Volume 3 Hello, Eri Chapter 268: The Man Returning from the Abyss (Part 3)
"Although I don't know what these things are for, I still protected them well as Mr. Chen asked me to do." Tachibana Masamune said, "On the deck of the Lenin, we encountered that monster again. Mr. Chen called him Herzog. There was a fierce battle between the two, and finally they fell into the sea together. During the explosion inside the Lenin and their scramble, two of the four thermal compartments fell into the sea with them. In the end, I was able to save only two."
"It's me and the girl?" After learning about her origins, Minamoto Chino still did not show much expression. Her attention was on the story told by Tachibana Masamune. People who have never known their parents since childhood would not care about it even if they knew the reason in the future, because they could not find them anyway.
"No, it was you and Eri." Tachibana Masamune said, "The life-saving equipment on the Lenin was destroyed, and the place where it sank was 100 kilometers away from the coast of Japan. At that time, I was just an ordinary person and it was impossible for me to swim such a long distance. I floated in the sea with your incubator for a whole night. At dawn the next day, a fishing boat passed by and I was able to escape."
"My Japanese is not very good, because I grew up in Moscow. Only my grandmother thought I should not forget my roots and taught me Japanese. But there are few people who can speak Japanese in Moscow, so I didn't have the opportunity to practice. When I really needed to use it, I found that my pronunciation was very wrong. But being able to speak some Japanese did play a crucial role at that time. I lied to the fishermen and successfully landed in Japan with the insulated cabin. I wanted to contact Mr. Chen, but soon I found that I was penniless and had no relatives, with only two burdens at hand."
"Those were tough days for me. I lived by rummaging through garbage and stealing. I could eat those things but you couldn't, so I even had to snatch the schoolbags of the schoolchildren and take away the plum rice and milk they were going to take to school. I was scheming with the police all day long. They couldn't catch me because I was a professional soldier who could go to fight in the field, while they were just graduates from the police academy. I only stole food every time and never hurt anyone. After so many times, they were too lazy to care about the area. It was this characteristic that attracted the attention of the local gangsters. They blocked me in an alley, and the leader, a crewman, said they would give me food as long as I did something for them. I could see that they were a bit naughty, but I had no choice but to nod. This was my opportunity to join the family."
"I soon became a well-known figure in that gang. I was able to teach others professional fighting skills and anti-reconnaissance training. Our group was more powerful than the surrounding gangs. It wasn't long before I became the team leader and had the opportunity to get in touch with the family. It was at this time that I discovered the tip of the iceberg of the Snake Eight Clan and the abilities behind it. It was also at this time that you, who were still babies, began to show incredible power. As long as you cried, I couldn't pick up anything in the room, even a toothpick. Eri was even more terrifying. The flowers and cats I raised would always be torn into pieces when she cried, and exploded inexplicably out of thin air. This caused me to sleep in fear every night, afraid that you would get angry and kill me."
"Then I realized the reason why Mr. Chen cared about you. In my eyes, you are born with super powers, not some strange bloodline, because I didn't know about the Dragon Clan. Then one day my boss came to visit me and was going to talk to me about the promotion. He saw you in my room and witnessed your incredible power with his own eyes. He was shocked and asked me where the child came from. I told him that I picked him up out of kindness. If you work in the underworld for too long, you will feel guilty. I believe in Buddhism. He said that the child has a different bloodline and will be of great use to the family. We sat down and talked a lot. This was the first time I knew the secret of the Dragon Clan. It turned out that countless people in the entire underworld have such bloodlines, but it is extremely rare to be able to show power at this age."
The falling cigarette ash had burned Tachibana Masamune's fingers, but he was completely unaware. This was a long story, and many of the details were even a little vague when he recalled them. When he was telling these stories, Tachibana Masamune's eyes were sometimes dazed and sometimes shining. That painful experience is always worth commemorating for people of this age, and they can remember it for a lifetime and take it to the grave.
"The dragon bloodline he mentioned made me connect the dots of what I had seen before. The skeleton on the Lenin was also a dragon, Mr. Chen was also a dragon, and that thing called Herzog was also a dragon. That's why they have such power, far beyond that of ordinary people, comparable to gods!"
Tachibana Masamune laughed. At this moment, he was no longer the patriarch, but returned to the summer many years ago when he was still an unknown person. It was as if a child saw the elves in the fairy tale waving to him and giving him honey that only the forest could make.
"At that moment , I felt like I had been enlightened. As an ordinary person who has been ordinary until today, I felt as if I had touched the true meaning of the world, the gate to the kingdom of God. I was eager to know more about the secrets of the dragon clan. My boss also saw what I was thinking. He said that he would tell me this in the hope that he could bring these children to join the family, because I would definitely be treated well by them. According to our way of doing things, my boss could actually cheat and wipe me out, but he has always treated me well, even in this matter. I trusted him without reservation, but I only handed over Eri."
"I chose this because Eri's condition is very unstable. She always coughs and gets stuck when eating or drinking milk powder. Her bloodline is unstable more often than yours. I think she needs more care. If the family really values her, they will definitely treat her well. If I keep you, I can have another trump card to pave the way for more opportunities in the future. At that time, I already had an ambition. I wanted to climb higher and higher in this huge family to pursue the secret of the dragon bloodline!"
"You succeeded today." said Yuan Zhinv.
"No, far from it." Tachibana Masamune said, "After Eri left, I was promoted four levels and became the leader of the Nerima District, one of the 23 districts of Tokyo. I was in charge of the entire Nerima District gang and had a great reputation in the family. I would even wake up laughing in my dreams, but when I opened my eyes, I saw a pair of golden pupils on the ceiling staring at me! I rolled over from the bed and grabbed the pistol under the pillow, but the man who attacked me was not afraid of bullets at all. I put a whole magazine of bullets into his chest, but he still pressed me to death on the floor. At this time, I saw his face clearly. It was Herzog, the monster who was rampant on the Lenin. He also came to Japan!"
Gen Chinu's heart moved slightly. There have been many deadpools among the fierce ghosts. Those were specially trained by the king. Gen Chinu had seen them. It would not be a pleasant feeling to be suddenly attacked by such things in the middle of the night. The scene would be as bloody as a murder in a closed room. At that time, Tachibana Masamune was still an ordinary person, but he could still live to this day.
"I know I can't beat him, so I can only beg for mercy. Herzog hugged you and asked me about Eri's whereabouts. I said I handed him over to the high-ranking underworld gangsters, the Snake Family. If you want him, you can only go to them, but that is a huge organization that has been rooted throughout Japan for many years. You are definitely not their opponent. If you want to get Eri, you can cooperate with me! Just don't kill me. Herzog laughed and said, "What qualifications do you have to talk to me about cooperation? The last person who wanted to cooperate with me shot a volley of bullets into my heart!"
"I was very respectful to him, knelt down and bowed, saying that I knew I was just an ordinary person, so I envied your power, and I also wanted to be part of the dragon blood! I showed him a tube of blood that I had secretly hidden, which was Eri's blood. Herzog took a look, grinned and said that since you are sincere, you might as well show it. He threw the ampoule into my mouth and pressed my jaw to chew. My tongue and my mouth were full of fragments, and each bite was like a thousand cuts, but as the cold blood entered my throat, I gradually stopped feeling the pain. Instead, I felt the spasm of the veins and my heartbeat accelerated rapidly. Scaly lines grew on my neck, and the blood in my body seemed to be burning hot, as if I was holding a fire bomb."
"Herzog threw me to the ground and said coldly that I was quite capable, because most people who came into direct contact with dragon blood would die, and the probability of survival was only one in a hundred thousand. I twisted and rolled on the floor like a live fish, but I still insisted on talking to him. If I didn't carry this matter through to the end, he would kill me. I told him that you are isolated and helpless in Japan just like me, and Mr. Chen must be tracking you down. I hope to become a part of your dragon blood, so I am willing to hand over the remaining baby as a token of sincerity and help you get another one. As long as you are willing to help me, I can provide him with resources in the underworld."
"Herzog was silent for a long time, then he grabbed my collar and pulled me up. He said no one knew the Dragon Clan better than him, and that Mr. Chen and his friends were a bunch of bastards, but I seemed okay. We talked about a lot of things that night, and I made the right bet, because Mr. Chen did have a group of people chasing Herzog on Japanese territory. Herzog had no time and no resources. He was wandering around, killing and stealing like I did before, and he urgently needed to settle down."
Tachibana Masamune said, "That makes me feel very relieved. I told him about the organization of the Snake Eight Clan and that they have an enemy called the Demon Clan. I have already risen rapidly in the Snake Eight Clan and I can reach the top with hard work. Now I have some Demon Clan captives here. I can let you release them, and then they will trust you and take you to the Demon Clan. You can start to develop from there. With your strength, it is not difficult. Slowly, we can turn the whole of Japan into our own power, and we don't have to be afraid of Mr. Chen anymore."
"Two outsiders who don't belong to Japan are thinking about dividing up the Japanese underworld." Gen Chinu said coldly.
"If Mr. Chen knew I was still alive and with those children, he would definitely come to me for it. I don't want to give it to him. That's the only dragon blood I have, and it looks very pure. But I don't want to be his enemy either. He made me feel at ease before, but now it only makes me feel scared. The only thing I can do is to find someone who is on the same side as me and tie me up with him." Tachibana Masamune smoked a cigarette. "After the plan was finalized, we began to implement it slowly. In order to avoid my betrayal and to help me stabilize my bloodline, Herzog provided me with a serum. This serum will strengthen my dragon bloodline little by little, and at the same time it will make me stable and not go berserk. But if I don't get this serum, I will become a complete deadpool with no reason until I am killed by the Eight Snake Families."
"My bloodline began to slowly strengthen from then on, and no one knew about my changes. We first handed over the baby we had left in our hands, and you and Yuan Zhinu were sent to the mountains to be raised secretly. In the future, we will take you away and send you to the Eight Snake Families and the Fierce Ghosts as gifts to consolidate our positions. The plan was carried out as planned, and we increased our power in our respective territories. During this period, we also cooperated to drive away Mr. Chen's pursuers and tied up all the Taoists who liked to use Yin-Yang Jade and sank them into Tokyo Bay. Mr. Chen didn't get any information at all."
Tachibana Masamune shook off the ash from his cigarette. "We tortured them before killing them. From their words and the intelligence we had gradually begun to gather, we deduced that the Lenin was deliberately driven to the Japanese Trench and capsized. Mr. Chen knew that there was the White King's tomb there, and he wanted to wake him up. Although we didn't know why he did this, Herzog and I both realized that this was an absolute opportunity. The target of the plan shifted from Eri to the search for the White King's treasure. The White King's bloodline must be better than Eri's. We did a lot of work, including publicity, detection, and tracing the origins of the local hybrids in Japan. Herzog is really a genius in this regard. He can always come up with enough new intelligence, and I finally have the opportunity to enter this mural hall to verify my guess."
Tachibana Masamune looked up and around. The murals around him were chronicles of the ancient shrines that recorded the origins of the White King and the Japanese hybrids. The Ukiyo-e style was exaggerated but not divorced from reality. With only a few text annotations, future generations who witnessed these murals in person could easily recall in their minds the evil deal between humans and dragons thousands of years ago.
"More and more things made me no longer satisfied with the bloodline that was slowly improved by evolution medicine. I did not follow Herzog's instructions and tried to improve my bloodline myself. I reached out to Eri, and that was a huge mistake."
Tachibana Masamune showed a look of fear and regret on his face. "That night I added sleeping pills to Eri's milk, and after she fell asleep I injected a large amount of anesthetics to ensure that she would not wake up. I only had a vague understanding of the horror of the dragon bloodline, and naively thought that I was the one in a hundred thousand lucky person. I was not afraid at all and planned to directly transfer Eri's dragon blood into my own body. The blood transfusion had just begun when I found that I could not hold on. The dragon blood flowing into my body was simply a strong poison. It destroyed my internal organs and killed everything in me, but it kept me from dying in pain and kept repairing myself. In those few hours, I bled several times more than an adult should. It was like being burned to death in purgatory and then taken out, then thrown down and burned to death and taken out again. My skin turned into charcoal and broke at the touch."
