dragon raja

The Bronze City（5）

"Evacuate the water cutting machine, Ye Sheng Yaji get ready, we are about to open the door." Mans gave the order.

Four water cutting machines rose upwards, and Ye Sheng and Ya Ji floated behind Mans, each putting a hand on his shoulder. Mans crossed his hands in front of his chest and patted the hands of his most proud students vigorously.

Mans closed his eyes, stretched his hand forward, and spoke in a low voice. He turned off the intercom, but the majestic sound that sounded like singing and roaring directly penetrated the depths of Ye Sheng and Yaji's minds. Mans opened his eyes suddenly, and he did something that would scare an ordinary diver to death. He opened the mask of his pressurized diving suit 150 meters underwater. The result was that the huge water pressure directly acted on his fragile human body. Every bubble in his lungs would rush out and burst his blood vessels!

Mance's voice echoed loudly underwater as he completed the last part of the Word Spirit Spell.

The Spirit of Words: The Pure Land.

The water around Mans began to spin, and a transparent water shell rapidly expanded from his forehead. The water under high pressure was repelled by some force, forming a violently rotating vortex. The elegant oxygen leaked from Mans' oxygen bottle filled the space in the bubble. The vortex spun around them at high speed, and they stood in the air! Aki's feet were empty, and she lost the buoyancy of the water. The moment she fell, Ye Sheng grabbed her wrist and pulled out the alloy knife on his chest with his other hand and inserted it into the trace left by the water cutter.

"Damn it... I've never used this spiritual power underwater before. I was careless." Mans had the same reaction as Ye Sheng.

At this moment, the violently swirling water surrounded them. In the spherical space with a diameter of several meters, the water was forcibly pushed away, as if the north wind blew across the surface of the bronze wall, and large pieces of copper rust were peeled off, leaving a smooth and dust-free metal surface with a blue-black gleam like oil. This time, the pattern on the wall was clearly revealed. It was a protruding human face with burning firewood in its mouth. It was a strange picture, with a face twisted and painful, but refusing to loosen its teeth that were tightly biting the firewood.

"Well, baby, I'll leave the rest to you." Mance carefully lifted the baby out of the abdominal cavity of the diving suit by hanging it with steel claws.

Mansping stretched out a hand, his hand was as big as a plate, and the baby curled up in his palm. The baby with golden eyes was silent for a long time. There was only the "swishing" sound of the high-speed rotation of the water vortex. The baby bent down with great effort, stood up, and stood on Mans' palm. He looked only a few months old, holding a pacifier, wearing a one-piece baby suit with large and small cows printed on it, and there were only some sparse hairs on his head. It was such a child, standing on Mans' palm, with his back straight, solemn like a priest. He looked at the face, slowly put his chubby little hand deep, and pointed a finger at the center of the face's eyebrows.

The bronze protrusion between the eyebrows cut the baby's delicate fingers, and blood flowed over the painful face. For a moment, Yaji had an illusion that there was an expression of relief on that face... Ye Sheng reached out and caught the pacifier that fell from the baby's mouth. A low sound like a huge bell came out of the child's mouth, and the bronze wall resonated faintly.

The baby's blood seemed to be sucked into the mouth of the human face, but the baby stood there with the indifference of a martyr, without any expression of pain from the blood loss. He leaned over slightly, as if he was going to kiss the mouth of the bronze human face. Mance suddenly hugged his waist, forcibly stopping this horrifying behavior, took out a hemostatic bandage from the waterproof box, carefully wrapped it layer by layer on the baby's little finger, and patted his face, "Key, you are great."

After the bronze face sucked all the blood, it was silent for a moment, then slowly opened its mouth, as if yawning. From deep within the bronze wall came the sound of metal heating and cracking, and a pitch-black hole about one meter in diameter appeared on the bronze wall, with the teeth of the bronze face on top and bottom. They were definitely not human teeth, but sharp as daggers.

"Oh my God!" Ye Sheng whispered.

"It's a great achievement of alchemy, using the purest substance to contain the spirit, and then use it as the guard here." Mance stroked the face carefully, "This is a living spirit. The word of the 'key' is to order him to open the door. The blood will satisfy him temporarily. You have about an hour."

"Probably?" Aki said, "If we are exploring the moon, can you say that we will land on the moon in about an hour? This is more dangerous than the moon surface!"

"Then let's save one minute for discussion," Ye Sheng said, "Professor Rundstedt, please remove the word spirit of 'Undust Land'. After the passage is filled with water, we can enter."

The light gold in the baby's eyes faded, he raised his bandaged finger in front of him, looked at it in surprise, suddenly opened his mouth and burst into tears, his cry was as loud as thunder, he was so sad.

"Oh oh oh oh oh, don't cry, don't cry, baby, you've worked hard..." Mans showed the expression of a helpless father and put the baby back into the empty compartment that looked like a kangaroo pouch.

"One hour," Mans looked into Ye Sheng's eyes and raised a finger. "It's not the awakening period yet, but if you can't get the bones, just destroy it." He handed over a black iron box, "Stay at least 20 meters away before detonating."

Ye Sheng gave a thumbs up, and Mans put on his helmet again. The words were released silently, and the huge air ball instantly shattered into countless bubbles, rising rapidly upwards. The surging water made it almost impossible for Ye Sheng and Aki to breathe. As a professor, Mans was as agile as a swimming fish. He used the bronze wall to gain momentum and pierced into the water. At the same time, he turned on the water pressure booster behind him and left at high speed.

Yaji looked up at the figures gradually disappearing in the distance. Everyone left them again, and darkness returned. The only light was the flashlight in Ye Sheng's hand. Yaji suddenly felt cold, a cold that was enough to destroy people and the edge of the world.

"Ye Sheng!" she turned around and shouted.

"I'm here." Ye Sheng stretched out his hand, shook her hand through his thick gloves, shone the beam of light on his face, and smiled at her.

Mance climbed over the side of the boat, took off his fins, peeled off the diving suit that was almost as tight as his skin, and rushed into the command room in the front cabin.

"Life parameters are normal, the oxygen tank can last for 35 minutes, the signal is clear, and they have gone deep inside. There are many snake-faced human statues and gears... You won't believe it, my God, it's simply... too sci-fi!" Selma rushed over, her face full of excitement.

"Any views coming back?" Mans said. "Projected on the big screen."

A dark green video appeared on the big screen. Under the illumination of a strong flashlight, layers of rippling waves were projected onto an incredible bronze object. It was round in shape, surrounded by a circle of sharp structures like wolf teeth. It looked like an ancient killing weapon. At first glance, it reminded people of the idea that if it was thrown, it would whistle in a strange arc, bite the enemy's neck and spin.

"Incredible craftsmanship," Mance whispered.

The camera kept zooming out, and it seemed that Ye Sheng was swimming slowly away with the camera on his helmet, and at the same time the camera rose above the water.

"There's still a lot of air in there, which is good and buys us a lot of time," Mance said.

"No, the oxygen content in the air is very low. The oxygen has been used up by the oxidation of the metals after being confined for too long," said the first mate. "They still only have enough oxygen to sustain them for 35... no, 33 minutes."

The second metal disc appeared in the camera, its bronze teeth tightly biting into the bronze teeth of the first metal disc, followed by the third and fourth. Countless metal discs covered a giant bronze wall that was dozens of faces high. Each metal disc was nailed to the wall by an iron axis in the center... Mance was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but look down at his wrist. On his wrist was an Omega Planet Ocean co-axial diving mechanical watch.

"Doesn't it look like a watch movement that has been magnified countless times?" Ye Sheng's voice rang out.

"It's an alchemical machine, although I don't know what it's used for." Mance said, "But judging from its complexity, the mechanical transmission technology of dragons at that time was far more advanced than that of humans."

"This is just one of the closed holes. The other holes also have different mechanical systems, which have been rusted for many years." Ye Sheng said, "Is this a mechanism set up by the Bronze King to protect himself?"

"Don't be too naive. This dragon prince's knowledge of fire and metal is unparalleled. If the mechanism was designed by him personally, it would not have rusted and become inoperable." Mance whispered.

"Captain, the Chinese rescue helicopter has been loaded with medicines and serums and is about to take off. If they come over, our actions will be exposed." The third mate said loudly.

"Ye Sheng! Speed up, find the location of Dragon King Norton and detonate the underwater bomb. There is not enough time." Mance ordered.

"Yes, I can feel that the location where the 'snake' is circling is very close to me."

Ye Sheng touched the depth charge in the side pocket of his diving suit, turned to Yaji, and said, "You take pictures and take samples of the surroundings here, I will go to find the location of the 'snake'. If I guess correctly, it is in the hole next door. Pay attention to my life data. If there is any problem, don't worry about me, evacuate first."

Yaji nodded, Ye Sheng gave a thumbs up, turned over and dived underwater. This magnificent bronze city was full of hollows, each connected by bronze corridors. After being flooded, most of the corridors were below the water surface, like an ant nest half submerged in water.

She raised her head and shone the flashlight upwards, looking up at the void. The space was so large that it seemed like a giant's palace. The dome was engraved with ancient patterns. They were the scattered branches of a giant tree, and the leaves and branches were bent into unreadable characters.

"Longwen?" Aki guessed what it was.

She pulled out a waterproof camera from her pocket, cut the dome into small sections, and began taking pictures, with the data transmitted directly back to the Moniach along the line in the lifeline.

"Remember to make a backup!" Mance rubbed his hands in surprise. After Nicholas Flamel, this was the first time that humans had obtained such a huge amount of dragon text information. Although it might take decades to decipher it, it was better to have it than nothing.

"I understand." Aki said. She was suspended in the water, trying hard to stop the camera from shaking too much. There was not much time left.

Complex patterns kept entering her viewing window. The complexity of these patterns was incredible. The leaves gathered together looked like human faces, and when separated, they were indeed a kind of ancient characters that had disappeared for many years. They rotated counterclockwise on the dome. Aki lowered the output pressure of the oxygen cylinder to extend the time of underwater activities and wait for Ye Sheng. The oxygen delivery volume was reduced to zero. She felt a little dizzy, and the patterns on the dome were a little blurry in her eyes. She stopped shooting temporarily, closed her eyes slightly, shook her head, and took two deep breaths.

"Aki, your heartbeat is quickening, are you okay?" Selma's slightly nervous voice came from the headset.

"It's okay, just a little dizzy." Aki said.

She put the folding knife back into her pocket, opened her eyes again, and swam to the edge of the cave.

"The signal is interrupted!" Selma exclaimed on the Moniach, "The data line between us and Aki is broken!"

"Reel in the line! Reel in the line! Warn Ye Sheng!" Mans was stunned for a moment and shouted.

The roller at the stern rotated at high speed, retrieving Aki's lifeline.

"There is no tension on the roller motor," Selma looked up, her face drained of color, "Aki's lifeline is broken!"

Ye Sheng floated up from beside Aki and held her arm, making her feel much more relaxed.

"You're back? Is the mission over? I didn't hear any explosion." Aki felt much more relaxed when she saw her companions again.

"It's an underwater explosion, so the noise won't be too loud." Ye Sheng said, "I've solved it. After collecting the data, we're going to return. There's not much time left."

"Okay, I've finished taking pictures of the dome pattern."

"Let's collect some more bronze materials and analyze their composition when we get back," Ye Sheng pointed to a statue of a snake-faced man on a bronze wall not far away. "We can try to bring that thing back. This kind of statue must not be from ancient China, but originated from Europe."

"Okay," Yaji was dragged by Ye Sheng and swam towards the snake-faced man. The water flowed through her diving suit and actually brought a slight warmth.

The statue of the snake-faced man is only a few dozen centimeters high, which is incomparable to the snake-faced man statue as tall as a human that they saw when they entered the bronze city. It is wearing ancient Chinese robes, holding a very Chinese-style toothbrush, standing on a bridge-shaped bronze pole, with its head slightly lowered, showing a respectful look, and its posture is as if it is talking to the person in front of it, but its head is like a cobra, and its slender neck sticks out from the collar of the robe, which is extremely abrupt.

"What is this thing?" Yaji turned to Ye Sheng.

"I don't know either. It may be a dragon totem. But it will be useful if I bring it back. You can take it down." Ye Sheng said.

Aki nodded and swam over. When she came face to face with the statue of the snake-faced man, she was a little surprised. The snake-faced man's eyes were pure silver, shining with isolated silver light on the dark bronze surface. It seemed like he was blinking, or staring at you. Aki reminded herself to dispel the strange thoughts in her mind. It was just an illusion caused by reflection. There was nothing to be surprised about. Ye Sheng was still waiting for her not far behind her to take the sample and return to the Moniach.

She reached out and grabbed the snake-faced man's neck. The bronze sculpture was not as heavy as she had thought, and she lifted it up without much effort.

At this moment, a shadow rose from the water beside her and reached out to grab her neck, so fast that it was hard to describe. The education in the physical education class of Kassel College and the years of training with the University of Chicago diving team made Aki pull out the folding knife from the pocket of the diving suit without hesitation and paddled directly towards the shadow.

At the same time, she shouted into the microphone in her helmet: "Ye Sheng! Be careful!"

Ye Sheng was equipped with a Russian-made SSP-1 underwater pistol that had been modified by the Equipment Department.

But the shadow was faster than both Aki and Ye Sheng. It used a weapon in its hand to block Aki's folding knife and hit the top of Aki's helmet. The force of the blow made Aki lose her ability to react instantly. She subconsciously rolled backwards to avoid the shadow's next attack, but was already hugged tightly by the shadow.

"Ye Sheng! Shoot!" Yaji shouted.

"Who?" Shadow asked.

Yaji was stunned. It was Ye Sheng's voice. Once, when they were training in the Great Barrier Reef, her oxygen tank malfunctioned underwater. She also heard Ye Sheng's voice and regained consciousness a little before she suffocated. This saved her life. She suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the black shadow. The faint light from the other party's helmet illuminated his face. It was Ye Sheng's thin and capable face.

"How could there be two Ye Shengs?" A huge fear exploded in Yaji's heart.

She turned her head to look behind her, and Ye Sheng, who had swum with her, was gone. Floating in the water was a sculpture of a snake-faced man. No one knew why a bronze sculpture could float in the water. Its silver-inlaid eyes were flashing, and its grinning, fang-baring mouth seemed to be smiling mockingly.

Ye Sheng pulled out the SSP-1 and shot the sculpture's face off. He then opened the visors of his and Aki's helmets. "I came back and found you swimming here. That thing was floating behind you. I don't know why it kept following you until you reached out to activate the system."

Yaji then realized that her lifeline and data cable were both broken, and the connection between her and Ye Sheng was also broken. She felt down along the lifeline around her waist and felt the smooth break. The lifeline was cut by a knife. Suddenly she remembered that she had just cut the lifeline with a knife. She remembered that she had also pulled out a folding knife earlier.

"Oh my God!" Aki whispered. The low oxygen content in the air made it difficult for her to breathe.

"Those dragon characters," Ye Sheng pointed to the top of his head, "if you take photos continuously and read them in a certain order, they will become a kind of spiritual words that will make you fall into hallucinations. This is the mechanism here."