar and Chu Zihang on his first day at the ‘Day of Liberty,’” Ye Sheng said. “He didn’t show that kind of potential during the interview.”

“Who knows what Nono said to convince him,” Sakatoku Aki replied. “She talks nonsense most of the time, but sometimes she comes up with good ideas.”

They were connected by a single communication line that kept them tethered to each other.

Nono had indeed made one false statement. Both of them was good at deep diving. Deep-sea diving was dangerous. Depending solely on oxygen tanks and a layer of nanomaterial in their diving suits to withstand pressures equivalent to ten atmospheres, and relying on a single signal line to stay in touch with the human world, tension could easily escalate. If the partners had emotional ties, it could lead to unpredictable outcomes.

Execution Bureau regulations prohibited romantic relationships between underwater operatives, citing this rule as one of the reasons behind the catastrophic losses in the Greenland mission ten years ago. No one knew what had happened in that operation, but no current members of the Execution Bureau had participated. It could be concluded that the entire team perished.

Ye Sheng stepped gently on the bottom of the water. The raging storm above was filtered through fifty meters of water, reduced to gentle ripples. This area had been submerged by the Three Gorges Dam reservoir and was previously a hilly region. The stones were rounded by the current, making footing difficult. Ye Sheng extended a claw from his flippers, gently stepping on the rock and reaching into the sediment below.

He showed Aki what he found—a shard of pottery with ancient patterns.

Aki took the shard and examined it. “It’s over a thousand years old, from the Shu culture before it was assimilated by the Central Plains. This could be a relic from Baidi City.”

Ye Sheng looked around and said, “It was probably an ancient tomb buried in the mountain for thousands of years. It was overturned when the Three Gorges were flooded, and the burial objects were scattered everywhere.”

Aki silently agreed with his opinion. Not far ahead, a rotten blue-black coffin was half-sunk in the water. The coffin had been opened, and the surface was covered with a layer of moss-like organisms.

“The oxygen levels are running low. Is this the designated spot? I can’t see anything that resembles Baidi City’s ruins,” Aki said, looking around. There were no signs of anything that could be called a “city.”

“Norma, I need sonar to scan the terrain,” Ye Sheng called. Ye Sheng called up the sonar map on his helmet. Sound waves are far more effective in water than human eyes.

“Understood, I need about 20 seconds to scan.” The CPU in the United States responded immediately. Their transatlantic conversation directly used the satellite channel.

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