Chapter 33: Trapping Dragon Array

Constance, who had been completely overlooked, maintained a blank expression. She lifted her head with visible effort to glance at Ye Jingqiu, whose face was a perfect picture of utter confusion—who was she, where was she, and what on earth should she do now?

Whatever. Why bother arguing with a kid?

Constance let out a sigh and waved her hand generously, as if wiping the whole incident from existence. She stepped through the door first, her footsteps ringing out crisp and clear—impossible to mistake for anything but deliberate.

Loteria turned toward the sound and spotted Constance’s 1.35-meter frame marching toward them with determined strides. Stifling a laugh, she called out a greeting.

“Long time no see. Feeling inspired to change your hair color again? Red is so cute.”

Constance shot her a sidelong glance. She first offered a polite nod to Shi Zui, then clambered slowly onto her seat. “Day before yesterday, I cosplayed for a friend. The character called for it.”

“So dedicated!” Loteria flashed a thumbs-up.

At that moment, Ye Jingqiu slipped through the door. The ever-reliable Little Cat Aether had already filled her in: the “kid” she’d innocently asked about school years was, in fact, the captain of Action Division Team Two from next door—an exemplary A-rank staffer who’d toiled diligently at the Exotic Beast Handling Base for thirteen years.

The 1.35-meter height? A remnant of an old curse.

Ye Jingqiu: forever young… forever bringing tears to everyone’s eyes…

Now fully embracing the base’s bizarre, all-encompassing wonders, Ye Jingqiu settled calmly into the seat on Shi Zui’s left. She even nudged her chair a little closer to Captain Shi.

Shi Zui raised no objection.

Constance eyed the pair across from her, catching Ye Jingqiu’s subtle maneuver with faint puzzlement.

She had deliberately chosen the spot next to Loteria, well aware of Shi Zui’s temperament. Captain Shi might embody the archetype of the noble, upright protagonist—fiercely loyal to her comrades—but that cool detachment in the finer details was no act.

She would extend care and support to those who fought at her side, yet she never crossed that invisible line. Apart from the hand she’d offer in aid, she always maintained a safe distance, never breaching so much as a centimeter.

So when this newbie, who’d been at the base for less than two months, made such a move, Constance pursed her lips ever so slightly. She hoped Shi Zui wouldn’t shatter her image; otherwise, she’d relegate her to the same lowly tier as Xie Pingzhi in her mind.

“Captain Shi and I were just talking about you—worried you’d overslept and miss the meeting,” Loteria teased the last arrival. Then her expression turned serious as she hauled a square silver briefcase out from under the table.

It looked cumbersome for something barely larger than a laptop, its weight evident in her strain.

“The base is intensifying the search for Candle Dragon’s location. We’re determined to take it down.”

“But getting into Candle Dragon Residence won’t be easy,” Loteria continued. “You’ll need a Dragon Scale just to qualify, and then there are the legendary Beast Tide and the mechanisms in Dragon Lair.” She rapped her knuckles on the case; the clear, resonant chime confirmed it was solid silver. “That said, per the Center Group’s plan, you three won’t have to worry about any of that. The base has recalled nearly seventy percent of Action Division personnel to hold back the Beast Tide. Alchemy and Dao Talisman Departments will handle breaching the gates with everything they’ve got.”

Constance spoke up before Shi Zui could, beating her to it. “Won’t have to worry? You mean we skip the Beast Tide altogether?”

“Exactly. The Center Group learned from the fiasco four years ago—they won’t let Candle Dragon slip away again.” Loteria nodded. “Your mission boils down to one thing—”

She pressed down on the briefcase and twisted the Brass Key already slotted into its lock.

The meshing of metal gears erupted like a symphony, building to a teeth-grating scrape. Then the case sprang open like a spring compressed to its limit. A pure golden light poured out, flowing like liquid. For Shi Zui, staring straight into it felt like gazing at the sun.

Ye Jingqiu instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, she drew in a sharp breath.

“Use this… to slay Candle Dragon.”

Loteria breathed the final words.

What lay before them was no longer a mere briefcase. It was a miniature spatial realm, and inside…

A complete Taiji Dual Fish Diagram. Black and white, in their purest forms, pulsed like breath—in and out—while elemental energies coursed through every corner of the array. Eight Ancient Swords stood like stabilizing anchors, locked into the array’s eight cardinal positions.

“The Eight Gates Soul Lock Dragon Trapping Array,” Loteria said, unmistakable satisfaction gleaming in her eyes. This was undoubtedly the deadliest weapon her team had produced to date. “I guarantee you, this Elemental Weapon ranks among the top three most powerful in human history—equivalent to thousands of Yinghuo detonating at once.”

Ye Jingqiu leaned in for a closer look. The black-and-white fishes intertwined in endless cycles, while the silver base beneath evoked the pattern of a Bagua array. The Ancient Swords gleamed coldly, each presiding over one of the trigrams.

“So Dao Talisman Department came out on top after all?” she ventured, marveling at the speed. Less than a month to shatter historical records and produce something like this?

Loteria quickly grasped what Xiao Qiu meant and chuckled. “More precisely, it’s the Dao Talisman Department of history that prevailed. Before 1906, the Exotic Beast Handling Base operated as a religious order. The blueprint for the Eight Gates Soul Lock Dragon Trapping Array dates back to the sixteenth century, when Awakeners first schemed to eradicate that dragon for good.”

Constance drummed her fingers on the armrest, her youthful face hardening with a maturity far beyond her apparent years. “I had no idea this existed. Why didn’t Dao Talisman Department deploy it four years ago?”

The question carried an undercurrent of doubt, left deliberately unfinished.

“It’s an S-rank classified project. Only the development team and the Base Leader were in the know,” Loteria replied evenly. “You save the ultimate weapon for last. I’d have loved to sink Candle Dragon in the Huangpu River four years back, but it only finished assembly yesterday.”

“Can it really kill Candle Dragon?” This came from Shi Zui, who had been silent until now. Her question cut straight to the heart, brushing past ancient history in favor of results.

Loteria nodded firmly, though she couldn’t quite suppress the thrill in her eyes. “We’ve run the data simulations. Even two dragons wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Don’t, don’t, don’t! You absolutely can’t jinx it right before the battle!” Ye Jingqiu waved her hands, brushing off the words.

Loteria let out two chuckles. “Relax. Sometimes words really are empty, but they’re worth saying.”

Her thumb fumbled along the handle of the briefcase for the switch—a slider nestled inside the grip. Loteria cranked the gear with force, but in that instant, the case bucked like something alive. The eight ancient swords thrummed as one, like tolling bells announcing an emperor’s death.

Though she quickly clamped it down, Ye Jingqiu still startled. Only then did she notice Loteria’s right hand had never left the handle.

“Forgive me… From an elemental standpoint, this thing’s alive. Divine swords have spirits, after all.” Sweat trickled down Loteria’s temple against her will. She possessed B-level Instinct, but that wasn’t nearly enough Rampage Value to contain it.

Zheng—

Like a guqin string severed in a flash, a razor-sharp ring exploded like crashing waves. In that moment, every window on the Beijing Branch’s second floor shattered.

Ye Jingqiu finally understood why someone had come to repair the glass a few days back.

A lusterless bronze sword sprang from the Qian Position. Ye Jingqiu frowned at the sight, struck by a nagging sense of familiarity.

Loteria spoke first, however, veering into unrelated territory. “Xiao Qiu, didn’t your school take you to Sanxingdui over winter break?”

Ye Jingqiu nodded. A high school field trip. Ancient relics held little draw for her; her fondest memory of Chengdu was the hotpot aroma drifting from back alleys.

But… hold on.

Something clicked. She shot to her feet, circled the drab bronze sword once over, then sank back into her seat with a heavy expression. “Professor Luo, trafficking bronzes is illegal!”

“We’re a proper organization, with tight partnerships to museums around the world—official or otherwise. This sword was legitimately borrowed.” Loteria spread her hands. “As you can see, it’s the real deal: a Shang Dynasty Bronze Sword. More precisely, an Elemental Weapon. The Base only registered this one back in Guanghan.”

“The borrow-and-never-return kind?” Ye Jingqiu tsked twice. “All eight swords artifacts, then?”

“Mm. The Eight Gates Soul Lock Dragon Trapping Array. Each position marks one of humanity’s historic triumphs sealing the Candle Dragon. It’s manifested eight times, been sealed eight times. In your terms, a masterpiece—the ultimate dragon-slaying arsenal of the ages, all right here.”

Loteria triggered the slider again. This time, an iron sword ejected from the Kun Position. “Han Sheathed Jian. Lowly status as a wooden-hilted blade, but it’s the very sword Liu Bang used to slay the white snake. Emperor Gaozu was just a ruffian then; the Chixiao legend came later, courtesy of historians.”

Constance’s expression turned peculiar. “Isn’t this stashed in the British Museum? How’d you talk those old stiffs into it?”

“No talking.” Loteria shrugged candidly. “Stole it ten days ago. Aether: Shadow Walk. Shoutout to the Action Division.”

Shi Zui spoke up again. “And the method? How do we know the Trapping Dragon Array will activate?”

“Simple. Nail these eight ancient swords into the Candle Dragon’s eight positions. The array engages on its own, channeling enough elements to kill that dragon twice over.”

“Simple enough,” Ye Jingqiu said, raising her hand. “But what if it’s awake? It won’t just sit there while we hammer stakes into its lair.”

Shi Zui and Constance looked up in unison, the same worry etched on their faces.

Loteria rubbed her chin, pondering in the tomb-like silence. Meeting Ye Jingqiu’s gaze full of hope, Professor Luo began: “First off, while the Candle Dragon’s still injured…”

“Hold it!” Ye Jingqiu held up a hand, asking carefully, “What situation is this ‘first off’ predicated on?”

“Don’t sweat the details. Elemental Weapons are just support—Awakeners have to trust their own Instinct!” Loteria circled artfully, her tone brimming with feeling.

Constance smiled. “So the Eight Gates Soul Lock Dragon Trapping Array only kicks in after we’ve beaten the Candle Dragon half to death?”

Loteria nodded, then snapped the array diagram shut with lightning speed and shoved the silver box into the table’s center. “Standard Instinct won’t kill the Candle Dragon. The Trapping Dragon Array can’t carry you far—its job is the killing blow on this S-rank Exotic Beast.”

“I know it’s daunting, but there’s no alternative. A Candle Dragon awakening spells catastrophe.”

“Good luck to you all.”