Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

It feels like you're a clumsy penguin locked onto a camera, waddling awkwardly towards another new female penguin, while the commentator on the distant screen, even more excited than you, is shouting:

Look, look! Our adorable Penpen has launched a full-scale attack on Princess Sissi! He's made it! He's bravely made it! Every step he takes is on the icy surface of hope! Let's applaud and cheer him on!

“Listen up! Tell all your monks, Taoists, and artists to get out of my way! Get out of here! Including you!” Lu Mingfei sent another text message, this time each word he typed was slammed hard into the keyboard.

"Remember, the monk and artist services are canceled, the service team is withdrawing immediately, and your request is effective immediately. Dear customer, is there anything else I can help you with?" Lu Mingze was as shameless as ever, as if all the words Lu Mingfei had just shouted had been sent flying into the void by the signal.

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath, lowered his arms, and stood on the bustling stone path of Senso-ji Temple.

People came and went all around, and the eaves of the five-story pagoda cast a pale ink-colored silhouette under the overcast light.

He pressed his phone for a while, and finally typed this: "When I make my last wish, my wish will be for you to perish with me."

"No problem. I'll be with you through heaven and hell, that's something we agreed on a long time ago. So please allow me to gracefully disappear from your life so you can quietly enjoy the peace and quiet of our world as a couple. Oh, it's three people. Three people, that's fine too."

Lu Mingfei didn't reply. He stood there for a few seconds, then put his phone back in his coat pocket.

After this long and futile exchange, he let out a soft breath and turned to look at the two people beside him.

The monk had already slipped away quietly, but Erii still held the bamboo stick with the inscription "White Clouds After Sunshine" between her fingers. She lowered her head and carefully deciphered the Chinese characters on it, the brim of her hat casting a soft shadow on her face.

Frillie didn't ask him about the text message; she simply stood under the nearest ginkgo tree, the rain-soaked leaves shaking the water droplets onto her shoulders.

Lu Mingfei suddenly felt something in his chest. In the coldest, deepest corner, he tried to gently turn a page.

Chapter 813 Sniping the Bride

Just seconds after the text message arrived, Lu Mingfei noticed that the surroundings were beginning to loosen.

Taxis that had been parked on the side of the road without picking up passengers all turned on their "for hire" lights, turned their steering wheels, and quietly glided into the traffic, disappearing silently into the gray rain curtain of Asakusa-dori.

The photographer, who had been squatting in a corner of the Second Heavenly Gate, focused on photographing the ancient buildings, also took off his telephoto lens from his tripod, put his camera into his canvas bag, and quietly blended into the bustling crowd.

Lu Mingfei noticed that as he left, he nodded slightly in his direction, a gesture as light as if he were greeting an old friend he had known for many years.

The proprietress of the baked fruit shop on the commercial street also came out from behind the counter, bowed to them, and then pulled down the iron roller door.

The storefront slammed down, obscuring the freshly baked chestnut buns and strawberry daifuku in the window. Just less than ten minutes ago, she had given Erii two steaming hot sweets. After taking a bite, Erii wrote "Delicious" in her notebook, and she was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling for a long time.

The most outrageous thing was that the Sony Electronics advertising airship that had been hovering above their heads slowly turned around at low altitude and drifted away towards Shibuya. The giant LED screen on the airship switched back to the regular advertising image, in which a female celebrity in a silver dress was holding up the latest mirrorless camera and smiling at the camera.

It was only then that Lu Mingfei fully realized that he had never escaped anyone's watchful eye these past few days.

No matter how he hid or how hard he tried to conceal his identity, a group of loyal and brave servants surrounded him, forming an impenetrable iron barrel.

That advertising airship didn't just happen to pass over Senso-ji Temple; it hovered dozens of meters above their heads every day. The LED screen on its hull never played commercial advertisements, but only pushed information about attractions and shops that they might be interested in.

Those taxis were parked on the street corner downstairs from morning till night, never turning off their engines no matter how heavy the rain was. The drivers never got out to eat or go to the toilet, always maintaining a state of "just available".

The photographer wasn't holding an ordinary DSLR camera; it was a professional high-speed camera with a telephoto lens. From the moment they opened the door of the love hotel that morning, he had been one of the outermost hunters in this encirclement.

Lu Mingfei stood on the approach to Senso-ji Temple. The sky was gray, and the ginkgo leaves, washed by the rain, trembled in the wind.

He recalled what Lu Mingze had said: "I just helped you call a car, delivered some takeout, and got the store to give you a discount. I didn't do anything else."

At the time, he felt that there was nothing seriously wrong with what he said, but now he finally understood.

He had no idea when the encirclement began to close in.

Perhaps long, long ago, perhaps from the day he was born, the devil patiently waited by a baby's bedside, waiting for him to grow old enough to have his soul bought.

Perhaps he was never free. The freedom he perceived was nothing more than a window that the devil painted on the wall of a prison, a window that depicted blue skies and white clouds, cherry blossoms in spring and ginkgo trees at Senso-ji Temple, a handsome mustache and a greasy-faced high monk.

Lu Mingfei silently acknowledged this in his heart, then reached out to take Erii's hand. He was afraid that Erii would feel uneasy standing in this environment where she was being watched, and wanted to take her away quickly.

Keirei did not move.

Because the Japanese monk was still standing under his fortune-telling booth, head down, intently working with his hands.

He remembered that the monk was tracing the fortune slip from the bamboo stick and then using an extremely fine brush dipped in ink to carefully trace it onto the off-white washi paper.

He then carefully rolled the still-wet paper around a small metal piece engraved with the shrine's name, stuffed it into a hand-sewn brocade bag, sealed it, and finally solemnly presented the newly made amulet to Erii with both hands.

While doing these things, his demeanor suddenly became dignified, as if he were presiding over a private, quiet ceremony that he did not intend to have anyone else witness it.

"Your teammates have already finished their game, are you still playing?" Lu Mingfei gestured with his chin toward the empty street corner.

"The employer's orders are for us to go home," the monk said, scratching his bald head and smiling somewhat embarrassedly. "But I am a monk from Senso-ji Temple, and I live right here. My fortune-telling booth has been here for fourteen years; it wasn't set up just today."

"Then you don't need to keep lying to me, right?" Lu Mingfei's eyes still held a sliver of hope.

"I was just hired to bring you here to draw lots. I get a small commission for each person I bring into the worship hall. But you drew the lots yourselves. Monks don't lie, we monks don't cheat. This lot-drawing booth and the lot-drawing container are all real. The lot you just drew, I didn't touch a single word of it. It was the one I shook out of the wooden box this morning when I was chanting sutras in the main hall. Monks also draw lots for themselves early in the morning. I put the lot I drew upside down into the tourists' lot-drawing container. It was originally mine."

As the monk spoke, he handed the entire bamboo divination stick container to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei moved the bamboo slips around and found that each one was indeed handwritten, with varying ink freshness and different characters. Some read, "When the ghostly divination holds the world position, fortune and auspiciousness will prevail; when planning matters, consult this divination and all things will prosper," while others read, "A clear mind shines like a mirror, just like the bright moon in the sky."

Those sentences and Erii's straightforward "White clouds after the rain, birds chasing each other" are not on the same level of subtlety at all.

“You’ve drawn a good lot; you’ll have good luck,” the monk said softly, his gaze calm and solemn after all the performance had faded.

"What exactly does this sign mean?" After hearing him speak so solemnly, Lu Mingfei felt unsure.

"You can't just look at the words on the fortune stick; you have to understand what you're asking about. Whether you're asking about marriage, your future, or your studies, the interpretation is different. I don't know how to interpret fortune sticks," the monk said, pressing his palms together and bowing. "But since it's a very auspicious fortune stick, it must be good in the end, right?"

In the secret office on the top floor of Takamagahara, Mai Shutoku stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, one hand in her pocket and the other holding her phone to her ear.

Outside the window, the rain poured down like a waterfall, and the lingering glow of neon lights piled up into a murky dark red on the horizon.

She wasn't wearing her usual sharp and decisive Black Widow outfit today; she was still wearing the dark blue jumpsuit she wore during last night's script review meeting, with a Bluetooth headset dangling from her ear, ready to connect to dozens of channels at any time.

"According to you, all the frontline broadcast vans have been withdrawn, leaving only a team of cameramen to maintain long-distance monitoring. In this situation, should the expert team be disbanded?"

“There’s no need to disband them; we still need them. The Tokyo Love Story project hasn’t been canceled. You’ve all done a fantastic job so far, and the bride and groom are moving at full speed along the path we’ve laid out for them.” The boss’s voice carried a hint of afternoon languor, as if he had just basked in the sun somewhere.

“Lu Mingfei has already realized that someone is orchestrating this behind the scenes. He will become extremely vigilant, and we will never be able to get close to him again. Judging from the tone and reaction of his text message just now, he is very angry. But to be honest, he still hasn’t developed any feelings that could be called ‘love’ for the head of the Uesugi family. Is this situation considered ‘smooth’?” Mai Shude asked with some surprise.

The boss chuckled softly.

“We’re playing tricks on him, and he’ll realize it sooner or later. He’s actually a very sensitive person. But in the Tokyo Love Story project, Lu Mingfei has never been my target audience. This show is dedicated to our lovely little girl. In her heart, this is a pink journey. Look at her expression when she received that amulet just now. I could see it even through the screen. Her eyes were shining like she had found the most beautiful seashell in the world.”

"In her world, Lu Mingfei is a hero. Wherever Lu Mingfei takes her, it's a fun place. All sorts of interesting things happen one after another along the way: a painter by the roadside, a vendor selling roasted fruit, a monk she randomly catches in a temple. The whole world revolves around the two of them. If a man like that appeared in front of you when you were sixteen, taking you away from that cold home you could never escape, to a place where there's hot, delicious food every few steps, and boys who would earnestly write 'You look good in this' on paper, wouldn't you fall in love with him too?"

“But Lu Mingfei already knows that all of this is a fabrication, and he won’t believe it,” said Jiu De Mai.

“When a lie is repeated a thousand times, you will believe it. As long as the lie is beautiful enough. It’s like an elderly noblewoman hearing a young knight praise her beauty at a banquet. Even if she knows that every word he says is made up, so what? She will still see her sixteen-year-old self again in the mirror. Listen carefully, as long as Erii falls in love with Lu Mingfei, Lu Mingfei will definitely reciprocate that love.”

"Understood. We will maintain remote monitoring, and the expert team and broadcast van will be on standby 24 hours a day. Today is the fifth day, and there are only about two and a half days left until the project concludes. Does the wedding plan, originally scheduled for the evening of the seventh day, need any adjustments?"

“I don’t have the habit of revising scripts. In my script, they will hold the wedding at sunset on the seventh day, so the wedding will definitely happen on time,” the boss said. “Are the things I asked you to prepare ready?”

Mai Shude tucked her phone between her shoulder and ear, freeing her hands to open the long, slender black plastic box in front of her.

The latch popped open with a heavy metallic click, and the inside of the lid was still covered with condensation droplets left over from the low-temperature transport.

She lifted the lid of the box, and a heavy AS50 sniper rifle lay quietly in the center of the shock-absorbing pad, its dark and menacing iron gleaming under the cold light of the fluorescent lamp.

The heavy barrel is thicker than an adult man's forearm, and the bolt mechanism is tight and robust; it is not designed for a simple hunting mission with the crosshairs on the front sight.

This is a truly deadly weapon, the American-made Steyr heavy sniper rifle, which was once issued to the Navy SEALs' long-range anti-materiel units.

With a range of over two kilometers, the magazine can unleash all five 12.7mm caliber sniper rounds in less than two seconds, creating an inescapable and deadly barrage.

At this moment, only four of the five bullet slots were loaded, with the last one still placed in a special shockproof protective tube next to it. The heavy bullet, which had been polished and processed, had an ominous dark red color, like congealed blood.

“It’s in my hands now,” Mai said softly.

"An ace sniper."

“I am one myself. You can leave the tasks here to Potato Chips. You just need to tell me who the target is.” His fingers slowly slid along the tactical rails on the gun barrel, the coldness from under his fingertips like a thorn piercing through several layers of gloves and reaching his palm.

"The target is the bride."

Mai Shude's hand, which was stroking the gun, suddenly stopped.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I'm not that heartless. I wouldn't send you to assassinate an innocent young girl on a whim. But you also know that the bride's condition has started to become unstable. You've managed to keep her in a relatively stable range these past few days, but she could lose control at any moment. You certainly don't want to see an out-of-control monster turn everyone on the streets of Shibuya or Ginza into lifeless souvenirs in the evening, right?"

"So in the most extreme situation, we have no choice. There is another possibility: if the Snake Clan or the Demon Clan finds them first, and we lose control of Ms. Uesugi Erii in a short period of time, we also need to act immediately. She is the key that can unlock the seal of the gods. If we let her fall into someone else's hands, we, the twenty million people of Tokyo, and even every city along the coast of this continent will be hit by a disaster we have never seen before."

"You can do it in this situation. Use your ace sniper composure and precision to complete the mission cleanly and efficiently within the shortest window. Right?"

Mai Shude took a deep breath and closed the box lid again.

"You don't need to explain these things to me. Just give the order. Obeying orders is the first principle for a ninja."

“Very good. I have always had absolute confidence in you. The trust between us is unbreakable, and in this matter, I only dare to trust you. So from now on, we don’t need a broadcast van or an expert team, just you. You must keep your sights fixed on our bride, no matter if she is laughing, eating, trying on overalls and pretty sandals, or standing next to Lu Mingfei gazing at the torrential rain in Tokyo Bay. Keep her firmly under your control. Even at the wedding.”

"Understood. Do I have the authority to decide the specific conditions under which I can carry out the elimination of the target?"

The boss was silent for a few seconds.

"Tell me before you execute them. Oh, by the way, they're probably going to have dinner at Chateau Joel Robuchon tonight; Caesar made a reservation for them there. The Michelin three-star restaurant in that old villa in Ebisu has been booked since last month. Let's get there before the evening rush hour traffic starts rolling in, and take this rifle with us."

"I know the entire three-dimensional structure of that restaurant and I will find a suitable sniping position."

"Hopefully we won't need bullets," the boss said, hanging up the phone.

Chapter 814 Tokyo Evening Rush Hour

A few minutes later, Mai Shutoku, dressed in a black bodysuit, emerged from the back door of Takamagahara.

The roller shutter door slowly rose and fell behind her, making a dull metallic clang. Rainwater was shaken off the eaves and fell onto the fine Kevlar fibers on her shoulders, without leaving a single watermark.

The blue Lamborghini lay dormant in the deepest part of the garage, the raindrops on its body gleaming faintly in the dim light, like a metallic beast curled up deep in a cave.

Mai Shude opened the passenger door and threw the long black case containing the AS50 heavy sniper rifle onto the passenger seat. The gun case hit the leather seat cushion with a dull thud.

I got in the car, started the engine, and it gave a low growl in the garage before falling silent. The heat from the exhaust pipe condensed into two plumes of white steam in the damp, cold air.

With a tap of the accelerator, the Lamborghini slid out of the alley, its taillights casting two scarlet arcs in the rain. It turned and merged into the dense, almost stagnant, traffic of Shinjuku's evening rush hour.

Almost at the same moment, Lu Mingfei and Erii were also trapped in this river of cars.

This was the first time Lu Mingfei had truly experienced the power of Tokyo's evening rush hour. He was huddled in the back seat of an old Toyota taxi, with Erii on his left and Frilian on his right.

It was only then that he suddenly realized that this metropolis, crammed with twenty million people, was just as congested as Beijing, and that the congestion was no less severe than that in Beijing.

The continuous torrential rain has turned many low-lying sections of the road into shallow shoals. Even with emergency drainage, the road surface is still slippery as if it has been coated with oil. In the drizzle, cars, trucks, buses and lorries are all inch by inch moving forward. No one dares to accelerate or change lanes. A series of rear-end collisions have further locked up the entire road network.

On the GPS navigation screen, red lines representing traffic congestion were flashing one after another, resembling a rapidly spreading skin inflammation.

Before this, Lu Mingfei had always thought that Tokyo was an absolutely wonderful city. The streets were so clean that you could eat a bento box right there, the roads were wide and never noisy, and traffic was smooth at all times. There were polite pedestrians and shop assistants everywhere, and you were treated like a VIP no matter whether you made a purchase or not.

At this moment, he was holding the plastic bag containing Erii's new bento box, trapped inside the tin can and unable to move an inch. Only then did he realize that it was just a bubble that Lu Mingze had created around him with money and power.