The Regent Hotel.
This was the staging ground for Chu Zihang's dragon-slaying team.
As a brilliant, analytical student of the sciences, Chu Zihang had spent every moment since checking in collecting seismic data from across the city. His goal was to calculate the exact location where the Dragon King would undergo its resurrection.
And now, he had succeeded. The newly acquired data points all converged on a single location:
The subway station.
He slung the black case containing the Seven Deadly Sins, the set of alchemical blades, over his shoulder and set off toward his destination without hesitation.
Xia Mi had invited him to a lunch banquet at her home tomorrow at noon. The rain was pouring down in sheets as he opened his umbrella. He might still make it in time, provided he survived the night.
Chu Zihang did not fear death, but if he had to choose, he would have preferred to die on that rainy elevated highway years ago.
…
Meanwhile, in a high-rise luxury suite, a young woman in a white t-shirt and light blue jeans was munching on potato chips. She glanced at her breathtakingly beautiful companion.
"The Boss has vanished. Are you sure what we're doing still matters?"
"Of course. You've already sent the data to Chu Zihang, haven't you?" Mai Sakatoku said, tying up her waterfall of black hair. "Everything is proceeding according to the Boss's wishes, if we're treating them as a final request."
The image of that middle-aged man flickered in her mind.
The being who called himself the Elder. He had spared her in the Ice Cellar and inquired about their plans before leaving. He had said she was still "useful," and that time was likely now. Perhaps this was also the Elder's intent.
They had no reason not to follow through. They would complete every detail of the plan the Boss had laid out before his disappearance.
"Seriously though, why is everyone's gaze fixed on that loser?" Su Enxi, the "Potato Chip Girl," asked while chewing loudly. "It's like everyone wants a piece of him. But what does a guy like that have that's worth taking?"
"The Boss, Angers, even this mysterious Elder who popped out of nowhere..." She spread her arms in confusion.
Mai remained silent for a moment. "If someone is worth betting on, they must have value. No one can guess what the 'Big Players' are thinking."
She murmured, "But you're right about one thing, Chip Girl. Everyone seems to want something from that loser Lu Mingfei."
"Even the Elder is no exception."
"Get what? Hey, that guy can swat you away like a fly and turn Parsi Gattuso into a cripple with one hand. What could Lu Mingfei possibly have that a being like that would covet?"
"Who knows? Regardless, our mission is just to be good spectators." Mai curled her lip and turned her gaze back to the computer screen.
Tonight was destined to be extraordinary.
…
Chen Motong had vanished into the city without a trace. Caesar tried calling her, but her phone was off. He posted a bounty online: anyone who could find the girl in the red Ferrari would receive an immediate reward.
Eventually, a lucky soul claimed the prize.
The photo sent to Caesar showed the bright red Ferrari parked outside a Station for Subway Line 1, sitting lonely by the roadside.
Caesar didn't hesitate. NoNo was an impulsive girl; it wasn't beneath her to suddenly decide she wanted to try the subway because she was bored of driving.
However, Caesar glanced at his watch. At this hour, all subway lines should have ceased operation. Without another thought, he sprinted toward the station.
Just as he felt in his heart: even if the world ended in the next moment, he would deliver his romantic proposal to this red-haired "witch" and present her with the diamond ring.
All eyes were converging on a single point in this city.
Legend says Fate spins the threads of destiny, and occasionally, those threads tangle at a specific juncture, knotting the lives of everyone together. Whether by chance or by some external force, those threads of fate were now entwined.
The gaze of the world met at one place.
…
"The King's arrival requires witnesses."
Deep within the subway station, floating amidst the dark shadows, Zoran spoke to the old man on his phone screen.
"So, you've confirmed the location of the King of Earth and Mountains' resurrection? I see all my students racing toward you," Hilbert Jean Angers said, sipping red wine. They were on a video call.
"Indeed," Zoran smiled.
Angers noted the expression. If he remembered correctly, this was the first time the man had smiled in his presence. What could possibly bring joy to the Elder?
"The King's arrival requires witnesses... Are you referring to Lu Mingfei?" Angers asked.
Zoran's lips curled slightly, his figure flickering in and out of the strobing lights. "Yes, and no," he replied cryptically.
"So, what am I about to see? My student, Lu Mingfei, transforming into a real dragon to slaughter these pretenders? Is that what you promised to show me?"
He remembered Zoran mentioning "Real Dragons." If he was to see one, it had to be now.
However, Zoran merely maintained his smile. "Yes, and no."
Angers couldn't pin him down. Clearly, he wasn't in the mood for riddles while a Dragon King was about to wake up.
The video call remained active. The phone Angers had gifted him drifted silently through the air, following Zoran's footsteps. Logically, the signal in the subway should have been non-existent, yet the video feed didn't flicker once.
By now, every "qualified" spectator had entered the station. This was a Nibelungen, the mythical land of the dead, the realm of a Dragon King.
…
On the other side of the tracks, Lu Mingfei watched the train depart into the tunnel.
He hopped down from the platform and began walking along the wooden sleepers in the direction the train had gone. By the time he realized he couldn't find Zhao Menghua just by shouting, it was already too late.
He couldn't go back.
As he explored deeper, it felt as if he had stepped into the previous century. Everything suggested he was no longer in the world he knew. He had no choice but to keep moving.
Perhaps there was one other way.
He scrolled through his contacts until he found the friend with the dark purple crescent moon icon. With trembling hands, he hit the call button.
He hadn't expected it to work, as the signal was terrible, and he was a broke student who hadn't even paid his phone bill. But to his shock, the call connected.
"Professor Tso Lan! I'm trapped in the subway station! Help!" he yelled into the phone, terrified.
"Keep walking forward, Lu Mingfei," Zoran's calm, elegant voice came from the other end.
"Forward?" Lu Mingfei repeated.
"Have you forgotten? You possess power. Or has your history of failure robbed you of your confidence? Also, I asked Angers for your number and paid your bill for you."
Lu Mingfei gripped the phone tight. The man seemed to have anticipated his exact predicament. That initial impression of him as a "reliable adult" wasn't just for show.
He did have power.
But he always seemed to forget. He had already made a deal with Zoran.
He just had a bit of PTSD. The cost of a deal with the "Little Devil," Lu Mingze, was never cheap, while Zoran's price was something called "Faith."
While he could joke and ask what the heck "Faith" was and if it was even edible, in moments of crisis, he was always afraid. Could he actually afford the price of that "Faith"?
The Little Devil always threatened him, making the "life" traded as payment sound so heavy. Meanwhile, the fire he had received from Zoran felt light as a feather.
But... sometimes, the things that feel as light as a feather carry a weight far heavier than a mountain.
He understood that truth now.
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