Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

Frillie closed her eyes, took out her staff from her bag, and a pale green light flowed from the tip of the staff.

"This is?"

"Shh," Lu Mingfei gestured for silence. "Frilian's 'Word of Power' has recently evolved and can recreate events from the past."

A green light formed a halo, enveloping the three people.

The surrounding scenery began to distort and change; the broken walls pieced themselves back together, the collapsed ceiling was restored to its original state, and the dust and rubble disappeared.

It was as if they had traveled back to the train station before the earthquake.

"..." Chu Zihang wondered if this ability could be used on the overpass; he needed to find Odin.

In the hallucination, passengers hurried by, dragging their luggage, while the train timetable played over the loudspeaker.

A tall, blond, blue-eyed man, clearly Raymond, stood in the center of the hall, warily surveying his surroundings. He carried a silver metal case in his hand.

“That’s the box that holds the documents,” Chu Zihang said in a low voice.

Raymond sensed something, drew his gun, and turned around. A petite figure emerged from behind a pillar, her face obscured.

Lu Mingfei gasped, inwardly exclaiming, "Xia Mi?!"

He and Frilian stayed at Xia Mi's house for half a month, and even if he couldn't see her face clearly, he could still recognize her.

Xia Mi was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, looking like an innocent-looking female college student. She said something to Raymond, who lowered his guard.

“She’s trying to distract him,” Chu Zihang said, narrowing his eyes.

Raymond glanced down at his watch, and a glint of gold flashed in Xia Mi's eyes.

The ground began to shake violently, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the walls. Passengers screamed and scattered in all directions.

Raymond reacted, and a burst of intense white light erupted, instantly illuminating the entire hall.

Even in the illusion, Lu Mingfei had to raise his hand to shield his eyes. However, the bright light had no effect on Xia Mi, who gently touched Raymond's chest with her finger.

What seemed like a casual remark left Raymond frozen in place, as if struck by an invisible hammer.

The next second, Raymond fell to the ground, and Xia Mi calmly left.

Frillie pointed to a corner of the hall: "There are people there."

At the edge of the illusion, a blurry figure stands in the shadows, observing the entire process.

As Xia Mi left, the figure quickly approached Raymond's corpse and took the briefcase.

"A thief?" Lu Mingfei guessed.

The illusion began to flicker erratically and eventually dissipated.

Frillie opened her eyes, fine beads of sweat on her forehead. "This is the best I can do for now."

Chu Zihang pondered for a moment: "It seems there was a third party present. The second person killed Raymond, and the third person stole the documents."

“We need to recreate the scene. Lu Mingfei, you play Raymond. I'll play the second person.”

"Huh?" Lu Mingfei looked bewildered, but still stood in the center of the hall. "What am I supposed to do?"

“Replicate Raymond’s position and movements from the illusion just now.” Chu Zihang walked behind the pillar. “The second person appeared from here and attracted Raymond’s attention.”

Lu Mingfei tried his best to imitate Raymond's wary demeanor, while Chu Zihang perfectly replicated Xia Mi's every move.

Chu Zihang "launched an earthquake," and Lu Mingfei covered his eyes: "Blazing Sun!"

Frillie observed from the side and said, "The second person simply killed Raymond, and the third person took the documents."

Frillie also tacitly avoided mentioning Xia Mi's name, only referring to the second person.

Chu Zihang nodded: "The question is, why would a third person risk taking the documents?"

The three fell into deep thought.

"Let's split up," Chu Zihang decided. "I'll go investigate the whereabouts of the documents, and you guys go have dinner with Chen Wenwen."

"Huh? That's it?" Lu Mingfei's eyes widened. "Such an important mission isn't finished yet, and I'm supposed to go eat with Frillie?"

“You have provided crucial clues,” Chu Zihang said, looking at Frilian. “Without Frilian’s abilities, we wouldn’t have known that a third party took the documents.”

Lu Mingfei still wanted to suggest that he and Frilian also come and look for the whereabouts of the documents.

Chu Zihang's phone rang. It was a text message from Fingel: "Aspasia is all set. Best location, best service. Long live Caesar!"

"Caesar?"

"Caesar has accepted the commission. Aspasia has a private room available tonight."

The three walked out of the train station. When the old security guard saw them, he coughed seriously, with a Zhonghua cigarette tucked behind his ear.

"Keep in touch." Chu Zihang walked to his car alone, started the engine, and sped away.

Chapter 46 The Hunter

Late at night, the lights were on in the executive department office.

Guderian lay on his back on the sofa, snoring loudly, a trace of drool still clinging to the corner of his mouth. He looked both dull and foolish, like a perfectly cooked, long-haired egg.

Manstein pushed up his glasses, his dark circles under his eyes looking like he'd been punched twice. He glanced at Guderian, who was fast asleep, sighed helplessly, and took out a pillow to place under his old friend's head.

"Don't get a stiff neck," he muttered softly.

“Found it,” Schneider’s hoarse voice broke the silence of the office.

Manstein immediately leaned closer, his glasses reflecting the blue light from the computer screen.

"Involving hunters?" He frowned.

"Yes, hunters. The leader is called 'Third Young Master'."

Manstein curled his lip in disgust. The Hunter website, an organization that straddled the line between the black and white worlds, was a headache-inducingly complex entity.

Mercenaries, archaeologists, art thieves, black market dealers, and even mixed-race individuals are among them.

They roam the world like vultures, searching for dragon relics and alchemical artifacts, then auction them off to the highest bidder on the dark web.

Kassel College had previously paid little attention to these small-time hunters, until recently they discovered that Norton, the Bronze and Fire King, was actually a member of the Hunter Network before his awakening.

"This is really troublesome," Manstein rubbed his temples. "What activities has the 'Three Young Masters' team been up to lately?"

Schneider pulled up an encrypted file: "The last time he made a move was by selling the antique 'Mermaid Lamp,' and his whereabouts are unknown."

“A mermaid lamp?” Manstein thought of something. “Could it be the one Frillie had? I saw her showing off a strange lamp in the vice principal’s office last week.”

"It can't be that much of a coincidence."

Guderian rolled over on the sofa, muttering indistinctly, "Dragon grammar, exam focus," before falling back into a deep sleep.

The two professors exchanged a glance and tacitly ignored Guderian.

“The problem now is,” Manstein lowered his voice, “who should we send to contact the ‘Third Young Master’s’ group? Lu Mingfei and Frilian? Or Chu Zihang alone?”

“Lu Mingfei lacks experience. Although Frilian is an A-level, her abilities are more suitable for support rather than direct combat.”

“Lu Mingfei is S-rank, and his Word of Power is Time Zero,” Manstein retorted. “Besides, he and Frilian have excellent teamwork. It would be too risky for Chu Zihang to go alone; who doesn’t know his reputation?”

Schneider tapped the table. "Chu Zihang is experienced and efficient. He handled a similar incident very well in the United States last year."

Manstein recalled the report: Chu Zihang single-handedly shut down an underground auction of smuggled dragon artifacts in just seventeen minutes, without even triggering an alarm.

“Let’s consider Lu Mingfei and Frilian. The combination of ‘Time Zero’ and ‘Mage’ is too strong,” he said, unwilling to compromise. “If ‘Third Young Master’ is connected to the mixed-race group, Chu Zihang probably won’t be able to handle it.”

Schneider picked up the phone: "No, Chu Zihang alone is enough. I'll arrange for the elites from the school's public affairs department to be on standby immediately."

While the two professors finalized their plans, far away in China, on the 21st floor of the Runde Building, Tang Wei was idly playing a mobile game.

"Boss, the guests have arrived," the underling said, peeking out from the doorway.

Tang Wei put away his phone and straightened his suit collar. He was twenty-eight years old and somewhat well-known in the hunter circle, specializing in jobs that were not exactly clean but not dangerous enough.

The office door was pushed open, and a man dressed as Ronald McDonald walked in; the red and yellow outfit looked particularly comical.

"Your attire..." Tang Wei said, barely suppressing a laugh.

"To protect privacy," Ronald McDonald's voice sounded strange, muffled by his hood. "The money's here, but where's the stuff?"

Tang Wei took a silver metal briefcase from under his desk and pushed it in front of the other party. "As agreed, five hundred thousand US dollars."

Ronald McDonald handed him a brown paper bag. Tang Wei opened it and found a thick wad of US dollars inside. He casually pulled out a few bills to check their authenticity and nodded.

"It's a pleasure to cooperate with you," Tang Wei said with a smile.

As he was about to see the customer off, Ronald McDonald took off his headgear, revealing a black mask underneath, with only his eyes showing.

His pupils turned gold, and his pupils swelled up like snakes.

Tang Wei felt a moment of disorientation, as if someone had stuffed a wad of cotton into his head.

By the time he came to his senses, Ronald McDonald had already left the office, and his suitcase was nowhere to be found.

"Strange," Tang Wei shook his head, feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He looked down at the brown paper bag in his hand; it was indeed genuine banknotes.

"Boss?" the underling asked, peeking out. "Got the money?"

Tang Wei shook his head, trying to shake off the strange feeling. "Got it. The client was a bit odd."

He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and let the nicotine swirl in his lungs.

Outside the office's floor-to-ceiling windows, the city lights shone brightly. Tang Wei stroked the brown paper bag containing half a million US dollars, his thoughts drifting back five years.

At that time, he was a greenhorn who had just entered the industry. He took small jobs on the "Hunter Market" website, helping wealthy businessmen find lost pets, acting as a guide for archaeological teams, and occasionally participating in some less-than-legal cultural relic excavations.

"Hunter Market" is like a dark web version of Taobao, except that the goods have changed from daily necessities to all sorts of shady commissions.

Registration does not require real-name authentication, transactions are conducted solely in cash, and both buyers and sellers wear masks.

Tang Wei still remembers the eye-catching slogan on the website's homepage: "Here, you can find anything, as long as you can afford the price."

He exhaled a smoke ring and chuckled self-deprecatingly. Who would have thought that the greenhorn who couldn't even distinguish between genuine and fake antiques would now be the famous "Third Young Master" in the circle?

This deal was purely by luck. I originally planned to rob Raymond at the train station, but then a strange earthquake struck and the foreigner died instantly. I got the freebie without even having to lift a finger.

There were three or four cigarette butts in the ashtray. Tang Wei stubbed out his cigarette, took out his phone, and dialed a familiar number.

"Dad, it's me." Her voice was much softer. "Yes, we've raised enough money. That's right, just like we said, we'll complete the formalities next month. I've made all the arrangements in Canada."