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!"