Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 56 Lionheart Society

“I know that,” Lu Mingfei suddenly interjected, “The principal was also a member of the original Lionheart Society, right?”

Chu Zihang nodded slightly.

“Menek Kassel, Lu Shanyan, Hilbert Jean Angers, Friedrich von Long, ‘Tiger’ Jamal, ‘Chief’ Brendan, Ash, Ghost.”

He slowly and clearly uttered these names, each word seemingly carrying an indescribable weight.

"Are there still members of the original Lionheart Society or from our Lu family?"

Lu Mingfei was taken aback, a hint of curiosity rising in his heart:
"There are very few famous people in history with the surname Lu."

"If you're interested in these, you can take a look at this."

Chu Zihang opened one of the filing cabinets, where files of varying ages were mixed together.

"Here are materials related to the origins of the Lionheart Society. One of the volumes was just added this year and was personally revised by Principal Angers."

Chu Zihang handed over the heavy folder labeled "Origin of the Lionheart Society." Lu Mingfei took it subconsciously; it felt slightly heavy in his hand, and the cover was made of hard leather.

He opened the cover, and inside was not all old parchment, but a mixture of old and new. There were yellowed, curled ancient manuscripts, as well as clearly printed modern paper covered with annotations in various colors, as if researchers from different eras were having a dialogue across time.

Lu Mingfei's gaze quickly swept over the secrets about the founding of the Lionheart Society, about Menek Kassel's genius and downfall, and about Principal Angers.
Until he turned to a relatively new appendix bound at the back.

The title is: "A Brief Study of the Lineage of Lu Shanyan, a Member of the First Generation of the Lionheart Society (Preliminary Compilation)".

Lu Mingfei's heart skipped a beat. He focused his mind, his fingers tracing the text printed in delicate handwriting, mentioning Lu Shanyan's background, his role in the Secret Party, and his tragic end in the "Summer Mourning."

The words are cold, yet they sketch out the distant and vague silhouette of a hero.

At the end of the appendix is ​​a genealogical chart, supposedly representing an early branch of the Lushan family, reconstructed using modern technology. The paper is new, but the drawing style imitates old tree diagrams, with somewhat stiff lines.

The paper was covered with names, most of which have long been lost to the annals of history.

Lu Mingfei's fingertips slid down along those unfamiliar names, with an almost unconscious search.

His gaze fell on a name and stopped.

It was placed quite low in the book, the handwriting clear, clearly recently added. Unlike the other names, which appeared somewhat old-fashioned, it was printed with deep black modern ink, standing out starkly under the pale light.

The name is:
路明非

Lu Mingfei's eyes widened, and his brain buzzed.

Same name? Coincidence? Or...?

It wasn't until the familiar names "Lu Lincheng" and "Lu Gucheng" came into view that he realized he was indeed a descendant of "Lu Shanyan," a first-generation member of the Lionheart Society. In terms of seniority, he was Lu Mingfei's great-great-grandfather.

In fact, he didn't even know who his own grandfather was; his great-grandfather was as ancient as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. According to his uncle, his grandfather died early for some reason, and the two brothers had relied on each other since childhood.

Lu Mingfei's grandfather was a soldier, and Lu Mingfei's uncle and father followed him around, always traveling to different places. They never returned to their hometown or met their relatives there.

However, judging from the family genealogy, the Lu family seems to have more than one branch.

Lu Mingfei raised his head:

"Senior brother...you've seen this before?"

"Um"

"Is my name on this?"

"Ah."

Chu Zihang's voice remained calm: "It was added when the principal revised it."

Lu Mingfei grinned, his emotions a jumbled mess:

"I always thought the Lu family were poor farmers for generations. Turns out my ancestors were once rich? And quite... tragically rich?"

Chu Zihang's gaze lingered on Lu Mingfei's face for a moment, his eyes seemingly able to penetrate his feigned composure and see into the bewildered soul below.

He ignored Lu Mingfei's nonsense and calmly said:
"There are few records about your ancestors in the Lionheart Society's internal documents."
But I thought you'd be interested, so I picked it out.

If you want more information, I suggest you consult the principal.

It turns out that Lu Mingfei seeing this thing was not a coincidence, but rather that Chu Zihang had been keeping an eye on it for a while and just happened to hand it over to him today when the opportunity arose.

Senior Brother Chu is truly a mother henpecked husband.

He almost had a sense of déjà vu seeing Emiya Shirou.

Lu Mingfei shook his head:
"Let's talk about it later, we need to get down to business."

"Ah."

Chu Zihang walked to one of the filing cabinets, skillfully entered a long string of passwords, and underwent another iris scan. The heavy metal cabinet door slid open silently.

He took out a black folder that looked particularly heavy and had no markings on it, his movements steady and deliberate.

He placed the folder in the center of the cold metal table, where the pale light enveloped it.

"that's it."

Chu Zihang's voice was exceptionally clear in the small space. He didn't open the folder, but simply gestured to Lu Mingfei with his eyes.

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath and opened the cover.

They were several yellowed, old notebooks with several lines of text written in multiple languages ​​on the cover, including English and Chinese that Lu Mingfei could recognize.

Lu Mingfei managed to make out the sentence with difficulty:

"Unleash the heart of the lion."

The notes are filled with annotations, questions, and warning symbols written in modern English, Latin, and even Chinese. The handwriting varies and the notes are old and new, clearly indicating that they were left by researchers from different eras.

Some of the writing was circled in bright red pen, marked with huge question marks or exclamation marks, or even drawn with skull symbols.

His gaze settled on a page of experimental records with annotations. Beside it was a blurry black-and-white photograph of a nearly inhuman experimental subject: bulging, bulging muscles, torn skin revealing a dark, inhuman layer of keratin beneath, a twisted, deformed spine, and several jagged bone spurs piercing its back, stained with blackish-red blood. Next to the dragon-script annotations, written in trembling English:

Stage III Degeneration: Irreversible. Skeletal mutation, cognitive collapse, extreme aggression. Termination required.
(Third stage of degeneration: Irreversible. Skeletal mutations, cognitive collapse, extreme aggression. Execution required.)
"This doesn't look very good. It's almost like the notebooks of those mad scientists in movies."

Lu Mingfei muttered.

He forced himself to endure the discomfort and continued flipping through the pages. More experimental records, data charts, and failure cases. He tried to find a reason why Angers had specifically asked him to look at these materials.

The title of one of the documents was written in bold Latin and English side by side:

The Forbidden Path: Blood Rage
The text below is in Chinese.

"Bloodlust..."

Lu Mingfei uttered the term in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)