Volume 3 Hello, Eri Chapter 186: Death of the Black Swan (VI)
"What's your name?" Renata had no experience in talking to others. If it were someone else, they would probably be more curious about the girl's current situation.
"Me? I don't have a name yet." The girl said, "But I live in room zero, you can call me Zero."
The nurses usually call the children by their numbers, for example, Renata is number 38. Compared to some of the more wordy Russian names, simple numbers are easier to remember.
"Hello, No. 0, I'm No. 38 Renata." Renata said that children only say their names when they introduce themselves to each other. This is probably the only thing that can represent that they are from the outside world. The name is given by their parents, even though those parents may have abandoned them long ago.
"What are you looking for?" Zero said.
"Looking...looking for a friend." Renata's heart was immediately touched. She never thought about why Zero knew that she was looking for something. Zero's eyes with long eyelashes seemed to contain a transparent mirror that could immediately reflect the heart of the person it saw.
"If I want to find a friend, can I? We can be good friends." Zero smiled. She deliberately misinterpreted Renata's meaning, making the word "find" have another meaning.
Renata did not reply immediately. In her opinion, it was not easy to become friends. Two people had to know each other well enough, know many secrets and be close enough to become good friends. With someone like Khorkina, Renata would probably never be able to be friends with her in her entire life because she was too arrogant.
Perhaps seeing through Renata's thoughts, Zero rolled his eyes slyly, "Friends should always show some respect to each other, right? Maybe you can tell me what you are looking for? I can help you."
"You?" Renata thought that Zero had undergone too many surgeries, so his brain was confused. A child locked in Room Zero, with such heavy chains and so many injuries, couldn't even stand up and leave the room, so how could he help find someone? There were other children like this, such as a boy who could only sit in a wheelchair. When he spoke, his lips moved slightly, but there was no sound, and he looked at people with slanted eyes.
"Do you know the devil?" asked Zero.
"The one who made the bet with Faust?"
There are many magazines and newspapers in the library, and children's understanding of the outside world basically comes from these. Of course, it also has many world classics. For most children, going to the library is like an adventure full of unexpected journeys. They use the words they know to explore the unknown world, so Renata understands many stories in famous books.
"Devils are omnipotent, but they will ask for a price. As long as you are willing to pay the devil, they can make any wish come true for you. I like devils very much. In many cases, they are more reliable than humans and never betray the contract." Zero's tone is like a person who has experienced a lot, a little vicissitudes, "I am also a devil, of course I can help you find your friends."
"So, what's the price?" Renata asked.
The price of the bet between the devil and Faust is the soul. If Faust becomes addicted and stagnates, then Faust's soul will belong to the devil forever.
What is a soul? Renata is not very clear. In her opinion, the soul exists in her body, invisible and intangible. If she can make a deal with the devil with this thing, it is really a good deal. She has not lost anything. Since she can't see it, she won't feel bad.
"You." Zero giggled, a little proud and a little coquettish, as if Renata had unknowingly walked into her trap.
"I have nothing to give you." Renata hugged her Zorro tightly. That was the most important thing to her. There was only one in Black Swan Port. She couldn't exchange Zorro for it. Every night she had to hold Zorro in her arms to fall asleep peacefully.
"It's not your things, but you." Zero said, "I can do everything, but I can't leave here by myself. I need someone to help me. If you are willing to be that person, then we can be good friends. I can help you find your friends, and I can leave the port with you, and then we can go to Moscow together."
Zero's words hit Renata's most vulnerable heart accurately. In Renata's cognition, Moscow is the best place in the world, a paradise in paradise. If you go there, you will have everything good, because everything brought by the Lenin came from Moscow, including skirts, stockings, high heels, cigarettes, wine and meat.
I don't know why this girl's words always seem to have a unique charm that makes people believe her easily. Renata looked into Zero's eyes. The self-proclaimed devil's child showed a little pleading in her eyes. Although what she said was very nice and tempting, Renata still had the upper hand in everyone's position. If she nodded, the contract would be established. Even if she refused, there would be no loss, but Zero would be alone again, sitting in Zero's room, which was not open to the light, waiting for more operations.
Renata suddenly felt indescribably sad. She had not been treated as badly as Zero, but they had all been through the same thing. Zero's wrists were thin as sticks, and the chains left scars on them over the years. Renata imagined that she lay here alone every day, with no one to play with her, and the whole world didn't know she existed. She didn't even have a name, and the meaning of her existence was to have her blood drawn and be injected with drugs, but she could still smile.
We are all human beings with the same miserable lives, so it should be natural to shake hands and help each other, right?
"Have you seen a sister?" Renata whispered, gesturing at her chest, "It's big and beautiful here, and she likes to wear blue sweaters."
"Her name is Asashio, right?" Zero smiled mysteriously, "She is indeed a very kind person. I can tell you how to find her, but you have to be quick, preferably tonight, otherwise we won't have a chance soon."
"Why?" Renata didn't quite understand, Zero's tone sounded very anxious.
"You don't have to worry about this. You can't do anything about it. Adults won't tell children what they want to do. Even if children know it, they can't resist. We just need to do our own thing." Zero signaled Renata with his eyes to come closer and whispered in her ear.
In the underground cave composed of ice blue, the dragon's skeleton still stood proudly, just like those Tyrannosaurus statues displayed in the museum. The boy walked beside the skeleton, looking up at this old acquaintance. From the bones to the head, every part exuded a familiar smell. When the dragons looked at their own kind, they never judged by appearance, but confirmed by smell like a pack of dogs. They could sense the unique and powerful bloodline in each other.
"We meet again. I still remember the oath we made with blood as a testimony, vowing to fight side by side until our blood was shed. Now it seems like a clichéd joke. No one kept their oath to the end. Everyone has changed a lot. Some people will never be seen again. Some people have lost their former glory, and their fangs and claws have all been dormant, becoming like a cautious and humble little pet."
The boy stroked the dragon's skeleton and whispered to himself. He slowly floated into the air and met the pair of marble eyes. This was the best preserved part of the dragon. Except for the loss of its brilliant color, everything looked the same as when it was alive.
He cut the artery in his wrist, and the thick and fishy blood seemed to be pulled by some force and fell towards the skeleton's head, then flowed along the rugged follicles and scales through every inch of muscle without leaking a single drop.
A miracle happened. The corpse, which seemed to Herzog to have been dead for hundreds of years, began to tremble again. The dead lower body was still dead under the restraint of the Mosin-Nagant bayonet, but the part above it slowly began to move, like a giant that had been sleeping for too long moving its stiff neck. The neural transmission necessary completely violated the laws of science in front of this scene. The dragon's scales opened and closed in sequence like spreading wings, and a faint golden light shone in its eyes.
"Long time no see, Asashio." The boy chuckled. This was a rare display of gentleness on his part. Perhaps only Asashio had seen this in the world. His voice was no longer so cold, but clear like the whispers between lovers.
The awakening of the Blue Dragon was not as violent as recorded in history books. Instead, it was more like Sleeping Beauty waking up from a dream. She stared at the boy's face and took some time to determine who he was. With her body functions completely stopped, even her thoughts were interrupted. Her memory still stayed at the moment before she was stabbed by the Mosin-Nagant. There were soldiers in gray uniforms everywhere, charging towards her with the most primitive weapons in their hands.
"What should I call you?" Lan Long spoke, still a little hesitant, his voice as clear as water, reminding people of the spring flowing in the forest. She remembered who the man in front of her was. Although she knew what he had done to her, as a gentle girl who would be called a Yamato Nadeshiko in modern times, it was a rare experience for her to feel angry.
"Li Wuyue, right?" the boy said calmly. "I couldn't find you when I went to China. I heard that you seemed to have been killed by the dragon-slaying family there, so I stayed in the Central Plains for a while. It happened to be a chaotic time when dynasties had just changed, so I thought of building up my own power here and established Xixia. I also gave myself a human name, which I quite like."
"You... seem to have changed a lot." Chao Chao said. She could feel that something was different, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The Li Wu Yue in her memory was an unpredictable person, but not to the point of being expressionless.
"I followed Nidhogg's example and abandoned my own feelings. Naturally, I turned into a cold stone. There are not many things in this world that can move me." Li Wu Yue reached out and gently stroked Chao Chao's head, with a faint light flowing in his eyes. He could no longer understand this feeling called pity, but it did not mean that he would not have it.
Bondarev misunderstood one thing. He thought that Li Wuyue and Chao Chao were having an affair. As a stud, he always .
But for the dragon clan, they can reproduce asexually. The fact that Nidhogg created the White King and eight monarchs is the best proof. Even if there is only one dragon, as long as it is strong enough, it can create life.
As for the question of gender, it is the choice of the dragon kings themselves. They can appear in any form they want. If someone can observe the dragon's body closely, they will find that they actually have no organs symbolizing the two sexes.
For example, Jörmungandr, the King of Earth and Mountains, was once Attila, the King of the Huns in history. He had countless concubines in his harem at that time. Considering that she later appeared as Xia Mi, the two stories across different eras put together are definitely a script about a beautiful girl having a harem of three thousand concubines, which can make a group of men who dream of having beautiful women around them go crazy with envy.
Li Wuyue and Chao Chao had a friendly relationship only because they were the first to sign a contract in the most distant era and were the longest-lasting comrades-in-arms. It was also because of these two previous examples that the other dragon kings put down their guard and chose to cooperate completely, and finally succeeded in giving Nidhogg a fatal injury.
"Why do you treat yourself like this?" Chao Chao didn't quite understand. Although losing feelings could reduce a lot of pain, it also meant a lack of perception of everything in the world. He would no longer appreciate something in particular. The so-called wonders of nature, in all their variety, seemed like products that he could have made in front of a power like the Dragon King. He didn't have any interest in them.
"The bloodline given to us by the Black King is actually a curse. As long as he is alive, we will always be slaves under his control, driven by him and act according to his will. That's why we chose to betray him together." Li Wuyue said, "But even so, the coercive control hidden in the bloodline cannot be erased. Most dragons are born tyrannical and bloodthirsty. They regard everything around them as enemies, devouring friends and killing relatives. You once taught me a way to fight this manic bloodline, but unfortunately it is of no use to me. It can only be effective for a while, not for a lifetime."
"I'm tired of this world." Li Wuyue said calmly, "I once tried to find something that could brighten my eyes as you said. I've been to every corner of this planet. Unfortunately, even when I still had feelings, the whole world was still boring to me. Maybe I shouldn't have been given the power of wind when I was born. It would have allowed me to easily travel to places I wanted to go. I've appreciated everything long ago, and I can no longer find anything that can relax me. I can only choose to release my nature and let the innate desire in my bloodline become the only thing I pursue, otherwise I will choose to commit suicide out of boredom sooner or later."
