Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

The waiting hall was actually quite small, and there weren't many people queuing.

The group quickly found the ticket gate for their bus. There were no security checks; a man in uniform simply checked their ticket information and let them through.

The huge muscle car was parked in the parking lot, painted in blue, red, white and gray. It was tall and silent, and the word "GREYHOUND" on the front of the car was the origin of the name Greyhound bus.

After putting their luggage away, the group went up a short flight of stairs from the front door. The interior was uniformly decorated with black seats, with two rows of double seats on each side, and the seating arrangement wasn't too cramped.

There was no one on the bus; Lu Mingfei and his group were the first passengers to board.

The four people sat on the same side by the window, with their backpacks placed on the empty seats next to them.

Until the bus departed, only a few passengers boarded. Apart from Lu Mingfei and his group, there were only three people in total, and each person was able to occupy their own seat and the seat next to them.

The Greyhound pulled out of the parking lot and merged into New York's traffic. The skyscrapers and bustling streets on both sides rushed past, and soon we reached the suburbs, where only lush green trees could be seen, and there were almost no high-rise buildings. Perhaps the old driver's home was somewhere here. The sun was blazing, and even through the Greyhound's dark-tinted windows, it was still tiring on the eyes.

Fingel learned that Old Tang had brought a lot of snacks, so he sat down next to him.

Old Tang's backpack was bulging with high-calorie snacks: bread rusks, cheese sticks, potato chips, crispy coconut flakes, corn chips, and even Oreos. Fingel tore open a bag of potato chips and shared some with Lu Mingfei and Constantine as well.

After driving for several hours, it was already dusk when they arrived at the first rest area. Everyone in the car was tired and drowsy. The rest area only allowed 20 minutes for passengers to go out. Old Tang asked Fingel to go to the fast food restaurant to buy chicken wraps and cola.

However, not all the passengers returned. When Old Tang and Fingel ran back with chicken rolls and cola, two of the remaining three passengers outside looked like they were about to get their brains knocked out.

Finally, the driver contacted the company and cancelled the two men's tickets. If they hadn't cancelled them, the two men couldn't have continued their journey; they clearly needed an ambulance more.

The journey continues.

The next stretch of road had no trees, seemingly leading to an American highway. The asphalt road had no guardrails and bordered an endless grassland. In the distance, some low mountains appeared as black silhouettes in the lingering red glow of the setting sun. The clouds formed crisscrossing bands, layered and clearly defined, making the sky seem almost touching the earth.

The earth was pitch black, the clouds were gray, and there was a cool breeze outside the car window.

Fingel snatched one of Old Tang's earphones, chewing on a chicken roll while humming the rousing melody coming from the earphone.

That was a song that Lao Tang randomly picked to perk himself up; it was called "Easy Rider."

Amidst the intense accompaniment, a free-spirited voice vents his burning journey.

For some reason, Fingel took a big gulp of cola to clear his throat and started singing along with the music in his headphones.

Start the engine now

Start the engine now.

Broke the heaven, sail to hell

Break through heaven and sail towards hell

As fire of freedom burns all

The fire of freedom burns all

We are the last hunter

We are the last hunters

We are Easy Rider

We are the Free Knights

I will not sink here

I will not succumb to this.

But I can get drunk tonight

But tonight I can indulge in revelry.

We will reach the crazy shore

We will reach the crazy other side

There is Burning Road

That was a burning road

It was the first time he had ever heard this song, and he could only barely sing it in tune. However, he quickly pulled Lao Tang to sing along, and it turned into a duet. The uneven voices actually made the double-out-of-tune singing sound harmonious.

However, it completely lacked the soul-stirring cry of the original singer. Old Tang even cracked his voice during the sustained high note of "rider." Fortunately, the only audience in the car was a stranger sitting at the back and the driver, so he didn't feel too embarrassed. He imitated Fingel by rinsing his throat with cola and continued to keep up with Fingel's rhythm.

Chapter 56 The Sword of Victory

As the sun completely sets, the remaining heat evaporates across the earth. The chill hidden in the shadows of the day spreads with the approaching night, reaching towards the deep blue sky and the ever-changing, colorful clouds. At this moment, the wind blows freely, carrying both the warmth and coolness of the evening.

Even with the off-key song playing in my ears, everything felt so comfortable.

However, Lu Mingfei gave up on comfort a long time ago.

A message came through my phone.

"Can you confirm my identity?" The sender was Angers.

......

Two days ago, in the principal's office.

Separated by the desk, Lu Mingfei and Angers sat facing each other, steam rising from their teacups.

"Will the Dragon King hide among humans?" Lu Mingfei held a large envelope containing a photo of Old Tang. Old Tang was playing cards with a group of people at a table in a coffee shop in the background. Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making Old Tang's young face appear bright.

“We actually have no information directly related to the Dragon King, the first generation, or the ‘Four Kings’. We only inferred their existence from the fragments of the Ice Sea Scroll,” Angers said. “They are the ultimate life forms, capable of returning from death. Changing their form is probably just a small trick for them.”

"His real name is Ronald Tang, an American of Chinese descent, an adopted orphan. No one knows who his biological parents are. He dropped out of high school and lives in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, taking on secret jobs to make money." Lu Mingfei picked up the documents again and softly repeated, "With the power that the Dragon King possesses, he could have lived a much better life."

“Perhaps he hasn’t awakened yet?” Angers said calmly. “Let’s hypothesize: what if, after the Dragon King is resurrected, he goes through a process of sensing and awakening his own bloodline, just like the hybrids?”

“Now is the best time to kill him,” Lu Mingfei said immediately.

Angers smiled with relief, but rejected the idea. "No, if he is still under control, we can send him to a deserted place to resolve the problem. After all, we have to consider safety, cost, and some uncontrollable factors."

“What if he isn’t the Dragon King?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“Brainwash him and send him back, using the same procedures the academy uses on ordinary people,” Angers said. “That would show that there is no inherent attraction between dragon kings—that is, the sorrow of blood—and then we wouldn’t have to go to such lengths to exclude anyone Constantine comes into contact with. But until then, whether he is human or dragon, Ronald Don must be treated with utmost care.”

"What is the plan? Are conventional weapons effective against Norton?"

“A trap. Science has given us the means to weaken dragons, and alchemy and the Philosopher’s Stone are the killer moves.” Angers handed Lu Mingfei a file that described a small alchemical matrix filled primarily with mercury. “A gadget designed by the vice principal. It will be used in this mission.”

“Very good.” Lu Mingfei nodded.

“Until then, all you need to do is get him to the designated location,” Angers said with a smile.

......

“He may have a blood feud, but it’s not certain if he’s the Dragon King. We haven’t conducted any more intense probing. The bus is approaching the mission location,” Lu Mingfei replied.

The mission location was determined after Lu Mingfei and his team set off. Originally, they planned to complete this "hunt" in the desert and hills of Arizona. However, considering the long distance and the distribution of the executive department's supply warehouses, they chose the Panhandle Plateau in northern Texas, which is relatively closer to New York. There, apart from sand and rocks, there are only some drought-resistant plants, making it a suitable combat location.

The mission's final codename is "Sword of Victory," Project Sword of Victory, Level S.

Lu Mingfei and his group need to get off at the Greyhound transfer station in Amarillo and lead Old Tang into the trap set up by the Executive Department.

At this moment, the protagonist of the mission, Lao Tang, was so tired that he fell asleep, leaning against the car window with drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Fingel has already returned to his seat.

The car was dark inside, with no lights on. The wasteland outside the window rushed past, and in the distance, there seemed to be city lights.

About two hours later, the Greyhound stopped again in the parking lot marked "Greyhound". The sign depicted a lean greyhound leaping forward in a running posture.

There is a one-hour rest period at this stop.

Everyone on the bus had to get off with their luggage. This was a transfer point with many vending machines selling drinks and snacks. The dome was three stories high and noisy.

The four of them occupied a row of seats. Except for Lu Mingfei, the others looked a bit listless. After sitting in the car all day, they inevitably had sore backs and aches.

"I just saw a McDonald's, do you guys want to eat something else?" Old Tang asked.

Lu Mingfei and Constantine both shook their heads.

To Old Tang's surprise, Fingel also refused, so he had to say, "Okay, I'll go alone."

He stood up, rubbing the shoulder that had been by the window when he slept, and headed towards the window where McDonald had come from.

"Junior brother, want to go for a walk outside?" Fingel said to Lu Mingfei as soon as Old Tang's figure disappeared around the corner.

Lu Mingfei nodded and instructed Constantine, "You wait for us here."

This is a Greyhound transfer station. The exterior layout is no different from the service area. In the distance, only some low-rise buildings are lit up. Apart from that, only the Greyhound transfer hall and gas station are brightly lit.

Lu Mingfei and Finger walked along the edge of the parking lot and could see some staff cleaning and maintaining Greyhound buses in the distance.

“Junior brother, I’ve been testing Old Tang, but I haven’t found anything wrong with him. At most, he’s a wild hybrid, but half the losers in this world might be wild hybrids.” Fingel said in a low voice, “Any disguise has flaws, especially logical loopholes, but I’ve figured out his XP through his bookmarks and still haven’t found any flaws. It’s all big-breasted, long-legged girls. Judging from the number of visits, it doesn’t seem like he’s just pretending to deceive people.”

“Angers said that we don’t understand the dragon race.” Lu Mingfei was also thinking.

That night, as he listened to Old Tang's story, he couldn't reconcile it with the image of a creature like Constantine in a rage.

“If dragons are all guys who love eating fries and cola, then slaying dragons would be too easy,” Fingel quipped. “And he wouldn’t need to put on an act with us, would he? Inviting us to dinner… If it were me, I would just kill them, rob them, and run away.”

"What kind of goods? The Philosopher's Stone?" Lu Mingfei asked, puzzled.

“It must be your credit card. It has a limit of $100,000 in it, we can’t waste it,” Fingel replied.

Lu Mingfei ignored him and pondered in his mind all aspects of Lao Tang's character over the years, as well as the details of their previous online exchanges.

“By the way, Junior Brother, you also brought Wang Wei along. Is his Word of Power the Bloodline Jiro?” Fingel asked again.

Lu Mingfei glanced at him. "Are you sure you want to know Wang Wei's identity?"

"Forget it, there's definitely something fishy about what you're saying," Fingel waved his hand. "I don't want to know anything."

Chapter 57 Hotel

When Lu Mingfei and Fingel returned to the transfer hall, Old Tang was already back, holding steaming hot fries, and he and Constantine were eating them one by one.

"Where did you two go?" Old Tang waved to the two of them.

"I've been in the car for too long and feel a bit stuffy, so I'm going out for some fresh air," Fingel said.

Old Tang yawned, looking a little dazed. "There's nothing much to see along this stretch of road. Let's find a scenic spot to visit for a few days later. For now, let's just bear with it."

"Looking forward to it." Fingel nodded and sat back down in his seat with Lu Mingfei.

The four rested there for a while before returning to the Greyhound bus, reminded by the timetable in the lobby.