Dragons begin with courage

Mai knew to pick on the weakest among them, and Pacino was the most vulnerable. With a flick of her wrist, the black knife, like a venomous snake, aimed straight for Pacino's throat!

boom!boom!

Caesar fired! Not one shot, but two almost overlapping explosions! The two bullets, separated by a hair's breadth, followed the same trajectory and aimed directly at Mai's wrist, the pivot point for her power and change of moves!

Faced with this precise and deadly "Double Tap," Mai Shutoku frowned, abandoned the pursuit, and bent her waist backward with incredible flexibility, narrowly avoiding the bullet's trajectory. She did not attempt to parry with her knife, because the second bullet would follow immediately, piercing through the blade or her arm, which would be slowed down by the parry.

"Double Tap..." Mai Shude steadied herself, her gaze towards Caesar becoming more serious. "I thought a noble young master like you would prefer fencing or horseback riding. I didn't expect your firearms skills to have reached this level."

"And, they specifically used Friga tranquilizer darts?" She glanced at the red smoke from the darts exploding on the bronze wall. "The Gattuso family's gentlemanly upbringing is indeed well-deserved."

"Maintaining basic courtesy to women is my personal creed," Caesar smiled, the gun remaining perfectly still. "It has nothing to do with family."

At this tense, imminent standoff—

Rumble...

The entire altar came to life!

The ancient, seemingly chaotic grooves on the altar floor suddenly lit up, emitting a faint, dark red glow. Immediately afterward, the water in the entire altar area began to swirl in reverse, forming a massive whirlpool that generated a powerful suction force, attempting to drag everyone towards the center of the lake!

"The mechanism has been triggered! Was it due to the shockwave from the battle, or did they deliberately set it off?" Pacino exclaimed, struggling against the current and suction.

At the same time, the enormous Norton statue, with its snake eyes inlaid with some kind of dark red gemstone that had been tightly closed, suddenly opened! It shot out two cold, emotionless scarlet beams of light, which slowly swept across the entire altar battlefield, as if a king were scrutinizing the ants that had intruded into his palace and were making a ruckus.

"The vortex... the entrance to Norton Palace has opened!" Nono stared intently at the bottomless, dark vortex in the center of the lake, confirming her suspicions. This was indeed the entrance hall, and the true throne room lay beneath this lake!

According to the original plan, they were supposed to infiltrate and plant the bomb after reconnaissance. But now, the biggest unexpected variable—Mai Shutoku and the forces behind her—stands in the way, making everything uncertain.

"Attention all personnel! A major change has occurred in the mission! Retreat immediately! Repeat, retreat along the original route immediately!" Professor Manstein's anxious voice finally broke through the communication interference, coming through intermittently. He made the most conservative yet rational judgment: with the intervention of an unknown powerful enemy and the inexplicable activation of the mechanism, preserving the lives of the troops was the top priority.

However, the reaction from the Kassel team was completely different—

Instead of retreating, Mai Shude and the shadowy figures she brought with them turned around without hesitation, like moths drawn to a flame, and rushed towards the ominous whirlpool in the center of the lake!

"Professor Manstein! The attackers are actively entering the vortex! They've abandoned their retreat!" Ye Sheng reported urgently, a strong sense of unease gripping him. The enemy's understanding of Bronze City clearly far surpassed their own; their choices often indicated a more accurate assessment of the danger.

The next second, the answer was revealed, accompanied by boundless despair.

roar----!!!

A dragon's roar, indescribable in words, thundered from the depths of the passage they had come from! The sound wasn't loud, but it was heavy, ancient, and majestic, like a bronze mountain slowly awakening and roaring. The sound waves penetrated the water and the bronze walls, directly impacting the souls of everyone present, bringing primal fear and trembling!

Ye Sheng and Shude Aki's faces instantly turned deathly pale, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. The others also felt an unprecedented spiritual pressure, almost crushing to the bone, surging in like a tidal wave!

"It's it!" Ye Sheng exclaimed, his face ashen. "It's that Dragon Guard!"

Now Ye Sheng and the others knew why Jiu Demai and the others hadn't retreated—because the entrance they came in through was blocked! The dragon guard Samson, whose strength was close to that of the first generation of beings, hadn't been lured out as they had expected; instead, he was blocking the entrance!

Click, click, click click...

A dense, rhythmic, and teeth-grinding metallic screeching sound rose from all directions, replacing the lingering echo of the dragon's roar.

Then, Nono and the others witnessed a nightmarish scene that they would never forget—

From the darkness of the passageway emerged one, two, ten, a hundred… an endless, densely packed mass of snake-headed, human-bodied figures. These were the bronze statues that had previously stood on either side of the “Path of the Sanctuary”! Now, they all “came to life,” their silver pupils flashing with a cold, spiritual light, moving with stiff, uniform steps, surging towards the altar like a tide!

"Those statues... they're all 'living spirits'!" Nono instantly realized, a chill running from her feet to the top of her head. "Norton didn't use dragon blood to create regular dead servants... he used his unparalleled alchemy! He 'forged' an army! An eternal, immortal legion of alchemical golems powered by bronze and living spirits!"

This is the true guard of the King of Bronze and Fire! Creations of the Dragon King, the pinnacle of alchemy!

Dressed in simple Han Dynasty robes or armor, and carrying various bronze ceremonial weapons, they moved with solemn silence and impeccable discipline. From a distance, they did not resemble a killing army, but rather a sinister and eerie court assembly spanning a thousand years!

At the very back of the bronze procession of "civil and military officials," a pair of enormous, majestic dragon eyes, burning with intense golden light, slowly lit up in the darkness.

Accompanied by heavy, drum-like footsteps, a colossal figure stepped out from the ranks of puppets and walked to the very front.

Samson, the Dragon Attendant!

Its body was almost as tall as Norton's bronze statue, covered in thick scales of black iron and bronze, and its ferocious dragon head had horns that resembled twisted crowns. Most striking was its disproportionately long tail, which did not end in the usual hammer or fin shape, but in the form of an extremely sharp bone spear that gleamed with a dark golden light; a single glance was enough to feel its indestructible penetrating power.

Ahead lies the bottomless, ominous entrance to a whirlpool, while behind are the Dragon King's strongest dragon servants and an immortal alchemical army blocking their way.

There is no way out!

"Get into the vortex! Quickly!" Ye Sheng's roar broke his voice. At this moment, all missions and plans were thrown to the back of his mind, and the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything.

Without needing further urging, everyone unleashed their maximum speed, frantically rushing towards the center of the lake. Pacino gritted his teeth and activated the emergency breathing device on his diving suit, the damaged area being temporarily sealed by the internal polymer material.

As they plunged into the whirlpool, swept away by the powerful current towards the dark lake bottom, a fleeting glimpse through the underwater spotlight sent a jolt through everyone's hearts—

The lakebed is neither silt nor rock.

It's a skeleton.