Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei's War Journey

Chapter 82 Alchemy Weapons and Caesar's Conversation

Lu Mingfei leaned against the trench, panting heavily. Nearly a month had passed since their last battle.

After he, Caesar, and Otto led the charge and won that battle, they repelled several more French attacks. The other platoons finally realized that they couldn't get rid of Lu Mingfei and Caesar.

These two men could easily kill 30 to 40 enemy soldiers in a single battle. The French army suffered more than 100 casualties in a single attack, and a third of them were killed by these two men. They were practically gods of war. If these two men were gone, their casualties would increase significantly.

Later, the military court from the battalion headquarters arrived, but the company had already fully realized the importance of Lu Mingfei and Caesar. In addition, Captain Henrik was reluctant to let the two go, so he began to put pressure on several platoon leaders, including von Delrey.

Under pressure from the company commander and the brutality of the battlefield, von Drell and his men could only swallow their grievances. In the end, the matter of Lu Mingfei, Caesar, and Otto being confined for three days was considered closed.

From then on, soldiers from other platoons would avoid the Third Platoon whenever they saw them. This battle solidified their platoon's position in the company. However, their platoon also truly became the sharpest spearhead of the company, with the most dangerous missions and frontline battles being handed over to Lu Mingfei and others.

Just ten minutes ago, they had repelled another French attack, and everyone was exhausted and had no strength to clean up the corpses around them.

"Is that your Word of Power?" Caesar asked, leaning against Lu Mingfei.

He was referring to Lu Mingfei firing that revolver without reloading during the recent battle.

The other platoons might not know about this, but the three platoons knew it all. However, no one asked. After all, everyone has their own little secrets. Besides, this was their own fighting force, and the magical revolver was in the hands of their trusted commander. That was enough.

However, Caesar didn't have so many concerns. He had already told Lu Mingfei about his Word of Power, Kamaitachi, so what couldn't Lu Mingfei say?

"No, I don't have any magical powers. This vengeful spirit gun was a reward I received after completing my first mission. It allows me to use one and a half minutes of unlimited bullet time. This gun can also absorb something through killing and slowly become stronger." Lu Mingfei shook his head and said.

He already knew that he was also a hybrid, but apart from feeling that his strength and speed were better than others, he did not have the magical power of words like Caesar.

Lu Mingfei handed his Smith & Wesson M10 revolver to Caesar for inspection.

This gun really does evolve through the dead, just as shown above. The magazine used to refresh every ten minutes, but now it refreshes every five minutes. The unlimited bullet time has also been reduced to one and a half minutes. Even its appearance has changed.

Caesar was somewhat surprised to hear Lu Mingfei say that he had no power of words, but he did not doubt it. After all, Lu Mingfei had no reason to lie to him. He then took the Smith & Wesson M10 revolver.

But this gun was completely different from the Smith & Wesson M10 revolver he remembered; it wasn't the small-to-medium .38 caliber, but rather the large .41 caliber.

These two calibers are worlds apart. The .38 has an effective firing range of only 50 meters and very limited penetration. To kill someone, you have to hit a vital organ. Hitting other parts of the body is not enough to be fatal. It can only be used for close-range combat. Its only advantage is that the recoil is relatively small.

The .41 is different. The .41 has an effective firing range of 100 meters and can easily shatter bones and penetrate the human body. The purpose of the .38 is to knock people down, while the .41 is to pierce through things.

What's even more striking is the gun's design. The originally simple lines are now covered with eerie and exquisite skull reliefs. These are not just simple decorations, but rather they are wrapped around the barrel, cylinder, and gun body in a painful struggle posture. The gun handle is made of dark red hardwood, on which is etched a clearer skull that seems to be roaring silently.

"This gun of yours should be an alchemical weapon," Caesar said, carefully examining the vengeful spear.

"Alchemy weapons?" Lu Mingfei asked with some doubt, as this touched upon a blind spot in his knowledge.

"Yes, alchemical weapons. In the world of hybrids, besides Words of Power, alchemical weapons and the Matrix are also very important sources of power for us," Caesar explained. Then he felt a sharp pain in his palm; the skull relief on the gun handle had bitten him. He quickly threw the gun back to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei caught the Wraith Spear that Caesar had thrown back. A drop of blood was slowly seeping from the skull relief on the hilt, and then the blood was absorbed into it, making the skull's eyes seem to brighten.

"Your gun has quite a temper, doesn't it? It doesn't want anyone else to touch it." Caesar looked at his palm, where there was a bleeding teeth mark.

"It should have recognized its master." Lu Mingfei stroked the gun thoughtfully.

"Just like you said, this is an alchemical weapon, and probably only I can use it."

Caesar nodded, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes: "At Kassel College, alchemy is an important subject. We use dragon runes, alchemical matrices, and special materials to create weapons and equipment, giving them extraordinary power. But a gun like yours, which can grow, absorb blood, and evolve its form—I've only ever heard of it in legends."

"Legend?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"The Emerald Book records living alchemical weapons," Caesar recalled of his classes at the academy.

"Ordinary alchemical weapons are inanimate; their power comes from the matrix inscribed by their creators. But living alchemical weapons are different. They have their own consciousness, they grow, and they can even choose their masters. Such weapons can only be wielded by legendary dragon kings and hybrids. It seems you have the potential to become a legendary hybrid."

Lu Mingfei shook his head with a wry smile: "What do you mean by becoming a legendary hybrid? I don't even have the Word of Power."

"Regarding the matter of Word of Power, we can go back to Kassel College to look up information after the war. The college library has the most comprehensive research materials on dragons in the world, and we're sure to find the answer there," Caesar said.

"By the way, what exactly is this Kassel College you mentioned?" Lu Mingfei asked, as he had often heard Caesar mention a place called Kassel College.

"Nominally, it's a private university in Chicago that studies ancient reptiles, and it's affiliated with the University of Chicago. But in reality, it's a stronghold and cradle of hybrids. The professors, students, and even most of the staff are hybrids. We learn there how to understand our own power, learn about the history and threat of dragons, and master combat skills—including alchemy, of course. If you want to truly understand yourself, that's the best starting point. When you go back, you can enroll as a freshman, but I'll be your senior then," Caesar said with a smile.

"Forget it, I just want to live my own quiet life. I've had enough of this fighting and killing." Lu Mingfei shook his head, but then froze.

The university in Chicago, and it's full of mixed-race people. Isn't Nono mixed-race and she goes to university in Chicago?!

He suddenly looked up at Caesar, his eyes gleaming with hope, and asked, "Caesar! In your academy, is there a girl named Nono?! Red hair, very pretty, looks a bit fierce, but actually—actually very kind! She should be a first-year student!"

Caesar was taken aback by his sudden excitement, and frowned slightly as he pondered carefully.

"Nono? A red-haired first-year student?"

He carefully recalled the list of freshmen the student council had contacted, the occasional discussions he had overheard, and his own social circle, which didn't pay much attention to the lower-year students. Finally, he slowly shook his head and said apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Lu Mingfei. Although I am the student council president, I haven't received the specific recruitment list for first-year students yet. And frankly, I don't usually pay much attention to the freshmen unless they are particularly outstanding or have caused some big trouble."

He realized that apart from Chu Zihang, he didn't remember any of the freshmen.

"Really?!" Lu Mingfei's initial excitement immediately plummeted.

"Is that someone you like?" Caesar asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Lu Mingfei.

"Yes, she's the girl I like. My first mission was to spend a month with her in the Andes Mountains—a time I'll never forget. I want to see her again—" Lu Mingfei said with a touch of melancholy.

"Don't worry, I'll find out for you when we get back." Caesar patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder and said.

Lu Mingfei looked up and stared blankly at Caesar.

Caesar nodded seriously and said, "I never make promises lightly, but once I do, I will definitely keep them. After the war ends, I will take you back to Kassel College, and we will search the entire college from top to bottom to find your Nono."

"Even if that girl named Nono isn't in Kassel, as long as she's alive, I'll definitely be able to find her. Although I'm nothing here, in the world we came from, my family still has some money and influence."

Caesar no longer rejects the Gattuso family because he has realized that without their resources, while he is not entirely useless, he is certainly not worthy of the name Caesar. Here, no one will treat him as an emperor, and he has to admit that he needs the Gattuso family's resources to create a great career.

Lu Mingfei smiled, a genuine smile from the bottom of his heart. Since the plane crash in the Andes Mountains, this was the first time he felt so close to Nono. Although they were still separated by half the earth and a world war, at least he had a clear direction.

"Thank you," he said softly.

"Between brothers, let's not talk about this. Look, it's snowing." Caesar waved his hand, then looked up at the sky, where white snowflakes began to fall. Winter had arrived.

Snowflakes fell on the scorched earth, covering the bloodstains, bullet craters, and corpses. Winter of 1915 arrived quietly, earlier and colder than in previous years.

For the soldiers in the trenches, this was both good and bad news. The good news was that the cold would make the offensive more difficult and the fighting might slow down. The bad news was that the cold itself was a deadly enemy.

Lu Mingfei and Caesar leaned side by side in the trench, watching the snow falling all around them. They had come into this world in August, and now it was December.

Over four months, they teetered on the edge of death's scythe, surviving battle after battle, seemingly taking a small step closer to their goal of returning to their own world.

But both of them knew in their hearts that the heavy snow would not bring peace, and the challenges ahead would only be more severe.