Dragon Clan: I am Lu Mingfei, the Intelligence Strategist, the God of Concepts!

Chapter 144 Zero: You're not that big either.
After half an hour,

Under Kazama Ruri's regretful gaze,
Lu Mingfei and Ling left the Paradise Pavilion.

They walked down the mountain.

"Go for it, Yuan-kun! You'll definitely win!"

Lu Mingfei suddenly turned his head and shouted loudly.

"You will definitely win!"

Kazama Ruri's face darkened even more.

Whether it was anger, cold, or a sudden stress reaction that triggered a murderous urge, a faint white vapor rose from the surface of his body.

This statement was naturally made to the 'Yuan Zhinü' personality within him.

Lu Mingfei left laughing.

In the end, Kazama Ruri simply stood there and watched him walk down the mountain forest, without making any further moves.

He agreed to cooperate with Lu Mingfei.

They agreed to find the hiding place of the king's true identity together.

However, Kazama Ruri frankly told Lu Mingfei that the true controller of the Demon Clan has always been only the King.

It's best not to expect too much from him.

More than ten years ago, the Demon Clan was driven to the brink of despair by the Snake Clan. It was the King who saved the Demon Clan and brought out various evolution medicines, claiming that he could use genetic technology to help the hybrids evolve into pure-blooded dragons.

Some people have benefited from the effects, with their bloodlines greatly enhanced and their minds preserved. Even though various problems arose later, for the insignificant lives of the 'ghosts,' the emergence of the evolution drug was a guiding light illuminating their path forward.

Later, Wang Jiang used the incomplete evolution medicine to establish a vast trading network around the world, obtaining a strong financial chain to arm the demons, so that the little devils in the shadows could have enough to eat, instead of risking being discovered by their own kind even if they couldn't fill their stomachs.

Now, that old man is the supreme leader of the Ghost Clan, whose prestige is unmatched, and everyone is loyal to him.

therefore,

Not only is it difficult for Kazama Ruri to find the true form of the King,
On the surface, they even have to continue to show loyalty—in the way that both sides are used to, of course, through rebellion.

“Wang sent a fax to inquire, and I told him that Lu Mingfei had fled, without mentioning the girl.”

Sakurai Kogure walked up behind the man, her voice gentle.

"Our leader is really impatient."

Kazama Ruri let out a long breath, as if trying to sweep away all the pent-up emotions within her, and turned to walk towards the Paradise House.

The night was still long.

Insects and birds in the mountains and forests reappeared, singing and dancing under the moon and frost. The mountain wind rushed into the open bronze carved gate, and the grim ukiyo-e prints, stained with blood, seeped outwards and flowed into the clear stream under the stone bridge, staining the cherry blossom petals red.

Ruri Kazama walked slowly through the blood-soaked, pungent lobby, her light illuminating hell.

He suddenly stopped.

His gaze swept indifferently around him.

The violence that occurred here has long since ended, the riots that followed have gradually subsided, and those who committed the violence have left... leaving behind this mess.

"Expecting that coward to win? That's utterly ridiculous."

Kazama Ruri sneered inwardly.

With blood flowing everywhere and heads rolling, would that guy dare to come out and take a look?

If you can't even do such a small thing, how can you talk about breaking free from the control of the king and taking control of your own life?
Kazama Ruri casually kicked a head that was rolling at her feet, sending it flying and smashing into a gambling table in the distance, shattering into a watermelon.

He twitched the corner of his mouth and walked towards the stairwell again.

Sakurai Kogure, who had stopped behind him as well, also silently followed.

Step into the elevator.

Neither of them spoke. This was Kazama Ruri's habit; he never talked or listened to anything while walking. He always walked in complete silence.

The elevator, covered in gold leaf, finally stopped at the top floor.

It was still that simple Japanese-style suite, and apart from the coffee table being missing, the interior layout was exactly the same.

There were no lights around, only the moonlight for illumination.

Kazama Ruri sat down and poured herself a cup of sake.
Sakurai Kogure knelt down behind him, wanting to offer to massage his shoulders.

Kazama Ruri shook her head, signaling her to stop.
"Is there anything you want to ask?"

So much happened tonight, even allowing Sakurai Kogure to see 'Genjiro' for the first time. This woman must have some doubts in her heart.

She is loyal to Kazama Ruri, but will she be equally loyal to Genji?
Ruri Kazama's thoughts wandered aimlessly.

Suddenly, he burst out laughing again.

Forget it, what does that good-for-nothing guy have to do with me?

"Um……"

Sakurai Kogure hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"What should we do next? Should we mobilize people from the organization to renovate the Paradise Hall? The various departments stationed in Osaka are probably waiting for news, and I'm worried there might be some unrest."

"Ugh, what a boring woman."

Kazama Ruri smiled, poured herself a second cup of sake, and gently swirled it at her shoulder.

Sakurai Kogure accepted it with both hands in a flustered manner.

"Is there anything here that you're reluctant to leave behind?" He picked up his wine glass, admiring the clear liquid in the moonlight that exuded a faint aroma of wine.

"Does Your Excellency mean the Paradise Pavilion?" Sakurai Kogure paused for a moment.

"Naturally, this is the situation at this time," Kazama Ruri said calmly.

"The Paradise Mansion is a major strategic move by the organization against the Snake Clan; it will completely reshuffle the gambling industry controlled by the underworld..."

“I’m asking you,” Kazama Ruri interrupted.

Sakurai Kogure paused, then said in a low voice, "My position in the Oni Clan is entirely due to the success of Gokurakukan. Without the identity of 'Ryoma,' I wouldn't be able to continue following you."

"Where the adults are, is the place I long to stay."

Faced with this response, which was clearly a declaration of love and surrender,
"is it?"

Kazama Ruri toyed with her wine glass, slowly turned her head, and inhaled the faint fragrance emanating from the girl's neck, revealing a half-smile.

"But you're disobedient. Do you think I'd let a disobedient girl follow me?"

"I think you're the one who needs to be dealt with more than the Pleasure Palace right now."

Sakurai Kogure felt a sudden panic. She lowered her head, her body trembling, and her face turned pale.

"Sir, I..."

however,
Before she could reaffirm her loyalty to the man before her, Kazama Ruri snatched the wine glass from her hand, pressed it against her soft, cherry-like lips, and tilted her chin up slightly. Sakurai Kogure fell silent, obediently tilting her head back as a large mouthful of wine was poured into her mouth.
Kazama Ruri casually tossed aside her wine glass, staring at the girl's fair and smooth chin.
Pinch, lift,
It approached with an extremely domineering attitude.

"Mmm... glug glug."

Sakurai Kogure's eyes widened instinctively.
The icy liquor, which she hadn't yet swallowed, and the mild warmth came at once. The spicy and domineering liquid dripped into her mouth from her pried-open soft lips, only to be forcefully pulled away. Her beautiful, sparkling eyes were instantly veiled with a hazy mist.

"call--"

Her throat stopped moving, and Kazama Ruri released her, looking down at her with a cold gaze as sharp as the ice on a mountain in early spring, as if there was no love or pity in her eyes.

"Ugh...cough..."

Sakurai Kogure covered her mouth, suppressing two coughs, and her long, fair neck flushed a faint pink.

"I'll remind you one last time: you're not allowed to leave or die until I get tired of you. Next time you encounter a similar enemy, get the hell away from me, understand?" Kazama Ruri said expressionlessly.

finished,

Kazama Ruri tightened her fingers once more.

Sakurai Kogure was forced to raise her head and meet those icy yet fiery black eyes. In them, she still saw the familiar, unparalleled domineering presence, but within that domineering presence lay a distinctly more insane possessiveness and a barely perceptible emotion.

A sudden surge of happiness and joy welled up inside her, almost melting her into the man's palm, but she still mustered the strength to reply, "Um... I understand."

Their eyes met, and Kazama Ruri also saw the woman's gaze, in which he saw only a moth-to-a-flame, reckless passion.

While Kazama Ruri felt at peace, a strange sense of unease also arose within her.

Did she really know?
If given the chance again, this woman would probably still be willing to sacrifice everything for him.

But... it seems to have backfired.

Neither Wang Jiang nor Lu Mingfei will truly kill me.

But Sakurai Kogure is different...

What a stupid woman, how can I get her to listen to me?
His skills in dealing with women seemed to suddenly lose their effectiveness when facing Sakurai Kogure... For a moment, he couldn't think of a particularly good solution.

After a while,

Kazama Ruri finally released her and spoke in a detached voice.

"Burn it down. This place has caused too much commotion tonight. Our henchmen will probably get wind of it."

"I'll make the arrangements now."

Sakurai Kogure stood up from the ground, sensing the man's emotions. She understood that her current position as the manager of the pleasure house was dispensable to her; she had already obtained the most precious thing.

Touching her ears, which were burning hot, she took several deep breaths and finally regained some of her cool and aloof demeanor.

If there were a mirror, she would know that the blush on her face was still like a burning cloud, not to mention the alluring charm in her eyes.

She was unwilling to reveal this side of herself anywhere except to men, even though there wasn't a single ghost in the Paradise Palace at that moment.

Kazama Ruri didn't pay attention to her little scheme.
I gazed out at the mountains and forests outside the window.

On the distant mountain road, a pair of snow-white car headlights slowly disappeared into the distance.

After a while,
Sakurai Kogure is back.

Organized reinforcements will arrive within an hour to transfer billions of dollars in cash, large amounts of gold, and numerous remains of corpses from the vault. Afterwards, tanker trucks will use several tons of fuel to burn down the entire complex.
Before dawn, Gokurakukan in the mountains of Osaka would no longer exist.

However, there is another piece of additional news.

Kogure Sakurai lowered her voice and said:

"Sir, someone is coming from Tokyo."

……

a few minutes ago.

The path leading down the mountain from the Paradise Pavilion.

Unlike the bright and beautiful spring scenery inside the Golden Mansion, the road down the mountain was much quieter.

Ling and Lu Mingfei walked down the mountain one after the other.

No one spoke.

Lu Mingfei glanced cautiously at the girl walking in front of him.

Zero, that's her name.

—That's what she introduced herself.

After subduing Kazama Ruri, the two had a brief exchange while Sakurai Kogure was helping 'Genjiro' bathe and tidy up.

The conversation was very brief, lasting only about ten minutes—

"My name is Zero, and I'm here to help you."

"Oh, right? She's a friend of Potato Chip Girl's, she told me about it."

"Yes." "Um... my name is Lu Mingfei."

"I know."

And then that was it. She faced another 'nanny' with a completely different personality from Su Enxi.

Lu Mingfei has a hard time starting conversations.

Because the other person didn't seem interested in chatting.

However, faced with Lu Mingfei's furtive scrutiny,
Zero will also look back.

While there might be a meaning of 'eye contact as a sign of respect' involved, the girl's expressionless face was still quite frightening.

Caught peeking, Lu Mingfei could only awkwardly touch his nose and pretend to admire the artworks treasured on the second floor of the Paradise Pavilion.

Then zero will turn back.

The next time Lu Mingfei secretly glances at her, she will sense it immediately and turn away expressionlessly.

So Lu Mingfei pretended nothing had happened and casually looked away.

Zero doesn't sound like a normal name; rather, the label 'Zero Razumovskaya Romanova' is more in line with Western naming conventions.

This girl undoubtedly has some Russian ancestry. Her neck and face, exposed outside her black bodysuit, are so white they're almost cold. Paired with long, platinum blonde hair that's probably not dyed, it's more accurate to say she's Russian.

In short, this girl... is quite aloof.

Ice Queen, emotionless girl, that's absolutely true.

Zero is probably the female character in Japanese anime who is 'silent, thoughtless, and expressionless'.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, violent person... these labels are not wrong.

She must be a germaphobe, especially since she was wearing a black, tight-fitting combat suit. This specially made armor clung tightly to her skin, making her petite body look very rounded. She could probably feel even a speck of dust on it, so she was basically standing the whole time.

Not to mention violent elements... The strongest girl Lu Mingfei had ever seen before was Nuwa, but even her fighting moves weren't necessarily as clean and efficient as Ling's.

Cold, efficient.

Every move she made seemed to suggest that this girl was born to fight.

then……

Even though the atmosphere was terribly dull right now, Lu Mingfei really didn't dare to interact with Zero in the same way as Chip Girl.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with being so open and unrestrained with Lao Siji.

But when facing an ice queen... occasionally she'll throw in a couple of raunchy jokes to lighten the mood, and the scene is just too beautiful to bear.

Even though the panel shows that Zero's favorability towards her is actually quite good...

"Why are you helping him?" Zero suddenly asked.

"Uh...ah?" Lu Mingfei was stunned.

"I asked you why you helped them." Zero paused, then asked again.

The voice was very faint and soft, like the wind in the night sky, which immediately cleared Lu Mingfei's somewhat drowsy mind.

"It's alright, it's not really helping, it's more like each side getting what they need?" Lu Mingfei said, scratching his head.

Zero was present throughout the finalization of the collaboration, because Kazama Ruri's personality had resurfaced, and the people with the highest level of danger, as well as those who needed to be wary of, had changed again.

Zero was naturally aware of the agreement he had made with Kazama Ruri.

Lu Mingfei just didn't expect that Ling would take the initiative to ask him this.

Lu Mingfei originally thought that the 'three-no girl' wouldn't care about anything.

That would be great!

It's better to chat than to remain silent.

“You have no reason to help ‘Yuan Zhinv’, that boy is too weak.”

Zero spoke calmly, "But in the end you said you believed he would win. From the perspective of achieving the goal, this might actually make 'Kazama Ruri' feel resistant. You should know that too."

Lu Mingfei was silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly.

"People always need encouragement, and 'Yuan Zhinü' is exactly at the time when she needs encouragement the most."

He wasn't bothered by the slightly 'questioning' tone in Zero's voice; it was just a full exchange of opinions, since Zero hadn't made any comment at the time.

It's good to get to know each other.

“I don’t think there’s an absolute difference between ‘Kazama Ruri’ and ‘Genjiro’.”

Lu Mingfei explained, "They are essentially the same person, so why separate them like that? Everyone has complexity, a weak side, and a strong side. Even if they seem distinct, they are actually the same person. So although I said 'Yuan-kun' at the end, I was actually blessing Kazama Ruri as well."

Hearing this sentence,
Zero tilted his head slightly, a rare gesture of confusion, before a flash of understanding appeared in his deep, calm eyes.

It seems that this question is not as simple as asking Kazama Ruri.

"Do you think what I said makes sense?" Lu Mingfei suddenly asked.

"..."

Zero paused for a moment, then said calmly, "That makes sense."

"Hahaha." Lu Mingfei burst into laughter for no apparent reason.

"What are you laughing at?" Zero's eyelashes furrowed slightly, a small gesture that also expressed her confusion.

"nothing."

Lu Mingfei took a slight breath and stopped laughing. Excessive fatigue made his lungs feel a choking pain when he laughed. He actually found the cold girl cute when she tilted her head and said "that makes sense" in a daze, like something with big eyes that could curl up into a small shape.

Although she is indeed not very tall.

But there's still a kind of endearing contrast, like two negatives making a positive.

However, this feeling was fleeting. After saying those three words, she transformed back into a emotionless girl, like Lu Bu wielding a halberd, capable of even pinning the 'Dragon King' of the Fierce Ghost Clan to the ground.

He thought for a moment and explained again, "I just feel that helping Yuan Zhinv is, in a sense, helping myself."

"Whether it's Kazama Ruri or Genji, they're like puppets being manipulated, only able to live according to other people's instructions. Even their personalities are deliberately cultivated by others. Sometimes I feel like my life is also being deliberately controlled by someone. This feeling is not good... So if I can help, then I will."

Lu Mingfei's face suddenly showed a complicated expression.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't have talked to Zero about 'manipulation', because in a sense, these 'nannies' could also be considered part of the 'manipulators,' just like how he didn't openly discuss the relevant issues with Chip Girl after learning the truth about the 'Little White Rabbit Project' from Lu Mingze.

But when facing Zero, he inexplicably felt a sense of trust.

It was as if they had known each other for many, many years, and could talk about anything when they sat together. Unlike Su Enxi, she could be absolutely trusted, unconditionally, and he instinctively wanted to trust her as well.

Why is this happening?

I was probably too tired, and a little drunk...

Lu Mingfei subconsciously shifted the blame to the top-grade sake that Sakurai Kogure had served him before he left. The light amber-colored sake, named "Tengu Dance," was in a black bottle, symbolizing "the dwelling of the god of joy."

This was to congratulate both sides on turning enemies into friends and reaching an agreement.

Zero, of course, had no idea what he was thinking, and tilted his head again: "So you didn't kill Sakurai Kogure and Kazama Ruri?"

"I am not a bloodthirsty person."

Lu Mingfei awkwardly explained that he didn't want to be misunderstood by this 'nanny' girl.
"It's true that the Fierce Ghosts have committed many evils, but the root cause is still the King General behind them. Let's find the ringleader first. Compared to the King General, these two are just children."

“You’re not that big either,” Zero said.

Hearing this,

Lu Mingfei was startled and subconsciously glanced ahead.

However, under the moonlight in the mountains, Ling's expression remained calm and unchanged, showing no sign of anything amiss.

Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled twice.

Zero didn't say anything more.

So Lu Mingfei didn't say anything.

The two continued walking down the mountain.

From an angle where Lu Mingfei couldn't see, the girl's cool lips curled up as if she were smiling.

……

Down the mountain, beside the highway.

The familiar extended Hummer SUV had been waiting for a long time.

"Hurry up and get in the car!" Chip Girl sat in the back of the car, the bulletproof and blast-proof door wide open.

She waved to Lu Mingfei and Ling, who were walking one in front of the other, urging them on repeatedly, with a strange smile on her face.

Upon meeting the waiting personnel,

Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief.

Although I didn't understand why this girl had such a terrifying expression, I still jumped into the car in three quick steps.

Zero followed behind him.

Click——

The car doors slammed shut, and the Hummer sped away.

"Let's go back to the city first and take a detour."

Chip Girl was giving orders to the driver in front.

Dressed in a loose-fitting casual home outfit, she displayed a powerful intelligence network: "I've received reliable information that the Oni Clan plans to destroy the Paradise Hall. Dozens of vans and two tanker trucks will be coming from Osaka to take over soon."

"Well done! You must have kicked them in the groin!"

"It was purely an accident." Lu Mingfei shrugged.

After entering the Paradise Pavilion, his communication with Chip Girl was cut off. However, given Chip Girl's keen senses, it's not surprising that she learned about what was happening inside, either directly or indirectly.

Let's talk about the specifics later.

He's completely relaxed now and all he wants to do is sleep.

“If there’s nothing urgent, I’d like to take a nap. I’m very tired.” Lu Mingfei pulled a blanket from behind him with obvious familiarity.

Upon seeing the blanket, Zero's eyes widened slightly, and she turned to look at the potato chip girl.

"No rush, not at all, you go to sleep."

The potato chip girl seemed completely oblivious, simply laughing as she spoke.

With the strategist's approval, Lu Mingfei no longer hesitated. He then familiarly took out an eye mask and earplugs from the other side and put them on, a look of enjoyment on his face.

He always slept in this car with excellent sleep quality; the continuous, top-of-the-line sofas were even more comfortable than the beds in five-star hotels.

Just as he was about to lie down, he suddenly lifted a corner of his blindfold and looked at Zero, who was sitting upright.

"I'm going to sleep now," Lu Mingfei said.

"Goodnight," Zero said.

pat-

Young people sleep very well.

Fall down and go to sleep.

At this moment, Chip Girl couldn't help but grin as she looked at Zero.

Zero met her gaze with a blank expression.

(End of this chapter)