Lu Mingfei Development Program

Chapter 581 Fragments of the Old World
Lu Mingfei did not choose to immediately enter the port that had mysteriously appeared and replaced the Arctic branch of Kassel. He walked around the grayish-white building that looked like the corpse of some creature and came to the front of it.

The port faces the endless Arctic Ocean. This smallest, shallowest, yet coldest ocean is the end of the world in a geographical sense, exuding a suffocating coldness and loneliness.

This port is located in such an environment. It is obviously similar to the environment of the Arctic branch of Kassel, but unlike the latter, it is dead silent as if it has been forgotten by the world.

A huge ship docked in front of the harbor, its dark red hull looking like a stranded whale.

Lu Mingfei recognized it at a glance, the Lenin icebreaker, the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker. It was once the pride of the Soviet Union, and the then head of state even named it after Lenin.

But it was retired and became a mobile maritime museum decades ago, so how could it appear here?

Whether it is the Lenin in front of the port or the Lenin statue behind the port, the time of this Black Swan Port seems to have stopped decades ago, on the eve of the disintegration of that great country.

Lu Mingfei carefully felt the almost dead elements in the cold air, and came to the conclusion that this was not Nibelungen, nor was it the real world. It was a fragment of the old world that was attached to the "edge" of the world.

"What do you think?" he said softly, but there was no one else in the port except him.

There was no sunlight in this fragment of the old world. The disturbing pale light shone on Lu Mingfei, casting a constantly wriggling shadow on the rusty cast iron dock.

The next second, his shadow split and separated into two graceful figures.

Xia Mi stood beside Lu Mingfei, looked down at his shadow that had returned to normal, frowned and said unhappily: "Can you choose a more normal way of infiltration next time? If it really doesn't work, I can beat them down until they pretend not to see me."

"Bear with it for a while, Jörmungandr." Ruoton came to the other side of Lu Mingfei and looked at the cold and silent sea with some solemnity. "It is humans who control the world now. We should not reveal our identities in front of them. The technology they use has the potential to be no less than alchemy."

"Yes, yes, yes." Xia Mi covered her ears and said helplessly, "I'm not Constance, so can you stop lecturing your sister like this?"

Ruo Dun glanced at her silently: "I am your sister."

"At this time, I miss Constance so much. Although my relationship with her is not very good, it is unexpectedly easy to get along with her." Xia Mi sighed again.

"Regarding this matter, I will try my best to make Constance change her attitude towards you." Ruoton seemed to be reminded, "We are the last kings left in this world. We can no longer be hostile to each other and attack each other..."

"You're here again..." Xia Mi covered her ears hard, but she couldn't avoid the eldest sister's muttering entering her ears.

She really hoped that it was Fenrir who came instead of her. The latter was left in Sunan and temporarily became the bodyguard of the three girls across the street. When Xia Mi thought of the other party accepting the "tribute" of the girl who loved potato chips and throwing himself into the pile of potato chips with his fur shining happily, she was so angry that her teeth itched.

...Although, it was she who took the initiative to ask to come here with Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei looked back. Under the white light, Black Swan Harbor looked like a swan that had died long ago. In the real world, this swan didn't even have a name.

"It's really amazing..." Ruo Dun exclaimed sincerely, "Such a world actually exists!"

Xia Mi stopped talking, her eyes lit up with bright golden light, and she looked at this strange world vigilantly.

They had been staying by Lu Mingfei's side, so they heard what Ange said. The story told by the old man was too amazing, even the Dragon Kings would be surprised to hear it.

They were surprised at what Ange saw in the last ruined world, but they didn't believe it in their hearts. Ange said that the huge mountain he saw was actually part of Nidhogg's body, but Nidhogg was a symbol of death. Only he brought death to all things, and he never ushered in death himself.

However, Xia Mi admitted that she was a little scared.

She was afraid, afraid of seeing a thick fog in this strange world, and in the thick fog there was a peak connecting the sky and the earth, and that peak was just a part of Nidhogg's body...

Fortunately, at least so far, she hasn't seen anything like it in this world.

"Where is this place?" Xia Mi looked at Lu Mingfei.

Ruoton on the other side also turned his gaze to him. They had just heard that when the latter stepped out of the cave, he said "Black Swan Harbor" with a sigh.

"Black Swan Port." Lu Mingfei repeated the name of the port. "It is an institution in the Old World where hybrids study dragon-blooded creatures."

Xia Mi crossed her chest with one hand and supported her chin with the other: "Black Swan Port... I have never heard of such an organization."

She was lurking in human society not just to play house with Lu Mingfei. She had some understanding of the structure of the mixed-blood society today, but she had never seen such a place.

Lu Mingfei murmured, "So it only exists in the old world."

"Can I ask a question?" Ruoton suddenly asked, "Regarding the 'old world' you mentioned, do you mean the world in Jörmungandr's memory before it was destroyed?"

Xia Mi also told Ruo Dun what she remembered, but to Xia Mi and Lu Mingfei's surprise, the latter did not show much surprise after hearing it. Instead, he remained silent for a long time before saying lightly, "I know."

Such a reaction surprised them, as if Ruoton had known that the world had been destroyed once a long time ago.

Lu Mingfei paused, and suddenly he didn't know how to explain it. In Xia Mi's memory, the "end of the world" happened in a very long time ago, when the four great kings were born and humans had not even set foot on the earth.

As for the old world in Renata's and the others' memories... Lu Mingfei felt that it was not quite appropriate to describe the old world with a timeline. The old world seemed to be something similar to the real world, but completely different.

Then there is another question, what about the parallel world that Izanami once tried to escape to? There are multiple worlds, is it only their current world that has suffered the end of the world?
“…I feel like I don’t recognize this world anymore.” Lu Mingfei’s explanation made Ruo Dun’s thoughts like a tangled mess of wool that couldn’t be sorted out.

"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it." Xia Mi rarely saw her look confused, and said proudly, "Learn from Fenrir. Sometimes it's quite relaxing to not think about anything."

"Jörmungandr, I know you want to tell me that Fenrir is not stupid. I know that too. But the contempt hidden in your words doesn't sound like you are talking to your sister." Judging from the fact that Constance practiced calligraphy, Roden should attach great importance to her sister's education.

…Although she did not cultivate Constance into an ideal queen for various reasons, it did not mean that she would give up. Similarly, as the eldest sister, Ruoden felt that she should treat her younger sisters, Jörmungandr, equally. "You come again? Let Constance come out, I want to talk to her!" Xia Mi regretted that she should not have been so proud just now.

"Unfortunately, according to the schedule set by Constance, she will not wake up until the day after tomorrow. Before that, I think it is necessary for you to recall how to be a king."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'll let Fenrir take care of this matter!"

"It's because of his presence that I feel even more worried..."

Lu Mingfei looked at the two sisters, whose relationship was unknown, but who had become much closer to each other. He suddenly smiled and said, "You two can explore outside. I'm going to take a look inside."

The Dragon King sisters who were still arguing looked at him and then at each other.

"Don't you need us to accompany you?" Ruo Dun asked softly.

She also wanted to face Lu Mingfei as an elder sister, but when she thought of her bold behavior when she lost her memory not long ago, she felt that it was very rare for her to be able to face him naturally now.

"No." Lu Mingfei shook his head. "There are some things in there that I need to confirm in person."

"I want to go with you..." Xia Mi finally found a chance to escape, but was stopped before she could finish her words.

Holding Xia Mi with one hand, Ruo Dun smiled slightly: "Okay, we'll wait for you to come back."

"Well, it shouldn't take too long." Lu Mingfei nodded, turned back and stepped onto the snow-covered stairs.

Ruo Dun watched him leave until he entered the facility, then looked at Xia Mi, whose hair was drooping and who was obviously much more depressed: "As for us, let's try to explore the boundaries of this world."

……

When Lu Mingfei stepped out of the cave, he found that someone had left many footprints on the snow outside before he came. He followed the footprints with snowflakes all the way until the snow stopped falling and the footprints disappeared at the corner of a corridor, then he stopped.

He tried to release the sickle-weasel, but this world was not the one Ange had described, a world that had been destroyed and had even lost all its elements. Thin elements still lingered in the air, but they were very limited.

The Kamaitachi seems special among many word spirits because of its wide coverage area, but now, its domain cannot even cover the area within ten meters around Lu Mingfei.

The people who strayed into this place moved in a very orderly manner, and did not seem to have encountered any trouble. Lu Mingfei also had time to explore this silent facility.

This facility is very old, and is basically the same as what Lu Mingfei saw in Renata's dream. Renata said that this facility may have existed when the Soviet Union was first established.

The experience in Renata's dream also saved him a lot of effort in groping for the answer, and he went straight to the place he cared about most.

Behind the cold iron door next to the corridor is the room of the children who once "lived" here. However, judging by the heavy iron lock on the door and the high observation window, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a prison cell.

When passing by Room 38, Lu Mingfei paused, pushed the door open and took a look.

The room was simply furnished with an iron bed, a cabinet to store clothes and some personal belongings... and that was it. It was so plain that it didn't look like a girl's room at all.

This used to be Renata's room. Lu Mingfei originally wanted to find something here, go back and talk to Renata with a smile, and observe whether there would be any interesting expression on her innocent face... Unfortunately, there was nothing here.

After leaving the room, Lu Mingfei continued to walk forward. There were a total of thirty-nine rooms on this floor, but Room 38, where Renata was, was already the last room in the sequence. The extra room was Room 0.

He stopped in front of Room 0 and looked at the icy cold iron door. The unpleasant sound of dripping water and the smell of disinfectant came from behind the door. This was surprising because the world was dead silent without a sound or smell.

Lu Mingfei instinctively hated these things, and he pushed the door open without thinking.

In a trance, he saw a child lying on the iron bed in the room, wrapped tightly in a straitjacket. He even heard the child's breathing and felt the surprise in the child's bright eyes.

"Brother, you came to see me!"

Lu Mingfei stood in front of the empty bed. There was no child tied up on it, and naturally no one called him brother. Everything disappeared so quickly. He only remembered the child's sparkling eyes, beautiful like a little princess.

"We can't delay any longer..." He said to himself, leaving the room and quickly heading to other floors.

Then, he suddenly stopped in front of the corridor. Something that did not seem to be from the same era as Black Swan Port appeared in front of him.

It was an elevator, and if that were all, it wouldn't be surprising. The facility was built during the Soviet era, when elevators were already widely used.

But the elevator in front of Lu Mingfei was too advanced, as if it had been taken down from a super modern building in the 21st century and then forcibly embedded into this facility.

There was no such thing in Renata's memory.

Lu Mingfei stood at the elevator door and pressed the button. The display on the door showed that the elevator was returning from the underground, as if someone had taken it to the underground not long ago.

It didn't take long before the elevator door slowly opened. The bright lights and warm air inside gave Lu Mingfei the illusion of returning to civilized society.

He stepped into the elevator, and a cheerful welcome voice immediately rang out from the speaker on the side wall: "The elevator is starting, please stand still and hold on."

Lu Mingfei's eyes twitched, and he asked angrily into the speaker: "What are you doing?"

"In order to make this place look less like a horror movie set." The witch's cheerful voice came out from the speaker, "Hearing the voice of your lovely sister, do you suddenly feel at ease?"

(End of this chapter)