Lu Mingfei: What? They're all real!

He suddenly understood why Jormungandr had been emphasizing to him all along not to talk nonsense. He wasn't surprised at all that dragons existed in this world, and that he and she might both be dragons. But he was surprised to find himself in a place where dragons were being slain!

What's the difference between this and throwing yourself into a wolf's den?

"Don't get excited, don't get excited..." Xia Mi was startled by the reaction of the person next to her. She grabbed his shoulder tightly and patted his shoulder with her other hand as if to comfort him, so that he would not see any flaws.

"No, he said he's going to slay a dragon!" Lu Mingfei blinked frantically at the girl next to him. "Slay a dragon!"

"Yes, yes, dragon slaying, it's dragon slaying." Xia Mi thought this was probably Lu Mingfei's disguise. She didn't think he was really surprised. In the blink of an eye, she transformed into a gentle demeanor, playing along with her expectations of him, and softly comforted him, "Don't be afraid. If we really encounter a dragon, I will protect you."

She felt that his general direction was correct, and it was indeed necessary to pretend at this moment, but perhaps his acting skills were not good enough, so she had to help him to avoid discovering any clues.

But Guderian had no doubts whatsoever. He was completely absorbed in the joy of his brilliant student having done what he expected, and nodded with satisfaction.

However, as an educator, he needed to pay attention not only to exceptional geniuses but also to ordinary ones. He turned his gaze to observe the little girl who rarely showed her emotions—

Guderian was startled. If he hadn't known that the person sitting opposite Zero was Xia Mi, he would have almost thought that Zero was facing a dragon king! Her eyes were fixed on that side, as if she was about to draw her sword and unleash a skill at the slightest provocation, and it was the kind of ultimate skill that could strike a thousand times in an instant.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you need, we can serve some wine to calm your nerves," Guderian said with concern.

"No need." Lu Mingfei seemed to have calmed down after Xia Mi's reassurance.

"No need." Zero shook her head as well. After Xia Mi removed her hand from Lu Mingfei's shoulder, she also calmed down.

Guderian desperately wanted to figure out what was going on, but his intuition told him that this matter was related to emotions, a realm he couldn't reach, and it was better for him to give up.

He then began by recounting the origins of human history, discussing the history of humankind's dragon-slaying and struggles. He explained that humans inherited the power of dragons through their bloodline, but also bore the mission of slaying them.

Lu Mingfei, slumped in his seat, looked utterly dejected. He would occasionally turn his head listlessly to look at the girl beside him. The girl would raise an eyebrow at him, and he would sigh helplessly. Then his posture would become even more unrecognizable.

Guderian gently comforted his most promising student. He guessed that the reason why this great savior of mankind was so melancholy was because he was prepared to sacrifice himself in the great cause of slaying the dragon. This was humanity. The song of humanity was the song of courage. Mingfei was a good child. He had already begun to shoulder responsibilities so quickly.

Thinking about this, Guderian felt he should bring out something of real value to broaden the students' horizons. The train was still a long way from arriving at the school, but they couldn't just sit there doing nothing.

“By the way, Mingfei, I already mentioned the 3E exam to you before, right? It’s an exam that tests your dragon runes, so it should be very easy for you.” Guderian’s voice suddenly rose, and he said abruptly, “Concentrate and listen to my pronunciation.”

The rolled "r" sound burst from his mouth, just as Lu Mingfei had said to Xia Mi before; he was very familiar with this language.

After Guderian finished reciting, he looked pleased with himself and wanted to get new information from his genius student. He had never done this to an S-rank before.

To his complete surprise, Lu Mingfei didn't react at all, just staring at him and blinking blankly.

"You...you don't feel anything?" Guderian stammered in shock.

Lu Mingfei didn't know what to say. He didn't know whether it was better to have feelings or not, whether it was better to react strongly or not. His thoughts were in a mess. Xia Mi's "bloodbath in Kassel" statement not long ago had bothered him a lot. He was worried that he really had to do it. Killing too many people would make him feel a bit bad.

Regarding Guderian's pronunciation, he had only one thought.

In just two sentences, totaling thirteen characters, he found four grammatical errors.

Does this guy even know how to read dragon script?

Chapter 49: The Emperor's Decree

Guderian's first suspicion fell on himself; he instinctively glanced at the other students. He figured he must have misread it, which was why Lu Mingfei hadn't reacted. But both Zero and Xia Mi were currently beaming with pride, perfectly befitting their state upon hearing the Word of Power: Emperor.

He couldn't help but feel conflicted.

Such a situation has never occurred before in all these years. All the dragon bloodline comes from the oldest emperor, without exception. Every descendant must answer the emperor's call.

“Mingfei…” Guderian was completely baffled.

"My God, Brother S, you didn't react to the Word of Power: Emperor! This is big news! I'm going to write about it; it'll definitely be the headline on the forum today!" Fingel, who had been cowering to the side, seemed to enjoy the drama and started to exclaim how rare this was. He was sure that the old scholars in the research department would immediately prepare slices and dissections.

Lu Mingfei felt his already uneasy heart become even more anxious. He turned his gaze and secretly looked at the girl next to him, wanting to see if she could offer any advice.

She was staring blankly into the void, as if she were controlled by those sounds—but Lu Mingfei knew perfectly well that she wasn't; it was all just her performance.

"Mingfei, how do you feel?" Guderian leaned closer and asked with concern, "You really don't have any reaction at all?"

Judging from Xia Mi's behavior, Lu Mingfei felt that the "normal situation" should have resulted in some reaction, but he had already missed that window of opportunity. Showing a reaction now would seem too deliberate and would only arouse suspicion.

He was really worried about the "slicing" and "dissection" that Fingel mentioned. How could he let anyone do such a thing to him? What if he was actually a humanoid dragon? The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He jumped off the building that day and wasn't hurt at all. He felt that if he were dragged to the operating table, as long as his skin was cut open, dragon scales might be revealed!

“I guess so…” he nodded slowly, trying to fool Guderian.

“But you haven’t responded at all, it’s too bland.” Guderian was both excited and troubled. “This is a phenomenon worth studying, but if that’s the case, what about your 3E exam?”

“I feel a reaction…” Lu Mingfei tried to stall for time with words. He didn’t understand these details and had to rely on the spy Xia Mi, who had done extensive research on Kassel and knew what to do.

But now the girl seemed to be deliberately bullying him. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards several times, almost making her laugh out loud, but in the end she secretly suppressed the corners of her mouth and remained in a daze, letting him continue to be anxious like this.

She seemed to want him to experience what it felt like to be anxious.

"Did you understand that sentence? Did any characters appear in your mind?" Guderian asked. "Or was it a hallucination, or the feeling of being summoned by the Great Ruler?"

"That's true." Lu Mingfei grasped at this straw. Of course he understood, but not immediately; it took him a while to process it.

It's like someone who isn't very fluent in Chinese asking for directions on the street. Although everyone eventually manages to communicate, the process must be incredibly difficult—Guderian's pronunciation wasn't exactly good!

"Did you really understand?" Guderian also grasped at this straw.

“Praise be to my king’s awakening, destruction is rebirth.” Lu Mingfei shrank back and asked tentatively, “Is that what you mean, right…”

“Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely right, Mingfei, I knew you could do it. Honestly, you gave me quite a fright,” Guderian was overjoyed, but still somewhat doubtful. “But why didn’t you react at all?”

Lu Mingfei kept repeating Fingel's strange words in his mind, about "dissection" and "slicing," and he felt that he had to find a suitable excuse to completely shirk responsibility from himself.

He can only rely on the single thought in his mind now—

“Maybe, maybe your pronunciation isn’t quite right…” Lu Mingfei explained weakly, “I feel like you might have grammatical problems.”

Guderian seemed to have been put on pause, and suddenly even his breathing stopped. He had never heard of such a saying before, no one had ever paid attention to the pronunciation of the dragon language, and no one had ever spoken the grammar of the dragon language.

His researcher instincts took over his consciousness, his mind suddenly restarted, and he realized this was a perfect opportunity to produce a paper.

“So, Mingfei,” he coaxed patiently, “what do you think the pronunciation should be like?”

Lu Mingfei glanced sideways at the wicked girl beside him; she still showed no intention of helping him out of the predicament.

This guy is way too vengeful!

Lu Mingfei complained resentfully, then decided to give up and figure things couldn't get any worse.

His lips trembled slightly, and his tongue became like a snake's forked tongue, curling to produce ancient syllables, like a king's command.

In reality, no one on the field reacted to this incantation. Zero was pretending, and Xia Mi was pretending too. No one here would react to the incantation recited by Guderian. But now it's different.

His words are different.

Xia Mi was the first to react. She exclaimed that she had gone too far and that this guy was really thick-skinned and reckless. She had already experienced his level of skill. His pronunciation, which was so standard that it sounded like it came from the real person, could probably bring the entire train or even a larger area into the influence of his words.

She couldn't pretend any longer. As she turned around, she reached out to cover Lu Mingfei's mouth. She was so anxious that she clung to him like a sloth clinging to a tree trunk.

But it was too late. This language was like Lu Mingfei's mother tongue, or more like his instinct. Everything stemmed from his will, everything was just his desire.

Before anything even happened, everything was already over. The emperor's decree was like ink dripping into milk, spreading outwards in waves. Invisible ripples carried outwards, reaching extremely distant places. Not only this train, but even the idyllic academy was affected.

Xia Mi ultimately couldn't stop him from talking. She nestled against his shoulder, trying to resist all the thoughts welling up from the bottom of her heart. But her body gradually went weak. The impact was too strong. If she were still in her prime, she might have only stopped at the embarrassing stage of "unconsciously kneeling down." But now, without any expectation or preparation, she was about to faint.

The Word of Power: Emperor. This Word of Power is too special. Even the first generation of beings would be affected by it, but Xia Mi still did not expect that the influence would be too great.

At this moment, she had no more doubts. She was convinced that this guy must be an extremely terrifying being. She was once again certain that all her plans and goals had to be completely abandoned. This was her only chance in this life...

As she pondered this, she finally had a premonition of danger.

"Don't close your eyes, Jormungandr, or I might take the opportunity to kill you." He suddenly turned his head, getting very close to her, and spoke softly, gently yet authoritatively.

The girl had long been consumed by panic, but now even more fear surged up. Her whole body began to tremble, and she couldn't care less about her real name being read aloud in front of everyone—but everyone else present had already lost consciousness the moment the first note was uttered.

She only feels regret now.

Yes, she had been human for too long, a girl for too long, and she actually only felt that the only person beside her was a boy who would sit shoulder to shoulder with her and share secrets...

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, she trusted him. She believed him like a fool, and she couldn't explain why. Those scenes at dusk were now the only things she longed for.

She hoped she wouldn't be disappointed, but then she thought, she probably wouldn't even have that kind of feeling again, and maybe she'd never wake up again...

The girl finally closed her eyes.

Chapter 50 I'm quite stingy

"You're so heavy, Jormungandr, you don't look like a girl at all."

This was the first thing the girl heard after she woke up. She slowly inhaled the air, then sprang to her feet as if she had been electrocuted, examining herself in horror, looking herself up and down.

"Don't worry, I won't take advantage of you." The voice in her ear was still calm. "Besides, it's no fun sleeping so soundly."

It took Xia Mi a full ten seconds to regain her senses, and then she realized that she had been teased.

But she couldn't feel anything about these insignificant things. She had survived a disaster, yet she felt that this was how it should be. Her reason screamed that she couldn't trust her own kind, but her emotions always contradicted her. She couldn't resist the feedback from reality... He just supported her body like that, and did nothing else.

She felt a kind of inexplicable joy.

“You…” Her voice trembled.

"What's wrong with me? Are you disappointed that I didn't kill you?" Lu Mingfei was no longer flustered. He looked calm and composed, with a mature smile on his face.

"I..." The girl was still not recovered.

Although it wasn't the first time she'd heard him utter those terrifying syllables, everyone was imitating the Supreme Being, even the First Generation. Yet, he seemed to be the real deal, and she couldn't find a single mistake. Although her current disgraceful state was related to her being far from recovered, she thought that even if she were at her peak, she probably wouldn't be much better off; at most, she'd just not faint.

This is terrifying! She thought the Supreme Being had been resurrected… Although this is the Word of Power: Emperor, an extremely special Word of Power that can even affect the First Generation under certain circumstances, who dares to gamble on what he would do with other Words of Power? Furthermore, who dares to gamble on what he would be like in a real hand-to-hand combat…

“Looks like we’ll be walking for a while now. The train crew are all unconscious, and judging by their bloodline, they’ll probably be asleep for days,” Lu Mingfei said casually. “Or you could take on the roles of driver and stoker, and we could walk less.”

"Xia Mi, Xia Mi, Xia Mi! It's me, Xia Mi!" The girl pounded her fist on his chest. "Don't call me that! Don't call me that!"

She couldn't explain why she was so agitated, but those surging emotions, like boiling water, were controlling her thoughts. She felt she should be afraid, that it would be best to stay away from this guy, but she couldn't lie to herself—she was genuinely happy…

It's not just the joy of surviving a disaster.

She tasted the flavor of "trust" for the first time, and it was a sweet flavor.

“Who told you to watch me suffer? I’ve never heard of this place being a place to slay dragons. I thought it was a dragon’s nest.” Lu Mingfei shrugged. “It’s all your fault. You didn’t explain clearly and you even watched me get harassed by Guderian. You’re so mean.”

"Then why do you keep calling my name? I'm terrified," the girl said. "You're the one who's bad; you're the one with bad intentions."

"Alright then, we're even," Lu Mingfei said. "I'm sorry."

"Hmph..." The girl pursed her lips and made a humming sound, which eventually turned into a strange tone.

"Shouldn't you apologize to me too?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"No way!"

“Then get off me. You’re really heavy. You’ve been pressing down on me for five minutes now. I feel like my arm is about to break,” Lu Mingfei repeated. “You’re really heavy.”

The girl then realized that she was still clinging to his side. She had clearly gotten up when she woke up, but in the confusion, she had unconsciously gone back to her original position.

She hurriedly straightened up, humming in protest that she wasn't heavy at all! Her face flushed red, from the base of her neck all the way to her cheeks; perhaps she admitted she really was a little heavy, or perhaps it was for something else...

Lu Mingfei listlessly began to clean up the mess. He asked Xia Mi if she could help him carry the Trash Guy, as they couldn't abandon these people and go to Kassel alone. Xia Mi's disgusted expression wiped away all the blush on her face, leaving only "I choose death."

"Ok."

Lu Mingfei had no choice but to take all the responsibility upon himself. He effortlessly dragged the two men off the train, casually tossing them aside beside the sleepers on the tracks. Then he turned back and carefully carried the doll-like girl on his back. She was fast asleep, taking shallow breaths and exhaling heavily, her platinum eyelashes trembling slightly.

"What a gentleman, carrying someone on his back!" Xia Mi's authentic Forbidden City accent was triggered once again. She said sourly, "I think this girl seems to have fallen for you at first sight. You don't think so too, do you? Having a romantic interest is not advisable, there's a reproductive barrier!"

"This can't be considered love at first sight." Lu Mingfei pursed his lips, then gently adjusted the girl's position on his back, supporting her more steadily. He continued, following Xia Mi's words, which were clearly tinged with resentment, "And so what if there really is reproductive isolation? You know, the power of love is limitless!"

Xia Mi felt so anxious she wanted to jump up and down, but she couldn't say it. She could only vent her anger on the sleepers next to her. She stomped hard on the rails, and the other end of the slammed into Finger's head, making a dull thud.

"Be careful, don't start killing right now," Lu Mingfei warned.

"I was just checking if they were pretending to be asleep. It's all your fault. You kept calling my name and teaching others about the power of words. I had to be careful!" Xia Mi defended herself. She was inexplicably agitated, and her eyes kept darting towards the girl behind Lu Mingfei.

"No, pretending to be asleep isn't that easy."

The boy had a nonchalant confidence. He checked the girl's position one last time, then, dragging the collars of the two men on his left and right, he began to walk slowly. He didn't seem to be struggling at all, as if he were carrying two chicks.

"You like lolis?" Xia Mi asked, almost as if possessed.

"I like mature women, like Chen Motong, right? Of course, I mean in terms of appearance, her personality is too awful."

"I didn't realize that." Xia Mi pursed her lips and shook her head. "I think you're very ruthless towards her. Even if you just like her appearance, you wouldn't be so heartless."

“Because seeing her reminds me of bad things.” Lu Mingfei’s tone finally became a few degrees lower, but then returned to normal. “And who told her to scheme against me? Let me tell you, if you hadn’t been there that day, I would have definitely made her cry.”

"It's good that you remember my kindness." Xia Mi said something incoherent again, then became happy on her own. She seemed a little abnormal now.

Lu Mingfei smiled helplessly, hiding the resentment that had just arisen within him.

She's right. If he hadn't remembered her "kindness," he would have had a hard time facing the hatred and murderous intent in his heart. He had actually already measured the girl's throat with his hand.