Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

Shh, there's something there.

Everyone immediately tensed up. Horus and Guilliman raised their weapons, and Lin Xia also gripped her weapon tightly, looking warily ahead into the tunnel.

It was a relatively open cave, filled with a musty smell, like a mixture of dried spices, ancient shrouds and machine oil.

It smells awful, it smells awful.

In the center of the cave stood three enormous stone coffins, carved from single blocks of black rock. The surfaces of the coffins were covered with dense, twisted ancient dragon script, which seemed to possess a life of its own, emitting a faint, ominous glow in the darkness.

Around the stone coffin stood six tall figures!

Their entire bodies were wrapped tightly in yellowish-black linen strips, like ancient Egyptian mummies. But they were much larger than humans, nearly three meters tall, and the few parts that were exposed, like their fingers, had dark gold skin with a metallic texture and were covered with fine dragon scales.

Their eye sockets were two empty holes, containing no eyes, only two slowly rotating dark red lights, like cheap gemstones, cold and bloodthirsty.

Chapter 190 The Mummy

Unlike the stiff, rigid movements depicted in movies, the mummies moved with a powerful coordination, their joints creaking and making a teeth-grinding sound, as if their interiors were not skeletons but complex metal structures.

They held huge, oddly shaped bronze axes or spears in their hands, and those weapons were engraved with alchemical matrices that gleamed with a dangerous light.

What the hell? Lin Xia stared at the guys who looked like they'd just popped out of a movie, lost in thought.

"Is this a mummy? Or an Egyptian-style Deadpool?" Lin Xia felt a chill.

“Not entirely.” Fingel’s eyes sharpened as he stared at the dark red energy cores in the empty eye sockets of the mummies and the faint alchemical patterns on their bodies. “Damn, these are alchemically powered ‘Corpse Guardians’! They’re killing puppets made from the remains of at least three generations of ancient dragons, with powerful hybrids having their internal organs emptied and filled with alchemical matrices and drive cores! Much more troublesome than ordinary Deadpools!”

As if to confirm his words, the red light in the eye sockets of the six dragon corpses suddenly intensified. They simultaneously turned their stiff necks and "looked" at the uninvited guests who had intruded.

Guilliman felt this was a test from the Emperor; such an evil thing was practically related to that space necromancer.

There was no roar, no warning. Two of the Dead Guardians suddenly stepped forward, their bronze giant axes whistling through the air as they cleaved down towards Fingal at the front. Their speed and power far surpassed those of the ordinary Dead Guardians.

"Get out of the way!"

Fingel roared, and instead of retreating, he charged forward. The giant sword in his hand erupted with blazing white flames once more, and he swung it upwards in a violent motion.

Clang!

The deafening roar nearly pierced eardrums as the flaming giant sword and the bronze giant axe collided violently, exploding into a blinding cloud of sparks and turbulent energy.

The rocks beneath Fingel's feet cracked inch by inch, but he withstood the combined attack with terrifying strength. At the same time, he flicked his wrist, and the flames on the greatsword spread upwards along the axe blade as if they were alive, scorching the Corpse Guardian's arm wrapped in strips of cloth.

Word of Power: The Bronze Throne is now open!

The corpse guard seemed to feel no pain. Its other hand swung its giant axe across, while another corpse guard's spear pierced Fingal's side like a venomous snake.

At the same time, the other four corpse guards also moved, their target being Lin Xia and her two companions behind them. Heavy footsteps thudded on the ground, like war drums striking the heart.

"For the Emperor!" Horus roared as he charged at a corpse guardian. His power sword clashed fiercely with the enemy's bronze halberd. Surprisingly, the power was not inferior to the enemy's, but the recoil from the clash of weapons made his arm go numb! These monsters were incredibly powerful.

Damn it, even with his Ghostly Victory power activated, he can't catch up with these ghostly things. You have to understand, in Ghostly Victory state, he has four times his normal power!

Guilliman's bomb gun roared again, bullets striking the Corpse Guardian, but most were deflected by the dark golden dragon scales and thick shroud, leaving only shallow dents and failing to inflict effective damage. He had no choice but to put away the bomb gun and draw his power sword to engage in close combat.

Lin Xia's Word of Power became the key! Although her Word of Power: Hypnosis could not be used directly in frontal combat to break through the Corpse Guardians' defenses, it could effectively slow down their movements, disrupt their balance, and create opportunities for Horus and Guilliman to attack.

"Attack their joints and eyes!" Fingel roared, wielding his greatsword while simultaneously holding his own against two corpse guards, all while giving orders. "Those are the nodes and energy cores of the Alchemy Matrix!"

He swiftly sidestepped the massive axe, his burning blade flashing like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair, precisely piercing the elbow joint of a corpse guard.

Crack! A teeth-grinding cracking sound rang out! The Corpse Guardian's arm instantly drooped, and the bronze giant axe clattered to the ground, but its other hand still fiercely grabbed at Fingel.

Fingel spun low, his massive blade slashing out with terrifying centrifugal force, severing both legs of the corpse guard. The corpse guard, now without support, crashed to the ground, but continued to crawl on one hand, attempting to attack Fingel.

Another corpse guard's spear pierced through, which Fingel parried with his greatsword, sparks flying. He stepped closer and delivered a vicious shoulder strike to the corpse guard's chest.

Bang! With a dull thud, the Corpse Guardian was actually knocked back.

Fingel pressed his advantage relentlessly, raising his giant sword high, the intense white flames condensing to an extreme degree, like a red-hot iron.

"Tear me apart!"

boom!

With a single slash, the blade struck the top of the corpse's head.

Even the incredibly tough dragon skull couldn't completely withstand this attack, which combined terrifying power and intense heat; the blade embedded itself deeply within. Fingel roared, his arm muscles bulging, and he slammed downwards!

"Thorn--!"

He had actually cleaved the corpse guardian in two, revealing its incredibly complex alchemical core, composed of metal pipes, gears, crystals, and dried-up internal organs. The core flickered a few times in the air before quickly dimming. The cleaved corpse guardian twitched a few times, then finally went completely still.

Having taken down one target, Fingel didn't stop and pounced on the next.

Meanwhile, Horus and Guilliman, having received the hint, also changed their tactics. Horus no longer relied on brute force, but instead used his agility to constantly move around, his power sword specifically targeting the Corpse Guardian's knee joints and eye sockets.

Killman became even more violent. He seized the opportunity, activated the force field on his power gauntlets to the maximum, and slammed a punch into the side of a corpse guard's knee.

Click!

The Corpse Guardian's lower leg bent at an unnatural angle, causing him to lose his balance and fall. Guilliman immediately pounced, his power sword plunging deep into the dark red energy core in the Corpse Guardian's eye socket.

puff!

The energy core exploded, and the red light in the corpse guard's eyes instantly went out.

Lin Xia also seized the opportunity, no longer pursuing lethality, but continuously releasing words of power, greatly interfering with the Corpse Guard's actions, making it easier for Horus and Guilliman to hit vital points.

The battle remained fierce, but these alchemical corpse guardians lacked true intelligence, and after finding a way to deal with them, they were defeated one by one.

If you were to use the corpse of a pure-blooded dragon like a third-generation species as a corpse guardian, it probably wouldn't be able to stop it at all.

Finally, when the last corpse guard's energy core was severed by Fingel's blade and turned into a pile of bones, the cave returned to deathly silence.

Fingel leaned on his sword, breathing slightly heavily, as the flames on the giant sword slowly died down.

He glanced at the corpses scattered on the ground, then at the three men behind him who, though disheveled, were unharmed, and grinned. "Done! Looks like my skills haven't gotten rusty. The road ahead probably won't be too treacherous."

Chapter 191 Modern Vending Machine

Fingel squatted beside the remains of the corpse guards he had dismantled, using the tip of his now-cold greatsword to poke at the alchemical cores and gears that shimmered with a dim light, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Tsk tsk, the workmanship and materials are at least the work of a master alchemist. Look at the level of detail, it's far superior to the crude imitations made by those lunatics in the Equipment Department. It's a pity the drive core burned out due to overload, otherwise it could definitely be sold for a good price."

Lin Xia was speechless again as she watched his professional trash-collecting posture. This senior's style was just too unpredictable.

“Brother Fingel,” she couldn’t help but ask, “where do we go next? Should we go deeper?”

Fingel stood up, dusted off his hands, and glanced at a narrow passage at the other end of the cave. "Hmm, let's go. I can vaguely sense that there's a slightly different smell up ahead."

"The taste?" Lin Xia asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Hmm, a kind of, well, how should I put it, a rather modern feel?” Fingel stroked his chin, also pondering how to describe it, “It doesn’t quite match the gloom of this godforsaken place.”

Filled with doubt, the three followed Fingel into a new passage. This passage was more winding and the air was more humid than the previous one. Moss, emitting a faint phosphorescence, even began to appear on the walls, providing some illumination.

After walking for about ten minutes, a very faint buzzing sound could be heard from ahead.

"Did you hear that?" Fingel gestured for everyone to stop. "The sound of a compressor cooling?"

In a place like this? Lin Xia and the others found it unbelievable.

Continue carefully and turn a corner.

The passage ended here, connecting to a small cave that resembled an abandoned equipment room. The cave was empty except for a vending machine in the very center.

This vending machine is completely out of place with the style of the abandoned subway stations in Nibelungen from the 1990s!

With its sleek and modern design, the machine boasts a striking white painted exterior and a cool blue LED strip that slowly flashes on the side, outlining a highly technological silhouette. The bright and clean glass display case showcases a variety of products arranged in layers. There's even a small LCD screen on top of the machine, scrolling through slogans like "Cool Down This Summer!" and "Recharge Your Energy and Get Going!" in flashy fonts.

The machine itself was working well, emitting a low hum.

"What...what is this?" Horus asked, utterly bewildered.

“A vending machine,” Killieman recognized it, but his brow furrowed. “Why would a vending machine be here?”

Lin Xia's eyes widened as she walked forward and carefully examined the merchandise in the shop window.

The store is filled with a dazzling array of items, but the types are extremely uniform, consisting entirely of self-heating foods of various brands and flavors.

Self-heating hot pot, with flavors including spicy beef tallow, tomato beef brisket, and pickled fish; self-heating rice, with flavors including shredded pork with garlic sauce, braised chicken, Cantonese preserved meat, and self-heating barbecue. There are even self-heating soups and self-heating milk teas! Next to them are compartments for bottled water and energy drinks.

All the goods were brightly packaged and looked very tempting, especially after a series of fierce battles and great physical exhaustion, which made people's mouths water.

"What the hell?" Fingel walked around the vending machine, stroking his chin. "Which big shot brought this thing in? The style is so out of place! Does Nibelungen offer some kind of convenience service?"

"But how do I buy it?" Lin Xia realized the crucial problem. The familiar coin slots and QR code payment area on the vending machine were blocked off by a thick layer of material, making them unusable. "Besides, there's no signal here."

"It doesn't seem to be intended for us," Killieman analyzed. "Perhaps it's for the 'residents' or 'maintainers' here?"

"Residents? Maintainers?" Lin Xia shuddered at the thought of those Dead Servants and Corpse Guardians. "They eat self-heating hot pot?"

I don't know if it's sweet or savory.

"Who knows? Maybe the Dragon King likes this kind of thing," Fingel shrugged, then his stomach growled loudly. He rubbed his stomach, his eyes turning dangerous. "Whatever, it's here to be eaten, isn't it?"

He tried to pry the crystal sealing the coin slot with his hands, but it wouldn't budge. He then tapped it with the handle of his knife, and it made a dull, thumping sound; it was unusually hard.

“Hey, it’s pretty sturdy,” Fingel said, getting excited. “Looks like I’ll have to use some unconventional methods.”

"Senior Brother Finger, what are you going to do?" Lin Xia had a bad feeling.

“What for? To pick up the goods, of course!” Fingel said matter-of-factly, gripping his greatsword tighter again. “You guys step back, don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

"Wait! Won't forcibly destroying it trigger some kind of mechanism?" Lin Xia hurriedly dissuaded him.

"Relax, relax, what kind of tricks could a vending machine have? At most, the alarm will go off twice, but there aren't any police in this godforsaken place," Fingel said nonchalantly, gesturing for the three to retreat into the aisle.

Then, he took a deep breath, swung the massive, door-like sword with both hands, and blazing white flames once again erupted from the blade!

"Open it for me!"

He roared, and the giant blade, carrying terrifying power and intense heat, slammed fiercely into the tempered glass in front of the vending machine.

boom!

A piercing explosion rang out, not from an alarm, but from the tempered glass shattering instantly into countless tiny particles that scattered like snowflakes, unable to withstand the violent force. The entire vending machine shook violently, its internal lights flickering and crackling with the sound of short-circuiting electricity.

Fingel ignored all of that, reached in, and like a raider, rummaged through the room, pulling out all the self-heating hot pot, self-heating rice, and drinks, piling them on the ground.

"Done! Time to eat!" He put away his knife triumphantly, as if he had done something extraordinary.

Lin Xia, Horus, and Killieman stared at the large pile of colorful self-heating foods on the ground, as well as the wreckage of the completely destroyed vending machine that was still smoking, and fell silent once again.