Dragon Raja; Chapter 55: The City of Bronze (6)

Dragon Raja

 

On their helmet screens, a three-dimensional sonar image appeared, outlined in dark green contours. In the water, sound waves were far more useful than light.

 

“We can’t see it,” Ye Sheng pointed, “but there are mountains to the northeast and southeast. Above the surface is Baidi Mountain; underwater is Chijia Mountain, forming a gate-like structure. Across from us is where Caotang River used to be, passing through a valley. According to Chinese feng shui, this is a meeting point for the ‘Mountain Dragon’ and ‘Water Dragon,’ gathering the energies of Yin and Yang—a good place to establish a city. The ruins of Baidi City should be here, but we need to find the entrance.”

 

“Even if Dragon King Norton built the entrance to his hideout in the open, the entrance has been covered by loose soil several meters deep over thousands of years. We need to take soil samples to determine the possible location.” Aki smiled gently, “So, to save time, I’ll trouble you, please.”

 

“It always drains me,” Ye Sheng complained. “I need an anchor point.”

 

“Haven’t I always been your anchor?” Aki swam behind him, her flipper claws extended to secure her on the rock as she wrapped her arms around Ye Sheng’s waist.

 

It was a tacit understanding. When activating the Snake power, Ye Sheng became as fragile as a baby. He could be swept away by the current or entangled in the communication line, putting his life in danger. Every time, Aki would hold him like this.

 

Ye Sheng closed his eyes, and in his “vision,” restless snakes coiled in his mind, their scales glistening with a cold sheen. His body shuddered slightly.

 

Yanling: Void Snakes.

 

Ye Sheng commanded the Snakes, and they emerged from his thoughts, moving down his limbs and pouring out into the water.

 

“Moniah, get ready and activate the electromagnetic shielding of equipment and instruments.” Ye Sheng said.

 

“Moniah received. Your life condition is normal. Your brain wave frequency is rising sharply. You can activate the word of ‘Snake’. The electromagnetic shielding is activated.”

 

Selma’s voice came from the headphones.

 

“Void Snakes” was Ye Sheng’s Yanling ability and his helper. These Snakes usually rested in the depths of his thoughts, only waking when summoned. They acted as scouts, sensing the environment around him. Scientifically speaking, Snake was a form of bioelectric current, while in the dragons’ understanding, they were his subjugated servants.

 

They will temporarily leave Ye Sheng’s body to explore the surroundings. From a scientific point of view, they explain it as a kind of bioelectric current. In the dragons’ understanding, they are subdued slaves, and only insulators can stop them. At this moment, Ye Sheng is under a depth of 50 meters. The huge body of water greatly enhances this ability. A radius of five kilometers is under Ye Sheng’s surveillance, surpassing the sonar system controlled by Norma.

 

Ye Sheng first encountered these “snakes” during his 3E exam. They lived deep in his mind, hibernators, and Ye Sheng’s words would wake them up.

 

Ye Sheng’s consciousness traveled with the Snake through every crevice of the seabed, going deeper and deeper. He opened his eyes, and a faint golden glow flowed in them. He observed the world through the eyes of the Snake—a world composed of countless minute tunnels, connecting and diverging endlessly. His Snake roamed through these tunnels, surrounded by a gray mist wherever it went.

 

Sakatoku Aki could feel Ye Sheng’s body growing cold. This was when he was most vulnerable. His heart rate rapidly decreased to about thirty beats per minute, his blood temperature dropped, and through the face mask, his face appeared ashen. Only his unsettling golden eyes glimmered. Aki tightened her grip on Ye Sheng, trying to share her body heat with him. She always did this. Although Ye Sheng was the team leader, in this moment, it was he who needed her protection.

 

“Captain, we received a notification from the Yangtze River Maritime Administration that a magnitude five underwater earthquake may occur soon!” shouted the third officer. “They’re insisting on deploying a rescue helicopter for us. It seems like they’ve realized something is wrong here.”

 

Mance entered the front cabin and leaned over next to Selma, staring at Ye Sheng’s heart rate monitor. “Stall for more time. It’s meaningless to refuse again. Inform them that we have leukemia patients on board and ask them to bring plasma.”

 

“Leukemia patient?”

 

“Delay time, it will take some time to prepare the plasma, so they can arrive later. I have a feeling that we are getting close, very close… very close!” Mans whispered, Ye Sheng’s heart rate has dropped to a few times per minute.

 

Ye Sheng shivered as the faint golden light in his pupils faded, his heartbeat accelerating, and warmth returning to his blood. The majority of the “Snakes” returned to hibernate in his mind, but one continued deeper, piercing through the darkness and discovering light!

 

“Did you find anything?” Aki asked.

 

“About 100 meters beneath us, there’s a massive metal structure. The ‘Snake’ moves extremely fast there, indicating a high level of conductivity—it must be metal,” Ye Sheng said.

 

“100 meters below us?” Aki said. “But it’s solid rock beneath us. There’s no way we could break through 100 meters of rock. And the Dragon King, Norton, couldn’t have placed his palace inside the rock itself.”

 

“Ye Sheng, Aki, prepare to ascend,” Mance’s voice came through their headsets. “A magnitude five underwater earthquake is imminent, and staying underwater is dangerous.”

 

“Understood, we’ll retreat for now,” Ye Sheng replied. Suddenly, his expression changed. The water around them was vibrating, and Aki could feel it too—the shaking was coming from the rocks beneath her feet. The entire seabed trembled, and sediment began clouding their vision.

 

“The underwater earthquake has begun… Damn it! This warning is too precise!” On the ‘Maniakh,’ Mance could see everything happening on the sonar screen. He turned to the first officer and shouted, “Reel them in the line! Reel them in the line! Pull them up now!”

 

The machinery started up, and the black cable that served as both a lifeline and communication link began to retract. But then, Mance heard a snapping sound from the storm outside, and the machinery lost control of its speed. His face turned pale—the uncontrolled speed meant there was no resistance. The lifeline had snapped.

 

The spotlight in the murky water was just a faint glow, barely enough to illuminate their pale faces. All Ye Sheng could do was hold onto Aki tightly as they fell rapidly.

 

A crack had suddenly formed, advancing from a distance like an invisible blade slicing through the thick rock layers below. The earthquake had ripped open the seabed, and before Ye Sheng and Aki could react, a massive force pushed down on them, like a wave dozens of meters high crashing onto their heads.

 

Underwater, pressure is normally equal from all directions, but the sudden increase in pressure from above could only mean one thing—a massive cavity had opened below. Millions of tons of water were rushing into the void, dragging them and chunks of rock along with it. Even the nanomaterial lifeline could not withstand the force of nature.

 

At this moment, Ye Sheng thought of Lucifer’s fall from heaven, that mythical fall that lasted for nine days and nine nights, all the way from paradise to hell. Ye Sheng didn’t know what was in the darkness under his feet, maybe it was hell.

 

The front cabin was deathly silent. Mance ran his fingers through his hair and pulled hard until his scalp ached.

 

Static crackled over the speakers, the signal lost. With the lifeline also serving as the communication link, it was the only way to connect with Ye Sheng and Aki. He might have lost his two most promising students, though he had always known this was a possibility—similar incidents had occurred ten years ago.

 

The situation underwater was unclear—should they send someone to search and rescue them, or abandon them like they did in Greenland? Mance contemplated this, his nerves tense.

Dragon Raja.

“If you see a wall, and no matter how far you look up, down, left, or right, you can never find its edge, never reach its boundary, what is it?” A calm voice echoed in the cabin. 

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