Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

"Damn, the most important place is definitely the most heavily guarded, boss!" Lu Mingfei almost jumped up, quickly objecting, "If you ask me, let's go first, um, the 12th floor! I remember passing by that floor last time, there were lots of female operators there! Even if we're discovered, if we pull out our guns, they'll definitely scream and run away, giving us time to maneuver or even escape! What do you say, senior brother?"

He tried to win over Chu Zihang and implement a democratic vote to check Caesar's dictatorship. Although Chu Zihang was a lone wolf, at least he wouldn't be as reckless as Caesar.

“You’re mistaken. The main offices for regular operators and administrative staff are on the 14th floor,” Chu Zihang corrected expressionlessly, then changed the subject, “However, I agree with Caesar’s idea.”

"Huh?!" Lu Mingfei was dumbfounded.

“Since we lack effective information and cannot determine the specific floor of Princess Kaguya’s core or other key facilities, blindly searching is inefficient and may trigger alarms,” Chu Zihang calmly analyzed. “It would be better to go directly to the highest-priority area. Even if it’s not where the target is, it must be the information hub or decision-making center, where we are more likely to find the intelligence or clues we need. Risk and reward go hand in hand.”

Lu Mingfei sighed inwardly, "It's over." His teammates were all heroes, one believing that "the strongest defense is offense," and the other believing that "the most efficient path is often the most dangerous." They were really killing this coward who just wanted to survive.

He suddenly understood: Chu Zihang supported Caesar not because he shared the same straightforward approach; quite the opposite, he was likely well aware of the dangers at the top. But he was never afraid of danger, and was even accustomed to facing it head-on!

"Hey! Listen to me! Calm down!" Lu Mingfei was sweating profusely, racking his brains for a reason. "The top floor has a great view. The Snake Clan might use it as their chairman's office or a high-end club. Would they put a noisy, hot computer room in such a nice place? Our primary task this time is to blow up Kaguya's core, right? We should prioritize the main objective, right? Let's find and destroy Kaguya first. Once we've achieved our main objective, if we still have the energy and opportunity, we can take a look around the top floor, okay?"

Caesar listened, gently scratching his brow with the barrel of his Desert Eagle. He thought Lu Mingfei's suggestion to get down to business first made sense. Although he was reluctant to give up his straightforward idea of ​​going straight to the heart of the enemy, he still nodded reluctantly: "Then let's start with the 14th floor. The safest way is to grab a switchboard operator and ask for directions."

Lu Mingfei continued to complain in his mind: Team leader, is your most conservative method kidnapping hostages to extract confessions?

At least Caesar, this wild horse that was about to break free, was temporarily reined in with the bridle of business. Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief and turned to press "14" on the elevator panel.

My finger hovers over the button, about to press it—

"Ding!"

With a crisp beep, the elevator stopped abruptly without warning.

The four intruders, engrossed in their argument, were now suddenly struck by a crucial fact: the elevator had been automatically ascending ever since they entered! They had been so focused on arguing about their destination that they had completely overlooked the elevator!

Chapter 648 Sakurai Nanami!

The moment the elevator doors slid open, Caesar and Chu Zihang's expressions simultaneously darkened, their muscles tensed, and their hands reached for the gun handles at their waists.

What might be inside the 21st floor? Hopefully, it's not the headquarters of the Executive Bureau or a gathering place for elite troops! Otherwise, opening the door might just expose you to dozens of dark, loaded gun barrels.

The door was fully open, but there was no sign of a forest of swords and spears as expected.

A figure rushed into the elevator with his head down, nearly bumping into Caesar, who was standing at the front.

The woman was dressed in a crisp white shirt and black A-line skirt, the standard attire of a female secretary or administrator. She was focused on her tablet and walked quickly until her chest was almost pressed against Caesar's firm chest before she stopped.

Both of them were startled.

The female secretary slowly raised her head, shifting her gaze from the tablet computer to looking up, where she made close eye contact with Caesar, who was a full head taller than her, wearing a black trench coat and with his hat pulled low.

Under the bright lights of the corridor and at such close range, Caesar finally saw clearly that the woman before him was not the young and beautiful secretary he had imagined, but a mature and elegant woman nearing thirty. She had a curvaceous figure, a graceful posture, and exquisite makeup that exuded a cold and alluring beauty.

Lu Mingfei's heart was in his throat as he watched from behind. Sakurai Nanami! The head of the Sakurai family!

It's like bad luck knocking on the door of bad luck—it's the worst kind of bad luck ever! I'd barely sneaked in, not even had a chance to catch my breath, and I'd run into an acquaintance of this caliber! And the worst kind of acquaintance at that—not only had I met them before, but they were also extremely high-ranking!

As the head of the Sakurai family, one of the Eight Snake Clan, this woman possesses absolute power and unfathomable strength beneath her seemingly alluring and aloof exterior. Although she has never studied at Kassel College and has no way of knowing her precise bloodline rating, her ability to hold the position of family head is certainly no less than A-rank.

Most fatally, she knew Caesar! Although it might have been only a brief encounter, for someone of his stature, even a single meeting was enough to leave a lasting impression.

Chu Zihang placed his hand on the hilt of Murasame's sword, his muscles tense to the extreme, his killing intent gathering like a blade about to be drawn. But he forcibly suppressed the urge to draw his sword immediately, concealing everything beneath a calm surface, waiting for the next development.

Starting a fight is the worst option. Putting aside the fact that Sakurai Nanami's strength is unknown, just looking at the scene in the open hall at the end of the corridor outside the elevator door, with countless tall bookshelves standing there and men wearing uniform black trench coats and sunglasses moving and busy between the bookshelves, you know that this is definitely not a friendly place.

Even if this is not the headquarters of the Executive Bureau, it must be an extremely important stronghold of the Snake Clan. The number of men in black gathered here is astonishing. Once a conflict breaks out, the four of them will immediately be surrounded.

Chu Zihang was gambling. He was gambling that Sakurai Nanami wasn't a frontline combat officer in the Executive Bureau and couldn't possibly know every mid-to-lower-level officer. He was also gambling that Caesar's disguise was effective enough.

Caesar's heart was in his throat. He tried his best to maintain a calm, expressionless face, but a slight twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed his inner tension. He had gone to great lengths to conceal his identity in Takamagahara and for tonight's operation.

He thickly applied a bronze tan to his already fair Italian skin, transforming himself into a trendy man who spends his days outdoors, even using a pale lip gloss to alter his lip shape. This exaggerated host club stage makeup became a hit in Takamagahara, sparking a wave of imitations. Furthermore, the deliberately low-set black military cap concealed most of his blond hair and forehead, creating a stark contrast to the Italian nobleman image Sakurai Nanami remembered.

Lu Mingfei's legs trembled as he watched from behind, his mind screaming in despair: "It's all over! It's all over! Even if he's made up so much that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him, Caesar's physique, his aura, and the strong, muscular physique that even a trench coat can't hide—he's like a killer whale mixed into a group of seals among Japanese men! No matter how much he tries to play cute or headbutt the ball, it's no use!"

Time stretched endlessly in the few seconds the elevator doors opened. Sakurai Nanami's cold, scrutinizing gaze, like a tangible icicle, scraped across Caesar's face, neck, and shoulders…

Suddenly, a cold light flashed in her eyes, and a fierce killing intent almost burst forth!

"ばかやろう! (Asshole!)"

A crisp, resounding slap landed squarely on Caesar's left cheek! The force and the sharp sound were particularly jarring in the quiet elevator and corridor.

Caesar's head tilted slightly from the slap, and he froze. It wasn't that he hadn't been slapped by women in his life; girls who loved him but couldn't have him would often slap him in a moment of emotional breakdown and then run away crying. But those slaps were usually soft and weak, filled with tears and the powerlessness of a small fist, which he regarded as medals.

But Sakurai Nanami's slap was completely different! Fast, accurate, and ruthless! With a sharp whooshing sound and a force as sharp as a knife, it was clearly a palm technique adapted from the "Right Pheasant" move in ancient Japanese swordsmanship! Even with Caesar's reaction speed, he couldn't completely dodge it, and a clear, red, swollen palm print quickly appeared on his face, burning with pain.

"Bakayaro! Why are you late?!" Sakurai Nanami's eyebrows furrowed as she demanded sharply.

“Hah, hai!” Caesar’s mind was still a little dazed, but his body had already reacted instinctively. He quickly bowed and answered in Japanese with a heavy foreign accent, which he had learned at the last minute.

He roughly understood that the other person was scolding him for being late.

"Apologizing is useless! If this were a battlefield, by the time you have the chance to apologize, it will only be your last words to the world!" Sakurai Nanami continued her reprimand mercilessly, her finger sharply pointing towards the elevator doors. "Join the box-moving team! They need manpower over there! Run! Run like warhorses!"

In the direction she pointed, several executives, also dressed in black trench coats but with their sleeves rolled up and sweat beading on their foreheads, jogged past the elevator entrance. Each of them carried a heavy, tightly sealed cardboard file box, their movements hurried.

Caesar then had the opportunity to quickly scan the environment of the 21st floor during the brief pause in Sakurai Nanami's reprimand.

Just as I had glimpsed earlier, this was indeed an extremely spacious hall. Rows of enormous, dark wooden bookshelves, reaching all the way to the ceiling, divided the space into many sections like a forest. The bookshelves were densely packed with documents of uniform size, meticulously bound in plain white leather.

Apart from Sakurai Nanami in her striking white uniform skirt, almost everyone in the hall was dressed in the same black trench coats from the Executive Bureau, busily and methodically working: some were responsible for taking documents from the bookshelves, counting and packing them; some were sitting behind temporary tables, quickly registering and cataloging them; and many more formed a moving team to transport the sealed document boxes to the freight elevator entrance on the other side of the hall.

Only a few men in black were not involved in this massive relocation project; they patrolled the hall warily, hands on gun handles. The explanatory documents were of extraordinary value, and this was certainly no ordinary library.

Caesar immediately thought of the historic, heavily guarded library at Kassel College, which housed a vast collection of ancient books, manuscripts, and research materials related to dragons, all bound and preserved in a similar manner. It seemed this was likely the core archives or secret library of the Snake Clan, and that they were urgently transferring materials!

Sakurai Nanami really only saw him as a late-arriving, low-level executive officer who had come to help.

She coldly glanced at the four people in the elevator again, her gaze lingering on Frilian for a brief half-second. Frilian stood quietly behind and to the side of Lu Mingfei, her eyelids lowered. Finding nothing more amiss, she didn't linger any longer. Wearing her high heels and exuding a chilling aura, she turned and hurriedly walked towards another elevator, heading downstairs.

She genuinely didn't recognize Caesar! Nor did she harbor much suspicion towards Chu Zihang, Lu Mingfei, and Frilian!

Perhaps it was Caesar's disguise and his gigolo-like demeanor that worked, or perhaps the busy and urgent atmosphere here left her no time to investigate, or perhaps she simply couldn't believe that the Kassel commissioner, wanted throughout Japan, would dare to so blatantly sneak into the core area of ​​Genji Heavy Industries and even swagger around taking the elevator!

Only after Sakurai Nanami's figure disappeared behind another elevator door did the four people in the elevator breathe a sigh of relief.

"Quick, keep up!" Caesar said in a very low voice, stepping out of the elevator and heading towards the group of people carrying boxes that Sakurai Nanami had pointed out earlier.

Chu Zihang, Lu Mingfei, and Frilian immediately followed.

They followed the example of the other movers, jogging to a bookshelf that had just been partially emptied and had dozens of sealed file boxes piled up next to it.

Lu Mingfei, Caesar, and Chu Zihang each picked up a heavy box. Lu Mingfei grimaced under the weight, while Frilian picked up a slightly smaller box next to her that contained an index. The four of them silently joined the flow of porters and headed toward the freight elevator.

The entire hall was filled with a highly tense yet orderly atmosphere. Everyone was engrossed in their work, packing boxes, registering, and moving things, each performing their duties efficiently. There was almost no unnecessary conversation between them, only the rustling of cardboard boxes, hurried footsteps, and the occasional low-voiced, short confirmation of numbers.

The typical Japanese efficiency and rigidity were on full display at this moment, like a precision instrument operating automatically, making even Sakurai Nanami's earlier scheduling seem superfluous. Everyone knew what they were supposed to do and where they were supposed to go.

Caesar imitated the person before him, placing the document box in the designated area in front of the freight elevator. There, a bespectacled, serious-looking executive officer was in charge of recording. He carefully checked the number on the side of each box, and after confirming that everything was correct, he signaled to the person next to him to put a black dustproof and waterproof cover on the box. Then, a special porter carried the box into the freight elevator that had been waiting for a long time.

The person in charge of recording would occasionally shake their pencil to signal the moving team behind to pause and wait for the elevator to load. When the number of stacked document boxes in the elevator reached a certain amount, the recorder would nod, and the last mover to carry the boxes into the elevator would naturally remain inside to escort the documents upstairs. Then the elevator doors would close and the elevator would ascend. The next moving operation would then begin.

The entire process is efficient, clear, and rigid, much like a factory assembly line.

“They planned it all out,” Chu Zihang whispered to Caesar and Lu Mingfei as he put down the boxes. “Each elevator is loaded with fifty boxes of documents. The last person to carry the boxes in automatically becomes the escort. And so it goes.”

Caesar suddenly realized. Given his careless nature and inability to even keep track of his own student council accounts, it would have been difficult for him to immediately spot such an extremely rigid pattern. But Chu Zihang was different; his observation skills, calculation abilities, and grasp of detail were no less refined than those of these Japanese people known for their meticulousness.

“Control the speed, and make sure you become the fiftieth person,” Chu Zihang continued in a whisper. “We only need to succeed four times to leave this archive one by one without arousing suspicion. It will take about ten minutes to fill an elevator, so the three of us can get out within thirty minutes.”

Lu Mingfei's eyes lit up; this plan sounded promising! Although it was still risky, it was much more reliable than forcing his way in or hiding haphazardly.

Caesar and Chu Zihang quickly exchanged a glance, reaching a tacit understanding.

"I'll go first, Chu Zihang second, and Lu Mingfei, you'll go third," Caesar announced the order in a low voice, while gesturing to Frilian with his eyes, "Frilian, you..."

He was a little unsure how to handle Frillie, who didn't seem to be good at physical labor, and whose appearance and demeanor were more striking than the three men.

“I’m with Lu Mingfei,” Frilian said calmly. When she said “together,” she meant that she and Lu Mingfei were in the same batch, that is, the last to leave.

Caesar glanced at her, then at Lu Mingfei, and nodded without objection.

Chapter 649: Minamoto Chisheng and Tachibana Masamune

Caesar was counting the boxes when a familiar voice suddenly rang out behind him, almost touching: "Since this building was built, this is the first time the Metropolitan Police Department has issued us a formal search warrant, isn't it? What exactly are they looking for?"

Director of the Executive Bureau, Young Master of the Snake Clan—Genjiro!

Caesar's body trembled. He could sense that Genji was standing less than a meter behind him, perhaps over his shoulder, watching the busy scene of moving things in the hall.

At the same time, Chu Zihang, standing a little distance away and stacking a new box, sensed a murderous aura. This murderous aura didn't come from Yuan Zhisheng, but from Caesar!

Caesar's masseter muscles on the sides of his face were taut, creating sharp lines, and his jawline was so tight it looked like it was about to break.

He wasn't afraid.

He was furious!

That damned Genjiro! It was this man, this pale-faced Japanese man with a world-weary air, who had been dining with them not long ago, talking about his dream of selling sunscreen in France, and then coldly and ruthlessly ordered them, along with the Trieste, to be abandoned in the eight-thousand-meter-deep, dark, cold Japan Trench, a place deep enough to crush people into dust!

And then there's Frillie, who was once captured and her fate is unknown because of the pursuit order he carried out on behalf of the Snake Clan!

If he hadn't retained a shred of reason, if he hadn't been in the heart of this dangerous place, Caesar had no doubt that he would have immediately turned around, pounced on him with all his might, locked the young Japanese master's throat with the most ferocious fighting techniques, slammed him hard against the cold marble wall, and demanded to know what he had done all this for!

If Genjiro cannot provide an answer that he can accept, Caesar's overwhelming rage might actually drive him to crush his throat!

Chu Zihang's heart tightened, and he immediately pressed his fist to his lips, coughing briefly.

Who is Genjiro? He's the Director of the Executive Bureau, a man who crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and the undisputed strongest among the younger generation of the Snake Clan. His sensitivity to killing intent is probably even more acute than that of the most alert wild beast!

To this day, Chu Zihang has been unable to accurately assess the true strength of this top player in the Japanese branch. Genjiro gives the impression of being like a deep, ancient well, the surface of which is always calm and still, but no one knows how deep the water is or what kind of monster lurks beneath.

Even if he and Caesar joined forces, they might not be entirely confident of subduing their opponent instantly, not to mention that there was another person standing beside Genjiro—

The former patriarch of the Snake-Headed Eight Families, Tachibana Masamune.

The elderly man, with his white hair and beard, kind face, and gentle demeanor like a benevolent elder in the family, stood half a step away from Yuan Zhisheng. He wore a faint smile and his gentle gaze swept over the bustling hall.

Chu Zihang knew very well that this Mr. Masamune was also a bottomless well, perhaps even more unpredictable than Genji. He had been the de facto ruler and spiritual mentor of the Snake Clan for the past few decades, and his shrewdness was not to be underestimated.

In front of these two people, even the slightest hint of murderous intent could be fatal!

“…It was authorized by the Anti-Black Committee in the Diet,” Tachibana Masamune continued, smiling calmly as he picked up on Genji’s question. “Nominally, it’s because they suspect us of possessing weapons and violating the Gun Control Law. In reality, it’s just a show of force, to let the Diet not completely ignore our recent overly aggressive actions. Our all-out war against the Demon Clan has swept across most of Japan, and even the dignitaries are starting to feel uneasy. But it takes time to introduce new anti-black laws, so for now, we can only use this little trick of issuing search warrants to create some trouble and express our stance.”

"Don't worry about these trivial matters, Zhisheng. They won't find anything. Weapons and ammunition are easy to move and hide, but these files are more troublesome. There are too many of them, but we can't leave them unmoved. The Metropolitan Police Department will be here soon."

"Move them all to the inner district?" Genji asked.

“Yes. Given Maruyama Construction’s design standards and level of secrecy, the Metropolitan Police Department could never have imagined that a completely independent inner ward was hidden inside this building. The Ganryu Research Institute’s shipyard and other facilities in the inner ward would be the safest places.” Tachibana Masamune lowered his voice, so that only a few people nearby could hear him.