Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 139: Desperados Have No Way Out (1)

Dragon Raja 4

Lu Mingfei opened his eyes. The clock on the wall showed that it was 10 p.m.

At this time, the Fox Bar was just starting to receive guests, while for the psychiatric hospital, the day was long over. Everyone had already taken their sleeping pills and drifted into deep slumber, with the sound of snores echoing in the wards.

The double dose of sedatives had knocked him out for almost the entire day. In his dreams, he reloaded seven times, and the total number of battles stopped at 108.

On the 108th reload, he revisited Chu Tianjiao’s base, had half a meal with the 108th Nono, and fought a good fight with the shadows. But he still couldn’t achieve the perfect ending.

He turned his body, using the blade hidden between his fingers to slowly cut the strap, then freed his right hand to unfasten the other buckles.

He took off his hospital gown, folded it neatly, and placed it into the cabinet. His suit and trench coat had been cleaned and pressed, hanging inside. It seemed Su Xiaoqian’s driver had come by while he was asleep.

He dressed in layers, pulled on his polished shoes, and donned his trench coat with meticulous precision, as if Isabelle were there assisting him.

It was a Tom Ford suit, a gift from Su Xiaoqian. His Student Union attire was left at his uncle’s house.

By the dim light coming in from the window, the face in the mirror looked haggard but sharp and tidy, every line seemingly forged through relentless honing.

Some say that a suit is a man’s armor, making you unconsciously stand tall, ready for battle at any moment.

Lu Mingfei walked out of the hospital doors, where a still-running tricycle waited.

Upon seeing him, the old man nearby took a quick step forward. “Brother! I wasn’t late, was I?”

“No, no, right on time,” Lu Mingfei said, handing over his rose gold watch. “Same deal as before—if I don’t come back, the watch is yours.”

The old man waved his hand. “We’re old clients now. I trust you. Watch out for yourself. Here’s the headset you asked me to buy.”

The old man handed him a plastic bag containing a brand-new Bluetooth headset. Lu Mingfei patted the box under the rain cover and smiled. It was the one he had left with the old man for safekeeping yesterday.

Lu Mingfei slung the headset around his neck, placed the gold watch on the old man’s wrist, then casually climbed onto the tricycle. Just as he was about to set off, the old man stopped him.

“I brought you some buns—they’re still warm—and hot milk too. Have some on the way.

Lu Mingfei pulled out a bun, bit into it, and said, “Thanks,” before twisting the throttle. The tricycle roared into the rain, its taillight fading like a red firefly.

On this stormy night, no one was willing to drive out, except the old man, riding his tricycle like an aging knight on his old steed, rushing to aid his brother.

Not long after leaving Fox Bar, Lu Mingfei felt the weight of the vehicle increase slightly. He glanced back to see Lu Mingze, dressed in a suit and looking displeased, sitting in the cargo bed like a disheartened migrant worker.

“I told you, whenever you get serious, it’s never a good thing!” Lu Mingze sighed. “Can’t you value your life a little more? We’ve been friends for years, and if you die, it benefits me, right?”

“Who said I’m looking to die? I’m playing with my life, and that’s a whole different thing. Whitebeard going to the top war—that’s playing with your life. Forcing Shiryu to strip and fight himself—that’s looking to die.”

“You’ve figured out the secret of the game, haven’t you? Or rather, the secret of this world.”

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow. “Guo Jing stands at the traffic light, with Da Song ahead and Mongolia behind. Ahead lies death in Xiangyang, but Guo Jing can choose neither. He has his own options.”

Lu Mingze nodded. “But even with Chu Tianjiao’s arsenal, you still don’t stand a chance. Odin is too strong. No matter how brave you are, it won’t help.”

“Can you say something useful for once? Any free client packages available? If so, hand them over, considering how brave I am.”

The little demon sighed, looking wronged, and placed his hands on Lu Mingfei’s shoulders. A warm current surged into Lu Mingfei’s body from his hands, like flowing magma.

Every nerve in his body was searing with pain, and it felt as though the chaos deep within his brain had cracked open, spilling light from the fissures. The immense pain almost exceeded the limits of human endurance, but Lu Mingfei held on. His muscle strength, reflexes, vision, and hearing were elevated to an unimaginable degree. The sound of rain, once a continuous backdrop, was now distinguishable drop by drop, and the scene before his eyes shifted from a grainy black-and-white television to an ultra-clear widescreen movie.

“Is this that ‘SomethingForNothing’? Didn’t it used to cost a quarter of my life to use? Now it’s free?” Lu Mingfei was pleasantly surprised.

“Even with this, you’re still just a mortal in Odin’s eyes. Your best bet is to trigger his wild hunt mode for a one-on-one. Although his combat power increases in that mode, it will prevent you from being surrounded.” Lu Mingze patted his shoulder. “Good luck, brother!”

His voice lingered in the air, but his form scattered like dust, as though temporarily held together by wind.

The torrential rain hammered down on Qixing Pond, creating countless ripples and patterns. The tricycle roared across the sandy embankment and rocky shore, heading towards the solitary modernist building.

Lu Mingfei jerked the handlebars, sending the tricycle crashing through the library doors. It skidded to a stop among the photo walls, just in front of the mirror that had lost its surface.

He coldly eyed the frame, slowly revving the engine. The tricycle growled like a beast ready to charge, and his expression was twisted in a grim smile, white teeth bared.

A faint rumble of thunder echoed from the mirror, followed by a fine drizzle that grew heavier, until rain cascaded from the frame in torrents.

The frame lit up, a layer of golden light replacing the mirror’s surface. Within, a towering road stretched upwards into the sky. Streetlights flickered on, one after another, like two strands of pearls hanging from the clouds. A small flame flickered and then erupted into a blazing fire. Standing amidst the flames was a mounted warrior. A golden-eyed raven perched on his shoulder, and a giant wolf with quills like silver needles crouched at his horse’s hooves. Countless shadows stood beside him, like a god who had slumbered for millennia, now awaiting the arrival of a mortal. That mortal, however, was riding an ill-suited tricycle, the cheerful sputtering of its engine more fitting for a street vendor selling grilled cold noodles.

The wolves howled into the sky, and the shades raised their heads, their dark hoods hiding eyes that gleamed with molten gold.

Lu Mingfei released the brakes, and the tricycle roared toward the mirror. In that moment, the world in his vision warped. The photo walls representing the city’s past collapsed like sand, newspapers flew from under glass panels like white birds, and amid the wind and rain, it seemed as though a baby was crying, or someone was whispering secrets. In the mirrored world, the trees swayed like hands raised toward the sky, and the mountains appeared to run.

Lu Mingfei crashed hard into the wall of wind and rain, and the sound of shattering glass echoed in his ears. By the time he managed to stop, he had returned to the paradoxical place that haunted him—both in fear and in countless dreams—the Penrose Steps, where the god was still waiting for him.

He slowly got off the vehicle, his shiny leather shoes splashing in the puddles. His Tom Ford suit, now soaked in the rain, was adorned with an array of light and heavy weaponry.

Standing with his legs apart, his trench coat billowing in the wind, his slicked-back, wet hair gave him the appearance of the man who had once stood here before.

“Hello, Odin. I’m back! This is how the game is supposed to start—just you and me. This has nothing to do with my senior. Only one of us will leave here alive,” Lu Mingfei said with a smile.

He might die soon, but he was in a good mood. He had finally pieced together every hint from the little devil and figured out how to clear the game.

Everything in γ Spring existed in reality too. Following the clues found in the γ Spring dream, he had located Chu Tianjiao’s cache of weapons in the real world.

He was the monster that triggered the Nibelungen and the key to opening it. Odin might want to come to the real world for Nono, but Lu Mingfei could also enter the Nibelungen to find Odin.

Gungnir was an absolute part of reality, and so was he. The barrier between worlds couldn’t confine him. Therefore, fighting Odin here in the Nibelungen could still affect reality. If he could stop Gungnir here, the result would manifest in the real world, removing the mark from Nono. If that didn’t work, maybe killing Odin could still lead to a happy ending for everyone. If he died, however, the key would break, and perhaps the door would close again. Odin wasn’t invincible or immortal. If Lu Mingfei could severely wound Odin, Nono and Finger might have a chance to escape this city. As for what came next, it would no longer be his problem.

In γ Spring, every time Nono had been by his side, distracting and confusing him. That’s why he decided to face Odin alone this time.