Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

There was a faint scent of air freshener inside the vehicle, and dark blue nightlights were turned on above each seat, making the entire interior look bright and refreshed.

However, after they returned to their seats, they were all a little tired.

The Greyhound's seats could be adjusted very low, almost like reclining chairs, which were barely comfortable. Old Tang and Fingel were snoring almost as soon as they lay down. The driver was a different person; after getting in, he started the car and drove away from the parking lot onto the highway at night.

The vehicle trembled slightly, and outside the window was a dark, deserted area.

Soon, everyone in the car except the driver fell asleep.

Silent all night.

The next day, Lu Mingfei was the first to wake up.

Outside the window, the sky was ablaze with the colors of dawn, just before the sun had risen and was only illuminating the clouds. This phase usually lasted for about ten minutes before the light gradually reached the earth. The morning was quiet; there were few cars on the road, and the distant land stretched out into a single mass in the darkness, making the Greyhound seem as if it were traveling on the edge of the world.

The phone screen lit up, and Angers sent another message.

"The alchemical matrix is ​​in place."

Lu Mingfei glanced at it and pressed the power button. The screen went dark, revealing an expressionless face bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

The tranquility inside the car was soon broken by Fingel's humming and groaning.

"Good morning, brothers." He adjusted his seat, curled up in it, and stretched like a taut shrimp.

Old Tang woke up and wiped his drool, while Constantine rubbed his eyes and sat up as well.

At that moment, golden sunlight rose from the horizon, instantly bathing the earth in a dazzling golden glow. The remaining darkness was confined to the back of the hills and the shadows of the bushes and rocks.

"Come on, come on, have some breakfast." Old Tang took out his backpack and handed out snacks to everyone.

Lu Mingfei took a bag of corn chips, which were crunchy, salty, and had a cheese flavor.

When they woke up, everyone was full of energy and eagerly looked out the window at the scenery on both sides of the road. The Greyhound drove through the endless wilderness, where grass covered everything, occasionally interspersed with a lone tree, bushes, and small hill.

This is one of the advantages of traveling by Greyhound: you can enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.

Around noon, Greyhound stopped again for a one-hour rest break.

The group bought hot dogs at the fast food restaurant, squatted in the shade of the restaurant's eaves, and ate hot dogs while drinking iced cola.

"Next stop, it seems to be Amarillo?" Fingel asked casually.

“Yes, have you been there?” Old Tang asked.

“No, I just heard a song called Amarillo Morning,” Fingel shrugged. “It’s about the life of a Texas cowboy.”

"To be honest, I've never been to Texas," Old Tang said, taking a sip of his Coke. "My only impression of it is Sandy's hometown."

Fingel became interested. "Sandy? Sounds like a girl."

"It's not a person, it's a Texas squirrel from the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants." Old Tang was a little embarrassed. "Back in the orphanage, we had an old color TV, and we would play SpongeBob SquarePants every day at noon to lull us into a nap. At that time, I thought Texas must be a very interesting place, even the squirrels were very hardcore, they knew karate and could build rockets."

“Then it’s decided,” Fingel suddenly stood up. “Let’s get off at Amarillo! What do you all think?”

“Okay.” Lu Mingfei nodded.

Constantine nodded in agreement with Lu Mingfei.

"So hasty?" Old Tang scratched his head.

"The four of us are grown men traveling across America in Greyhounds. It's already a mess, so why would we care about being hasty or careless?" Fingel said with great pride.

"Okay." Old Tang had no choice but to agree.

This time, the driver was different again, but the bus wasn't cleaned. Greyhound set off again, unaware that the next stop would be the end of the journey for this strange group of passengers in his eyes.

The scenery outside the window changed; the grasslands gradually thinned out, and more bare land and rocks appeared. Looking into the distance, the mountains were covered with jagged stones. The plant species also changed; there were more low shrubs with fluffy branches and slender leaves, and many cacti.

This change indicates that we are almost at our destination.

Amarillo is an industrial and commercial city with a population of about 180,000, located in the heart of the arid, flat Panhandle Plateau in northwestern Texas.

Industrially, it primarily focuses on oil and natural gas extraction and supply, with several pipelines connecting it to other states. Most importantly, it was the sole center for the final assembly of U.S. nuclear weapons.

In such a city, the Kassel College, or rather the Secret Service, has stationed a large number of executive staff there, almost as if the city itself had a branch.

When Greyhound arrived at its destination, the sun was setting again.

The sky was clear, with only a few wisps of low-lying clouds at the edges. The low-angle sunlight reflected evenly across the sky, making it look like a calm sea of ​​rosy clouds.

After getting off the bus, Lu Mingfei and his group took their luggage with them.

They arrived at the roadside; the Greyhound station was very close to the city, and there were taxis there. Soon, a yellow Crown Victoria slowly pulled up in front of them.

While Lao Tang was putting down his luggage, Lu Mingfei and Finger quickly contacted the driver and confirmed that he was from the Execution Department.

"Old Tang, the driver recommended a cheap and affordable hotel. Shall we check in there first?" Fingel said to Old Tang after getting in the car.

Old Tang didn't think much of it. He had witnessed Fingel's social skills before. If that old man with the farm had a daughter instead of a son, he probably could have set them up on the spot.

"Does the hotel have a place to eat?" Old Tang asked.

"Yes," the driver replied.

"I have no objection, as long as there's food, let's go," Old Tang said.

"Big brother, then take us there." Fingel put his hands behind his head, looking quite relaxed.

The driver thought to himself that he should be Fingel's junior based on his enrollment year, then stepped on the gas and drove onto the dirt road in the Gobi Desert.

After a long time, it got completely dark.

At first, Lao Tang felt panicked staring at the dark, unlit wilderness on both sides. But when a three-story building with lights on actually appeared in front of him, he finally calmed down and stopped feeling "kidnapped".

Chapter 58-Awakening

After getting out of the car, Lao Tang felt a vague sense of unease.

He looked around. Lu Mingfei still had that indifferent look. Wang Wei followed behind Lu Mingfei without saying a word. Finger was unloading luggage from the trunk of the taxi. The driver rested his arm on the open window and looked at the group through the rearview mirror. Perhaps he was waiting for them to get their luggage and close the door before stepping on the gas and leaving.

The three-story building in front of me is backed by a small hill, and there is only this dirt road in front of it. The exterior of the building looks like it has been freshly painted.

Old Tang turned to look at the Gobi Desert directly opposite the hotel. The boundless barren land stretched to the horizon, with a deep blue night sky dotted with stars above the blurry black horizon. This place was truly the most remote place, the kind of place drug dealers would choose to make methamphetamine, where it would take the police several days to find the scene of a dead person.

"Brother, I feel like we've stumbled into the beginning of some horror movie," Old Tang whispered to Lu Mingfei. "I'm getting goosebumps."

"If it's a ghost, then that's fine," Lu Mingfei said calmly.

Old Tang thought to himself that his brother's mental illness had flared up again, making normal communication impossible. He then glanced at Fingel, who was waving goodbye to the driver, and finally felt relieved. Horror movies are all about atmosphere; what ghost movie protagonist would be a lewd and despicable guy like Fingel?

He took a deep breath to clear his mind, but his heart only raced faster after he exhaled.

He suddenly felt a mix of happiness and unhappiness, feeling like he was letting himself down. In the more than twenty years he had lived in New York, he had never actually made a single friend, never traveled with friends, never stayed in hotels recommended by drivers, and never tried the local cuisine in unfamiliar cities. These things had previously only existed in movies and stories for him.

As he grew older, he became dismissive of these ideas, feeling that traveling so far to unknown places, exhausting himself, and eating food that even the locals might find repulsive was nothing compared to playing video games at home.

But now he really has a few friends. Although one is mentally ill, one is taciturn and sparing with words, and the last one is even more useless than him, if you combine Finger and Wang Wei, they can be considered two normal people. Then, if he cures Lu Mingfei's illness, he will have three normal friends.

They rode Greyhound together, ate hot dogs together in the exhaust fumes, and watched the sunrise and sunset in unfamiliar places through the car window.

Now, a wind blowing in my face carries a mixture of dust, the smell of plants, and taxi exhaust. The dim lights illuminate everyone's faces. For a moment, it seems to bring back the sense of freedom I imagined as a child, except that I'm missing a beer.

"I wonder if they even sell beer in such a remote hotel," he murmured.

"What?" Fingel asked as he walked over carrying his luggage.

"nothing."

The driver's taillights faded into the distance as the group, each carrying their own luggage, prepared to enter the hotel recommended by the locals.

The entrance hall was actually facing a wall that separated two doorways on the left and right, and there was no one to greet us.

"Is anyone there?" Old Tang shouted, but there was no response, though a faint echo could be heard.

How could there be an echo in such a small space? The interval between the reflected sound is not enough for the human ear to perceive the time difference.

Fingel quietly fell behind, having already taken out the revolver while getting his luggage, and tucked it into his waistband like a gangster.

Lu Mingfei remained silent. He grabbed Lao Tang's hand and practically dragged him into the hotel.

Old Tang felt his arm being pulled by a tremendous force, and followed Lu Mingfei forward, crossing the wall.

He was shocked.

There was no hotel behind the wall; instead, it was a large space resembling a stadium, with the floors between each level removed. A high-powered light hung from the dome, making Old Tang squint, but he could still make out a huge and intricate "magic circle" on the ground, its lines forming grooves embedded in the earth, with a ghostly blue mercury flowing within them.

Meanwhile, Lu Mingfei, Finger, and Constantine all put on masks.

Old Tang looked around in bewilderment. Where there used to be load-bearing pillars, there were now pillars engraved with ferocious patterns, and mercury flowed down from above, turning into white steam.

“Lu Mingfei? Fingel? Wang Wei?” he shouted.

However, Lu Mingfei just stared coldly at him through the mask. Fingel, who was standing next to him, reached behind his back and pulled out a pistol about the length of his arm. He also threw a long object wrapped in black cloth to Lu Mingfei. Lu Mingfei slowly unwrapped the cloth, revealing an antique-looking Han sword inside.

"Ronald Don!" Lu Mingfei's eyes blazed with a brilliant light, like a golden sun. "Today is your death day!"

Even Fingel, with a vicious glint in his eyes, pointed the dark muzzle of his revolver at him, saying, "Playing house with you is disgusting!"

In a daze, an unfamiliar memory surfaced before his eyes. When he returned to the Greyhound transfer hall with his fries, the guy named Wang Wei grabbed his hand, his eyes filled with fear, as if something terrifying was chasing him. "Brother, run! They're going to kill you!"

That's strange, I don't remember saying that at all.

But it was so vivid, unlike a dream. Old Tang could even remember seeing his own reflection in Wang Wei's eyes: wearing an ill-fitting shirt and holding a scalding hot plate of fries.

For some reason, I found the people in the reflection somewhat ridiculous.

A voice seemed to be sneer deep inside, sending chills down my spine.

In a daze, I heard more sounds, like whispers in a dream. They were dreamlike yet strangely real, as if I had heard them somewhere before, but where...?

"Brother, there are many people outside."

“We are going to die, Constantine, but do not be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid, I’m with my brother, I’m not afraid… But why… don’t you eat me? If you eat me, my brother can break through any cage.”

“You are good food, but that would be too lonely. For thousands of years, it has been just you and me.”

"But death is truly heartbreaking, forever and ever, pitch black... like groping in the dark, but your outstretched hand can never touch anything..."

"The so-called fate of the outcasts is to cross the wasteland, raise the battle flag once more, and return to their homeland. Death is not frightening; it is merely a long slumber. Before I can devour this world, it is better to sleep peacefully than to trek alone. We will awaken again."

"Brother... if one day we raise a battle flag and are able to devour the world, will you eat me?"

"Yes, then you will rule the world with me!"