Chapter 177 Investigation
Ange looked solemnly at Lu Mingfei who was sitting in the chair in front of him. At this moment, Lu Mingfei did not look like a monster at all. Instead, he looked like a young politician in a suit and tie. He did not expect that even a nuclear explosion could not kill Lu Mingfei.
"Principal, you can go back now." Lu Mingfei said to Ange, who had been silent since he entered his office.
"What exactly do you want to do?" Angé never figured out the specific purpose of Lu Mingfei's coming to Japan.
Lu Mingfei smiled slightly, as if he had heard a very ordinary question. He raised his hand to adjust the tie at his collar, his movements were slow and calm, totally unlike someone who had just experienced a doomsday battle. His golden pupils had long since faded, and his dark eyes were filled with unfathomable emotions, just like his calm and composed demeanor, making it hard to understand.
"Principal, what I want is never something you can understand." Lu Mingfei's tone was flat, even with a hint of understatement.
Ange frowned, his eyes were still sharp, as if he wanted to see through Lu Mingfei, "Lu Mingfei, no matter what you do, after all, you were a student of Kassel College before, we will not easily stand against you, but the premise is that you must let us know your true purpose."
Lu Mingfei raised his eyes and looked at Ange for a moment, then lowered his head slightly, as if he was laughing, or perhaps it was a meaningful sigh.
“Purpose?” He repeated the word in a low voice, his tone revealing a hint of self-mockery and complexity. “Principal, if you must give me a purpose, then perhaps it can be considered… to stay alive.”
Ange frowned. This answer was obviously not what he expected. He stared at Lu Mingfei, trying to find more clues from his expression and tone.
"Stay alive?" Ange repeated in a low voice, his tone full of confusion, "You are already alive, and you are stronger than anyone else, why do you still want to make this your goal?"
“Powerful?” Lu Mingfei sneered and looked up at Ange, his eyes showing a barely perceptible fatigue and coldness. “Principal, you are wrong. I have never been powerful. It was never me who was powerful, but the things behind me that pushed me forward—fate, choice, or some kind of power that you cannot understand.”
He paused and turned his gaze to the window again. The ruins of Tokyo were vaguely visible, and there were still faint embers burning in the sky.
"Principal, you keep asking me what I want to do, but before that, ask yourself, what else can you do after this war?" Lu Mingfei's tone suddenly became sharp. "The dragon race has never been completely wiped out, and the conflict between humans and dragons will not end because of this. You have spent thousands of years trying to maintain balance by hunting, but do you really understand the nature of this war?"
Ange frowned, he could not refute Lu Mingfei's words, because these doubts had lingered in his mind countless times. He knew that Kassel Academy's dragon hunting was just a means of fighting violence with violence, not a real solution. Even if the dragons were destroyed, conflicts between the hybrids and humans would surely break out again.
"Are you saying that humans cannot defeat dragons?" Angé asked in a low voice, with a hint of temptation in his voice.
"It's not that we can't defeat them, but that we can't avoid them." Lu Mingfei answered without hesitation, "The dragon race is a part of this world. Like humans, they are a product of this world. Even if you kill them once, they will come back in other forms."
Ange did not answer immediately. His eyes were still sharp, but more complicated. He looked at Lu Mingfei, trying to find the answer in the eyes of this young man, but Lu Mingfei's eyes were like an abyss that made it impossible to see through.
"Lu Mingfei," Ange's voice was low and solemn, "No matter how powerful you are now, no matter what kind of existence you want to be between humans and dragons, remember one thing, you are still a member of the human race."
Lu Mingfei was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then smiled, but there was a hint of fatigue and irony in that smile.
"A member of the human race..." He murmured, as if talking to himself, "Perhaps, but even if I am a member of the human race, I cannot, like you, pin my hopes on a victory that is doomed to fail. Principal, the era of dragon slayers may be over."
Ange's eyes trembled slightly, but he didn't say anything. He knew very well what Lu Mingfei's words meant. He was the one who killed the White King, and he was a variable that the world was destined to not be able to ignore.
"Principal, go back." Lu Mingfei stood up, walked to Ange, bowed slightly, and his movements were extremely graceful. "I will continue to fight, but my way is different from yours."
Angé looked at Lu Mingfei deeply, and after a long time he turned and left, but he knew that the distance between him and this young man was no longer as simple as that between a principal and a student.
When Ange left Lu Mingfei's office, the door was gently closed. The sound of "click" seemed clear and heavy, as if it had drawn an irreparable dividing line in the teacher-student relationship between the two.
He stood at the end of the corridor, looking out the window with his head slightly raised. The ruins of Tokyo were faintly visible, the remaining fire in the sky had not yet completely extinguished, and the smoke and ashes covering the city seemed to be telling of a disaster that had just passed. Angé's eyes were deep and his thoughts were complicated. He understood that Lu Mingfei's changes had far exceeded his control, and this feeling of being out of control was what made him most uneasy.
There has never been a moment when Angers felt so clearly that he was getting old.
When he slowly stepped out of the government building, Caesar, Nuonuo, Xia Mi and Chu Zihang were standing not far away waiting for him. Their faces did not look very good, and their expressions revealed a kind of hidden anxiety.
"Principal, what exactly is Lu Mingfei doing..." Chu Zihang asked, but was interrupted by Angé who raised his hand.
"He is no longer the Lu Mingfei we know." Ange's voice was low and tired, as if he had gone through a great exhaustion. "Or rather, he is still Lu Mingfei, but his choice has nothing to do with us anymore."
Xia Mi frowned: "But what is he pursuing?"
"Instead of thinking about these, we should think more about what he just said. He said that the era of dragon slayers may be over." Ange's eyes swept over the two of them with a calmness that saw through everything. "If this is true, what we will face next is not only the dragon clan, but also Lu Mingfei himself."
When Caesar heard this, his eyes trembled violently, but he quickly regained his composure. He asked in a low voice: "Principal, what are you going to do?"
"Lu Mingfei has chosen his path." Angé turned and looked into the distance, his tone containing a hint of helplessness, "And we must continue on our own path. No matter what the future conflicts will be like, we must be prepared." A hint of complexity flashed across Nono's eyes. She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
"Let's go back to the academy." Angers patted Chu Zihang on the shoulder. "Although this battle is over, the war is far from over."
Meanwhile, in the Prime Minister's Office
Lu Mingfei stood in front of the window, watching the backs of Ange and others leaving. There was no expression on his face. He was like a sculpture, cold and silent.
"Brother, you let them go?" Lu Mingze's voice sounded from his ear, with a hint of ridicule, "Do you really think that Kassel Academy will not come back to find you? Or do you think they can accept you as you are now?"
"Whether they come back or not has nothing to do with me." Lu Mingfei whispered, his voice flat and without any ups and downs. "Whether it's Kassel College or Angers, their paths are destined to be different from mine. There's no need for me to waste time trying to gain their understanding."
Lu Mingze smiled: "What about you, brother? What is your so-called path? Will you continue to be the pitiful balance point between humans and dragons, or will you completely abandon both sides and pursue your own world?"
Lu Mingfei did not answer, his eyes were still looking out the window, as if he saw a more distant future through this city destroyed by war.
"Isn't the next goal already clear? Completely control all forces in Japan, then announce the next plan at the United Nations General Assembly and win the support of other countries. If we fail to gain the support of other countries, then we will start a war. What we need to do is to allow civilization to continue, and there will always be sacrifices on this road."
-
China Command Center
A staff officer hurried in and handed in an urgent report: "General, we just received intelligence from Russia. They denied the authorization of the Hero Shield. Someone stole their Hero Shield and interfered with their artificial intelligence Moscow Tower. They used the Moscow Tower to block them. They completely shut down the Moscow Tower's server before contacting us."
There was an uproar in the conference room.
"How could this happen?" a lieutenant general asked in disbelief. "Although Russia's Moscow Tower is not as good as our Nuwa, it is also the world's top strategic artificial intelligence. Who can interfere with it?"
Another major general took over the conversation: "More importantly, the activation authority of 'Hero Shield' is top secret. Even the top leaders of Russia need dual authorization. Who has the ability to cross all defense lines and directly take over this strategic nuclear satellite?"
The generals exchanged glances, all showing complicated expressions.
"Report to the General," the staff officer continued, "According to the preliminary analysis of the Russian side, the mastermind behind this operation possesses technology that exceeds the current level of human technology. Not only did they completely control the Hero Shield, they also carried out an extremely precise interference on the Moscow Tower, blocking all of Russia's external communication links. The Russian side concluded that this mysterious force may have more advanced artificial intelligence than us."
The commander's eyes darkened, and he spoke slowly: "So, not only do we have to face the dragon clan, but there is also a force hiding in the dark with super high technology?"
The staff officer nodded: "Yes, this war has completely exceeded our traditional understanding. This is not just a conflict between humans and dragons, but a more complex and secretive global game."
The general pondered for a moment, then issued an order: "Immediately strengthen Nuwa's defense capabilities and activate all backup nodes to ensure that she will not become the next target. At the same time, strengthen the monitoring of the Pangu system. If any abnormality occurs, report it immediately!"
"Yes!" the staff officers responded in unison.
A high-ranking general said coldly: "Our current enemy is not only the dragon clan, but also this unknown force with super high technology. They can bypass the world's most powerful artificial intelligence and even steal nuclear weapons. No matter who they are, this is already a declaration of war on global human security."
"We have also investigated the background information of Minamoto Yusuke, who suddenly appeared as the acting Prime Minister of Japan. According to the information, his original name was Lu Mingfei and he was Chinese. All his information was normal before he graduated from high school. But after a car accident a year ago, he was admitted to Kassel College, and since then we have lost all information about him." The staff officer continued to report.
"Could it be that the organization called Kassel Academy planned this disaster in Japan? I remember that Kassel Academy also has a super artificial intelligence called Norma. They are very likely to be suspected!" said a general.
"But according to what we learned from the imprisoned members of Kassel Academy, Lu Mingfei announced his withdrawal from school some time after he enrolled. Of course, it is also possible that those people are lying." said another general.
The commander slowly stood up, his eyes cold, and scanned everyone in the conference room. Finally, he said in a low voice: "No matter who is behind this, they have touched the bottom line of global security. We can't sit and wait for death. We must take the initiative to ensure that human civilization is no longer harmed by any unknown threats."
He paused and continued, "Regarding the Japanese acting prime minister named Lu Mingfei, since he has a Chinese background, we must immediately conduct an in-depth investigation. We need to find out his true identity, purpose, and relationship with Kassel College one by one. We cannot stop suspecting him because of Kassel College's words. They are equally suspicious."
A staff officer asked cautiously: "General, do you think Lu Mingfei is related to the unknown force that controls the Hero Shield? Or is he possibly part of that force?"
The commander thought for a moment and replied calmly: "We cannot jump to conclusions now, but one thing is clear. Since he is a key figure in the area where the Hero Shield fell, he cannot be completely unrelated. Either he is a chess piece, or he is the one playing the chess."
"Then, do we need to take direct action against Lu Mingfei?" another lieutenant general suggested, with a hint of uneasiness in his tone.
The commander shook his head and said, "We should not act rashly for the time being. If we act rashly against him, it may escalate the situation. More importantly, he is currently acting as the acting prime minister of Japan, which involves sensitive international diplomatic issues. We cannot act rashly."
"But General," the Major General took over, his tone more urgent, "If Lu Mingfei is really related to an unknown force, allowing him to control the political situation in Japan may bring us greater danger! Japan is of vital importance geopolitically, and we cannot allow any uncontrolled factors to dominate there."
The commander's eyes fixed, and his voice was deep and powerful: "You are right, but we need evidence, not speculation. Before taking any military or political action, we must ensure that our intelligence is reliable. Immediately order the intelligence department to monitor Lu Mingfei's every move. At the same time, establish high-level contacts with Russia and Emilia to ensure intelligence sharing and find more clues."
(End of this chapter)
