Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 77 The Wall-Supporting Demon

"Ruhr region".

Chu Zihang's voice was deep:

"The source of 'Valhalla Blood' points there. The size, location, and defensive strength of the stronghold are all unknown."

The beam of the flashlight swept across the sewer wall, casting two distorted and swaying shadows.

"Leaving the academy at the same time as us were three of the Executive Department's most elite 'Sweepers' teams. Their mission was to infiltrate, locate, assess, and await orders to strike with lightning speed."

"And what about us?" Lu Mingfei scratched his head. "Stuck in this stinking ditch. As cheerleaders? Or to watch the luggage for the big shots?"

“We’re responsible for providing support,” Chu Zihang said calmly. “We’re the eyes and the safety net for the academy’s operations.”

One is an A-rank, and the other an S-rank; they're certainly not here to be cheerleaders. Although their teamwork and strategic thinking are far inferior to the veterans in the execution department, their combat strength is extremely high. If necessary, they will be the academy's backup plan and its most powerful weapon.

“Bochum, this is a node in the ‘Blood of Valhalla’ distribution network, a possible transit point, or… a testing ground.”

Chu Zihang paused, his voice becoming solemn:
“Our mission has three parts. First, to confirm the presence of drug traces in Bochum and assess its threat level. Second, to gather any intelligence fragments that might be linked to the Ruhr region's sources. Third,”

His gaze lifted slightly, seemingly piercing through the thick concrete walls, landing on the contact above the city—who might be fast asleep, or perhaps harboring ulterior motives.

"Confirming the loyalty of Hans Müller, the only resident local commissioner."

"What about that damn WWII antique?"

Lu Mingfei shone the flashlight, pointing it into the distance.

"fake."

Chu Zihang said:
"This is just a smokescreen put out by the academy to mislead Hans Müller. Only I know the real details of the mission. I didn't tell you before because Norma judged you..."

He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully:

"He has relatively little experience and his tactical skills need to be improved."

Lu Mingfei suddenly slapped his thigh:
"So they were afraid my acting wouldn't be good enough to give me away!"

Chu Zihang nodded slowly.
The only sounds in the sewer were the muffled footsteps and the distant splashing of sewage.

Lu Mingfei rubbed his temples, which were throbbing from the stench, and finally couldn't help but ask the question he had been holding back:
"I said, senior brother."

He swept his flashlight across the dark, damp walls covered in unidentified stains on both sides, and the sewage churning with suspicious foam under the light:
"Even if my acting isn't good, did we have to choose this place to talk? It stinks so badly I'm almost brain-dead. Couldn't we have just found some excuse to talk quietly in the hotel or even in the car? Did we have to crawl into the sewer?"

Chu Zihang's steps did not stop, his voice clear and strong amidst the sound of the flowing water:

"Hans is the local resident commissioner. If he has been infiltrated or defected, our every move in the open is likely under surveillance by him or the people behind him. Hotels and public transportation are not safe."

"Entering the sewers to examine 'WWII relics' aligns with the surface logic of our mission. Even if Hans has some suspicions, he can't determine in a short time whether we have ulterior motives. More importantly..."

Chu Zihang swung the beam of light in his hand upwards, gesturing to Lu Mingfei:

"This place is relatively isolated. Modern eavesdropping and surveillance equipment has limited effectiveness in the complex environment and strong interference sources of the sewers. It is a relatively reasonable and difficult place to be eavesdropped on in the current situation where you can safely synchronize information with them."

"Oh……"

Lu Mingfei seemed to suddenly realize something, drawing out his words as he carefully avoided the suspicious floating objects under his feet:

"So, in order to get away with Uncle Hans, they also found a 'private chat room'."

He scratched his hair, which was flattened by his work cap, and slowed his speech:
"Actually, even before you said this mission was a 'smokescreen,' I already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on. I thought you were deliberately choosing this gloomy, smelly place that's easy to ambush in."

Lu Mingfei's flashlight beam stopped at the side, his face bearing an expression that said, "See? I knew something was fishy," and his mouth began to move silently.

His lips moved deliberately, and under the deliberately dimmed beam of the flashlight, he silently conveyed a message to Chu Zihang through lip reading:
I thought you chose this place to resolve that persistent little thing that's been sticking to us since the beginning.
Chu Zihang's pupils contracted instantly! But his reaction was quick, without revealing a single flaw. He remained still and continued to walk slowly forward.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Mingfei clearly saw that Chu Zihang's face, which had never changed in ages, showed an expression that could only be described as "astonishment" for the first time!

Because Chu Zihang was 100% certain—outside the sewer entrance, before entering this passage, he had repeatedly and meticulously checked:
There is no form of tracking!
With the top-notch counter-surveillance training from Kassel College, combined with the environmental scanner provided by the Equipment Department and his extraordinary perception, he screened the surrounding environment like a highly sophisticated machine.

His conclusion was that, apart from the overly enthusiastic Hans and his wet little daughter Lily, no one cared where they went.

It has no tail.

Lu Mingfei's words completely shattered his previously flawless judgment.

The stench emanating from the sewers and the hollow sound of running water in the distance seemed to transform into a silent mockery, surrounding him. Every corner of the darkness seemed to be shrouded in a deadly aura in his pupils.

He responded slowly, also with silent lip-reading:
Where...?
Lu Mingfei closed his eyes slightly, and the polluted air rushed into his nostrils. The sound of the water being stirred up with their footsteps, the faint sound of dripping water in the distance, and even the faint chirping of insects in the cracks of the pipes were instantly amplified and analyzed in his ears.

His skin seemed to be able to sense the slightest disturbance in the air; a sense far beyond that of ordinary people unfolded like a finely intricate net.

This is a new ability that Lu Mingfei has mastered. He uses the Dragon Warrior's superhuman perception, combined with dragon blood, to sense the subtle changes in the airflow around his body and achieve the effect of simulating "Word of Power: Kamaitachi".

However, the range he could "hear" was limited, far less expansive than Caesar's weasel; the messages he received were also vague and intermittent.

He had to be extremely focused, like trying to distinguish the sound of a needle dropping in a noisy market.

……

There was no one behind him.

Chu Zihang's judgment seemed to be correct, at least at the entrance.

But in...

Left side?

Lu Mingfei's heart sank.

The left side? But all I see on the left is a cold, damp, stained concrete wall! Is my perception playing tricks on me? This damned, half-baked ability…

Just as he was about to doubt himself—

A very faint, strange sound came, like... some kind of slippery object briefly touching the water's surface.

Lu Mingfei's pupils suddenly contracted!

The beam of his flashlight unconsciously swept towards the lower part of the left wall.

On the surface of the murky sewage, right at the base of that solid wall, a small patch of floating oil was spreading out in a circle of extremely fine, almost imperceptible ripples.

The direction was so bizarre it was suffocating.

It seemed... something moved slightly, clinging to the water's surface inside the wall.

tick.

A bead of cold sweat slid down Lu Mingfei's forehead, and a chill crept up his spine.

He was wrong too.

It turned out that nothing had been following them from beginning to end.

It lurked on the wall, in the murky water... silently walking alongside them!

(End of this chapter)