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

Chapter 182-04-03, Going to See the Birds with Sakura [Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets]

It was another bright afternoon.

Lu Mingfei sat idly in the sun on a bench outside a beauty salon called TAKAMI, holding a matcha-flavored ice cream cone in his hand. He idly glanced at the dashboards of passersby on the street, pondering the complex customs and culture of Japan.

From where he was sitting, he could see Tokyo Tower in the Minato Ward.

This is a radio tower and city landmark built half a century ago, modeled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Decades later, as Tokyo continued to develop, in order to solve the problem of radio wave transmission obstacles in the city center, people built another Skytree in Sumida Ward, also known as Tokyo Skytree.

It's April, and spring is almost over. The top of the Skytree is a bit hot under the direct sunlight. Yesterday, Lu Mingfei took Erii up there for a visit. Standing on the 600-meter-high tower, the view is much wider than the windows on the 54th floor of Genji Heavy Industries.

The girl, despite being a princess, acted as if she had never seen anything like it before, constantly writing in her notebook in amazement, "So amazing!"

Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei smiled silently.

To be honest, taking Erii out to play is a very fulfilling thing.

She's really never seen anything like this, so everything she does will give you great positive feedback. She'll keep praising you and constantly exclaiming in amazement; she's practically an amplifier of a man's confidence.

Not to mention that the girl is beautiful enough, with a height of 1.7 meters, which is quite unique among Japanese women. She would turn heads at least 80% if she walked down the street. Recently, she has also become obsessed with high-heeled ankle boots.

"I bet any man who has her would feel incredibly awesome, practically the best in the world!"

Lu Mingfei was lost in thought as he nibbled on his ice cream cone.

This was a free gift from the store.

Erii cherishes her hair as much as she would her toys, but under Mai's influence, she finally goes to a beauty salon.

It wasn't for perming or dyeing my hair.

Instead, it includes hydrating skincare, exfoliation, laser skin whitening, eyelash straightening, and hand care...

Lu Mingfei originally thought that high-level hybrids didn't need these things.

But this store was actually recommended by Mai Shude and Ruri Kazama in collaboration, and everyone who has used it says it's great.

Lu Mingfei couldn't resist Erii's adorable, blank stare, so he had no choice but to bring her along to give it a try.

The interior decoration follows a Chinese style, with movable screens featuring ink paintings dividing private spaces, calligraphy and paintings on the walls, and railings carved with auspicious clouds and beasts made of fragrant rosewood.

The employees inside were all dressed in custom-made, elegant cheongsams, with slightly slit skirts revealing their thighs clad in stockings. Their makeup was exquisite, and they all looked very professional.

According to the time estimate marked in the brochure, this whole process will take at least two hours.

Lu Mingfei had never seen such a high-end skincare and makeup process with all the tools before. He was very curious at first, but soon his nose couldn't take it anymore. The perfume and cosmetics smelled too strong, so he simply went outside to wait.

Zero followed him out of the store.

I sat next to him, munching on an ice cream, which was also matcha flavored.

Speaking of which, it's been almost half a month since the two met at the Paradise Pavilion. Zero has been by Lu Mingfei's side almost all the time, and the total time they've spent apart is less than an hour.

At first, they used the lame excuse that "you are wanted by the Hunter website".

However, after the Genji Heavy Industries incident, the Hunter website suffered heavy losses under the scheme of a certain capitalist, and was almost working for nothing. The wanted notice had long been withdrawn. Later, Lu Mingfei did not mention this matter again, nor did Zero. The two remained in a tacit understanding.

While maintaining the domain of 'Word of Power: Bloodline Binding' to prevent any accidents, Lu Mingfei asked:
"Zero, the database should be partially fixed in the next day or two. Once this is completely over, what are your plans?"

"What do you want me to do?" Zero countered.

“Come back with me,” Lu Mingfei said naturally.

"Okay," Zero replied naturally.

This was an obvious answer, but Lu Mingfei suddenly scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. "I thought you would ask me why."

"Why?" Zero always answered cooperatively.

Lu Mingfei took a bite of his ice cream cone, trying to hide his increasingly awkward smile: "You don't have to do this on purpose."

"Okay." Zero nodded. "I heard you talking when that person came to deliver the medicine a few days ago."

“Okay.” Lu Mingfei grinned.

That day he made a phone call to Nuwa, needing a set of Frigga series potions.

Nuwa acted swiftly, sending someone to Tokyo by private plane the very next afternoon, carrying five sets of Frigga's potion.

The person who came was Zhou Minhao, my good brother and the mole.

So Lu Mingfei temporarily left Erii and Zero aside and went to see him alone, but he didn't expect this guy to have such a keen sense of smell. He immediately asserted that, "Brother, have you been hanging out with women these past few days? Maybe this potion is for women too, right?"

Lu Mingfei was immediately shocked.

Zhou Minhao is an insider; he knows the guarantee that Nuwa made him make back then.

He can neither bring a girl home nor keep a girl outside.

But now his behavior seems to have become very serious; he's even using his wife's family's money to support other women!
Lu Mingfei was about to explain the necessity of this action.

Zhou Minhao then revealed a smile that was both righteous and awe-inspiring, yet also lewd and obscene.

Tell him that Nuwa had already guessed it, and let him decide for himself!
Do you think we can do it?
Lu Mingfei was stunned on the spot.

He didn't know what to do either.

It seems like... we can only keep focusing on language loopholes, huh?

“You can say we’re partners,” Zero continued.

She even guessed the other half of Lu Mingfei's thoughts, but to be honest... Lu Mingfei's thoughts didn't seem that hard to guess.

In the past two days, as the Frigga series of medicines have taken effect on Erii, Lu Mingfei's intentions have become very clear. Although it seems that Erii's dragon blood problem cannot be cured yet, at least with the help of the Frigga medicines, she can temporarily get rid of the constraints of the intensive care unit and the blood washing machine.

Erii's physical condition stabilized, and she became noticeably more energetic.

“Partner?” Lu Mingfei murmured softly, repeating the word with special emphasis.

"It's someone you can trust with your back, someone you'll never abandon or betray."

Zero took a bite of the ice cream cone and gazed at a cherry tree on the street. In April, Tokyo also welcomed the cherry blossom season, and the whole city and trees were covered with pure white blossoms.

"It's the kind of person who can go all the way to the end for the common good."

"It's all for the common good,"

Lu Mingfei gazed at the tree with her, its blossoms lasting only a week. "But the interests are different now, so we'll go our separate ways, won't we?"

He didn't understand why Zero emphasized the word 'partner,' as it sounded far less powerful than 'promise.'

But it seems the truth is quite the opposite.

He had long accepted Zero's identity as a 'partner,' yet he could never recall the 'agreement' they might have made.

“It’s okay,” Zero said calmly. “As long as you try your best and become someone useful to your partners, you won’t be left behind.”

She spoke these words with a calm and composed expression, yet with an air of confidence, her bright eyes sparkling.

It felt like the female protagonist in a youth film was gazing at the sunrise and firmly saying something like, "It's never wrong to run towards the sunrise when you're young"—a line that was inexplicably passionate yet utterly ridiculous.

But this art style feels a bit out of place!

How could it be that Zero, whose style is sharp and decisive, seemingly older and more mature than everyone else, is the one who says this? It would be more accurate to say it in Erii's notebook.

“A cherry blossom has fallen on your head,” Lu Mingfei said silently.

Zero didn't react, as if she was still immersed in the emotions of the sentence she had just heard. The sentence had a great impact on her, whether it was someone else who told her or something she had come to understand herself, she didn't know.

"Ugh."

Lu Mingfei sighed and raised his hand to gently wipe away the cherry blossom petals that had been blown onto her head by the wind.

She has obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness and pays great attention to personal hygiene.

After Lu Mingfei helped her sweep off the few cherry blossom petals, he suddenly rubbed Ling's head vigorously.

He was a little mischievous and slightly unhappy. When he heard Zero say the word "partner," he felt inexplicably upset. Zero was different from Erii; she knew exactly what she wanted. But this feeling made him inexplicably worried.

Unexpectedly, yet predictably, the princess did not react at all to this action, which was both presumptuous and punitive. She simply lowered the ice cream a little to avoid it being swept by her hair.

She continued to gaze quietly at the cherry blossom tree, letting Lu Mingfei pat her head.

The platinum blonde hair felt wonderful to the touch—thick, smooth, and warm. Ever since he had rubbed Erii's hair last time, Lu Mingfei liked to rub it whenever he had the chance, as a way of encouraging the little girl. But this was the first time he had rubbed Zero like this.

Lu Mingfei felt really awkward after touching her twice, and was about to withdraw his hand when Zero raised her head and rubbed against Lu Mingfei's palm.
Lu Mingfei was stunned, as if this was normal. She was his cat, and he had raised her for many years.

'Squeak—'

The door next to it opened.

Erii emerged after her skincare and makeup treatments, still sporting her signature natural dark red long hair, but styled in a Mori-style updo, with the ends falling from her knees back to her waist. She wore light makeup, a bohemian-inspired look with Givenchy Couture lipstick, creating a silky, moisturizing, and light sheen reminiscent of jelly or ice.

Those eyes remained indifferent, but with the help of makeup, they possessed a unique charm—serene, clear, yet ancient and beautiful, like those ancient shrine maidens practicing in shrines.

"Is it pretty?" Erii asked excitedly as she wrote in her notebook.

"Hmm, it looks pretty good," Lu Mingfei said.

Erii walked over and bowed slightly, making a gesturing gesture.
Lu Mingfei smiled and gently patted her head.

"It took a lot of effort to make, don't mess it up."

……

Just as Lu Mingfei was taking the two girls on a comfortable and proper trip...

Uesugi Kotsushi was not in a good mood.

Almost a week has passed, and the progress in reuniting the family is almost zero.

If his son's attitude towards him was at most cold, but at least polite, then his daughter's attitude towards him could be described as hatred.

It was an emotion that was beyond words.

Uesugi Kotsushi initially thought that the other party did not trust him, so in order to solemnly prove his identity, he took the initiative to ask for a DNA test.

The result was heartwarming.

According to the kinship coefficient analysis, Genjiro is definitely his son, with a 99.9% biological relationship.

When it was Erii's turn to be tested, there was a slight discrepancy. Erii's shared DNA percentage seemed a little low, making her at most a collateral relative...

However, considering that Erii was said to have been corrupted by the blood of an unknown ancient dragon when she was a child and had been in a semi-out-of-control state, Uesugi Kotsugu not only did not doubt her, but felt even more sorry for her. Regardless of whether she was his biological daughter or not, he wanted to make up for the lack of fatherly love she had.

But still the problem.

Uesugi had made up his mind long ago, but neither Genjiro nor 'Uesugi Erii' gave him a chance to express his fatherly love!

Uesugi Koshi even heard that Erii liked toys and games, so he went to an electronics store in Akihabara and bought a whole box of gifts, including various game consoles, game discs, Barbie dolls, and little yellow chicks, but Erii completely ignored his toys.

It was as if the cardboard box by the door didn't exist.
She remained focused solely on her toys with stickers on the bottom, such as 'Eri's XXX'.

Needless to say, Genjiro is nominally acknowledged as the former patriarch, but recently he has been busy recuperating from his injuries and organizing the materials left by Tachibana Masamune, so busy that he is nowhere to be seen.

Exhausted both physically and mentally,

Suddenly, Uesugi Kotsushi had a brilliant idea.

If you do this...

It seems that he can demonstrate his strength as a father, stand up for his children, and reiterate his own stance!
It should be useful, right?

Jingle Bell--

Just then, his phone rang.

"Hey! Aga! What's up? Have you found them?" Uesugi asked in a low, excited voice.

"Our informant has reported evidence of their activities in Shibuya, but patriarch, I don't think we really need to..."

On the other end of the phone, Inuyama He reported hesitantly.

"Stop talking! I'm going right now!"

Uesugi interrupted, paused, and then added, "Remember, don't tell Chisei and Erii. This is a surprise gift from your father to them!"

……

As the sun sets, it slowly dips below the edge of the city.

"What are we having for dinner? Five-grain fried rice again?"

After a day of shopping, Lu Mingfei took Erii for a walk along the primeval forest trail in the northern section of Yoyogi Park in the afternoon, and they also took the opportunity to look at the birds.

This place is home to Tokyo's largest birdwatching facility, where larks and redstarts reside.

Erii is quite interested in these cute little animals.

They are currently heading back to the city.

"I want to eat large chicken cutlet ramen."

Erii wrote in her notebook.

Today was another happy day. I went to the park with Sakura. The birds were so cute; they could fly very high.

"The large chicken cutlet ramen is only available for late-night snacks. Let's go eat the pizza with meat chunks first, and then we'll have the large chicken cutlet ramen later," Lu Mingfei said.

"Okay, let's go back and watch Fate/Zero after we finish eating."

At this time,

A tremendous roar came from the far distance, like an old dragon rising from its slumber.

Lu Mingfei subconsciously stopped and narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, the sky brightened.

At the edge of the field of vision, a dazzling figure wielding two swords appeared, as if a god had descended to earth.

(End of this chapter)