“This Bronze City is Norton’s palace, and it will inevitably contain many Alchemy mechanisms beyond what modern hybrids can imagine. Mingfei, Zero, you must be careful. Try not to touch the walls or items of the Bronze City. Any unnecessary action could increase the danger of your surroundings,” Liu Heguang said, gripping the microphone tightly.
“Understood. We won’t land unless necessary. The Bronze City is already filled with water, so we have a chance to swim all the way to the sleeping quarters,” Lu Mingfei said, looking up and scanning his surroundings. There was still a bit of air remaining in the gear-laden ceiling, and no trace of Dragon descendants had appeared yet, so they were still relatively safe.
“Good. According to the palace layouts of the late Western Han and early Eastern Han dynasties, the sleeping quarters are generally located behind the main hall. To reach them, you’ll need to traverse the entire Bronze City,” Liu Heguang said.
“We have arrived at the front hall,” Zero’s voice suddenly interjected. An incredibly astonishing sight appeared before them. In the vast, boundless space, rows upon rows of bronze snake-human figures stood on either side of the spacious palace, forming a seemingly ambiguous path. They appeared to be guarding something, holding decaying long spears with their heads bowed.
Lu Mingfei caught a glimpse of the snake-men’s faces, and a chilling sensation instantly coursed through his body. Did these things ever truly have faces? The flowing water had already corroded their bronze masks, revealing the visages behind them, with empty eye sockets that made one feel uneasy.
“What are these things?” he asked in the channel.
The two swam to a spot not far from the bronze snake path, aiming their cameras at these bronze statues. The image of decay and ferocity appeared on Moniyahe’s screen.
“Norton’s Alchemy guards, or perhaps burial objects similar to the Terracotta Army. The good news is they haven’t moved because of your arrival. If this were a thousand years ago, you’d probably be running for your lives right now,” Liu Heguang explained, looking at the eerie yet solemn scene on the screen. “A long time ago, Norton walked through here.”
“Such a grand palace, yet only these inanimate objects accompany him?” Lu Mingfei couldn’t help but lament the monarch’s situation, suddenly recalling the ancient emperors’ self-appellations: “Gu” or “Gua Ren.”
“Mingfei, look up. With your Bloodline, you should be able to withstand the upcoming Inspiration. According to the data, the top of this palace is inscribed with ancient dragon script,” Liu Heguang said, holding the cloth Liu Tongchen handed him.
Lu Mingfei and Zero exchanged glances.
“I’ll wake you up in time,” Zero said.
“Thank you.”
Lu Mingfei slowly looked up and immediately saw the ancient patterns on the palace ceiling. It was a giant tree with branches spreading out, its leaves and branches curving into undecipherable characters. Upon closer inspection, he could faintly discern some patterns.
Just as Lu Mingfei was lost in thought, Zero pulled Lu Mingfei’s hand. “Now is not the time to study dragon script.”
Zero’s voice instantly brought Lu Mingfei back to his senses. What the hell, he, a freshman, was actually thinking about studying these dragon scripts.
“Take photos for samples.”
Zero took out a waterproof camera and handed it to Lu Mingfei. The dome was cut into small pieces and transmitted as data to Moniyahe. This was the result of discussions between Kassel College and the Family. Information within the Bronze City would be shared freely with the other party for three years.
Given the allure of the Dragon King’s palace, Kassel College didn’t believe the Family would remain inactive for three years. The Liu Family wouldn’t just watch White Emperor City under their noses, having a treasure mountain but not entering it.
“How much time do we have left?” Lu Mingfei asked.
“87 minutes,” Zero said.
“Let’s keep going, Zero, pick a path you like,” Lu Mingfei said. The divination suggested Lu Mingfei trust his partner’s opinion, and until that strange 13 was found, trusting Zero was the best option.
Zero pondered for a moment, then took Lu Mingfei’s hand and continued forward.
Before even entering the palace, they had witnessed astonishing bronze snake statues. The divination’s warning of both surprise and danger was clearly not to be taken lightly.
The Bronze City was full of treasures, but also full of peril.
So Lu Mingfei was even more curious about who 13 truly was, since following him could make his wishes come true.
But what exactly was 13? Lu Mingfei remained reserved in his thoughts. A Dragon descendant, a hybrid, or even an Alchemy automaton were all possibilities.
Huge bronze gears hung on the walls. The entire wall made one feel as if they were inside the cross-section of a clock. There was a huge difference between dissecting something for observation and experiencing it firsthand. It would be absolutely impossible for human strength to create such a precise and grand product.
Lu Mingfei couldn’t help but imagine what the world would be like if King of Bronze and Fire lived in the present and accidentally gained control of nuclear energy.
The Dragons’ desire for revenge against humanity might be realized after a few explosions.
Professor Guderian said that Dragon Kings’ learning abilities were several times that of humans. Given enough time to understand current human technology, they might be able to overturn the entire human tech tree in less than ten years.
If Oppenheimer knew about this, he might even be grateful that he was an ordinary person living in an era without King of Bronze and Fire.
Lu Mingze said that Norton was a master of Alchemy. All hybrids who studied Alchemy in the world had to bow before him. He even created a weapon that could kill a Dragon King of the same rank, and he also left behind the Inspiration that could completely deconstruct Alchemy.
Both were endpoints that hybrid generations over a dozen centuries could not reach. Whichever one appeared in the present world would stir up a storm in hybrid society.
That Inspiration was something Lu Mingze himself yearned for, which showed how magnificent the records of Alchemy contained within it were.
A complete Alchemy system, a complete Rune sequence list, complete Bloodline Refinement technology, complete world melody observation records, and a complete Dragon chronicle.
The thousands of years of knowledge accumulated by hybrids were so insignificant in comparison that saying a firefly couldn’t compare to a bright moon would be an insult to fireflies. Any type of knowledge mastered by hybrids to date was less than one percent of a complete system.
Lu Mingfei knew the principle of “he who possesses a treasure is guilty,” but he also understood the struggle caused by the He’s Jade in ancient times. Fortunately, no one besides Lu Mingze knew that the Inspiration existed in Norton’s palace.
If Lu Mingfei got this thing and casually threw it to Lu Mingze, he wouldn't have to taste the anxiousness of possessing the He’s Jade.
Swimming along the wide avenue, Lu Mingfei and Zero saw another bronze snake path. It seemed to serve the same purpose as the one they had seen before, but for some reason, the path in the middle was broken.
This made Lu Mingfei’s vigilance increase a notch, and he secretly reminded himself to constantly observe his surroundings.
A statue gradually magnified in front of Lu Mingfei. The area here was even wider than the front hall, with a giant snake-human statue standing at the end. Its height of tens of meters reminded him of the Statue of Liberty in America.
But the two only shared a similarity in height. In terms of imposing presence, this snake-human statue was far more awe-inspiring.
Lu Mingfei and Zero stopped in front of the statue to reconfirm their direction.
“South.” Zero led Lu Mingfei to continue swimming towards the sleeping quarters.
And behind them, at the bronze snake path Lu Mingfei had just glimpsed, 16 bronze snake statues were successively bowing their heads, as if saluting someone.