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

Chapter 254: Wiping out the core of the Secret Party in one fell swoop?
The ancient castle on the cliffside was destroyed; rubble and flames replaced this symbol of honor.

In the nearby open space, amidst the smoke and ruins, stood a striking, glass-like crystalline sphere. It was small, about two meters in diameter, and hollow inside. Through its smooth facets, one could see the silhouettes of people within, and... large splatters of radiating blood.

'Words of Power: The Crystal City'.

Inside the crystal sphere.

Lu Mingfei maintained a neutral palm-fist posture while raising his hand to exert force.

Standing close to him was a man whose entire body was covered in cracks.

He held a crystal-red dagger in his hand, its original shape no longer recognizable. His bright yellow motorcycle suit was soaked through every corner with thick blood, turning it brown and terrifying. In this blood-red hue, only a pair of golden eyes filled with disbelief could be seen.

Most of the blood in the man's body was 'blown' out and then imprinted on the inside of the hard sphere.

Behind Lu Mingfei, in the narrow space, men and women dressed in either dignified or luxurious clothes all stared in disbelief at the shocking events that had occurred moments before, their hearts filled with unease.

Beowulf is like a concrete pillar, covered in grayish-white scales.

He carried Angers on his shoulder, Charlotte and Elizabeth were squeezed at the edge of the crystal sphere, and the monk schoolmaster held prayer beads, his old hands forming the Buddhist 'preaching mudra'.

This seal symbolizes the Buddha's teachings, representing how Dharma can destroy afflictions and purify the mind and body.

The solid, glass-like crystalline sphere on the outside is the Word of Power of the monks and school directors—the Glass Brahma City, a superior Word of Power from the Dustless Land, a high-level defensive Word of Power.

When this power is released, the airflow on the surface of the domain will solidify and crystallize. Physics cannot explain this phenomenon. Scholars of power believe that the solidification and crystallization of air is not simply the condensation of air into a solid state, but rather a mixture of wind and earth, forming an extremely hard 'shell'.

It was this hard 'shell' that protected the board members from the aftershocks of a close-range missile attack.

'Crack--'

The rosary in the hands of the monk school director shattered, ending the alchemical creation mission that carried the 'magnification' effect. The entire crystalline structure began to crumble, and many people nearly lost their balance and fell to the ground.

Elizabeth finally released Charlotte from her embrace.

It's really not easy for ten people to stand in a space with a diameter of two meters, especially for upper-class people who value their 'personal space'. But in a crisis, they can't care about that.

She was constantly pressed against the edge of the crystal sphere, shielding Charlotte in front of her, while the intense tremors from the outside world traveled through the shell into her body, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

But that's not the key point right now.

She took a couple of breaths and began trying to process what had happened in those thirty seconds...

No, what exactly happened within 0.5 seconds of real time?

……

The group originally planned to follow Frost's directions and head to the nearest air-raid shelter, which was 40 meters away.

This distance usually takes only a few seconds for the school board members with powerful bloodlines. Even if they need to maintain formation within the domain, it will not take more than ten seconds at the slowest.

And the timeout can be maintained for 30 seconds, which is plenty of time, so no one questions whether Angers can do it.

The headmaster never boasted, and he never spoke too much, never a second less than he had said. But just a few steps away from the castle, an unexpected and fatal thing happened.

The realm of 'Time Zero' shattered prematurely.

At that moment, everyone's faces showed shock and fear, as if they could see their own end.

If they had been hiding inside the castle, things would have been fine. Even if the walls couldn't withstand the missiles, they could at least block most of the aftershocks. The remaining force could be mitigated by various means, which wouldn't have been a problem for the wealthy and powerful school board members.
The problem is that they've now stepped out of the castle gates, and missiles are right above their heads.

Hybrids are such a contradictory group. They possess the great power of dragons, but lack a strong body. If they are not careful, a bullet or a shrapnel on the battlefield can easily kill them. Facing the explosion of a missile at such close range, even S-class hybrids or pure-blooded dragons can only be burned to ashes.

Leaving the castle was a mistake... What can you do with 0.5 seconds left?
Elizabeth was never one to passively await death; at that moment, she instinctively activated the 'Spirit of Planning'—

Running back is definitely out of the question... Perhaps someone could do it, but not her. The gate is not wide enough, and her lineage is at the bottom among the school board members, so she has no advantage in either speed or strength.

She could either continue rushing towards the air-raid shelter, but her incantation was 'the spirit of planning' rather than 'moment,' and the feat of running 40 meters in 0.5 seconds was clearly not something a 'liberal arts student' could do.

However, before the third thought could arise...

A new anomaly has occurred.

Someone took a deep breath, stepped forward, and threw a punch. Everyone present could feel a magnificent aura erupting in an instant. She felt a sharp, piercing light emanating from the boy at the other end of the group.

No, Elizabeth really did see that so-called 'aura'!
Emerging from pores, from breath, from the knuckles, was a scarlet, rainbow-like light, like a torrential downpour, as countless bones, blood, and flesh were stripped from a person's body.

The next second, that familiar domain fluctuation reappeared.

Yan Ling Time Zero.

……

Behind the hills of Portofino, amidst ruins,
'Ding-dong—'

A scarlet dagger fell to the ground.

"Why...why would you attack me?"

The middle-aged school board member seemed somewhat puzzled, if the concept of 'expression' still existed on that blurred face, smeared by the scarlet hurricane.

“Because it’s too obvious,” Lu Mingfei said slowly.

“But I’ve always maintained this persona.” The middle-aged school board member lowered his head slightly. “I haven’t had any problems in the past twenty years.”

"So what?" Lu Mingfei said. "Did I see wrong?"

"Yes, you're not mistaken. Your insight far exceeds my expectations." The middle-aged school board member said with a sense of loss.

"Could you introduce yourself? I'd like to save some trouble." Lu Mingfei's eyes gleamed with a dazzling golden light.

The middle-aged school board member—whose real name was 'Abimelech', a third-generation pure-blooded dragon—looked as if he had undergone a 'judgment', with a large amount of dragon blood flowing out of his body, leaving him extremely weak.

It's strange... He can't understand this reality.

As a member of the Holy Palace Medical Association, a member of the great ancient dragon clan, he infiltrated the Holden family for half a century, disguising himself as a breath of fresh air among that vain human-hybrid family. Eventually, he rose to the position of patriarch. His noble bloodline, superb acting skills, and the protection of the 'King' kept him hidden for decades, waiting for the day he would emerge from his cocoon.

The layout doesn't need to be too complicated.

A reasonable suggestion, a mental disturbance, an alchemical sword.

With a simple shift in the balance of power, he could destroy the largest hybrid human organization, which had been regarded as a mortal enemy by countless lower-ranking individuals for thousands of years, without shedding a drop of blood. Those top hybrid humans, whose power even terrified him, would ultimately die under the modern power they themselves created, called 'science'.

Then, he emerged from his cocoon, returning from the shadows of history to embrace the new era.

Everything was going so smoothly, but why...?

I understand, I was just careless!

"It's not over yet. No one will leave alive today, but you are qualified to join us. The Kingdom of God will not reject the true..."

He endured the pain, looking at the young boy's face with a mocking and ferocious expression. The light from his golden eyes pressed down like a wall, and the spiritual power domain that pure-blooded dragons were proud of was completely absorbed by those dazzling golden eyes, like a gentle breeze blowing across a hill.

He suddenly realized something was wrong and roared in a hoarse voice, "You..."

boom--

He was completely devastated, and his spirit fell into silence.

[Experience +7400]

With the long-awaited increase in experience, Lu Mingfei's brows relaxed slightly, and at the same time, a strange feeling rose in his heart, a sense of 'fullness' coming from the spiritual level.

Abimiller attempted to enter the active cocoon, but due to the limitations of the third generation, his original spiritual power did not have time to integrate into the surrounding elements. Instead, it was intercepted and absorbed by Lu Mingfei first.

"interesting."

Lu Mingfei had no time to fully appreciate the intricacies of the matter. Looking around at the other nine high-ranking members of the Secret Party present, they all looked as if they had seen a ghost, including Charlotte and Angers, whose eyes were wide open like copper bells.

It is a genuine copper bell.
Angers slowly withdrew from his berserk state, his golden eyes still bright, his expression one of utter surprise.
"Mingfei, this is..."

The old man was clearly still a bit slow on the uptake.

At this moment, Elizabeth also completed her final mental recap—

Just now, after the abrupt interruption of Time Zero in Angers, Lu Mingfei did not hesitate to kill Holden, the school board chairman. The other party had no power to resist at all. At that moment, scales appeared on the surface of Angers' body... He entered a blood berserk state and forcibly restarted the domain of 'Time Zero', no longer covering everyone.

But it was precisely at that instant that time stopped, and 0.3 seconds passed in the real world, that all evacuation efforts were too late. Especially with the missile hovering overhead, the series of dizzying and terrifying magical mechanical patterns on it came into view, and the mental impact was enormous, as if the scythe of death was slowly swinging down.

At the critical moment, the monk school board member, who was still shrouded in the power of the Word of Power, stepped forward. He used the little time he had left to activate the 'Glassy Brahma City', using a precious alchemical artifact as a price to block all the aftershocks of the violent explosion outside the crystal.

But what's most strange is Lu Mingfei's behavior... and his conversation with Principal Holden just now...

Elizabeth attempts to piece together the truth from the limited information available.

Fortunately, Lu Mingfei had no intention of hiding anything and immediately said, "Headmaster Holden is the mole. He interrupted Principal Angers' Time Zero just now, and I stopped him."

"A mole?" Charlotte, standing to the side, was somewhat surprised. She had always disliked that middle-aged man; he was long-winded, lacked principles, and was always trying to smooth things over. But she had never suspected his identity, and she had never even considered that possibility.

Beowulf did not question Lu Mingfei's judgment.

After all, it was now an established fact that there were many traitors within the secret service, and the blood spilled by the middle-aged school board member emitted a strange fragrance, which made him feel extremely excited and exhilarated.

This must be the blood of a pure-blooded dragon; he had drunk it before.

“This person is indeed a dragon hidden among you. You never discovered him before. You are truly elders of the new era. This is truly amazing.”

Beowulf glanced at the assembled board members, then his expression turned strange as he scrutinized Angers. More than the deceased middle-aged board member, he was now concerned with something else, even more so than the missile attack itself.

"Angers, your Time Zero... can still be interrupted?"

“Any incantation can be interrupted, as long as the scientific principles behind it are understood and the appropriate conditions are created,” the monk school director said slowly. Although he was dressed like a charlatan, he was essentially a science enthusiast.

“But there didn’t seem to be anything particularly special just now,” Angers said hesitantly, clearly also quite shaken by that momentary awkwardness. If he hadn’t urgently activated his Bloodlust, if Lu Mingfei hadn’t acted decisively…

This might really be a big deal.

All eyes involuntarily turned to Lu Mingfei. Compared to Angers and the monk school board member who had contributed the most in the earlier attack, this young man's decisive attack was the key to stabilizing the situation... Although it seemed a bit too bloody, the middle-aged school board member lying in a pool of blood, his flesh mangled as if he had undergone a slow, agonizing torture. From the moment he stepped into the castle, Lu Mingfei had been observing the high-ranking members of the Secret Society. Sure enough, besides Gattuso's group, there was a second infiltrator group within the modern Secret Society, arranged by the Holy Palace Medical Association—the Holden family, whose members always appeared quite detached. But Lu Mingfei also felt something was amiss.

He had been staring at the middle-aged school board member and noticed a fleeting, strange fluctuation. In fact, Abimele's [Original Spiritual Power] was even inferior to Angers'; he was merely a third-generation species.

This makes sense. In order to perfectly infiltrate human society, one's bloodline cannot be too strong. Otherwise, if one attends various occasions as a school board member for many years, it will be easy to be detected by alchemical detection devices. Just like when Nicholas was unwilling to easily set foot in the densely arrayed Gottingen Manor, strong mental fluctuations are like lanterns in the dark, always extremely conspicuous.

The true foundation upon which the Dark Lords depend for survival is their terrifying ability to infiltrate.

Yet he still managed to do it. This dragon's understanding of 'time zero' had reached a level far beyond its own. This kind of incantation is quite rare among dragons, and there must be a master guiding it behind the scenes.

In other words, it is truly bizarre that Abimiller, a third-generation being, could unexpectedly use this technique to single-handedly defeat the renowned Hilbert Jean Angers.

"I have no clue at the moment." Lu Mingfei shook his head, bent down and picked up the short knife on the ground. The entire blade was made of Philosopher's Stone. If it were to pierce Angers' body, it would completely destroy the time zero of the second burst, and the consequences would be self-evident.

This was his spoils of war, and in terms of value, it even surpassed Angers' folding knife.

The group had no choice but to temporarily abandon the issue.

A wave of heat blew in my face as I gazed at the ancient castle, now reduced to ruins, just a dozen meters away, with mixed feelings.
Perhaps... things are really about to change.

At this moment, Elizabeth approached Angers, gazing at the old man who was slowly fading from his slight dragon form, her beautiful eyes filled with concern. "Principal Angers, are you alright?"

The intense time-limited battle left Angers feeling somewhat exhausted, especially the interruption of his incantation, which had taken a toll on his spirit. Nevertheless, he managed a gentlemanly smile and offered words of comfort to the young, beautiful girl before him.
"Don't worry about me, Lisa. I suspect it's not over yet. Stay alert..."

"Watch out! Another attack!"

Frost shouted a reminder that with Angers and the monastic board members in front, he hadn't been injured. He had just tried to contact the team responsible for Portofino's security system to inquire about the situation but received no response, only a new reminder from Norma...

No further reminder is needed.

In the sky, another row of missile shadows grew larger in the sunlight, their warheads also faintly gleaming. Whether it was the reflection of sunlight or the alchemical patterns of the magic machinery, their forms appeared before the sound arrived.

Is one round of artillery fire enough to bury these people?
That is definitely not enough, not enough at all.

No one expects that a single barrage of artillery fire will send the party's top leaders to their deaths.

Even if we bypass the super artificial intelligence located across the ocean in North America and cut off the Gattuso family's various defensive firepower on their home turf, it won't be enough. To have a simplistic idea when facing these top hybrids with so many tricks up their sleeves is nothing short of wishful thinking!

"How's yours? Principal Angers!"

The monk school board member shouted loudly, saying that as an A-level hybrid, his limit was already using alchemical creations and the power of words to protect everyone from a missile bombardment from a dozen meters away.

This round has even more missiles, a total of seven!

Three of the missiles deviated slightly from their intended trajectory, indicating that the enemy had come prepared, even taking into account the young members of various families who had cleared the area beforehand.

"We have to hide! We need to get to the air-raid shelter!"

A golden light suddenly flashed in Angers' eyes again.

Blood Explosion!

Yan Ling Time Zero!

Everything around us was once again slowed down to a fraction of the speed.

"There's no mole left, right, Mingfei?" Angers asked first this time, showing he was quick to react. He was quite fast, but dancing on the edge of a knife was still too much pressure.

"Not bad." Lu Mingfei looked up and stared at the falling missiles; three were fired at the hotel.

“Frost has already notified them, but there’s no time to deal with them. We must survive, or things will get really messy!” Angers noticed his gaze.

Lu Mingfei said, "I have an idea."

"?"

Angers paused for a moment, then his eyes widened. "You don't mean to try and stop these missiles, do you?"

Why not give it a try?

Lu Mingfei pulled out his belt, gently shook the long spear, silently calculating something in his mind, his eyes turning golden and red.

“It’s not time to give up yet, Principal Angers, you should send them in first.”

"What the hell!"

When Beowulf saw the gun, his aged eyes twitched involuntarily, as if triggering some kind of PTSD.

"Chairman Lu Mingfei, modern military weapons cannot be directly countered by human power! If I'm not mistaken, this round is a thermobaric weapon, and the temperature at the explosion center can maintain 3000 degrees Celsius, which is close to half the surface temperature of the sun!"

Elizabeth frowned and said, "The major families of the Secret Society are born to slay dragons. Those who have come to Portofino today are not ordinary people. After drinking that cup of wine, they should have been prepared for the future they are about to face! This battlefield is like the war of Summer's Mourning a hundred years ago! The dragons have launched an attack on us! In the face of war, everyone needs to do their best, not to show off in vain."

Frost's expression changed, and he continued, "If it's a thermobaric weapon, we must hurry. Only by reaching the bottom of the air-raid shelter before it explodes can we withstand the shockwave from the high temperature and pressure. There are still two hundred meters left!"

As the acting head of the Gattuso family, he had naturally heard of the famous thermobaric bomb.

This is a thermobaric weapon specifically designed for caves and underground facilities. It works by using the temperature and pressure effects created by materials such as aluminum, silicon, and boron to generate high temperatures and shock waves, as well as oxygen deprivation, without damaging the cave's structure itself.

Even though this so-called 'subnuclear weapon' was considered when the air-raid shelters were built, it still cannot be taken lightly.

As expected, we underestimated the elders' ambitions; they planned to wipe out the core members of the Secret Party in one fell swoop!
"Four thermobaric bombs..."

Angers' face suddenly turned very ugly.

He understood things on a deeper level than Lisa and Frost. According to the assassination prevention plan that Norma had written based on his data, this comprehensive firepower was the biggest nemesis of 'Time Zero'!
“Since that’s the case, then I’m even more determined to give it a try.” Lu Mingfei remained unmoved.

"it is good!"

Angers took a deep breath and made a decisive decision, "Let's take a gamble!"

At this moment, he realized that if the enemy was truly well-prepared, could the inside of the air-raid shelter be completely safe? The maximum power of the thermobaric weapon needed to be unleashed in a confined space.

If today all the elders and senior members of the Secret Party, along with the 'younger generation' of various families, were to die here... or even if only a large portion of them were to die...

What will be the consequences? What kind of global chaos will it cause?
Angers dared not think any further.

Perhaps the only way out is to listen to Lu Mingfei and detonate these missiles in the air in advance!

No one expected that a routine board meeting would escalate to this point.

The elders of the Gattuso family are not bosses in a game who give you experience points according to a set pattern. Once there is no profit to be made, and once the risk outweighs the reward, they should strike with a single, decisive blow.

"Frost, you must provide an explanation after this incident!"

The elders had clearly figured out the stakes; there couldn't possibly be any complete idiots in those positions.

"Hmph! We'll talk about it after we survive!"

Frost gritted his teeth; he realized he had made a mistake.

The next second, the Ange vanished. This time, he didn't use the Word of Pardon to 'forgive' Lu Mingfei, but Lu Mingfei still had the effect of 'pardon' as usual. His gaze was strange as he looked towards the horizon until the magical field centered on Ange completely disappeared. Once again, his vision was blurred as if it had been sped up or fast-forwarded.

The missiles on the horizon suddenly accelerated forward.

His gaze never wavered, his heart pounded, yet he stood calmly in place. Even as he stood there quietly, a strange change seemed to be taking place within him—a subtle change. His calculation and judgment abilities, along with the flowing, pulsating things in the air, were gradually flowing into his senses. As a result, his inner confidence swelled, as if there was nothing in the world that he couldn't do.

Lu Mingfei held the Tiger Roaring Fang Spear in his hand, slowly raising it like a classical sculpture holding a spear, his whole body tense and taut.

A dizzying crimson halo began to leap, entwine, and coat the spearhead and shaft. The unsettling light and flames, both real and illusory, merged with the surrounding air, forming an unstable flow.

Word of Power: Judgment, unleashed at full power.

Just like the monk school board's 'City of Lapis Lazuli', which relies on the enhancement of the alchemical creation compatibility matrix, it can amplify the original effects of the Word of Power several times over, increasing its strength and range. Even a mere A-level hybrid can withstand close-range missile ramming, even at the cost of exhaustion.

And what about the trial?
What kind of effect would it have if, under Lu Mingfei’s skillful control, the terrifying Word of Power that could instantly tear a third-generation Species apart by a thousand cuts, were combined with the complementary Howling Fang Spear?
Lu Mingfei has never tried to fully unleash his power before. Last night, when he fought the legendary 'Dragonblooder', he didn't even activate the matrix on his weapon.

Nearly.

The missile is getting closer and closer, eight thousand meters, seven thousand meters, five thousand meters... its size is constantly increasing.

The closer the distance, the stronger the impact of the temperature and pressure burst, but Lu Mingfei remained calm and composed, showing no sign of impatience.

He planned to throw the Roaring Tiger Spear.

After all, it was several kilometers away in the air, so it couldn't be done like it was in the same room, intercepting Caesar's Frigg bullets fired at the Desert Eagle. The kinetic energy and speed of the two were not on the same level at all, and the intensity of the 'judgment' required was also completely different.

However, without a physical carrier, the pure spiritual fluctuations would inevitably decline to a terrible low point after being transmitted over such a long distance.

With his mind as still as water, Lu Mingfei inexplicably recalled a historical text he had read in the Zhou family's library half a year ago.
"During the reign of Emperor Yao, ten suns appeared simultaneously, causing the vegetation to wither and die. Yao ordered Yi to shoot down the ten suns, and Yi hit nine of them. The nine crows in the suns all died, and their feathers and wings were knocked off, so one sun remained."

From "Heavenly Questions," it records a scene from an ancient era where a suspected super hybrid race fought against the dragon descendants.

One can remain after ten days, but it is certainly not advisable to stay for seven days.

Lu Mingfei gazed at the seven enormous objects in the distant sky whose trajectories were getting closer and closer. He was waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to take out all the missiles with one shot, an angle that could solve everything!
A brilliant light flashed in his eyes and disappeared in an instant.

A blazing black sun rose from behind him, and a surging gravitational pull shot straight up from the ground like a dragon or snake rising from the land, sweeping up the streamlined figures that were flying by.

The gravitational pull, like a hurricane, instantly altered the trajectory of these subsonic missiles.

Not much, just a little bit.

However, even a slight angle can be magnified to a terrifying degree over a long distance.

Immediately afterwards, the black sun, radiating light and heat, rapidly contracted and converged, where the three rivers met!

The distance of over a hundred meters kept getting closer and closer...

It was as if a singularity appeared in the sky, attracting everything!
...Now!
The hand rises, the string is released!
A sharp beam of light roared out, carrying an endless crimson hurricane and a raging shadow, instantly passing through the tunnel, which was tens of meters in diameter and resembled a vacuum.

Like a wolf howling at the sun.

(End of this chapter)