stonecrandall Chapter 21: The Fisherman of the Three Gorges
Chapter 21: The Fisherman of the Three Gorges
Kassel College, Dormitory Area 1.
The boy jumped down from the windowsill and casually patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder. "Remember, 'Black Sheep Wall,' when you need it most... you'll need it soon." After saying that, he casually opened the door and walked out, like a classmate visiting. The moment the door closed, a deathly silence filled the room.
Lu Mingfei stood there stunned for a moment, then suddenly shivered and pinched his face hard. Just then, a sharp, piercing buzzing sound tore through the silence, as if alarms were sounding all over the world at the same time.
"Is that kid setting off the fire alarm?" Lu Mingfei wondered, then rushed outside and yelled at the top of his lungs, "What the hell are you doing?"
"You call yourself a tank?!" a voice retorted.
Lu Mingfei was stunned. He recognized the person in front of him—Chen Motong, dressed in a school uniform skirt, was reaching out to pat his shoulder: "Wake up, are you still half asleep?"
Lu Mingfei finally snapped out of his daze and found himself standing in the dormitory corridor. Warning red lights flashed overhead, and buzzers blared from the wall-mounted loudspeakers. Students in school uniforms stood solemnly, converging on the elevators from each floor. The Kassel College dormitories were not large; Dormitory 1 was co-ed.
As with his original fate, Lu Mingfei enrolled in school under Nuonuo's guidance. However, because Nuonuo did not participate in the day of freedom, Lu Mingfei lost the limelight of shooting Caesar and Chu Zihang with those two shots.
The victor that day was Caesar, the student council president. His vice president had suggested that he use his "pursuit right" on Chen Motong, but Caesar refused.
"Is it a fire alarm? Do you have to look like you've lost your parents when you're fleeing?" Lu Mingfei looked around.
"The first lesson upon entering school is reading the 'Emergency Handbook'," Chen Motong said.
"Since its founding, this academy has been prepared to deal with any emergencies caused by dragons. This alarm represents the highest priority emergency, summoning senior students to the library. Hey, Nono, you're getting more and more beautiful!" A messy head poked out from the doorway; it was Fingel, who only dared to show his head—he had a habit of sleeping naked.
"You still like sleeping naked so much." Chen Motong said in a flat tone, clearly recalling Fingel's embarrassing state of being wrapped in a tablecloth during a mission.
"Huh?" Lu Mingfei was shocked by the familiarity between the two, and felt a pang of unease. However, in his opinion, there was no way Nono would ever be interested in Finger.
"Don't get me wrong, we just went on a mission together," Fingel added awkwardly.
Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're a 'F' grade loser, yet you've memorized the 'Handbook' so well? What's it for anyway? Is it like an earthquake self-rescue guide?" Lu Mingfei asked. "This has nothing to do with me, right? My 3E exam results haven't come out yet, so I shouldn't be considered a formal student. Can I go back to sleep?"
"It's actually just a book called 'For Dummies: The First Lesson for Dragon Slayers.' I wanted to ask you to bring me a can of Coke when you come back," Fingel said. "Back when I was still an 'A' grade, I knew that missing roll call during emergency drills would result in a deduction of internship points."
"But I don't have any internship points to deduct yet!" Lu Mingfei shouted.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Chen Motong grabbed his wrist and dragged him out. After all, she was the one who tricked him into getting into the school, so Chen Motong felt obligated to help him out.
"Why are you pulling me? Don't you have a boyfriend?" Lu Mingfei stumbled after him, pretending to casually ask what was on his mind.
Chen Motong glanced back at him, her eyes seeming to see through his probing.
Lu Mingfei immediately cowered, shrinking back and not daring to utter another word.
The atmosphere inside the library's main control room was somber.
Lu Mingfei had just caught his breath when he saw Caesar, dressed in a crisp school uniform, stride in with an expressionless face, followed by student council officers with equally stern expressions, each carrying a briefcase, looking as if they were attending a high-level military meeting. Chu Zihang had already arrived, and all the senior students had been divided up by the Lionheart Society and the student council, sitting on the left and right sides, clearly separated.
Lu Mingfei secretly counted; there were thirteen people in total, all with bloodlines of "A" grade or above. Besides him and the president of the Freshman Association, Qi Lan, the only other person not accepted by the two major clubs was that petite girl who was as quiet as an ice sculpture during the 3E exam. She sat in the front row, still only showing everyone her back. The professors occupied the remaining seats; Guderian, Manstein, and Professor von Schneider from the Executive Department all had stern expressions.
「应到学生14人，实到13人。包括12名『A』级，1名『S』级。教授团27人全部到齐。」曼施坦因教授向施耐德汇报。
"Who's missing?" Professor Schneider dragged his oxygen tank cart to the wall, a black mask covering half of his ferocious face, and the area where his gaze swept quickly fell silent.
"Grade A, Second Year, Book of Changes."
The teak bookshelves high up on the wall slide open to the sides, revealing a huge 100-inch screen.
The screen displayed a student photo of Zhou Yi: wearing a school uniform, looking to the right, not at the camera.
Lu Mingfei felt that the face looked familiar, and the name seemed familiar as well.
"Who is this? How dare they?" Lu Mingfei muttered to Nuonuo. Even figures like Caesar and Chu Zihang arrived on time, yet someone dared to be late or even absent.
Just then, Chen Motong suddenly stood up.
"Professor, Zhou Yi has requested leave from school. The leave slip was approved by Professor Mans," she said.
"Even if he takes leave, we must keep an eye on Norma's notifications. He could have joined via video, instead of being completely out of contact like this," Professor Manstein said unhappily.
"That's enough. Ignore him, he's insignificant." Professor Schneider thought of Zhou Yi. A year ago, he was the one who specially approved Zhou Yi and Chu Zihang's admission. However, Chu Zihang later became his student, while Zhou Yi was recommended to Professor Mans, and little was known about him afterward.
"He's your senior from Shilan Middle School," Chen Motong said softly as she sat down next to Lu Mingfei.
"?"
Lu Mingfei suddenly remembered. Back then, Zhou Yi and Chu Zihang were tied for first place on the "Prodigy Ranking" at Shilan Middle School. It was him...
Lu Mingfei was shocked at the time that the other party had given up Tsinghua and Peking University to go abroad, but he did not expect that he would also come to this Kassel College like Chu Zihang.
"Gentlemen, we need your help right now." Professor Schneider's deep, rapid voice rang out, every second precious. "Two members of the Executive Division are trapped in a dragon ruin. We just obtained crucial information, but the traps have been triggered, sealing off all the passages. Their oxygen is rapidly dwindling; we must find a way for them to survive immediately."
"If we're looking for directions... can't we use Google Earth?" Lu Mingfei instinctively raised his hand, only realizing how stupid he was as soon as the words left his mouth. All eyes instantly focused on him, as if he were an idiot.
"Google doesn't provide services for places like that," Professor Schneider joked, slamming his hand on the control panel. A massive 3D simulation filled the entire screen, with precise dimensions marked at the edges. Everyone gasped—it was a miniature city, cast in bronze and intricately structured!
"The palace of Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire, an ancient ruin. Some of you are descended from him. This is a photograph of dragon-script documents taken by Draco, a member of the Executive Committee. We speculate that it is actually an inscription recording the structure of this bronze city. Now, concentrate all your attention on 'reading' it," Professor Schneider commanded.
"Do you hope that one of us can resonate with it and gain 'vision'?" Caesar asked.
"Correct. It would normally take ten years to decipher it. But their oxygen supply won't last more than twenty minutes! Quick!"
"Shude Aki..." Lu Mingfei recalled the Japanese girl with the gentle, girl-next-door smile from the interview. Had she encountered danger? Students quickly took out their laptops, plugged in data cables, and swiped their cards deftly. "Approved..." notifications rang out repeatedly, Norma's voice echoing in the control room. An interface appeared before each person, and simultaneously, a giant cyan dome image composed of countless photos filled the main screen—it wasn't text, but rather resembled a sprawling, lush tree.
"Are all dragons... a bunch of artsy types?" Lu Mingfei was practically wailing inwardly. Creating a script and then making it look like an abstract painting—wasn't that just deliberately making things difficult for people?
"Swipe your card! Use the spare computer!" Nuonuo reminded him from not far away. Lu Mingfei hurriedly pulled out his student card from his back pocket and swiped it in the card slot.
The desktop flips over, and a tablet rises up, its screen lighting up with a tutorial interface. A 3D image of a young girl appears, wearing a white gauze nightgown, her long hair flowing, and she bows lightly to him.
"Lu Mingfei, a freshman of 'S' class, it's a pleasure to serve you. Please configure your system." The girl's voice came through the earpiece.
"Wow! This beginner's guide is so thoughtful!" Lu Mingfei perked up. "Are you Norma? I thought you were a middle-aged auntie."
"I am EVA," the girl smiled. "The records show you didn't take a computer course, so how about I configure it for you as usual?"
"No problem!" Lu Mingfei readily agreed. Whatever the pretty girl said was right; he wouldn't use it at all unless EVA turned the interface into StarCraft. The window flickered rapidly, and the familiar StarCraft game interface indeed appeared on the screen.
"You should be more familiar with this interface," EVA said. "All read, move, and save operations can be completed with a single click, making it easy to use." Immediately afterwards, the giant tree image was loaded into his "map" frame.
At this moment, aboard the Moniach on the Yangtze River, Professor Mans' face was ashen.
"Can we still get in touch? How much longer can they hold out?"
"Ye Sheng's 'snake' is barely maintaining communication, but we don't know how long it can last. The Word of Power is rapidly depleting his strength and oxygen." Selma's face was pale. "Time is running out."
"The rescue helicopter is only 60 kilometers away!" the first mate shouted, taking off his headset.
"I think I understand what Aki triggered," Professor Mans slammed his fist on the control panel. "It's not a clock at all; the entire city is a giant machine! Once activated, the bronze components begin to move, blocking old paths and creating new ones. It's a city like a Rubik's Cube... and we don't have a map! What Aki photographed might be the map, but none of us can solve it!"
"The principal has ordered headquarters to provide full support for the analysis; we can only wait now," Selma said in a desperate voice.
In the control room, Lu Mingfei furtively glanced around. Everyone was intently focused on the "painting," deep in thought, pencils scratching across the paper, sketching various lines. Caesar and Chu Zihang stared at the large screen, their faces grim; Qi Lan pressed her hands to her forehead; Nuonuo crossed her arms and frowned; the petite girl remained motionless like a statue. The professors argued heatedly in hushed tones; their bloodline wasn't sufficient to trigger "spiritual vision," and they could only rely on their decades of knowledge from dragon script research to try and create a miracle within these twenty minutes.
Lu Mingfei felt that these people were both loyal and incredibly admirable. To decipher a living map from a painting in twenty minutes was practically a fantasy. But they were elites; for them, giving up was shameful as long as there was a glimmer of hope. Like Spider-Man's uncle said: With great power comes great responsibility.
But Lu Mingfei was different. He considered himself just an ordinary character who would scream along with the passersby when he saw Mary Jane being thrown off the bridge by the Green Goblin. Others heard Long Wen as if hearing thunder, and saw Long Wen as if seeing all things growing; but he only felt it was rambling, a tree is just a tree, simple and unadorned.
Actually, if… just if, he really had the ability to help, he would rack his brains to save Ye Sheng and Ya Ji. He quite liked that handsome couple, even though their questions were a bit silly. It would be such a pity for those two to die. Nuonuo was right, why didn't they get married?
Time ticked by. Lu Mingfei sighed; a cross-sea rescue was simply impossible. Some things are just that cruel. Imagine you're a Zergling, and two Zerglings have wandered into a Terran base. The enemy tanks are already up and running, and you're only just starting to hatch Mutalisks—is it too late?
It would be a miracle if there was still time.
Lu Mingfei suddenly froze for a moment, his body trembling slightly.
Maybe not...it's too late.
There's still a chance... if you're willing... to cheat!
A map... isn't the point to "show the whole map"?
Black sheep wall!
Black sheep, the restless, unruly rascal in the flock of white sheep. It's stirring with malice.
Lu Mingfei felt he was only a thin line away from a taboo. This control room was filled with a group of docile "white sheep," confined within walls, obediently grazing, ignoring the outside world, and left to be sheared. The "black sheep," however, was different; it would leap over the wall and escape. It was a bad boy, never playing by the rules.
Lu Mingfei glanced around furtively, then tapped the Enter key. Sure enough, an input box popped up.
"Black sheep wall."
He typed it in slowly and deliberately, making sure there were no mistakes.
A few seconds later, everyone's screen went black instantly.
Immediately afterwards, an incredibly detailed 3D map appeared from top to bottom, clearly showing every bronze component, every operating mechanism, and every path of birth and annihilation.
The child's promise came true, and a miracle happened at that moment.
Lu Mingfei crossed the wall and played the role of the mischievous "black sheep".
Everyone turned sharply to look at Lu Mingfei; everyone knew this was the correct answer. And in the corner of the map, a line of text was clearly marked:
"Analysis provided by: Lu Mingfei"
Even the ice-sculpted girl turned around. Lu Mingfei saw her face clearly for the first time; it was cold, translucent, like ice and snow.
Kuimen, night, storm.
The Moniach pitched violently on the dark river. Fifty meters below the surface, the ancient city of the King of Bronze and Fire was awakening.
A massive amount of 3D map information was forcibly poured into Ye Sheng's brain like a flood bursting its banks through the "snake's" electric current. The excruciating pain almost tore his nerves apart, but a completely transparent, precisely operating bronze city also suddenly unfolded in his consciousness.
The super-mechanism from two thousand years ago has come to life. The massive bronze walls split, rotate, and reconnect, millions of cubic meters of air shrieking as they escape through the gaps, only to be filled by the surging river below. The entire city is like a Rubik's Cube being twisted by an invisible giant hand, with the escape routes changing dramatically every second.
Ye Sheng was going crazy. It was like holding a self-reconstructing map of Beijing, watching helplessly as Chaoyang District slid into Fangshan, and you had to find a way out of the city immediately. Behind him, a twenty-meter-high bronze wall was slowly collapsing, like the sky collapsing.
Aki Shude clung tightly to the exhausted Ye Sheng, struggling to swim forward. In the chaos, she recalled their first meeting. That eighteen-year-old Chinese boy with thick, dark eyebrows, who always mocked her in swimming class for "short legs and slow swimming speed," had once been her least favorite swimming partner. But when did protecting him become her deepest habit?
The bronze wall crashed into the water, and a giant wave slammed them against the opposite wall. Aki whirled around and pulled Ye Sheng into her arms. A sharp pain shot through her spine, making her vision go black, and blood seeped from between her teeth. She held the weak man tightly in her arms.
"key!"
Ye Sheng's hoarse roar echoed back to the Moniach through the "Snake," like the howl of a wounded wolf. Professor Mans shuddered: "Yes! The key!"
In the front cabin, a sleeping baby was urgently brought to the screen. He miraculously opened his eyes, a faint golden light shimmering in them. His chubby fingers touched the cold screen, slowly sliding down, scanning every corner of the map.
Mans held his breath.
The fingertip stopped. The light in the baby's eyes went out, and then he burst into a loud cry.
At the same instant, on the wildly changing map in Ye Sheng's mind, a straight red line suddenly lit up, piercing through layers of walls and stabbing out from directly below the Bronze City.
"Right below! Exit!" Ye Sheng understood. That wasn't a sorrowful cry; it was the "key" urging him with fear—faster! Faster!
"Forty-five meters away! Three minutes of oxygen left!" Selma's voice trembled.
"Just enough!" Mance practically jumped for joy, triumphantly twirling the cha-cha. "A complete reversal! This is the reversal I was talking about!"
However, a few seconds later, his dance steps froze. The color drained from his face instantly, and he rushed into the storm, staring intently at the churning river.
"We miscalculated..." Mans's face twitched. "They could escape Bronze City... but they didn't make it to the surface. There wasn't enough oxygen."
Underwater, Ye Sheng glanced at the remaining oxygen: three minutes. Adding the five minutes of breath-holding underwater, it was just right. He turned to Layaji.
Aki didn't move. She turned on her mask and helmet to let Ye Sheng see her face. The extremely low oxygen levels caused her to cough violently, and tears mingled with the river water as they slid down her cheeks.
"It's too late," she shook her head, "There's not enough oxygen... Let's stay. I have something to say..."
"I love you too." Ye Shengli interrupted her abruptly, then did something that might get him severely punished by the Execution Department—he kissed her lips fiercely.
Aki was stunned.
Ye Sheng's lips curled into that familiar smile, sometimes annoying, sometimes able to make one forget all troubles, just like the way he patted her butt in the sunlight by the swimming pool back then.
"Fool, trust me, that's enough!"
He held her slender body tightly and plunged into the whirlpool that was vaguely forming at the bottom of the water.
On the Moniach, Mans's ecstasy had frozen completely in despair. Fourteen minutes passed, and only wind and rain remained on the river.
"Accept the rescue, evacuate everyone." He gave the order wearily, turning to return to his cabin.
Just then—
A strange, muffled thud came from the stern. Mans whirled around, his flashlight beam piercing the rain and landing beside the lifeboat. In the shimmering water, two deathly pale, yet unmistakably familiar faces emerged.
"Aki?! Ye Sheng?!"
A miracle occurred in the most incredible way. His two most beloved students, Shuto Aki and Ye Sheng, were using their last bit of strength to struggle and cling to the edge of the lifeboat.
"Selma! Quick! Save her!" Mance's voice was distorted with ecstasy and shock.
Aki was pulled onto the deck, choked on some water, and immediately hissed, "Professor... the jar... someone stole the jar!"
"Forget about the jars now! As long as he's back!" Mans practically yelled.
"Drop anchor! Engines at full power! Get out of here immediately!" The third mate's roars rang out almost simultaneously, the old sailor's face darker than the stormy sky. His sharp gaze was fixed on the stern—a sharp, straight line of water was cutting through the dark river, chasing after them at an irrational speed!
"Turn on the sonar! Let's see what the hell is behind us?!" Mance rushed into the cabin, his heart pounding.
"It's a dragon!" Ye Sheng, supported by Jiu Deya, suddenly looked up, his eyes still filled with the shock of that glimpse underwater. "I saw it... underwater!"
dragon?
This word left everyone breathless.
Could it be the King of Bronze and Fire?!
However, at the very moment when this despairing fear reached its peak—
Beneath the pitch-black depths, without warning, a dazzling, sharp golden light, like a spear of judgment from mythology, flashed from the shadows and disappeared, precisely piercing the pursuing black shadow.
In an instant, the raging signal on the sonar screen disappeared.
The terrifying trail of water at the stern was also erased as if by an invisible hand.
Silence fell, leaving only the primal roar of the storm and the thunderous roar of the Moniach's engines at full speed. The terrifying presence that had nearly dragged them into the abyss vanished silently beneath this mysterious golden light.
"It was him..." Ye Sheng leaned against the ship's side, his voice hoarse from exhaustion and a deep, complex emotion. "It was that person. He killed that thing, saved us... but also took our jars."
He laboriously opened his tightly clenched right hand. Only then could everyone see that in his palm lay a piece of something neither gold nor paper, as thin as a cicada's wing, yet flowing with a restrained and warm golden luster. Etched on it were ancient patterns so intricate they were dazzling, as if sealing within a miniature star map or the rhythm of some kind of breath.
"What is this?" Professor Mans leaned down, his gaze sharp.
"A talisman," Ye Sheng gasped, his eyes reflecting the golden light, "that allows one to breathe underwater, and even... dissipates some of the water pressure—a miracle. Without it, we would never have been able to come back alive from that depth."
As his words fell, it seemed to trigger some preordained law. In his palm, the golden talisman shimmered slightly, its patterns flowing gently for a moment as if given life. Then, starting from the edge, it transformed into countless tiny specks of light, finer than dust, silently rising and dissipating, merging into the damp air, leaving no trace.
Silence reigned in the cabin. The initial elation of rescue had been completely washed away by the series of shocks, replaced by a deeper sense of bewilderment and chill. A mysterious third party, possessing the terrifying power to slay what appeared to be dragons, had granted them a miraculous escape, only to cruelly steal away the goal they had risked their lives for.
Who exactly is he? Is he a friend or an enemy?
The wind and rain lashed at everyone's faces, carrying the biting cold of the night at Kuimen.