Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

Lu Mingfei looked at the woman who had been silent all along with surprise. Her expression was complicated, and she seemed to care quite a bit.

"Fear prevents progress. Just as smoke kills more people than flames, sometimes it's not danger that brings death, but fear." After a moment of thought, Lu Mingfei shared his small insights into the mindset for combat.

The woman fell silent.

Lu Mingfei didn't care whether she could accept this explanation. After all, she had never been in that nightmarish world and couldn't understand the feeling of despair and wanting to end her life only to find that even death was imprisoned.

Professor Mans returned quickly, bringing himself and Lu Mingfei with them, both wearing diving equipment.

His specially made diving suit had a hard, transparent pouch in front, inside which was a baby wearing an extra-small diving suit. Lu Mingfei wore another ordinary diving suit, and the two were connected by a signal cable to communicate underwater.

Standing in the storm, you feel the wind and rain swaying you, as if the power of nature is so violent it's about to tear you apart. But once you enter the water, all the chaotic sounds and sights are swallowed up by the vast world of water, creating a different kind of awe-inspiring and terrifying feeling.

After entering the water, the two gradually swam towards deeper water.

The woman in the rear cabin looked coldly at him. "To be able to extinguish even fear, she's ruthless to the point of being frightening."

I don't know who she was thinking of.

It was very quiet underwater; apart from breathing, the only sounds were the bubbling of bubbles.

The two quickly approached the area where Ye Sheng and Jiu Deyaji were located, and the beams of the four spotlights finally dispelled some of the dim green light.

Directly in front of them stood a colossal bronze wall, stretching out in all directions, seemingly without boundaries, infinitely large. Lu Mingfei clearly heard Professor Mans's breathing become rapid.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya, who had been waiting there, held each other's hands tightly.

Looking at the two of them, Lu Mingfei was momentarily lost in thought.

This scene seems familiar. Long, long ago, in the blizzard of the Huasheng Snowfield, there was no sky or earth, it was so cold it felt like the end of the world, and time seemed to stand still.

Yes, such loneliness can only be soothed by two people huddling together for warmth.

“Signal line.” Mans’s voice woke Lu Mingfei up. In his eyes, this “S” class seemed to be frightened.

Lu Mingfei came to his senses and calmly handed the new signal cable to Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya. After they connected, Professor Mans replaced their oxygen cylinders.

Chapter 22 Opening the Door

After changing Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya's equipment, Professor Mans gently pushed off the water and approached the surface of the bronze wall.

“Grab me.” Professor Mans’ voice came through the three’s earpieces.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya stepped forward and put their hands on his shoulders, and Lu Mingfei followed suit.

Professor Mans closed his eyes, placed his hand on the bronze wall, and began to chant softly. The chant, like a song and a roar, resonated not only through the communication devices but also through the steel helmets and deep water, echoing deep within their minds.

Lu Mingfei stared intently at Professor Mans's retreating figure; he remembered those musical scales.

In the underground laboratory of Kassel College, the grotesque man played recordings of various dragon-script chants for Lu Mingfei, one after another. Lu Mingfei felt no resonance, but he memorized every single one of the sounds.

The one that Professor Mans is using is one of them.

Word Spirit O Dustless Land.

Professor Mans simultaneously opened his diving helmet.

Lu Mingfei could clearly feel the artificially formulated air mixture, tailored for prolonged human breathing, gushing from Professor Mans' oxygen tank, being pulled by a powerful force and swirling to compress the water flow in all directions.

A gas-filled bubble rapidly diffuses outward from Professor Mans's center.

It wasn't a simple traction of the wind; before the airflow even came into contact with the water, something "empty" had already pushed the water away—under the pressure of tens of tons of water.

Lu Mingfei clearly saw that the boundary between "emptiness" and water, the outer shell of this huge cavitation bubble, passed over his diving helmet with an irresistible and powerful repulsive force, leaving not even a single water droplet clinging to the glass surface.

Yes, it wasn't simply about controlling the wind, nor did it generate the power of a storm that Lu Mingfei was familiar with. Rather, it was a deeper application of the wind. High-density wind swirled, perfectly suppressed within a narrow area to achieve a "repulsive" effect.

In this area, the group stood on the dry ground at the bottom of the water!

Professor Mans's Word of Power simultaneously blew away the mottled patina on the bronze wall, revealing the dark blue-green metal surface beneath. A huge and eerie relief appeared before everyone: a distorted human face holding a match in its mouth.

Professor Mans carefully lifted the baby out of the wetsuit's abdominal cavity. "Baby, the rest is up to you."

Lu Mingfei watched as the baby staggered to his feet, his little feet stepping on Professor Mans's hand, and then his aura changed.

If Lu Mingfei moved to the front, he would see that the baby had a solemn expression and bright golden eyes.

The little fellow stood upright, pressing his fingers against the bronze sculpture's forehead. Blood welled up from his fingertips, slowly trickling down the cracks in the bronze.

The bronze sculpture's face came to life; its pained and contorted expression, along with the writhing of the dark blue metal, surprisingly revealed a look of surprise.

This makes its expression look like it's both crying and laughing, ferocious and terrifying.

The baby opened its mouth and emitted a deep, resonant sound, like the chanting of a giant bell.

Lu Mingfei had never heard of this dragon script before, but he silently memorized it in his mind.

Based on its previous designation as a "key," it should be some kind of spiritual power that opens doors or helps one find a way.

After a moment, the expression on the bronze face remained unchanged.

Professor Mans took the baby back into his arms. "The key is enough. You're great."

Then, the bronze face slowly opened its mouth, as if yawning. From deep within the bronze wall came a terrifying sound of metal cracking from heating. A pitch-black hole about a meter in diameter appeared on the bronze wall, with the bronze face's teeth on both sides. These were definitely not human teeth; each one was as sharp as a dagger.

"This is the entrance," Ye Sheng said in a low voice.

Lu Mingfei lightly leaped to the edge of that "mouth," bent down to look down into the darkness, and prepared to jump down.

"Junior!" Shudeya quickly grabbed his arm.

Lu Mingfei turned around with a hint of confusion before realizing what was happening.

He's not working alone anymore; he has a team and a leader.

The infant, who had just returned to the wetsuit's abdominal cavity, blinked its clear eyes and sucked on its fingers. Professor Mans, however, looked stern and quite displeased.

“Lu Mingfei, we’re just delivering the ‘keys.’ Ye Sheng and Ya Ji are the real working team!” Mans said in a low voice.

He didn't have the extra time or energy to teach this disobedient "S"-class a lesson, and immediately looked at Ye Sheng, "You have about two hours. This bronze human face is a living guardian made of pure matter containing spirit. High-purity dragon blood will temporarily satisfy it, but it can also close its doors."

He untied the black metal box that was secured to the straps of his diving suit and handed it to Ye Sheng.

"Dragon King Norton hasn't awakened yet. The goal is to find his egg, but if we can't, we'll destroy it. The equipment provided by the Equipment Department is alchemy equipment that can destroy the egg. We need to stay at least 50 meters away before detonating it."

"Received." Ye Sheng gave a thumbs up.

Professor Mans looked at Lu Mingfei again, preparing to tell him to leave.

Once back on the ship, we must complain to the principal about this disobedient fellow.

“Alas—” However, Shudeya suddenly exclaimed.

All three saw it at the same time.

Lu Mingfei swung his sword decisively, the sharp blade of the alchemical sword cutting a clean line through the signal wire, revealing the copper wire inside.

The disconnected signal line drooped limply, and direct communication between Lu Mingfei and Professor Mans was also cut off, leaving only communication via the ship's central control center.

"Lu Mingfei!" Professor Mans exclaimed, his anger tinged with terror. "Do you know what you're doing?"

Lu Mingfei calmly sheathed Chixiao, a hint of apology on his face.

This behavior will surely cause great trouble for Professor Mans, and even Ye Sheng and Jiu Deyaji.

But only he knew that the King of Bronze and Fire was truly inside, and that it would most likely come back to life. According to Lu Mingze, the "Dragon King" was dangerous even for someone at his "S" level, and that Ye Sheng and Jiu Deyaji would have a difficult time completing the mission safely.

The information came from Lu Mingze, and since I couldn't explain it directly, I had to act first and inform him later.

“Someone is inviting me in,” he said softly.

Upon hearing Lu Mingfei's reply, Professor Mans, Ye Sheng, and Jiu Deya felt a chill run down their spines.

The underwater stillness suddenly became unfathomable.

It turns out that the eccentric and reckless "S" class wasn't just insane or arrogant. When was he summoned? Was it when the "key" opened the door and triggered the spirit? Or was he already being targeted when he went underwater?

While everyone's attention was focused on the door, something conscious within the palace communicated with the "S" level behind them. Invisible and unseen, it spoke directly to the hybrid with the highest bloodline.

Who is it? What does it want? Did it overhear the plan Mans was talking about?

Perhaps the dragon king's egg, lying doomed in the creature's pitch-black maw, wasn't a helpless prey, but rather...

Thinking of this, all three of them felt a chill run down their spines.

Chapter 23 Bronze City

Professor Mans was in direct command of the mission, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, including the idea of ​​evacuating everyone.

But he immediately rejected it.

Putting aside the question of whether the breach opened by the earthquake is stable or not, and the possibility that an ordinary underwater archaeological team could disrupt the operation at any time, let's just say that if the Dragon King really exists in the palace, and if he has really awakened and is communicating with "S" level consciousness, then entering even a minute later will be a minute more dangerous.

This operation cannot be canceled; anything that may have been or has been awakened must be destroyed, no matter the great risks.

The so-called dragon slaying is exactly this kind of thing.

As a commander, one is not only the planner but also the one who makes ad-hoc decisions and takes responsibility for them when faced with complex and unpredictable battlefield situations.

Professor Mans was such an excellent commander that he quickly suppressed all his shock and unease.

"Lu Mingfei, are you sure you heard an invitation?" His gaze was like a sharp sword, fixed on Lu Mingfei. "It's not a hallucination? Did you hear the specific words? Read them to us."

Sometimes, people experience auditory hallucinations due to psychological reasons. However, these are not real sounds, but rather vague images similar to those seen in dreams—vague thoughts from the subconscious. When a normal person hears a sound, it is transmitted through the auditory nerve to the corresponding area of ​​the cerebral cortex, where it is analyzed and stored by the hippocampus or other unexplored neural structures to form information. During auditory hallucinations, the person receives information directly from the subconscious. Furthermore, the environment that triggers this phenomenon often causes tension or intense emotional fluctuations, making it easier to overlook details and mistakenly believe that the "listening" process actually occurred.

At this point, if you ask him to repeat what he heard, he might be able to express the meaning, but he won't be able to give precise and accurate sentences. He will usually stammer and speak unclearly.

“If you keep going, you will face him head-on.” Lu Mingfei said, word by word, taking a portion of Lu Mingze’s rambling words, “Professor, these are his exact words.”

Mans observed his expression and saw that he did not appear to be trying to think, nor did he show any signs of lying, such as panicked eyes, trembling lips, or unconscious flaring of the nostrils. Therefore, he believed what "S" said.

His gaze shifted from Lu Mingfei to the狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious/hideous) face of the bronze human-faced figure.

Lu Mingfei, Ye Sheng, and Jiu Deya quickly heard his calm voice through their earpieces: "The palace of the King of Bronze and Fire is suspected to contain living beings that summon high-bloodline hybrids. The plan has been changed. Lu Mingfei will join as a 'S'-rank bloodline perceiver. I will also immediately report this to the principal and call in more firepower. Your mission objective remains the same, but with one more: kill any living creatures you encounter, and evacuate if necessary."

"Received." Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya replied immediately.

Lu Mingfei gave the professor from Kassel College an approving look and replied, "Received."

"Good luck." Mans put on his helmet and deactivated the domain created by his Word of Power. The water flow immediately compressed the powerless air, and the smooth edges of the huge bubble suddenly tightened violently, like a crumpled piece of paper. A second later, it floated up and shattered into countless tiny bubbles, disappearing into the dark water above everyone's heads.

Lu Mingfei remained almost motionless, while Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya were tilted by the sudden surge of water, but they quickly regained their balance.

Mans gave the three young men one last look, then activated the water-powered propulsion system on his back. Like a black fish, he sped upwards at high speed until even the spotlights were swallowed by the darkness.