Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 82 Chaos
"From the enemy's perspective, we are most likely 'dead'."

Lu Mingfei explained, pointing with his finger to the breach they had escaped through, half-hidden by rubble and debris:

"The core area of ​​the sewers over there collapsed completely. The noise from my final slash and explosion was enough to create a perfect illusion for the enemy—that two ignorant and foolish kids from Kassel, under the siege of the Deadpool horde, detonated alchemical weapons or something similar, blowing themselves and the clues to the target 'Blood of Valhalla' into ashes, buried under tens of tons of reinforced concrete."

They're probably busy clearing the rubble, confirming their results, and dealing with the little commotion caused by the two of us 'dead'.

He gave a somewhat gloating smile:

"So, they don't know for the time being that we are actually still alive, nor do they know that we have stumbled into their lair by accident and are visiting their 'art exhibition'."

Chu Zihang's golden eyes flickered slightly as he quickly analyzed Lu Mingfei's words.

“However,” Lu Mingfei changed the subject, “this window of opportunity is pitifully short. By the time they have a little free time, or confirm that there is no definite evidence of our deaths under the rubble, or simply feel that the traces left here need to be thoroughly cleaned up…”

“They will completely erase this place, along with any trace of survivors in this area,” Chu Zihang replied, his voice icy. “Our location has already been exposed, for this stronghold.”

He took a deep breath, as if to suppress the exhaustion and pain from his injuries.

"Evacuate immediately!"

Lu Mingfei's voice was resolute:

"Before they react and start a thorough search, we must disappear from this godforsaken place immediately! Find a place they can't think of right now, or haven't had time to search yet, and hide there! Then... wait for an opportunity!"
-
Kassel College, Illinois, USA.

Late at night, the control room on the second floor of the library was brightly lit.

This place should be bustling with activity. Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows lies the sleeping campus, while inside, the tireless nerve center of war rages. Several experts and interns work at each terminal. The academy's supercomputer, "Norma," can gather all the information the academy needs from around the world, but ultimately, human analysis and decision-making are still required.

However, at this moment, this space, which symbolizes the pinnacle of the academy's intellectual achievements, is shrouded in deathly silence. Only the five-meter-high giant 3D projection, occupying the entire wall, silently displays complex data streams, its cold light illuminating the empty command console.

"Huff, hiss, huff, hiss."

A tall, slender figure sat in front of the screen, his gaunt body wrapped in a pure black suit, his face covered by a black mask, and a gas pipe leading to a steel cylinder on a small car.

His breathing was deep and heavy, like a broken bellows, filling the silent hall.

Da da da.

A series of sharp, piercing footsteps approached from afar, shattering the deathly silence of the control room. The heavy door was flung open, slamming against the buffer with a dull thud.

Schneider slowly raised his head. The first thing that caught his eye was a head that shone exceptionally brightly in the cold light, its sparse hair almost reflecting light.

It was Manstein.

His face was ashen. He stormed to the command console, his chest heaving, clearly suppressing his rage. Without a word, he pulled a pure black card with metallic edges from his suit pocket and slammed it onto the metal control panel in front of Schneider!
"Von Schneider!"

Manstein's voice was kept very low:
"What the hell are you doing?! Three of the most elite teams in the Executive Department have completely lost contact in the Ruhr region of Germany! Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei's teams are missing and their fates are unknown! And you?!"

He leaned forward abruptly, almost touching Schneider's cold mask, gritting his teeth:

"You neither reported to the Board of Trustees as required by procedure, nor did you activate any level of emergency response plan! You even... you even cleared all the staff on duty in the control room! You locked yourself in this tomb!"

Manstein was breathing heavily, his eyes filled with deep worry:
"Who do you think you can hide this from? The Board of Trustees' 'black card' was sent directly to my office! They ordered me to immediately set up a special task force to take over your mess! And that's not all!"

His voice suddenly rose:

"Why send Lu Mingfei to a place like that?! Don't you know him...?"

"He's the principal and the board of directors' darling, isn't he?"

Schneider's cold voice abruptly cut off Manstein's questioning, completely calm, and the heavy breathing coming from behind the mask continued.

He turned his neck slightly, his cold gaze falling on Manstein's face through the mask, each word clear and slow:
"He is a knife, Manstein. A sharp knife destined to pierce the heart of the Dragon King. If we don't throw him into the cruelest furnace to temper him now, and sharpen him on the roughest whetstone, are we going to wait until the future, on the real battlefield of slaying dragons, for him to break because he is not sharp enough?"

Manstein was momentarily speechless, choked by his cold and cruel logic, his anger almost tangible. "Is...is that the point?! The point is you're neglecting your duty! You're risking students' lives..."

Schneider, however, seemed completely oblivious to his old friend's almost bursting rage.

He slowly, extremely slowly, turned his gaze back to the huge 3D model in front of him, which was flashing with data. On the screen, a point of light representing the Ruhr region was flashing glaringly at an ominous frequency.

Then, in that hoarse, bellows-like voice, he uttered an even colder statement:
"Lu Mingfei's mission briefing... has never been presented to me."

Schneider's words echoed in the eerily silent control room. His last sentence contained so much information that it almost froze the air.

The veins that had bulged with anger on Manstein's shiny forehead instantly receded. Those words were like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing his rage and bringing only a deeper sense of fear.

It wasn't an accident, it was deliberate... bypassing? Manipulation?

"What do you mean?"

Manstein's voice lowered, and he said incredulously:

"You mean..."

Just then, the door that Manstein had just closed was slammed open again with a deafening crash!

"boom!"

Professor Guderian stumbled in through the door like a chaotic, disordered storm.

He was wearing a blue silk pajama set covered in cartoon bears, the buttons undone, revealing most of his chest; he wore a pair of fluffy slippers, leaving muddy footprints on the clean floor; his glasses sat askew on his nose, the lenses fogged up.

His eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming down his face, and he waved his arms, his cries piercingly loud:

"Schneider! Manstein! My student... Lu Mingfei! Where is he?! You can't hide it from me... I just saw Norma's warning!"

Guderian's cries echoed in the empty control hall. Manstein subconsciously took a step back, his face showing annoyance and helplessness.

He opened his mouth, about to reprimand his old friend for his undignified behavior.

But Schneider made a move.

The movement was as fast as lightning, without any warning.

Schneider's gaunt figure rose from the command seat, his right hand emerging from the inside pocket of his suit jacket, a small, cold metal syringe between his fingertips.

He strode up to Guderian, and while the latter was still immersed in his grief and indignation, he pressed his left hand firmly against Guderian's trembling shoulder and precisely inserted the needle into his skin with his right hand.

"laugh."

Guderian's cries came to an abrupt halt.

In just two seconds, his face, which had been contorted with excitement, relaxed, and his eyelids drooped heavily.

"Uh……"

With a muffled groan, Guderian's body went limp, collapsing onto the carpet with a dull thud. His breathing quickly became steady and long, and he had fallen into a deep coma.

Schneider retrieved the syringe, expressionlessly stuffing it back into his pocket with fluid movements. He turned to Manstein:

"The contents of Friga's bullet were a high concentration of sedatives. One of the equipment department's test samples. It can keep him quiet for at least four hours."

His gaze swept over the unconscious Guderian on the ground:
"So that he won't cause trouble here and delay important matters."

Manstein's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

(End of this chapter)