Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

Anyone who has ever experienced a surge of fury will involuntarily feel that the power of wrath can change everything. And indeed it is; the power of high-blooded dragon blood is enough to allow hybrids to crush any obstacle in nature.

However, when the fireball rose on the horizon, a deep sense of powerlessness still overwhelmed me.

Chu Zihang stretched out his arm, giving a thumbs-up to gauge their distance from the nuclear explosion's epicenter. Caesar, standing beside him, simply stared at the ground, panting heavily. This sense of powerlessness was unlike any they had felt before. They didn't need to blame any decisions made now or in the past, because this was something beyond human control.

What good is anger? Even if every molecule in the human body were transformed into fission fuel, what difference would it make? The strongest and most intense consequence would be nothing more than a distant fireball, a fleeting spark on Earth.

"Ye Sheng said that Lu Mingfei might be able to hear what you pray for," Chu Zihang suddenly said.

"A lame joke?" Caesar lay flat on the scorched earth. "But why can't I laugh?"

“I never imagined that I would be with you in the final moments,” he said. “Maybe I should have agreed to let Nono come to the front lines.”

“The council will not allow you and Nono to be released from surveillance at the same time, and even Lu Mingfei cannot order them to do so,” Chu Zihang calmly analyzed. “Perhaps you should stay with the council.”

“Let’s not argue now,” Caesar said. “You know that’s impossible. I’ve reorganized the Gattuso family and taken another generation of young people from those families that have followed the family for generations. How could I possibly hide in the background at a time like this… Actually, I’m somewhat glad that I don’t have to go back and see the faces of those who believe that the family will regain its glory.”

"The Hegemon-King of Western Chu?" Chu Zihang condensed Caesar's long speech into four words.

“Oh, I remember now, that ancient Chinese general,” Caesar said. “I really admire you; your mind can still jump around so quickly even at a time like this.”

“I am praying to Lu Mingfei,” Chu Zihang said.

"Damn it, what will Lu Mingfei's paradise be like?" Caesar sat up abruptly, shocked. "A free internet cafe?"

Before Chu Zihang could reply to that trash talk, they had already entered the kill zone of the nuclear blast's shockwave.

……

A variety of images flashed through Lu Mingfei's mind. He heard countless voices, some of which were whispers. Among them were people he knew, such as Chu Zihang, who was "devoutly" praying, as well as Caesar, Angers, Su Enxi, and others, but most of them were people he did not know.

On the multi-dimensional timeline of the entire planet, anyone who looks up at the dragon's shadow and harbors even the slightest thought of resistance will answer Lu Mingfei's call.

Earth is now a scorched wasteland, and it may take millions of years to restore the biosphere to its former glory. This means that the showdown between Lu Mingfei and Nidhogg can finally begin—on a scorched, yet “clean” continent.

Lu Mingfei was born in the Americas Oil Belt.

The Terran command center was replaced by a plot of land resembling the core area of ​​the Council, surrounded by four organized special regiments. The four regiments consisted of three army engineering regiments from around the world and one production and construction regiment. Although they had different unit designations, due to the intervention of the timeline, they shared the same command system and military equipment.

[One of the timelines under the shadow of the Black Dragon: Here, humanity began a full-scale war against dragons in the Steam Age, spending a century to annihilate all the first-generation species. Also in the early 21st century, humanity formed a united fleet to advance into the Arctic Circle to hunt down the final Black Dragon. Nidhogg was forced to awaken and destroyed human civilization. However, hope remained in the embers; the experience of a century of struggle allowed humanity to preserve a considerable number of post-apocalyptic bases.]

Before you lies the ever-beating core of a global network of sparks. The iron rain that scorched the dragon for a century has finally ended, but the hidden spark awaits its destined moment.

The Destiny Card responded to Lu Mingfei, or rather, Lu Mingfei responded to them.

Just like the world fusion that Chu Zihang and Caesar witnessed, the North American continent saw people from another world set foot on this scorched land. The scale was no longer a small area of ​​a few square kilometers, but a continental scale that was enough to change the world.

The power of destiny that Lu Mingfei had collected was materializing one by one into this interdimensional battle. On his opposite side, Nidhogg must be doing the same thing; given the universal advantage of dragons across multiple timelines, he should be even more adept at it.

On the ruins and scorched earth, human civilization is being rebuilt; industry, population, and social order are all rising up as if by miracle.

The screen in front of Lu Mingfei flickered rapidly, and at the human eye's reaction speed, it might look like the computer had broken down. At the same time, Nidhogg was doing the same thing across from him.

He had completely cast aside his fear, and with a deeper understanding, He had discovered the true nature of this so-called "fateful contest"—a planetary-scale Nibelungen. It sounds exaggerated, but it is indeed still Nibelungen, woven together by the elemental storms of the Arctic battle, the global nuclear counterattack, and the remaining nuclear weapons launched due to anomalous signals from parallel world lines. Its rules are interstellar supremacy.

Nidhogg was the absolute king of alchemy, but even after cautious probing, he was completely unable to shake the rules of the Nibelungen. Its basic form was Nibelungen, yet it incorporated a destiny at the level of planetary will. Destiny is extremely difficult to be affected by forces within the limitations of space and time, but conversely, it can easily distort the spacetime of reality, so everything makes sense.

As a Nibelungen, its rules are relatively fair, even arguably biased towards Nidhogg. The dragons had betrayed their emperor, but they were still a powerful race, and Nidhogg believed it held the advantage over those self-proclaimed civilized humans.

Lu Mingfei's first barracks has been completed. The barracks' architecture is more like a part of Kassel College that has been extracted and pieced together, similar to the militarized Dragon Affairs Supervision Bureau originally planned by the Council, serving as both a reserve training base and a recruitment station.

The original four army engineering regiments have now expanded to nine, with one of them serving as the first reconnaissance unit to leave the newly built human city.

The flames of hope are ignited, yet the threat of dragons lingers, imminent and ever-present, a fact everyone senses. In the post-apocalyptic wasteland, the outlines of land and sea remain, yet they bear a completely new face. Someone must venture out to explore and find an opportunity for the expansion of civilization.

Thus, the Ninth Army Corps, tasked with surveying the terrain, roads, bridges, hydrology, and soil, assessing the condition of remaining engineering facilities, and providing intelligence and decision-making support for subsequent troops, set off. In the early days of civilization, the only vehicles available to them were some light armored vehicles and off-road vehicles; most soldiers had to proceed on foot.

This is destined to be a difficult journey, but its significance will be as weighty as its suffering.

Chapter 315 The Human Heart

Constantine was reborn once again, but this time it was completely different. He still inherited the memories from the dragons, but gained a human body. He could no longer communicate with the elements, the colors in the world he saw had diminished considerably, and his hearing had been reduced to the average human level.

When he was reborn, he was in the core area of ​​the council, working as an ordinary clerk.

This was a simple yet demanding job, a novel experience for Constantine. As the Dragon King, he was high above with thousands of servants; as a half-blood, he was under surveillance within the Secret Society, but he was never short of food or clothing.

Here, his survival depends entirely on this job, so he must spend most of his waking hours working. Frankly, it's not easy, and it's hard to imagine that most people spend their lives like this.

Constantine quickly adapted to his job, and in doing so, he also learned about the workings of other departments he had access to. Humans are not intelligent, at least not with the tireless super intelligence of the Dragon King. Although many technological creations can replace the power of words, such as computers achieving extremely high levels of word power evolution, in general, humans must rely on the operation of social institutions to create social wealth.

This is Constantine's greatest realization after becoming human: the biggest difference between the human heart and the dragon heart. The dragon heart is about "possessing," while the human heart is about "becoming."

Dragons are born with the knowledge and even memories in their bloodline, and are born with the power to control elements and simple alchemy. If humans were not born into civilized society, they would even degenerate into primitive beasts.

Using this concept as a distinction, Constantine quickly came to accept his identity as a human being. He was a clever child, only previously limited by the Dragon King's power.

If Donald Trump were to see Constantine now, he would be horrified. During the time he was under surveillance, Donald Trump tried to teach Constantine the common sense of human society, but Constantine could often memorize it without understanding it. Now he finally understands those strange rules that Donald Trump was talking about.

It's actually very simple; all you need to do is become a person.

The rebuilt city was still short of manpower, and on this day, Constantine and his colleagues from the same office went to help receive refugees. The Ninth Legion had successfully left this land, and good news kept coming in. Survivors from the old world began to learn of its existence and gathered here under the escort of a small number of Ninth Legion soldiers.

Constantine had previously received many refugees and was familiar with the process: leading them to standardized training courses, introducing them to the current state of the world after they had overcome their fear of war, and finally assigning them jobs according to their wishes.

Constantine remembered that when his last life ended, he was with Old Man Don, Xia Mi, and Fenrir, who died from a nuclear bomb that detonated about a kilometer overhead. If he could be reborn here, there was reason to believe that the others would too.

Therefore, he was always very proactive in seeking out opportunities to meet people, hoping to find his brother and friends.

Unfortunately, among the refugees received this time, I still didn't see any familiar faces.

Constantine felt a slight pang of melancholy, yet a smile remained on his face. These people, who had emerged from the flames of war, had endured too much terror and hardship. If they were to arrive here and find the staff looking distressed, it would greatly hinder their subsequent educational work. They needed to be instilled with vibrant enthusiasm, a fighting spirit they had been born into war.

Several fighter jets roared overhead, and the refugee group immediately staggered. Many people frantically lay on the ground, seemingly gripped by a deep-seated fear of the sound of the planes cutting through the air. Only after the planes disappeared into the clouds did they cautiously stand up, and the staff tried their best to reassure them.

Constantine looked up and watched the fighter jets fly away. They were uniquely shaped anti-sweep wing aircraft, not exactly new types of fighter jets.

They are out of step with the current beyond-visual-range air combat system. They are special models developed and produced specifically for low-speed close-range combat with dragons in the air. When they are deployed, it means that the dragons' reconnaissance forces are approaching the airspace near the base again.

Just then, Constantine felt someone grab his clothes. He looked down and saw a dirty little child with soot-like stains on his face, matted hair, and thin clothes. He seemed to have been frightened by the chaos just now.

Constantine crouched down, wiped the dirt off the child's head, and said gently, "Little friend, don't be afraid, it's safe here. Those are our planes, they will drive away those bad guys."

Seeing that the child had calmed down, Constantine took out the chocolate from his pocket. It was a ration from his work unit, and Constantine sometimes ate it as a meal.

The child's eyes lit up as he received the candy. Constantine smiled and asked, "Where are your mom and dad? Who did you come with? Shall I take you to find them?"

The child holding the candy whispered, "My uncle brought me here. He's asleep in the pit, and I can't find my mom and dad."

Constantine pondered for a moment and roughly guessed what was going on. Feeling a pang of sadness, he pulled the child into his arms and comforted him, "Don't be afraid, you'll find your mom and dad. Let me tell you, I was also 'asleep' after being hit by a bomb, but when I woke up, I was here, sleeping in a comfortable bed and eating my fill every day. Maybe your mom and dad are here, and so is your uncle."

"Really?" Upon hearing this, the child seemed to lose interest in the candy in his hand, and looked up with bright eyes.

“Of course it’s true. There’s an uncle named Lu Mingfei who’s fighting bad guys somewhere no one can see him. He’ll definitely succeed, and then everyone will come back! You’ll be able to see your mom and dad again,” Constantine said with a determined look in his eyes.

……

Three mechanized infantry legions are fighting around a Death Servants legion specializing in the King of Earth and Mountains. Lu Mingfei's perspective is rapidly switching as he simultaneously controls three legions to wage guerrilla warfare on this open ground.

The Death Servants, a specialized unit of the King of Earth and Mountains, are a force awakened from the ruins of the Nibelungen, the King of Earth and Mountains. They possess exceptional offensive capabilities but lack ranged attack methods. Once they get close, human mechanized infantry are completely unable to withstand them. However, relying on highly mobile firepower, Lu Mingfei completely suppressed the enemy.

For Lu Mingfei, micro-management is as natural as breathing; his understanding of attack intervals and projectile trajectories is still slightly better than Nidhogg's.

Chapter 316 Manpower Sources

Hunting activity in the Siberian snowfields.

The Secret Society mobilized all available armed forces, with tank companies sweeping across the deep snow. Learning of the Doomsday Faction's location was like finding a box containing the answers to all mysteries; troops from all over the world poured in.

The Board of Trustees also brought in Caesar, Abbas, and Fingel, who had just returned from a trip to the Arctic Circle.

Given Caesar's outstanding performance in the confrontation with Leviathan, the Board of Trustees granted him extremely high authority for this operation. Caesar was surprisingly low-key, only requesting that Abbas and Fingel be chosen as his teammates, and making no other demands.

“I understand. Choosing this old monk from the Lionheart Society as a member will allow him to escape surveillance. But what about me? What about me?” Fingel complained on the snowmobile, the biting wind hitting their faces as if a powerful hand of ice and snow was covering them.

“I chose you because I trust you,” Caesar said, steering the course. “In the Arctic, traitors within the Secret Service have been manipulating my actions. Don’t you feel that?”

“Traitor?” Abbas regained some of his composure upon hearing the word “trust.” He had remained silent until the end of the Arctic operation, after which he had been placed under house arrest by the Secret Service under the pretext of bloodline vetting.

"In the end, Leviathan wasn't supposed to be our enemy. Someone manipulated the torpedo launch, which was his most blatant tactic. It also reminds me of all the shady dealings we've encountered along the way. Someone manipulated everything we've come across. In Xue's mind, this is fate, but I don't believe in fate. Someone is playing tricks on us!" Caesar said.

“Wait a minute, if someone can control something like this… then he’s incredibly powerful. Even the first generation might not be able to do it. I heard that Leviathan’s rating is no lower than Norton’s…” Fingel, who was lying down, suddenly sat up like a salted fish that had sprung up.

“Leviathan’s internal rating is still top secret for now,” Caesar said, glancing at Fingel.

“But then Lu Mingfei’s actions would be explained, wouldn’t they?” he continued calmly. “But it’s only one possibility.”

"So, what do we do now?" Fingel asked tentatively.

“Find Lu Mingfei, preferably before the Secret Society. I’ve carefully analyzed his activity log after his ‘defection.’ Even if a dragon king has revived within him, he should still retain his complete personality, unlike Norton who has fully awakened,” Caesar said. “This also explains why Nono chose to help him.”

“Yeah, he’s incredibly resilient; even the Dragon King couldn’t handle him,” Fingel chimed in. “The key is, we don’t seem to have the ability to separate the Dragon King from him either. Are we just going to search for him bare-handed?”

The snowmobile was loaded with supplies, including a variety of firearms resistant to low temperatures, and plenty of ammunition. But against the Dragon King, these things were practically useless.

“At least we can’t proceed according to the plan of the person behind the scenes. Let’s take it one step at a time,” Caesar said.

“This doesn’t sound like something you should say,” Fingel said, his face contorted with grief.

"Han Gao also joined the hunt," Caesar added. "It is said that the principal left him a secret letter before he fell into a coma... The principal's actions are also a testament to Lu Mingfei."

"My God, I have to believe that my useless junior brother can fight against the Dragon King with his willpower, and I also have to believe that the old man on the sickbed whose heart may stop beating at any moment is playing a game with a mastermind who surpasses the Dragon King." Fingel lay back down.

“If Lu Mingfei continues to fight against the Dragon King’s will, he must be in utter despair.” Abbas finally decided to intervene. “The Secret Party will push him to the brink of destruction.”

For a moment, neither Fingel nor Caesar responded. After a while, Caesar said, "From another perspective, if the madman is the only one who is sane, then we're really bastards, aren't we? And..." He changed the subject, "Since Lu Mingfei did it, can you? If you really have something hidden inside you, if you're just a substitute for that ghost named Chu Zihang, can you withstand it like Lu Mingfei?"

These words directly exposed the suspicions among the group.

“This is insane, unlike any choice you would make right now,” Abbas said.

“They tried to kill Nono in Japan,” Caesar sneered. “The dutiful school board member Caesar is too easy to fool. They think I’m a fool, a toy. I have to step out of there. Responsibility and adventure don’t conflict, as long as you’re prepared.”

"I will definitely do it," Abbas said.

“What about Fingel?” Caesar asked.

"Is there something else about me?" Fingel asked, feeling a little guilty.

“I know you have a backup plan. You have high privileges with EVA, even unrelated to the underlying code,” Caesar said. “I only need you to guarantee the secrecy and smooth operation of this operation. Otherwise, all suspicious activities about you will be submitted to the Senate. You won’t find those things on the network. I’ve entrusted them to a trustworthy person. Even if you survive, you’ll have your frontal lobe removed and be imprisoned on a small island in the sea.”

"Hey! Why does the art style change when it comes to me?!" Fingel protested. "Where's the hot-blooded shonen manga? Where's the friendship and bonds? How did it turn into an Italian mafia documentary?! I'd risk my life for my brothers too, even without any threat."

“I’ll take that as the truth,” Caesar shrugged. The atmosphere lightened somewhat.