Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

"You're actually watching anime!" Lu Mingfei was utterly astonished.

Three days ago, this girl couldn't even figure out how to use the TV remote, but now she's perfectly timing the airing times of two late-night anime shows.

He picked up his notebook and drew a simple thumbs-up gesture, followed by a black silhouette of a hand holding a lightsaber.

"I want to see the ending before I get home, and no TV is allowed at home," Erii wrote.

Lu Mingfei stared at the line of text, a slight tug at his heartstrings.

He thought to himself, "Princess, don't you know that new anime only air one episode per week? To catch up to the ending of *Fate/Zero*, I'd have to stay out until at least July. But this time, you've been running away from home by the day." But such words would only increase Erii's mental turmoil, so he absolutely couldn't write them down in his notebook. It would be safer to talk about Five-Eyed Fried Rice and Pizza with Meat Pieces.

He flipped the note over and wrote on a new page: "This afternoon, let's catch up on the first few episodes of Fate/Zero. Which episode are you on?"

It was nine o'clock in the morning. After brushing their teeth and washing their faces, the two sat side by side in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, chatting quietly with sticky notes and pencil stubs. Their conversation was full of trivial, shallow, and aimless chatter, like two paper boats slowly turning in a shallow bay.

Frillie was still asleep on the sofa, her long silver hair hanging down from the armrest, with the finished copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" on her lap.

A violent storm engulfed the entire city of Tokyo. The rainy season had been dragging on for over a month, and today's rainfall was the heaviest yet.

Heavy raindrops accelerated down from the cumulonimbus clouds hundreds of meters high, striking the glass with crisp, rapid bursts, like someone lying on the rooftop firing an air gun.

Twisted columns of wind occasionally swept through the rain curtain; they were white dragons of gale-force winds, accelerated to their extreme by the narrow channel effect between tall buildings, carrying rainwater all the way down from the bottom of the clouds to the street, as if a group of dragons were reaching down from the sky to drink water from the earth.

Overnight, Tokyo was flooded, turning it into a water city like Venice. Floodwaters flowed through streets and alleys of all sizes, and in some sections of the lowest-lying Shinjuku district, the water level was above knee-deep.

Erii had already changed into a blue-purple princess dress with black lace trim, put on her favorite pair of white high-heeled ankle boots, and sat on the edge of the bed swinging her legs while waiting for Lu Mingfei to finish brushing his teeth.

Her destination today was Asakusa Hanayashiki Amusement Park, the oldest amusement park in Tokyo, which she had specifically chosen from a pile of brochures.

When Lu Mingfei told her that her trip was canceled, she held her notebook and remained silent for a moment before writing "I understand." Then she quietly began to change back into her pajamas.

Lu Mingfei noticed that she put down the sticky note a beat slower than usual, like a kitten watching helplessly as the dried fish in front of her was taken away, without even a complaint.

At this moment, Lu Mingfei was wearing a shabby cotton bathrobe, with the belt loosely tied and the collar open, revealing a T-shirt with the words "Takamagahara" printed on it.

His hairstyle was somewhere between a mohawk and a classic bird's nest. He hadn't combed it after showering last night and it had fallen down. This morning, his hair sticks up in all directions, creating a modern art collage effect.

He lay on his back on the carpet, with a cushion under his head and another under his feet, staring blankly at the female host on the TV screen who was standing on the breakwater, shouting herself hoarse.

Erii sat next to him on the floor, changing channels one after another with the remote control. She glanced at the shopping channel and pressed the button to leave, paused for a few seconds on the weather forecast, and her thumb visibly hesitated for a long time when switching to a rerun of anime, but in the end, she still pressed the button.

Three days later, the relationship between the three had evolved to a fairly stable level.

Lu Mingfei was no longer as apprehensive as he had been when he first entered, ready to kneel down and apologize before the other party could unleash their power of words.

Erii also started to act a little temperamental towards him. For example, if she wanted to eat Gomu Fried Rice, she would wave a note with "Gomu Fried Rice" written on it in front of Lu Mingfei's face until he got up and ran to the convenience store.

But apart from that, she was still very well-behaved. When Lu Mingfei told her to wash up, she obediently went into the bathroom. When he told her to go to sleep, she obediently crawled into bed and curled up in a ball.

At first, Lu Mingfei was afraid that if he turned his head, Princess would vanish into thin air and disappear into the vast sea of ​​people in Tokyo, never to be found again. Even when he was queuing at the amusement park to buy two drinks, he would frequently turn around to make sure that she was still sitting properly on that bench.

Until the day before yesterday at Palette City Amusement Park, Erii wanted to eat ice cream, and Lu Mingfei had to go through layers of people to chase after the mobile ice cream truck with its jingling bells.

The car sped further and further away, and by the time he caught up, it had already traveled nearly half a kilometer. Sweating profusely, he ran back to the fork in the road, holding a strawberry ice cream cone. There, through the gaps in the flow of people, Erii sat motionless in the center of the bench, her hands folded on her knees and her back straight.

A breeze blew, causing her skirt and hair to flutter slightly. Her eyes were calm and trusting, just like a figurine of a girl in an anime, forever frozen in time after being drawn by the author.

Only after that did Lu Mingfei's heart finally settle down. He dared to leave Erii for even a short while in crowded places, and Erii would stay by his side like a child who keeps a promise.

If things continue like this, Lu Mingfei thinks it should be no problem to coax Erii to America.

She had no concept of America; the whole world she knew was this city shrouded in torrential rain—every amusement park, every plate of fried rice, every neon sign reflected in the puddles.

As long as he draws a big airplane in his notebook and writes "Go to America" ​​below it, she will probably imagine America as a newer and bigger Disneyland, and she will follow Lu Mingfei wherever he goes.

This harmonious and congenial atmosphere felt inexplicably natural, as if we had known each other for far too long, long enough for our hair to turn white.

-----------------

"Tokyo Love Story, four days to go. It's 9:30 AM now, and I, as the director, am about to begin my work." Mai Shutoku finished speaking into the recorder, put it into the inner pocket of her black suit, took a deep breath, and stepped into the control room with a faint aura of menace rising around her.

The expert team had already gathered around the conference table.

In just a few days, this group of people seemed to have caught the tense atmosphere of the front-line mission. The expressions on everyone's faces were much more serious than the day before, and empty coffee cups and draft plans were scattered on the table.

Mai Shude's high heels clicked rapidly and sharply on the marble floor as she walked to the table and slammed the folder down on it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today is the third day of the program. For the past three whole days, the progress between the bride and groom has been virtually zero. They've visited Tokyo Disneyland, Palette Town, Ebisu, and the Imperial Palace together, but they haven't shown the slightest sign that they realize the other might be a potential lover. What are they? A small tour group of two sightseeing around Tokyo? What exactly is the point of arranging for them to wander around Tokyo like this?"

She grabbed a folder and slammed it on the table several times, her cold gaze sweeping over every face in the room. "Emotional counselor, provide an explanation."

The experts looked at each other in silence.

In the corner, someone is tirelessly drawing doodles in a notebook to relieve stress.

Finally, relationship counselor Ryoji Suzuki cleared his throat, stood up from his chair, and placed his hands on the edge of the table. "I have to admit, this is one of the biggest setbacks I've experienced in my twelve-year career as a relationship counselor..."

Ryoji Suzuki graduated from the Department of Psychology at the University of Tokyo. During his undergraduate studies, he began experimental research on the patterns of emotional interaction between the sexes under the guidance of his professors.

He spent over a decade developing a complete and self-consistent theoretical system. He categorized men and women into four animal types and then analyzed the chemical reaction patterns of each pairing.

Using this theory, he has treated more than 3,000 clients over the past twelve years, and more than 95% of them claimed in follow-up visits within three months that their relationships had become significantly smoother.

He simultaneously wrote relationship columns for two fashion magazines, "Wen O Weekly" and "O Xiao O Newspaper," and had millions of loyal readers.

His daily horoscope and relationship column, Kenji Takemiya's late-night relationship hotline, and Susan Miller's annual horoscope from the United States are collectively known as the three great love bibles for young Japanese women.

This time, he teamed up with Kenji Takemiya, the golden duo of theorists and practitioners, thinking it would be a piece of cake. However, they ran into the toughest challenge they had ever faced in their careers at a love hotel in Shinjuku.

He couldn't evoke even a little bit of love or lust in the bride and groom.

The most harmonious moments they've had these past few days have been when they sit facing each other at the table, sharing the same food, each engrossed in their chewing, occasionally exchanging brief comments on the food, but otherwise there's been almost no eye contact or physical interaction.

Their only apparent shared interest was their inexplicable focus and dedication to food.

“Monster against monster. This is theoretically the most difficult combination between the four male animal types and the four female animal types,” Ryoji Suzuki announced heavily, pulling a well-worn notebook from his briefcase and tapping it twice on a page.

Mai Shude's pupils constricted sharply. She was a veteran who had survived countless high-risk missions and possessed the professional composure to remain absolutely calm in any unexpected situation, but at this moment, she subconsciously gripped the hilt of the short knife hidden under her coat.

Ryoji Suzuki was just an external expert, not on any classified list, and had never signed any classified agreement. How could he know about the "monster"?

Chapter 808 Psychological Monster (Part 2)

“We can categorize the differences in male attachment strategies into four basic types: aggressive animals, territorial animals, parasitic animals, and monsters. We can also categorize women according to their core needs into desire animals, material animals, spiritual animals, and monsters. In my column, I have discussed the emotional problems that may arise when these four types of men are paired with these four types of women in sixteen installments. Among them, the most troublesome combination is that of monsters with monsters.”

Ryoji Suzuki had no idea that he had just stepped into Mai Shutoku's restricted area, where trespassers were normally to be shot in the head.

He pushed up his glasses and, with the air of a college student giving a lecture, opened his notebook and began to expound his theory of emotional animals, page by page.

Mai Shude slowly loosened her grip on the hilt of the sword.

It was just a coincidence.

These psychologists have always been keen to label personality types with all sorts of animal tags, and she never revealed even the slightest bit of confidential information to Ryoji Suzuki.

Mai Shude secretly took a breath, withdrew her hand from her waist, and placed it back on the folder.

"What psychological characteristics define a monster?" she asked.

“If none of the psychological characteristics match, just categorize them all as monsters.” Ryoji Suzuki said with a wry smile, taking off his glasses, wiping the lenses with his sleeve, and putting them back on his nose.

He turned around and drew four quadrants on the whiteboard, with small dots scattered in twos and threes in each quadrant. Only in the fourth quadrant did two dots lie alone, as far away from all the other dots as if they had been exiled to the end of a galaxy.

"The vast majority of people are characterized by conformity. For example, if a young girl sees her friends buying high-end fashion, she will also want to buy one, and thus gradually evolve into a materialistic animal. This accounts for more than 40% of our counseling cases. Some people are completely driven by their social roles, such as men who will do anything to show off in order to get promoted. They are typical territorial animals. But there are always a few people who stand out from the crowd. Their psychological characteristics are complex and intertwined. They are neither aggressive nor follow any material trends. It is difficult to find any clear internal logic in them. We call these people monsters."

"Based on my close observation over the past few days, both the bride and groom have extremely typical monster personalities." He put down his marker, rested his hands on the edge of the table, and sighed at the table full of experts. "I must frankly say that the casting director has given us quite a challenge this time."

"Even if it's a monster, it's a beautiful little monster that makes your heart melt," assistant director Kenji Takemiya said with a smile, trying to smooth things over.

He leaned against the end of the conference table, the sandalwood beads on his wrist gleaming warmly under the light, the pen he never parted from slowly twirling between his fingers. "So, Suzuki-kun means that the reason why the double monster combination is the most troublesome is because their psychological characteristics are completely on different frequencies, and there is no conventional path to ignite love between them, right?"

"Wu Gongjun's summary is spot on. Monsters are all lonely, their inner worlds are far deeper and more complex than their outward appearances, but their loneliness is not shared by one another. They live in completely different worlds, like a whale in the deep sea and a scorpion in the desert, who would never meet in the wild. Even if we forced them into the same room, their communication would be solidly blocked by an invisible, thick barrier. Unless something can penetrate both of their shells at the same time and pull them into the same dimension."

“Provide a way to break the world's boundaries!” Mai Shude said in a deep voice.

She also knew that it was an impossible task to make a couple develop feelings for each other in less than a week.

But she has never been one to accept failure easily, especially with such a large team supporting her.

The boss took this "marriage" extremely seriously, calling or texting every night late at night, in his unwaveringly flippant tone, asking, "How's things going with our bride and groom today?" But reality dealt everyone a harsh blow.

Time steadily passed, but the plan made no progress.

Mai Shutoku is a highly trained ninja, the kind of woman who can remain unmoved even if a venomous snake crawls across her face. Yet, at this moment, she couldn't help but feel agitated, her chest filled with an anger she had never experienced before.

No matter how outrageous or unreasonable the task assigned by the boss is, it must be completed. If holding a knife to the necks of these two young people and forcing them to attend a wedding at Meiji Shrine would count as completing the task, Mai Shutoku would have already pulled out the knife and slammed it on the conference table.

"Uh, exert even stronger temptation? In modern society, how many young men and women get married just because they're pregnant?" Fashion stylist Shunji Kumagai said, his hands gripping the edge of the table, speaking as quickly as if he were trying to salvage a design that was about to be rejected.

His approach has remained largely unchanged since day one: "What kind of man is good? Someone who pays the bill, is reliable, and dares to take advantage of you." It's simple and straightforward, yet it has been almost always successful in every brand marketing campaign he's handled.

“Yes, speaking of which, I have a model friend who got married because she was pregnant, and now she’s a wealthy wife!” Mima Yui, the young girl who had been working as a fitting model for Erii, raised her hand and whispered in agreement.

"Let's find a way to get them to go to the lingerie store! Trying on sexy lingerie is something no man can resist!" Shunji Kumagai continued to fan the flames, bringing up the latest seasonal collections from La Perla and Agent Provocateur on his tablet.

“A hot spring trip is still the best. Ask the hotel staff to spread out two sets of bedding for two people in the same room, with only a white porcelain vase between the two beds, containing a single red camellia. The moment you cross the boundary, the vase and the camellia shatter together. This kind of classical beauty cannot be found in the city,” Kenji Takemiya said.

He steadfastly adhered to his aesthetic creed: a truly effective catalyst is one that makes people feel, at that moment, that they are being awed by beauty.

The experts became particularly excited when discussing this topic. Over the past three days, they had mentioned to Mai Shude more than once that there was no need for mutual affection to bring two people together. Based on their experience in their respective industries, the most direct and effective method was to get them to "do it."

Mai Shude rested her head on her hand, her face covered with fine lines darker than the dark clouds outside the window.

She had to admit that this expert group, which sounded like it was made up of elites from all walks of life, turned out to be a complete bunch of useless idiots and lewd strategists when it came to devious tricks.

Just as she took a deep breath, preparing to slam her hand on the table and roar, the encrypted phone on the corner of the table suddenly lit up. The screen vibrated briefly on the quiet conference table, indicating that a new MMS message had been received.

A number that's so familiar it's almost unrecognizable, but doesn't have caller ID.

Mai looked down and opened the MMS message. The message was only a few lines long, written in the boss's perpetually unpredictable tone: "If you two are mutually attracted, perhaps meeting each other's families will help you settle things."

The signal flashed briefly and then disappeared, and the photos loaded frame by frame from top to bottom.

As the family photo scrolled through the entire frame, Mai Shude's eyes widened in surprise.

She never expected that in Tokyo, a city besieged on all sides, with torrential rain and a giant embryo writhing in a river of blood deep underground, there would be such a group of extras who had traveled a long way to join in the fun.

Chapter 809 The Lu Mingze Family (Part 1)

"Why are you such a spendthrift? Why stay in such an expensive hotel? Couldn't you have just found a youth hostel?" Auntie huffed and puffed as she carried the large suitcase onto the luggage rack, nagging incessantly.

One of the suitcase's wheels had been worn out from being dragged on the streets of Tokyo, and now it lay sprawled on the luggage rack, half of its broken body slumped, looking like a wounded veteran.

"All the four-star hotels are full, but the hostel has room?" The uncle went straight to the bathroom as soon as he entered, stood with his legs spread wide in front of the toilet, and made a very satisfied snorting sound, not even bothering to close the toilet door. "The Westin is the Westin, you get what you pay for. This marble bathtub alone is worth the room fee! Look at this soap, it even has their own logo on it!"