China, Yangtze River, deep beneath the riverbed.
Deep within the City of Bronze forged by Norton, Jude Aki's gaze inadvertently swept across the ancient Dragon Script etched into the bronze walls. It was as though invisible threads had caught hold of her, slowly drawing her mind into the vortex of Spirit Vision.
Her eyes went unfocused, and her movements became stiff and strange. Unconsciously, she used her Diving Knife to cut the Lifeline and Data Cable connecting her to the outside world.
A bronze statue as tall as a person silently floated behind her.
It was a statue of a Snake-faced Man, dressed in the wide robes of ancient China and respectfully holding an Ivory Tablet in both hands. Its posture resembled that of a refined aristocrat at court.
Yet protruding from the high collar of its robes was a long, savage cobra-like head. Its silver-inlaid eyes gleamed coldly, while its fang-baring mouth seemed frozen in a mocking smile that had endured for a thousand years, making it look vicious and uncanny.
Bang!
A sharp gunshot shattered the deathly silence. Ye Sheng pulled the trigger without hesitation, and the bullet blew the statue's snake head away. The bronze head tumbled through the water as it sank.
Aki jolted violently and broke free from that terrifying Spirit Vision. Her ragged breathing came through her mask, and her face was filled with fear.
They seemed to have accidentally activated some sort of mechanism.
All around them, a deep mechanical rumble began vibrating through the water. Within the bronze walls, tens of thousands of precisely meshing gears awakened and slowly began to turn. The enormous noise echoed through the hollow bronze cavern, like a great bell tolling beside their ears.
The entire space trembled, and the bronze ornaments repeatedly shook around their axles.