271-275

Chapter 271: Xia Mi: Holy crap, a Gundam! 

With this thought in mind, Uchiha Hikari immediately took to the air using her Sky Dance technique, circling above the river for a bit. Her eyes scanned the surroundings intently. 

During this time, the sound of the wind grew sharper, and the air above the river became increasingly humid. Faintly, the dull rumble of colliding clouds echoed, signaling an approaching storm. 

“…That’s probably the ship, right?” Hikari finally locked her gaze on a pitch-black tugboat. 

She had never met Mans or Ye Sheng and didn’t know what they looked like. Even if she did, recognizing someone inside the ship’s cabin from this distance and visibility would be nearly impossible—unless her eyes were Byakugan instead of Sharingan. 

Still… 

The tugboat bore a string of English letters starting with “M,” likely indicating it was the Moniah. 

Just as Hikari was about to move closer to get a better look at the people onboard, a spotlight suddenly shot out from the ship. The thick beam tore through the dark night, illuminating a wide area as if it were daytime. Hikari instinctively dodged, then used her “Mini Bracelet” to shrink her body, hovering at a safe distance. 

“…Hm?” 

On the Moniah tugboat, the lookout officer rubbed his eyes, feeling like he’d seen something. “Was that shadow… a bird?” 

Or… something related to dragons? 

After a brief hesitation, he cranked the spotlight to maximum power, carefully observing the surroundings while reporting to Captain Mans via the walkie-talkie. When dealing with dragon-related matters, they couldn’t afford to be anything less than cautious. Every potential risk had to be ruled out. 

Meanwhile, Hikari had silently glided back to her starting point. 

“How’d it go, Big Sis Hikari?”  

“I spotted Cassell’s people, but no sign of Samson yet,” Hikari said, glancing up at the sky. “Looks like a big rain’s coming.” 

If she remembered correctly, in the original story, Cassell Academy’s salvage operation took place on a stormy night with winds reaching level ten. If this was that storm, their operation was likely happening tonight. 

This made Hikari abandon the idea of heading back for a nap and checking again tomorrow. 

“Ai,” she called. 

“Mm.” 

At Hikari’s signal, Esdeath raised a hand, conjuring a square ice house that enveloped the four of them and their black sedan. With a snap of her fingers, ice-crafted tables, chairs, and a sofa appeared inside. 

“?!” 

Hikari and Erii remained unfazed by the display, but Xia Mi’s eyebrows shot up. She stared at Esdeath, clearly shocked but holding back her words. 

No dragon chants needed to wield ice powers? Can a human hybrid even do that?  

Or… was this blue-haired woman a pure-blood dragon, perhaps from the Water King lineage with exceptionally pure blood? 

Catching Xia Mi’s puzzled look, Hikari just smiled faintly. “Well, since there’s four of us, how about a card game? We can kill time and keep an eye out for anything unusual.” 

Esdeath’s ice house was translucent, allowing them to clearly see outside while playing cards. 

From around one or two in the morning, rain began to fall. 

At first, it was just a light drizzle. 

But soon, it turned into a torrential downpour. 

Dense raindrops, whipped by roaring winds, poured from the sky, smashing into the river’s surface and exploding into massive splashes. The Yangtze grew turbulent, with nearby fishing boats swaying violently, as if a single wave could capsize them into the depths. 

But none of this affected Hikari’s group. 

The ice house was sturdy enough to withstand a storm twice as fierce. 

As for whether someone might pass by and spot them… this area was a resettlement zone for the Three Gorges Reservoir, sparsely populated. Hikari had used special means to get their car here. If someone else managed the same, she’d be impressed enough to consider meeting them. 

… 

Time ticked by. 

Hikari and the others played dozens of rounds of poker, even mixing in some mahjong. By the next afternoon, the sky erupted with fierce lightning and thunder. The already wild winds grew fiercer, and the rainfall reached its peak, slightly raising the Yangtze’s water level. 

It was a rare, ferocious storm—likely the same kind of weather when Chu Zihang faced Odin on the overpass. 

The sky was now a heavy, oppressive black, like a city under siege by dark clouds. 

Hikari tossed her lousy hand of cards onto the table and tilted her head, listening. “Hey, do you guys hear something… mixed in with the storm?” 

“Hm?” Esdeath glanced at the cards she’d just thrown down, a slight smirk tugging at her lips. “You’re not just saying that because you’re scared of losing this round, are you?” 

“…” 

Hikari coughed lightly, not turning around. 

She did have that thought, but she genuinely heard something too. It was faint, hard to tell if it was real or just her imagination. 

Then, a long, resonant dragon’s roar echoed from beneath the river’s surface, faint yet haunting amidst the storm. 

“!!” 

Xia Mi’s eyes widened instantly, her face brimming with shock. “That’s it! I recognize that sound—it’s definitely Samson, the third-generation dragon guarding the gate of the Bronze City for Norton!” 

“Hm…” Hikari nodded. 

She wasn’t a true White King, lacking pure dragon blood, so she couldn’t sense bloodline connections. Still, she could vaguely feel the aura Samson gave off when it revealed itself. 

Since it had appeared, Cassell’s people were likely making a move on Constantine inside the Bronze City, drawing out its guardian. 

“You guys stay here. I’m going to check it out,” Hikari said. “This abnormal weather might be a sign of the Fire King awakening. The Bronze City could open soon. This is the Three Gorges area—if something goes wrong, it could be trouble.” 

“Eh?” Xia Mi hesitated before speaking. “Take me with you. I know this area a bit better, so I could back you up…” 

“No need. I’ve got other plans for this.” 

Hikari smiled softly, pulling a sealed scroll from her pocket. 

She had no intention of using her Mangekyō Sharingan here—it wasn’t necessary. 

If the one sleeping in the Bronze City was Norton, the elder Fire King twin, or if Cassell had sent their ultimate trump card, Lu Mingze or Lu Mingfei, she might’ve considered showing off her Tsukuyomi or Susanoo as a sign of respect. 

But… 

Right now, the Bronze City only held Constantine, still in his egg, and Samson, a third-generation gatekeeper. 

Cassell’s team consisted of Professor Mans, a non-combatant, and Ye Sheng, a fourth-year student and executive officer—hardly worth pulling out Susanoo for. It’d be overkill. 

So… 

“Let’s go with this instead.” 

Hikari stepped out into the rain, formed a hand seal, and unfurled the scroll. 

With a poof of white smoke, a twenty-meter-tall mecha appeared on the riverbank, right before their eyes. 

Xia Mi’s eyes nearly popped out of her head as she blurted out, “Holy crap…” 

Realizing her slip, she covered her mouth, her dark eyes studying the mecha before she asked uncertainly, “Is that… a Gundam? Kira Yamato’s Freedom Gundam?!” 

“You know it?” Hikari raised an eyebrow. 

“Of course!” Xia Mi nodded proudly. “I’ve watched the entire Gundam series!” 

“Really?” Hikari was a bit surprised. 

She’d forgotten that Xia Mi was a closet otaku. In the original story, this little dragon girl had cosplayed as Haruhi Suzumiya in high school and effortlessly traded anime references with Lu Mingfei at Cassell. She wasn’t just a casual fan. 

As an academic Dragon King, Xia Mi likely treated watching anime as a way to blend into human society—and she’d clearly excelled at it. 

“By the way…” Xia Mi paused, then said seriously, “I had my suspicions about you, Big Sis Hikari, thinking your identity might not be so simple. But now… you’re definitely the real White King, wielding the fifth element of spirit beyond earth, water, fire, and wind. To recreate a futuristic mecha from a fictional story? That’s incredible!” 

Chapter 272: Gundam vs. Dragon 

“Hm?” 

Uchiha Hikari paused for a moment, then let out a soft chuckle. 

She’d been racking her brain, trying to come up with some excuse to explain the origins of her “Gundam” to Xia Mi. But to her surprise, this little dragon girl’s imagination was something else! Tying the White King’s “spirit” authority to the concept of “manifesting fantasies”… honestly, it wasn’t a bad guess. Pretty reasonable, even. 

And with that… 

Even if Hikari pulled out something as wild as a Nimbus Cloud, Senzu Beans, a Teigu, or even the Nine-Tails, Xia Mi probably wouldn’t bat an eye. 

“Let’s roll~” 

With that thought, Hikari gave a casual wave. Under the envious gazes of Eriyi and Xia Mi, she climbed into the cockpit of Freedom Strike, her trusty mecha. With a deft motion, she piloted it into the air, its five pairs of blue-black wings unfurling magnificently along the riverbank, like some giant bird soaring toward the Moniah several kilometers away. 

… 

Meanwhile, chaos reigned aboard the Moniah. 

Two hours earlier, Professor Mans, the man in charge of this operation, had braved a torrential downpour to dive beneath the river’s surface. There, he’d opened the gates of the “Bronze City,” allowing Ye Sheng and Jiude Aki to slip inside and begin their exploration. 

But things had gone south fast. 

Jiude Aki, swayed by the eerie statues within the Bronze City, had lost her grip on reality. In a daze, she’d cut her own lifeline and triggered the city’s defense mechanisms, trapping herself and Ye Sheng inside. Desperate, Mans had sent an urgent distress call to the Academy’s headquarters. 

Without a miracle, Ye Sheng and Jiude Aki were as good as dead—trapped in the Bronze City, or worse. 

“…How much longer can they hold out?” Mans asked, his face grim inside the cockpit. 

“…Ye Sheng’s ‘Serpent’ is still maintaining comms, but who knows for how long,” Selma replied. “The principal’s ordered headquarters to assist in decoding the Bronze City’s map, but we’ve got nothing yet. All we can do is wait.” 

“Damn it!” Mans slammed his fist on the console, frustration etched into his features. 

He was a veteran of the Greenland Sea incident a decade ago, so he knew exactly how dangerous dragons could be. They’d prepared for losses when they discovered the Bronze City, but facing the reality of losing Ye Sheng and Jiude Aki? It stung. Their oxygen was running out, and cracking the map and pulling off a rescue in time was next to impossible. Death seemed all but certain. 

Unless… 

“Captain!” Selma’s voice cut through. “Headquarters just sent a map—says it was cracked by the Academy’s S-rank freshman…” 

Before she could finish, the first mate’s voice crackled from the other side. “Captain, there’s… something behind the ship. Not sure if it’s alive or what. You’re gonna want to see this for yourself.” 

“?” 

Puzzled, Mans stepped outside and followed the first mate’s pointing finger. His eyes widened in shock. “What the hell is that?!” 

At that moment, everyone on the Moniah’s deck saw it—a massive shadow hurtling toward them through the storm, flying low. As it drew closer, its form sharpened into focus: a sleek, red-and-white mecha, its streamlined body gleaming like forged steel. Five pairs of blue-black wings spread wide, spanning twenty or thirty meters, radiating an awe-inspiring presence. 

“No way…” Mans muttered, his jaw dropping in disbelief. 

As a professor in his fifties, he’d never watched Gundam, so Freedom Strike meant nothing to him. But he knew enough to recognize what he was looking at— 

A mecha?! 

Was this some insane creation from the Equipment Department? No, wait… 

Mans’ mind raced. The Equipment Department might dream up something like this, but there’s no way they’d build it without the principal’s knowledge—or deploy it without informing him, the mission leader. Which left only one possibility… 

“A dragon’s creation?!” 

Had the Bronze and Fire King evolved to the point of crafting mecha by hand?! 

“Captain, what do we do?” Selma asked quietly. 

Mans thought for a split second before barking orders. “Get the ‘key’ ready and keep working on rescuing Ye Sheng and Aki. Arm the ship’s weapons systems—if that thing makes a move, blast it!” 

… 

Inside Freedom Strike’s cockpit, Uchiha Hikari monitored her surroundings through six screens, her thoughts racing. 

“So that tall, lanky guy’s Professor Mans, huh?” 

“Looks pretty unremarkable…” 

“They’ve probably already sent someone into the Bronze City, waiting for Jiude Aki to bring up the brass canister, right?” 

“Hm… that shadow the infrared picked up underwater, about ten meters long—that’s gotta be Samson, the third-generation dragon.” 

Though Hikari’s Freedom Strike was a modified version of the Red Ribbon Army’s mass-produced mecha, Dr. Gero had souped it up with plenty of gadgets. The infrared scanner was just one of them. The real heavy hitters were the weapons: cannons, missiles, and even torpedoes for underwater targets, all stashed in the mecha’s arsenal. 

Rumble… 

As Hikari paused to observe, the Bronze City below let out a deafening roar, as if it had gone berserk under Mans’ team’s efforts. Samson, circling below, began to speed up, ready to strike at Ye Sheng and Aki if they tried to escape. 

It was time. 

Hikari locked onto her target, exhaled softly, and pressed a button. “Combat mode… engage!” 

With a mechanical whir, Freedom Strike’s outer shell shifted. Machine guns and cannons extended from its frame, aiming at the churning water. After a brief moment to lock on, a barrage of ammunition unleashed! 

Six micro-torpedoes tore through the air in seconds, plunging into the Yangtze River and streaking toward the dragon’s shadowy form. 

Boom! Boom! Boom! 

Massive white waves erupted, spraying water dozens of meters high. Bubbles churned beneath the surface, spreading outward in all directions. 

The dragon below displayed uncanny agility, its sleek body weaving an S-shaped path to dodge the torpedoes. But these weren’t ordinary projectiles—they adjusted mid-course, homing in like relentless predators. 

BOOM! 

In a flash, two torpedoes struck the dragon, exploding on impact. The remaining four followed suit. The riverbed erupted in bubbles and crimson light, the water glowing red as the muffled blasts reverberated beneath the surface. 

Barely ten seconds later, before the bubbles had even cleared, a massive shadow shot upward through the murky water. 

Splash! 

With a thunderous crash, the shadow breached the surface, soaring into the sky with terrifying force. Under the flickering lightning, it twisted like a frenzied dragon, climbing nearly thirty meters. Its long tail lashed out, hooking one of Freedom Strike’s wings and yanking hard! 

The mecha lurched but quickly stabilized in midair. 

“Not bad, you’ve got some strength,” Hikari muttered, hands steady on the controls, her eyes narrowing. 

Samson’s power was no joke. Though Hikari reacted fast to keep the mecha steady, the brief struggle drained Freedom Strike’s energy reserves by several percent in mere seconds. The outer shell trembled, creaking as if it might give way. 

Undeterred, Hikari kept one hand on the control stick while the other hit the fire button. The mecha’s cannons swiveled, locking onto the dragon at point-blank range, and unleashed another volley! 

BOOM! 

Samson, still trying to drag Freedom Strike down, hadn’t expected such a swift counterattack. Caught midair with no leverage, it barely released its tail before two micro-missiles slammed into its iron-blue scales, sending it crashing back into the water amid a fiery explosion and thick smoke. 

Seconds later, more shells followed, pounding the target. 

The river glowed red with bursts of flame, bubbles and white smoke rising as molten light seemed to boil beneath the surface. 

On the Moniah, the crew stood dumbfounded. 

“Wait… is this a misunderstanding? Why does it feel like this mecha’s helping us?” 

Chapter 273: One Slash Splits the River! 

From the electronic display, Uchiha Hikari could somewhat make out the expressions of the people aboard the Moniah. 

But right now, her focus was almost entirely on Samson, paying little attention to their actions. 

Of course, if these Cassell folks were foolish enough to attack her first, that’d be a different story. 

“This guy… he’s pretty tough, huh.” 

Samson was a standout among third-generation dragons. In the original Dragon Raja story, it not only killed Ye Sheng and Jiu De Aki but nearly drove Mans and the others into a corner. Back then, Professor Mans had fired a barrage of micro-bombs, yet they barely scratched Samson. It was only by leveraging the Three Gorges Dam’s lock system that they managed to wound it and escape. 

Now, however… 

The micro-missiles from the Dragon Ball world packed a far greater punch than those on the Moniah. 

Two volleys had already dealt Samson a devastating blow. As it thrashed and flailed, dark red blood spread across the water’s surface, only to be evaporated by the blazing explosions, filling the air with a sharp, metallic stench. 

Even so, Samson remained fiercely active, roaring and attempting to counterattack. 

But under the relentless rat-tat-tat of machine-gun fire, it didn’t dare surface, instead darting swiftly underwater, leaving shark-like triangular wakes in its path. 

High above, Hikari glanced at the ammo counter on her right-hand screen and frowned. 

One of the main drawbacks of her Freedom Gundam was its limited ammo capacity. 

Eight thousand machine-gun rounds and twelve micro-missiles—that was the max load designed by Dr. Gero. 

Once the ammo ran dry, she’d need to find a safe spot to dock the mecha and spend ten or so minutes reloading. 

She’d tested this weapon system a few times in the Naruto and Dragon Ball worlds, but only ever used less than half the ammo to deal with bandits or rogue ninjas. Now, to take on Samson, she’d already fired all twelve missiles. 

If she bailed now to reload and came back later… that wouldn’t exactly be cool. 

“Looks like I need to push Dr. Gero to hurry up with the next-gen mecha…” That was her first thought. 

“I planned to fight purely in Gundam mode, but if the firepower’s not enough… guess I’ve got no choice.” That was her second. 

With that, Hikari kept suppressing Samson with gunfire while maneuvering the mecha to raise its right arm. A red-hot streak of energy flowed from the mecha’s core, swiftly condensing into a blazing crimson greatsword, firmly gripped by the Freedom Gundam. 

The Fire-Thunder God! 

Then, Hikari swung the blade! 

Samson clearly sensed the danger. 

To it, the bullets and missiles were painful but not lethal—bruising, maybe drawing blood, but not enough to kill. 

But this sword? If it connected, Samson knew it was done for. 

Driven by a primal sense of peril, Samson abandoned its counterattack, diving deep into the riverbed. Almost simultaneously, the crimson greatsword sliced through the air, striking the raging river’s surface! 

Shing—!!! 

Where the blade passed, a long gash appeared on the river, as if a hot knife had cut through butter. 

No… it did cut through! 

In that moment, everyone present witnessed a massive, hundred-meter-long, dozens-of-meters-deep trench split the river. Boiling white steam erupted skyward with a thunderous roar. It took nearly ten seconds for the river’s waters to rush back in, filling the gap, while hundreds of tons of water turned to scalding rain, falling like fire. 

One slash split the river! 

It was a spectacle beyond human capability, unimaginable even to dream of, unforgettable for anyone who saw it. 

On the Moniah, Professor Mans was dumbfounded. 

Selma, however, quickly raised her camera, snapped a few shots, and handed them to him. “Professor, should we send these to the Academy? Someone might figure out what’s going on.” 

“…” 

Mans hesitated, glancing at the mecha nearby. 

Honestly, he was completely lost. 

As a senior Cassell professor, he knew the dragon world inside out—how they’d infiltrated every facet of human history, their shadows lurking in myths worldwide. But he’d never imagined they’d tie into science fiction. 

What he’d just witnessed made him question if he was dreaming. 

“…Send them,” Mans said, eyeing the Freedom Gundam and taking a deep breath. “If it’s our enemy, this might be our final message.” 

… 

Meanwhile, across the ocean at Cassell Academy’s headquarters, in the library’s control room… 

A group of high-bloodline students, including “S-Class freshman” Lu Mingfei, and dozens of professors stared in stunned silence at the mecha photos projected on the giant screen. 

“This is the latest data from Professor Mans,” said Executive Department Head Professor Schneider. “They spotted this uninvited guest near the dragon ruins Lu Mingfei recently decoded. We don’t yet know if it’s an alchemical lifeform or a manned mechanical device, nor whether it’s friendly or hostile. As the Academy’s elite, any thoughts?” 

“…” 

After a brief silence, Lu Mingfei cautiously raised his hand. “Um… Professor, are you sure these photos aren’t computer-generated?” 

“…What do you mean?” 

“I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, but this mecha in the photos looks like it’s from Mobile Suit Gundam…” 

“?” 

Schneider frowned, not quite following. “What’s that?” 

“Uh…” Lu Mingfei hesitated, unsure where to begin. 

At that moment, Fingel, the News Department head, tapped his keyboard, pulling up an encyclopedia entry on the screen. “Mobile Suit Gundam, one of Japan’s most famous sci-fi anime series, first aired in 1979. Based on comparisons, what Professor Mans sent us seems to be a model from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY, piloted by Kira Yamato.” 

“…Huh?” 

The Cassell professors were stunned, especially the older ones, who took a while to process it. 

“What the heck?” 

“An anime?” 

Just then, Schneider’s laptop buzzed with new incoming images, even clearer than before. 

A giant mecha with five pairs of wings fully spread stood above the Three Gorges river. 

One arm was raised, clutching a crimson greatsword. 

The blade, formed of pure light and flame, swung like a god’s judgment, cleaving the mighty river in two. At its tip, a dragon lay gravely wounded, its thick blood staining the water red! 

“No way…” 

“That’s the Yangtze…” 

As everyone was shocked into silence, even Lu Mingfei, usually quick with a quip, forgot to speak. 

Only Fingel, the perennial slacker, kept rattling off his search results. “MA-M02G Super Scorpion Beam Saber, a close-combat weapon equipped on the Freedom Gundam. The color’s a bit different, and there’s only one instead of two, but it’s likely the same weapon…” 

“…” 

Schneider stared at the projected “beam saber,” speechless. 

That day, Cassell’s hybrid elite felt the impact of anime culture. 

… 

“Phew—” 

With a long exhale, Hikari had the mecha release its grip, letting the Fire-Thunder God dissipate. She looked down at the river below. 

She had no idea her conjured greatsword had been mistaken for a Gundam’s beam saber. 

Nor did she know that Cassell’s headquarters had tentatively pegged her as “Kira Yamato”—since they couldn’t see the pilot’s gender or age and could only guess. 

For now, she stuck to her plan, switching the Freedom Gundam to underwater mode. With a dive, propelled by the mecha’s furiously spinning rear propellers, she plunged hundreds of meters deep, grabbing Samson’s critically wounded dragon body with one hand. 

It struggled weakly, but in its injured state, it was no match for the Freedom Gundam’s strength, trapped like a snake in its iron grip. 

At that moment, Ye Sheng and Jiu De Aki, the two executive officers, emerged from below the Bronze City. Ye Sheng clutched a bronze canister, trying to unhook it and his oxygen tank to pass to Aki for the rest of the mission. 

Then… they looked up, saw Hikari’s mecha, and froze, their hands stalling mid-motion. 

“…Huh?” 

Chapter 274: Two for Two, Any Problem? 

Half a minute later, Uchiha Hikari piloted her mecha, bursting out of the river’s surface. In one hand, she held Samson, the dragon, while the other gripped Ye Sheng and Jiude Aki. She hovered above the Moniah. 

On the deck, Professor Mans instinctively raised his sniper rifle, aiming at Freedom Strike for a split second before lowering it. What was the point? If he were facing a dragon, he’d know where to shoot for maximum damage. But this? A giant metal can? Even if it was hostile, would a sniper rifle do anything? 

“You…” he started. 

“Two for you, two for me. Got a problem with that?” Hikari’s voice cut through the rain, slightly distorted by the mecha’s speakers and the storm’s interference. 

The message was clear enough, though. 

“…A girl?!” Mans muttered, stunned. “Wait, we can’t confirm she’s human and not a dragon yet. But that voice… if it’s not disguised, it’s definitely female.” 

His mind reeled, too shocked to process what “two for two” even meant. 

Hikari, meanwhile, nudged Freedom Strike closer, hovering just above the Moniah’s deck. Under the tense stares of Selma and the first mate, she released her right hand, gently lowering Ye Sheng and Jiude Aki to the deck. 

She’d fished them out of the water on her way up. Their oxygen tanks were nearly depleted, leaving them in a groggy, half-conscious state, unaware of what was happening. Bloodstains and scratches marked their bodies, but their steady heartbeats confirmed they were alive. 

Mans hesitated, glancing at Hikari before signaling the third mate to retrieve them. Once his two prized students were safely carried to the cabin, he turned his attention to Freedom Strike’s other hand. “That dragon…” 

“My trophy. Got a problem?” Hikari’s voice came again, sharper and clearer now, laced with a cold edge. 

“Uh…” Mans faltered, at a loss for words. 

In midair, Hikari shot him a glance before speaking calmly. “There’s still a chunk of dragon down there. If you move fast, you might salvage something. As for this canister? Consider it payment—payment for rewriting your doomed fate.” 

“No need to thank me. I’m just a Gundam pilot passing through.” 

With that, she spun Freedom Strike around, its ten wings folding as it vanished into the storm. 

Only then did Mans snap out of it. He ordered Selma to send a second diving team to collect samples of Samson’s blood and remains scattered in the nearby waters. Then he hurried back to the cockpit, dialing Principal Anghot to report the mission’s bizarre outcome. 

… 

Later that evening, Principal Anghot connected with the Executive Department, announcing the failure of the “Kui Gate Plan” to the gathered students and professors. 

Professor Schneider and the others were visibly disappointed. The Executive Department had poured time, effort, money, and even risked exposing dragons to the world—after all, the mission was at the Three Gorges Dam. Capturing a Dragon King, or at least a third-generation dragon’s body, would’ve made it all worthwhile. 

But now? The Dragon King’s bone bottle, practically in their grasp, had been snatched by a Gundam. A Gundam! 

If not for the photos and footage from the Moniah, Schneider would’ve thought it was an April Fool’s prank. The only silver lining? No casualties. Even Ye Sheng and Jiude Aki, though injured, were out of critical condition after emergency treatment. They’d need bed rest but would recover fully. 

While the Executive Department sulked, two groups were buzzing with excitement. 

The first? The boys of Cassel Academy. 

A Gundam! A freaking Gundam! What twenty-something guy hadn’t dreamed of piloting a mecha through the skies? And when that badass machine was piloted by a girl with a soft, cute voice? Absolute game-changer. 

Within half a day, students were already talking about taking leave to visit China and see the mecha in person. Topics like “Female Freedom Strike” and “Gundam Dragon Slayer” dominated Cassel’s online forums, with discussions raging. 

The other excited group? The Academy’s Equipment Department, lovingly dubbed the “madhouse” by Anghot. 

“I knew it! Mechas can be built in real life!” Director Akadulla declared. “Someone beat us to it, and that’s a disgrace to every researcher in this department! I propose we start the ‘Fourth-Generation Mecha Project’ to build our own!” 

“But Freedom Strike already exists,” Deputy Director Carl pointed out. “If we copy its design, won’t we be called out for plagiarism?” 

“No problem! We’ll build the RX-78-2 Gundam! And if that mysterious pilot’s already made one, we’ve still got Unit-01 or Optimus Prime to fall back on!” Akadulla said, brimming with confidence. 

His enthusiasm was infectious, sparking excitement across the department. But just then, a dissenting voice piped up. 

“…I don’t think we can build something like that.” 

“?” 

Every head in the room turned, glaring at the naysayer. 

The researcher held up a freshly printed photo, pointing at it as he explained. “These micro-missiles are fine—their power doesn’t seem too far beyond what we’ve built. But this ‘beam saber’? I can’t even wrap my head around how it works. Highly condensed plasma? That tech’s still just theoretical, isn’t it?” 

Chapter 275: Movements of All Sides 

“This…” 

The researchers exchanged glances, at a loss for words. 

Plasma weapon theory had existed for ages, but putting it into practice was fraught with technical hurdles. Even these mad scientists, notorious for their wild ideas, hadn’t cracked those barriers to bring such weapons into reality. 

Then, another researcher raised a question. “By the way, the pilot of that Freedom Gundam—are they human or dragon? I carefully listened to the audio from the Moniah, and there wasn’t any unusual sound.” 

“Hm…” 

It was another unanswerable question. 

Truth be told, they’d almost prefer if the pilot was a dragon. 

Dragons were advanced beings with a history of thriving alchemical technology—losing to them wouldn’t be shameful. But if a human had already broken through to create Gundam-level tech, and they were clueless about it, unable to even guess the principles behind it… 

That would sting. 

“There’s an old Chinese saying: ‘Know shame, then find courage.’ I hope you all take this as a lesson and work to bring our Equipment Department’s mecha into existence soon!” Director Akadulla concluded the discussion with a fist-pounding speech. 

… 

From that day on, a “mecha fever” swept through Cassell’s Equipment Department. 

Mobile Suit Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Transformers—anime and films featuring mecha were looped endlessly on the lab’s big screens. Researchers, most well over forty, were spotted watching these on tablets even during late-night snacks, creating a bizarre scene given their age. 

Five separate budget proposals for mecha projects were drafted and sent to Principal Angers’ inbox, leaving him speechless. 

But compared to the Equipment Department’s antics, the “Gundam Incident” itself gave Angers a bigger headache. 

Mans’ report had reached him almost instantly. 

Angers had anticipated the mission might fail, but not in this way. It caught him so off guard he didn’t know how to react. 

So, he fell back on standard protocol: dispatching more personnel to the Three Gorges to investigate while hurrying back to the Academy to consult his old friend, the alchemical master Night Watchman, before deciding his next move. 

“Maybe…” he mused. 

It might be worth visiting a certain island nation just across the water from China. 

With so many mecha models out there, why was it specifically a Gundam? 

That was a question worth pondering. 

Perhaps the answer lay in Japan, the birthplace of the Gundam anime series. 

… 

Meanwhile, in a coastal city in southern China, inside a speeding black sedan… 

A scene tied to the “Gundam Incident” was unfolding. 

“What’s this?” 

A woman with strikingly long legs and fiery-red eyes curled up in the back seat, tidying her loose hair. She raised an eyebrow at the file folder handed to her from the front. 

“A new task from the boss,” the driver, a woman, said, glancing at her through the rearview mirror. “I know you just got back from overseas, but this is urgent and needs a pro. There was an incident at the Bronze City. Cassell Academy didn’t manage to retrieve Constantine’s bone bottle—it was snatched by a Freedom Gundam-lookalike mecha. 

“Without that bottle, Norton’s awakening might not go as planned, which could be a real hassle. So, we need to head to Sichuan ASAP, figure out who this mystery player is, and find out where they took Constantine.” 

“?” 

The long-legged woman blinked, stunned. “Wait… Gundam? What’s that?” 

“‘General-purpose Utility Non-Discontinuous Augmentation Maneuver,’ or Gundam for short,” the driver replied. “It’s from a Japanese anime. You’re telling me you’ve never heard of it? The details are in that folder—take a look.” 

“…” 

The long-legged woman hesitated, then opened the folder. As she scanned the contents, her face betrayed growing astonishment. “An unidentified third party piloting a mecha resembling a Gundam, possibly female… You’re sure the boss isn’t pulling our leg? Could someone like this really exist? Even a Dragon King might not…” 

“You’d have to ask the boss. I’m just a grunt like you,” the driver said with a shrug and a half-joking tone. Then, in the silence that followed, she added, “There’s also a report in there about an incident in Japan’s Kanto region six months ago. 

“Some netizens caught it on camera, leaving photos and videos. The official story was that it was a leaked still from a new Ultraman series, but in reality, the Sheqi Eight Families were conducting a raid on the Oni Clan…” 

As she spoke, the long-legged woman pulled out the relevant file. 

The photos weren’t very clear, showing a Japanese street with a sign in Japanese at one corner. Through the trees and buildings, a massive dark-red figure loomed in the distant sky, wreathed in fiery aura. 

It was unmistakably Uchiha Hikari’s first appearance in the Dragon Raja world, facing off against the Oni Clan with her Susanoo activated! 

The other photos were similar, showing little variation. 

“This thing…” Jiu De Mai squinted, as if piecing something together. 

The driver spoke up. “Yup, that’s the ‘Susanoo’ from that ninja manga—what’s it called? Right, Naruto. 

“That’s our second task. 

“The boss thinks there might be a connection between these two incidents, and we need to confirm it. If necessary, we might even head to Japan to meet with the Sheqi Eight Families in person.” 

“…Got it.” 

Though she still had questions, Jiu De Mai was the diligent, no-complaints type. She reviewed the files again, then leaned back in her seat, arms crossed. “I’m gonna catch a quick nap. Haven’t slept since coming back from the Americas. Wake me if something comes up.” 

“Sure.” 

… 

“Is this the canister Cassell Academy fished out of the Bronze City?” 

In a hotel a dozen kilometers from Kui Gate, Xia Mi cautiously tapped the bronze canister Hikari had brought back, her face curious. 

“Yup,” Hikari nodded lightly. “But it’s not quite what you thought. This only contains one Dragon King’s egg. The other half of the canister is empty… If I’m right, Norton, the elder of the Fire King twins, isn’t here anymore.” 

“?!” 

Xia Mi froze. 

She didn’t know the full story, but this canister had surfaced about eighty years ago, discovered by the Secret Party. That led to Norton’s premature awakening and escape, eventually turning him into “Old Tang” in Brooklyn, New York. 

Only a few—Angers, the Vice-Principal, Lu Mingze, and a handful of others—knew the details. In a way, they’d orchestrated this twist, though they kept it quiet. 

As for Xia Mi, her intelligence network was decent but not deep enough to uncover such specifics. 

Still, hearing Norton wasn’t in the canister seemed to ease her slightly. 

“Phew… That’s kinda a relief. I was a bit scared of that guy. He’s the one who forged the Seven Deadly Sins to kill off all his younger siblings.” 

“…Hm?” 

Xia Mi’s casual remark sparked something in Hikari. 

Right. 

Among the four twin Dragon Kings, Norton was the master of alchemy, and the Seven Deadly Sins were his masterpiece. 

In the original story, they were stored in the Bronze City until months later, when Lu Mingfei’s team lost them during a dragon-slaying mission. Lu Mingze’s “nanny squad” retrieved them, passing them to Lu Mingfei—or rather, Chu Zihang—who used them to take down the less-than-brilliant Fenrir. 

The Seven Deadly Sins were dragon-slaying weapons, activated only by dragon blood, useless to Hikari. But since she was here, grabbing them wouldn’t hurt. Worst case, she could sell them to Cassell for a cool hundred million bucks. 

If Lu Mingze can cash in, why can’t I, the ‘White King’? 

However, Kui Gate was likely no longer safe. 

Cassell, the Secret Party, even Lu Mingze—they all had reason to send people to investigate or stake out the area after this, maybe even infiltrating the Bronze City ahead of schedule. 

So, Hikari shifted her focus to another matter. 

“How about it, Xia Mi?” She glanced at the bronze canister, then at Xia Mi. “Can you wake this guy up?” 

(Chapter End)