Dragon Raja 2; Chapter 97: Falling in the Courtyard (6)

Dragon Raja 2

“The red one is live, the blue one is neutral. Touch them together, and it will activate the fin-type brake.” He showed the two wires to Lu Mingfei. “The braking will take three to four seconds, so timing is crucial.”

“This half of the track is going to break too, isn’t it?” Lu Mingfei looked around.

While they worked, the track was visibly disintegrating around them. The twisting angle of the track increased, and cracks spread rapidly. Bolts holding the rails to the beams were shooting out one by one. Under the effect of “Time Zero,” they slowly scraped past Lu Mingfei’s ears, emitting long tearing sounds. Lu Mingfei found it amusing and reached out to touch one, but Chu Zihang stopped him.

“To your eyes, they’re moving slowly, but the kinetic energy is still massive.” Chu Zihang pulled out an expired membership card and held it in front of one of the bolts. The bolt pierced through the card, leaving an irregular hole.

“In normal time, they’re as fast as bullets!” Chu Zihang said.

Lu Mingfei broke into a cold sweat. He’d almost ended up with a bolt going through his finger.

“Hurry up! We don’t have much time!” Xia Mi called out from the front.

Anjou remained seated in the front row, staring straight ahead, his pupils brilliant like gold. The deep red rose pinned to his suit buttonhole swayed and shattered in the wind, its petals scattering at a speed slowed many times over. It wasn’t that the old man was deliberately trying to look cool; Lu Mingfei crawled over and saw Anjou’s nosebleed, as startlingly red as the rose.

He was exerting himself to maintain the “Time Zero” domain. Such a high-level Yanling domain was draining Anjou’s spirit like water. At first, it only exhausted him mentally, but now even his body was struggling to keep up.

“Principal, you’re bleeding.” Lu Mingfei couldn’t help himself and wiped Anjou’s face.

“You still have time to be so clueless, the Principal’s about to cry…” Xia Mi said, her face covered with dark lines.

“Turn around and take a look, and you’ll probably stop making jokes,” Anjou said softly.

Lu Mingfei turned to look behind him and shivered. So many twisted faces were crammed together, like a piece of art depicting despair. Each pair of eyes reflected the falling section of the track, and mouths opened to their limits, emitting gut-wrenching cries, drawn out like violin notes by “Time Zero.” The passengers had all realized they were headed for death. Lu Mingfei had never imagined a person could twist their face to such an extent out of sheer terror. Even the beautiful girl he’d glanced at a few times before getting on now looked like a grimacing ghost.

No… it was more like the souls suffering in hell.

Lu Mingfei swallowed and felt his scalp tingle.

“We don’t have much time. Quickly! You must activate the fin-type brake about 10 meters before the roller coaster reaches the highest point. If it’s too early, our speed will be too high, and the brake might lock up; if it’s too late, we’ll pass the highest point, and it’s all over.” Anjou said. “I can’t help you; I could lose consciousness at any moment. Chu Zihang, this is a mission. You are the operative, and you have full command.”

“Understood.” Chu Zihang nodded.

At that moment, the fallen half of the curved track hit the ground, crashing into a circus tent, sending up a cloud of dust.

“Xia Mi, take care of the Principal. Make sure his safety belt is fastened—if the Principal can’t hold on, the ‘Time Zero’ domain will dissipate. Remember that you’re still on a high-speed roller coaster. Lu Mingfei, watch from the front. When we’re 10 meters away from the top, give me a signal, and I’ll ignite the fin-type brake at the rear.” Chu Zihang said, then crawled toward the back.

The dust cloud rose rapidly, and shards of track flew everywhere, creating a heart-pounding scene. It looked like footage from the final moments of human extinction, in slow motion. Lu Mingfei took a deep breath and glanced at Chu Zihang at the back. Half of Chu Zihang’s body was hanging out of the coaster, holding the live wire, looking toward the front.

Lu Mingfei chuckled. He was laughing at Chu Zihang. The wire Chu Zihang held was likely a direct current wire. If he got electrocuted, his hair would all stand on end like he had an explosive perm.

“I’m amazed you can still laugh at a time like this,” Xia Mi said.

“I’m not the only one who laughs when they’re nervous. I’ve always thought that if I were executed as a revolutionary martyr, I’d probably clutch my stomach, roll on the ground, and say, ‘Hahaha, don’t shoot, hahahaha, I give up, hahaha,’ and the enemy would think I was mocking them, pull the trigger, and execute me.” Lu Mingfei’s voice trembled.

“Mingfei, trust your judgment,” Anjou said softly, the golden color in his eyes flickering like a dying flame, and even Lu Mingfei could feel the instability in the Yanling domain.

Lu Mingfei raised his hand—that was their agreed signal. When his arm swung down, the fin-type brake would be ignited.

The roller coaster slowly inched forward like a snail.

Suddenly, water splashed onto Lu Mingfei’s face, and then they were enveloped in a misty spray. He wiped his face in surprise. Rain? It couldn’t be—it was just sunny. He looked down and suddenly understood. “The Serpent of the Atrium” was next to a large high-pressure fountain that could shoot up to 200 meters high. The water pipe ran beneath the circus tent. The track had pierced the ground, breaking the pipe, and the high-pressure water flow burst through the slowly rising dust, shooting higher than the track.

A massive black shadow rolled through the spray, hurtling toward the roller coaster—a broken steel support beam!

“Dammit, don’t shoot…” Lu Mingfei muttered.

His mind was still on the joke he’d made with Xia Mi just now. A moment ago, he had the upper hand, and now he was the condemned prisoner about to be executed. No, it wasn’t execution—getting hit by a multi-ton steel beam would be a hundred times worse than being shot.

Chu Zihang felt his blood run cold, staring blankly as the impending disaster loomed over them. There were moments when one could truly feel their own powerlessness—because there was nothing they could do.

A cry that was stretched dozens of times longer slowly tore through the air. He turned his head and saw his father, with a distorted face and tears streaming down his face, leaning out and slowly holding the wailing boy in his arms. He hugged the boy tightly, his back arched, and wrapped himself around the boy. The slow motion allowed Chu Zihang to see every detail clearly, including the look in the man’s eyes. He was obviously in despair, and in his timeline, he was less than a second away from death. High altitude and high speed, steel colliding, ordinary people can’t do anything in this situation. So he did the most meaningless thing, hugging. He wrapped the boy with his torso as the only layer of protection… Although when it was shattered, this layer of protection couldn’t even hold out for 0.001 seconds.

“That’s your son, isn’t it?” Chu Zihang asked softly.

Of course, there was no one to answer him. Chu Zihang stared blankly at the father and son, that gaze lasting what felt like an eternity.

The man patted his son’s head, and he actually smiled. It was such an ugly smile—mixed with sadness and despair—but he still forced himself to smile, to give his son a little bit of courage.

“Father, did you also smile like that for me…?” Chu Zihang suddenly leaped up, sprinting along the rows of seats toward the front.

“Lu Mingfei! Go to the back and ignite the brake! I’ll hold it back!” he shouted.

“Huh?” Lu Mingfei was stunned.

You’ll hold it back? Come on, seriously?! Do you think you’re some kind of invincible robot? Always “I’ll form the head”? Stop trying to be a hero—you couldn’t hold it back even if there were a hundred of you! Maybe converting to Christianity and praying to God might save us!

Chu Zihang couldn’t know that Lu Mingfei’s thoughts were spiraling out of control. They were already approaching the highest point, and the track was leveling out. Chu Zihang sprinted along the rail like an angry rhinoceros.

Lu Mingfei scrambled to the back, grabbed the ignition wires, then looked back, gasping in shock. Chu Zihang stood at the end of the track, his skin turning an eerie, bluish-gray. Dense scales pierced through his skin, growing bloody and tearing his clothes. His eyes blazed with a fiery light, and the “King’s Blaze” domain rapidly expanded. Lu Mingfei had never heard of a Yanling that made your entire body grow scales when activated, and Chu Zihang’s posture—like he was preparing to unleash some legendary palm strike—seemed ridiculous in front of that massive steel beam. Couldn’t he use a gentler, more tactical approach instead?

“Ignite it!” Chu Zihang waved his hand.

Lu Mingfei didn’t move because Chu Zihang’s feet were on two metal tracks. Igniting the fin-type brake meant applying a high-voltage current, and that current would flow through the rails. If Lu Mingfei activated it, the electricity would pierce through Chu Zihang’s heart.

“Don’t be an idiot! You’ll die!” Lu Mingfei shouted back.

“I can only stop it for a moment,” Chu Zihang’s voice deepened, carrying a cold authority, “Ignite it!”

Lu Mingfei held the live and neutral wires, his hands trembling.

“Listen, whether you ignite it or not, I can’t go back now.” Chu Zihang didn’t turn his head. “Do what you must. Trust me for the rest.”

Too brave, wasn’t he? Like a heroic young man! Lu Mingfei almost wanted to salute him as a young pioneer… but this kind of bravery was a bit foolish! Did he really think his life was worth so little? Instead of saluting, tears welled up in Lu Mingfei’s eyes.

He tightly twisted the live and neutral wires together!

There was no blinding light within the “King’s Blaze” domain; as the temperature soared to its peak, the air currents turned a faint black. The steel beam bore down on Chu Zihang, with the roller coaster right behind him. The braking had begun, and the high-voltage current made his entire body shiver.

Chu Zihang had to fight for just a moment. He could do it because he was burning his own blood—right now, he was invincible!

The steel beam entered the “King’s Blaze” domain, and the surging Yanling power instantly melted it. Golden steel flowed around Chu Zihang, and he spread his arms, blasting the molten iron aside with searing hot air.

His vision went blank, and he lost his balance, falling into the blazing inferno he had ignited.

The roller coaster’s speed finally slowed to a stop. After a brief pause, all the steel wheels reversed, following the ascending track back down.

Anjou lost consciousness at that moment, the golden glow fading from his eyes.

“Time Zero” ended, and Lu Mingfei nearly got thrown out. He didn’t have time to climb back into the car and could only cling tightly to the rear railing, hanging on the outside.

He stared blankly at the figure swallowed by the flames… Hey, don’t do this. If I’d known, I would’ve made a deal with Lu Mingze—at most, I’d lose a quarter of my life, just as a thank-you for saving my dignity in front of Chen Wenwen… But don’t die like this… heroically foolish.

A white figure leaped from the roller coaster. It was Xia Mi! She ran along the track toward the blazing flames, disappearing into them.

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