Dragons begin with courage

As the powerful earthquake subsided, the entire wall peeled away, revealing another room.

"The boss's room...?"

Lu Mingfei looked at the entrance that had suddenly appeared in front of him, just like in Dungeons & Dragons, where defeating the gatekeeper would reveal the boss room.

The cold, desolate bronze passageway behind me, filled with the smell of rusting metal, vanished. In its place was an "outdoor" scene that defied all the laws of physics.

Beneath my feet lay soft, green grass, carrying the moist scent of earth. Above me stretched a vast, azure "sky," dotted with wisps of white clouds, and even a "sun" radiating a warm (yet without a palpable heat source) halo. A gentle breeze caressed my face, carrying the delicate fragrance of grass and unnamed wildflowers. All of this was enveloped beneath an enormous, hemispherical bronze dome, its inner walls etched with a magnificent star map, the "stars" emitting a soft glow, simulating celestial phenomena.

An ancient, bronze-cast house is not far away.

The entire space was completely empty, with no patrolling bronze guards, no ferocious dragon servant Samson, only the rustling of the wind through the grass.

But the bronze sword case behind Lu Mingfei pulsated with unprecedented intensity! The seven swords hummed and vibrated in the case at the same time, especially "Rage," which emitted a long cry, and the pull towards the house was so strong that it almost broke out of the case! It was not a warning, but more like a hungry resonance, an excited tremor as if the dragon-slaying weapon was finally approaching its ultimate prey.

Norton is inside.

Lu Mingfei could sense that the dragon's might, as deep as lava and as majestic as a mountain, was emanating from that seemingly ordinary house, gentle yet omnipresent, filling the entire space.

The door slid open silently.

The interior space appears more spacious than the exterior, yet the furnishings are unusually simple, even...homely. The floor is covered with dried reed mats, and the walls are polished dark bronze with a warm sheen. Several antique-style bronze pieces are casually placed, and a faint, refreshing aroma of tea permeates the air.

Lu Mingfei's gaze was immediately drawn to the scene on one side of the room, and his blood almost froze instantly.

"Senior sister!" Lu Mingfei quickly entered the room. Fortunately, Nuonuo was still breathing.

On a simple bronze couch, red-haired Nono lay quietly, her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling gently with her steady breathing. She was covered with a dark gold fabric embroidered with dragon patterns. Her face was somewhat pale, but there were no obvious external injuries. It seemed that she had simply fallen into a deep sleep, like Sleeping Princess waiting for the prince to kiss her awake.

However, now is clearly not the time to take Nuonuo away, since whether they can leave or not depends on the owner of the house.

His gaze slowly shifted to the center of the room.

There stood a low bronze tea table, upon which rested an elegant set of celadon tea utensils. A person, with their back to the door, was intently pouring boiling water into teacups from a teapot. Wisps of steam rose, blurring the person's silhouette.

The person was dressed in simple linen clothes, with a thin back view, and even looked somewhat familiar.

Then, a calm voice, tinged with complex emotions, rang out in fluent Chinese: "You're here? A little faster than I expected. The door's unlocked, come in and have a seat."

The moment the sound rang out, Lu Mingfei felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his pupils shrinking sharply. His last shred of hope was completely shattered.

Lu Mingfei had already guessed some things from the video recording sent by Angers. Even though the video was blurry and shaky, Lu Mingfei could clearly see the person's face.

When that familiar, somewhat cynical yet earnest tone rang out in such a calm manner at the heart of the Dragon King's lair, a tremendous sense of absurdity and stinging pain still gripped Lu Mingfei's heart.

It's Lao Tang's voice!

Before enrolling in Kassel, Lu Mingfei spent an entire night video chatting with Lao Tang to learn how to conduct an interview in English. How could he not recognize Lao Tang's voice?

Lu Mingfei walked into the room with somewhat stiff steps and went around to the front of the tea table.

The person sitting there looked up, revealing a face that Lu Mingfei knew all too well—slightly messy hair, a deep profile with mixed-race features, and eyes that were now looking at him, devoid of their usual playfulness, only as calm as the deep sea and with an indescribable weariness.

Old Tang.

Or rather, Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire.

"Xiao Ming, long time no see." Old Tang, or rather Norton, gently put down the teapot, pointed to the futon opposite him, and said in a casual tone, as if he were greeting a friend in an internet cafe, "What are you standing there for? Sit down. Try some tea, it's something I made myself, you can't get it anywhere else."

Lu Mingfei didn't sit down. His gaze was fixed on the other person's face, trying to find the shadow of the loser friend in his memory who would say on QQ, "Interview? I'll help you," beneath that calm exterior. But he couldn't find it. Deep within those eyes burned the molten gold that had endured thousands of years of vicissitudes, the absolute rationality and indifference belonging to the Dragon King, even though he tried to conceal it with human mannerisms and tone.

"Senior sister, she..." Lu Mingfei began, his voice somewhat hoarse.

"She's fine." Norton picked up his teacup and blew on the steam. "She's just asleep. How can Dungeons & Dragons be without a princess? Heroes who defeat dragons should be rewarded—treasure, wealth, and a princess."

Hearing that Nuonuo was safe and sound, Lu Mingfei put Seven Deadly Sins down, grinned foolishly, and sat down opposite her, saying, "That's good, that's good. Speaking of which, this is the first time I've met you in person. I've been in America for so long, but I haven't found the time to leave the campus. I was thinking of visiting you during the New Year to try the Greyhound restaurant you mentioned. Also, let me tell you, Chinese food in America is completely different. Their xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) are awful. I'll take you to try sometime... try the real xiaolongbao..."

As he spoke, Lu Mingfei's voice began to drift off-key. His eyes suddenly welled up and reddened, and his vision blurred rapidly. His throat felt like it was stuffed with a wad of waterlogged cotton, and he choked so hard he couldn't utter a single complete syllable. He lowered his head sharply, not wanting the other person to see his suddenly disheveled expression.

The man who had just wielded the god-slaying weapon, effortlessly annihilated twelve living beings, and whose eyes were as cold as iron, vanished without a trace like a burst bubble. Sitting before Norton was now the same pathetic guy struggling in loneliness, clumsily yearning for friendship, and trembling with fear at the thought of losing it.

A profound sense of absurdity and disorientation overwhelmed him. On one side was the familiar face before him, the online friend from his memories who would laugh and say, "Let's play a game," and "You're really bad at this game"; on the other side was the terrifying pressure of the Dragon King that permeated the entire space, the death palace beneath his feet belonging to the King of Bronze and Fire, and the murderous weapon in the sword box behind him, yearning to drink the blood of its forger.

Old Tang... Norton.

Friend... mortal enemy.

His only friend is the Dragon King.