Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

The position on the steel beam could not be held.

They jumped into the building.

Caesar and Genji pushed the heavy iron-wheeled shrine in, blocking the elevator door. The shrine weighed over a thousand pounds, was carved from a single piece of cherry wood, and had iron wheels on its base; it was originally intended to be moved during ceremonies.

Chu Zihang rushed out of the armory, throwing submachine guns and magazines to the others. But he knew this was just stalling for time. No matter how sturdy the shrine was, it was useless. The Deadpool's body was far stronger than a human's. Anything a human could move, they could move too.

Soon, they will rush into the mural hall to enjoy the feast.

Genjiro is the main course, Caesar and Chu Zihang are side dishes, and the corpses underground are snacks.

Even if Deadpool didn't rush in, they were doomed. The fire in the mural hall was still raging. Although there wasn't much flammable material, the fire would eventually extinguish itself, but before that, the burning would deplete the oxygen in the air.

They will suffocate to death.

The three people leaned against the shrine, panting heavily.

Caesar and Chu Zihang loaded bullets as quickly as possible, pressing the loose bullets into the empty magazines, inserting the full magazines into the gun handles, and throwing the empty magazines aside.

Genji stared blankly at the flames in the hall. The corpse-guarding specimen had burned to its last breath; the thousand-year-old mermaid's flesh had completely dissipated in the flames, revealing its dark golden bones. The bones gleamed faintly in the firelight, like bronze ware heated to a bright red.

These were creatures that died two thousand years ago, preserved as specimens, and have now finally turned to ashes.

Yuan Zhisheng suddenly remembered when they were alive. Mermaids singing in the deep sea. Human ancestors captured by humans, made into specimens, worshipped as messengers of the gods, and locked in Buddhist shrines for thousands of years.

They died once, and now they've died again, but this time it's a real death.

The flames crackled, but no one spoke. In the silence, only the click of bullets being loaded and the growing sound of weeping coming from the elevator shaft in the distance.

"How much C4 explosive is left?" Genji asked.

He still gazed at the burning corpse guard, its dark golden bones gleaming even brighter in the firelight.

Chu Zihang looked up, his hand pausing for a moment as he loaded the bullets.

“Fifteen pounds,” he replied. “But you saw the explosion just now—the shockwave doesn’t seem to have seriously injured them. If C4 can’t hurt these guys, then Junyan can’t do the same.”

He was telling the truth. The C4 had just detonated in the elevator shaft, and thousands of bullets exploded simultaneously, creating a barrage powerful enough to tear apart the flesh of any living being. Yet the Deadpool horde only fell a few floors before continuing to climb upwards. Their scales bore some charred marks, and some even had small pieces of flesh torn off by shrapnel, but that was all.

Genji shook his head. "The shockwave from the explosion won't hurt them. But the flames could be fatal to them."

He raised his chin and pointed at the burning corpse guard.

“Look at those things.”

Chu Zihang followed his gaze.

The mermaid's oil melted into a transparent liquid in the flames, flowing down and dripping from her dark golden bones before continuing to burn. The bones themselves also burned, emitting a bright, bluish-white light, like a wick soaked in lamp oil.

"Mermaid oil is highly flammable. It is the best fuel itself."

Chu Zihang was stunned for a moment. A thought flashed through his mind: what was the difference between the burning corpse guards and the reactions of the dead servants after being hit by the explosion?

The difference is that Corpse Keeper was set on fire, while Deadpool was not.

"But they didn't catch fire immediately during the explosion."

"Because they are alive."

As Genjiro spoke, he stood up from the shrine. His shoulder wound was still bleeding, and his movements were somewhat stiff, but he stood firmly.

"Deadpools are dead, dehydrated for thousands of years. Mermaid oil is solidified in their bones and will burn when exposed to an open flame. But Deadpools still have a lot of water in their bodies. They are living creatures, and like humans, they are mostly water."

He looked into Chu Zihang's eyes.

"To make them burn, they need to be in a fire for a long time and continuously. But the mural hall is a completely enclosed space."

Chu Zihang's eyes lit up.

“This is the best place to start a fire,” Genji said, finishing his last sentence.

Caesar inserted the last fully loaded magazine into the gun handle.

“Smoldering Deadpool?” he whistled. “Nice idea. But they can escape. If they can come in through the elevator doors, they can get out through here too.”

His gaze swept over the elevator door, which was blocked by the shrine.

The shrine was heavy. But how long could it hold off Deadpool? A minute? Two minutes? He'd just experienced the force of those things firsthand in the elevator shaft.

Yuan Zhisheng raised his hand and pointed above the elevator door.

“There must be a steel bar supporting the top of this kind of door. That’s a lintel, part of the load-bearing structure. We’ll put a C4 explosive there, powerful enough to blast that steel bar. The wall will collapse and block the exit. They’ll have nowhere to escape.”

Chu Zihang lowered his head and quickly calculated.

“If we use a delayed fuse, it can explode after twenty seconds. That's enough time for us to get into the elevator shaft and get out of the blast radius.”

“Twenty seconds,” Caesar repeated the number, thoughtfully. “Then we need to lure the Deadpools deeper into the hall. The more concentrated they are, the better the burning effect will be.”

Yuan Zhisheng didn't speak, he just nodded.

Flames burned behind him, casting a warm golden-red glow on half of his face, while the other half remained hidden in shadow.

Caesar looked at the face of the enemy who, just ten minutes ago, had a gun pointed at his head, whose eyebrow bone he had smashed with his fist, and whose heart he had slammed into with his knee.

His face was expressionless. There was no fear, no hesitation, no tragic air of "I'm going to my death."

It was just calm.

“No problem,” Genji said. “I’ll act as the bait.”

Chapter 691 On the Rooftop

Lu Mingfei pulled Erii up onto the rooftop.

The elevator stopped working after dropping them off here. The steel cable stopped turning, and the platform dangled from the edge of the railing, left to be washed by the torrential rain. Lu Mingfei stomped his feet twice, but the elevator didn't budge, like a tin beast that had fallen into a deep sleep.

Their journey ends here.

The rooftop was riddled with pipes and water tanks, the large gray containers gleaming dimly in the rain. No one was there. Not a single person. The several iron doors leading into the building were all sealed shut, their rusty locks and handles seeming to mock him.

Lu Mingfei rushed up and kicked those doors violently.

One kick.

The iron gate emitted a dull thud, making his feet go numb. Rust flakes fell off, some landing on his shoes and being washed away by the rain.

Two feet.

The door frame didn't budge, but his heel started to hurt. He grimaced and hopped twice on one leg.

Three legs.

Aside from severe foot pain, there were no other results.

This was a dead end. Hundreds of meters above the ground, with no way to go up to heaven or down to earth. All around him was a raging storm, and the rain poured down his collar, icy cold, like countless tiny hands touching his back.

Lu Mingfei took out his phone, wanting to ask Lu Mingze for help.

The screen lit up briefly, then went black.

Dry!

The phone arrived with only a tiny bit of battery left. Since entering the building, he'd used navigation, swiped his electronic key, answered WeChat messages, bought Erii a drink, and even taken a few pictures of Deadpool's corpse to brag about to Fingel later. It's a miracle it lasted this long.

But now, the miracle is over. The power ran out, and it shut down automatically.

Lu Mingfei stared blankly at the black glass screen. Raindrops fell on it, sliding down its smooth surface like tears. He wiped it with his sleeve, but the screen remained black. He pressed the power button again, but the screen was still black. He turned the phone over, removed the battery, blew on it, put it back in, and pressed the power button—

It's still black.

"Damn," he said softly.

The iron gate suddenly began to shake.

"boom!"

A loud pounding sound came from the hallway, like someone was smashing a door with a sledgehammer. Then came deafening gunfire—not from a pistol, but from a submachine gun firing in rapid succession, the "rat-a-tat-tat" of its kind. The gunfire echoed through the hallway, making the iron door vibrate.

Lu Mingfei took two steps back in alarm and subconsciously pulled Erii behind him.

The people inside the building were trying to rush to the rooftop. These people were undoubtedly executive officers of the Snake Clan. They were clearly also unable to open the doors, so they were shooting at the locks.

No matter how sturdy the door is, it's only a matter of time before they manage to break it open.

He can only wait to be arrested. Hopefully, the Snake Clan will not use torture to extract confessions.

Lu Mingfei turned to look at Erii.

Erii stood on the edge of the rooftop, gazing at the city amidst the raging wind and rain.

The earthquake was over. The buildings that had lost power began to light up one by one. First the ground floor, then floor by floor upwards, like someone lighting candlesticks in the darkness. Police cars with their lights on sped along the elevated highways, their red and blue lights forming blurry lines in the rain.

The city remains beautiful, only veiled by a light veil of rain.

Her profile was breathtakingly beautiful in the rain. Her long eyelashes were covered in water droplets, like strings of tiny diamonds. She blinked, and the droplets cascaded down her cheeks and into her collar. Water droplets also clung to her delicate nose, the tip slightly red. Her clear pupils reflected the city lights, which shimmered deep within her eyes, like another world burning.

She opened her mouth slightly, breathing in the cool rain.

Lu Mingfei thought to himself: Girl, your runaway plan is ruined! Your family will burst in and drag us back, beat me up, lock you in some weird room, and then no one will chat with you in your notebook anymore...

Erii suddenly reached out and grabbed Lu Mingfei's hand.

Her fingers were icy cold, carrying the scent of rain. She gripped them tightly, as if afraid he would run away. Then she lowered her head and slowly traced lines in his palm, each stroke deliberate and deliberate. Her fingertips, slightly cool, left a distinct tactile sensation on his warm palm.

One word.

"美しい."

Beautiful.

After she finished writing, she looked up at him, her eyes shining. Not with tears, but with the light reflected in the lamplight. She was waiting for his response, waiting for him to say something, or perhaps to write something back to her.

Lu Mingfei was stunned for a moment. He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Erii continued to gaze at the city in the rain. She stood on tiptoe, shielding her forehead with one hand and pointing to the golden tower in the distance with the other.

Tokyo Skytree.

She turned to look at him, her eyes questioning. Her gaze seemed to say: What is that? Do you know?

Lu Mingfei suddenly understood.

Erii wasn't unaware that her plan to run away from home had fallen through. She wanted to seize the moment and take one last look at the city. She had always lived in the metropolis of Tokyo, yet rarely had the opportunity to freely gaze upon it. Her plan to run away had no destination. Anywhere "outside," or "further outside," would do. She would just keep running forward until she was caught and brought back.

So she wasn't frustrated. The journey was worthwhile from the moment she stepped onto the work elevator.