Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

The firelight illuminated a chillingly pale face, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that it was a Noh mask. The mask depicted the smiling face of a nobleman, with a deathly pale complexion, bright red lips, thick black eyeliner around his eyes, and black teeth.

"Where have you been hiding all this time? The territory we spent over a decade fighting for was taken back by the Snake Clan in just a few days, and the gangs that were once allied with us have all betrayed us, yet you've completely disappeared during this time," Genji sneered. "What? Are Angers and Lu Mingfei really that terrifying?"

“You know better than I how terrifying Lu Mingfei is…” The king smiled behind the mask, a sinister smile seeping through his voice, “He is the ultimate monster who can devour the value of everyone, more terrifying than Bondarev and the people behind Bondarev.”

Chapter 212 The King and Genji

Genjiro and the King maintained a safe distance, yet Genjiro paced back and forth, touching the hilt of his sword. This luxurious suite, intended as a temporary lodging for the "Dragon King" of the Oni Clan, was not spacious in itself, its opulence determined only by its decor and commanding location. In just a few steps, Genjiro and the King's positions shifted.

An invisible killing intent almost filled the space between the darkness and the firelight. Yuan Zhinü's breathing gradually became longer and her eyes grew colder.

Cutting through such a mass of flesh and bone was not difficult for Genjiro. As a member of the royal family among the mixed-bloods, Genjiro might not be able to defeat Genjiro even when she used all her strength, but he showed an unprecedented solemnity when facing the king.

For a time, it was a nightmare that would wake Yuan Zhinü from her sleep.

When he first joined the Demon Clan, he refused to obey the King, so during a meeting, he slit the King's throat, killing him instantly. However, when Genji tried to remove the King's mask, she discovered it was an extension of the King's face; when she tried to remove it, she tore the skin apart, revealing bloody subcutaneous tissue. Even more terrifying, the next morning, the King appeared before Genji wearing the exact same mask, smiling and showing her concern, as if nothing had happened.

This is a demonic being with unimaginable regenerative abilities. Moreover, Genji has never seen him fight. Theoretically, he and Uesugi Erii are both corrupted beings, and his combat power should be above that of the Emperor.

"Don't you understand? In Japan today, I am the only one like you. Those who fall into the demonic path have no way back." Wang Jiang acted as if he hadn't seen the two swords, still trying to persuade Minamoto no Chie. "There is always hope in seemingly hopeless situations. You shouldn't be the kind of fool who doesn't know where he is, what he is doing, or what he is saying... Let me tell you some good news: we have found the path to the underworld!"

“The Divine Burial Site has been tightly sealed off by the combined forces of the Snake Clan and the Secret Party. Everyone knows that the White King is there. You are at your wit’s end.” Genji shook her head. “I think Lord Lu would be more interested in you alive, but I am the opposite!” She drew her two swords at the same time. They were two ancient swords without names, their blades gleaming as clear and beautiful as water.

The distance between the two instantly shrank to face to face. Genji used a close-combat sword technique, relentlessly slashing and striking, forcing King to retreat step by step.

The king also concealed a knife in his hand. From the outside, it was just a uniformly polished and sharpened iron bar. It was a type of knife called a "armored sword," which was usually used as an assassination weapon concealed on the body. In close combat, when an assassin attacked a target wearing armor, the length of this knife allowed for some flexible slashes to cause effective damage through the gaps in the armor.

The two faced each other, swinging their swords rapidly, sparks flying as their blades clashed. For a moment, it was Minamoto no Chiki, wielding the long sword, who gained the upper hand in close combat, and the king suffered multiple wounds on his body and clothes from the impact of the blades.

A few steps later, the king was already at the corner of the wall behind him. He suddenly stopped, slashing at Yuan Zhi Nu's sword with his reverse robe, and used his bare hand to reach into Yuan Zhi Nu's attack range, forcefully grabbing Yuan Zhi Nu's wrist! His speed and strength indeed surpassed the emperor's.

Genji's attacks appear fierce, but they are actually a series of overlapping attacks. Once the rhythm breaks down, the disadvantage of long weapons against short weapons in a narrow area becomes apparent.

However, Wang only forced him back with a knee strike, without taking the opportunity to leave any wounds on him.

"Hehehe, I bet you're in such a hurry because of her..." Wang said sinisterly. "Women are such foolish creatures. When they are filled with hopeless love, very few of them will wisely choose to give up. Most of them will choose to burn themselves out for you to see. At least in that moment, she is the brightest in your eyes. You should be the one who understands this best, my dear girl."

He suddenly started running, leaping over Genji and rushing towards a thin wall. It was the hiding place of the members of the Fierce Ghost Clan who had tried to eavesdrop on Lu Mingfei and Genji's conversation; it was a secret room left over from the construction of the building, capable of monitoring the main room.

Genjiro initially paced around to distract the king from that area.

Wang Jiang gripped the armor handle tightly and thrust it against the wall. The alchemical weapon, enhanced by terrifying power, easily broke through the wooden wall, and someone in the darkness next door scrambled to dodge.

Genji rose and gathered her strength, then threw two swords in succession. The first sword blocked Kaito's path of attack, while the other sword went straight for the King.

The king showed no fear of the first blade and continued his attack without flinching. The figure who had been hiding was stabbed in the chest and fell down. At the same time, the woman's blade pierced through the king's arm.

But the king had to dodge the second blade. He stepped back to the side, letting out a sinister laugh that sounded like a cough.

The wall collapsed, revealing the figure of Sakurai Kogure who had been hiding. In her hand, she held a large-caliber M500 revolver. Some members of the Oni Clan were equipped with this type of gun, which was filled with mercury explosive bullets. These bullets did not have high penetration, but they could create a large cloud of mercury smoke after exploding, making them very useful for dealing with out-of-control Oni or berserk Deadpools.

"Stupid woman, you've ruined everything!" Yuan Zhinu roared.

Having lost his weapon, and facing a king whose strength was unfathomable and whose fighting style was extremely fierce and unpredictable, he was left with only the option of transforming into a dragon.

The most produced evolution drug by the Oni Clan is a rainbow-colored injection, the most dangerous of which is dark purple. Genji can drink the dark purple evolution drug like a beverage. When the dangerous liquid enters his body, it's like flowing into a black hole.

He wasn't completely unaffected; rather, the extremely high concentration of dragon blood had completely altered his physical structure, to the point that he could control the storage of medicinal power within his body. When he fully released the medicinal power, it would surely be the day he went to hell.

The evolutionary process that occurred the day she drank Lu Mingfei's blood reappeared on Genji. A cold aura flowed along the ground, and a miniature elemental storm was forming. In the darkness, her crimson-gold dragon eyes stared intently at the king.

The king stared intently at him, a hint of delight in his eyes. "Your bloodline has advanced further? How terrifying, how foolish, hahahaha."

He calmly took out a pair of black wooden clappers, then gently tapped them together, rubbing them to make a rustling sound. The two small sticks transformed into some kind of musical instrument in his hands, producing a strange "puffing" melody.

As the clapper sounded, the dragon transformation process was forcibly interrupted. Genji fell to the ground, writhing in agony, her face sometimes contorted in rage, sometimes in confusion, and occasionally filled with the terror of seeing hell.

Chapter 213 Undersea

Yuan Zhinu struggled to her knees, her hands bracing against the ground, trying to stand up, but she lacked even the strength. In contrast to her disheveled appearance, Wang Jiang maintained an elegant posture, playing that strange music on his clapper.

When the music ended, Genji lay limply on the ground, too weak to even move her arms. Sakurai Kogure, dazed, clutched her chest and got up, not understanding what had happened. Genji looked up at her, her pupils a mixture of pale gold and blood red, as if two dyes had mingled. His lips moved, as if he were saying "Save me" or "Please," but he couldn't utter a sound.

Sakurai Kogure wasn't in much better shape than him. Not only had the king left a sharp weapon wound in her chest, but the frenzied force of the blow had also shattered her ribs and ribcage. Her breath was now laced with metallic-tasting blood and foam. Yet, she could still barely lift the gun, her hand shakily pointing the muzzle at the king.

A flash and a loud bang followed as the large-caliber bullet accurately pierced the general's chest, then exploded. The splashed mercury, heated by the gunpowder, released a cloud of white mercury vapor.

The powerful recoil sent Sakurai Kogure flying backward, crashing into the concrete wall of the building. She collapsed to the ground, too exhausted to get up.

But Wang Jiang only staggered slightly. He turned to look at Sakurai Kogure, his eyes chillingly cold.

"You should have died long ago, do you still think you're too long to live..." He muttered to himself as he approached Sakurai Kogure, toying with the armored dagger in his hand, looking at her as if she were a lab rat on a dissection table. "You think you're a hopeless demon, yet you still cling to this so-called love that keeps you warm... You're much dumber than I thought. Now I'll show you how pathetic it is to have chosen the wrong path."

His second half of the sentence was meant for Genjiro.

After saying that, he grabbed Sakurai Kogure by the hair, dragging her along the ground like a dead dog, bringing her to Genji. Then he lifted Sakurai Kogure's head high, forcing her to tilt her head back, revealing her long, fair neck. The blade of Kaito pressed against her neck, the sharp alchemical weapon immediately leaving a red mark, blood trickling down the blade.

"No," Yuan Zhinü called weakly, but it was actually just a soft whisper.

He is now the true Genji, and also the younger brother in Genji's memories. The King will control him with the sound of a clapper, which will put him into a 'demon' state, granting him bloodline abilities and a surge in confidence and willpower. Kazama Ruri is actually the name of that demon. However, the King can also use the clapper to put the demon to sleep, turning him back into Genji. With his current strength, he can't even grip the hilt of a sword; he can only watch helplessly as the King executes Sakurai Kogure.

"boom!"

Another thunderclap exploded in the darkness. Sakurai Kogure had another gun hidden. She threw the first one in front of the king to lower his guard, and only revealed her trump card at this final moment.

The gun was loaded with armor-piercing rounds. The bullet pierced the general's body, and the sharp blade of the guillotine sliced ​​open Sakurai Kogure's throat. The two fell simultaneously. Sakurai Kogure clutched her neck and whimpered, while the general sprang to his feet and lunged at Sakurai Kogure with a ferocious expression.

In a flash, Genji threw herself onto Sakurai Kogure, using her body to block the king's attack.

Sakurai Kogure and Genjiro were cheek to cheek, their expressions blank. They weren't surprised that Genjiro had come to save them, but rather because of the look in Genjiro's eyes. If "Dragon King" Kazama Ruri was a peerless actress with the most sorrowful and beautiful eyes, then Genjiro now looked more like an ordinary boy, his eyes filled with fear and timidity.

The loose-fitting kimono suddenly looked ill-fitting on him, like a child wearing an adult's clothes. The same disheveled hairstyle, which looked glamorous on Kazama Ruri, looked pathetic on him.

His clothes and appearance remained the same, but the difference in his temperament made him seem like a completely different person.

"I'm not the person you like. My name is Genjiro," Genjiro said apologetically. In this state, he had neither power nor enough willpower. The only way he could think of to protect Sakurai Kogure was to exchange his own life for hers.

But the king's blade stopped at Minamoto no Chizuru's back, not stabbing her. He grabbed her by the collar, dragged her away from the pleasure house without even glancing at Sakurai Kogure. Two gunshots alerted the scouts of the nearby Hebi-Hachi family, and vehicles approached from a distance.

……

A gentle sea breeze carries a cool and salty scent.

Under the bright moon, the middle of the sea looked like a pile of silver sand, the moonlight reflecting off the shimmering surface. The waves swayed gently, and silvery light danced on their crests.

Lu Mingfei walked on the waves, with only a blurry and distant horizon ahead, merging seamlessly with the night sky in the far distance, making it impossible to distinguish between heaven and sea. Occasionally, clouds would drift by, appearing like black mist edged with silver under the moonlight.

In the distance, one or two fishing boats were lit up. The fishermen used the lights to attract fish, which was more efficient than fishing during the day. Generally, the catch of fish such as sardines, large yellow croakers, and mackerel could be transported to the fish market by the sea in the early morning and sold for a good price.

The largest light source at sea is a floating platform under construction. It is a forward base for deep-sea exploration jointly built by the Ganryu Research Institute, Maruyama Construction Office, and Equipment Department. In a week, several manned and unmanned deep-sea submersibles will depart from here to the underwater burial site to resolve the threat of the ancient dragon embryo and the white king's skeleton.

Lu Mingfei glanced at the distant land, in the direction of Osaka, as if sensing something, and then suddenly lost his buoyancy and fell vertically into the water. A layer of air barrier on his body isolated him from the seawater, and after entering the water, he sank straight into the deep sea.

Darkness and the sound of water stretched to the farthest reaches of all perception, leaving only meaningless noise except for the occasional school of fish swimming by. This situation worsened at a depth of 300 meters, where the shallow water was no longer teeming with life; being there felt like being alone, suspended in the middle of an empty world.

A flame lit up the darkness, and flames flowed over Lu Mingfei's body, outlining a blurry figure.

Lu Mingfei simply expanded the scope of the gaseous realm. Under the immense pressure of seawater exceeding 30 atmospheres, a transparent bubble was supported by the power of the elements. Being underwater, he was almost completely enveloped by the inexhaustible water element. However, the distribution of elements in different environments in nature differs only in proportion. Even underwater, Lu Mingfei still had enough fire, earth, and wind elements at his disposal.

Melina's figure leaped out of the flames.

She held Lu Mingfei's hand. All around them was the clear seawater illuminated by firelight, and many dust-like particles seemed to float in the void, like a snowfall.

Chapter 214 Undersea

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a place like this,” Melina exclaimed. “So far removed from the world, I feel my own insignificance and the vastness of the world.”

“The world is vast, yet not so vast.” Lu Mingfei seemed to be deep in thought. “This world is not coveted by the gods in the starry sky, but it is already crowded enough. In the distant Earth Dragon Age, there were the Black and White Kings and the Four Kings. In the present era, there are dragon organizations that seize and control political, economic, and scientific research resources behind the scenes.”

These thoughts were what Lu Mingfei had seen and felt along the way. His experience in Japan had made him feel alarmed and worried, even uneasy. Things that he originally planned to complete over several years or even decades now needed to be reassessed in terms of urgency and necessity. Among them, the thing that made him most hesitant was the mixed-race families and the associations they formed.

Corresponding to this trip to Japan, Su Enxi's team and Chen Motong, who was recalled by the Chen family, conducted an investigation in Europe. Relying on the information that Caesar had come into contact with and deduced in the "Nibelungen Project," they focused on investigating the biological or medical laboratories of the secret party family. Combined with the intelligence obtained from Herzog in Japan, they were able to roughly deduce the schemes of the person behind the scenes.

This is also why Lu Mingfei insisted on prioritizing resolving the troubles of the Snake Clan and others on land. If it weren't for messy things like Herzog, he wouldn't even have entered Japan, but would have gone directly from the South Pacific islands along the sea route to the location of the ancient dragon embryo's heartbeat to solve the problem.

Only now, after all this time, has he had the time and energy to dive down and resolve the root cause, or rather the trigger, of all this—the White King and the Ancient Dragon.

As the water depth increases, in addition to changes in the population of aquatic organisms, the amount of fine particulate matter suspended in the water also increases. At a depth of about 7000 meters, a huge amount of organic suspended matter is mixed into the seawater, and many transparent, strangely shaped micro-animals are attached to the surface of the suspended matter.

In such deep seas, similar spectacular scenes only form near submarine volcanoes. Volcanic debris and sediments mix with seawater from volcanic fissures, forming hydrothermal vents. These mineral-rich fluids create a unique chemical environment that attracts microorganisms to gather and multiply, thus forming the bottom layer of a small ecosystem.

The two were still some distance from the seabed, and such a rich concentration of marine life was unusual.

In the worldview of the Secret Party, if something seems a little out of place, it means that it is related to the dragon race.

“These creatures are a Familia,” Melina said. As a soul, her perspective on the world differed from Lu Mingfei's, and she could sense some of the substance beneath the surface of reality. “An incomplete Familia, which hasn’t even obtained the core authority of a demigod like the Dragon King, the ‘Element’.”

“The power of demigods and gods is different. The logic behind the actions of gods is to spread their endless power and influence through faith or stars, while the dragon race builds an ecosystem for the accumulation of power,” Lu Mingfei said. “If these followers were created under the influence of the Dragon King, then they are food prepared by Him for Him.”

"I wonder if it's that white emperor or the ancient king carried by the Lenin." Melina slowly floated up and hugged Lu Mingfei's neck from behind. Flames flowed along Lu Mingfei's body, forming the shape of the War Demon Armor. "I won't waste my soul power on the journey ahead."

Lu Mingfei nodded, and Melina's figure slowly disappeared.

He looked down.

Light can already be seen here. This is the deep sea, nearly 8000 meters deep, which should be absolutely dark, but this sea is actually full of life.

The water was the color of a sunset, and a vast school of thousands of fish floated in the shimmering light. Some rose in spiraling arcs, while others plunged into the depths like whirlpools. Some of these fish were as white as silver, some were almost transparent, and others emitted a faint blue fluorescence. Occasionally, a giant manta ray would flap its wing-like fleshy fins, tearing through the school of fish, creating a gap that would then spring back to its original shape. Giant sea turtles swam alongside the school, clumsily waving their wing-like fins. They had never seen most of these fish before, and even those that resembled some were quite different. For example, the manta ray had a black and white patterned exoskeleton on its head, making it look like a helmeted dragon from a fantasy novel; the sea turtle's carapace was not hard but fleshy, like cracked red basalt.

The scene before me possessed a grand and magnificent aura. Its dreamlike beauty surpassed the limits of imagination, making one mistakenly believe that the sunset-colored sea outside the porthole was the sky before sunset, with schools of fish swimming in the air.

In Lu Mingfei's eyes, this was yet another sight. The flow of elements here was both chaotic and orderly, like an elemental storm in the making. And all the creatures here, from microorganisms to the large predators at the top of the food chain, were all subspecies of dragons.

However, many predators with low-level intelligence have quietly left this sea area. They have dragon blood flowing through their veins, possess the will of beasts, and live in endless battles. Their perception of danger is far more sensitive than that of hybrids. When they sense Lu Mingfei's presence, the fear their genes relay to them is tantamount to facing a natural disaster.

Lu Mingfei waded through the school of fish and reached the actual seabed.

Directly above the Japan Trench, to the left is a gently sloping seabed, and to the right are jagged cliffs. The left side belongs to the Eurasian Plate, while the right side belongs to the Pacific Plate; their collision here formed an extremely deep underwater canyon. At the bottom of the canyon is a golden crack running north-south, where the Earth's crust has broken off, and layers of reddish-brown rock have rolled out. Magma erupts intermittently, creating a spectacular scene where seawater and magma blend together, while faint rumbling echoes below.

Based on the acoustic data analyzed by the Equipment Department and recent explorations, it can be basically determined that the Lenin shipwreck is located on the edge of this fault zone.

The outside seawater temperature has exceeded 200 degrees Celsius. The high pressure in the deep sea also raises the boiling point of the seawater. When it comes into contact with magma at temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius, the water is heated to a temperature that most organisms on Earth cannot survive. In this extremely hot environment, only a very small number of hydrothermal organisms and heat-resistant microorganisms can survive.

For Lu Mingfei, holding the power of the fire element made this environment feel like a comfortable cradle, and the power also made him feel a sense of intimacy and affection for it.

This phenomenon of the law influencing the mind was particularly strong on the Elden Ring, which carried the Golden Law; for a long time, Lu Mingfei even suspected he was going to suffer a mental breakdown. In contrast, the immature authority of the dragons had an effect that was like a gentle breeze whispering in his ear.

Chapter 215 The Sunken Ship

Lu Mingfei followed the fault line and finally saw the building behind an underwater ridge.