Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

“20.1 million.” Lu Mingfei casually added 100,000 to that shocking price.

"So you only recruit mixed-race individuals?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"No, we generally accept anyone as long as their birth charts are compatible, but only hybrids accept the inheritance of 'spells,' which is similar to the practical courses, alchemy, and words of power in your academy."

“You seem to know a lot about Kassel College.”

“I have a junior brother who used to work in your executive department. My master spoke with your head and he was not erased from his memory.”

“I see, that explains it.” Lu Mingfei nodded. “You are inheritors like Mentor Flamel, but you are also reclusive scholars who study philosophy and theology. Therefore, it is the Kassel College branch that handles matters related to the dragon race in China more often.”

“There are no true hermits in modern times. We all have Taoist certificates, and you can check our identity information on the official website.” Zhuge Mingjue shook his head. “However, your branch has indeed been a great help.”

"3000 million!" The price was refreshed twice more, but in the end, the young man still took the lead.

Lu Mingfei knew he hadn't misjudged the man. He expressionlessly held up the sign, "5000 million!"

At the same time, he turned to look at the young man and gave him a contemptuous smile.

Chapter 118

"6000 million." The young man held up his sign.

He felt a dry mouth; his anger had dissipated, leaving only the exhaustion of a tense nerve. Only he and Lu Mingfei were still bidding; it had become a game of musical chairs, and the probability of that sword set being worth such a high price was very low.

"6500 million." Lu Mingfei raised his placard.

The young man was shocked. Lu Mingfei's jump was no longer the extravagant 10 million, nor the provocative 1000. The subtle number of 500 million seemed to be the true upper limit of the price in the other party's heart.

In other words, Lu Mingfei or Angers felt that buying this item for 6500 million was a good deal.

His hands trembled slightly.

His next offer might not receive a response, but it could also cause the other party real financial pain. He mentally reviewed the number over and over again; in reality, 5000 million was the limit of the liquid funds he could mobilize. Any higher and he would have to sell some assets or projects.

He looked at Lu Mingfei, who was leisurely leaning against the VIP seat, seemingly not taking him seriously at all.

That seat and that money weren't Lu Mingfei's property at all; he was at best an agent. Or rather, a servant, a dog, or something like that, the young man thought maliciously.

“8500 million!” he held up the sign.

The auction paddles were made very light, but the young man felt as if he were lifting something incredibly heavy. Buying a set of alchemical swords for 8500 million was insane; he even regretted it the moment he raised the paddle.

The initial passion faded, and even dragon blood had to cool down in the face of such staggering numbers.

He closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. Images of his bank account and company funds flashed before his eyes, and even combined... it still didn't seem enough. A mixture of regret and fear crept into his heart. He silently prayed, praying that Lu Mingfei would definitely accept the price.

The hall was silent. No one could have predicted the high price of this special item. In their eyes, the two people were like fools, their bidding so heated that the seller would ultimately be the one to win.

"8500 million once." The auctioneer raised the gavel.

"8500 million twice..." He stopped using those inflammatory platitudes because even he felt that no one would raise the price.

Lu Mingfei sighed softly.

As he expected, after his provocation and show of weakness, the other party should have pressed their advantage and launched a fierce attack, at least raising the price by several digits to show enough momentum.

"1 million." Lu Mingfei did not raise his paddle.

"What? This gentleman raised the price to 1 million?" The auctioneer squinted, making sure he hadn't seen the paddle raised. "Mr. number 26, even if you didn't raise your paddle, the bid would still count."

Lu Mingfei stood up, smiled, and casually tossed the sign aside. "It's not up to 100 million, it's up to 100 million. My offer is 185 million."

The auctioneer paused for a moment, then looked around the room. "One hundred and eighty-five million at a time."

"8500 million twice."

"Sold for 8500 million, lot number 26!" The auctioneer brought down the gavel, as if hammering a nail into wood.

Such a dramatic and domineering buyer has not appeared for a long time. Anyone with eyes can see that the opponent's fighting spirit has collapsed. At this point, even if only one dollar is added, the other party will not resist. But he chose to add one hundred million dollars. One hundred million dollars just to buy a breath... Extremely powerful and violent!

The lights suddenly blazed on, all the lights illuminating the area like a blazing wave crashing against the horizon. Finally, all the light focused on Lu Mingfei. Everyone could clearly see Lu Mingfei's appearance and that he carried no communication devices.

He is not the client; what is his relationship to Angers?

The young man who had been bidding earlier stared blankly at Lu Mingfei, his mind a complete blank. He touched his face and felt that his hands were warm and sticky. He realized that he was already drenched in sweat without even realizing it.

……

Lu Mingfei disliked these aspects of the auction; whether it was the flashing golden eyes or the spotlight, they were all useless rituals.

But the auctioneer on stage was also a bit confused. They weren't a theater troupe, and they didn't have a lighting technician position. The lights seemed to move on their own.

Meanwhile, in a luxurious suite in Paris, France, Mai Shude looked with satisfaction at her masterpiece—the radiant figure in the VIP seat.

“Is it necessary?” Su Enxi lay on the large kangaroo leather sofa next to her, holding a bag of potato chips. “I don’t think our little boss will like this kind of ceremony. Look, he’s squinting. He’s looking for the lighting technician.”

"What do you know? This is art." Mai Shude curled her lip. "Don't you think that when he stands up, the crowd should cheer and he should be bathed in sunlight?"

“That makes sense. After deducting the salvage costs, this will net a profit of over 7000 million. I have to support it for that much money.” Su Enxi gave a thumbs up.

"You talk like a money-grubber."

"Who do you think I am? I'm just in charge of the money!" Su Enxi said plaintively. "Besides me, who else can I rely on? Managing such a huge operation is not easy for me, feeding thousands of people! And you and that cold-faced girl have absolutely no idea about saving money. Every time you go out, you're like a vandal, sweeping everything in your path. The compensation bills afterward are truly terrifying..."

"Shut up, shut up!" This was the kind of thing that Mai Shude hated most. "Has the boss contacted you recently?"

"No, I haven't seen him since he said he was going on a business trip."

"Me too."

Silence fell between the two. The boss was very mysterious. He could appear anywhere in the world, as if he had opened a global teleportation portal. Someone who could teleport anywhere in the world shouldn't be "on a business trip." Where did he go on a business trip? Outside the world?

"However, the young boss's dragon-slaying project has made progress." Su Enxi sat up and switched the screen from the auction venue to a screenshot PPT from an online forum.

That was an urban legend discussion thread about "hidden legends in the Beijing subway." There are many similar posts, and even each city has its own version. The most classic one is that "the school used to be a mass grave."

Mai Shude quietly browsed through the content she had extracted from the discussion thread. It was mostly nonsense, and very few people actually believed that the subway system had two hidden stations.

But Su Enxi said that if there is progress, there must be progress.

Sure enough, the last picture was a screenshot of the mysterious blog homepage, with black background and white text.

"You need a transit card. Enter each subway station on Line 1 and Line 2 once a day, swipe the card each time, and you'll see the card turn gold. Swipe the subway card to reach the hidden stations."

"You really believe in this kind of urban legend?" Mai Shude frowned.

Chapter 119 The Commissioner Disappears

"Isn't eliminating the wrong answer the right one? The three little ones in the Dragon Slayer Team have all suffered setbacks... The young boss has too high an eye, mistakenly believing that the hybrid forces possess useful information; the Bloodthirsty White Rabbit's research was misled, and she almost died in Odin's trap; Gattuso's golden retriever bought that building, but still goes around in circles every day." Su Enxi said lazily, "Nibelungen is indeed a mysterious thing, but it also has rules, and every Nibelungen is different. Perhaps the King of the Earth and Mountains is just a fan of ghost stories?"

"Has something happened?" Mai asked softly.

“Two commissioners from Kassel College have gone missing, along with one of the boss’s high school classmates. He called the police saying he was trapped on a subway train that never stops…” Su Enxi said calmly. “The two commissioners’ task was to scan the lines, and they may have inadvertently met the entry requirements.”

“It does sound like the Nibelungs,” Mai Shude said. “An infinitely looping labyrinth.”

“I’ve already sent the intelligence to the young boss. Now we just need to watch his performance. He just got his hands on the peerless dragon-slaying weapon.” Su Enxi grabbed a handful of potato chips and stuffed them into her mouth. “That’s a treasure forged by the King of Bronze and Fire himself. It’s a deadly sword that can kill other dragon kings. There’s no other one like it in the world.”

"That sounds strange. The King of Bronze and Fire himself is living a leisurely life in an apartment near Bronze City..." Mai Shude's expression was subtle. "By the way, what did you call me here for this time?"

"Someone has hacked into our server room, but there wasn't much damage. My people aren't good at counter-surveillance. You're the strongest ninja, so please come and investigate."

They had a data center, not as large as Norma's central server room in the icebox of Kassel College, but large enough to provide them with a hidden hideout in the online world. This server room was also built by the boss, and theoretically, its security level was comparable to the Pentagon.

"They've invaded but are doing nothing?" Mai Shude was taken aback. "Breaking through those defenses would be quite costly... Take me to the site and see for yourself."

……

Six time zones apart, at the main campus of Kassel College, Illinois, USA.

The central control room on the second floor of the library was filled with the rapid clicking of keyboards, the hissing of printers, and the clicking of mechanical cipher machines translating secret codes. Since the Dragon King incident, the control room had abolished its shift system, with three shifts simultaneously processing information from all over the world sent by Norma related to dragons or hybrids.

Manstein's group consisted of about seventy experts and interns, each with a terminal in front of them.

"This is a financial reimbursement form. Please sign it. Our specialist in Beijing is waiting for the funds to be deposited!"

Manstein took a moment to make himself a cup of black coffee. He had just taken a sip when his female secretary, wearing high heels, came running up to him and handed him a bill.

“One hundred and seventy-seven million US dollars…cough cough cough cough…” Manstein choked on his coffee. He didn’t need caffeine to stay awake; the long string of numbers on the bill was enough to excite him. “A targeted auction? Wasn’t the principal on a spring trip? Where did this annual auction bill come from?”

“Sotheby’s also saw the post on the Hunter Market. They added a special session to their auction schedule at the last minute, in Beijing. The principal assigned Lu Mingfei to attend in his place. He won two items, spending a total of $8700 million. He has $1000 million in his temporary account.” The secretary flipped through the freshly printed documents in her hand. “The account is guaranteed by the reputation of Kassel College. The auction house is now waiting for payment, and Lu Mingfei is waiting in the VIP lounge.”

"What did he film?" Manstein asked, sounding tired.

"A staff with a self-circulating alchemical field, and a set of alchemical swords called 'The Seven Deadly Sins'."

"Hurry, hurry...hurry up!" Manstein put down his cup, grabbed the bill, and signed his name in a flamboyant manner. "Go and transfer the money!"

He rubbed his hands together, drank the coffee that had spilled most of the way, and felt that he finally had some good news. The things that the principal sent Lu Mingfei to photograph were indeed good. Putting aside whether the "Seven Deadly Sins" set was a genuine artifact forged by the legendary King of Bronze and Fire, the cane alone was definitely a valuable research object.

The female secretary returned a moment later and reported to him that the bill had been paid and recorded in the financial system.

"When will the two auction items be sent back to the academy?" Manstein asked.

"The principal said that the two auction items are equipment supplies for Lu Mingfei's high-risk missions," the female secretary said truthfully.

"What mission? Didn't we only send one reconnaissance team...?" Before Manstein could finish speaking, the red phone on the control panel rang. He hesitated for a moment before answering the call.

"Hello, my emergency report has been pending for over an hour, so I'm making a call to check." The person on the other end of the line was the manager of the BJ branch.

"What emergency?" Manstein was stunned. He waved for his secretary to return to her post, no longer concerned with the auction. His other hand quickly swiped through Norma's reporting system. These days, one unexpected event after another had occurred, many marked as high-risk in red. Several thorny issues were crammed together, each occupying only a narrow line in the table, while the system of tables was vast and complex.

He found it: an emergency report from the BJ branch.

"The two commissioners have been missing for more than 12 hours, and the reason for their disappearance is unknown."

Norma marked it as a red emergency and had already launched a search and rational call in the online world. An image resource from a low-orbit agricultural satellite in space was invoked, showing the last place the two comrades were seen: a coffee shop near the subway station.

Manstein's head buzzed, and he vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

“I need the personal equipment of those two specialists…” Manstein issued the order methodically, “Norma… retrieve all of Wan Boqian’s and Gao Mi’s mission reports.”

"I'm sorry, the personal devices of Commissioners Wan Boqian and Gao Mi have been occupied by a mission with higher privileges. The electronic data archive of the mission report has been generated." Norma's voice sounded in his headset.

"Higher authority?" Manstein was shocked. His current authority was equivalent to that of the head of the executive department; who could have higher authority than him? The principal? The board of trustees?

"No need to guess, it's Lu Mingfei." A hoarse voice sounded behind him.

Schneider, the head of the executive department, rushed over from the next group, presumably having received Norma's report.

“Lu Mingfei was carrying out an SS-level mission. There are only two people in charge of the mission: Angers and Lu Mingfei himself,” Schneider said in a low voice. “Don’t get involved in Lu Mingfei’s affairs anymore. Your father is the deputy, but his father is the head.”

Manstein was still pondering the first half of his sentence when he was quite shocked by the second half of the joke.