Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

Aki nodded to Ye Sheng.

Ye Sheng raised his hand and knocked on the apartment door. Three knocks echoed in the hallway. After a while, a stumbling sound came from inside the door, which had poor soundproofing, as if someone had accidentally kicked a stool or a table.

Immediately afterwards, the lock cylinder clicked open, and the security door opened a crack.

"Quemés? (Who are you?)"

Half of a woman's face was visible through the gap; her slightly wavy, light yellow hair was neatly combed, but her eyes were still a little red and swollen. Aki had reviewed the information Norma had sent beforehand and recognized the woman before her as Albrecht Soter's wife.

"We are agents of SIS, here to investigate the disappearance of your husband."

Ye Sheng replied with his prepared response, “Sabe inglês? Em inglês, podemos ser capazes de comunicar mais facilmente. (Do you speak English? It might be easier for us to communicate if you speak English.)”

The woman didn't answer immediately, but cautiously sized up Aki and Ye Sheng. She seemed to harbor deep suspicion towards the two young men with Asian features. However, after seeing Ye Sheng's SIS agent badge, she hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said in English, "Yes. Please come in."

The door opened, and Ye Sheng followed the woman into the living room. Aki, who was following behind, made sure to close the door behind him.

The two put on shoe covers at the door.

The apartment has a classic layout: after the shoe-changing area at the entrance, there's a dining room and living room, with a hallway next to the living room leading to three bedrooms. In the center of the living room, a photo of the middle-aged couple and their two daughters hangs in the most prominent position.

"Is the girl in the photo your daughter with Mr. Albrecht?" Aki asked.

The Kassel College curriculum includes a communication course taught by Masafumi Tomiyama, a counselor at the college. He taught them how to quickly lower the other person's guard through communication.

Although she was dressed in a stereotypical black agent suit, Aki's gentle and sweet appearance, reminiscent of a Yamato Nadeshiko, was quite endearing. It was a plan they had agreed upon on their way here, allowing Aki, who was also a woman, to communicate with Albrecht Soter's wife.

As for steer the conversation toward their daughter, it's because topics related to children and family make it easier for a mother to lower her guard.

When Aki brought up her daughter, the woman paused for a moment, then nodded and replied, "Yes."

"They should still be in elementary school, right? Are they at home?"

"It's a workday today, and they're at school right now."

"Oh, right! I almost forgot today is a workday."

As Aki continued to communicate with the woman with a smile, a golden light subtly flickered in her eyes.

Words of Power: Senluo.

The moment the power of words was activated, a fantasy was immediately constructed in the woman's mind.

After confirming that the woman had been completely controlled by Senra's effects, Aki turned her head and nodded to Ye Sheng.

Then Ye Sheng turned and walked into the hallway leading to the room. But in the woman's view, Ye Sheng was still standing in the living room.

Although neither of them looked like Portuguese, Aki's Words of Power were well-suited for this kind of investigative mission. After entering the apartment and confirming that only Soter's wife was inside, Aki immediately activated her Words of Power.

Ye Sheng then took advantage of this time to enter the room and investigate.

Although the master bedroom was located at the end of the corridor, Ye Sheng did not overlook his two daughters' bedrooms. After all, clues could be left anywhere.

The daughter's room is decorated mainly in girly colors such as pink and yellow. Various dolls are placed on the bed, and a photo of her with her parents is prominently displayed on the desk. It's clear that the parents and their two children have a very good relationship.

Ye Sheng put on gloves and began searching his daughters' room. Unsurprisingly, it was difficult to find any clues in such a place. After searching every nook and cranny, including the wardrobe and under the bed, Ye Sheng left his two daughters' rooms, turned around, and pushed open the door to his and his wife's master bedroom.

The couple's room was quite large. Just as Ye Sheng had imagined, in addition to the bedroom, dressing room, and ensuite bathroom, there was also a small study with a computer on the desk.

After all, Soter's wife isn't a hybrid. It would be very inconvenient if she were watching him log onto the Hunter website or participate in hybrid-related activities.

Ye Sheng sat down at the computer desk, turned on the power switch, and after the classic Windows XP boot screen, a password input interface popped up. The fact that the computer had a password was exactly what Ye Sheng expected. Even if Soter wasn't a hunter on the hunter website, given his job as a tax inspector, his personal computer would naturally need a password.

However, such a simple password was of no use to the executive officer of Kassel College. He took out his laptop and connected the two computers via USB cable.

“‘Snake’ is calling ‘Dancer’.” Ye Sheng put on the hidden Bluetooth earpiece.

"This is 'Dancer,' please give instructions."

“I have arrived at the mission location and sent my computer’s IP address to Norma so that she can use my computer to hack into Albrecht Soter’s computer.”

"receive."

Selma sent the mission instructions to Norma. Upon receiving the instructions, in the central control room of Kassel College, far across the ocean, Norma's massive data stream immediately connected to Soter's computer via the network shared by Ye Sheng's computer.

The password input screen flashed and spun, and less than a minute later, the boot screen popped up, and the password was successfully cracked.

Ye Sheng didn't immediately unplug the data cable. Norma was currently recovering data from Albrecht Sotter's computer, from deleted browsing history to every modified or deleted system file.

After waiting for quite some time, Selma's voice came through the headphones.

"Norma has recovered all the deleted records on the computer and copied all the data. However, the records that were overwritten on the hard drive cannot be recovered over the network; they can only be recovered through hardware."

“I know that,” Ye Sheng said. “I’ve connected a new external hard drive to my computer. I’ll have Norma install the system remotely and copy all the file locations to be the same as this computer. I’ll replace the hard drive and bring back Albrecht Sotter’s computer’s hard drive.”

"receive."

As expected, the mission proceeded even more smoothly than Ye Sheng had anticipated.

While Norma was copying the documents, Ye Sheng also looked around the other parts of the room, taking pictures of all of Soter's manuscripts, documents, and notes with a miniature high-definition camera. He didn't overlook maps and calendars, which might contain crucial information.

After finishing everything, Ye Sheng replaced the computer's hard drive, wiped away any traces he had left behind, and then put all the equipment back into his bag. Returning to the living room, he nodded to Aki.

Aki winked knowingly and calmly released Shinra.

“We have a general understanding of the situation,” Aki said with a smile. “That concludes our visit for today. We will come to visit again next time.”

The woman blinked blankly, still not understanding what had happened.

In her memory, the two strange-looking East Asian young men entered her home, chatted with her about everyday things for a while, and then got up to say goodbye.

She claimed to be there to investigate her husband's disappearance, but she did absolutely nothing related to the investigation. Instead, she seemed more like a psychologist there to help her temporarily forget the pain of losing her husband.

After leaving Albrecht Sotter's house and walking a distance down the street, Aki asked, "How did it go? Did you get the information smoothly?"

"Of course." Ye Sheng took out his computer hard drive from his bag, shook it, and a victorious smile appeared on his face.

Seeing this, Aki nodded with her lips pursed, knowing that the mission should be going smoothly.

"So where do we go next? Go straight back? Or are there other instructions?" Aki asked, her hands hanging down in front of her.

Ye Sheng pondered for a moment. He said, "If I remember correctly, the branch of the Solomon Temple in Santaren is on Tagus Street, not too far from here. We can go to Tagus Street first to meet Professor Mans, and then return to Valentine's manor together. We can also report on the mission along the way."

With that, Ye Sheng turned to Aki and asked, "What do you think?"

Aki shook her head, indicating that she had no objection.

"I remember Tagus Street should lead this way..."

Ye Sheng took out a map from his pocket and was looking for the direction to Tagus Street when he suddenly heard a loud bang.

The sound seemed to be coming from quite far away, muffled and deep, but it was clearly audible—it was an explosion.

Before Ye Sheng could react, he saw a group of people running towards him from the distance, each with a terrified expression on their face, screaming in Portuguese that they couldn't understand. Their frantic escape made it seem as if zombies or Godzilla were chasing them.

Ye Sheng and Ya Ji exchanged a glance, and the next moment, they ran forward against the flow of people.

……

Chapter 227 Childlike and Naïve Interactions

Tagus Street.

Su Xiaoqiang paid the money and happily rolled up the finished painting.

Just as Lu Mingfei was about to lean over to take a look at how the painting was, he saw Su Xiaoqiang immediately take a step back and dodge, and then Su Xiaoqiang gently slapped his hand away.

"What are you doing coming over here? Don't you know that men and women shouldn't touch each other?" Su Xiaoqiang held the painting protectively in her arms, her almond-shaped eyes wide open, but there was no anger in her eyes, only a hint of nervousness.

"No." Lu Mingfei was taken aback. "Isn't this a painting we did together?"

"When did I say this was a painting we painted together?" Little Fairy snorted, glanced at Lu Mingfei, and handed him another painting. "This is yours."

Lu Mingfei opened the painting in front of him, glanced at it, and was instantly dumbfounded.

It's not that there's anything wrong with the painting itself. The street artist's skills are definitely commendable. In the somewhat realistic scene, Lu Mingfei is sitting on a bench, with Tagus Street and the Church of Santa Maria de Mavila in the background.

The only problem is...

"Why am I the only person in this painting?" Lu Mingfei asked, frowning.

He closed the painting, then opened it again; it still only showed him. After ruling out that he was opening it incorrectly, Lu Mingfei looked up at the little celestial maiden opposite him.

"Where are you?"

“Your painting must only depict you, right?” Su Xiaoqiang blinked, put one hand on her hip, and said as if it were a matter of course: “My painting only depicts me.”

"Then why should we both just sit there like idiots and act as models?"

“If we sit together, we can paint two pictures at the same time. It’s so hot, even if you’re willing to sit there and wait, I’m not.”

Lu Mingfei, of course, wouldn't so easily believe the little fairy's nonsense: "I don't believe it unless you show me!"

"No way!" Su Xiaoqiang stuck out her tongue and made a face. "Come and take it if you dare!"

Lu Mingfei wasn't originally in a position to absolutely watch, but the little fairy who playfully stuck out her tongue actually ignited his competitive spirit.

For some reason, Lu Mingfei just wanted to win against the little celestial maiden who was teasing him like this, as if he would feel resentful if he didn't conquer her.

Lu Mingfei took a step forward, just as he was about to reach out to Su Xiaoqiang, the little fairy immediately hid the painting behind her back and retreated lightly, touching the ground with her toes. He took another step forward, and she took another step back.

Lu Mingfei pressed closer, while Xiao Tiannv deftly dodged and weaved. The boy and girl engaged in a childish interaction on the streets of Portugal.

Although with Lu Mingfei's current skills, it would actually be quite easy for him to subdue the Little Fairy and snatch something from her.

The problem is that Lu Mingfei can't use every trick in the book when facing the Little Fairy. He has to find the right balance so as not to hurt her, while also avoiding touching her sensitive areas. And the Little Fairy is being incredibly careful, hiding the painting behind her back and only dribbling at him from the front.

From Su Xiaoqiang's perspective, all she needed to do was hide the painting behind her back, but from Lu Mingfei's perspective, there were many more things to consider.

They had to find a way to snatch the painting from the little fairy, avoid those bouncy, swaying, and restless sensitive parts, and also figure out how not to damage the painting.

Su Xiaoqiang seemed to have noticed Lu Mingfei's hesitation; as soon as Lu Mingfei reached out his hand, she immediately turned to face him, forcing Lu Mingfei to quickly withdraw his hand. Then, the little fairy would wink at her, a mocking smirk playing on her lips.

If Liu Miaomiao teased him like that, Lu Mingfei would simply reach out, wrap his arms around her waist, and give her a kiss, and she would obediently melt into his embrace. But faced with Su Xiaoqiang's flirtatious behavior, Lu Mingfei was helpless.

What can he do? He can't possibly treat Xiaotiannv the way he treated Liu Miaomiao, can he?

Lu Mingfei stopped what he was doing and silently looked at Xiao Tiannv.

Su Xiaoqiang took a light step back, strutting around with one hand on her hip like a victor, and looked at Lu Mingfei, saying, "What, admitting defeat? Not planning to fight anymore?"

Seeing that Lu Mingfei remained silent, Su Xiaoqiang was taken aback for a moment. Then, her tone softened slightly as she leaned forward slightly, hands behind her back, and tentatively asked, "What's wrong? You're not still angry, are you?"

Seeing that Su Xiaoqiang was off guard, Lu Mingfei's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly pounced on the little fairy in front of him like a lion that had been lying in wait for its prey to make a mistake.

"It's now!"