Lu Mingfei: What? They're all real!

"No, no..." The girl felt her head getting too hot; this wasn't what she expected!

She felt flustered and short of breath, and then blurted out what was on her mind, "What about me? When you invited me to dinner, weren't you planning to invite me to help you achieve your great ambitions?"

Lu Mingfei immediately shook his head, "No, no, how could that be? Why would I invite you? This gang isn't just about eating and drinking. What if we get exposed if I drag you into it?"

That was truly what he thought. He didn't sleep a wink that night, constantly replaying Fingel's words in his mind. Xia's personality was indeed a bit too extroverted, and more importantly, she and Zero always clashed. Although he didn't understand the exact reason behind it, Lu Mingfei felt...

They shouldn't be allowed to meet often, just like two tigresses can't stay on the same mountain.

Of course, lionesses might be able to get along peacefully, but that would be a different kind of relationship...

"Eat up, don't feel pressured. I'm a kind and generous person, I don't ask for anything in return," Lu Mingfei said with a friendly smile.

His reasoning was flawless, and more importantly, it was for Xia Mi's sake, leaving the girl speechless.

But she just wanted to say something.

"But...but..." Xia Mi frantically searched for excuses, then finally, as if grasping at a straw, she grabbed Lu Mingfei's arm and asked urgently, "But if that's the case, what if the future missions—"

"Don't worry, these are two different things. The club is the club, and the mission is the mission." Lu Mingfei waved his hand generously. "Now that we're the club leader, we have the power to recruit members. And if we follow this model, we won't have to talk about how close we are to death. That would be so awkward."

The girl made sobbing noises, but couldn't utter any coherent words.

She felt this shouldn't be happening. How could it be like this? He shouldn't have been so focused on being with his "best friend," and instead, when he needed to recruit more people, he came to the person he trusted most first...

And what's so awkward about that sentence... it's perfectly accurate, isn't it...?

The girl felt downcast, pouting as she looked away. She knew she must look terrible, but she didn't have the right to show it... They didn't even care about her; even if she bit her teeth off, it would only make her look worse...

But when she asked her own heart... she didn't like it this way, in every respect.

She lowered her head in distress, struggling with what to say.

"Um..." Lu Mingfei had somehow gotten close to her and whispered in her ear, "Actually, I was just joking. How could I not invite you?"

The girl slowly raised her eyes.

Lu Mingfei was a man without principles. Seeing the girl's dejected look, he quietly erased what he had written in his heart.

"Now I'm formally inviting you, so please do me the honor of joining me." He cleared his throat, feigning seriousness yet sporting a playful grin. "I can't do anything without you, please, you're so kind and beautiful, you'll definitely say yes, right?"

The girl's dormant heart instantly revived. She stared at the boy's face, paused for a long time, and finally let out a light "humph".

"Well, since you're so sincere, I'll agree." She said cheerfully, the corners of her mouth turning up once again.

Chapter 88 I'll just lie in your arms then.

A few weeks ago, when Lu Mingfei left the Angers office, he expected that he might face a life-or-death situation, but he never expected that he would have to be a nanny, and for two people at that.

"Cold," Ling said shakily, as if to show that she was really cold, she deliberately shivered every part of her body from top to bottom, like a puppy that had just come ashore.

She meant she wanted someone to help her wipe it off.

“Okay…” Lu Mingfei hurried over and handed over the towel.

They were on a fairly large boat, which they rented using the first grant they received.

Ling didn't speak, nor did she reach for the towel, nor did she look at the ginger tea that had been brewed to the side. She just stared into Lu Mingfei's eyes, waiting.

Lu Mingfei knew what she meant; he had been acting as a bodyguard for several days in a row, and now he had to do it again.

He stepped forward and dried the girl's hair, then her neck, and then her back. Luckily, she was wearing a wetsuit, so there was no exposed skin, otherwise Lu Mingfei would have felt like he was being seduced...

"What a useless person, Zero! You can't even solve this little problem. Are you sure you won't become a burden in the future? I advise you to quit as soon as possible and not disrupt our plans." Xia Mi popped her head out of the water and said angrily, blowing bubbles on the surface.

But she seemed more like she was jealous of a certain treatment, which is why she was so angry.

"No." Zero shook her head, her words concise and to the point, focused on enjoying herself and not wanting to get entangled further.

Xia Mi sheepishly emerged from the water and climbed onto the boat. She hated the wet feeling, but had no other choice.

The "Kuimen Project" targets the Kuimen Pass, which blocks the Yangtze River, while their destination lies underwater, making diving essential.

"Are you done? If you're done, wipe me down too, thank you!" She tugged at Lu Mingfei's sleeve, then went to the stern of the boat alone and sat there playing in the water.

Lu Mingfei nodded in agreement. He felt like a parent taking care of children, having to rush from one task to another before finishing one. He had envisioned a simple matter, but things had turned out differently than he expected—

Angers did indeed entrust him with an important task, but not entirely… The headmaster held his hand and earnestly said, “Lu Mingfei, although I personally think highly of you and would love to appoint you outright, we must also abide by the basic principles and gain the respect of the masses.” Lu Mingfei blinked, sensing something was amiss, and quietly asked, “Then how do we gain the respect of the masses?”

The old principal chuckled slyly and said that a professor had accidentally leaked information during the feasibility study phase, and now the student council and the Lionheart Society all knew about the mission that was a matter of honor and wanted to join in. Oh dear, it's infuriating. It would be better to just execute that big-mouthed tenured professor.

Lu Mingfei immediately recognized this as the principal's "catfish tactic," intended to stimulate competition. However, pressured by the need to "make a name for himself," he had no choice but to agree, thus willingly walking into Angers' trap...

He left from Zero's side and came behind Xia Mi.

"Is it really cold?" he asked casually as he began to repeat his work.

"It's cold! It's freezing!" the girl complained pitifully, describing how cold it was underwater, and hugged her own shoulders.

"Serves you right. Who told you to rush into Angers' office with snot and tears streaming down your face?" Lu Mingfei mocked. "You yourself said you didn't want to go there unless absolutely necessary, but you ended up rushing in in the most high-profile way."

"I was just worried he'd make things difficult for you..." the girl retorted stubbornly. "What if something goes wrong, and he forces you to go into the water alone to carry out the mission? Wouldn't that be very dangerous?"

"So you blurted out some nonsense like 'We'll die together' while you were crying? And in front of several tenured professors?"

Lu Mingfei still couldn't get over what happened that day. Sometimes he felt that the despicable Xia Mi did it on purpose, perhaps to get revenge for embarrassing her before.

"Anyway, the result is good, so don't worry about it~" The girl tried to gloss over it by playing dumb and being cute. "Besides, you dragged your crush, Miss Zero, into it in the end, so you must be secretly happy, right?"

"They really dragged me down with them..." Lu Mingfei was taken aback by the lame joke.

He helped the girl dry her hair, whispering to her about the "competition" they would face later. According to Angers, he couldn't be "pre-selected" as a student to carry out the mission. According to past rules, these matters should have been handled by the Executive Department. Breaking the rules always required a reason, and the most universal reason in Kassel was "being stronger."

The current top performers among the young people in the Executive Department are Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya, whom he had met during the interview. They are both rated B. As long as Lu Mingfei can prove that he and his companions are stronger than them, he can shut others up. However, the competition cannot be limited to them and the Executive Department. The Student Council and the Lionheart Society will inevitably join in, thus turning it into a competition involving many parties.

Lu Mingfei wasn't afraid of the "diving competition" at all. Not to mention that he was originally good at swimming and diving, even if he were thrown into a cement barrel and sunk into Tokyo Bay by the Japanese yakuza, he would never drown. Water and wind, like other elements, would obediently follow his commands.

Xia Mi was casually kicking his feet in the water, splashing water here and there. He sat next to the girl, his legs stretched out. Actually, his legs were a bit longer than the girl's, but they didn't get wet at all.

The water seemed to have its own consciousness, obediently avoiding his body. It wasn't even the kind of sphere forced apart by a vacuum. On the surface, his legs appeared to be completely submerged in the water, but when he pulled his legs back, not a single drop of water remained on his trousers.

They are now on Lake Michigan, near Chicago. It is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and has a water volume equivalent to more than nine thousand West Lakes, almost like the sea. To create such an ingenious flow on such a lake is not something that can be done by brute force. It is as if he is communicating with the water.

"That's really amazing." The girl sincerely praised him. Such skillful manipulation wasn't earth-shattering, but it was still incredibly ingenious. She nudged Lu Mingfei's shoulder and said, "Every time I see it, I feel like you're too incredible. You wouldn't actually be related to those two guys in the water, would you?"

“I was born to my mother,” Lu Mingfei said.

"Ugh~" She pushed his shoulder hard, then sighed, "It's a pity such exquisite skills have to be kept hidden. At best, I can only use them cautiously. It would be troublesome if those guys found out. Sigh... Otherwise, I wouldn't want to work so hard. I could just lie in your arms when the time comes~"

As she said this, she glanced at the boy's face beside her. Seeing that he didn't react at all, she secretly sneered to herself.

"So work hard! If you can't beat the other competitors, you'll have to say goodbye to your dream treasure hunt!" Lu Mingfei encouraged the girl.

"As if you're so naive. What's with Angers saying he'd help you find someone if you behave well?" the girl chimed in. "Still thinking about that girl who looks just like Chen Motong? Stop making excuses. If you have a crush on Chen Motong, just say so!"

The two were bickering as usual. Ling, who was at the bow of the boat, sighed softly, jumped into the water again, swam to the stern, and suddenly emerged from the water like a water monster, startling the two of them.

Chapter 89 Risking His Comrades' Lives

The day of the "competition" arrived quickly.

Standing on the shore, von Schneider announced the precautions for the competition assessment, including the calculation method of the scores and the possible safety risks. He looked very unhappy, perhaps because the executive department he was in charge of was now being overshadowed by the young people, or perhaps because he was a tough guy and didn't like to keep talking about "safety" in front of the battlefield.

Who goes to war without getting hurt?

"I'm really looking forward to our first encounter." Ignoring the authority of the professor and the head of the executive department, Caesar approached Lu Mingfei. He always looked radiant and exuded an aura when he spoke.

He said, "I originally planned to extend a third invitation to you, but I didn't expect you to have ulterior motives—"

“You should use ‘ambition’ with a derogatory connotation, ‘having lofty aspirations’ and ‘having ulterior motives’. It makes me sound like a coward…” Lu Mingfei corrected his grammatical error.

Caesar chuckled softly, showing no intention of correcting himself, and continued, “Now is a good opportunity to prove yourself. I look forward to your performance. Before we begin, I can tell you my best results in advance: my best underwater breath-holding time is 25 minutes, and my maximum diving depth is 120 meters.”

This data far exceeds the world record.

Mixed-race individuals possess physical abilities far superior to world-class athletes, but this is never revealed in the open. They always hide their abilities, consistently leading world record holders by a significant margin in various events.

But even among hybrids, according to the data Caesar mentioned, they are definitely among the best.

"Awesome!" Lu Mingfei gave a thumbs up.

"Ha ha!" Brother Caesar seemed to be a man who couldn't take praise too much; he laughed loudly and passionately.

The laughter attracted another competitor.

"I'm also looking forward to seeing how you perform." Chu Zihang adjusted his diving suit and walked over expressionlessly.

So the old rivals and the new rivals formed a triangle.

Caesar raised his hands, pointing to the two men on either side, and loudly announced that he would defeat all his competitors here today. Chu Zihang, on the other hand, simply asked Lu Mingfei if his training was adequate, and if he really couldn't hold on, he could pull on the rope that was lowering him down, and someone would pull him up. Lu Mingfei was deeply moved, clasped his hands in gratitude, and stepped forward to take Chu Zihang's hand, praising him with tears of gratitude as a fellow alumnus.

The three people huddled together, chattering away, completely ignoring Schneider, the executive director with a horrifying scar on his face. Schneider stopped talking, slowly walked over to the group, and fixed his deathly gaze on the three of them.

"If anyone still doesn't pay attention to the rules, I can hardly guarantee that there won't be any casualties in this exercise." Schneider almost exhaled a chill from his mouth.

He wasn't joking. Soon, through his cold words, the three men understood the core meaning of this competition—leveling.

Since the unknown and important "mission" is linked to diving, and according to the professors' survey, in some places, the extreme conditions may require diving to about 300 meters. Since the actual situation of the mission cannot be predicted, the longer the diving time, the better.

In addition, the underwater conditions are complex, and even with scuba gear, it is difficult to guarantee safety and stability. Therefore, before the actual dive, we will proceed as if we were in a state without any equipment assistance. So we also need to test the breath-holding time without diving equipment.

The professors concluded that depth and time were equally important and that the final score would be calculated by multiplying the score for descent distance by the score for breath-holding time.

But that's not all; there's another class—the partner.

Underwater missions require collaboration among multiple personnel and a comprehensive consideration of team compatibility. Therefore, an additional layer of personnel scores is added. As a result, the scores that could have been easily calculated become extremely fragile after multiple multiplication zones are added – any problem in any link can lead to a precipitous drop in scores.

If someone wants to risk their life to get this honor, then they really need to risk their life, and not only their own, but also that of their teammates.

Caesar's expression turned solemn as he turned back to begin final discussions with his carefully selected team members.

Chu Zihang didn't react much, simply because he was naturally expressionless. He quickly returned to Susie and Lancelot's side and whispered something to them.

Lu Mingfei wanted to discuss it with his partner, but Xia Mi and Ling started arguing again. Xia Mi said, "Did you hear that? People will die. Why don't you just give up?" Ling shook her head and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but if you explode later, I'll carry you ashore."

The two girls chattered and bickered until Schneider announced, "Ready—".

The three groups of people were far apart, each standing on one of the three boats to avoid disturbing each other, or to put it bluntly, to avoid attacking each other... Half-bloods are not rule-abiding creatures. If classified according to Harry Potter's school hat, probably eight out of ten would be sent to Azkaban and become classmates with Voldemort in the future.

Therefore, it is essential to prevent their aggressive or even bloodthirsty instincts from being triggered, as these instincts are most easily aroused in competition.

"Fortunately, we rarely see students who possess the power of the Sea and Water King's Words of Power," Mans remarked, standing atop the ship at the center of the three points.

"It's more of an unfortunate situation. If it were, we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble," Schneider said coldly, pressing the stopwatch's timing button and raising his hand to signal.

Upon receiving the signal, each of the three groups raised their hands in response and then prepared to enter the water.

The Caesar group chose the step-in approach to the water. The three of them stood on the shore, took one step forward, leaned forward, then protected their faces with their arms, spread their legs apart, and slammed their bodies into the water at an angle. The whole process was extremely elegant. It is said that he sailed around the Mediterranean when he was fifteen years old, and water was a very familiar friend to him.

Chu Zihang and his vice presidents employed a highly efficient method: they stood on the side of the boat, leaned forward, crossed their hands in front of their foreheads, and then leaped in headfirst, their bodies sliding into the water. The whole process was swift and efficient.

Schneider nodded slightly, satisfied with his star pupil's performance. He then patted Ye Sheng on the shoulder, who was standing next to him, and told the young aces of the executive department to begin the operation.

Ye Sheng and Jiu Deya had clearly trained for this for a long time. Their movements were synchronized and neat. The two checked each other's diving suits and then jumped into the water in a tacit and harmonious manner.

Next, Schneider finally turned his attention to the hidden protagonist of this competition, as Principal Angers instructed him to pay close attention to Lu Mingfei's every move—

Lu Mingfei picked up a huge rock.

Stone?

Schneider's icy expression faltered. He opened his eyes wide and then watched as the two girls next to Lu Mingfei clung to his side. During this time, they seemed to be muttering something. As a result, Lu Mingfei, who was in the lead, lost his footing, and the three of them fell off the side of the boat, creating a huge splash like a torpedo.

Schneider felt the water splash on his face, even though they were more than ten meters away...

Chapter 90 They were probably planning to commit suicide together.

Schneider stood there, frowning.

In essence, holding a rock is not cheating at all; it's even a way of actively increasing your own intensity.

For anyone, even those of mixed race, the most important thing to control during a dive is the speed of descent. Pressure is the most terrifying danger in diving. If you descend too fast, the first nightmare you will encounter is ear pressure imbalance, and eardrum perforation is common. Then comes lung compression, in which case alveolar hemorrhage is practically a daily occurrence.

Not to mention the risks of vestibular dysfunction and extreme falls. The former is cognitive dissonance caused by inner ear pressure, while the latter can cause a person to rapidly pass the neutral buoyancy point and plummet to the bottom.

Schneider suddenly understood Lu Mingfei's plan. Just seconds before, he had wondered if this freshman's diving skills were lacking, which was why he needed a rock for assistance. But he didn't think the person the principal favored was so mediocre, so he felt...

Lu Mingfei probably wanted to take the risk and reach the bottom of the lake quickly, to be the first to achieve the greatest diving depth. He didn't want to test his limits; he was heading straight for the bottom.

The cold man curled his lips into a smile. He found it quite interesting, and he was suddenly looking forward to seeing how this new student would perform.

……