Lu Mingfei, who had read Dragon Clan before slaying the dragon

Eiry tilted her head curiously and listened closely, moving her face close to the black bony mask, like a little thief eavesdropping on others' dreams.

But before she could hear the whispers, tiny bubbles suddenly hit her face. A hand covered with scales and long claws grabbed her shoulder. The devil-like monster spread its arms, and the bony wings behind it spread out. The hideous bony face flashed with a cold black light, and it looked like a beast that was ready to devour its prey.

Eiry's aura suddenly turned cold. She raised her cherry-red long sword and drew a crescent-shaped arc across the monster's head. The will of judgment of death permeated the blade. Just when the blade was an inch away from the bone face, Eiry was suddenly stunned.

A bright yellow duck floated before her. It wasn't a real duck, of course. No duck species could survive at a depth of 3,000 meters. It was a rubber duck. But the sight of a rubber duck at 3,000 meters was pretty... creepy.

The little yellow duck struggled to float up with the bubbles, as if it was paddling slowly with its two invisible little webbed feet. But in fact, it could paddle so happily and comfortably because it was wrapped in Eri's territory. Otherwise, the deep-sea pressure here would instantly crush it into a thin rubber sheet that would no longer look like a duck.

Eiry's eyes widened, with an incredible light in her pupils. In an instant, she transformed from the cold god of death into a childish girl.

She grabbed the rubber duck with some surprise, turned it over, and saw "Eriyi's DUCK" written in waterproof marker on the bottom of the rubber duck, and exclaimed.

Familiar fonts, familiar arrangements. No one would label their toys with Chinese, Katakana, and English at the same time to indicate ownership. Only Eri never tires of doing this, as if the things she marked would belong to her forever, stay with her forever, and never leave her.

Eri shifted her gaze from the rubber duck to the monstrous figure. Although her fatal blow didn't land on the opponent's face, the cutting intent carried by the blade had already split the opponent's bone face.

The black mask split in two, revealing a pale and familiar face.

Eri looked at the face beneath the skull. He wasn't ferocious at all, nor did he look like a monster at all. He looked like a very docile boy, though his face was pale and bloodless. His golden eyes were still open, but the pupils were out of focus, and he looked like he had long lost consciousness. Blood was flowing from all seven orifices, and droplets of blood flowed from his eye sockets, dragging long streaks across his face, making him look as if he was crying.

Eri felt like she had seen this face somewhere before, as if it was just a while ago, but she couldn't quite remember. The face in her impression was as messy as a black bear, until she met those eyes, so lonely, so lost, yet so bright... She was clearly on the verge of losing consciousness, but she was still trying to keep them open, as if she was trying to see the person in front of her clearly even if she had to pop her eye sockets open. Her dazed pupils reflected the deep red seaweed-like hair.

Eri suddenly cried out in surprise as she was gently embraced. It was then that she realized the boy in the monster's shell was walking towards her, arms and wings spread wide, not wanting to eat her... but to embrace her.

He was so weak that he could fall down at any time, but his arms were so strong, as if he was using all his strength to hug the girl. If the strength in his hands was not enough, he would use his bone wings to cage the girl. The scales on his body were as cold as frost, but the breath he exhaled was as hot as magma.

The boy embraced the girl with all his might, his heart pounding like a drum. The girl was at a loss, this was something she had never experienced before, the first time someone hadn't been afraid of her strength and stayed away from her, the first time someone had embraced her like an ordinary girl.

Gradually, the other heartbeat grew louder, their two heartbeats unexpectedly catching up to the same rhythm. Eri's face was bewildered, like a confused child... because only now had she finally heard the other person's whispered murmurs.

"Eri...Eri...Eri..."

Three thousand meters deep under the sea, surrounded by nothing but sea water, it was pitch black and silent. On the verge of losing consciousness, Lu Mingfei kept calling out the name "Eri", just like a person who was about to be swallowed by darkness, stubbornly calling out for the little bit of light in his heart... to prevent him from falling into the endless abyss.

……

Kassel Academy, Rector's Office.

Professor Manstein rang the small bronze bell on the door, and Ange's voice came from inside: "Come in, sir."

Manstein took a deep breath and pushed open the door. In his hand was only a thin piece of paper representing his decision, but at this moment this piece of paper seemed to be extremely heavy, almost suffocating him.

"Principal, please allow me..." The moment he pushed open the door, Manstein was stunned. The words he had not yet spoken were stuck in his throat and stopped abruptly.

His eyes followed the bookshelves on the four walls and the spiral staircase to the second floor. At the tea table under the patio, Principal Ange was sitting alone on one side, and two familiar figures were sitting opposite the principal. Each of them had a cup of tea in front of them, with steaming white mist rising in the golden sunlight that poured into the patio.

"You've arrived just in time. I'm making tea." Ange smiled at Manstein and motioned him upstairs. "I asked someone to bring this high-quality black buckwheat, the 'black pearl' of bitter tea, back from the high and cold mountains of Yunnan, China, for me."

"You're still in the mood to drink tea." Manstein walked up the stairs to the second floor, took the tea that Ange had just brewed, and a hint of bitterness crossed his lips.

"Buckwheat tea, is the principal using this as a metaphor to describe how bitter our current mood is?" Manstein looked at the brown buckwheat grains at the bottom of the tea leaves and smelled the refreshing buckwheat fragrance, but he had no desire to drink the tea.

"No." Ange took a sip of tea. "It's just that you all look so sad, as if you're all getting angry. Buckwheat tea is very effective in reducing heat."

Manstein turned his head and looked at the two people who had arrived earlier than him. On his left was Professor Schneider. He was not surprised that Schneider came, but the guy sitting on Schneider's left was really unexpected to him.

"What are you doing here?" Manstein asked the man in a low voice.

"Hey, look at what you're saying! My student is missing, how could I not come!" Guderian raised his eyebrows and said in a booming voice, "Aren't you worried about your student being missing? What's more, that's Ming Fei, Ming Fei! The best young man in Kassel Academy... I remember now, you're also responsible for Ming Fei's disappearance. If you had stopped the Longyuan Project in time, the tragedy wouldn't have happened. You're an accomplice! No, you're the culprit!"

"If it weren't for your student Lu Mingfei cutting off the communication at the critical moment, leaving us completely unaware of their situation, would we be so passive now?" Manstein retorted without hesitation.

"This is the principal's office. If you want to swear or fight, go find Teacher Masashi Toyama. He has an activity room for psychopaths." Schneider glanced at the two of them coldly, then his gaze shifted to the paper in Manstein's hand. "Resignation letter? Are you here to resign, too?"

"Also?" Manstein keenly caught the key word.

"You're already the third professor to resign today." Ange's gaze swept over Guderian, Schneider, and Manstein, and he sighed softly. "Gentlemen, do you know what has happened in the past few hours? The ancient Dragon City appeared and was instantly flattened, the underwater volcano erupted, the Japanese tsunami, we lost contact with our students, and the Japanese branch resigned en masse... These things are already troublesome enough. If I let three professors from our main campus resign, I will be investigated by the board of directors again."

"I'm sorry, President," Manstein said in a deep voice, "but I really can't forgive those bastards in the Japanese branch. Although I know they're a bunch of dishonest people, I didn't expect them to be so assholes! They deceived us and murdered three of our students. This is blatant betrayal! I don't want my future actions to affect the school, so I'm resigning. I've booked a flight to Tokyo, Japan tomorrow morning, and I'll go to Japan to settle accounts with those bastards!"

"Yes! Let's settle the score with them!" Guderian was also filled with indignation.

"How are you two academics going to settle scores? Write papers and academic reports to denounce their unreasonable behavior? Give them a painful blow mentally?" Schneider asked coldly, then slowly said, "Let me handle the hassle. Our executive department has the most experience in this kind of thing. I have a way to get military explosives from the Japanese black market. Let's start by blasting their headquarters..."

"Gentlemen," Ange clapped his hands, interrupting Schneider's grand plan. "We are educators, not terrorists. When faced with a problem, our first reaction shouldn't be to launch a terrorist attack, but to convince people with reason and first understand the whole story..."

"Principal, this is not something you should say," Schneider said in a disapproving tone.

"I haven't finished yet." Ange waved his hand. "If we reason with them and they reason with us, then everything can be negotiated. We'll cede land, pay compensation, and even lives... They've lost my three most beloved students, so it's only natural that the three heads of the Sheqi Eight Families will die. But if they're unreasonable, I don't have to give face to those Japanese. Since the Japanese branch doesn't want to do it anymore, then no one can blame us for wiping out the Sheqi Eight Families. After all, they were the ones who were dishonest first."

Ange's calm words revealed a murderous intent as sharp as a sword, and he didn't act so indifferent in his heart. The three professors present only then remembered that the old man opposite them was not only a great educator, but also a dragon slayer... the most powerful dragon slayer in the world!

"In that case, I will notify the most elite specialists in the executive department to put down their tasks and summon them back. They should be prepared to go to war with the Japanese branch at any time!" Schneider stood up and slammed the table.

"Hey, Professor, please control your emotions." Ange said, "I just replaced this antique table last year. The last table was broken by our 'S' class and I didn't ask him to pay for it, but that doesn't mean I won't ask you to pay for it if this table is broken again!"

"Sorry." Schneider sat down immediately. This most influential person in the executive department rarely looked like a student being scolded by a teacher.

"There's no need to summon all our specialists. Just let them do what they need to do. In the world of half-bloods, numbers are never a factor in war." Ange said calmly, "If we want to go to war with the Eight Snake Clans, I can go alone. Sixty years ago, I single-handedly made those Japanese lose face, and I can do the same today, sixty years later."

Ange exudes an unparalleled sharp aura, like a famous sword that has been polished for a hundred years.

The edge of his blade did not become dull with the passage of time. On the contrary, in the past hundred years, the old man had been sharpening his blade. He kept it in the best condition at all times, always making full preparations for the enemy that might appear at any time, and at the right time, turning himself into the most deadly tip of the blade to deal the opponent a painful blow... Like an old general who never dies, when he mounted his horse and charged again, Schneider and his companions could only look at his distant back and wave their flags and cheer.

Chapter 236: An old horse knows the way, Angers comes out

The phone in the principal's office suddenly rang.

"Could it be Frost?" Schneider lowered his voice. "We've lost the Gattuso family's heir, and he said he'd come to exact justice. He threatened to bring a double-barreled shotgun and enough ammunition to blow our heads off."

"It can't be Frost." Ange shook his head. "I know that guy. He should be furious right now, like a bull out of control. If he could blow us and the principal's office up, I think he would definitely do it. So he wouldn't be so kind as to tell us before smashing our heads in."

Ange looked at the number and saw it was an unknown caller. He couldn't help but frown.

The phone number in the principal's office is for people inside Kassel College to call. Generally speaking, the crazy people in the equipment department call the most frequently. Every now and then they would say that the research funds were insufficient and ask Ange to send someone to the underground "Wat Aalheim", and it would be best if they could bring plenty of fried chicken, burgers and Coke. Secondly, the professors would visit Ange from time to time... As for Ange's friends, they only called Ange's private mobile phone.

The principal's office phone number had never been disclosed to anyone outside the school, and naturally there had never been any unknown calls, but the phone kept ringing urgently, so it was obviously not a wrong number.

Ange's eyes swept across the three professors opposite him, finally settling on the figure on the far left: "Professor Guderian, would you mind answering the phone for me?"

"Ah? Me?" Guderian pointed at himself, as if the oldest, worst-acting and smallest-breasted actress among the three Hollywood actresses who came for an interview was suddenly chosen by the director, and his face was full of flattery.

"Yes, Professor. You've been nominated as a tenured professor this year. You're quite qualified to handle these matters on behalf of the college," Ange whispered. "If it's the guys on the board of directors, just say I'm away... Of course, if it's Elizabeth of the Laurent family, just tell her I have some new tea I sent this year and invite her over for some."

In reality, Ange was worried that if it was really Frost calling from an unfamiliar number, it would likely be to confirm Ange's presence in the office, to see if he should blow up both him and the office. But if it was Schneider or Manstein who answered the phone, it wouldn't matter; they were also on Frost's blacklist, and everyone would be blown up together.

Guderian received the principal's praise and answered the phone with a beaming smile: "Um...Excuse me, are you...Oh, the principal's old friend Pompey...Yes, yes, the principal is in the office...Skylight? Let me see...Yes, the skylight is open...Okay, okay..."

Guderian put down the phone and smiled at Ange. "Principal, this isn't someone from the school board. It's an old friend of yours. He says his name is Pompey and he's coming to visit you... Pompey sounds so familiar, like a distant cousin of mine."

He felt that he had done a good job and handled the situation appropriately without bringing shame to the college.

"Professor Schneider is right. You should really go see Professor Masashi Toyama sometime and get him checked for Alzheimer's or something." Manstein couldn't help but hold his forehead as he looked at his old friend. "Pompey Gattuso is your distant cousin? Why don't you say the Queen of England is your aunt?"

"Gattuso..." Guderian was stunned. When he heard the name followed by the surname, he suddenly remembered the other party's identity. His voice immediately rose eight octaves. "Pompeii? Is he that Pompeii?"

"Who else could it be?" Schneider asked. "The name Pompeii comes from the great ancient Roman military strategist Gnaeus Pompeii. In the Gattuso family, only the designated heir is entitled to use the name of an ancient Roman hero. This was true for Caesar, and so was his father, Pompey Gattuso. He was the most legitimate school director and nominally the largest investor in the Kassel Academy."

"If you knew that guy's true nature, I swear you would never describe him as so great." Ange sighed softly and looked at Guderian. "Where is that guy?"

"Hey, here! I haven't seen my old friend for so many years, why do I hear you saying bad things about me as soon as we meet!" A passionate voice came from above everyone's heads.

Everyone looked up at the sound and saw a fluffy parachute slowly falling like a white cloud in the bright sunshine, blocking the entire view of the patio. The figure at the end of the parachute had landed in the center of the patio and was waving at them with a smile on his face.

"Does your appearance as a psychopath have to be so eye-catching?" Ange scolded.

"Hey, my friend, look at what you're saying. Pompey Gattuso's appearance is bound to attract attention. Even if I didn't wash my face for three days and appeared at Paris Fashion Week in beggar clothes, 90% of the reporters' cameras would be fixed on me!"

That idiot, no, that man landed in front of Ange and the professors, speaking extremely narcissistic words. Looking at his appearance, you can tell that Caesar's mother definitely did not betray her husband. This guy is definitely Caesar's biological father. The narcissism that comes from the bones is the same as his.

But men do have the capital to be so narcissistic.

If a man were born in an era of female emperors, he'd be a truly unique favorite. His long hair shone like gold in the sunlight, his eyes were like azure gems, his beard curled up in a sexy arc when he smiled, his skin a healthy tan, his muscles perfectly defined... If his personality weren't so frivolous, even Ange would have to admit he was probably the closest thing to "perfect" in the world.

"You updated your social media with a recent photo of yourself diving last month, why did you suddenly change to skydiving?" asked Ange.

"No, no, no, don't mention the word 'deep diving' in front of me. I'm allergic to it now!" Pompey unlocked the safety lock and jumped off the antique tea table in Angers. "A month ago, the Bourbon princess who went diving with me in Tahiti had a submersible malfunction and almost drowned next to me. Now my son is missing from a deep dive. I've decided never to go underwater again. The ocean must be my nemesis!"

"You could also become the ocean's nemesis." Ange sneered, "When you drown, you'll become a pile of marine debris floating in the sea, polluting the environment."

"Oh, my old friend, your words still hurt me as always." Pompey said this, but he didn't look sad at all. Instead, he turned to the professors, "This must be Professor Schneider. Your deep voice is so cool and intimidating... This is Professor Manstein, right? Your hairstyle is great. Someone said that a bald head is the standard for whether a man is handsome... Professor Guderian? Our new tenured professor? You look very academic, and you exude the aura of a great man like Einstein..."

"Alright, alright, that's enough pleasantries." Ange waved his hand, interrupting Pompey's compliments. "Gentlemen, let me talk to Pompey alone."

"Well, but I have something very important to talk about next. If there are no listeners, I will hardly be interested in continuing. And Ange, you won't support me." Pompey looked regretful.

Schneider and Manstein both stood up to take their leave, but Guderian remained lingering in his chair. "Mr. Pompey, are you saying that I've been appointed a new tenured professor?"

"As a school board member, I shouldn't tell the professors these inside stories, but I'll tell you in secret that the quota was actually predetermined from the beginning. In previous years, the school board has given priority to professors who accepted their recruitment, but this year you are an exception because you have a sufficiently outstanding student!" Pompey sighed.

"Ming Fei!" Guderian burst into tears. "I knew Ming Fei would always be the best! Those damned Japanese, if anything happens to Ming Fei, I swear I will blow their heads off with the world's thickest Encyclopedia Britannica!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Pompey, this guy probably has Alzheimer's. I will be responsible for sending him to teacher Masashi Toyama for a routine check-up." Manstein dragged his old friend away to prevent him from staying and embarrassing himself.

"Tell me, what do you want from me?" Ange looked at Pompey. "You're not just using this place as a landing point for your orienteering parachute jump, so you can just punch in and leave, right?"

"Where's the tea?" Pompey complained. "Don't you have good tea to serve to distinguished guests? I remember you have Dahongpao from the original tree in your tea cabinet."

"What kind of distinguished guest are you? You came here uninvited. I only have buckwheat tea. It's up to you to drink it or not." said Angé.

"Our Gattuso family is the largest investor in the academy. If Kassel Academy were a listed company, I would be the largest shareholder. How can I not be considered a distinguished guest?"

"The current shareholder is your brother Frost. You're not even an honorary alumnus anymore."

"Buckwheat tea is just buckwheat tea. The world is so fickle. Without real power, people will look down on you." Pompey sighed and made tea for himself.

"What's the matter? If you keep talking nonsense to me, I'll call the vice principal to chat with you." Ange frowned.

"No, no, no, please don't call that guy. You know he and I never get along." Pompey waved his hands quickly. "Isn't it all because of my son? How can I not be anxious if my son is lost? Although I am an incompetent father in his eyes and in yours, you must know that fatherly love is something that is hidden and yet heavier than a mountain and more tender than water..."

Ange silently picked up the kettle.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you what I'm saying. Don't throw boiling water at me just because you disagree with me. You've disfigured me and I need to fix it. I don't need the money, but my face is all natural." Pompey pressed the kettle. "I'm here for Caesar, but that's only part of the reason. I'm actually asking you to come out of retirement."

"Ask me to come out of retirement?" Ange was stunned.

"That's right, my son is missing. Of course I have to hire someone who can handle the situation to go to Japan and get him back, otherwise my family line will be extinct!" Pompey said, "I've seen that played out that way in Hong Kong movies: when a family member is captured by the underworld, they look for more reliable gang members to rescue them. But the Sheqi Eight Clan are already the bosses of the Japanese gangs. After thinking about it, I think among the people I know, only you, Gilbert Jean Angers, can suppress those hooligans."

"Don't put the blame on me. I'm also planning a trip to Japan without you telling me," Ange said calmly. "Over the years, we've been battling openly and covertly with the European half-bloods led by Han Gao, but the Japanese half-bloods have never participated. They seem to have carved out their own territory in the half-blood world and are self-sufficient, but they've never been law-abiding. They've exposed their ambitions since World War II, sending half-bloods to participate in the European battlefield in an attempt to control a larger territory. So I went to Japan in person and forced the Eight Families and the Secret Party to reach an education agreement. They sent their best heirs to the academy for further studies. After returning to Japan, these people formed the Kassel Japan branch. But I know they always have ambitions. The Secret Party doesn't completely control them, but we've always been at peace."

"But since they've taken the initiative to tear each other apart and bite me this time, I can't just sit there and wait for death." Ange said coldly, "Have you ever seen a beast that never bites?"

"How cool! You look like a cowboy now!" Pompey applauded, then changed the subject, "But do you really understand the situation in Japan?"

"What do you mean?" Ange frowned.

"I'm not talking about the Eight Snake Clans. You certainly know more about them than I do. I'm referring to this mission, the ancient underwater city of Takama-ga-hara they blew up, the Shikigami, and the embryo." Pompey said quietly, "I'm sure you saw the state of the Lenin at the time. Let's think about it. What could require an ancient dragon embryo to awaken? A city? Or a group of Shikigami? Their value is far less than the embryo itself. The person behind this is obviously not a fool, trading a large piece of gold for a pile of copper and iron."

Ange remained silent, with a vague guess in his mind.

"Do you know how Takamagahara sank to the bottom of the ocean? Think about several major accidents in history: the mystery of the disappearance of Mayan civilization, the Tunguska explosion, the Wanggongchang explosion, and the Xia Dynasty... Behind every major event, we can always see the shadow of the Dragon King."

"You mean, Takama-ga-hara was sunk to the bottom of the sea by a Dragon King using a world-destroying word spirit?"

"The Dragon King?" Pompey shook his head slightly. "You may not understand the scale of that catastrophe. It could have sunk the entire Japanese continent. All the volcanoes had erupted, and the tsunami alone could have submerged the entire Japanese island. The waves that swept to Australia caused their coastline to suddenly rise dozens of centimeters. That force was enough to threaten the entire world, but for some reason, only a portion of mainland Japan was stripped away. That land sank rapidly into the inaccessible sea with the torrent, which is what we see now as Takama-ga-hara. The power of the Dragon King can easily destroy a city and its inhabitants, but it is difficult to destroy an entire country... That is the power of a 'god'."

"God?" Ange pondered the word carefully, his eyebrows twitching unconsciously.

Chapter 237 Lu Mingfei's Fantastic Journey

"I have always had great doubts about Japanese mythology, because I know that I am probably the most promiscuous person in the world, but their ancestors were even more promiscuous than me. No, there can never be such a person in this world. There is only one species that can surpass me in this respect..." Pompeii paused.

"Dragon." Angé took over in a deep voice.

"It's good that you have a clear idea in your mind." Pompey patted Ange's shoulder across the tea table.

"I know you've faced Dragon Kings before, and you harbor a deep-seated hatred for them. This hatred makes you fearless, allowing you to wield your sword even before a Dragon King. But this enemy is clearly different," Pompey said. "Someone is secretly manipulating all of this. They covet a power even higher than that of a Dragon King and are even eyeing a 'god'. You can't use common sense to judge this enemy. When the cunning of humans and the might of dragons combine, that's when they become truly terrifying!"

"Oh, oh, it's time. I have an afternoon tea appointment with Chanel's chief design consultant." Pompey checked his watch, jumped up from his chair and ran downstairs. "By the way, my friend, I have one last piece of advice for you. Sixty years have passed since you were young. Your strength may not have diminished, but the world has changed a lot. Don't look at the Eight Clans of Sheqi today with the eyes of sixty years ago, or you might fall flat on your face."

"Don't see me off." Pompey waved without looking back and closed the door of the principal's office.

"I didn't intend to send you off." Ange shook his head slightly at Pompey's receding back.

He sat alone under the silent skylight, his buckwheat tea cooling from steaming hot to ice cold.

As the sun set, the light and shadow cut his old face into two parts, bright and dark. Squirrels were running around on the bookshelf, and the falling process of scattered dust was slowed down countless times. The shadows moved slowly and vigorously on the old man's face... After a long, long time, the sun collected its last rays of light, and the twilight completely submerged the old man like a tide.

……

Lu Mingfei slowly woke up.

He tried hard to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt heavy as if they were filled with lead. His throat was dry as if it had been roasted by fire for three days and three nights. His body felt like it was no longer his own, and his head ached as if it had been split open and sewn back together.