Chapter 87 Descendants of the Dragon

Chapter Sixty-Five: Descendants of the Dragon

The scene before Liu Shaoyu left him utterly dumbfounded, for the person who appeared was truly beyond his imagination.

“Long Ruyuan! What are you doing here?” Liu Shaoyu exclaimed in shock.

Liu Shaoyu’s reaction was exactly what Wang Weifu had anticipated. Yes! This was the look of astonishment he wanted to see.

Long Ruyuan had changed out of his radiation-proof suit from space and now wore a sleek black uniform of an indeterminate material, with a unique coiling dragon insignia pinned to his chest.

Seeing Liu Shaoyu so surprised, Long Ruyuan scratched his head somewhat sheepishly. “Uh… Didn’t Mr. Wang tell you?”

Long Ruyuan was also a bit taken aback by Liu Shaoyu’s extreme reaction. Could it be that Wang Weifu hadn’t explained the situation to him beforehand? As for the formal address… apart from Liu Shaoyu and Shen Qingyi, the others weren’t that close to Wang Weifu.

“I did it on purpose. Some things just wouldn’t be as interesting if you knew them in advance,” Wang Weifu explained, clearly pleased with himself.

Long Ruyuan could only sweat inwardly… This Wang Weifu really was… quite something.

“Let’s talk as we walk,” Long Ruyuan suggested, turning to enter the elevator behind them.

After a scanning beam swept over the three of them, the elevator doors parted from the center, and they stepped inside one after another.

“Can you finally tell me where we are?” Liu Shaoyu asked as the doors closed.

Although he was astonished to see Long Ruyuan here, Liu Shaoyu truly had no idea where they were.

Judging by appearances, this had to be a secret military base—a highly classified one, at that. Not even Thomas had been able to uncover anything, let alone find it on a map. The optical camouflage outside only reinforced that notion…

“We’ve arrived at your family's place, so you should be the one to explain. I only know so much,” Wang Weifu replied with a humble smile.

Long Ruyuan thought it over and realized it was indeed more appropriate for him to speak. Liu Shaoyu only knew he was from the Long family, but had never asked further. Not that Long Ruyuan would have answered, even if he had.

“This is a secret base of the Huaxia Republic,” Long Ruyuan began, though the statement was rather redundant…

Of course it was a secret base, but Liu Shaoyu kept quiet, waiting for Long Ruyuan to elaborate.

“I’ll start with the purpose of this base. It has existed since the founding of Huaxia, undergoing several name changes through the years. After Earth joined the interstellar community, it was finally renamed Pangu.”

“Pangu?” Liu Shaoyu echoed in surprise.

“Yes, Pangu. Before that, it bore another name—a group that existed since the founding of the Republic in 1949, called the Chinese Martial Arts Alliance.”

“…That’s…” Liu Shaoyu was momentarily speechless. He’d expected something more imposing. Compared to Pangu, why did this sound so… unimpressive?

“I thought the name was funny too, but that’s how it was. True to the name, it started as a civilian organization. But unlike what most people think, it actually possessed a special state-level security function.”

“You mean the Dragon Division?” Liu Shaoyu recalled a name he’d read in an article somewhere.

Long Ruyuan paused, taken aback. “No… You’ve read too many novels. It only had a code name: District Thirteen.”

Hearing this, Liu Shaoyu relaxed. Having such a massive secret base called the Martial Arts Alliance would have seemed like a joke.

Since Liu Shaoyu didn’t press further, Long Ruyuan continued.

“Organizations like this have existed even in the feudal dynasties of Huaxia—for instance, the Blood Drop Guards in the Qing Dynasty, or the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the Ming.”

“Aren’t those the imperial bodyguards?” Liu Shaoyu was familiar with these famous groups.

“Yes, but essentially, it’s the same idea. District Thirteen served a similar role. From its inception to its current form as Pangu, it was always under the direct control of the Chairman,” Long Ruyuan explained.

“Then what was the point of that Martial Arts Alliance name?” It was clear Liu Shaoyu was still hung up on it.

“That was more like the martial alliance of the feudal era.”

With this analogy, Liu Shaoyu began to understand. Coupled with what Wang Weifu had told him earlier about S-gene individuals, Liu Shaoyu realized…

The District Thirteen Long Ruyuan spoke of was probably a government-affiliated organization for those with special abilities.

Long Ruyuan went on, “In truth, whether it’s Pangu, District Thirteen, the Sticky Rod Office, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or even the Inner Guard, they’re all essentially made up of the same group of people—what you’d call gifted individuals or martial arts masters.”

Once again, Liu Shaoyu was shocked. Considering the ancient origins of the Long surname, a chilling thought surfaced.

“Then your Long family…”

“Yes, it’s always been us. Our family has existed on this land for thousands of years, and this ability is born in every child of the Long lineage,” Long Ruyuan replied, his voice growing animated with emotion as he spoke.

“The S-gene is currently only known to be passed down through bloodlines, with a one hundred percent inheritance rate between direct descendants. In fact, the Long family is the ancestor of all ability users in the Earth Federation. You could say the S-gene belongs to us,” he continued.

“So the S-gene isn’t a random mutation in human evolution?” Liu Shaoyu asked, somewhat confused by the explanation.

“The S-gene did emerge as a mutation in human evolution, but such evolutionary changes happen very slowly. It appears suddenly at a certain point. And the Long surname marks the beginning of that mutation.”

Now Liu Shaoyu began to understand.

“So, sometime in the distant past, someone named Long suddenly developed this ability. And because of the one hundred percent inheritance rate, there are now so many S-gene carriers?”

Liu Shaoyu’s analytical mind quickly pieced it together.

“Or perhaps,” Long Ruyuan added, “it was because he possessed this ability that he was called Long.”

Both Liu Shaoyu and Wang Weifu turned to look at Long Ruyuan. His words suggested this might be a genuine event from history.

“That man is the ancestor of the Long family. His name was simply Long, and his ability was SSS-level. According to vague records… it was a type of power that no longer exists today—a transformation ability.”

Even Wang Weifu was hearing these things for the first time.

“You mean, his name was Long? His power was transformation, and at the SSS level?” Wang Weifu asked in disbelief.

“Yes. By current standards, that’s the only way to describe it. Perhaps he was even more powerful, but it’s too far in the past to know for certain. To put it simply, the dragons you know of—whether as a surname or those legendary creatures—he was the origin.”

After Long Ruyuan finished, both Liu Shaoyu and Wang Weifu were left in stunned silence.

It truly was a day of earth-shattering revelations… Liu Shaoyu thought. So dragons not only existed… but were the ancestors of Long Ruyuan’s family. And if the Chinese people call themselves descendants of the dragon, perhaps it’s not just empty words.

With no energy left to ponder ancient gossip, Liu Shaoyu was already captivated by the scene unfolding before him. After their long conversation, the elevator finally emerged from the shadowy tunnel.

The sight that greeted them filled even Wang Weifu, who had seen it before, with excitement.

“Welcome to Nili.”