118: Chapter 118 Higher-Dimensional Mapping

The dragon, the totem of Xia Nation, has been the subject of countless legends since ancient times, endowed with a mysterious aura!

In the 'Erya Yi', the dragon's appearance is described as: 'horns like a deer, head like a camel, eyes like a rabbit, neck like a snake, belly like a clam, scales like a fish, claws like an eagle, palms like a tiger, and ears like an ox.'

In the 'Guan Lu Bie Zhuan', the dragon is described as: 'The dragon is the essence of Yang, lurking in the Yin; its spirit connects above, and its harmonious energy moves the gods; the two elements support each other, thus it can summon clouds.'

In the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', Cao Cao asked Liu Bei: 'Do you know the transformations of the dragon?' Liu Bei replied: 'I do not know the details.'

Cao Cao said: 'A dragon can be large or small, can ascend or hide; when large, it summons clouds and breathes mist; when small, it conceals its form; when ascending, it soars through the universe; when hiding, it lurks within the waves.'

Among the twelve zodiac signs—Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig—the other eleven are ordinary animals easily found in reality.

Only the dragon, this mysterious creature, is believed by most to not exist in this world, never appearing among mortals, belonging only to ethereal myths and legends.

But what would your reaction be if one day you truly witnessed a dragon with your own eyes?

Would you be like Lord Ye, who claimed to love dragons but was terrified by a real one, or like Wu Song, who fought the tiger?

Su Fan only wanted to say now that he would be neither!

He wouldn't be scared to death, nor would he recklessly charge forward.

This was a golden five-clawed dragon, its body seemingly infinite in length, stretching far beyond Su Fan's field of vision.

Logically, from Su Fan's position and angle, he should only be able to see a portion of this Five-Clawed Golden Dragon's body.

However, for some reason, Su Fan could clearly see the dragon in its entirety.

It was a very strange sensation, as if the scene before his eyes was full of contradictions.

“Su Fan, a dragon! A dragon!!”

“Did you see the dragon below?!” Xia Feifei said in shock.

“I see it, I see it.” Su Fan kept his tone calm; as the current de facto spiritual leader of Xia Nation, he couldn't panic.

“It's not far from Blue Star. Maybe this dragon took a trip to Blue Star in ancient Xia times and was seen by our ancestors. Isn't that normal?”

Su Fan casually made up an explanation to comfort Xia Feifei, while inwardly he urgently called out to the system.

“System, is this really a dragon?”

“It is, and it isn't,” the system replied flatly.

“Speak in a way I can understand, don't act all profound with me,” Su Fan said, slightly annoyed.

The system was silent for a good while.

“The dragon in your Xia Nation's legends is merely the shadow of this lifeform projected from a High-Dimensional World.”

“Generally, this phenomenon is called: High-Dimensional Projection.”

The system's voice was no longer so mechanical, as if it had gained a hint of emotion.

“This question is beyond the scope; deducting 1 billion influence points!”

Su Fan frowned. High-Dimensional Projection, the projection of a High-Dimensional Lifeforms—he had learned another new term.

Even though it cost 1 billion influence points to obtain.

“System, since you've already deducted 1 billion influence points, answer a few more questions for me.”

“Is this dragon still alive? Will it affect Xia Nation? Is it powerful? What kind of lifeforms are high-dimensional beings? Where is the High-Dimensional World?” Su Fan rattled off a barrage of questions in one breath.

“First, this dragon is alive; second, as long as you don't go looking for trouble, it won't affect Xia Nation; third, this dragon is very powerful—powerful beyond your understanding, and you don't have the authority to know yet.”

“As for the last two questions, they are too profound; you temporarily lack the authority to know,” the system replied flatly.

Su Fan lowered his head in thought. It was already good to get this much information; the rest he would naturally learn as the civilization level increased.

From the system's recent answers and previous information, a conclusion could be drawn: when a civilization's level is high enough, it will come into contact with High-Dimensional Worlds and High-Dimensional Lifeformss.

As for how high that level needed to be, it was currently unknown.

Right now, Xia Nation hadn't even left the Solar System. They absolutely must not harbor delusions of contacting High-Dimensional Worlds or beings, or they wouldn't even know how they died!

“Su Fan, should we go down and take a look?” Xia Feifei was eager to try; this was the legendary Five-Clawed Golden Dragon. “Do you think this dragon can beat my predator mecha?”

Hearing this, Su Fan's face turned pale with fright!

“My dear lady... Bah! Feifei! Stop joking. With our tiny mecha, you want to slay a dragon?!”

“Let's go! Let's head back. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can sleep!” Su Fan grabbed Xia Feifei, fearing she might do something impulsive.

“I was just saying. Look at how scared you are, you coward!”

“Not even saying it is allowed. From now on, this is a forbidden zone; no one is allowed here!” Su Fan said with a serious expression, pulling Xia Feifei as they flew upwards.

“Is it that serious?” Xia Feifei could tell Su Fan wasn't joking.

“Extremely serious. From now on, the entirety of Europa—no, the entire Jupiter region—is off-limits to everyone!” Su Fan's tone was grave.

“Yes! Chief Su!” Although Xia Feifei usually liked to joke with Su Fan, she never dropped the ball at critical moments.

The two slowly flew toward the top of the trench. They didn't fly fast because Su Fan was afraid that too much movement would wake the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon below.

In the face of a major crisis, one must be cautious, cautious, and cautious again!

A long time later, the two finally flew—or rather, swam—to the seabed above the trench.

“Su Fan, what exactly is down there? Is it really a dragon?” Xia Feifei finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked Su Fan.

“I cannot say, I cannot say!” Su Fan shook his head, explicitly refusing.

“This matter is classified as top secret among top secrets. You must not tell anyone, do you understand what I mean?” Su Fan's voice was stern.

“I will speak to the Great Elder myself.”

“From now on, only you and I will know this secret. The Great Elder will only know the surface level.”

“Yes!” Xia Feifei nodded seriously.

Su Fan's meaning was clear: only the two of them had witnessed it with their own eyes. Even if the Great Elder knew of the matter, without having seen it personally, he couldn't possibly feel the same immersive shock.

“Are we going to explore other places? There's still a lot of the seabed left unexplored,” Xia Feifei asked.

“No more exploring. Our lives are more important. We'll talk about it when our strength is greater.”

“Curiosity killed the cat. I don't want Xia Nation to follow in the footsteps of Eagle Nation.” After Su Fan finished speaking, he took the lead and flew directly toward the sea surface.

“Makes sense!” Xia Feifei followed closely behind.

The two quickly reached the ice hole they had dug earlier. Without any hesitation, they flew straight out of it.

The blue-whale-like creature had already undergone simple processing and was sealed in a special container, to be studied slowly once they returned to Blue Star or Mars.

Back on the tianyuan, Su Fan had a private chat with the Great Elder, briefly explaining that there was a terrifying creature under Europa and that the entire Jupiter region was now an absolute forbidden zone that no one could enter.

Additionally, he asked the Great Elder to keep this matter confidential; for now, only the three of them could know!

Red Queen also knew about this, so Su Fan set the access permission for this matter to himself alone; no one else was allowed to query it!

...