Dragon Raja; Chapter 56: The City of Bronze (7)

Dragon Raja

Mance looked up in surprise. It was Ye Sheng’s voice.

“That’s death. I read that in a book once, and I understand what he meant now. This is Ye Sheng, both Aki and I are alive, and I’m using the ‘Snake’ current to speak to you. We’ve reached the palace of the Bronze and Fire King, Norton. Please respond.”

“Are you Sure?” Mance asked, his voice trembling.

“Professor, if you could see this bronze wall in front of me, you’d believe it,” Ye Sheng replied.

Deep underwater, Ye Sheng and Aki clung to each other’s hands, suspended in the dark green water. They looked upward, where the spotlight’s glow was lost in the murk. All around them, it was the same—no end in sight. Except directly ahead, where a massive bronze wall rose up, extending indefinitely in all directions.

The earthquake had stopped for now, but the door to the Kingdom of Dragons was already opened, and the sediment in the water began to settle, clearing their view.

Ye Sheng recognized a mottled mark among the bronze rust on the wall—the same mark as on the piece of pottery they had found earlier: a face burning in flames, but much larger.

“Is this… a city of bronze?” Aki whispered. There was still a private communication line between her and Ye Sheng.

“Just like the legends say, the Bronze City he forged in the icy North,” Ye Sheng said. “We’re lucky. If the earthquake hadn’t opened this fissure, we wouldn’t have been able to get here.”

“If it’s not a coincidence, just treat it as an invitation from Dragon King Norton.” Ye Sheng smiled, “I guess the ancient tomb where the coffin is located originally led to this bronze city, but it was destroyed by the flowing water and the entrance was blocked. The seal here is very good, such a large cavity has been maintained without gaps for thousands of years.”

“Yeah, who would have thought it was buried dozens of meters underground? To construct an entire city out of bronze—I can’t imagine how the dragons did it.”

“Professor von Schneider once hypothesized that the Dragon King, Norton, hollowed out an entire mountain to create a mold, then poured molten bronze in from the top. As the Bronze City formed, the intense heat caused the mountain rock to fracture, thus forging this colossal structure—a complete city made of bronze, Norton’s lair.”

“It’s insane just imagining it,” Aki said softly. “I wonder… what’s inside?”

“Let’s knock on a hole and find out,” Ye Sheng replied. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Moniah, pepper water cutter support.” Ye Sheng’s voice came into the cabin.

Mance hesitated for a moment, “You are now 150 meters deep. The water jet can’t cut something that big. And your oxygen is about to run out. After replacing the oxygen cylinder, it can only last for two hours. I suggest you give up the mission and return. Dragon King Norton has not yet awakened. We still have a chance.”

“Professor, do you know what I’m seeing right now? It’s the edge between the world of dragons and humans. Would you stop to catch your breath when you’re about to touch the world’s edge? If an aftershock seals this fissure, you’d regret it to death,” Ye Sheng said. “There’s something in there, I can feel it. The ‘Snake’ that’s gone inside is circling around something. It’s afraid.”

Mance was silent for a full minute. “Prince Norton is in there? Okay, I understand. A total of four underwater cutting devices are ready and will arrive at your designated location in 10 minutes. Remember, you only have two hours, whether it’s oxygen or electricity. The helicopter of the waterway rescue agency will probably arrive in two hours. By then, we won’t be able to explain to these government agencies that we are taking advantage of the rainy night to dig out the place where the Dragon King sleeps.”

“Also, always pay attention to your ‘amulet’. If it is contaminated, it means that the spirit of the Dragon King has begun to invade you, so you must evacuate quickly.” He added.

“I remember everything I learned in class,” Ye Sheng said. He held the flashlight horizontally in front of him, and the “World Tree” on his diving suit was still shining silver. This was the “amulet”, an alchemical product washed with mercury. If the dragons released their spiritual realm to attack them, this little thing could withstand them several times.

Soon, dazzling lights came from above, and four young members of the executive department approached with a cutting machine that could be propelled underwater. After replacing the oxygen cylinders and lifelines for Ye Sheng and Aki, they began to punch four holes in this huge bronze wall and began to cut. The sonar was working again, and the result of echolocation showed that the bronze product half-embedded in the underwater mountain range was roughly in the shape of a square. It was not without boundaries, but the volume was larger than a skyscraper. If it stood on the water, it would be a bronze mountain.

“Oh my God, I really want to know why he can’t build himself a stone nest. Do dragons like living in metal houses?” Someone operating a water jet complained that the high-pressure water flow that can cut through high-strength steel cut into the bronze wall but could not penetrate it.

“It’s just that the Bronze King likes it, right? Who told him that he has the right to manipulate fire to smelt metal?” Ye Sheng and Aki smiled at each other through their masks.

Mance walked into the rear cabin and turned on the satellite phone. “Principal, there’s new progress in the ‘Kui Gate Plan.’ In an underwater fissure caused by the earthquake, we’ve found a city completely made of bronze. We believe we have found Dragon King Norton.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while. “This is really exciting news, but shouldn’t you be in Lop Nur? You’ve always told me that Lop Nur is where the Dragon King Norton is sleeping, but now it has suddenly become the Three Gorges Reservoir.”

“Lop Nur is just a cover-up. If someone is following us, they will find us wherever we find them. That’s why we left some people in Lop Nur to make a busy excavation site, but secretly concentrated the main force here.”

“Who would try to compete with us in archaeological exploration?” There aren’t many who could compete with us in the field of archaeological exploration.”

“A team of underwater explorers funded by a private foundation from Hong Kong, China. They are exploring a newly discovered underwater tomb. It seems they don’t know much about what we’re doing, but they will dive soon,” Mance said. “If they discover the bronze city, we won’t be able to keep it a secret. Ye Sheng senses that there’s something in the bronze city… It’s not a dead city.”

“The first priority is to capture it alive, the second is to kill it.” The principal said, “But remember not to let a real dragon out of our surveillance. If such a thing is released, the whole world will be turned upside down.”

“Time is limited. To open the Bronze City, may I use the ‘key’?”

“I allowed you to bring it precisely for this moment!”

Mance hung up the phone and bent down to gently touch the baby in the cradle. The infant, who had been wailing just moments ago, was now quiet, staring around with innocent eyes. Beside the cradle sat a woman in her thirties or forties, charming and attractive. A diamond ring on her left ring finger hinted at a wealthy husband.

“Sweetie, did you sense that thing?” Mance pinched the baby’s nose playfully.

“Be careful using him. He’s our only ‘key’ right now. With such a high concentration of dragon blood, it’s almost impossible to find another like him. Even Chu Zihang can’t compare,” the woman said.

“But he’s much more well-behaved than Chu Zihang,” Mance teased the baby. “Don’t look at me like you don’t trust people. You’re just his foster mother, and we all like the ‘key’ very much. Spend more time caring for your own daughter.”

“Chen Motong?” The woman said indifferently. “I can’t tell if she sees me as her mother.”

“Family issues are always complicated… Let’s not discuss this during work hours,” Mance carefully picked up the baby and looked into the woman’s eyes. “No offense, but unless the daughter considers herself a daughter, it’s too much for the mother to expect her to act like one. You have a very beautiful foster daughter.”

“I know you care about her as her mentor. However, a girl who watched her biological mother die in front of her without crying or fussing, waiting quietly for two days and nights until someone came to collect the body—it’s hard to want to love her,” the woman said, her voice unwavering.

“Alright,” Mance sighed. “I just wanted to say that Nono sometimes has a strange personality… but she’s still… a good kid.”

Mance returned to the front cabin, stood by the window, and stretched out his arms, waiting for Selma to help him into the diving suit.

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