wedge
Here it comes again, always on a full moon night.
Renata leaned against the iron door of the closed room and looked out. She was trembling, not because of fear, but because of anticipation.
The corridor was so long that one couldn't see the end of it. The mercury-like moonlight flowed on the ground, and a heavy " pa pa " sound came from the darkness, as if someone was hitting an iron castanet. The popping sounds became louder and more frequent, as if more and more people were playing castanets to join the performance. The entire building trembled under the thunderous popping sounds. All the children stood in front of the tightly locked iron gate and clapped their hands, echoing the rhythm of the castanets. Their expressions were dull. The walls were cracking, the pillars were collapsing, and on the top of the chapel in the distance, the stone cross broke from the bottom, carrying the statue of Jesus into the frozen sea. It shattered on the surface of the sea, as if the whole world was collapsing…to welcome its arrival.
At the height of this concert of steel, the wind swept across the corridor, flowing like the black Don. It was a giant snake, a giant black snake. Its huge body could fill the entire corridor. Its hard body scraped against the walls and ceiling, scratching the chalk walls. Thousands of iron scales opened and closed, making a deafening boom. It was playing a world-destroying tune in the darkness.
When they passed by the closed room, the black snake swung its long tail and hit the door. The iron door and the door frame were broken. Renata ran out with the white cotton nightdress. The black snake had already slithered to the other end of the corridor.
Renata hopped barefoot on the cold terracotta floor. Her thin body was white and transparent in the moonlight. She was laughing maniacally, as if she was going to wake everyone up to play with her, but the children in the other rooms watched Renata dance through the bars, their empty eyes burning with cold golden fire. Renata was a little tired. She lay on the ground and looked at the white full moon through the cracks in the roof. The black snake was slithering on the roof, its huge black body occasionally blocking the moonlight, and its golden candle-like eyes occasionally looking down at Renata. Its gaze was so proud and solemn, just like a king. Renata opened her arms to the sky as if she wanted to hug it.
The black snake ignored him and swam away. Renata pushed open the window and saw it spiraling up the outer wall of the church. The chapel of the church was the highest point of the building, where the cross originally stood. The black snake straightened its body and looked at the end of the ice sea that was glowing with silver light. There, whales broke through the ice and spewed water columns into the sky. The black snake let out a soundless roar and spat out a dark blue aura into the air.
"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will come out to bewitch the kingdoms in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle. Their numbers are as many as the sand in the sea." The sound of singing came from below.
Renata looked down and saw the Arctic Poppy swaying in the wind.
Imperial Envoy
1991, late autumn. Northern Siberia, Nameless Harbor.
The port was located in the northernmost part of Siberia, facing the vast Arctic Ocean. The United States 'spy satellites couldn't scan the port on the nautical chart. It was gray and white like the surrounding permafrost, and the heat signal was weak.
There shouldn't be a port here, and the surroundings were uninhabited. The nearest city was Vilhoyansk, which was a place of exile for political prisoners during the Tsar era. It was a city of despair. In the long winter, political prisoners often committed suicide because they could not endure it. Vilhoyansk was 340 kilometers south of the unnamed port. It would take five days to get to the port from Vilhoyansk by dog sleigh. This was a place that had been forgotten by the gods. The only plants here were lichen and moss, and the occasional visitor was a hungry polar bear.
The rusty cast-iron dock led to the frozen sea. A young sentry stood at the end of the dock, carrying a " Bobossa submachine gun " on his shoulder. A five-pointed star was embedded in his bearskin hat. From his collar, it could be seen that he was a sergeant of the Soviet Red Army.
The sun in the sky was warm, like a boiled egg, but it could not warm the ground. However, this was the last sunlight of the year. The polar night was about to begin, and the sun would not rise for the next few months. The sentries looked at the end of the frozen sea. There was a cold wind blowing on the surface of the sea, but the ship still had not arrived. Usually, this sea area was not navigated. There were dangerous ice floes on the surface of the sea, and there were canine-like reefs on the bottom of the sea. Any one of them could make a ship that tried to approach here sleep on the seabed. However, there were exceptions. During summer, the sea ice would melt and crack. At this time, sailors familiar with the route could drive the icebreaker around the reefs to reach the unnamed harbor. This intermittent and dangerous route was the lifeline of the unnamed port, and all supplies depended on it.
Every year, the Lenin-class ship would come, at different times, but it never missed the appointment. It was an old nuclear icebreaker with a red star embedded on the white bow. No matter which day it appeared, it would be a festival in the nameless port. Soldiers waved their bearskin hats and spread the news. Everyone gathered at the dock to watch the huge ship rise from the sea level! The Lenin broke through the ice floes like an emperor, leaving behind a blue waterway. That was the power of the Soviet Union, a fist of steel that could destroy anything. But this year, it was too late. The sea had frozen over, and the ice was growing downward. In a few weeks, the route would completely disappear, and even the Vladimir would not be able to open the passage.
Did something happen in Moscow? The sentry was holding a "Moscow" cigarette in his mouth. His lighter couldn't be lit, probably because the kerosene inside had frozen.
"Damn it!" The sentry took off his gloves and warmed the lighter in his palm.
He suddenly turned his head and looked warily at the end of the frozen sea. The wind started to blow, and the dark clouds were swooping down from the north. In such a high latitude area, the rainfall was less than that of the Sahara Desert, but once black cumulonimbus clouds appeared, the weather would change instantly, and the snow would bury the port. The snow and dust on the sea were swept up like a white sandstorm. The dust was dozens of meters high. The area covered by the clouds was pitch-black, while the other half was the pale color of ice. The dividing line between black and white was so sharp. The sentinel stumbled to the iron frame and rang the bronze bell. The sound of the bell spread across the lonely snowfield.
This was the warning of a snowstorm.
After issuing the warning, the sentry covered his bearskin hat and ran back. At this time, an incredible target appeared in his field of vision. A blurry shadow glided in the shadows under the clouds, agilely bypassing the ice reefs and approaching at high speed.
A skier?
The sentry could not believe his eyes. Who would come to such a place to ski? If that person came from the south, he might be a border guard stationed in Vilhoyansk, but he came from the north. There was nothing there, only the North Pole. The sentry held a cigarette in his mouth, his teeth chattering. He could not understand the situation in front of him. The American special forces had invaded during the snowstorm? But how could they dare to take such a big risk? If that person had been a little slower, he would have been swallowed by the blizzard.
There was no time to think. The sentry pulled his strap and extended his Bobossa submachine gun from his armpit. He had the right to shoot at all intruders because this was a military restricted area. Then the skier waved two small red and white flags. It was the common flag signal of the Soviet Navy. He waved a name-" Lenin." Every year when the Vladimir came, the sailors would wave this word in flag language, indicating that they were special envoys from Moscow, bringing the Soviets 'condolences to the garrison in the unnamed port. Did Moscow change its strategy this year? He sent someone to ski over to deliver supplies? The sentinel's mind could not wrap around it. But no matter what, he couldn't shoot. The flag signal was the secret code, indicating that the other party had the right to enter the nameless port.
Carrying a person's height of snow dust, the skier braked in front of the sentry, took off his goggles, and threw them into the snow. This was a man who made people's eyes light up. He was handsome and tall. His iron-gray hair was neatly combed back and fixed with hair gel. The muscles on his body were clear and gentle. He could be considered sexy. The sentinel had seen such a handsome young officer in Moscow, but this one was too unbelievable. He was only wearing military shorts and a sleeveless vest, sweating in the wind of-10 degrees Celsius. The man took out a lighter from his shorts and lit it up. The pure silver casing of the lighter was engraved with the words " 70th anniversary of the October Revolution ".
The sentry could not refuse this kindness and went over to light a cigarette.
"I'll give it to you." The man threw the lighter to the sentry." In such a cold place, you have to use aviation kerosene with a low freezing point. You should save yours for summer.”
Only then did the sentry realize that he was still holding the unlit lighter in his hand. The man's insight was actually so sharp. Moreover, most people would be eager to find a warm place to rest. This also meant that he still had energy to ski in such extremely cold weather. The man took out a dark gray officer uniform from his military backpack. After a moment, he put it on and solemnly pinned a red flag medal on his chest. One minute ago, he was still a skier. One minute later, he was a decisive young man from Moscow.
"KGB Major Bondarev, I'm from Moscow.”The man took out his ID." Take me to Dr. Herzog and tell him that this is a moment of life and death.”
"Yes, sir! Comrade Major!" The sentry saluted.
The man used the simplest language to explain his identity. He was a special envoy from Moscow and an important member of the secret intelligence department. In the era of the Tsar, such people were called " imperial envoys."
The basement was as warm as spring. The old-fashioned phonograph was playing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. The old man unscrewed a bottle of vodka and poured half a glass into each of the two glasses. There was pure ice in the glass. He handed one of the glasses to Major Bondarev.""Vodka is a good wine that can make a man's blood burn. It's a sin to waste any drop. Every year when the icebreaker comes, it will bring me a box. This was the last bottle last year.”
"To our country and you, Comrade Major. Welcome to Black Swan Harbor.”The old man raised his glass." Every piece of ice in your cup has a history of tens of thousands of years. It comes from the depths of the frozen soil of our great motherland and symbolizes our pure and solid friendship!”
"For our country, Dr. Herzog.”Bondarev clinked glasses with the old man, and both of them downed the wine.
Bondarev played with the cup and looked at the old man with interest. He couldn't determine the age of this " Dr. Herzog ". The doctor had the characteristics of an 80-year-old man and a 20-year-old young man. The woolen military uniform fitted his tall body, the trousers were ironed straight, and the collar was stuffed with a purple scarf. His pure silver hair was neatly combed back, making him look like a young man in his twenties. However, he was indeed old, and the depths of his eyes were filled with traces of time. Gazing at his handsome face, one would feel that it was a mural that was slowly peeling off.
The doctor lowered his head and refilled his glass." Every year, the Vladimir comes here and brings us year-round supplies, food, equipment, fuel... and women's stockings and men's vodka. This place was as cold as the end of the world. Without external supplies, people would die. But this year, it wasn't the " Vladimir " that came here, but a KGB major. Did you carry a year's worth of supplies from Black Swan Harbor in your military uniform pocket?”
" Unfortunately, there are no supplies, and there won't be any more," Bondarev looked straight into the doctor's eyes." Our great motherland is facing a disaster, and the situation in Moscow is very chaotic.”
"Very messy?"
"To be precise, the Soviet Union will cease to exist. There was once a great revolutionary friendship between our reunions, but now these friendships have been reduced to ashes. People doubt whether we can go to Communism along the current road. There is an independent voice in each Republic. At the same time, the country's economic situation continued to deteriorate. The military was undersupplied, and the factories were underutilized. The people's hearts were in turmoil. The country was already unable to transfer resources to supply this port far away on the Arctic Ocean.”
"Will the country disintegrate?"
"Probably not this year."
The doctor sighed softly." Although I had a premonition that the political situation would change, I didn't expect it to come so quickly. In fact, we have no contact with the outside world. There are no telephone lines or radio. The way we understand the outside world is by reading the newspapers. Every year, the " Vladimir " would bring an entire year's worth of newspapers, so my information would lag behind the outside world by a full year. A year ago, I still believed that Communism was invincible and that all difficulties would pass. A year later, I suddenly heard that the country would no longer exist. This is a tragedy that even shakespeare couldn't have written…what will the country do to us?”
"The wealth of the country will be divided among the repires, including fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and even nuclear weapons. This port is no exception. I have been ordered here to take inventory of the property, to appraise it, and perhaps to divide it into some Republic. But first, I have to figure out what this port is for. This port was very mysterious. It cost the country a huge amount of money every year, but no department knew its purpose.”
The doctor was silent for a moment, then smiled: "The KGB found a port on the map, but they didn't know what it was used for. Your boss must be very angry.”
"Yes, as the highest secret agency, the KGB. He had no right to know the truth about this port.”
"You must have tried to investigate this port, right? Did you find anything?" The doctor narrowed his eyes.
" The information that I can find is pitifully little. What I can confirm is that this port is not actually called Black Swan Port. It's just a name that you're used to. It doesn't have an official name, only a code name ''.”Bondarev said," All the institutions in the country have files. The KGB has a backup of all the files, but yours doesn't. This means that someone has taken your files from the archives, leaving only the code name ''. This is not something that ordinary people can do.”
"Science is more mysterious than politics.”the doctor said lightly.
"There are nobles who embezzled tens of billions of rubles of state funds in various names to support you scientists, so you must have extraordinary value. If you have no value, why don't the nobles use this money to support their mistresses?”Bondarev smiled." Since you have value, then it's easy. People with value will be respected in any era.”
The doctor looked at Bondarev through the glass of liquor, and after a long time, he suddenly laughed.
"Are you mocking me?" Bondarev was not angry.
"People who work in the dark tend to exaggerate things.”The doctor finished the wine in his cup. "Comrade Bondarev, you are completely wrong. Black Swan Harbor isn't engaged in some shady research project. Our job is to build the largest gene bank in the Soviet Union.”
The doctor nodded." We collected the genes of all the people in the Soviet Union and built a huge database. "After this library is established, even if a nuclear war breaks out and mankind is on the verge of extinction, we can use cloning technology to revive mankind. Project Delta chose this base not because we have unspeakable secrets, but because Siberia is a natural ice cellar. Even if there is a power outage, genetic samples can be preserved for hundreds of thousands of years.”
"Is that all?" Bondarev frowned.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's all. I've been working on this project for decades and have feelings for it. But if the country wants to terminate this project, I'll immediately arrange for an assistant to help you count your assets. I can finally leave this place without a heavy burden.”The doctor sighed," I want to go to the south coast to find a place to live and enjoy my old age.”
The door opened, and the head nurse with a kind face walked in."Doctor, the blizzard is over. There will be a few hours of sunny weather. I asked the nurses to bring the children out for some fresh air. After that, there will be another blizzard for a few days.”
"A child?" Bondarev was a little surprised.
"We have an orphanage that adopted some orphans with genetic defects. They were all our research subjects, but they were abandoned by their parents and had nowhere to go. Comrade Major, get to know the children. There are very few visitors here. The children will like to hear about the outside world.”The doctor got up and pushed open the office door.
The lawn was full of children playing and chasing, ranging from three to four years old to eleven or twelve years old. They wore neat white cotton coats and cotton gloves, and their cuffs were embroidered with their own numbers. Their eyes were bright, their faces were rosy, and they ran quickly. It was obvious that they were treated well here, unlike the children in the shabby orphanage. The medical staff chased the children around, calling their names, taking their temperature and blood pressure. After these checks, they were rewarded with a marshmallow.
" I didn't expect there to be grass in such a cold place," Bondarev said." I thought there was only moss and lichen here."
The doctor smiled proudly. When I designed Black Swan Harbor, I made all the buildings close to each other and connected them together with underground tunnels. All the buildings had one-meter-thick cement walls and three layers of glass windows. The windows were small and easy to keep warm. This lawn was surrounded by the entire building complex. The cold wind did not easily invade here. The grass planted was a cold-resistant variety, so it could be seen green for half a year.”
"You are the designer of Black Swan Harbor? So you've always been in charge of it.”
"Yes, I'm very lucky." The doctor waved to each child and called their names.
You look just like their father. said Bondarev.
When you hear me talk about the orphanage, you'll probably think that there's a gloomy head nurse leading a group of sallow and emaciated children. Let's draw blood from the children every day for experiments, right? " The doctor laughed out loud." Then it wouldn't be an orphanage, it would be a concentration camp for the nazis.
"Speaking of Nazism, forgive me for being blunt, but your surname is Herzog, which is a German surname.”said Bondarev.
"Yes, I served in the Third Reich under Adolf Hitler. At that time, I was the youngest doctor in the Imperial Institute of Biology. I graduated from the University of Ber at the age of 16, and people called me a genius.”" In 1945, I was arrested by the Red Army of the Soviet Union. I was sent to Moscow that year. After a year of investigation, I was sent to Black Swan Harbor by dog sleigh to be in charge of Project Delta. I never left.”The doctor stopped in his tracks." I have a question. After the project ends, where should the children go?”
"They will probably be scattered to the orphanage in various places, right?”Bondarev said," You're so kind.”
" Because there aren't many people here, so we cherish each other," the doctor sighed." I'm already an old man. Other than research, there was nothing more important than talking to the children every day. At the end of this cold world, we pass warmth to each other. I hope they will be happy in the future, even if I can't see it.”
He took a few steps forward and picked up a little girl who had fallen in the snow. He patted the snow off her body. Bondarev had noticed this little girl just now. Some people would be sensitive to unusual creatures in the crowd... if they were also unusual creatures. The little girl seemed very unsociable. She did not chase and play, nor did she circle around the nurses for cotton candy. She carried a teddy bear in her arms and walked along the wall alone, looking around in the corner like a lost puppy. She wasn't pretty. She had some small freckles, and her body was as thin as a paper doll. Her face was pale, but she had a head of prideful platinum hair. Her skin was as white as snow, and her eyes were extremely deep and calm.
"My little Renata, you're so beautiful today. Tell me, what are you looking for?”The doctor caressed the girl's face.
" I want to see if there are still flowers..." Renata said softly, looking very obedient.
Her platinum-colored hair was braided into a single braid with a yellow plastic butterfly at the end. In this world of ice and snow, other than white and black, there was only the gray of the military uniform and the red of the pentagram. The bright color of the plastic butterfly was heart-warming.
The doctor touched her head and sighed. He turned to Bondarev and said,"It's too cold here. Only the Arctic Poppy can bloom. Its flowering period was like a festival for the girls. However, it was only two months, and the flowering period had long passed. Comrade Major, I hope you can send these girls to a warm place to see colorful flowers.”
"I'll do my best." said Bondarev.
Renata looked at the backs of Dr. Herzog and Bundarev without saying a word until they were far away. Then she turned her head and continued to search in the corner. She stepped on every inch of grass and paid attention to every suspicious trace under the wall.
She was not looking for the Arctic Poppy. She had lied without batting an eyelid. Contrary to her appearance, she was a lying girl. Here, everyone had to learn to lie because the result of telling the truth was terrible. Renata was more talented at lying than anyone else. When she lied, she was expressionless and there was no fluctuation in her eyes. The nurses called her a paper doll. They felt that Renata was like a paper doll. She had no expression, no heart, and would not cry even if she was beaten or scolded. So the nurses didn't even bother to punish her, because they had to hear some crying to show that the punishment was effective. No one was interested in whipping a paper doll, and any pain was futile.
Renata actually knew the pain, but she also knew that she had to hold back her tears when she was beaten, because the more she cried, the more they beat her.
She was looking for traces left behind by the black snake. She couldn't remember when it started, but every full moon night, she would dream of the giant black snake. It was like a raging dragon that had tossed Black Swan Harbor to the brink of collapse. Finally, it sat on the high ground of the church and looked at the Arctic Ocean.
It was a good dream. In the dream, the locked door would open and Renata could go wherever she wanted. It was another unusually realistic dream. In the dream, she was walking along an empty corridor. The moonlight shone through the small windows. Every turn and every scene seemed so real. She could even walk into the restricted area where children were not allowed to enter. She walked into the library and sat down. She took a big book from the bookshelf and read it silently. She could read as long as she wanted without anyone disturbing her. She could go to the kitchen and get something to eat. There was always bread on the fire, and whether Renata went early or late, the bread was always just right. Gradually, Renata looked forward to the night of the full moon and the night of freedom.
Until one day, she suddenly began to suspect that it was not a dream but real. On that day, the nurses took the children to visit the library that they had never been allowed to enter. Renata was surprised to find that the layout of the library was exactly the same as what she had seen in her dream. The book she had read on the night of the full moon was inserted in the same position on the shelf. Renata clearly remembered that after she finished reading the book in her dream, she inserted it next to the thick yearbook. Renata tried to stay awake on a full moon night. Sure enough, at midnight, she heard the sound of castanets in the darkness. She leaned against the small window and looked out. The window was filled with black scales. However, just when she thought that she had discovered the biggest secret of this port, she woke up in her little bed the next morning. Everything seemed to be a dream. That strange dream and reality were mixed together. Renata clearly remembered that she had pinched her fingers in the middle of the night to make sure that she was not asleep. Then, she suddenly heard the sound of the iron castanets. It seemed that as the iron castanets sounded, reality became a dream.
The other children did not know about Black Snake. Although they were also in the dream, they just stood silently behind their doors. Their eyes were empty, like lifelike puppets. Their door would not open either. The black snake only opened Renata's room because Renata would shout at it.
Renata suspected that the Black Snake was not a dream but a real existence, but she carefully kept this secret and did not tell anyone. If she told the other children about the black snake, the other children would secretly tell the nurse. The nurse would think that she was hysterical and she would be grounded again. Renata hated being grounded. There was only a lonely chair and smooth walls in the detention room. She sat in the chair and imagined herself dying slowly, like a little mushroom that was gradually drying up.
The small window in the detention room was only 20 centimeters wide, not even enough for a child to climb through. This elaborate design was not to preserve heat, but to imprison the person inside.
This port was a cage, a fortress of solitude at the end of the world. No one who came here could leave. The only exception was the Black Snake. It was unparalleled and omnipotent. One day, when it was angry, it would wave its long tail and smash everything into pieces. Black Swan Harbor, this snow-covered ice field, Siberia... and even the entire world.
"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will come out to bewitch the kingdoms in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle. Their numbers are as many as the sand in the sea." Renata still remembered the singing that surrounded Black Swan Harbor on the night of the full moon. She had never seen that crazy singer before. She only felt that he was using the frozen sea as a stage to perform his unparalleled script.
The nurses took out black wooden sticks and started to knock. The running children stopped and stood in the snow like puppets. The ball they were chasing was still rolling forward, but their eyes gradually turned white and lost their luster.
The dark iron door in the corner opened. The nurse who knocked on the clack walked in front, and the children followed her. They walked stiffly with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them, forming a long line. Another nurse was counting the numbers on their sleeves by the door and checking them one by one on the list to make sure that these precious " samples " were not lost.
When Renata passed by the door, the nurse grabbed the yellow butterfly from her braid and looked coldly through her glasses."If you wet the bed again, you have to wear this!”
The yellow bowknot did not represent the warmth of spring, but it meant that the child had made a mistake and would be grounded. Renata was grounded again last night because she wet the bed again.
The Last Imperial Grandson
At three o'clock in the morning, the entire Black Swan Harbor was asleep. The beam of the searchlight cast a circular spot of light on the black clouds. Beneath the clouds stood a bronze statue of Lenin.In front of the statue stood a man who had come to pay his respects. The wind blew his woolen coat. Major Bundarev did not rest in the warm guest room, but he was interested in admiring the bronze statue of Vladimir Lenin-in the dark night. The bronze statue was ten meters tall. It was originally standing on a black marble pedestal, pointing forward as if it was guiding the revolution. The snow was more than two meters thick, and the marble pedestal could no longer be seen. The feet of the bronze statue were also covered by the snow. The position of the bronze statue was a little strange. It was neither in the center of Black Swan Harbor nor standing in front of the door, but behind the port. Although statues of Vladimir could be seen everywhere from research institutes to universities, it was still a little exaggerated to erect such a tall bronze statue in a place where resources were extremely scarce.
"You once said that forgetting the past means betrayal. Now, even the country you created is about to become a thing of the past. I wonder if there will be people like me who will come to admire your statue in the future.”Bondarev looked up at the statue." So it's better to blow it up now.”
He pressed the detonator in his hand, and after a short, dull explosion, the marble pedestal in the snow was blown up, and the bronze statue of Lenin was inserted diagonally in the snow. The sound of this soft thunder was very small, and it was covered by the wind within a few steps. Black Swan Harbor's security was tight, but the most important part was the extreme cold. Standing outside for more than ten minutes at night would cause serious frostbite. Because of the blizzard, visibility was less than five meters. The soldiers did not expect anyone to dare to move outside. They ignored Bondarev's extraordinary tolerance to the cold.
Bondarev looked into the snow cave after the explosion and saw the black pig iron foundation. Hundreds of tons of pig iron were filled into the ground as the foundation of the statue of Lenin. Bundarev jumped into the snow cave, turned on his tactical flashlight, and found a seamless iron door on the pig iron foundation. It was like an iron block embedded in the foundation, with red stars and the number of troops on the edge. Bondarev inserted the two poles of the electric balance instrument into the gap between the top and bottom of the iron door. The needle did not jump at all, which meant that the iron door had reached absolute electric balance. There were no wires or electronic devices behind the door.
" It's indeed a mechanical password lock." Bondarev mumbled.
The lack of electronic devices did not mean that the door was safe. On the contrary, it was fatal. It used an ancient mechanical password lock. The structure of this lock was similar to a clock. It was purely mechanical. It would not alarm but would explode. The door was filled with hundreds of kilograms of refined gunpowder. This gunpowder would not deteriorate for hundreds of years. This kind of door was used in the Tsar's tomb, which could blow up the tomb robbers and the tomb passage. Because it was not prepared to be opened again when it was closed.
Bondarev took out the duplicate key that he had prepared beforehand, took a deep breath, and moved his wrist. The duplicate key was somewhat different from the original. If it failed, he would fly up into the sky with the bronze statue of Vladimir Leninsky. He inserted the key and turned the combination plate on the door accurately. He had practiced this set of movements thousands of times, and now he could complete it in his sleep. The key turned, and there seemed to be a " bang " in the password plate. Bondarev pushed the iron door hard. The door didn't open, and Bondarev didn't fly into the sky. The iron door seemed to have rusted into the frame.
Bundarev scratched his head in confusion, took out a miniature welding gun from his tool bag, and burned the key handle with a flame. Using fire on a door filled with hundreds of kilograms of gunpowder was no less dangerous than sitting on an oil well and smoking a cigar. However, Bondarev hummed a song in a low voice and did not care at all. A slight sound of a spring came from the keyhole. The complicated mechanical system began to turn. The twelve bolts slowly retracted, and the iron door made a muffled bang and bounced open. Bondarev smiled proudly. As he had expected, the unlocking procedure was correct. The problem was the oil in the lock. This traditional craft used butter as the grease, which was as easy to freeze as the kerosene in a Sentinel lighter.
Cold air gushed out from the crack of the door, and the air blew a loud whistle. Bondarev tested the temperature of the air with his hand, and even he shivered.
"It really feels like the wind from the deepest part of hell.”He pulled out his Makarov pistol and jumped into the black space under the iron gate.
Beneath the iron gate was a dark tunnel. The walls of the tunnel were all hard frozen soil. Bondarev tried to knock it with the handle of the gun, and sparks actually came out. Black Swan Harbor was located on the permafrost. The water in the soil had not melted for millions of years. Finally, the soil was harder than concrete. One could imagine how difficult it was to dig this tunnel back then. The tunnel led to the depths of the permafrost. When the flashlight shone over, they only saw iron ladders extending down.
Bondarev found the chiseled words on the top wall: "Arrived here on June 12, 1923.”
He searched along the tunnel for less than 100 meters and found new handwriting: "Arrived here on June 30, 1936.”
The history of digging this passage could be traced back to 1923. With the technological strength at that time, the diggers spent a full 13 years to advance less than 100 meters.
Bondarev continued to explore. The tunnel was extremely winding, and there were countless forks, but Bondarev had an engineering map in his hand, which guided him to the right path. The tunnel was like a forked vine, and its length was astonishing. Sometimes, after digging dozens of meters to the east, they realized that something was wrong and returned to the middle to dig in another direction. Sometimes they had to go around the rocks, and it would take years to go around a boulder.
In that era, there was no heavy machinery. The tools of the diggers could only be mechanical pickaxes and iron chisels that burned oil. With these primitive tools, they advanced year after year, burying their lives in the frozen soil. What were they looking for?
The tunnel walls behind them gradually became smooth. It was obvious that the diggers had changed to a new type of tool, which should be an electric diamond drill. Bondarev found new handwriting." Arrived here on September 19th, 1951. 13th Infantry Guards Division, Engineer Regiment.”
The 13th Guards Infantry Division was the elite of the garrison in Moscow, and its engineering regiment was naturally the most elite. Such a trump card unit was actually transferred from Moscow to this desolate place to continue the excavation project that had lasted for decades.
"April 27th, 1953. Arrived here. Vice-Commander Viheri died here. 13th Infantry Guards Division, Engineer Regiment.”Next to these words was Vice-Captain Viheri's red five-star badge.
"May 9th, 1956. Arrived here. He did not know where this path would lead to. Perhaps it would lead to a grave, or perhaps it would lead to hell, but it would not be a beautiful thing.”
" Arrived here on April 13, 1961. God bless us, don't let our hands open that door, it must be cursed.”
Apparently, the engineers had a premonition that some kind of crisis was ahead, so they turned to God for help. In that era, if this kind of thought was known by the party branch secretary, it would probably be recorded as a stain in the file.
Bondarev understood the soldiers 'fear because of the patterns on the walls of the tunnel. Those patterns were not carved on the ground, but were cut from the bones of animals in the frozen soil. There were snakes, lizards, cats, sea lions, and even white bears. Most of them should not have appeared in this cold place. These bones were cut apart by the diamond drill together with the frozen soil layer, and were exposed to the eyes of the engineers. Although they were dry bones, they still had a lively and ferocious aura. It was easy to see the fear of these animals at the moment of death. It was as if a huge disaster had suddenly arrived. They had nowhere to escape and could only cry in pain and bite each other to vent. Layers of bones stacked on top of each other, and the closer they went, the denser they became. Finally, Bondarev saw the snake bones wrapped around the bear bones. The snake was at least 20 meters long when it was alive, and its bones were suffused with an ancient dark gold color. The bear bones that were entangled by it were even more terrifying. It split from the lumbar spine and actually had two thick vertebrae, which meant that the giant bear had two heads.
No wonder the engineers were so anxious. They were digging a mysterious tunnel that led to a door. They knew that there was something terrible behind the door, but they had no choice but to do so under the pressure of the organization. That door was like Pandora's box that could not be opened. But if Pandora's box fell into the hands of the world, who could resist not opening it to take a look? Bondarev was very calm. He even used a miniature camera to take pictures of the bones in the frozen soil. Obviously, the disturbing scene in front of him had long been expected.
They were already close to the door, just like what the engineering map said.
Bondarev took out a metal box from his backpack, which contained several laser mines. This type of spy mine was like a thick pen that was inserted into the soil. It could emit a laser beam that was invisible to the naked eye. If someone touched the laser beam, it would cause an explosion. Bondarev inserted the laser mine into a small hole in the wall of the passage, which was left behind during excavation. This way, he would not have any worries.
He had already seen the last mark: " On November 21st, 1963, we opened the door. We should forget what we've seen here, we'll be back in Moscow soon, and everything will be fine when we get back. The secretary said that this place would be closed again. It was no longer the era of gods and demons. The Iron Fist of the Soviets would crush them all.”
In front of them was no longer the frozen soil, but a hard granite wall. This sentence was carved on the wall, and next to it were hundreds of names, followed by their military ranks. It was obvious that these young soldiers had left their lives here. Over the decades, thousands of people had participated in this arduous excavation work, and hundreds of people had left their lives in the ice and snow of northern Siberia. However, when they finally found that thing, they only wanted to leave and forget as soon as possible. Bondarev took a selfie next to the message and made a " V " gesture.
The door was right next to him. Strictly speaking, it could not be called a door, but a blocked exit. It was originally a crack in the rock stratum, but someone had sealed it with several tons of molten iron. The white bones of a human could be seen in the molten iron. When the crack was sealed, a living person was actually burned to death in the red-hot molten iron. The skeleton seemed to be struggling to escape from the molten iron, but in the end, only the top of its skull was exposed. Someone wrote words like holy words on the white skull
"Today, I sealed this place as a servant of God. Evil will never be able to defeat justice. This door will never open until the day God judges the world.”
There was also an autograph at the bottom: " GN R I G O·R R I INT GN R I·M O V I CH PR AN S UP U·TO I N.”" Grigory Efimovich Lass, that charlatan really came here..." Bondarev stroked the skull.
As the most famous saint, heretic, pervert, and mystic in Russian history, Russ was originally famous. However, during the Soviet era, the name of such a person would not be mentioned in public, so it was gradually forgotten after a century.
He was originally an ordinary Russian farmer, but as he showed amazing prophetic abilities and mysterious hypnotism, he was gradually regarded as a saint by the people. Later, he became a good friend of the Tsar family and received unparalleled favor. He had used his prophecy to save the crown prince's life and accurately predicted his own death. At the end of 1916, he suddenly wrote a letter to the Tsar, saying that he would be killed before January 1917. He also said that if he was killed by the people, the emperor would have a few years to live. If he died at the hands of the nobles, the entire royal family would not live for more than two years.
The facts proved his prediction. On December 29, 1916, Prince Yusupov murdered Lars. At a banquet, Prince Yusupov invited Russ to eat eight cakes containing potassium cyanide and a whole bottle of Madeira wine mixed with potassium cyanide. The poison was enough to kill five people, but Russ did not react. Prince Yusupov had no choice but to shoot through his lungs. After a short coma, Lars woke up again and attacked Prince Yusupov. He tried to escape across the lawn. This time, he was shot three more times, one of which went through his head. After being dragged into the room as a corpse, he woke up again. Prince Yusupov had to hit him in the head with an iron dumbbell, and he was still alive. In the end, he was thrown into an ice cave in the Imoka River. The next day, the forensic autopsy results showed that Lars had survived for eight minutes under the ice. He died at the hands of the nobles, and in less than two years, the Tsar's family died under the guns of the Red Army.
As an unprecedented pervert, it was said that he slept with all the noble girls in Russia. Any girl who was looked at by his blue eyes would involuntarily take off their clothes and offer themselves to him. If he had sex with a virgin, Lars would collect a lock of her hair. In 1977, when the Leningradsky city government demolished the house he had lived in, they found boxes of hair in the garden. In the end, he also died of this weakness. He went to Prince Yusupov's banquet because he coveted the enchanting and beautiful princess.
The engineers didn't open the 'door' of the Lasalle Seal, but instead, they dug a new hole in the wall. Bondarev used the key he had prepared to open the door on the gap. Just like the door on the ground, this door was filled with explosives and a mechanical password lock. It seemed that it was not going to be opened again. The iron ladder behind the door was rusted. The ladder passed through a crack in the rock and at the end was an old-fashioned engineering elevator.
Everything matched the engineering map in Bondarev's hand, but that was all. The last mark on the map was this engineering elevator, and the passage down was indicated by a dotted line. The person who drew this map didn't know what was below. Was it a treasure cave or hell? He would only know if he gambled. Bondarev got into the elevator and pulled the switch. The motor started to spin, and the elevator slowly descended. The old equipment had not lost power yet. The steel cable rubbed against the shaft, making a hair-raising sound.
Bondarev put out his flashlight and put on his infrared night vision goggles. He had been trained by the KGB and knew that a person with a flashlight was an easy target. The elevator finally stopped in absolute darkness. The sound of the folding door opening echoed in the huge space. Bondarev was shocked and realized that he had been sent into a huge cave. He did not expect there to be such a big hole under the frozen soil. Without thinking, he rolled away from the elevator to prevent anyone from hiding in the dark and attacking him head-on.
He slid along the ground and couldn't stand up at all. The ground here was actually as smooth as a mirror! This huge underground space seemed to be…an ice-skating rink!
"Welcome, welcome. All these years, I've been thinking that there would be new visitors here. I've been waiting until today.”
Bondarev was pointed between his eyebrows by the cold muzzle. With the fighting skills he had learned in the KGB, he could not dodge or counterattack at all, because he had slid into the other party's muzzle. The other party did not hide in the darkness. He guessed that he would roll sideways out of the elevator and slide on the ice, so he squatted about ten meters outside the elevator and waited for him.
"You're still up so late, Dr. Herzog.”said Bondarev.
He could tell through his sense of smell that there was a faint fragrance of alcohol on the other party's body. It was the fragrance of red brand vodka.
"Sometimes I think that people who like to drink can't be bad. That's why I like you. You know vodka.”Dr. Herzog removed the Markolov and handed him a cold cup.
A beam of light shot down from above, enveloping the doctor and Bondarev. The cup reflected the light and was as clear as the most expensive crystal glassware. However, it was carved from a piece of solid ice. The ice was pure and had no bubbles. The outer wall was carved with cornflower patterns. The two of them clinked their glasses and drank the wine in one gulp.
Bondarev played with the ice cup."This is great. The strong wine wrapped in ice is like a beautiful young woman under the surface of an iceberg. I thought my hands would be frozen.”
"Most people wear leather gloves when drinking from such an ice cup. Only people like you who are not afraid of the cold can hold it with your hands. It was carved out of old ice in the-30 degrees Celsius layer and was also preserved in an environment of-30 degrees Celsius. It was the coldest wine set and was used to match the warmest wine.”the doctor said. Even though he said that, he was still holding the cup empty-handed. His slender hands were very stable and did not tremble at all because of the low temperature.
The doctor was wearing a well-dressed black suit, a starched white shirt, and a rose-red bow tie.
"You don't look like you're going to kill someone in this outfit, but you're holding a gun.”said Bondarev.
"It depends on what your purpose is. I put on my formal attire because I might be the host to welcome guests, but I don't mind being an executioner.”The doctor stared into Bondarev's eyes." Who are you? Why are you here?"
"Bondarev, a KGB major, from Moscow. I only hid my great-grandmother's name from you. Her name was Nastasia Nikolaevna Romanova.”Bondarev slowly read out the long and awkward name, like a magician reading out a forbidden spell.
"The last princess of the Romanov dynasty?"”
Nastasia was the last princess of the Romanov Dynasty, and the Romanov Dynasty was the last dynasty to rule Russia until it was overthrown by the October Revolution in 1917. In 1918, the last Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family were secretly executed by the Red Army. Nastasia was the youngest daughter of Nicholas II. Although she was young, she had the title of " Archduchess," which made her more respected than the princesses of other European royal families at that time. When the princesses met her, they had to curtsy and address her as " Her Royal Highness." It was rumored that she was the only one who escaped execution, and her name Nastasia had the meaning of " resurrection."
"Since I'm still the imperial grandson, I can't be said to be the 'last' princess.”Bondarev smiled.
"How do you prove yourself?" The doctor asked.
"I saw Lasalle's signature at the end of the tunnel. The heretic who was once a saint came here. He should be the one who discovered this cave, right?”
"Yes." said the doctor." This cave is his legacy.”
"Then you must know that Laszlo is a distinguished guest of the Tsar and a good friend of Princess Nastasia. The fact that I can find this place means that I know the secrets of Russ, which he told my great-grandmother. This is the proof that I am the last grandson of the Romanov Dynasty.”Bondarev raised his head proudly.
"Then, what secret did Lasalle reveal to Her Highness?”
Bondarev smiled mysteriously." I think you don't know some of the things I know. Of course, there are also some things you know that I don't. We might as well exchange information." Then maybe we can sit down and talk about cooperation.”
"After you." The doctor raised his gun.
"It all started with my great-grandmother's escape. The Red Army's bullet had indeed pierced her heart, and her body had been thrown into an abandoned mine. However, she woke up three days later, and the wound had miraculously healed. She remembered what Lars had told her before. Lars had said that he was willing to share the secrets of the world with his great-grandmother because she was a chosen one like her. She had the same vitality as Lasalle and could even return from hell. Later, she married a Red Army officer. In that era, she could only be sheltered by marrying a Red Army officer. My great-grandfather later entered the upper echelons of the military. He was a very good man. He always protected great-grandmother and never revealed her identity. Her great-grandmother would sometimes wake up in her dreams and shout,'The Red Army is coming with guns.' Her great-grandfather would comfort her by saying,'I am the Red Army. As long as I'm alive, the guns of the Red Army will only protect you.'”
"What touching love." the doctor said lightly.
"Great-grandmother decided to give up her past identity, so she rarely talked about the past of the Romanov Dynasty, except for one thing. She told her great-grandfather that there were traces of gods in the north of Siberia. This was what Saint Lars had told her. The saint found the cave where God created life on the shore of the frozen sea. However, he did not announce it to the world. Instead, he used molten iron to seal the miracle, because the miracle had fallen into the cradle of the devil, and there were fallen angels hidden inside. The descendants of our family have to be wary of the reopening of that cave. The day the cave reopens, the end of the world will come.”
"So you're here to check if we're guarding the miracle well?”
"No, no, my great-grandmother was a kind and devout Orthodox Christian, but I'm not. I was extremely curious about everything. After inheriting this secret, I wanted to find a miracle. If I find it, I'll definitely open it and take a look. Not long ago, I found an engineering map from the old archives.”Bondarev pulled out the map roll and rolled it along the ice toward the doctor." It marks the elevator that leads to the depths of the permafrost.”
The doctor glanced at the map." This is not the original map. Someone drew it from memory.”
"It was drawn by a madman. He was once the battalion commander of the 13th Infantry Guards Division. He was ordered to participate in the excavation of the tunnel. Later, he was brainwashed by drugs and became a frequent visitor to the mental hospital. He only remembered that he was engaged in a big project on the northern coast of Siberia. The project was to dig a cave. I suddenly realized that I had found a breakthrough. However, as the investigation progressed, I found that this matter was becoming more and more mysterious. Many years ago, the army built a port in a place in northern Siberia that was almost impossible to navigate. There was no information about it, and even the coordinates were erased. Beneath the harbor, the engineers dug through the hard frozen soil and opened up a cave that had been sealed for a long time. So I decided to come and see for myself. As a KGB officer, I easily applied for the privilege to investigate this mysterious port, so that I could come as an imperial envoy. Sure enough, I found Rascal's signature at the end of the tunnel. I had finally arrived at the place I had dreamed of since I was young.”Bondarev looked around." But it looks like there's nothing interesting here.”
"I'm sure you've noticed that the closer you get to the door signed by Russ, the more bones there are in the frozen soil. They all climbed out through the gap in the rock wall. Russ said that this cave would breed demons, and he was referring to those things. But now, the cave was dead, and the mysterious power in the cave had dissipated.”
"I don't think so. If this cave was worthless, you would have left long ago.”
"If this cave is really valuable, I should shoot you and monopolize the secrets here.”
Wait a minute! I brought you a gift! Don't you want to take a look at the present before you shoot? Bondarev took out an envelope from his clothes and slid it along the ice toward the doctor. He used this to show that he had no intention of resisting.
The doctor tore open the envelope, and inside was a Swiss bank check-a 200 million dollar check.
"This is a rare large check. What do you want to buy from me with this check?”‘The doctor asked.
"I'm not buying it. It's just a gift.”Bondarev smiled." We believe this gift will be useful to you. Your research has been going on for decades and consumes a large amount of national funds every year. It must not be completed, right? But now that the Soviet Union is about to split up and your backer has fallen, this means that you can no longer get funding to complete your research, and no one can help you keep it a secret.”
"It sounds like I'm in quite a bit of trouble.”the doctor said.
"Then why don't you cooperate with my family? We understand politics, technology, and war. As long as the secret of this cave can bring us returns, we are willing to invest in it. We can continue to support your project and share all the benefits with you. I've already shown my sincerity and told you everything I know. Shouldn't you tell me the part that I don't know? You still had time to shoot me after you finished speaking.”
"You are very calm, Comrade Major. You think I won't shoot you if you take out this 200 million dollar cashier's check, right?”The doctor's tone carried a hint of mockery.
"Not many people in the world can refuse 200 million dollars.”Bondarev smiled." And killing me isn't the best choice. If I don't return to Moscow safely, my family will know that something happened to me, and they won't let you off. At that time, the secret of Black Swan Harbor would be revealed to the world.”
"Ten times." The doctor threw the promissory note back to Bondarev.
"What did you say?" Bondarev was stunned.”
"Your clan needs to raise the price tenfold. I need three years and two billion dollars to complete this research. Then we'll share the whole world.”
"This amount is beyond my expectations. Even my family won't be able to raise it easily.”
The doctor smiled coldly." It seems that you really don't know the secret of this cave. Two billion dollars is too small a number in front of it. No one can afford the things here. It's priceless! Your family should be proud to be able to fork out two billion dollars.”
"Everything has a price. Weapons, women, secrets, and even souls.”said Bondarev.
"But who can bid against a god?" The doctor asked.
Hundreds of spotlights above his head lit up at the same time, illuminating the ice surface like a crystal stage. The sudden strong light blinded Bondarev.
" Open your eyes," the doctor's voice rang like a bell." The secret of this cave, the fallen angel, and even God, are all under your feet!”
Bondarev lowered his head slowly. The giant ice under his feet was transparent and clear, and his gaze could directly penetrate the bottom of the cave. He had the illusion that he was standing ten thousand feet in the sky. The world was empty, leaving only him and the ancient god-like behemoth in the ice staring at each other silently.
"Oh God!" he said, trembling slightly.
There was a pale green skeleton sealed in the ice. Even if one used all the adjectives, it was difficult to describe its grandeur, ancientness, and solemnity. However, one could only use one word-"dragon".
Dragons existed in the myths of various civilizations. Bards used all kinds of words to describe this mysterious creature, but the exact image of the dragon was unclear. Sometimes it was described as a ferocious lizard, sometimes as a winged multi-headed beast, and some said it was a one-legged snake. But at first glance, Bondarev was sure that it was a dragon, a real dragon. It was so majestic and perfect, and every detail seemed to have come directly from the hands of God.
The skeleton was about 60 meters long. Even if the slender tailbone was removed, it was more than 30 meters long. The long tail and the lower half of the skeleton were rotten, but the front half of the head remained the same. This mysterious animal was tall and sturdy, with scales covering its entire body. Blue bone spurs grew along its spine, and its face was filled with sharp bone spikes. Its pale eyes were well preserved, and the surface was shining like white marble. Bondarev had the illusion that a dragon was looking at him.
This was a dead dragon, but it still maintained the majesty of an emperor in front of humans.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" the doctor said softly.
Bondarev took a deep breath.""You're right! It's priceless!"
"When the engineers opened the cave sealed by the Lars, they didn't see the Fallen Angel, but this great creature. In the Mythological Era, they coexisted with humans. Humans sometimes called them gods, and sometimes called them demons.”The doctor said," Fallen angel is the argot used by Russ to refer to dragons. The fallen angel in the Bible is the form of a dragon. According to the Bible, the Book of Revelation, the Fallen Angel Lucifer betrayed Heaven and turned into a red dragon that descended from the sky with one-third of the stars. That one-third of the stars was one-third of the Angel Army. They spent seven days and seven nights to cross the boundary of heaven and earth and collide with the ground.”
" In the eyes of Russ, this might be a fallen angel," Bondarev said." He's a god and a believer.”
"But I have to say that dragons have nothing to do with gods. They are ancient intelligent species, the masters of the world before humans.”
"Humans are not the only intelligent species?”
"Exactly. In modern biology, we believe that all species in the world evolved from the same origin. It was like a tree with countless branches. Evolution Tree. The tree of evolution has three main branches, which we call the three 'domains'. They are the bacteria domain, archaea domain, and the eukarya domain. Any known species belongs to one of these three domains. However, dragons were an exception. They were outside of these three regions.”
"In other words, there is a fourth domain on the Tree of Evolution?”Bondarev asked.
" That's right. In history, there was a mysterious evolutionary route-the fourth evolutionary route. Along that route, the top intelligent species evolved. They were existences that were more advanced than humans and were once the overlords of the world.”
"No wonder you call this project. Project Delta was the fourth letter of the Greek alphabets, which represented the fourth domain.”said Bondarev.
"Yes, the fourth domain, the Dragon Domain! Until today, the creatures of this region had not been wiped out. There must still be living dragons in this world!”
"How can you be so sure?" " What?" Bondarev was shocked." If there are still living dragons in the world, how is it possible that human beings have never captured a living dragon for thousands of years? They didn't even find any fossils, except for this one.”
"Fossil? No, when Russ arrived, it was still alive!”Separated by the thick layer of ice, the doctor pointed at the dragon's spine." Pay attention to the middle of its spine, that black object.”
Bondarev looked at the doctor's direction. If he didn't pay attention, it was easy to confuse the black thorn with the bone spur on the dragon's spine, but after a closer look, Bondarev immediately recognized that it was an old-fashioned military bayonet. Old rifles were slow to fire and had to be made up for with close combat weapons. Therefore, the bayonet was often cast into a sharp sword with a complete handle. When necessary, the soldier could take it off and wave it.
"It looks like the bayonet used on the British-made Li's long rifle. The material is very rare, probably made of meteoric iron.”
said Bondarev.
"The Li Clan's long rifle is only about a hundred years old. This dragon was killed with a bayonet, so it must have been dead less than a hundred years ago. Of course, we have more accurate information. This dragon died in 1909 AD, and was first discovered by a group of gypsies. They reported to the Patriarch in Moscow that they had found demons in the Arctic Ocean.”The doctor said," In the winter of 1908, the Romanov Dynasty was still ruling Russia. Your great-grandmother was still the princess revered by all of Europe. In that harsh winter, a group of gypsies took the risk to fish in the Arctic Ocean. The gypsies 'method of fishing was very primitive. They would dig a hole, wait for the fish to swim over to breathe in oxygen, and then use a wooden bucket to fish them out. This method had always been effective on the frozen sea, but no fish appeared that day, not even one. At this time, the elderly gypsy said that it was not a good day to fish, because if even the fish disappeared, it meant that there was a huge predator wandering in the sea, and the predator might jump out of the ice to attack people. However, some people were too hungry. They felt that even if there were predators in the sea, they would not dare to leave the water, so they decided to wait and see for a while. When the sun was about to set, the surface of the water in the ice cave suddenly shook. The seawater surged up, and then a huge head poked out of the ice cave, letting out a deafening roar. The people around them all suffered fatal nerve damage, and those who survived became crazy. The people in the distance were spared. According to their description, the thing had a thick neck and a huge head. Its face seemed to be covered with an iron mask, and its image was like Satan. Its eyes were shining with dazzling golden flames.”
Bondarev carefully observed the dragon's face. Its craggy face was iron-black and indeed looked like it was covered with an iron mask.
" The gypsies knelt down in terror and prayed to God, and the massive creature immediately disappeared. Now that he thought about it, it actually didn't have any ill intentions. It was just here to breathe in fresh air. But in the eyes of the gypsies, it was their devout faith that made this demon not dare to harm them. They searched around the ice and saw a huge shadow swimming under the ice. As it swam, red blood floated up. The blood was abnormally hot, and even the hard ice was melting. When the dragon swam here, it had already suffered a fatal injury. Some people curiously touched the blood that seeped out from the ice crevice. These people had mutated to varying degrees. Some had deformed skulls, some had scales on their bodies, and the most terrifying thing was that one person had another head growing out of his shoulder.”
Bondarev thought of the remains of the polar bear with two vertebrae.
" The gypsies were increasingly convinced that it was a demon, and that the demon's blood had tainted their family. Thus, they sent a young man to report to the Grand Patriarch from Moscow, hoping that the Grand Patriarch would help them with the divine power. But the Grand Patriarch refused to admit that the gypsies had seen demons, so how could he be willing to claim that demons had appeared in his own pastures? At this moment, Russ arrived. He volunteered to organize an investigation team to go to Northern Siberia to investigate, and the Patriarch agreed to his request. However, Lars 'goal was not simple. We later found his observation log. At first, he wanted to use this matter to make a name for himself. He would announce that he had found and subdued a demon in Northern Siberia. He needed some achievements to prove that he was a hero and a prophet given by God to mankind. But he felt that it must be some rare whale, and the gypsy had misjudged it in his terror.”
"Is he trying to engage in religious speculation?"
" You are right," said the doctor." But there is one thing that cannot be explained by whales. It is that people who come into contact with blood mutate. As a precaution, Russ brought a few priests and a large number of animals. The priests were used to deal with the demons, and the animals were used for blood tests. Their dog sleigh team came to the ice field and found a huge hole on the coast. Most of the time, the hole was below the sea surface, and only a small part of it was exposed when the tide receded. The hole was newly chiseled, as if a lizard had dug a hole in the permafrost, but judging from the diameter of the hole, the lizard was as big as a whale. The expedition team was terrified, but they realized that this was their only chance. It was summer when they arrived here, and in a few months, the sea would fill the entire cave and freeze it. The ice would expand, the hole would collapse, and the thing that was drilling the hole would be sealed in the frozen soil forever. Of course, it had the strength to come out on its own. Lars decided to go in and take a look no matter what. The cave dug by that thing extended in all directions. Lars used the hound as a guide and finally arrived at the rock wall. He found the dragon under the rock wall. The dragon used the hole in the middle of the rock as its nest. After entering, it blocked the passage it had dug out and entered a dormant state. However, it ignored the crack in the rock wall. Lasalle and the others had entered the dragon nest through that crack. This was an opportunity given to mankind by history. All kinds of coincidences allowed Laszlo's expedition team to enter the world of dragons. The expedition team was shocked. Everyone proposed to close the cave and leave immediately, but Rascal realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He might be able to uncover the greatest mystery in human history. He told the Orthodox priests in the investigation team that this was a miracle, an injured fallen angel, a creation of God. They should study it and report it to the Patriarch. As for those who believed in science, they said that this thing was an ancient species, so they had to leave behind precious scientific research reports.”
"This pervert is really a weirdo." said Bondarev.
"In short, Oddity convinced everyone that the investigation team stayed behind to study this dragon. Everyone who approached it was terrified and could only rely on their piety to God and scientific spirit to persevere. They did not dare to risk disturbing it and collect its scattered scales and bones. At that time, the lower half of the dragon was already rotten. With the bayonet on its back as the boundary, the part above the bayonet remained intact, and the part below the bayonet only had bones left. The bayonet seemed to carry an unusual force. However, Lars was not satisfied with just drawing and collecting scales. He also injected dragon blood into the bodies of animals for experiments. He had some knowledge of alchemy and guessed that dragon blood was a secret medicine. The alchemists in the Middle Ages once mentioned this secret medicine. It was a blood-red liquid with powerful power. Some people would become demons after eating it, and some would gain eternal life.”
"Those mutated skeletons are the results of animal experiments, right?”said Bondarev.
"Yes, his scientific spirit caused a disaster. The mutation was far more terrifying than he had imagined. The polar bear's spine split and a second head grew out. The snake grew dragonfly-like wings on its back. It devoured other animals and became extremely huge. The cat grew leopard-like sharp teeth, and its ribs grew crazily, piercing through its chest. What's even more terrifying is cross-species mating. Do you think snakes can mate with polar bears?”
"It sounds scary and disgusting." said Bondarev.
"It's bloody." The doctor handed Bondarev a roll of paper." Enjoy the sketches of the Lars investigation team.”
Bundarev felt his scalp tingle and wanted to vomit after just one glance. This copy should be Lars 'diary. There were small words beside the sketch, and the first picture was of a giant snake mating with a bear. Although it was just a sketch, the strokes were sharp like the work of a master. The painter used the power of the raging waves to recreate the bloody scene. The two-headed polar bear howled in pain. The giant snake coiled around it and pierced the polar bear's abdomen with its bony tail. At the same time, its huge mouth swallowed one of the bear's heads into its stomach, and the other head bit the snake's neck.
"The male snake's mating method is actually to directly tear open the female bear's uterus.”the doctor said.
"I finally know that there are things in this world that make me want to vomit.”said Bondarev.
"The research team wanted to stop the experiment, but it was too late. The mutated animals began to mate and give birth. The number was unimaginably large. The cubs were born with tenacious vitality, and this space eventually became a nest for the Aliens. Rascal realized that the cave had to be sealed, or else these mutated animals would turn into a disaster. He melted all the ironware he had brought and poured them into the cracks on the rock wall. But just as he was about to complete the project, the mutated animals realized that this was a disaster, and their intelligence increased significantly. Hundreds of animals fled frantically, and about a few hundred of them escaped from the dragon nest. Russ decided to close the dragon's nest by force. In the end, he even pushed the priest into a crack filled with molten iron. He thought that the priest would be able to make the 'demons' inside behave. After the door was sealed, the expedition team trudged through the cave dug by the dragon. The animals fled in the cave, and everyone wanted to leave first. However, Rascal was indeed a villain among villains. The maps he gave his companions were all fake, and only he took the real map and left the team quietly. Soon, the rising seawater flooded the cave, and the cave was sealed. Then it froze and collapsed. Finally, only Lars returned to Moscow from the dragon's nest. In the next half century, he only revealed this secret to one person, and that was your great-grandmother. It was clear that he truly believed that your great-grandmother was a Chosen One like him.”
"As long as that pervert doesn't want to woo great-grandmother, I don't care.”said Bondarev.
" For the next few decades, this mysterious creature was frozen under the permafrost of northern Siberia. No one went to explore the legacy left by Lars until a general in the Red Army named Golichina accidentally found Lars 'notes. However, the cave that the dragon had dug out had already collapsed. The Golichina family could only dig the dragon's nest again. After decades of exploration, they first found the bones of the mutated animals, then found the rock wall sealed by Lars, and finally found this dragon.”
"The Golichina family is your behind-the-scenes supporter, right? This family has many general-level technical officers and is in charge of the weapons research and development of the Red Army. They have a lot of convenience to steal state funds to feed you.”said Bondarev.
"Yes, but Admiral Golichna died suddenly at the beginning of last year. He has no heir. Since then, I have no supporters. Even if the Soviet Union does not disintegrate, I am not sure if I can continue to receive financial support.”
"It seems that I came at the right time. You have lost the supporter behind the scenes, and my family just happens to have enough power to replace him.”
The doctor laughed silently." If Admiral Golichna was still alive, our conversation wouldn't have gone so deep. I would have pulled the trigger long ago. However, in our conversation during the day, you said something that moved me.”
"Oh?"
"People of value will be respected in any era.”The doctor said slowly," This is the truth. Only cowards are bound by the times. Those with the ability create the times.”
" Then, for the truth." Bondarev raised his glass. Is this dragon dead now?"
"Unfortunately, the dragon was already dead when we were digging through the rock wall. It was bitten to death by those Mutant Beasts. After Lasalle sealed the dragon nest, the mutated animals inside could only kill each other. The dragon's blood ignited their bloodthirsty genes. They were extremely crazy and attacked everything they saw. In the end, they turned to the dragon. The mutated animals ate the remaining tissues on the dragon bones for a living.”
"I don't think it will be very delicious." said Bondarev.
"It's not just not delicious. In fact, the dragon's muscle tissue is rich in toxins. After eating the rotten dragon meat, the mutated animals were poisoned and died in this cave one after another. When we reopened the dragon nest, the first thing we saw was a mountain of corpses. The dragon was also bitten to death by them. They even ate the dragon's heart, leaving only the hard upper body that they could not bite.”
" The dragon didn't wake up and counterattack?"
"Its injuries were too severe. It was unable to wake up from its deep slumber and died just like that.”
"Let's talk about your research. We found a mysterious ancient race, but how do you turn it into money? Two billion USD is not a small number. We can't recoup our costs by publishing a few papers.”said Bondarev.
"You didn't find my file, did you?”The doctor smiled." So you don't know my research direction.”
No, before I came here, I had been guessing what kind of person the person in charge of Black Swan Harbor was.''Bondarev admitted frankly.
Because I don't have a file, of course you can't find it. In the Soviet Union, I was one of the very few people who did not have a file. I could have been sent to court as a war criminal. My research direction in Germany was genetic engineering. I once built the world's largest gene bank for the Nazis. Under the influence of Hitlers 'ethnography, the German academic community once believed that Aryans were the best race in the world. We hoped to establish a gene bank and collect the genes of different races around the world to prove that Aryan children could run faster, jump higher, and be smarter. However, as our work progressed, we were surprised to discover from the genetic samples from Japan that the genes of the Aryans were nothing special. On the contrary, some other humans had mysterious 'perfect genes.' This gene was not from the same source as human genes, but it would give humans extraordinary abilities.
For example, the astonishing explosive power, and the ability to revive from death that once appeared in your great-grandmother. Every individual has a different supernatural ability. We boldly guessed that these people only have a part of the 'perfect gene', and these genes should have a common source. They all come from the same perfect creature.
"Dragon?"
"Yes, but I didn't know then that the perfect creature I was looking for was a dragon. After the war, the Golichina family chose me as the chief scientist of Black Swan Harbor. When I saw this huge skeleton, I realized that this was the ultimate goal of my life. This perfect creature can change the fate of the entire human race. Using its genes and cloning technology, we can create a new human, a new era!”
"Have you already extracted a perfect gene from the dragon bone?”
"Unfortunately, we were unable to extract any active genes from the dragon bone. The moment the dragon died, all the cells that carried the genetic information died as well. The death of the creatures in the Fourth Domain was completely different from the death of humans. All life was lost in an instant, from the brain to the nerve endings. However, perfect genes did not necessarily have to come from perfect organisms!”
He knocked on a pair of black wooden sticks, and a secret door cracked open on the rock wall. An expressionless officer pushed a wheelchair out. Bondarev had seen him in the courtyard before. He had blond hair, a slender body, and huge pupils. The boy was exhausted in the wheelchair, his expression dull. Bondarev subconsciously took a step back. This child had a feeling that he was between life and death, which made him uneasy.
"The place where perfect genes are most abundant is in the human body.”the doctor whispered.
Number Zero
Renata hummed a nursery rhyme as she walked down the corridor. The chalk on the wall was peeling off, and there was only one white light every few dozen meters. These old light bulbs sizzled and flickered like will-o'-the-wisps. Each light could only illuminate a small section of the corridor, and it was pitch black between the two lights.
Renata was not afraid. She grew up here. She was wearing a white cotton nightdress and holding her precious teddy bear. The bag bear was a birthday gift from the doctor. He asked the first mate of the icebreaker to buy it from Moscow. In Black Swan Harbor, this was a luxurious gift. The icebreaker could only come once a year. Renata named the bear " Zorro." She knew from the book that Zorro was a masked swordsman. All bad guys would tremble in fear when they heard his name. Renata hugged Zorro when she slept at night. If there were any monsters hiding in the dark that wanted to hurt her, she would let Zorro kill them.
On the right side of the corridor was a thick wall, and on the left side were small rooms. There were a total of 38 rooms, and the iron gates were painted with white numbers. From No. 1 to No. 38, a child lived in each room. There were a total of 38 children. Renata was number 38, the last one.
She leaned against the small window of an iron door and looked inside. There was a boy sleeping on the small bed. It
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