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

Chapter 225 Fighting the Black King

"Hey! Percy, what brings you calling so early?"

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded very cheerful, with a lively feeling of "Brother, I'm so happy, are you happy too?"

"Master, it's already afternoon."

Percy politely corrected him, but judging from his form of address, the person on the other end of the phone was no ordinary person… Percy was the senior secretary of the Gattuso family, and the only person he could address as the head of the family was that man—

Pompeii, Gattuso Pompeii!

The de facto head of the Gattuso family is Frost Gattuso. He not only holds a seat on the board of trustees but also oversees all major decisions for the Gattuso family. To anyone, he seems to be in a position of great power. However, this power was not something he earned himself. It was given to him by Pompeii many years ago on the pretext that he "is physically and mentally averse to crowded places and suffers from angina whenever there is a meeting."

The world's most powerful mixed-race family seems insignificant in this man's eyes, not as important as other things he loves more, such as picking up girls and traveling.

Even so, many years later, the core of power remained firmly in Pompeii's hands, though he never used it.

The name Pompeii comes from Gnaeus Pompeii, a military leader of the ancient Roman Empire. According to the Gattuso family rules, only the heirs recognized by the family could use the names of heroes of the ancient Roman Republic. The head of the family inherited the bloodline of heroes, while brothers of the same clan, no matter how outstanding, could only be commoners.

But this rule is just something to take a casual look at; it's impossible to truly believe it. Throughout history, both in China and abroad, no rule set by humans has ever been immune to being broken. The fact that he hasn't been sidelined clearly indicates that he possesses unique abilities, which are simply unknown to outsiders.

"Time difference, you need to pay attention to time difference, my friend! The Earth is divided into time zones according to longitude!"

“First of all, I am your secretary, not your friend, and secondly, this doesn’t sound like something you should say…” Percy hesitated.

"Oh, that's just because my female companion happens to be a geographer, and she's quite aloof to non-professionals. In order to match her expertise, I have to put in some effort to learn."

Pompeii sighed on the other end of the phone, "But I understand your caution, after all, we are undertaking a great cause! So... let's video call?"

The call was disconnected, and just as Percy was about to switch modes to call back, a video call came in very quickly.

This proactive approach, without waiting for a secretary, is extremely rare in the Gattuso family. In fact, the Gattuso family has never had a good reputation. Since the Middle Ages, they have always been domineering, adhering to the principle of "killing gods and Buddhas if they are in the way." They would run over anyone who stood in their way, whether they were already on the road or were moving slowly, without a second thought or a word.

If a patriarch were to give a heads-up before being chased over, or ask "Are you alright?" after being run over, the Gattuso family historian would record in the family history that this was a patriarch who practiced benevolence... Indeed, rather than being a family, their family structure was more like a small dynasty, possessing most of the characteristics of a dynasty, with the patriarch being the supreme emperor.

Pompeii, however, was undoubtedly an exception. He had a very good temper and personality, and was quite approachable. Given his behavior, he would probably be described in later family histories as a "supreme and benevolent ruler."
Percy silently answered the video call.

The image displayed on the phone screen was quite blurry, which was unavoidable. In 2009, phones with front-facing cameras were already considered high-end, so you couldn't expect much in terms of megapixels... They only had a pitiful 300,000 pixels, which was far less than the millions of pixels that started with rear cameras.

However, it's still clear that he's an extremely handsome man, with long golden hair, eyes the same color as the boundless blue ocean behind him, a high-bridged nose, and a masculine stubble. He wears frameless glasses to disguise a scholarly air, and his skin is a healthy tan. He's wearing a classic beach shirt, undone from the collar all the way to his navel, revealing his perfect chest and abdominal muscles... Just as it's hard for a man not to be attracted to a woman with "slender branches bearing abundant fruit," it's hard for most women not to be drawn to him.

Therefore, his path as a scumbag was very smooth. Despite being a scumbag to an "appalling" degree, many socialites still considered it an honor to have his favor.

"Master," Percy said calmly, "I need to report on the mission results."

"Mission results?"

Pompeii was visibly taken aback. "What mission?"

Percy's face remained expressionless, seemingly unsurprised. "It was you who ordered me to do it, about Lu Mingfei..."

"Oh, oh!"

Pompeii slapped his forehead and burst into laughter. "I remember now! No, I never forgot. I'm testing you to see if you remember whether you're competent or not. You'll believe me, right?"

His pointless attempts to save face, his words and demeanor making him seem more like a clown than a head of the household, but that's Pompeii for you, and Percy, as his secretary, is used to it.

"Lu Mingfei... he's a truly terrifying person."

Pompeii's smile vanished. Pasi had never seen him so serious before; it was as if he were witnessing the end of the world, and one could even see deep worry and fear in his eyes.

“Yes…” Pasi was about to continue reporting what he had seen and the whole process when he was interrupted by Pompeii’s next words.

"With his looks, he doesn't even need to dress up; he'll already have a crushing advantage over me!" Pompeii said sadly. "Then I'll have no advantage at all. Just thinking about how every girl I'm trying to pick up has someone better than me... it's terrifying."

So all you can think about is women?
Anyone else would have blurted out that question, but Percy was different. He remained expressionless, only silent for a moment before offering a reassuring reminder, "You still have advantages, such as in terms of assets..."

"So you've admitted that I'm inferior to him in other aspects, right?" Pompeii sighed even more sadly. "Alright, let's talk about the specifics."

"At first, everything went smoothly and proceeded exactly as planned, but..."

……

"So you mean, you got lost and ended up in the Nibelungen region, finding a village that's been around for over two thousand years, where people still live, farm, and eat, and you even met someone who's been alive for over two thousand years???"

Zhang Shanfeng made a preliminary summary of the large amount of information reported by Ye Sheng, and for a moment felt his head was throbbing.

Outside the valley, in a large combat command vehicle, the six members of the action team and Zhang Shanfeng were all there. Not long ago, they had been escorted away from Nibelungen by Guan Ying and his men. The way they left was quite simple; they still passed through a mountain crevice similar to the one before. The mist swirled around them, gradually thickening and then thinning, and they emerged.

According to Zhang Shanfeng, Paxi came out earlier than them, but after saying a few words, he said goodbye and left.

"It wasn't exactly getting lost, but rather that the area was just like that; we scouted the way and then searched our way there," Lu Mingfei corrected.

"Yes, yes... but that's not the point at all, okay? The point is..."

Zhang Shanfeng hesitated, unsure of which point to ask first due to the sheer number of important matters. Each item in this lengthy report could be a research topic in itself! Whether it was "Nibelungen" itself, "the living in the land of the dead," or "the hybrid race that has lived for over two thousand years"...

There's also Lu Mingfei's "forced 'borrowing' of other people's words!"
Rather than borrowing, it would be more appropriate to replace it with control by those in power... But this thought only passed through Zhang Shanfeng's mind once, and he never actually brought it up.

As an elderly man who has already passed his sixtieth birthday and is about to reach his seventies, Zhang Shanfeng has experienced far too much. The longer one lives, the more one knows that curiosity is sometimes completely unnecessary, and that it is better to be oblivious to some things.

It's rare to be confused.

"The important part is what comes next..." Ye Sheng then prepared to report.

"Don't rush, let me catch my breath. Also, why do you seem so impatient?" Zhang Shanfeng interrupted him, asking with some suspicion.

"That's not true..." Ye Sheng was a little guilty.

It has to be said that experience matters. Zhang Shanfeng was right; he was just too impatient. This whole matter was too big and too difficult to handle. How could someone who had only recently taken on clerical work possibly manage such a huge task?
It's practically the same as hiring a recent college graduate in civil engineering as the project director for a world-class project! Don't be fooled by how easy it seems when signing off; you'll realize your mistake if something goes wrong. It's better to leave this good fortune to Zhang Shanfeng, who is already a top-tier figure.

"Also, what does 'the important point' mean?"

Zhang Shanfeng noticed Ye Sheng's choice of words, but he didn't think Ye Sheng would use inappropriate words in this matter. Ye Sheng's writing and handling abilities were quite good, and he could be described as exceptionally gifted.

To put it bluntly, he even felt it was far superior to Ye Sheng's combat and bloodline talent... If this thing had a rating system, Ye Sheng would definitely deserve an S. Otherwise, Zhang Shanfeng wouldn't have exploited... no, trained Ye Sheng like that before. The affairs of an entire department can't be handled by just anyone.

A natural-born civil servant!
Talent is a illogical thing. Some people find learning trigonometric transformations as difficult as reading gibberish, while others believe that even the dumbest person could learn calculus...

and so--

"Don't tell me that none of the above is the important part?"

Zhang Shanfeng felt a chill run down his spine, something he hadn't done in a long time. These things had already given him a headache, but what the heck was this "important point"?

"Compared to these things, these are actually important... You might as well just say that World War III has broken out," he retorted.

“Well, the scene back then was probably quite similar…” Ye Sheng said, looking at Lu Mingfei.

As a result, Zhang Shanfeng's gaze also shifted over, and everyone looked at him. The command room was silent, with only the soft hum of fans running on some electronic instruments.

"Where are my nitroglycerin pills? I have a feeling I might need them soon..."

Zhang Shanfeng let out a long sigh, and for a moment his face actually showed the weariness that an old man should have.

The situation is already very clear; anything concerning Lu Mingfei can't be trivial! All the previous events are still fresh in our minds, some of which are even classified as secret to the point that they "cannot be recorded in writing and can only be kept in the minds of the attendees."

However, he quickly rallied his spirits, his eyes resolute: "Tell me, what kind of big machine have you concocted this time?"

"How can you say it was my fault? Teacher Zhang, what you're saying is a bit unreasonable. I just happened to be there, there's nothing I could do about it. When you're down on your luck, even drinking cold water can cause problems. I probably just accidentally drank a whole Arctic Ocean ice cream..."

Lu Mingfei scratched his head habitually, trying to explain.

"Uh-huh……"

Zhang Shanfeng stared at him with a look that seemed to say, "Yes, yes, I know you're spouting nonsense, but you'll see if I believe you or not," his gaze quite eerie.

"and then?"

"Then there's one first-generation species and twenty-eight second-generation and third-generation species..."

"what……"

Zhang Shanfeng smiled. People can really laugh out loud when they're speechless; he had never experienced this so profoundly before.

Fortunately, he was already somewhat mentally prepared, so this earth-shattering event did not directly break down his defenses, and he was still able to ask for details.

"The first generation, why are you so sure?"

"Because she revealed her identity herself."

Lu Mingfei replied, "It's the one I met last time, the one I thought was 'suspected' at the time, except this time she's not pretending anymore. She said her name is..."

……

"Jormungandr??!"

Upon hearing Pasi's report, Pompey lost control for the second time today.

“That’s right.” Percy stared quietly at the image displayed on his phone screen. “You know her?”

"No, I only knew the name... but even she has appeared?"

Pompeii murmured softly.

"Interesting, very interesting. I didn't expect such a big change in the plan. It's no wonder the plan didn't go as expected. But... how did you manage to escape from her?"

“Because someone was fighting her, which drew all the attention, I was able to get away quickly,” Percy replied.

Pompeii had a sudden realization that something had taken an unexpected turn, but ultimately yielded the same result. He asked, "Who, that hunter called 'Old Tang'?"

"No, it wasn't him... In fact, I didn't see him in the Nibelungs."

Percy hesitated for once before saying, "But after I came out, I saw him in the International Cooperation Division. He didn't seem to go in, and... he looked like one of their people."

A long silence followed from the other end of the video call, a reaction to a carefully planned game being completely shattered. After a long while, Pompey shook his head, somewhat amused and exasperated.

"Life is unpredictable, life is unpredictable... So who is fighting Jormungandr?"

……

"Lu Mingfei."

Zhang Shanfeng looked Lu Mingfei up and down, and that look that didn't seem like he was looking at a person returned.

"Teacher, I am your personally taught disciple!"

Lu Mingfei cautiously reminded him, his words seemingly implying that "we're all in the same boat." Regardless of whether the metaphor was accurate or not, it was certainly in line with his usual style.

"is it?"

"Yes!"

"The one who can go toe-to-toe with the first generation of cultivators is my disciple?"

Zhang Shanfeng looked somewhat doubtful about life.

"Then I'd have to go head-to-head with Black King?"

"Well, as the saying goes in 'On Teachers,' a disciple need not be inferior to his teacher, nor a teacher necessarily more virtuous than his disciple. There is a sequence in learning the Way, and each has their own area of ​​expertise..."

Lu Mingfei explained dryly.

"Maybe I'm just a little bit better at fighting, and the situation was quite special at the time. The other side was really holding back. I'm the 'destined super hybrid'..."

(End of this chapter)