Dragon Raja; Chapter 61: The City of Bronze (12)

Dragon Raja

“Why are you dragging me? Shouldn’t you be pulling Caesar?” Lu Mingfei stumbled.

“He doesn’t need me to pull him. He gets the most excited over this kind of thing. I’m sure he’s already gathered his Student Union elites and is heading to the library!”

A group of people almost ran into the library, the buzzing sound did not stop, it was like a soul-calling call. Lu Mingfei suddenly thought that what Lu Mingze said was right, there was really trouble, could that guy be a prophet?

Lu Mingfei hadn’t even caught his breath before he saw Caesar in full uniform, expressionless, striding in, followed by the equally expressionless Student Union officers, each carrying a briefcase, looking as if they were attending a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting. Chu Zihang was already there. All the high-ranking students were divided between the Lionheart Society and the Student Union, sitting on either side—distinctly separate.

Professor Manstein and Professor von Schneider of the executive department were waiting for the elite students in the control room of the library with gloomy faces. Lu Mingfei counted them quietly. There were thirteen people in total, including Caesar, Chu Zihang, Nono and Kiran, and that petite, ice-sculpture-like girl from the 3E exam. She sat in the front row, still leaving only her back to everyone. The professors occupied the remaining seats. This room was a very classical and elegant library, not like a control center. It could seat forty or fifty people. The four walls were lined with bookshelves, and on the bookshelves stood hardcover ancient books with cowhide covers.

“Thirteen students: twelve of A-Rank, one of S-Rank, twenty-seven from the faculty. Everyone is present.” Professor Manstein said to Professor von Schneider.

“We don’t have much time, let’s start right away.” Professor von Schneider dragged his gas cylinder cart to the wall and glanced at everyone. He breathed in a low and rapid manner, and his ferocious face, half covered by a black mask, calmed the restless students.

“Students, we need your help right now. The situation is that two of our executive team members are trapped in the Bronze City of the Three Gorges Reservoir in China. It is a dragon’s lair. We just got important information from it, but we don’t know what kind of mechanism has been triggered. All the roads have changed. Their oxygen tanks are depleting every second.

“You could use… Google Earth to find the way.” Lu Mingfei raised his hand. “It’s… very… very useful.”

He realized how stupid that sounded as soon as he said it. Everyone turned to look at him, their expressions a mix of disbelief.

“Google doesn’t offer services for places like this.”

“Every one of you has dragon blood, and some of you have blood from the great Bronze King Norton, the master of the dragon cave. Here are the dragon text materials obtained by the executive member Aki underwater. I hope you can concentrate on reading it, thinking, and recalling, to see if you can provide some help in uncovering the maze of the Bronze City. Please as soon as possible! As soon as possible! Our people all over the world are trying to help, and their oxygen tanks can only last for 20 minutes!” Professor von Schneider clapped his hands violently, and the two sides of the teak bookshelf that was higher than the ceiling moved away, revealing a giant screen of 100 inches. At the same time, the desktops in front of everyone automatically flipped open, revealing personal monitors one by one.

“You want one of us to resonate with it and trigger ‘Vision’?” Caesar asked.

“Yes, it might take us ten years to decipher it otherwise. But their oxygen will only last for another twenty minutes! Please, hurry!”

In just a moment, this place became a control center with extremely sophisticated equipment. Everyone, including the freshman Kiran and the petite girl, took out their student magnetic cards and swiped them through the card slot. Norma quickly checked their identities and entered their respective operation interfaces. At the same time, a giant cyan dome made up of pictures appeared on the big screen. Lu Mingfei looked at the text blankly. It was different from the Zhuyin Longwen in the 3E exam. This time it was not the Korean characters that looked like keychains, but completely… a big tree!

“Sakatoku Aki?” Lu Mingfei remembered the girl who interviewed him—the one like a girl next door, from Japan. He still remembered her gentle smile. So, she was in danger?

Everyone took out their laptops, including Kiran and the girl, connecting data cables and swiftly swiping their student cards through the card slots in front of them.

“Access granted… access granted… access granted…” Norma’s voice echoed in the control room, and the students and professors logged into their respective interfaces.

A giant green dome, made from stitched-together photos, appeared on the big screen. Lu Mingfei stared at it with wide eyes. This was Draconic? It was very much… a tree!

“Are dragons… all a bunch of art majors or something?” Lu Mingfei almost wanted to curse. Who creates a language this way?

“Swipe your card! There’s a spare computer here,” Nono called from nearby.

He searched all over his body, and finally found his student card in the pocket behind his buttocks, and frantically swiped it through the card slot. His screen also lit up, probably because he had never configured his own interface, so it was different from others. A guide page appeared. On one side of the page was a realistic 3D image of a girl, wearing a white gauze dress like a pajama, with long hair flying like a curl in the air, bowing lightly to Lu Mingfei.

“S-Rank freshman Lu Mingfei, I’m pleased to assist you. Please configure your system.” The girl’s voice came through the headset.

“Wow! A beginner’s guide that’s so thoughtful!” Lu Mingfei was delighted to see this interface. “Are you Norma? I thought you’d be some middle-aged lady.”

“I am EVA,” the girl smiled. “According to the records, you haven’t taken any computer courses, so I suggest configuring it for you in the usual way.”

“No problem!” Lu Mingfei said. Whatever a beautiful girl said was fine by him—unless EVA configured the system like StarCraft, he still wouldn’t know how to use it.

The windows flashed quickly, and a StarCraft-style interface appeared on the screen.

“This interface is more familiar to you, right?” EVA said. “Let’s use this. All the loading, moving, and storing can be done with a simple click. You’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

Lu Mingfei stared blankly as the picture of the big tree appeared in his map box.

“This is the map we compiled based on the route Ye Sheng took when he entered,” Mans said solemnly while looking at the monitor on the Moniach. “But the map has changed. All the original routes are blocked. All of them!”

“Ye Sheng’s ‘snake’ can still maintain communication, but we don’t know for how long. The Yanling will drain his stamina, and oxygen consumption will rise.” Selma’s face was pale. “Time is running out.”

“The rescue helicopter is only 60 kilometers away,” the first mate shouted after removing his headset.

“I think I understand the system Aki was lured into activating. That thing isn’t just a clock—the entire city is a mechanism! Once activated, the bronze components start moving, blocking off the original paths while new ones emerge. It’s a city like a Rubik’s Cube, but we don’t have a map… The pictures Aki took could be the map, but we can’t understand it!” Mance clenched his fist and struck the console.

Series Navigation

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