Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

Caesar had to admit that Nono possessed extraordinary driving talent. He proceeded steadily, using his superior power to gradually close the gap on the straights. However, on the series of S-curves, Nono always managed to leave him behind with her more agile driving lines. Her figure swayed nimbly ahead, like an elusive red fish.

This can't go on. Caesar's pride wouldn't allow him to concede defeat so easily, especially in a fair contest. He took a deep breath, a pale golden light flashing in his eyes.

Word of Power: Kamaitachi.

A silent domain expanded outwards from him, and the world changed. The deafening roar of engines was decomposed and reconstructed, transforming into countless clearly discernible threads of sound.

The sounds of Nono's engine breathing under different loads, the subtle differences in the contact, sliding, and friction between the tires and the ground, the different vortex sounds generated by the air flowing over the sides of the car, and even her slightly faster heartbeat and breathing due to tension or excitement.

All of this became a concrete stream of data, flowing into Caesar's mind.

The wind became his eyes, his antennae. He "heard" the exact curve of the bend ahead, and "heard" the next route Nono might take. He no longer relied solely on visual judgment, but constructed the track through sound.

The effects were immediate. Caesar's cornering became smoother and more efficient; he seemed to anticipate the future, always entering corners at the optimal moment, and his acceleration out of corners was more decisive. On a high-speed corner on lap six, he used the Kamaitachi to detect a slight instability in Nono's car, grabbed the inside line, and successfully overtook him.

The red car was left behind. Caesar let out a soft breath, a slight smile playing on his lips beneath his helmet. Using incantations to play go-karting might seem a bit dishonorable, but beating Nono made it all the more interesting.

Nono wasn't flustered at all when she realized she'd been overtaken. She simply clicked her tongue softly; she sensed the change in Caesar's rhythm, the sudden, almost precognitive fluidity—it was anything but normal.

"You cheated, didn't you, President?" Nono muttered to herself, but she was not discouraged at all. Instead, she was inspired to fight even harder.

If a Ferrari is the standard equipment for aristocratic young men like Caesar, then Nono might have been born to ride a steel beast.

Her talent lies in her instinctive resonance with machines. She doesn't need incantations; her body is the best sensor. She can sense the tire's grip limit through the subtle vibrations of the steering wheel, judge the shift in the center of gravity through the car's tilt, and find the theoretically fastest route through inexplicable intuition.

While Caesar relied on the Kamaitachi to obtain information, Nono was experiencing racing with her whole being.

In the final three laps, Nono launched a breathtaking comeback. She no longer strictly adhered to the standard racing line, instead taking what appeared to be a risky, even somewhat unbelievable, route. She delayed braking in corners, using a later entry point to seize the inside line. On the exit of corners, she boldly allowed the rear of the car to slide slightly, using drifting to correct direction while maintaining revs.

Caesar "heard" all of this through the Kamaitachi. He clearly sensed that Nono's driving style had undergone a transformation, becoming more aggressive and precise, breaking through the established barriers. He tried to block it, but Nono's car seemed to have a life of its own, always managing to slip through the gaps in his defenses.

The last lap, the last hairpin bend.

Caesar occupied the inside line, blocking the best entry angle into the corner. According to Kamaitachi's calculations, Nono had no space to overtake. However, just as he was preparing to smoothly exit the corner and rush towards the finish line, he "heard" Nono's car not slowing down to follow as predicted, but instead cutting in from the outside at an almost insane speed!

She chose a more dangerous and longer inside-outside route, taking advantage of a slight tilt on the outer edge of the track. The entire car trembled on the edge of its limit, as if it was about to lose control and slide out of control at any moment. However, she managed to gain even faster acceleration at the moment of exiting the corner with incredible control!

The two cars crossed the finish line almost side by side, the blue smoke from their tires filling the air.

The final results flashed on the electronic screen. After a brief delay, the red number came in first place, 0.11 seconds faster than the blue number that followed.

It's Nono!

Caesar stopped the car, took off his helmet, his golden hair slightly disheveled. He was slightly out of breath, looking at Nono beside him, who had also taken off her helmet, her forehead damp with sweat, her cheeks flushed. Her eyes sparkled like stars as she breathed in the air mixed with the smell of gasoline, then gave Caesar a radiant, triumphant smile.

"I won!" she announced loudly, her voice slightly hoarse with excitement.

Caesar looked at her, at this girl burning with astonishing vitality on the track, and the slight annoyance he felt for losing the race despite using incantations vanished. He had only lost a race, but what he saw was the unpredictable and unbridled brilliance of Nono's soul.

This thrilled him more than any victory.

He stepped forward and casually reached out to tidy the sweaty stray hairs from her forehead, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration and tenderness. "Yes, you won. You won beautifully. I used a little trick, but I still lost."

Nono chuckled, "I guessed it. But it's okay, I rely on my own strength!"

She patted Caesar on the shoulder, as if to say, "Come on, Mr. Caesar, let's pay up your bet—no, I mean, let's pay up mine! We'll treat everyone to drinks!"

Caesar signed off an enormous drink bill at the bar for all the complete strangers in the club, and the entire club erupted in cheers. People raised their glasses in salute to the remarkable and generous couple of strangers.

Nono picked up a glass of ice-cold beer, shoved it into Caesar's hand, and then grabbed a glass of juice for herself, clinking it against his.

"Cheers!" she exclaimed, her eyes curving into beautiful crescents. "To happiness!"

Caesar raised his glass, and the crisp clinking of glasses rang out again, this time blending into the laughter and cheers of everyone around him.

"For you," he whispered in his heart.

Chapter 336 Approaching Mars

Akira Sakurai felt a sudden chill, as if he had been stabbed by something. He suddenly realized that he had been unconsciously immersed in the story Madoka was telling, and had even asked a question with concern, such as "Why did Muddy die?"

This was so abnormal. Even as Xiaoyuan sobbed softly and recounted her past, his gaze lingered like a sticky crawling insect, repeatedly tracing her slender neck, her slightly heaving chest, and her legs pressed together, as he suppressed the urge to tear her apart immediately.

But for some reason, images kept uncontrollably appearing before his eyes: in the soft morning light, the black cat named Xiao Nian, carrying the girl's shoes, squatted at the door, meowing softly. As the sun set, the girl in her school uniform sat on the roof of the old house, the little black cat nestled peacefully on her head, both gazing at the distant sunset. In the stillness of the night, the kitten curled up on the girl's soft belly and slept peacefully, purring contentedly in its sleep.

These images are hazy and warm, like a slow-paced, ambiguous old-fashioned art film, completely out of place with the dark desires surging within him.

But why did he engage in this meaningless empathy? And the object of his empathy was a girl who had autism and whose thinking was clearly different from that of ordinary people.

What she said—about cat spirits, about secrets in the mountains—was nothing but childish fantasy, a refuge built by a fragile heart. What he cared about, from beginning to end, was simply the blossoming youthful body beneath that neat school uniform.

What's the point of talking about past lives? What's the point of sharing sorrows and losses? It's as absurd as a brothel madam discussing unwavering love with her client, or a politician spouting grand but empty ideals to a starving populace.

He needs to immediately stop this out-of-control trend and bring the pace back to his familiar, dominant trajectory.

"Xiaoyuan, your figure is really beautiful, especially your legs, so straight and long. You must be a star in the sports team at school, right?" He quickly changed the subject, like a skilled hunter throwing out new bait.

"Huh?" Xiaoyuan paused, suddenly pulled from her sadness, her face still wet with tears. She blinked, blushing slightly with embarrassment. "Yes! I'm from the rhythmic gymnastics club, and also, I'm a member of the basketball cheerleading team." She straightened her back, as if mentioning something that made her feel a little proud.

"Wow, rhythmic gymnastics and cheerleading!" Sakurai Akira said, a smile he thought was charming spreading across his face. His tone became even more enthusiastic. "I love watching cheerleading performances. They're so energetic! Doing this kind of exercise regularly can definitely help you maintain a better figure and make your skin extra firm and smooth."

Talking about such topics made him feel much more comfortable; it was a familiar area for him.

He felt the atmosphere had been set enough. A few casual words about sports, coupled with the feigned goodwill created by listening to her stories, should be enough to lower the guard of this naive and lonely girl.

The other party's guard has probably dropped to its lowest point. It's time.

He maintained a gentle smile on his face, but leaned forward slightly, closing the distance a little, and said softly in a seductive tone, "Speaking of which, rhythmic gymnastics movements must be very beautiful, right? I'm very curious."

...

Lu Mingfei scrolled through his phone listlessly, while Frilian next to him sipped a cup of herbal tea with double the amount of honey.

The phone screen lit up, and an encrypted message from an unknown number popped up.

"Damn it," Lu Mingfei muttered subconsciously. He was all too familiar with this type of message; it usually meant trouble was coming his way.

Frillie looked up. "What's wrong?"

“It’s Norma,” Lu Mingfei turned his phone screen to show Frillie, with a resigned helplessness, “the highest secretary of the main campus of Kassel College, who is, in a sense, one of our direct superiors. She’s sent a mission.”

The message was concise and to the point, consistent with Norma's usual style:

To Commissioner Lu Mingfei and Ms. Frilline:

Please go to the designated coordinates of the college within three hours of receiving this message (coordinates attached).

You will be traveling to Japan as representatives of the Kassel College headquarters to carry out a joint research mission, using dedicated transportation.

A detailed mission briefing will be provided by the local contact upon arrival at the destination.

good luck.

—Norma.

"Japan?"

"Well, it's an island nation with lots of anime, games, and, uh, maybe lots of demons and monsters. Anyway, it's not a place for a relaxing vacation, at least not for us."

Lu Mingfei spoke, but his mind was in turmoil. Lu Mingze's mysterious warning earlier had indeed come true! Japan! That little devil had been vague then, but now that he thought about it, wasn't he referring to this mission?!

The key point is, that guy just patted his butt and said he was going on vacation, telling everyone to take care of themselves, and then disappeared without a trace. Now, what if he runs into some tough nut in Japan? His biggest cheat code is temporarily offline, so he'll have to rely on this thousand-year-old elf girl by his side to unleash her power?

He glanced furtively at Frillie, who was looking down at the map of Japan on her phone screen, showing no sign of nervousness.

Following the coordinates, the two arrived at a secluded helipad on campus. In the distance, they could see a private plane, the principal's vehicle, a Gulfstream G550, internally codenamed "Sleibnir," after Odin's eight-legged steed from Norse mythology.

More eye-catching than the airplane were the two strikingly different yet equally dazzling figures standing beside the gangway.

The blond Caesar Gattuso leaned casually against the cabin door, tieless, collar slightly open. Sunlight bathed him as if he were under a spotlight, as he absentmindedly wiped his signature Dick Tudor hair. On the other side, Chu Zihang stood ramrod straight, like a drawn sword, arms hanging naturally at his sides, his gaze calmly fixed ahead, radiating a chilling aura that kept strangers at bay.

Seeing this lineup, Lu Mingfei's heart sank, and he had a bad feeling.

He steeled himself, pulled Frillie forward, forced a smile, and tentatively asked, "Boss, senior brother, were you also sent to Japan by the academy on a mission?"

Caesar looked up, sheathed his hunting knife, and smiled slightly. "Of course. How could I miss out on something so interesting? Norma said we need some esteemed representatives."

Chu Zihang said succinctly, "It's required for the mission." He met Lu Mingfei's gaze and nodded, which was his way of greeting him.

Well, it's confirmed. Lu Mingfei sighed inwardly. The top combat force of Kassel College, including himself, had almost been wiped out. This trip to Japan was obviously a den of dragons and tigers. He could almost hear trouble singing merrily over Tokyo Bay.

Chapter 337 Gulfstream G550

Like a dark arrow released from a bow, the Gulfstream G550 roared deafeningly at an altitude of 10,000 meters, ruthlessly tearing through the thick clouds.

This ultra-long-range business jet was originally designed for billionaire businessmen, celebrities, or politicians, aiming to provide ultimate comfort and tranquility. On ordinary Gulfstream routes, VIPs can cross the Pacific Ocean in a few hours of peaceful sleep, boarding in the New York night and waking to the Parisian dawn. Engineers designed it to be extremely quiet; when cruising in the stratosphere, distinguished passengers can barely perceive the engines running. The designers proudly proclaimed that it flies like a giant blue whale gliding gracefully through the deep sea.

But this Gulfstream, belonging to the Kassel College, was an anomaly. It was extremely noisy, not only because of the deep, powerful roar of the engine, but also because passengers could clearly hear the sharp whistling sound of the wings tearing through the dense air, as if a giant bird was flapping its wings with all its might.

Above, the brilliant Milky Way stretches across the sky, like black velvet sprinkled with diamonds. Below, the endless, dark sea stretches out, swallowing all light. The plane is cleverly concealed in the lower, black clouds, the churning clouds resembling another silent sea, and the plane is like a tiger shark that has caught the scent of blood and is charging at full speed toward its prey.

This Gulfstream, heavily modified by the Academy's Equipment Department, has a fitting nickname: "Sleibnir." In Norse mythology, Sleibnir is the eight-legged steed ridden by Odin, the chief god, capable of traversing land, sea, and air; when it streaks across the sky, its trail resembles a burning meteor.

The equipment department's madmen perfectly replicated its speed and power, completely neglecting comfort. In their view, ultimate speed and performance were the only manifestation of exquisite craftsmanship, and the passengers' eardrums were a matter for sacrifice.

To paraphrase Director Akadullah's infamous fallacy: "Buddy, have you ever seen anyone install air conditioning, cushions, and massage seats on a main battle tank? We're weapons craftsmen, not five-star hotel designers!"

Inside the cabin, Caesar Gattuso ignored the pervasive noise and turned on the reading light above his seat. The warm yellow light illuminated the slightly heavy document bag in his hand. The bag was sealed with a prominent SS red wax seal, the highest level of secrecy within Kassel College, signifying that its contents were of great importance and could potentially involve a threat at the level of a dragon king.

He had received the document bag before boarding, but strict instructions required that it not be unsealed until the flight landed and he entered the mission area.

He deftly removed the sealing wax. The contents of the document bag were not many: a black and white photograph with a historical feel, a black memory chip the size of a fingernail, and a Russian original document with a printed translation attached.

Caesar first picked up the black-and-white photograph. In it, a majestic steel behemoth was breaking through the ice, displaying unparalleled power. It had a massive white hull and a sharply defined black bridge, with a striking red five-pointed star on its bow. The accompanying Russian documents confirmed its identity: the Lenin, the world's first nuclear-powered icebreaker, originally belonging to the Soviet Northern Fleet.

Archival records show that it received numerous awards during its long service life, earning it the reputation of a red-hot symbol on the Arctic shipping route. However, this record of honor was abruptly cut short on December 25, 1991, that significant date.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, this giant ship vanished silently from the Northern Fleet's fleet, never to be heard from again. The Northern Fleet had no intention of tracking it down; it was as if an invisible giant hand had gently erased this tens of thousands of tons of steel from the world map with an eraser, leaving no trace.

Caesar's fingertips traced the cold hull of the ship in the photograph, his gaze calm. He then picked up the black chip and inserted it into the card reader of his custom-made laptop. Almost instantly, an electronic female voice entered his ears through encrypted earpieces; it was the voice of Norma, the academy's artificial intelligence:

"Identity confirmed, Caesar Gattuso. The core of your mission is to investigate the final whereabouts and wreckage of the former Soviet icebreaker Lenin. The Lenin, hailed as the Red Beast of the Arctic, was the world's first polar icebreaker to claim all-sea navigation capabilities; theoretically, there was no icy sea it couldn't conquer. On the eve of the Soviet Union's collapse, it disobeyed direct orders from the Northern Fleet and conducted a top-secret, unusual voyage heading towards the Sea of ​​Japan. Approaching Japanese territorial waters, it sent out an urgent distress signal, but the arriving Japanese Self-Defense Force rescue vessels only found a few floating objects at the reported coordinates. The giant ship itself, along with its crew, mysteriously sank thousands of meters into the Japan Trench, and the search yielded nothing."

"Based on cross-verification of intelligence from multiple sources, the Lenin's unusual voyage is highly suspected to be carrying extremely high-level forbidden items related to the Dragon Clan civilization. Your investigation will focus directly on this. This operation will be fully supported by the Academy's Japan branch. Please note that the chip's contents will be automatically formatted in three seconds. Good luck, Commissioner."

Caesar silently counted to three, and sure enough, a message popped up on the screen indicating that the memory card could not be recognized. He expressionlessly pulled out the malfunctioning chip, gently snapped it in half with his fingers, and casually placed it into a specially designed recycling bag.

“A forbidden item related to the dragon race,” he repeated the crucial information under his breath, pulling a lighter from his pocket. He lit a corner of the stack of paper documents, along with the black-and-white photograph of the Lenin in its former glory, watching the flames quickly engulf the classified information. Then he tossed them into the small metal trash can beside his seat, letting them burn completely to ashes. Having done this, he turned to look out the porthole.

Just then, the plane began its descent, and a colossal metropolis, dazzling with lights and exceeding all expectations in scale, appeared beneath the wings like an endless galaxy spread across the earth. Countless highways, teeming with traffic, wove together an incredibly complex, shimmering golden spiderweb, showcasing the city's vitality and immense size.

Tokyo, Asia's largest metropolis, is their final destination.

From Chicago to Tokyo, crossing the vast Pacific Ocean, the Sleibniz took an astonishing six hours. This terrifying speed truly lives up to its formidable reputation as an eight-legged steed.