Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

He simply chose to believe Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei liked this feeling.

(End of Volume 1)

Chapter 82 Bait

Late at night, on the top floor of the principal's office.

A desk lamp illuminated two people sitting opposite each other. Schneider's face was covered by a black mask, a gas tube leading to a cylinder in a small cart, and his neck was covered with dark red scars. His breathing was low and viscous, like a broken bellows, and his iron-gray eyes were coldly fixed on the documents on the table.

It was a special assignment order, placing one S-class student and two A-class students on an indefinite special mission. They would still be students of Kassel College in name, but would be treated as high-ranking executives of the Executive Department and placed on a gray list.

The people on the gray list are all high-ranking executives whose identities are not publicly disclosed. Their work is so secretive that they have disappeared from the executive department's official roster. It can be said that everyone on the gray list is involved in an S-level secret mission.

“The academy has never had such a precedent since its founding,” Schneider said in a hoarse voice.

He is here today because Angers suddenly delivered this document to him.

"The lack of precedent is not a problem," Angers said calmly, sipping his black tea. "Isn't this the precedent?"

Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, Schneider frowned and said, "You have to understand, the training that senior executives undergo is beyond the imagination of these students in the academy, especially since they haven't even graduated yet!"

“Calm down, my friend.” Angers smiled. “We never evaluate talent based on seniority but on performance, do we? These three are all outstanding students who have carried out S-level missions. Their abilities and lineage are trustworthy. Moreover, I don’t need them to become true high-ranking executives. I’m just sending them to carry out a covert S-level mission.”

"That's all?" Schneider's usually expressionless, terrifying face twitched. "What was the result of the last mission? Lu Mingfei has been missing for three months, Fingel and Wang Wei are under investigation by the Board of Trustees, and the investigation team accuses you of covering up the truth, failing to report what you know, and formulating unreasonable and high-risk plans!"

“I’ve prepared for them an alchemical matrix personally designed by the vice principal, heavy firepower support from the executive department, bullets with Philosopher’s Stones as warheads, and super hybrids with S-class bloodlines.” Angers spread his hands. “Isn’t that reasonable enough? Sub-generations won’t even have a chance to struggle with this kind of lineup.”

"But in reality, we're facing the Dragon King!" Schneider growled in a low voice. "Haven't we made one mistake like this already? You can't keep playing the trick of withholding information!"

Angers knew what he was talking about. Twelve years ago, during the Greenland incident, a mysterious creature, suspected to be a dragon king, froze the entire sea, and Schneider was the only survivor. Although he survived by sheer luck, his face and respiratory system were destroyed by the extreme cold, leaving him barely recognizable and requiring him to wear a respirator for the rest of his life.

That incident was due to the board of directors' miscalculation of the dragon embryo, and the cost of that mistake was the lives of six outstanding young people, all of whom were Schneider's most valued and proudest students.

Angers tapped the antique tabletop with his two long, thin fingers, the crisp sound pulling Schneider back from his anger. "Do you want to know the truth?"

Schneider was taken aback. Angers had said "you," meaning only one person.

Angers acted shamelessly and nonchalantly, yet he saw right through Angers's intentions.

On the one hand, as the head of the executive department, he was indeed dissatisfied with this exaggerated and unprecedented transfer order, but more importantly, as a fellow avenger, he sensed that something was wrong with Angers.

Since Lu Mingfei enrolled as an S-level student, the school board first came to supervise the 3E exam, and then he participated in two missions that seemed to involve the resurgence of the Dragon King. The one who connected everything was Angers, the behind-the-scenes manipulator, who rated Lu Mingfei, agreed to let Lu Mingfei enter the Bronze City, and set a trap on the Panhandle Plateau. The fact that the first generation of the species, which rarely awakens over the long years, appeared one after another is hard to believe to be a coincidence.

“Yes, I want to know.” The dragon Schneider was hunting was suspected to be one of the first species, and he hoped to obtain Angers’ information.

“Do you remember those doomsday prophecies hidden in mythology?” Angers said, “like floods, wind serpents, fire rain, and geological upheavals…”

"Of course, dragons are behind these myths, and they foretell the end of the world, that is, Ragnarok." Schneider's executive department has always been regarded by other departments as a rude "butcher", but this "butcher" minister has high standards for himself, and usually pays close attention to the academic community.

“That’s right, Ragnarok.” Angers stared into Schneider’s eyes. “I’m now certain of one thing: Ragnarok is truly approaching.”

"What?" Schneider was taken aback.

“Before the largest black dragon awoke, the other dragon kings had already begun to awaken collectively,” Angers said. “That’s all I know.”

"What does this have to do with Lu Mingfei, Finger, and Wang Wei being assigned to the Executive Department as senior specialists?" Schneider frowned.

“It’s very simple,” Angers said slowly. “Lu Mingfei has something from the King of Bronze and Fire.”

Schneider paused for a moment, then asked, "You mean, some kind of marking?"

“That’s right. He was first marked by the Lord of Bronze and Fire beneath the Bronze City, and a second time on the Panhandle Plateau, because he had entered the Lord of Fire’s realm,” Angers said. “Just like your student’s suspected experience, the Board of Trustees secretly investigated his past.”

“Nibelungen, the land of the dead,” Schneider said softly. “It may just be a legend, and it may never have existed.”

“But only it can explain the sudden disappearance of the dragon civilization. We can hardly find any ruins left by the ancient dragons, not because they were really completely destroyed, but because they are not in the dimension of reality at all,” Angers explained. “I have discussed this with the vice principal.”

“We still can’t understand what that mark is, but the Dragon King can, right?” Schneider already understood.

“They are bait,” Angers revealed the true purpose of the plan.

A trap to kill the Dragon King.

“One last question,” Schneider said, “How can you guarantee they’re bait, and not a gift for the Dragon King?”

“I have a secret dragon-slaying system that guarantees the Dragon King will never return.” Angers finished speaking and immediately reached out to stop the curious Schneider. “Hey! Professor von Schneider! Can you respect privacy? You already know enough today.”

“Alright, I accept the transfer order.” Schneider picked up the documents on the table. “But I’d like to remind you that the Executive Department is also under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees. They don’t know yet that Lu Mingfei is still alive. This time, they will definitely not leave empty-handed.”

"Don't worry," Angers waved goodbye. "Mingfei will be fine."

Chapter 83

Schneider met Guderian.

Guderian was wearing pajamas and a Pikachu-patterned nightcap, clearly having rushed over in the middle of a nap.

After Schneider agreed to Angers' transfer order, Norma changed the status of students Fingel and "Wang Wei" to "prospective of graduation" and removed their files from the college database, transferring them to the executive department's gray list.

Guderian received an email from Norma in the middle of the night, discovering that his students had disappeared. He had previously had Fingel and "Wang Wei" enroll in his classes, but now both of them had vanished from the student list.

Not knowing what had happened, he rushed to Schneider's office.

What happened to my two students?

As soon as Schneider entered the office, he was grabbed by Guderian.

“The executive branch has transferred them; they’re involved in a highly confidential mission. Don’t ask any more questions.” Schneider slapped away Guderian’s hand from his shoulder without any politeness.

"If you're going on a mission, then you're going on a mission. Why is your file showing you as a candidate for graduation?" Guderian pressed.

“I told you, don’t ask any more questions, it won’t do you any good,” Schneider said coldly. “They will graduate automatically when the time comes, and they will still be your students.”

“It’s precisely because they are my students that I have to ask,” Guderian said, still somewhat uneasy. “You’re not going to send them on some dangerous missions that are beyond their capabilities, are you?”

“It wasn’t me.” Schneider shook his head. “It was the principal’s transfer order. It’s an indefinite assignment, which is why Norma classified them as prospective graduates.”

“Mingfei disappeared last time, why are you targeting my students again this time?” Guderian’s momentum immediately weakened when he heard that it was the principal’s order. “Even if you have to find students, aren’t there still Chu Zihang and Caesar?”

"In short, don't investigate this matter any further," Schneider concluded. "Just prepare for the tenure application process."

Guderian took off his nightcap, feeling resentful. "It's as if I sold out my students for personal glory."

Schneider looked at his colleague, whose face was full of conflict, and sighed, "Don't worry, you're not qualified to say you 'sold them out'."

"What do you mean?" Guderian's ears perked up.

“The issues involved here are beyond our control; perhaps all we can do is make a choice,” Schneider said. “I choose to trust the principal.”

“Of course we’d choose the principal.” Guderian didn’t understand what he meant. “After all, he’s our boss.”

“No, I believe him.” Schneider’s iron-gray eyes flashed with a cold light. “It’s because of his hatred for dragons, something that the board of directors doesn’t have.”

……

Beijing, December, the weather is freezing cold.

A girl wearing a mask and carrying a schoolbag jogged briskly in the cold wind. The hallway was filled with the aroma of cooking dinner, and the sound of her heels was like a light melody.

"I'm home!" she exclaimed as she pushed open the door.

Her only response was the howling of the cold wind as it swept through the buildings. The sky was already dark, and the remaining sunlight stretched the shadows of the trees outside the window.

Xia Mi took off her shoes and socks and plopped down on the soft bed in a "big" shape.

Breathing in the cool scent of the lingering winter sun on the blanket, she pulled a file folder from her schoolbag.

The front of the file folder features a half-withered, half-flourishing World Tree, inside which is a thick stack of documents.

She scanned the shocking photos one by one, some of which were ruins in the wasteland, and others were various semi-melted and solidified fragments salvaged from the Bronze City. Behind each photo was the date and location of the shooting.

In addition, there are many other photos of people.

A frail boy with his profile illuminated by sunlight in the classroom; a blurry sword fight captured by a security camera; a cold-faced boy practicing a layup alone on the basketball court…

The last photo was taken in the library. The boy sat in the shadow of rows of tall bookshelves, a ray of sunlight falling directly in front of him through the window. He looked up at the photographer with a start, his brows revealing an indescribable calmness. The clear sunlight gave him a halo, making his skin seem almost transparent.

Xia Mi stared at the photograph, trying to look directly into the boy's soul, before putting the photograph down in frustration after a moment.

“Each one is more troublesome than the last.” She suddenly sat up in bed, crossed her legs, and took out something wrapped in black cloth from her schoolbag.

After removing the fabric, a small mirror was revealed.

The mirror appeared to be made of silver, yet it was much lighter. The body was a small square with a handle at the bottom that could be held with one hand. The craftsman decorated the edges, back, and handle of the mirror with ornate reliefs, but Xia Mi found them somewhat distasteful.

She ran her fingers along the paper, and drops of thick blood fell onto the mirror.

When the silver surface of the mirror came into contact with blood, it was immediately and violently corroded. Soon, the surface layer turned into rust-like impurities after boiling and bubbling, dripping onto the floor.

The mirror seemed to have been reborn, shrinking in size and revealing its original bluish-black texture.

Xia Mi rubbed the mirror with her now-healed fingertips. After a quick wipe, the antique mirror immediately became gleaming.

She hummed a little tune happily as she placed the mirror on the dressing table, facing the room.

The girl in the mirror seemed to be enveloped in golden light, her figure hazy, wearing a red dress and a golden crown, her eyes brimming with golden flames.

……

In the luxuriously equipped e-sports room, Old Tang sat up straight, commanding his dragon cavalry army to ascend the high ground. Berserkers wielding ion beam blades followed in formation, golden beetles slowly crawled forward, and Templars draped in blue lightning hovered in the air.

On the opposite side, Constantine was in control, having built a typical Terran fortress with a dense and orderly layout. First, there were rows of supply depots, followed by bunkers filled with machine gunners, and then a group of tanks set up in siege mode. Valkyrie fighters patrolled around the base, and the radar of the anti-air towers covered the entire area to prevent Lu Mingfei's Dark Templar from taking advantage of the chaos to pick off any leaks.

This is the final battle, and even Old Tang isn't confident he can win. Constantine's skills are improving rapidly.

He had played countless matches like this over the past three months. Sometimes his opponent was Constantine, sometimes Fingel, and sometimes a mysterious expert playing Fingel's ship. But this only happened when he and Fingel were playing a game where the opponent was paying for the game.

This luxurious penthouse duplex's gaming room has become a mini internet cafe, while the opposite side of the master bedroom is a study, which is Lu Mingfei's office.

Su Enxi, Jiu Demai, and Ling regularly reported intelligence to Lu Mingfei. He recorded noteworthy events on sticky notes and then posted them on a huge whiteboard, connecting key events with lines.

The site circled in a large red circle is the "Hunter Website".

Chapter 84 The Hunter

In the definition of the College of Kassel, the concept of "hunter" specifically refers to a certain group of people.

They are a loosely organized group that provides services to people. The organization is a complex mix of outlaws, artists, avant-garde youths, and gangsters. However, their tasks are not things like helping the old lady next door bring her kitten down from the tree. Instead, they take on jobs that straddle the line between legal and illegal, including theft, grave robbing, and looting of cultural relics.

Many of these tasks are related to dragons, such as stealing alchemical tools from tombs.