dmims 041 Kuimen
041 Kuimen
The Yangtze River's Qutang Gorge is 50 meters underwater.
The murky river water, like thick, unyielding ink, swallowed up all the light. Searchlights tore two gaps in the darkness, and at the end of the beams of light lay the bronze city walls, gleaming with an eerie glow.
Ye Sheng and Jiu Deyaji hovered in the cold water, the signal cable and spare oxygen tank behind them having just been connected by Professor Mans himself during his dive.
"Professor Mans, the signal line is connected. We have enough oxygen to last another two hours," Ye Sheng reported over the communication channel.
"Very good, Ye Sheng, Aki. Listen up, stay put and do not touch any mechanisms in the Bronze City." Professor Mans's serious voice came through the channel. "One person will be temporarily assigned to the team; they'll be there in ten minutes."
"Professor, who's coming over?" Ye Sheng asked. "Professor von Schneider from the Executive Department?"
"No, he's a freshman." Mans' voice was weary. "You know him. He was interviewed at the Regent Hotel, and you were the ones who conducted the interview."
"Lu Mingfei?" Aki's voice sounded hesitant on the channel.
"How could it be him?" Ye Sheng frowned deeply. "He has no underwater operation experience whatsoever, and he hasn't received any basic training from the Execution Department. Even if he's an S-class, the Bronze City, with its 50-meter depth, isn't a place for him to 'gild his lily' and have fun! What a joke!"
"Ye Sheng, obey orders," Mans interrupted him.
"...Aki, what do you think?" Ye Sheng lowered his voice and switched to a private channel.
"Do you remember how Nono looked at him after the interview that day? She was cowering in the hotel, terrified," Aki said in a low voice. "I'm more afraid to think about what will happen when he comes. What I'm afraid of is... his actions will be beyond any of our comprehension."
A storm is raging on the river.
"How much longer until the helicopter arrives?" Mans shouted.
"We're in sight! Professor, right above us!" Selma pointed to the dark night sky.
With a deafening roar of rotors, a black heavy helicopter tore through the rain and hovered about thirty meters above the Moniach, the wind making the searchlight beams of the helicopter sway erratically.
"Get the zipline ready! The wind's too strong, tell them to land carefully!" Mans yelled into the walkie-talkie.
However, the helicopter did not drop any ropes.
The hatch was pulled open.
In the howling wind, Lu Mingfei, wearing a black waterproof windbreaker, stood at the cabin door. Beside him stood Zero, the Russian girl with long platinum blonde hair.
Selma's expression became subtle as she looked at the two people at the hatch.
She knew that the temporary staff member assigned today was that S-class freshman, but she didn't expect that the S-class would bring a girl with him.
Lu Mingfei casually put his arm around Ling's waist, the movement as natural as grabbing a remote control in his own living room. The Russian girl, like a delicate ornament, obediently snuggled into his arms, her icy blue eyes coldly looking down at him.
"Hold on tight," Lu Mingfei said.
Then, to the horror of all the crew members, Lu Mingfei, holding Zero, stepped into the raging storm in the void!
The two fell straight down, Zero's long platinum blonde hair drawing a dazzling arc of light in the darkness, like the trail of a falling meteor.
Twenty-seven meters.
"Buzz—!"
A golden hexagonal barrier suddenly appeared in the downpour, and Lu Mingfei felt as if he had stepped on a piece of tempered glass, making a dull "bang".
The first barrier disappeared, and then a second golden hexagonal barrier appeared three meters below!
"Bang!"
Step on it, cushion the impact, and then use it again.
The third side, the fourth side...
With his final step, he landed lightly on the deck of the Moniach, with Zero resting quietly against him.
Mans and the others stared at the boy who had suddenly appeared, as if he were an alien.
"This... what the hell is this Word of Power?" First Mate Grayson stammered. "Spatial Freeze? There's no such thing on the periodic table!"
So flamboyant? Selma's eyelids twitched as she thought of the two people currently hovering fifty meters underwater.
Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya Ji.
Her eyelids started twitching even more violently.
There is a rule within the executive department: male and female couples are not allowed to form partnerships.
And now?
Let's not even talk about the underwater couple; everyone in the executive department knows what kind of relationship Ye Sheng and Aki have, but it's an open secret. The couple above is even more outrageous: an S-class freshman jumped off a helicopter carrying his girl, and the icy Russian girl nestled obediently in his arms like a tamed snow leopard.
The rules of the Kassel Executive Department are truly being trampled on.
Lu Mingfei loosened his grip on Ling's waist, and Ling took half a step back, standing diagonally behind him.
"Good evening, Professor Mans. I apologize for boarding the ship this way; helicopters are more susceptible to lightning strikes if they hover for too long." Lu Mingfei then changed the subject, "How's the situation down there?"
Mans took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the horror in his heart. "Twenty-three minutes ago, an unusual underwater earthquake occurred in the Kuimen waters, with a focal depth of about sixty meters, a magnitude of 4.7, and a duration of eleven seconds. A large number of bronze resonance echoes were detected after the earthquake, and we determined that the earthquake accidentally exposed the outer structure of the Bronze City."
"Ten minutes ago, I personally descended to a depth of fifty meters and used the 'key' to open the main entrance. The passage has been exposed, but the internal structure is unstable and there is a risk of secondary collapse."
"Ye Sheng and Ya Ji changed their oxygen cylinders outside the door. Their current oxygen reserves are one hour and forty-five minutes. After you go into the water, you will have twenty minutes more oxygen than them."
"Ye Sheng's Word of Power is 'Snake,' which can detect mechanisms, traps, and seals underwater through bio-currents, and can also act as a signal line to transmit information when necessary; Aki's Word of Power is 'Blazing Sun,' which can release high-intensity light and heat, and can provide emergency lighting and insulation underwater."
"Understood, leave the rest to me." Lu Mingfei pulled off his trench coat and put on the diving suit handed to him by the sailor.
Mans originally intended to guide him in putting on the diving suit, but he found that Lu Mingfei's movements were actually quite skilled, and his gaze towards Lu Mingfei became complicated.
"The ear equalizer is on the left wrist of the wetsuit, the emergency buoy is in the side pocket of the right leg, and the depth gauge and oxygen level are displayed on the HUD of the mask," Mans said. "The communication channels are connected to the helmet; the public channel is always on, and you can temporarily switch to a private channel by pressing the button on the right side."
"Understood."
Lu Mingfei walked to the side of the ship, placed one hand on the railing, and looked down.
The Yangtze River churned in the storm, and the sound of the waves crashing against the hull was like the breathing of a giant sea monster.
"Lu Mingfei," Mans suddenly called out to him, "we don't fully understand what's going on down there."
"If things go wrong, surface immediately. Ye Sheng and Aki—"
"I'll bring them up."
Lu Mingfei interrupted him.
Then he climbed over the railing and fell straight into the river.