Dragon Clan: Thought So Far.

Ling sat on the smooth pebbles beside the jumping campfire, the crackling and exploding red-hot charcoal reflected in his platinum pupils.

From far away, fog was drifting over like a tide, and white swans in the fog spread their wings, stretched their necks, and looked into the distance towards the horizon.

In the hot spring, Constantine had already successfully integrated the games between Nono and Xia Mi, which were actually a bit boring. Eri would never find a game boring because her life had only been underestimated.

"What are you thinking about?" Lu Mingfei squatted down beside Ling. He was wearing a hunting suit with gold thread trim, a faded pen hung on his chest, and his hair was lifted up, revealing his entire face. Perhaps because he had been hanging out with his junior sister in a bikini not long ago, he was quite excited at the moment.

Ling tilted his head to look at this guy, and the frequency of his heartbeat in his chest was unbalanced for a moment.

Fortunately, this girl is someone who can keep her thoughts to herself, no matter when she was called Little Renata or now when she has been given the nickname Zero.

"Nothing." Ling shook his head. "You changed your hairstyle?"

"No, my hair is wet and sticking to my forehead, which is uncomfortable." When Lu Mingfei said this, Ling actually saw water drops hanging from his lifted hair.

"Looking at it this way, he looks much more energetic, not like a child anymore." Ling hugged his knees with his hands, turned his head back and stared at the flames in a daze.

"You say that like an older sister..." Lu Mingfei was a little embarrassed. He stretched out his hands above the flames, and wisps of white steam slowly rose from his palms with distinct joints.

"Yeah." Zero said.

Sometimes it's really tiring to talk to this girl. Lu Mingfei sighed quietly, fumbled out an exquisite little box from behind and handed it to Ling.

"What?" There was no confusion on Ling's face, he was still as calm as a piece of ice on the cold lake.

"Gifts. I brought the same gifts for them all, and of course I will bring one for you as well." Lu Mingfei said, opening the box in front of Ling and showing her what was inside.

"I don't know if you like it or not, but I think maybe you Russians like this kind of thing..."

There was a porcelain doll inside. Although it looked a little different from the two that Eri and Xia Mi got, it was still recognizable as a Q version of Lu Mingfei from its expression and facial features.

Ling was stunned for a moment and lowered his head so that Lu Mingfei could not see his eyes.

“It’s actually a nesting doll, look—” Lu Mingfei held the porcelain doll in his hand and opened it along the opening in the middle. There was actually a smaller porcelain doll inside, round and plump, wearing a camel-colored coat, with long platinum hair tied into a high bun on its head, and eyes wide open, making it look like a chubby penguin.

But looking at the platinum hair, Ling recognized that it was himself at a glance.

She held the two porcelain dolls in her left and right hands respectively, turned her head away and said calmly, "Well, it's okay."

But where Lu Mingfei couldn’t see, the girl’s thin and beautiful lips were slightly pursed and curled upwards, and a fleeting joy flashed across her cold and indifferent little face.

"What kind of reaction is 'Oh, that's good'? I thought you would be happier." Lu Mingfei also looked at the jumping bonfire flames. There was a small iron pot placed above it, and the fragrant coffee was bubbling in the pot.

"Ever since my senior sister and I went to Umezuji Town, you've been in a low mood. I thought it was because you felt that I didn't bring you a gift."

"Yeah." Zero said.

Lu Mingfei was stunned for a moment, then turned to look into the eyes of the girl beside him, but Ling was still hugging her knees and staring at the flames, with no emotion visible in her platinum pupils.

"Actually, I'm very happy, but I just don't know how to express it." Ling said lightly.

A piece of charcoal exploded and jumped out of the flames, then rolled over at Lu Mingfei's feet and lay in the puddles covered with a layer of broken ice. Lu Mingfei looked steadily into Ling's eyes.

"No one ever gave me a gift just because I was a girl or because I was his friend," Zero said. "Even in Moscow, some big shots would come to visit me, the representative of the Romanov family and the owners of the Romanov family's wealth, carrying Fabergé Easter eggs or Cadillac jewel necklaces. But all they could see was greed."

“Because no one will be nice to you for no reason. In the final analysis, all the ties between people are a transaction that has already been clearly priced in secret.” Lu Mingfei’s heart moved slightly after he finished speaking.

That doesn't seem like something he would say...

With such a cold truth of this world, it seemed as if the devil was controlling his vocal cords to make these declarations that made people despair.

"Some people give you Fabergé eggs, but what they really want may be the Romanov family's logging business in Siberia. Some people give you Cadillac jewel necklaces, but what they want from you may be the entire Ukrainian arms trade. The adult world is not simple like this."

"What about you, Lu Mingfei." Ling clasped his hands together and placed them under his chin. In the firelight, the glaze color that shone through the gaps between his slender fingers glowed with a flickering glow.

"What do you want from me?" She looked at Lu Mingfei with squinted eyes, her smooth and beautiful face cold and indifferent.

However, Lu Mingfei was very familiar with Ling. He knew that this girl was not as calm as she appeared to be. At least from the blush on the tip of her ear, it could be seen that Ling was probably a little flustered.

There are indeed many suitors for Her Royal Highness the Princess in Kassel Academy, but even an outstanding A-level junior who comes from a top mixed-blood family in Portugal has returned empty-handed. Everyone is guessing who will eventually win the heart of this beautiful girl from Moscow. At the same time, the suitors are also very sad and wish they could cut the lucky guy into pieces.

If these brothers saw the subtle coquettishness and arrogance on Miss Ling's face at this moment, they would probably hate Lu Mingfei with gnashing teeth.

"It's nothing. I think you are very nice to me. You are willing to dance with me and buy me roasted sweet potatoes. I will be nice to people who are nice to me." Lu Mingfei shrugged.

"Thank you." Zero said.

"Thank you too." Lu Mingfei said.

"Though I don't actually know what dancing means."

Lu Mingfei opened his mouth and said nothing. He just reached out and touched the ends of Ling's soft and beautiful long hair.

In this world, Caesar had no chance to invite Lu Mingfei to join the Student Union in public, because at that time, Boss Lu crushed Master Gattuso's pride on Free Day with his genuine S-level bloodline, and quickly established the Dragon Blood Society with the best freshmen of that year as its core.

It is also unlikely that he would invite all the student union cadres and the college's influential figures to a grand dance at Norton Hall to help Nono hold a birthday party.

All the past events that Lu Mingfei still remembered had vanished into thin air, and in the desolate city of fate, only a cowardly, timid and unlucky child like him was left wandering alone.

"But if you want, we can dance together anytime," Zero said softly.

She quietly turned her gaze from the fire to the man beside her and looked at Lu Mingfei, with her face raised. Her small face was white, with light and fire flowing on it, which reminded people of the Arctic poppies blooming in the sunset glow, so beautiful that it made people's hearts tremble.

The wind blew up from the lake, causing Ling's hair to sway slightly.

The girl pursed her lips slightly, as if she had made up her mind not to look away, to gain the upper hand in this mutual gaze that was clearly neither a duel nor a competition.

Until Lu Mingfei reached out and touched the top of her head.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You look a lot like a friend of mine. Sometimes when you stand next to me I feel like I'm seeing him again."

"You are nice to me and willing to get close to me because I look like him?"

"No." Ling said. She looked at Lu Mingfei's face and was suddenly surprised to find that this guy actually looked like an adult. His eyebrows were like distant mountains and his eyes were like the edge of an abyss. Looking into those eyes seemed to sink into them.

Normally, Lu Mingfei would look a little gloomy with his drooping hair, but now he actually looks... good-looking.

"Because I think you are like a puppy sometimes, and I like puppies very much." Ling lowered his eyes, and there was clearly not much emotion hidden in his words, but Lu Mingfei just heard it as perfunctory.

"Are we really alike?" he asked.

"Not really. You are gentler and more...kind." Ling replied. She wrapped the porcelain doll up carefully and put it back into the small box. She put the small box close to her body, then put on huge heat-proof gloves to take out the small pot and poured a cup of hot coffee for herself and Lu Mingfei.

The aroma of coffee filled her face, and the curl of white steam hung in front of her tall and slender nose. She uttered a low sigh of admiration, and a second of joy appeared on her plain white little face.

Lu Mingfei knew that Ling was actually talking about Lu Mingze, but they rarely talked about this topic, including how Ling and the little devil knew each other, what kind of person Lu Mingze was, or whether Lu Mingfei himself only found out at the end that he was the little devil and the little devil was himself...

Maybe Zero knows the truth about some things, but is the truth really that important?

After all, even though Lu Mingfei has grown into the man he is today, able to wield a steel sword and wave it at God, there is still a wetland called cowardice in his heart. There are always boys crying in the wetland, which is the cry of the cowardly soul under the hard mask.

Once the truth is spoken out, it loses its purpose. Lu Mingfei knew that he could not lose his purpose.

He still has a lot to do.

"You should know that EVA has issued an executive mission to all specialists in Japan. This is the largest group mission that Kassel Academy has undertaken in recent years." Zero said.

The executive department of Kassel College was born out of the hunting team of the secret party. Normally, they are just a secret force operating in the dark. But now, this violent organization that obeys both the board of directors and the principal has completely awakened.

Professor Schneider, President Ange, and a few other school directors including Mr. Frost have already appeared in Japan. Even those powerful elders who have been active in the dragon-slaying battlefield for hundreds of years have a tendency to go to Japan.

Such a big move means that the war between Kassel Academy and the entire Japanese mixed-blood race has begun.

Eva's task for the commissioners in Japan and the combat-capable undergraduates was to gather nearby and carry out a devastating cleanup of the nearby Sheqi Eight Family and Menggui Clan's residences in small groups. Fortunately, the influence of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights was not limited to the general society of ordinary people. It also had a huge impact on the half-blood black-bellied elements of Kassel College, which had been reorganized from the Secret Party. The violent maniacs headed by the principal conducted a profound review and reflection on their past actions, and added many regulations to protect human rights in the action plan against the hostile half-bloods.

The most important rule is "do not use words or lethal weapons before your life is threatened." Although the Snake Eight Clan and the Oni Clan are all crazy people, most of them are still afraid of Ange, so they are not so brave to kill him when facing the attack on the academy.

This saved many lives.

"According to the mission instructions, we should be assigned to the same temporary team and, under the leadership of the person with the highest bloodline authority in this team, clear out the members of the Snake Eight Families and the Menggui Clan in this vicinity." Ling said.

"The holographic map Eva sent us did not mark any valuable targets." Lu Mingfei said, "And my authority is S-level. I have the right to refuse to carry out ordinary tasks of the Execution Department, and I also have the right to help you refuse to carry out the tasks."

Zero nodded.

S-level is a special privileged class in Kassel College. Historically, students who have reached S-level authority due to their bloodline have always been an important political force in the college during their undergraduate studies. Sometimes, what these people say is even more effective than that of the board of directors.

"Are you planning to send Eri out of Japan before Christmas?" Zero suddenly asked.

Lu Mingfei's fingers trembled unexpectedly, and the coffee in the cup spilled out.

"As expected of science students who graduated from the Department of Alchemy and Mechanics, you and Chu Zihang both have terribly strange brain circuits."

Lu Mingfei sighed, "Not just Eri, everyone who comes to Hokkaido this time, except me, must leave Japan before Christmas."

"You made the decision for me?" Sitting in front of the campfire and drinking hot coffee, Ling felt that the coldness in her body had been dispelled a little. But she didn't know whether this feeling was because of the warmth of the fire and coffee, or because Lu Mingfei didn't forget to bring her a gift.

She opened the collar of her coat, and Lu Mingfei saw that the girl was only wearing a white velvet low-necked T-shirt under her coat. Under the T-shirt, she was probably wearing the beautiful swimsuit that almost gave Lu Mingfei a nosebleed.

Although Ling is not tall, he is well-developed and has cold white skin. At this moment, he is braiding his blonde hair, which is so light in color that it is almost pure white, and then tying it into a bun on top of his head.

She tilted her long neck, her whole body as plain as an ice sculpture, and was looking at Lu Mingfei coldly.

"I would be very worried if you stayed in Japan."

"Am I also among the people you are worried about?"

"Yeah." Lu Mingfei nodded and said seriously, "No one has ever been nice to me before, but you are the only one who is nice to me."

"I will treat you well in the future." Lingye nodded. She placed her hand on Lu Mingfei's chest, as if she was signing a contract. "So you must survive."

"Okay." Lu Mingfei pressed the slightly cold and soft hand against his heart, and the contract was successfully concluded.

The two looked at each other and suddenly laughed for no reason.

After the laughter was over, Ling asked again: "You are going to send us away on Henkel's ship, right?"

Lu Mingfei was choked.

Except for Nono, no one else probably knows how Lu Mingfei's plan to send Eri out of Japan should be implemented.

The fewer people who know, the lower the risk of exposure.

It’s not that Lu Mingfei doesn’t trust the people around him, but since even God can become their enemy, then what else is impossible?
"Don't get me wrong. The business dealings between the Henkel family and the Romanov family are very frequent. The leader of the North American mixed-race knows that you and I are together, and he has invited us to attend the party in Sapporo tomorrow night." Zero hesitated.
"It should be a business dance. If you want, we can go together. If not..."

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?" Lu Mingfei tilted his head to look into the girl's eyes.

There was no expression in those eyes, but they were sparkling.
-
“It feels like being in Chicago.”

As he said this, Lu Mingfei looked back at the corridor he passed through when he entered this luxurious hotel.

At the end of the corridor is the dim skylight and the towering gray walls of skyscrapers on both sides of the road. The surface of the limestone is peeling like the hair of an old man eroded by time.

The rusty steel street lamps stand under the buildings, like old but loyal guards firmly defending the glory of the city.

It is indeed like Chicago's Pennsylvania Road that has fallen into decline after its golden age. At the end of that road is the Chicago Opera House, and at the end of this road is the low-key yet luxurious Sapporo Keio Hotel hidden in a corner of the city. It is a sister property of the Sapporo Keio Plaza Hotel in the city center, and both are assets of Henkel.

Hokkaido is a barren land. The Snake Eight Clan and the Demon Clan are unwilling to come here, so the North American hybrids took advantage of it.

The North American hybrids, who were more like businessmen than warriors, had been active in this generation since the 1970s and once controlled the largest coal mines on the Pacific Coast. But now those mines have been abandoned, leaving only bare railroad tracks and huge, desolate mines.

Lu Mingfei said this place was like Chicago because he didn't even see a single Japanese person nearby. They were all white-skinned, blue-eyed or gray-eyed Anglo-Germans. On the contrary, Lu Mingfei with his East Asian face and Ling, a petite Slavic girl, seemed a bit out of place.

"Because Henkel's home is in Chicago, so wherever he goes, he decorates the place to look like Chicago." Ling was standing next to Lu Mingfei.

She was wearing a crimson silk evening gown with thin straps. The hem of the skirt covered her feet. Long silk gloves of the same color covered her upper arms, and on her slender wrists she wore an elegant watch with a thin chain.

In order to attend this ball that may involve billions of dollars of business, Ling dressed up and even wore ten-centimeter stiletto heels. Although she was still cute and lovely like a snuggling bird when walking beside Lu Mingfei, the aura of the queen had already begun to spread outward.

Lu Mingfei took the princess' arm and glanced around casually.

Hen Gao also told him that he wanted to hold a dance here. Firstly, it would allow the outstanding North American talents to get to know the most outstanding young people of the time. Secondly, there were some things he wanted to ask Lu Mingfei in person.

So even if Ling hadn't invited him to come, Lu Mingfei would have come over.

The decoration of this hotel is luxurious. The light green tulip-patterned carpet covers every inch of the floor. The walls are hung with original works of world-famous painters. There are even marble statues standing on both sides of the corridor. They are all world-class politicians, from China, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom...

A magnificent crystal chandelier hangs from the fifty-foot-high dome, like an inverted crystal pagoda.

As soon as he was led into the ballroom, Lu Mingfei immediately confirmed that this was indeed Hen Gao's work.

The flow of people with fragrant clothes and beautiful hair is endless.

The waiters were dressed in black evening gowns, spoke standard English, French and Chinese, and moved lightly through the crowd like nimble fish. In the middle of the dance floor, an old-fashioned-looking jazz band was playing a lazy romance.

A hunchbacked old man noticed that Lu Mingfei and Ling had entered the main venue, and immediately came over with a smile on his face.

"Long time no see, Mr. Hen Gao!" Lu Mingfei hugged the old man warmly. (End of this chapter)