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

Chapter 261 What does it mean that Genji Heavy Industries was dismantled?
The majestic march, like a surging tide, climbed to its most glorious climax amidst the fervent pronouncements of the shadowy figures. The brass roared and the timpani thundered, as if a thousand troops were treading on flames and thunder to welcome the return of their king.

The entire Nibelungen Concert Hall trembled in the sound waves, and the ionization in the air and the saturated water vapor rubbed together to create tiny, celebratory electric sparks.

The dark figure spread its arms wide, as if embracing a sun about to be born; its form became even more distorted and blurred with excitement.

However, this glorious peak did not bring the climax he had envisioned.

It was just a simple gesture, like a true king's impatience with a poor performance.

Thus, the endless swarms of fire elementals were commanded to disperse by a greater being.

That was his intention to drive the King of Bronze and Fire into a berserk state. A mad king would bring annihilation-like destruction. Once both sides were severely injured... no, even if only one side was defeated and the other side had some of its strength depleted, he would go all out and bet all his chips on the table, then he could reap the benefits!

But the plan failed.

The flowing sound, which had been playing smoothly from subtle to powerful, seemed to have been choked by a gently raised hand, and began to dissipate in an irreversible manner.

The first to fade was the high-pitched, resonant trumpet. What was once a piercing declaration was now as if all its strength had been drained away, emitting a series of off-key, whimpering sounds before finally falling silent.

Immediately afterwards, the deep and powerful trombones and tubas followed suit. Their roars seemed to be thrown into a bottomless quagmire, and the sound quickly became dull and sluggish, eventually turning into a few sigh-like hums before falling silent again.

The string section followed suit, the violins' sharp shrieks being the first to be cut short, the violas and cellos' plaintive melody seeming to be severed like silk threads by a sharp knife, and the woodwind section's storm subsided. The oboe and clarinet's shrill whistles disappeared, the flute's lively melody seemed frozen in the air, and the bassoon's deep murmur also fell silent.

Finally, even the percussion that supported the entire framework of the piece began to falter. The vibrations of the cymbals were forcibly suppressed, and the rhythm of the maracas fell into disarray.

The timpani, which had been striking with a constant and majestic rhythm, fell limply after its last three strikes, as if the drummer had exhausted his last breath.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

The echoes reverberated in the empty hall before finally fading into a deathly silence.

The scene suddenly became incredibly comical and awkward. One second it was an epic, earth-shattering symphony, the next it was a disjointed, awkward performance by a lousy band that had gone on strike halfway through their rehearsal. The steam and electric lights that had been preparing to welcome the king now seemed like poor stage effects that no one appreciated, flickering in vain.

This grand performance, titled "The Return of the King," had barely begun before it came to an end.

The electric light illuminated the clapping gesture of the dark figure, who seemed frozen in place as if immobilized.

It seemed completely unable to comprehend this sudden change.

Several seconds passed before he spoke again.

His blurry figure obscured his features, but anyone could sense the immense astonishment in his voice, like the disbelief of seeing the sun rise in the west, which even made his voice hoarse.

"No...this is impossible..."

The dark figure stared intently at Lu Mingfei, his body staggering back two steps as if out of control.

"The power of fire should belong only to the King of Bronze and Fire! How could you possess the power of fire? No way... You are not him, who are you? Who are you!"

“That sounds familiar… Ah, I remember now, Jormungandr said something similar.”

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow slightly, "Are all of you Dragon Kings suffering from some kind of serious illness? You can use C and I can use Java, but that won't work? We're all programmers, don't discriminate against each other by language, you bastards!"

Upon hearing this, Genji, who had finally managed to snap out of his daze, nearly had his brain shut down again.

What's going on? What exactly is happening? Didn't I come here to attend a piano concert? How did I end up on the set of "The Return of the Dragon King"?! "The Return of the Dragon King" is one thing, but why are we suddenly seeing a bunch of programmers? Are you guys going to start discussing "which programming language is the best" now?
Is this some kind of realistic stage play simulation? How did they come up with such a nonsensical plot?

But it was obvious that this was definitely not some kind of theatrical simulation. The fact that Old Tang, who was lying on the ground not far in front of him, barely breathing, was proof of this. This guy, who initially seemed like a chatterbox but not a bad person, suddenly became terrifying after the series of events, especially after the march started.

He is "Amaterasu no Naka de"!
In the student file of Yuan Zhisheng, an exchange student at Kassel College, his bloodline level is "A", but in reality, as a man with "royal blood", his bloodline level is far beyond A.

The reason he was confident when he came here was that Lu Mingfei was only an S-class, but even S-class bloodlines were inferior to his... He was a true super hybrid.

But even the most superior hybrid is still just a hybrid. Compared to a true pure-blooded dragon, it is far from being "noble," let alone the fact that the mysterious black shadow claimed the other party was the mighty King of Bronze and Fire!

The noble first-generation species, one of the four monarchs, the Dragon King who wields the power of metal and fire, such an existence must be suppressed unless the true "Emperor" of his bloodline is revived.

But even under such circumstances...

Yuan Zhisheng's gaze swept over Lu Mingfei without making a sound. Who is this guy?

How can he wield the power of fire? He even seems to be more powerful than the true King of Bronze and Fire?
Wait a minute, the most important issue now seems not to be what the other party is, but rather how to "break the momentum" of such an existence...

I'm going to hit Lu Mingfei? Really?

Yuan Zhisheng inevitably fell silent. As a super hybrid, he was confident in defeating an S-class hybrid, even if the opponent was a speed-type Word of Power. He also had the Word of Power: Royal Authority, which, if prepared in advance, could actually counter speed-type Word of Power users.

But Lu Mingfei couldn't possibly be some S-class hybrid, could he? What hybrid could possibly wield the power of fire and interrupt the revival process of the mighty Bronze and Fire King?
This is easy to understand. Even Genjiro could see that Tang had not become the King of Bronze and Fire. The forced awakening process lacked the most necessary fire element... Without fire, how could he become the King of Bronze and Fire!

Moreover, judging from what Lu Mingfei just said... this wasn't even the first time he'd encountered a first-generation dragon! He'd dealt with other dragon kings before...

What?! The information about Lu Mingfei is fake!

Lu Mingfei didn't have the time or inclination to care what Yuan Zhisheng was thinking, at least not right now. After instinctively uttering that nonsensical remark, he had been pondering what exactly the dark figure in front of him was... and trying to find out where the other party's true form was.

Although it was true that the opponent's plan was destroyed in a crushing way, I also used up my trump cards. Since I'm already at the gambling table, I should definitely take down the opponent completely!

[Emotional perception] had no effect. Considering the form of the shadowy figure within the [Spatial Configuration], it was merely a non-living entity composed of unidentified matter, resembling a shadow or luminous object. The person behind it all remained hidden. "They call it a grand performance, yet they themselves aren't present?"

Lu Mingfei sighed, "This is really boring."

"Ha ha……"

The shadowy figure actually laughed. In a short time, his emotions changed from astonishment and disbelief to calmness, and he even returned to his previous polite demeanor.

"We'll see you again."

The black image dissipated like a drop of water falling into a lake. Without the support of an invisible force, the moisture in the air began to decrease at a visible rate under the influence of the air conditioning and dehumidifiers in the concert hall.

This moisture was forcibly drawn in from the outside world, which was experiencing a violent storm. Without its support, it would naturally become rootless and unable to sustain itself. What they were in just now was Nibelungen, but not Nibelungen in the true sense. It was more like a special space where Nibelungen and the real world were temporarily combined... a critical point.

A "door" that was temporarily opened up.

As the door gradually disappeared, they returned to reality. The concert hall was a mess, with many guests' belongings scattered everywhere, their belongings left behind in their haste to leave. The exposed wires from the smashed sound system occasionally crackled with static.

"Hmm, I thought he would say 'I'll come back again'."

Lu Mingfei looked at Yuan Zhisheng and said, "It seems that the network in the Nibelungen is not very good. It's too backward. They haven't even watched Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf."

"……what?"

Yuan Zhisheng felt that he couldn't quite understand what Lu Mingfei was saying. He had always prided himself on his high level of Chinese, the kind of Chinese that people could talk on the streets of China without anyone doubting his Chinese identity. At most, they would think he must be from out of town to speak Mandarin. But now... could it be that his Chinese had deteriorated due to not using it for too long?
"Oh, I forgot you're Japanese, sorry."

Lu Mingfei glanced at Old Tang on the ground, then looked at Yuan Zhisheng, raising the tip of his Overlord Spear slightly before stopping.

The concert hall fell silent again, so quiet that it was almost hard to breathe, and you could hear your own heartbeat.

As the head of the Japanese branch's executive bureau with rich combat experience, Genjiro naturally noticed Lu Mingfei's subtle movements. After a brief hesitation, his expression turned serious, and after bowing and saying "I understand," he slashed at Old Tang with the short sword in his hand!

"Ding!"

After a crisp sound, there was a screeching sound. The short knife was blocked by Lu Mingfei's spear, which was thrust at him, and then it was moved aside as smoothly as water. He had actually made a completely rigid spear with no elasticity seem "tough".

Yuan Zhisheng's expression changed slightly. Although his usual weapon was a katana, hybrids needed to practice various cold weapons during their studies. He was well aware of how precise the force control and how skilled the technique were required for Lu Mingfei's seemingly light block and move!
Even ignoring the identity the opponent just revealed and the currently unknown bloodline level... in terms of martial arts skills alone, he is a formidable opponent!

"What have you figured out?!"

Lu Mingfei glared at Yuan Zhisheng. If it weren't for his quick reaction, Old Tang would probably be dead! Fortunately, with the [Force Analysis] and his increasingly powerful Taiji Spear technique, intercepting this somewhat "sudden" attack wasn't too difficult.

"So it wasn't that I also needed to step in so that we could keep the secret together?" Genji was taken aback, clearly realizing that he had misunderstood.

"Where did you see this gangster movie where you have to go up and slash someone to be considered one of us?" Lu Mingfei's eye twitched.

“No, I saw it with my own eyes,” Genji corrected.

"Oh right, I forgot you're involved in organized crime."

Lu Mingfei scratched his head. This made sense. It was perfectly normal for the underworld to have its own way of thinking.

An awkward silence fell over the scene. Genji's words had highlighted a problem that both sides were currently struggling with—keeping the secret.

It's true that we fought together against the enemy, but now that the enemy has retreated, we should naturally discuss our own affairs. Lu Mingfei's side didn't reveal many secrets earlier, but each one was astonishingly significant.

As an "absolute outsider," Genjiro cannot gain trust based on a mere verbal promise. He is from the Japanese branch, the head of the executive bureau, and the future successor to the position of head of the Snake Clan!
There's no way to find a completely reliable reason to keep this secret, because the interests involved are far too great.

Dragon King, Nibelungen, the power of fire...

The accident happened so suddenly; who could have imagined that Genji would happen to be there?

Both Lu Mingfei and Yuan Zhisheng were well aware that this matter had to be resolved. Without a proper solution, Yuan Zhisheng would likely have his personal freedom restricted, unless he was prepared to fight his way back to Japan from here!

But even if Lu Mingfei didn't intervene, this would never be possible.

Both the Chinese branch and its Chinese counterpart have earned their status through hard work. The way the Chinese branch cooperates with the Kassel College headquarters is completely different from the hierarchical relationship between the Japanese branch and the headquarters. Their hard power speaks for itself.

The interests laid out on the table were so significant that the Chinese branch was no longer concerned about its relationship with the Japanese branch... or rather, nobody really cared.

In 2009, the Americans still had to be treated with respect; Japan was just some nobody!
"..." "Buzzing..."

Just as Yuan Zhi hesitated to speak, Lu Mingfei's cell phone suddenly vibrated. After a brief standoff, Lu Mingfei chose to answer the call first.

The contact person for the call is Teacher Zhang Shanfeng.

"Hello? Teacher Zhang? Yes, I'm fine here, the matter is temporarily resolved... What?"

Lu Mingfei was taken aback and glanced at Yuan Zhisheng with a strange expression.

"What do you mean by 'the Japanese branch of Genji Heavy Industries has been dismantled'?"

(End of this chapter)