Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

“I know,” Xia Mi released his hand and sat closer to him, “I just suddenly thought of the story of ‘the fall of Midgard.’ Legend has it that when the World Tree collapsed, Midgard was the first to fall because it was in the very center and bore the weight of all the worlds.”

"From a physics perspective, this makes perfect sense."

Xia Mi chuckled, "Too rational."

Chapter 69 Sir Constance

The wooden door was pushed open, and the copper bell hanging on it rang crisply.

Angers stood in the doorway, sunlight streaming in from behind him, casting his long, slender shadow on the worn wooden floor.

Behind the bar, the bespectacled owner wiped the glasses with a white cloth, and on the wall hung a Texas longhorn bull skull and an old-fashioned rifle.

“This place is still the same as always,” Angers said softly, taking off his sunglasses and hanging them on his chest pocket.

In the corner, a tall man raised his coffee cup in a gesture. Angers strode over.

“Conston, you old lizard,” Angers pulled out a chair and sat down. “You look like you just crawled out of your coffin after all these years.”

Sir Constance, former president of the Royal Geographical Society, leader of the Sahara Expedition, and elder statesman of the Secret Party, grinned.

"And you, Hilbert, are like a gigolo kept by the goddess of time. How did you manage that?"

Angers waved for a cup of black coffee. "The secret to staying young?" He winked. "Always holding a knife, always having dragons to slay."

The waiter brought over a steaming cup of black coffee. Angers added two sugar cubes and stirred it gently with a small spoon.

The swirling eddies in the cup reminded him of the sandstorms in the Sahara Desert ninety years ago.

"Do you remember the Sahara Desert?" Conston asked, understanding his old friend's thoughts.

He took off his hat, revealing a full head of silver hair and a gruesome scar running from his forehead to his left eye. "Those weasels almost tore us to pieces."

“Your ‘vampire scythe’ turned them all into mummies,” Angers said, taking a sip of coffee. “That was a truly unforgettable sight.”

"There were over a thousand of those weasels, each the size of a basketball. The sandstorm drove them mad."

“You stand atop the dune, laughing like a madman,” Angers shook his head, “saying, ‘Let the storm rage on!’”

“I’m not that pathetic,” Conston spat. “If it weren’t for your final Zero Time, those beasts would have drained my blood.”

“We were so young back then,” Angers said, gazing at the desert landscape painting on the wall. “We almost lost our lives in the desert while searching for that so-called ancient city of dragons.”

"All we found were a few broken stones with dragon patterns on them," Conston scoffed. "Now those stones are gathering dust in the basement of the British Museum."

The two remained silent for a while, each lost in their own memories.

The café’s old-fashioned jukebox was playing Johnny Cash’s “Hurt,” a deep male voice singing a ballad about time and pain.

"How are your students?" Conston broke the silence. "I heard you recently recruited an S-class student?"

Angers' expression immediately became lively, like an old father being asked about his proudest child.

“Lu Mingfei,” he said, his voice tinged with obvious affection, “Yanling is at time zero, just like me. Although I can’t control it well yet, its potential is astonishing.”

"The same Word of Power as yours?" Conston raised an eyebrow. "That's quite unusual."

“And there’s something even stranger,” Angers said in a low voice. “His parents were very special. You know, those Arctic folks.”

Conston nodded knowingly, without pressing further. The Secret Service members all knew when to stop. "Who else?"

“Frilian,” Angers smiled. “Rank A, Word Spirit is a magician, capable of manipulating multiple elemental powers.”

"Where's Caesar Gattuso? Didn't that Italian kid cause you any trouble?"

“Troublesome?” Angers laughed. “He is my most worrisome student. The Word Spirit Weasel, a natural leader, though sometimes he is as arrogant as a peacock.”

He paused for a moment, then added, "But his competition with Chu Zihang raised the overall level of the academy."

"Chu Zihang," Conston said thoughtfully, "Chu Tianjiao's son?"

Angers' expression darkened slightly. "Yes. That child carries too much on his shoulders. Yanling Junyan, a top-tier A-rank. He suppresses all his emotions beneath an iceberg, but when he fights..."

He made an explosion gesture.

"It sounds like you've assembled a remarkable group of young people," Conston said, sipping his coffee. "It has the feel of the Lionheart from back in the day."

“Yes, Lu Mingfei even reminds me of Meneke,” Angers said. “Lu Mingfei’s potential may exceed that of all known hybrids. Caesar’s political acumen makes him a natural successor to the Secret Party, and Chu Zihang’s combat talent is extraordinary.”

"That sounds really good. Angers, you're 130 years old and still a principal, what's the point?"

“Watching the young people grow up makes me believe that the dragon race will eventually be buried,” he said softly. “This generation will complete our unfinished work.”

“Speaking of unfinished business,” Conston said, setting down his coffee cup with a crisp clinking sound. “There’s new information from the Sahara.”

Angers immediately sat up straight.

“Our informant reports the discovery of new dragon-patterned stone carvings in the Sahara,” Conston said in a low voice. “They look very much like the ancient city we were looking for.”

"you sure?"

“I sent someone to take pictures,” Conston said, pulling an envelope from his pocket and pushing it toward Angers. “Take a look for yourself.”

Angers pulled out the photo, which was undoubtedly Longwen.

He recognized several of the symbols: "door," "open," and "sleeping."

“Interesting,” Angers said slowly, putting the photos away. “I’ll go check on things.”

"You're going in person?" Conston asked.

Angers thought for a moment, "Or let Mingfei and the others go."

Conston burst into laughter, “Angers!”

He wiped away the tears of laughter, "It's time to let go and let the young people go out and explore."

“Perhaps,” Angers said, swirling his coffee cup. “But I still hope to hold the knife in my own hand and watch the last dragon breathe its last.”

“Stubborn old man,” Conston shook his head. “At our age, we should be sitting in rocking chairs reminiscing, not doing that.”

"Instead of continuing to hunt dragons?" Angers smiled. "Then why are you sitting here? Why do you contact me immediately as soon as you have news about dragons?"

Conston paused for a moment, then raised his coffee cup. "For the unfinished mission."

Angers also raised his glass, and the two glasses clinked together with a crisp sound. "For the unfinished mission."

They drank it all in one gulp, the bitterness of the black coffee spreading on their tongues, like the sandstorms of the Sahara in their memories.

Two elderly people sit in a café, discussing past and future wars, while in a distant amusement park, young heirs enjoy a rare moment of leisure.

Angers thought that perhaps Conston was right; it was time for Lu Mingfei and his team to take up the torch.

But in his heart, the young man holding the folding knife never grew old and still longed to personally end this war that had lasted for thousands of years.

"Another one?" Conston asked.

Angers glanced at his watch. "No, it's time."

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and said, "See you next time. I hope you can come to Kassel and meet the young people."

“I will,” Conston said, putting on his hat. “Give my regards to that S-class kid.”

Chapter 70 Mint Ice Cream

After the malfunction was repaired, the Ferris wheel gondolas continued to rise slowly.

Xia Mi pressed her face against the glass window, her nose touching it, and her breath condensed into a small patch of white mist on the glass.

"How beautiful!" she exclaimed, turning her head with sparkling eyes. "Senior, look, doesn't that light over there look like a Milky Way?"

Chu Zihang looked in the direction she was pointing and nodded gently. "Yes, it's very beautiful."

The gondola swayed slightly as Xia Mi sat back in her seat, her legs gently swinging in the air.

She suddenly fell silent, her gaze fixed on the distance. "I used to go to the amusement park with my brother."

Chu Zihang's gaze shifted from the window back to Xia Mi's face. He knew Xia Mi had an older brother, but he had never heard her mention it. "You two are very close?"

"Hmm." Xia Mi's lips curled up slightly, carrying an emotion that Chu Zihang couldn't decipher.

“He’s five years older than me, but I’m the one who’s in charge of him. He’s not allowed to eat too much ice cream, he’s not allowed to stay up late reading comics, and he’s not allowed to get too close to girls,” she said, counting on her fingers.

The pod rises to its highest point.

"How is your brother now?" Chu Zihang asked.

Xia Mi's smile froze for a moment, then relaxed again, as if nothing had happened.

“He’s always alone,” she said softly. “Sometimes I go to see him.”

"Sometimes, I wish my brother could live a free and easy life, but now he seems a bit slow and dull."

Chu Zihang looked at her: "Are you just standing there dumbfounded?"

Xia Mi nodded. "Car accident. I saw him get hit and thrown around, less than ten meters away from me. His head was damaged after that. Strangely enough, I didn't shed a single tear."

Chu Zihang was silent for a moment. "This is the blood sorrow of hybrids. Our way of expressing emotions is different from ordinary people. Excessive emotions will be suppressed by dragon blood; it is a self-protection mechanism."

Xia Mi turned her head, and the light in her eyes startled Chu Zihang.

"The Sorrow of Blood? Why is it still that same phrase this time?"

Chu Zihang was stunned; he hadn't expected Xia Mi to react so strongly. "I just..."

“You just don’t understand,” Xia Mi interrupted him. “You don’t understand why someone would cry their eyes out over a bad movie, why someone would wait ten years for a promise, or why someone would approach a fire knowing they will get hurt.”

His voice trailed off, "Chu Zihang, why can't you be more direct?"

Unfamiliar emotions surged in his chest, and for the first time, Chu Zihang felt powerless in the face of disappointment in Xia Mi's eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, but he didn't know why he was apologizing.

Xia Mi sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Never mind, your one-on-one tutoring has never been successful anyway."

She forced a smile. "Let's talk about something else, like why do you think the principal suggested coming to the amusement park?"

The topic shift was abrupt, but Chu Zihang still followed along. "Maybe she wanted us to relax a bit."

“Or maybe he just wanted to come and have fun,” Xia Mi blinked, her expression brightening again. “Isn’t that cute?”

Chu Zihang imagined what Angers would look like riding a carousel. "Unimaginable."

With a "click," the gondola vibrated slightly and slowly descended.