Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

"Of course you have something to ask for, and what you ask for far exceeds the scale of the planet's fate," the voice said. "I will not interfere. I am already dead, leaving only a pair of eyes here. I look forward to what you are going to do, something that will remind me of my youth."

Chapter 299 Undercurrents

Caesar sat at his empty desk, a thin layer of dust covering the surface and floor, suggesting it hadn't been cleaned in a long time. Outside the window, the setting sun burned brightly, its crimson afterglow cutting the shadows into fence-like patches.

“Finally, something unseen and intangible has disappeared,” Caesar said.

“Yes, the family is gone.” Frost didn’t say much. He knew the heir’s stubbornness. No one could have imagined that the Gattuso family, which had lasted for thousands of years, would collapse overnight. In fact, the truth was that it was never founded as a family in the first place.

He was prepared to accept Caesar's sarcasm, complaints, or sarcastic remarks.

“I have always been a piece of wood. There are always people who want to use axes and chisels to make me adapt, to fit me perfectly into a certain groove.” Caesar stroked the antique table, grinding the dust between his fingers. “Even if that groove is radiant and inlaid with ten thousand gems, it doesn’t change the fact that I am a piece of wood that needs someone to prune me from above, and those people disgust me.”

"Now that everything is gone, don't you feel a sense of grounding?" Caesar asked.

“The family’s elite have been wiped out, and apart from the research institute that has been burned down, the rest of the assets have been frozen or divided up by the council of elders. Is this what you call being down-to-earth?” Frost retorted.

“No matter how glorious it was, it was all fake.” Caesar smiled. “Whether I rebelled against the family, or submitted to the family, or was crowned the head of the family in my own way, it was all fake. But now, everything is real. The disgusting guys are all dead, internal and external troubles are coming one after another, and I am sitting here, relying on myself.”

"What do you mean?" Frost pricked up his ears.

“Lu Mingfei has agreed to release the minor political prisoners and allow me to reorganize the Gattuso family,” Caesar said.

"The Gattuso family, or the Lu family?" Frost's initial enthusiasm cooled. "Like the Japanese shadow puppet families, we will become pawns in their hands."

"Don't you understand, Frost? Times have changed. If we're talking about pawns, everyone is his pawn. The dark cloud hanging over us is no longer the infighting among mixed-race people or some kind of World War III. The end is coming."

“He didn’t promise wealth or status, he promised glory,” Caesar said with a smile. “Pure glory of blood and fire.”

……

“Angers has almost exhausted all of the Peruvian party’s political resources over the past century, just for this UN General Assembly,” said Genjiro. “The Snake-Headed Eight Families will represent the mixed-race Japanese population at the meeting.”

“But the issue that is relevant to us is Nazi Germany’s genetic engineering project!” Ryoma Genichiro frowned. “The Secret Party families are sending civilian officials, but they are asking us to send young people with A-grade and S-grade bloodlines. They are clearly using us as samples! Even if an agreement is reached, the first batch of highly anticipated hybrids will be us! The families will not have enough energy to deal with the government.”

"Lu Mingfei is still the 'dictator' of the Secret Party. Doesn't he have any objections to this decision? We are completely on his side," Miyamoto Shigeo wondered.

"According to intelligence, Lu Mingfei is completely uninvolved in the internal power struggles within the Secret Party." Sakurai Nanami shook her head.

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

"This is of utmost importance, Patriarch. Although your background has been tumultuous, you are still the supreme emperor. Even Lu Mingfei cannot make us cannon fodder against your will," Ryoma Genichiro said in a deep voice after a moment.

The other family heads did not object, but instead looked at Yuan Zhisheng, clearly supporting his view.

But when it comes to the Emperor, Genji feels only exhaustion.

“As the heavens shine, the emperor will be the one to guide us.” He said slowly, “The emperor is not only something great and solemn, but also has responsibilities. Now is the time for me to fulfill my responsibilities. Let’s set off. We will not be cannon fodder, or rather, no one is not cannon fodder, so it doesn’t matter.”

These words were a final word, and although the tone was gentle, no one raised any further objections.

……

Kassel College resumed some courses, mostly practical courses and theoretical courses related to hands-on practice. Everyone could feel the impending storm. The young people were excited about it, while the professors were busy studying and digesting the alchemical knowledge given by Lu Mingfei.

As night falls, the college is brightly lit.

Lu Mingfei sat alone on the high place, his eyes vacant. The lights of thousands of homes appeared to him as nothing more than scattered stars. What he was looking at was far more vast and ethereal than that, and he could not relax his vigilance in the slightest. He had to monitor its changes at all times.

“To guard one’s destiny alone is a heavy burden.” Melina also went up to the rooftop. She had already obtained a body in the alchemical matrix and was now active in the high-level meetings of the Secret Party as Lu Mingfei’s representative.

"The current war is characterized by two main factors: first, the presence of hybrid families with long-term experience fighting dragons; and second, the existence of numerous national organizations that have accumulated considerable wealth, industrial systems, and technological achievements after multiple industrial revolutions. This is an extremely optimistic situation. Without these two factors, the war with dragons would be difficult and pessimistic. Dragons and the hybrid and human forces they control will sooner or later realize this, and they will exhaust all their strength and cunning to try to disrupt the alliance between these two forces before the war, hoping to reap the benefits and defeat them one by one," Lu Mingfei said calmly.

These are all things that Melina recounted at the last meeting of the elders.

“Most mixed-race families are unwilling to cooperate with the government, which means sharing the wealth accumulated by mixed-race people over thousands of years with national organizations. Once the information advantage is broken, the production methods of mixed-race families cannot compete fairly with national organizations. The research and development and production capabilities of the current powerful countries are simply incomparable to those of the Secret Party.” Melina sat down next to Lu Mingfei. Today she was wearing the school board secretary's uniform and had her hair done. Although she was not wearing makeup, the elite aura of a strong woman was already overwhelming.

“But they had no choice.” Lu Mingfei smiled faintly. “The Doomsday Faction foresaw the inevitability of war, but chose to escape. Escaping does not mean survival; escaping means failure and death. The information found by those safe havens reveals this. From the moment they betrayed the Secret Party, the Doomsday Faction was already under the control of the Holy Palace Medical Association.”

The threads of fate converged in his hands, becoming a golden card.

[The hybrid families: once self-proclaimed masters of the world's secrets, now, swept up in the tide of events, are aligning themselves with the Secret Society's new strategy. Among them are many deceitful individuals and traitors. They fear Nidhogg's shadow and are also worried about the surge of strategic preparations.]

“Don’t worry, Melina,” Lu Mingfei said. “I know what I’m doing.”

Chapter 300 The Situation

"What did you see in fate?" Melina asked curiously.

"The great powers' infighting led to slow action, and a mysterious first-generation species unleashed a world-destroying incantation, causing the nuclear balance to be broken and major cities around the world to be severely damaged. The prestige of national organizations collapsed... The world fell into regional fragmentation, and the so-called saviors of human civilization, the dragon slayers of a thousand years of history—the hybrids—were at that time nothing more than a warlord force." Lu Mingfei said slowly, "Therefore, I will intervene in fate for the last time."

"How are their preparations going?" he asked.

"The Peruvian Party actually only received support from the two permanent members of the UN Security Council, and a few less developed Third World countries, but that was enough. These countries, citing urgent matters threatening international peace, pushed for a special session of the General Assembly, where Peruvian Party representatives would submit a proposal for a special meeting on addressing supernatural biological threats and a global collaborative defense mechanism," Melina said. "The Academy delegation prepared samples of Deadpool and dragon skeletons, top-secret mission videos from the Executive Department, and also transported many valuable original documents from the library."

After a brief pause, Melina added, "The Academy has prepared contingency plans for different possibilities. The best outcome would be the establishment of a special committee, operating in cooperation, with the Secret Party providing technology and expertise, and all nations sharing intelligence. The worst-case scenario is that the conference is infiltrated and sabotaged by dragon forces, causing chaos and panic. Revealing the existence of 'dragons' itself requires balancing the degree of 'warning' and 'terror.' While conveying the devastating threat that dragons pose to humanity, it is crucial to avoid instilling a doomsday-like mentality in human nations. It would be far too easy for dragons to disrupt this balance, especially during the initial formal contact between hybrids and the mortal world."

After listening, Lu Mingfei remained noncommittal and continued to ask, "Dragons shouldn't be the only threat, right?"

"Yes."

Melina nodded, lowered her voice slightly, and said rather wearily, "The Secret Party now achieves limited communication through 'spies' working in the government, such as having national intelligence agencies submit top-secret investigation reports, and then guiding them step by step until the academy's official representatives can get the opportunity to meet with national leaders. The number of people in the know about this process can be limited to a minimum, but it is inevitable that they will still have to deal with national think tanks from various countries."

"Before the UN meeting, some countries had already infiltrated the Peruvian Party. Some countries demanded the signing of exclusive cooperation agreements, while others were already asking for military technical data. One country has explicitly supported the autonomy of the mixed-race members of the Peruvian Party within their country. Only a few countries support the Peruvian Party's proposal on unified command by the United Nations."

"Several families who initially vehemently opposed contact with the government and denounced the UN as corrupt and incompetent have now become the most active forces engaging in private contact with national organizations. They seem to be preparing to establish a lobbying firm immediately after the conference to try to turn Kassel College into an independent institution authorized by the UN. Such a method would be detrimental to the independence of the Peruvian Party, but it would allow them to acquire extremely rich political capital. The proposals put forward by the College are actually extremely vague regarding the College's own situation, only mentioning it as one of the Peruvian Party's affiliated institutions. The main focus of the meeting should be on the existence of the dragon itself, so those who can devise such a plan must be people who can participate in the highest-level meeting of the College to formulate proposals... Chaos has already begun."

"It's utterly disheartening, isn't it?" Lu Mingfei said leisurely. "Humans naturally yearn for heroic tales of brilliance, unity, and turning the tide, but when faced with self-interest, very few can resist. Profit can even make them ignore reality and deceive themselves. The future will be even more chaotic. Besides those who fear the power of dragons, there will also be those who despise it. They believe that dragons are nothing more than large reptiles with wings, and therefore they will focus their main efforts on dealing with hybrids and other countries."

“EVA said the same thing. She was pessimistic about the collaboration, but she still dutifully provided draft plans for all possibilities.” Melina looked hesitant.

"Do you still have any doubts?" Lu Mingfei asked.

“Odin is dead, and the only remaining dragon king is Nidhogg. Is it a bit of a case of putting the cart before the horse to go to such lengths to prepare for a union between hybrids and humans? Shouldn’t we deal with the dragons first before dealing with the internal strife?” Melina said intuitively. “If you could ascend to the position of a god on Earth, perhaps all you would need to do is laws to create a peaceful and prosperous world.”

"Even the Golden Law couldn't guarantee lasting peace and prosperity?" Lu Mingfei smiled. "Besides, Nidhogg isn't the only enemy. Civilizations as prosperous as the dragons have their reasons for destruction. When they wanted to reproduce, there were bloodline restrictions; when they attempted to convert servants, the path to godhood closed; when they explored the world through alchemy, knowledge fell into the hands of other races. They were outcasts. This is Nidhogg's oracle, the destiny He represents, His curse upon the betrayers. When this destiny is broken, the dragon civilization will rise from the ashes."

“I understand,” Melina said quietly. “You could have told me this earlier.”

“What I see may not be the truth. What connects me to the future is fate, and fate is the most unreliable thing. Who can know what will happen in the future? Perhaps in the eyes of future people, we are just old-fashioned relics?” Lu Mingfei smiled faintly, staring blankly at the lights of Kassel College. “Melina, I’m glad to have you by my side. I am indeed a little tired. No one can help me hold on… Too many people trust us. They have entrusted their future and everything to us. Melina, we must win.”

Melina leaned against Lu Mingfei, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. A faint, warm aura enveloped Lu Mingfei, and he heard her whisper, "All the messy meetings are over, what's next?"

Lu Mingfei held her hand down and grinned, "Next, let's go put on a big show and make a grand appearance in front of the whole world."

……

Svalbard, night.

The glacier gleamed with a deep blue light under the moonlight, and the constant howling of the wind and the sound of ice blocks colliding against each other echoed throughout the place.

A piece of ice, as large as a cathedral dome, suddenly cracked open, and pale fingers emerged from the ice. A naked man climbed out of the sea onto the ice, looking at the lights in the far distance. Fine threads formed all over his body, crisscrossing and eventually resembling the cold-weather suits of the Norwegian expedition team.

Chapter 301 Live Streaming Base

No one would have imagined that there would be such a deep passage beneath the permafrost, and above it is just an ordinary local house.

Mai and her group descended the stairs. Su Enxi had learned of the base's existence from the Medical Holy Palace's intelligence database, but only one document mentioned it, with no other description. The fact that none of the captured Medical Holy Palace members knew of its existence caught Su Enxi's attention, prompting her to assemble this investigation team.

The passageway was extremely cold, and the darkness stretched downwards, making it somewhat unsettling. There wasn't a single light source in such a long passageway.

Perhaps laying the power system was beyond the builders' capabilities?

Mai Shude refuted this conjecture, arguing that someone capable of building such a structure would not be stingy with the money for a few electrical wires.

Perhaps for the sake of concealment?

That's not right either, the passage is underground, so the lights wouldn't attract attention.

So what is the reason that the owner of this base brings his own light source every time?

Mai raised the searchlight higher, her gaze sharpening as she looked towards the end of the passage… Thankfully, it had an end. If she had walked any further, Mai would have seriously doubted whether she was heading towards the entrance to hell.

A heavy security door; the technical level was within the investigation team's capabilities. Now, Su Enxi's team is also receiving funding from the Secret Party, so their operating expenses are not a problem at all, and they are even receiving technical assistance from professors at Kassel College.

As soon as they unlocked the door, a blast of scalding hot air ripped open the crack.

Mai Shude was taken aback. She had just likened the end of the passage to the entrance to hell, and now her prophecy seemed to have come true. The other side of the door was a scene of utter devastation, as if struck by a raging hurricane. Charred debris clung to the floor and walls, and molten plastic dripped from the ceiling. Some silk fabrics had carbonized in the intense heat, crumbling into pieces of black snow. As oxygen rushed in when the door was opened, these pieces of snow instantly ignited into bright orange-red flames.

"Damn it, someone got here before us," Mai said into the communicator. "Potato Chips, didn't you say you'd wiped out the Medical Anglican Church?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, don't let them in, I'll go find someone!" came the voice from the other end of the line.

"Who are you going to see?" Mai asked, but there was no response from the earpiece. "Moshi Moshi?"

Left with no other option, she had the investigation team close the door again, and everyone waited outside.

A few minutes later, Su Enxi finally came back online, but the voice that came through was someone else's.

"Chen Motong?" Jiu De Mai immediately understood what Su Enxi wanted to do.

“Describe the scene to me as objectively as possible, but you can also tell me things based on your intuition,” Nono said. “You’re a ninja, this should be a basic skill, and I trust your intuition.”

Mai shrugged and entered the room alone. She was wearing a specially designed combat suit; the excellent insulation material could withstand both low temperatures and a certain degree of high temperatures. The biggest problem was the low-oxygen environment, which would affect her judgment, so she activated a level one blood burst.

Her dragon bloodline grants her the ability to endure extreme environments.

As Mai explored the burned ruins, she told Nono everything she saw, heard, and smelled. She spoke quickly and said a lot of different things, almost saying whatever she saw, but this was more helpful for Nono's profiling.

“There are two people… The first is the true master of this place. His presence is too vague. He comes here as if he is inspecting his own territory, but he comes very rarely.”

“The second person… Huff—” Nono frowned and took a deep breath. “He gave me a very bad feeling. He was familiar with this place but probably hadn’t been here before. He was the one who started the fire. He was like a child, unable to resist fiddling with any equipment he saw… He came here to contact someone. That’s all I can see.”

Mai Shude has reached the deepest part of the underground base, where the damage is most severe, but also where the most traces remain.

The investigation team came in and began taking samples.

"I consulted people in the Equipment Department, and they said it's a typical live-streaming system. It uses encrypted signals and a dark web-like server cluster to allow anonymous live streaming on a certain website," Su Enxi said as she logged back in. "The Equipment Department has a similar system, used to issue declarations of salvation during the apocalypse..."

“This is not a shelter.” Mai Shude frowned. “We didn’t see any life support equipment or supplies.”

“This must be related to a plan by the Medical Holy Palace Society, a plan that requires live streaming to certain groups of people,” Su Enxi said.

“Or broadcast it live to the world…” Mai Shude said, “Anyway, we have now found a broken little tail of the Medical Holy Palace Society, but someone came ahead of time, perhaps to continue this plan, or perhaps to obstruct us. It doesn’t sound too complicated. The trouble is that we have lost all clues.”

“The Secret Party has already taken control of all the transportation routes here,” Su Enxi said. “But our enemy is not human or an ordinary hybrid, so the chances of catching them are very slim.”

"Go find Lu Mingfei?" Jiu Dema asked.

"He has already gone to the United Nations General Assembly with Angers and Melina."

"Then... boss?"