Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

Lu Mingfei had no idea that Charlotte was so imaginative; he was completely bewildered as Charlotte's emerald-like eyes looked him up and down.

After a moment, Charlotte asked, "Alright, the second question: tell me your name."

This question is much simpler now, and Lu Mingfei answered readily: "Lu Mingfei".

"how to write?"

"The road of the road, the light of tomorrow, is not the eternal road."

Lu Mingfei… Charlotte silently repeated the name in her mind, nodded, and said:

"Okay, Lu Mingfei, I'll remember you."

……

Although I've been experiencing writer's block lately and updates have been a bit slower... I still want to ask for monthly votes 5555.

This month's KPI is just a little bit short.

Chapter 205 An Unexpected Encounter

Charlotte had originally wanted to ask Lu Mingfei what his purpose was in coming to Portugal. However, since Lu Mingfei had already revealed his background, Charlotte naturally assumed that he had come to investigate the "antimony" incident.

She certainly couldn't have imagined that Lu Mingfei would skip classes for a long time and take a flight of more than twenty hours from faraway China to Portugal, just to be her protector.

Lu Mingfei was worried that letting Charlotte go like this might arouse suspicion from that so-called Holy Temple Society, but Charlotte shook her head and said there was no need to worry about it. Recalling how respectfully those people had treated Charlotte before, Lu Mingfei was no longer worried.

There are many dragon-slaying families in Europe, so Charlotte's identity must be quite extraordinary. Lu Mingfei thought that those people wouldn't make things difficult for Charlotte.

However, after arriving in Portugal this time, he realized that the information he knew in his previous life seemed to be only the tip of the iceberg of the mixed-race world.

Just like at the beginning, he thought that Kassel College was the West Point of the mixed-race world, the leading force in dragon slaying, and the leader of all mixed-race people in the world.

It wasn't until he went to Japan on a mission that he learned the Japanese branch of the Executive Bureau and Kassel College were only nominally headquarters and branch offices. In reality, the Japanese branch of the Executive Bureau was entirely subordinate to the Snake Clan.

Before things got ugly, they were still polite to Kassel College, but after things got ugly, they stopped pretending and went straight to the point.

If he hadn't come to Portugal and met Charlotte, he wouldn't have known that there was a mixed-race organization called the Solomon Temple here.

"Suddenly I feel like I lived my past life in a daze, and I didn't know anything about this kind of thing at all."

Lu Mingfei sighed inwardly, looked at Charlotte, and asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

Charlotte shook her head: "That's all."

"Oh, I'll be going now, I have something important to do..." Lu Mingfei said, "Oh, by the way, here's your suitcase back."

When they got off the train earlier, Lu Mingfei had helped Charlotte carry her luggage off the train. Lu Mingfei stepped forward, ready to return the luggage to Charlotte, but found that as soon as he took a step forward, Charlotte immediately took a step back.

Lu Mingfei paused for a moment, then took another step forward. Charlotte immediately took another step back, always keeping a distance of two or three meters from him, as if the two of them were dancing some kind of comical tango.

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, and just as he was about to ask Charlotte what was wrong, Charlotte pointed to the luggage in his hand, pursed her lips and whispered, "You... just put the luggage there, I'll remember to pick it up later."

Lu Mingfei was taken aback, only then realizing that Charlotte was still suffering from social anxiety. He had held Charlotte's hand in the train car earlier, and then they had talked normally afterwards, so Lu Mingfei had thought she had become desensitized to him.

However, looking at Charlotte's green eyes blinking nervously, Lu Mingfei suddenly felt that this European loli was quite cute—of course, this cuteness was not mixed with any improper thoughts. After all, Charlotte was only thirteen or fourteen years old, which, even in Europe, would mean a sentence of three years or more, up to life imprisonment.

"Then I'll just leave it here?" Lu Mingfei placed the suitcase between the two of them.

"Ah."

Charlotte watched as Lu Mingfei let go of her hand, then dragged his own suitcase, opened his umbrella, and turned to walk into the rain. After walking quite a distance, Charlotte finally took a step and reached her suitcase.

Raindrops splashed on the box. As Charlotte grasped the handle, she felt the warmth that hadn't yet dissipated.

……

Gulegan is a town within the Santarém district, but it's far from the city center and quite a distance from Santarém city proper. Portugal's railway network isn't very developed, so the next leg of the journey will require traveling by bus.

The journey was smooth sailing, especially after entering Gullango, when the weather gradually cleared up.

The Gullagon region was formerly part of the province of Ribatjo, the heart of Portugal's traditional capital and a major wine-producing region. Its mild climate, consistent rainfall, and the presence of the Tagus and Omota rivers provide ideal conditions for grape growing.

Lu Mingfei closed the geography atlas in his hand and looked out the window.

Manueline and Pombal-style buildings flashed by outside the car window, standing side by side as if they had stood here for a thousand years. Colorful flags hung and fluttered between the buildings, and there were even people riding horses on the road. Looking at the expressions on these people's faces, one could imagine how relaxed and leisurely life must be for the people here.

Compared to the modernized world of major cities like Lisbon or Porto, Gulegon seems to have been sealed in time a thousand years ago.

Lu Mingfei didn't actually know the exact location of Su Xiaoqiang's hometown, or even what Su Xiaoqiang's mother's surname was. It was Lu Mingze who told him about the location of Gulegang; the name was written on the first page of the "Everyday Portuguese Dictionary" that Lu Mingze gave him.

Although Lu Mingfei didn't know if this place was actually Xiaotiannv's hometown, he figured Lu Mingze wouldn't give him a coordinate for no reason, so he decided to head straight for this place.

Of course, the simplest way would be for Lu Mingfei to call or text Xiaotiannv on his phone, telling her he was in Portugal looking for her and asking where she was. But remembering what Xiaotiannv had said to him in the rain that day, Lu Mingfei wasn't sure if she would answer his call.

"Although we've arrived, we don't know what to do next."

Lu Mingfei got off the bus, looked up at the unfamiliar characters on the road sign, and sighed deeply.

Europe is such a small place, how come there are so many languages? And Portugal is the same; it's a developed country, yet it doesn't seem to be keeping up with international standards. We're not expecting Chinese road signs, but at least there should be English text below them, right?

Lu Mingfei took out his phone from his pocket, pressed the phone book button, and the top number was Liu Miaomiao's, followed by Su Xiaoqiang's name.

Portugal is in the Eastern Time Zone, which is 8 hours behind Beijing time. It's currently 2:30 PM in Portugal, which corresponds to around 10:30 PM in China.

Although I promised Xiao Mao that I would call her every day while I was in Portugal, a bunch of things happened this morning and I forgot. Xiao Mao always goes to bed early, I don't know if she's asleep at this hour.

Lu Mingfei pressed the directional keys, and the cursor on his phone screen moved to Liu Miaomiao's name. Before he could press the dial button, suddenly, with a "whoosh," as if a gust of wind had suddenly blown past him, a huge force pulled Lu Mingfei several steps away.

Before Lu Mingfei could react, he saw a motorcycle gradually disappear from his sight, and his phone and suitcase beside him vanished as well.

Lu Mingfei was taken aback, then belatedly realized what was happening:

Damn it! I've been robbed on a motorcycle!

So much for the stereotype that all foreigners are highly civilized, and that if you drop something on the ground, they'll watch over it and wait for you to come back? What a load of rubbish!

On the motorcycle, a man and a woman took off their masks.

"See? I told you these Chinese are the easiest to rob, weren't I right? They have no guard at all, and they're rich too," the red-bearded man said in Portuguese.

"Alright," the short-haired woman said as she drove the motorcycle. "Let's find a safe place to stop later and see if there's anything valuable in the bag."

"Let's go to that alley ahead. There are no security cameras there."

"it is good."

The woman twisted the handlebars of her motorcycle, preparing to turn into the alley, when she heard a rapid, forceful "clattering" sound behind her. She glanced instinctively at the motorcycle's rearview mirror, then her face paled in shock, as if she had seen a ghost.

“Que merda (What the fuck?)!” the woman yelled. “How did that guy catch up? Chinese Kung Fu?”

……

Su Xiaoqiang walked with her hands behind her back along the path in Charles Reilworth Garden.

Charles Reilworth Gardens is a 19th-century building and one of Gulegon's most famous landmarks, as well as a must-see for many tourists visiting Gulegon.

Su Xiaoqiang knew that her mother loved growing flowers. Whenever she visited Portugal as a child, her mother would always take her to visit this garden and let her experience the romantic atmosphere of a Portuguese-style garden.

After her mother passed away, Su Xiaoqiang would come here every year to pay respects to her mother, accompanied by her older cousins.

only……

Just as Su Xiaoqiang lowered her eyes, a crisp voice came from beside her.

Roseira, are you feeling unwell?

Su Xiaoqiang quickly looked up, smiled at the person next to her, and replied in Portuguese, "No, Bettina."

"No?" Bettina's gaze didn't leave Su Xiaoqiang's face. "I've noticed you've seemed listless these past two days in Portugal. You were even a little distracted while strolling in the garden. So I wanted to ask if you weren't feeling well."

"That is……"

Su Xiaoqiang paused for a moment, then said with a smile, "Maybe it's a bit of a case of acclimatization issues."

It wasn't really a matter of acclimatization; on the flight from China to Portugal, she had been thinking about Lu Mingfei and the things she had impulsively said in the pouring rain that day. She had been thinking about it constantly for the past two days as well. That's why she had been so listless.

He just didn't expect that his behavior would be so obvious that even Bettina noticed.

Bettina is her cousin, and Bettina's mother, Aunt Antonella, is her mother's sister. Su Xiaoqiang is currently living with them at her maternal grandparents' estate.

Bettina nodded upon hearing this, and without asking any further questions, simply said, "If you really aren't in the mood to stroll through the garden, then let's go back."

Su Xiaoqiang looked at Bettina and nodded: "Mm..."

As Bettina walked out of the garden and onto the sidewalk, many people were drawn to the stunningly beautiful sisters, stopping to look back and admire their slender figures.

However, Su Xiaoqiang didn't pay attention to the gazes of these people and kept her head down, thinking about her own things.

Why did I act so impulsively and blurt out everything that was on my mind...?

Embarrassment was only one aspect; the bigger issue was regret. Even though she had endured it for so long, she still couldn't hold back and said those things.

Lu Mingfei must be in a very difficult position, right?

Can I... still be friends with them?

Ugh... so annoying! Why did I have to say those things?!

Thinking of this, Su Xiaoqiang suddenly felt a surge of frustration. If it weren't for her cousin Bettina by her side, she would have definitely covered her face and stomped her feet.

However, at this moment, a bustling commotion ahead caught Su Xiaoqiang's attention.

The narrow sidewalk was packed with onlookers, three or four deep. No one knew what had happened to attract the attention of the police; murmurs of discussion filled the air.

A police car with its red and blue flashing lights was parked to the side. Two uniformed police officers were maintaining order among the crowd on the perimeter. A man who looked like their superior squeezed into the crowd with a ballpoint pen and a small notebook.

"Did something happen there?" Su Xiaoqiang asked, standing on tiptoe.

"I don't know," Bettina shook her head. "Do you want to go and see?"

"No, not really..."

Bettina looked at Su Xiaoqiang's face and suddenly said, "I'll go take a look. Rosella, you wait here for me."

"what……"

Before Su Xiaoqiang could react, Bettina had already walked over, cutting into the crowd like a knife, and then emerged again just as quickly, saying calmly:

"It seems that two groups of people got into a dispute over some issues, and one of them is even one of you Chinese."

"Chinese?"

Upon hearing this, Su Xiaoqiang suddenly felt a surge of curiosity. She had visited Portugal so many times, and apart from herself, she had hardly ever met any other Chinese people.

Bettina noticed Su Xiaoqiang's curiosity: "Do you want to go and see? Sure, I think that Chinese man seems to be having a hard time. He doesn't speak much Portuguese and is communicating with the police in English. We can go and help him."