Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 211 "Deadpool" Farming
The fog was darkening, not because it had changed color, but because the rock walls on both sides were becoming narrower, and less and less light was shining down from above.

What surprised Lu Mingfei somewhat was that no one seemed to question or verify his "takeover" or "manipulation" of Ye Sheng's Word of Power: Vacuum Serpent.

Chu Zihang is one thing, his trust in Lu Mingfei is absolute. But why don't the others have any doubts at all?
It's as if such outrageous things become perfectly reasonable when they happen to him.

What do you all take me for?!

But at this point, it seemed wrong to say anything, and it would feel like a forced attempt to cover it up... so Lu Mingfei had no choice but to keep quiet about it.

Anyway, I still have the identity of a "destined super hybrid," so what's wrong with doing something absurd? Everyone else must think the same way, right?

"The exit is twenty meters ahead, and there are some people, or other things, whose identities we don't know."

Lu Mingfei recounted the images he had seen in his mind, paused for a moment, and then added a sentence.

"They don't seem to be hostile."

Ye Sheng paused, took a deep breath, and met the gaze of Jiu Deyaji beside him, exchanging a fleeting glance.

Both of them had a strange look in their eyes. As the person with whom she had been in a secret relationship for so long, Shuto Aki's understanding of Ye Sheng's Word of Power was only lacking the ability to "use and experience it herself."

Ye Sheng himself is a user.

Therefore, both of them were clear about one thing—the effect of the Word of Power: Serpent of Vacuum was definitely not as strong as what Lu Mingfei had achieved... at least not when it came to Ye Sheng.

The serious side effects that inevitably result from using Word of Power, such as being unable to move and being extremely vulnerable, are one thing, but what the heck is this "ability to judge whether the other party is hostile"?

This feeling was as if a familiar tool had been developed with entirely new and more powerful functions in someone else's hands, and Ye Sheng suddenly felt a sour feeling in his heart.

But Ye Sheng didn't ask directly. First, it felt strange to ask someone else how their own words could produce such an effect. Second... it would be pointless to ask! With Lu Mingfei's ability to spout nonsense, he could always come up with all sorts of perfect excuses to change the subject if he didn't want to talk about it.

"The road ahead is getting narrower and narrower, barely wide enough for one person to pass at a time. It's only twenty meters; if something happens, it could easily become a traffic jam if everyone walks together. So let's go one at a time. I'll go first..."

As the team's commander, Ye Sheng was about to announce that he would lead the charge when he was interrupted by Lu Mingfei, who suddenly spoke up.

"I'll do it."

Lu Mingfei strode forward without giving a chance to explain.

Although his health and mana bars were of average length, their recovery speed was insane. In a game, he'd be the kind of annoying monster that would drive you crazy if you couldn't one-shot him; his stats were practically unkillable. After walking this short distance, he had fully recovered his mental and physical strength.

"No one here is faster than me, and only I have fully observed the situation outside."

Before Ye Sheng could refuse, Lu Mingfei gave his reason, "So it's safest for me to scout ahead."

This reason is impeccable. Swiftness-type incantations represent absolute initiative, which is why they hold an almost "invincible" position among hybrids.

As the saying goes, of all martial arts techniques, speed is the only thing that cannot be broken!

Lu Mingfei possesses a "suspected speed-type incantation," and just now he seemed to have displayed some other abilities... Let's leave that aside for now and discuss it after things are over.

In short, theoretically speaking, as long as Lu Mingfei drives his "super speed" out, briefly observes the area, and then returns, his safety is definitely higher than that of anyone else present!

The only point that can be refuted is that Lu Mingfei, as a newcomer participating in the mission for the first time, should not have taken on such a dangerous task.

But Ye Sheng knew that this was meaningless. Some people are born to bear more and heavier responsibilities. Time will not give them enough time to gradually grow and adapt. The only difference is whether they are forced to face it or do so voluntarily.

Being forced will lead to losing even more.

Now that Lu Mingfei has chosen the latter, the so-called "danger" is not a reason to stop him at all.

"Be careful," Ye Sheng agreed. "Go and come back quickly."

Lu Mingfei nodded slightly. He took out the Overlord Gun, which was contained in the case of a water-based pen, from his right trouser pocket, opened the back cover, took it out, and took a deep breath.

Time seemed to stand still. The melodious and poignant lament was right next door, and now he was finally going to unveil it and see what was playing tricks on him.

[Explosive Sprint], activated!

In an instant, the whole world seemed to slow down, even come to a standstill.

This time, Lu Mingfei did not use [Phenomenological Simulation] to superimpose the "Mudskipper's" extreme speed. A speed of 256 times is simply too exaggerated. Theoretically, it should only be considered when facing an invincible enemy.

The last time I used it on Fujiwara Shinnosuke was simply because he ran into Lu Mingfei and just wanted to try it out... Well, he died after trying it out, didn't he? So, it's Fujiwara Shinnosuke's honor to have been defeated by that move!
Sixteen times faster is more than enough.

The twenty meters passed in the blink of an eye. Only in the narrowest part in the middle did Lu Mingfei barely squeeze through by turning sideways, slowing down slightly. After that section, the rest of the road opened up into a wide-open space.

The fog vanished abruptly as the view opened up, revealing a completely new world to Lu Mingfei—

The sky was a somber, leaden gray, like a completely still image, hanging low over the surrounding fields.

There was no sun, no moon, no stars, and no clouds. Only a dim, indistinct light fell evenly, outlining the shapes of some objects clearly yet lifelessly, like cold exhibits in a museum.

The ground, along with the rocks beside Lu Mingfei, was an extremely rare bronze color, as if it were formed by the compaction of rusted metal accumulated over countless eras and lifeless dust. It felt hard and cold underfoot, devoid of any trace of life.

However, on this land that should have been barren and exuded an aura of "death," there inexplicably existed a...

“Tian?” Lu Mingfei murmured involuntarily.

Yes, those were rows of fields, cultivated by an unknown person. The rows were exceptionally neat, as if measured with a ruler, but the soil remained that nutrient-poor bronze color, without a trace of fertile black.

Some figures were singing among the ridges of the fields. The "Chu Song" that Lu Mingfei had heard earlier was from them, but now the tune was drawn out because time had been slowed down, making it sound somewhat eerie.

They were dressed in clothes that Lu Mingfei had never seen before, completely covered from head to toe. It was difficult to describe the origin of the materials used in those clothes, but at a glance they seemed "primitive," as they were clearly made of fibers drawn from tree bark or vines. They were singing and waving farm tools—if they could even be called farm tools.

To be precise, the materials of those tools looked like the bronze skeleton of some huge creature, or heavily corroded metal. The tools dug into the bronze-colored soil, which, fortunately, wasn't as hard as metal, but rather soft.

Nearby, on several patches of land, were piles of plants that Lu Mingfei couldn't recognize or name at all. They had only been lit recently, and the flames were burning silently, flickering and spreading. Because they were being slowed down, they emitted no heat whatsoever, instead making the surrounding air feel even colder—they were blue!
"Slash-and-burn agriculture?" Lu Mingfei suppressed the words that came to mind and continued to look around.

In the distance, the outline of a village can be vaguely seen.

A jet-black stream meandered through villages and fields like a lifeless giant serpent. The surface of the water was as smooth as a mirror. A withered leaf, as metallic as metal, fell onto it without causing a ripple, but sank silently and quickly, as if dragged into an abyss by an invisible hand.

The entire scene was frozen in an eerie, half-light and half-dark atmosphere.

"What kind of hell is this place?!"

A profound sense of horror welled up in Lu Mingfei's heart. Instead of continuing to look forward and see more, he retreated back into the mountain crevice without hesitation.

Fortunately, the way back did not change this time. He successfully found Chu Zihang and Ye Sheng. After the [Burst Sprint] was lifted and he had barely recovered, he told them everything he had seen.

"impossible!"

Ye Sheng and Chu Zihang spoke almost simultaneously.

“But I saw it with my own eyes.” Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow. “Why is it impossible?”

"Gulu..."

Ye Sheng swallowed hard, glanced at Chu Zihang to confirm that it was Chu Zihang who should speak, and then slowly began to speak.

"Although I graduated a few years ago, your description still reminds me of a legend, a legend that has not yet been definitively verified... the land of the dead, Nibelungen!"

Do you know alchemy? If you had to summarize alchemy in one sentence, it would be to 'kill' matter and then 'regenerate' it. In the process of regeneration, impurities are removed, and the matter acquires entirely new properties.

But killing matter is not as simple as killing a person… In the civilization of the dragons, dead matter is the best material. To forge gold, one must first kill silver; to forge a sharp sword, one must first kill steel. And in Nibelungen, the land of the dead, dead matter is everywhere!

"There is no day or night; the sky is always filled with a half-dark, half-bright light, and the ground and mountains are bronze in color, made of dead soil and metal."

Chu Zihang began to speak, his tone unusually trembling, as he recited word for word the records from the documents he had memorized.

"The sky is gray, made of dead air; the flames are a cold blue, made of dead fire element; and water cannot float anything, because water is also dead."

"How could we have gotten to the Nibelungenlied?!"

Ye Sheng covered his forehead, as the team leader was thinking about how to retreat... The most important objective now was definitely not exploration. The importance of Nibelungen to alchemists and all hybrids was self-evident!

This place is rich in the fifth element, "spirit," in addition to the four elements of "wind, fire, water, and earth." Spirit is an essential ingredient for crafting the "Philosopher's Stone." The Philosopher's Stone here does not turn stone into gold, but rather "anything crafted with spirit will kill spirit." Its destructive power against dragons is far more deadly than a nuclear bomb!

Lu Mingfei did not answer Ye Sheng's question. He looked at Chu Zihang without speaking, but Chu Zihang already knew his doubts.

Logically speaking, Chu Zihang should have known this was the Nibelungen long ago, since he had been inside one before... Why was he so surprised?

"There will be no living people in the Nibelungen."

Chu Zihang slowly began to explain.

"Living people cannot survive for long in Nibelungen, where dead matter is everywhere. Only other things can survive. But you said you saw people practicing slash-and-burn agriculture..."

Lu Mingfei suddenly realized.

Where the living cannot survive, only the dead can exist, and naturally, the name of one such thing comes to mind—Deadpool!
How could Deadpool possibly know how to farm? They're a bunch of mindless, unthinking beasts! They only have primal madness and a thirst for flesh and blood, and flesh and blood can't possibly grow in a field... Even if they could, they wouldn't have the sense to do it!
It sounds like the zombies in Plants vs. Zombies starting to grow their own brains.

This is completely unreasonable.

But now the illogical things are laid out right in front of him, unless Lu Mingfei doubts that everything he sees is an illusion.

"We're already here, and we probably won't be able to find our way back anyway, so we might as well go over and ask what's going on first."

Nono pulled out a piece of chewing gum from somewhere, chewed it, and said, "Being able to farm means you have some rationality. Regardless of whether you're Deadpool or not, you might be able to communicate?"

"To communicate with the beings who 'live' in the Nibelungs?"

Susie scratched her head, her expression somewhat strange, "I have a feeling the report I get when I get back this time will be ridiculously thick..."

"Farmers are generally more patient."

Lu Mingfei nodded. "As long as we don't interfere with their farming, we might actually be able to communicate with them."

"So now here's the question: the fact that the whole universe speaks Chinese shouldn't be universally applicable in the real world, right?"

Nono looked up and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, our languages ​​should be completely incomprehensible, so the choice of someone to communicate with..."

"My language skills are pretty good."

Before anyone else could turn their attention to him, Lu Mingfei raised his hand quite consciously.

"Maybe you'll understand it as you listen."

"You're kidding me!" everyone thought.

(End of this chapter)