When Cain's test tube of holy water shattered in the air at minus forty degrees Celsius, he got a clear look at the true appearance of the dragon's heart inside the bronze tripod. Among the muscle tissues covered with Catholic stigmata, there was actually a Nazi swastika badge from World War II embedded.
"St. Nail positioning completed!" The voice of the Cardinal was distorted in the blizzard. "Activate the Cross..."
Aaliyah's Dragon God Scepter suddenly pierced through the Cardinal's instep. The Indonesian witch leaped onto the ice cliff stepping on the Kris knife. The ghost - eyed fish scales twined in her braids were sending out Morse code with the unique sulfur smell of Lin Xia: "There are contract runes in the third eye of the dragon's heart!"
At this moment, Cain's sniper rifle misfired. The moment the bullet penetrated the ice layer and hit the bronze tripod, the entire volcanic crater erupted with cyan - gold aurora. Images from 1914 emerged in those light screens: A noblewoman in a corseted waistcoat placed the infant Lu Chen into the tripod, and the military doctor holding a syringe of dragon marrow had the symbol of the Freemasons embroidered on his left chest.
"So you, the Vatican, are the ones who started all this..." Cain's question was interrupted by a dragon's roar.
The ice layer collapsed with a loud crash. In the moment of falling, Aaliyah tore open her witch's robe - the dragon pattern of the Baal Dragon on her back was exactly the same as the blood - vessel pattern of the dragon's heart. When Cain grabbed her ankle, he touched a bio - chip implanted under her skin: "You're a dragon - blooded hybrid?!"
"I'm the No. 0 experimental subject." Aaliyah stabbed the Dragon God Scepter into her own heart. The golden - red blood activated the bronze chains under the ice layer. "Now, buy ten minutes for my best friend!"
At the same time, 300 meters underground of the manor.
Lin Xia's dragon tail swept across the seventh bone - storing hall. The pearl - like scales scraped out star charts on the wall. According to the arrangement of thirty - seven wedding rings, she finally deciphered the epitaph of the first - generation bride: "The true contract is hidden in the moonlight of the Scale - shedding Tomb."
"Your brother has eight minutes left." Lu Chen's voice came from the cranial broadcaster. "Or would you rather visit my children's room first?"
Lin Xia crushed the fifth bio - chip. This was a pleasant surprise she found at the bottom of the blood pool - a baby photo of Lu Chen from the 1900s. In the background, the smiling wet nurse was holding a dragon - marrow extractor identical to the one in the Icelandic bronze tripod. When she kicked open the hidden door, in the cold air of the cryogenic chamber, a navigation map formed by the remains of thirty - seven brides floated up, pointing to the Scale - shedding Altar in the core of the manor.
In the center of the altar, a half - mechanical dragon's heart was suspended, resonating with the half in Iceland. Lin Xia's contract mark suddenly burned. She saw an updated vision of 1914: The young Lu Chen tore open the church cellar and escaped. When he burned down the Palace of Versailles with dragon flames, the half - mechanical heart was stuck in his chest.
"Is it beautiful?" The real Lu Chen walked out from the time rift, playing with the bullet casing Cain had lost. "This is a bionic heart personally designed by Wilhelm II. It operates by sucking the souls of brides." He suddenly tore open his suit, revealing the screws at the connection between the mechanical heart and the flesh. "Guess which bride the half - tube of dragon blood in your brother's body originally belonged to?"
The scales on Lin Xia's dragon tail stood on end. She finally understood that what was frozen in her brother's lungs were not treatment crystals, but fragments of the souls of successive brides. At this moment, the contract mark on her wrist cracked, and Aaliyah's sound wave forcefully broke through the shielding: "The one in Iceland is a fake! The real altar is..."
Lu Chen cut off the communication by kissing Lin Xia's dragon horn. This touch with a sulfur smell actually made the mechanical heart stop for three seconds, long enough for Lin Xia to stab the broken piece of the Kris knife into the energy valve between his spine. In the gushing of cyan - gold engine oil, she saw a snow - covered night in 1914 flash through Lu Chen's iris - the little dragon - born betrayed by his mother huddled in the corner of the church, and the blood - transfusion tubes of the mechanical heart pierced into the hearts of thirty - seven baby girls.
"Now you know the truth of the contract marriage." Lu Chen coughed up gears and welded the wound with dragon flames. "Each bride is the reincarnation of the dragon - born bride. We..."
The manor suddenly tilted at a 45 - degree angle. All the cryogenic chambers were ejected into the air, forming a star map pointing to Iceland. In the resonance of dragon blood, Lin Xia heard her brother's scream. His body was decomposing into thirty - seven souls in the aurora, and in the bronze tripod in Iceland, Aaliyah pierced Cain's holy water pool with the Dragon God Scepter.
"Game time is over." Lu Chen pressed the self - destruct button of the altar. The mechanical heart suddenly popped up a countdown. "I'll give you two choices: Burn my core with dragon flames, or become the 38th soul chain..."
At this moment, all of Lin Xia's pearl - like scales fell off. Those shining fragments gathered in the air to form the虚影 of the first - generation bride. She finally saw that what was engraved on the woman's wrist was not a dragon pattern, but the anglerfish totem unique to the Philippine fishing village.
"Mom?" The address she blurted out made Lu Chen's pupils dilate in shock.
The self - destruct program stopped abruptly. The gears of Lu Chen's mechanical heart jammed, and memories of 1914 poured out like a waterfall - The first - generation bride was not a sacrifice at all, but a scientist who voluntarily transformed the dragon's heart with anglerfish genes. Her last figure disappeared in the poison gas of the Battle of Verdun, and in her hand was the DNA map of Lin Xia's brother.
A nuclear - explosion - like roar came from Iceland. In the intense light, Lin Xia saw Aaliyah and Cain being engulfed by the aurora, and the anglerfish luminescent organ growing on her palm was taking over the energy system of the manor. Lu Chen's tattered dragon wings suddenly wrapped around her. This embrace carried the smell of engine oil and blood rust:
"Supplementary clause 1 of the contract - When the bride calls out the name of her mother, Party A must unconditionally..."
His vow was interrupted by the energy wave coming from Iceland. In the last second before she fell into a coma, Lin Xia saw her brother's soul walking out of the aurora, holding an anglerfish fossil that fit perfectly with the mech