vncnus 037. Undercurrents are brewing
037. Undercurrents are brewing
Caesar first met Lu Mingfei on a day of freedom.
The guy had slumped shoulders, hands in his pockets, and an arrogant look on his face. At first, Caesar thought it was just the arrogance of an ignorant person, and felt that this freshman was not worthy of getting involved in the struggle for the throne between the Lionheart Society and the Student Council.
Until that unreasonable repulsive force rose from the ground, blowing him and Chu Zihang away like ripped sacks.
While in mid-air, Caesar saw Lu Mingfei's eyes clearly.
Lu Mingfei looked at them as if they were two idiots slashing at each other with plastic lightsabers.
"That word of power..."
Caesar pondered for a moment, then opened a drawer and took out an encrypted computer. After fingerprint and iris scans were successful, it directly connected to the family headquarters' database.
This is one of the largest databases in the hybrid world, containing all the Words of Power that have appeared in history.
[Dustless Land], [Royal Power], [Mirror Eyes], [Yagito], [Judgment]
From the lowest level of the Word Power system, we can trace it all the way to the very top of the Word Power Periodic Table.
No, there is no match at all.
The screen suddenly flashed, shutting down the search interface and displaying Frost Gattuso's face.
"Caesar," Frost said calmly, "I just received your request on the family intranet to access the 'Omega' level files. Is it for that S-level guy named Lu Mingfei?"
"It seems the Board of Trustees has received the report as well," Caesar said coldly. "Open the files; I need to find a way to break that force field."
"Caesar, your reaction is regrettable. You are behaving like a gladiator who has lost a match in the arena and is crying out for a sharper lance."
"What are you trying to say?"
"My child, you take personal bravery too seriously. Feeling ashamed of losing a duel is the mindset of a gladiator, not an emperor."
"If I can't even defeat him, how can I defeat the Dragon King? How can I win this war?!"
"Use your brains! Use the power and influence accumulated by the Gattuso family over a thousand years!"
Frost said, "We investigated him. He was separated from his parents at a young age and lived with relatives. Reading people's faces was his survival instinct. He had a crush on a girl in his class but felt completely invisible. He was extremely starved for love and craved security."
The old man sneered: "Caesar, as long as a person has desires, they can be put on a price tag."
"He was treated coldly at his aunt and uncle's house? We can hire a lawyer to sue them tomorrow. He likes that girl named Chen Wenwen? The family has countless scenarios to make that girl cry and throw herself into his arms. Whatever he lacks, we'll give him. Once he gets used to the red carpet laid out by the Gattuso family, this sharp knife will obediently be in your hand."
Caesar listened and laughed.
"Caesar, what are you laughing at?" Frost's voice turned somber.
Laughter echoed through the empty office, growing louder and louder.
"What are you laughing at!" Frost frowned.
"I laugh at your pathetic arrogance," Caesar sneered. "Frost, do you really think you can solve everything with a few checks and some cheap honey traps?"
Frost's face turned ashen: "Caesar! Is this your assessment of the family strategy? Your laughable chivalrous idealism will ruin your throne!"
Snapped.
Caesar hung up the phone immediately.
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In the penthouse apartment, Su Enxi bit her nails, making a "click-clack" sound, while staring at the Night Watchers forum.
Wearing a silk bathrobe, Mai Shude irritably wiped her long knife. "Stop biting, Chip Girl, it's getting annoying."
"I haven't been able to contact the boss for a week," Su Enxi said. "He's offline."
"Did you leave any message before logging off?" Mai asked.
"No. But I just discovered that the 'three-no girls' (girls with no connections, no social status, and no family background) have been mobilized." Su Enxi pointed to a popular post on the forum. "Look at this post."
The post title remains eye-catching: "Ragnarok Sequel: The True Face of S-Class Demon King Lu Mingfei! Why is the Ice Queen Taking the Initiative to Fly Towards Her?!"
The first high-resolution image shows Ling and Lu Mingfei walking hand in hand under a tree. The second image shows Ling standing on the steps of the girls' dormitory, wrapping her arms around Lu Mingfei's waist and pressing her face against his chest.
Mai gasped. "Is she under a spell? Or did the boss slip her some kind of adult script before he left?"
"This guy doesn't look like an S-class at all!" Su Enxi pulled up the private photos that Finger had secretly taken. In the photos, the S-class demon king who had just shocked the entire school was wearing a shampooed old man's shirt, sitting cross-legged on the lower bunk, expressionless, holding a cup of hot milk and staring blankly.
"Call Zero," Mai said.
Su Enxi dialed the encrypted frequency band, and the call went through.
"What are you up to?" Su Enxi demanded. "Where's the boss? Why are you engaging in close combat with your target in public?"
"The boss is asleep; we'll listen to him from now on."
Beep beep beep. Zero's gone.
Su Enxi stood there, holding her phone, stunned. "She said she'd listen to that old man who drinks milk from now on."
"Usurpation! This is absolutely treason!" Mai laughed angrily. "Mitsuru usually seems quiet and unassuming, but at this crucial moment, she's pulling a coup! Is she trying to skip the proper procedures and rule from behind the curtain?"
"More than that, judging by her close-knit manner, she's planning to use the emperor to command the nobles!" Su Enxi scoffed. "I never would have guessed, the boss's little darling, she's really good at this. She's climbed to the top so smoothly. Should we all be bowing to her in the group chat from now on?"
The two looked at each other, speechless for a moment.
"Tomorrow is the operation period for the Kuimen Plan," Mai's voice lowered, "Aki will be diving down to Bronze City..."
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Room 303, Zone 1, Kassel College.
"I'm rich! I'm rich! I'm rich!"
Fingel, like a greedy groundhog, stared at the soaring forum currency in the background, his face contorted with laughter.
As the largest gossip hub at Kassel College, the Night Watchers forum completely exploded tonight.
What triggered this cyber earthquake on campus was a series of trending posts pinned to the top by Fingel, using his privileges as the head of the news department: "Ragnarok Sequel: The True Face of S-Class Demon King Lu Mingfei! Why is the Iceberg Loli Taking the Initiative to Fly Towards Her?!"
Fingel was stuffing a hamburger into his mouth while frantically updating:
"According to our reporter's firsthand observation, the two strolled hand-in-hand along the tree-lined path! In the cafeteria, not only did the junior student transform into a perfect wife, personally slicing pork knuckles for an S-class student, but she also displayed a terrifying aura of an empress when approached by strangers, declaring her ownership on the spot!"
"Is this moral decay or the hegemony of bloodlines? Want to see high-definition, uncensored photos of an S-class character and an icy loli embracing passionately outside their dorm? Just pay 5 forum coins!"
Currently, the number of comments on this post has exceeded 5,000, and the private message list has been overwhelmed with messages offering high prices to buy Lu Mingfei's private photos.
On the other side of the dormitory, the S-class demon king, who was rumored on the forum to be like a god descending to earth, was currently wearing a faded old man's shirt, sitting cross-legged on the lower bunk of the iron bed, staring blankly with a cup of hot milk in his hand.
Fingel, quick-witted and agile, snapped a picture of Lu Mingfei's dejected back as he drank milk, using the silent mode.
"Ding, $100 has been credited to your account."
Fingel was so happy he almost fainted.
After finishing the milk Ling had brought him, Lu Mingfei's head throbbed. He pulled out his phone for help: "Old Tang, I have a serious question. If a Russian loli insists on holding your hand, follows you everywhere, and even feeds you regularly, what should you do?"
Old Tang: "Brother."
Old Tang: "It's one thing to fool your brothers outside, but don't fool yourself too. People can have a good laugh online, but when you're lying in bed alone at night, reflecting on reality, who's going to wipe away your tears?"
Lu Mingfei: "I'm serious! They just gave me a cup of hot milk!"
Old Tang: "Call the police immediately! This is a honey trap! It's definitely a transnational criminal gang targeting your kidneys! Mingfei, listen to me, whatever you do, don't drink milk! A kidney can sell for $20,000 on the Chicago black market, don't be foolish!"
A series of exclamation marks popped up on the screen.
"A bunch of idiots."
Nono sat cross-legged on her bed in the girls' dormitory and casually closed the webpages filled with sexually suggestive content.
She walked to the window and pushed open the glass. The late autumn night wind blew in, ruffling her dark red hair.