Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 457: The Sword of Damocles (17)

Dragon Raja 3

In the past, Lu Mingfei had always seen them under the laser lights, their eyelids dusted with gold glitter and their lips painted in fiery red, laughing wildly. Except for those like Aoki Chinatsu, who came from strong financial backgrounds, or the more reserved types like Nakashima Sanae, they were usually like a pack of she-wolves. But now they all seemed to have reverted to being ordinary people, which made them look more pleasant to him.

“Those monsters must be experimental samples from a government biological lab! Those bastards! I’ll cut off all their funding in Parliament!” Mori Takako, the widow from the Mori family, hurled her fierce words before moving on to treat the next wounded person.

Lu Mingfei sat slumped in the corner, with his head hanging low. No one was paying attention to him, and he didn’t want to interact with anyone either. At first, he thought the approaching figures were gunmen or Death Servitors, so he quickly played dead. But when he realized it was Whale leading the evacuation, he felt a bit ashamed and decided to just keep playing dead.

He really should feel ashamed. At a time like this, when everyone was doing their best, he had done nothing—just hid in the wine cellar, trying to drown himself in alcohol, chatting with Uesugi Erii on Line to find comfort. How pathetic. Only a loser like him could come up with something like that.

“Sakura, are you okay?” Whale sat down next to him.

Lu Mingfei was somewhat flattered. Everyone had seen him act so cowardly just now, even Nakashima Sanae, who was normally gentle, had shown a hint of disdain. But the dazzling and gallant host manager, this man as brilliant as cherry blossoms and as fierce as a demon, actually came over to talk to him voluntarily. Lu Mingfei tried to shift his body to give the manager some space, but then realized there were no chairs or tables here, and no matter how he moved, all he could offer was more water. So he gave up.

“The situation isn’t looking good,” Whale said, pulling out a half-smoked cigar and taking a deep drag, his face grim.

He stealthily lifted his suit jacket to show Lu Mingfei what he was carrying. The motion was so suggestive that Lu Mingfei hesitated before looking. Strapped to Whale’s chest were two gun holsters, each holding a Beretta pistol.

Whale pulled one out and pressed it into Lu Mingfei’s hand. “I got this from a friend in the underground trade—military-grade. Given the current situation, it’s down to you and me.”

Lu Mingfei felt as if he were holding a burning coal, completely frozen in shock. “Manager, aren’t we supposed to be a wholesome women’s stress-relief club? Why are you carrying military-grade weapons?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You know how to use this, don’t you?” Whale said, expertly loading the gun while wrapping the barrel in a handkerchief. “Seeing the situation deteriorating, I figured it would be safer to carry something with me.”

Of course Lu Mingfei knew how to use it. After all, at Cassell College, shooting and close-quarters combat were mandatory subjects. But Whale seemed far more experienced, repeatedly loading and unloading to check the spring tension, skillfully flipping the Beretta in his hand.

“Manager, you’re really a pro!”

“Before I retired, I was a Third Class Officer in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. I’m counting on you today.” Whale threw an arm around Lu Mingfei’s shoulder. “I’m glad we found you. Now I can rest easy.”

Lu Mingfei thought, “Rest easy? Didn’t you see me lying here playing dead earlier?”

“Sakura, you’ve been waiting for the right moment, haven’t you? Tell me, how do you need me to help? I’m ready, and Fujiwara Kansuke is available too!” Whale’s eyes gleamed. “The madam told me, ‘You are the light, you are the electricity, you are the savior!’”

Lu Mingfei shuddered violently, thinking, “Did the madam really say that when she was drunk? Or was she just singing karaoke badly, and you mistook the lyrics for her words to you?”

“I don’t know exactly who you people are, but I can tell you belong to some mysterious organization, right? Basara King and Ukyo aren’t here, so we’re counting on you, Little Sakura! No matter what happens to us, we can’t let the guests get hurt,” Whale pleaded sincerely.

“Manager… if our organization is like a mountain… not all the animals on the mountain are lions and tigers. There are also rabbits and monkeys—small creatures that aren’t good at fighting…”

“Sakura, you’re too modest. Honestly, I think out of the three of you, you’re the real handsome one. The reason you’re not as popular as Ukyo and Basara King is that you haven’t opened up. The madam said if you unleash yourself, you’d be more powerful than both Basara King and Ukyo!” Whale was full of nonsense. He wasn’t new to lying—earlier, he had calmly deceived the guests by telling them the situation was improving. Now, he had to coax this coward to help him escort the guests to safety. From the perspective of the host club, he didn’t think much of Lu Mingfei, but Sun Enxi had indeed said that as long as Lu Mingfei was safe, everyone else would be fine. At this point, Whale could only try anything, even if it was desperate.

“Manager, can you say that with a clear conscience?”

Whale quickly pressed a hand to his chest. “Absolutely, when I first saw you, I immediately knew you had potential!”

“You pressed the wrong side—that’s your right chest. Is your heart on the right side?”

Whale paused for a moment and hastily switched hands to his left chest.

“Manager, stop teasing me. You don’t even believe what you’re saying, do you? If I really had any ability, I’d go with you and fight our way out, but I genuinely don’t. You were right to bet on Chu Zihang and Caesar, but now, the ones left here aren’t them.” Lu Mingfei spoke while looking directly into Whale’s eyes. He rarely spoke with such seriousness and sincerity.

Whale looked at him in silence for a long time. Though he didn’t want to believe what Lu Mingfei had said, he couldn’t help it. He’d seen enough people to recognize an honest gaze. Lu Mingfei wasn’t lying. After all, why would someone capable of escaping sit here, hiding in a wine cellar, trying to drown their fear in alcohol? Lu Mingfei felt a rare sense of shame. Any other agent from the Execution Bureau would have at least come up with an escape plan, even if they weren’t combat specialists. But all he could do was sit here with Whale, helpless.

Lu Mingfei lowered his head and handed the Beretta back. Whale stood there, unsure whether to take it or not. Neither of them knew how to continue the conversation. Whale needed something from him, but Lu Mingfei couldn’t give it.

If he could give it, it would cost him a quarter of his life.

In the end, Whale silently took back the Beretta, got up quietly, and picked up a steel pipe to patrol the area. Even now, he hadn’t taken off his signature sunglasses, but Lu Mingfei could imagine the intense anxiety in his eyes. As the leader, Whale had to hold it together, but his nervousness was betrayed by his frantic swings of the pipe. At this point, a steel pipe was useless. The more people gathered in the wine cellar, the more trouble they would attract. Too much noise could easily draw the Death Servitors or gunmen.

Lu Mingfei was once again swallowed up by the crowd. People whispered to each other, offering brief words of encouragement, but no one spared a glance at him in the corner. His act of playing dead in the wine cellar had made him someone easy to look down on.

All Lu Mingfei could do was fiddle with his phone to pass the time. During his conversation with Whale, a whole slew of messages had come in from Uesugi Erii.

“Sakura, are you still there? I haven’t reached the airport yet. The road is bumpy, and I’m feeling a bit dizzy.”

“My name in Korea is Kim Hee-ae. My passport number is GM87019820.”

“My brother said I’ll be staying in an apartment in Gangnam District, Seoul, Korea. The address is 205-8 Nonhyeon-Dong, Kangnam-Gu, Seoul, South Korea.”

“Sakura, are you still there? Talk to me, please?”

“Sakura, I feel cold. I can hear that thing’s roar. It seems to be talking to me.”

…

The screen was filled with her endless ramblings. If someone actually became her boyfriend, they’d surely be driven crazy by her. Because in her world, there was nothing else—only you.

After hesitating for a few minutes, Lu Mingfei deleted the message he had written. Chatting with her at a time like this would only increase her dependence on him, which would do no good for either of them. No matter how weak the Yamata no Orochi was, they could still manage to get a girl out of Tokyo. Chisei must have arranged everything. He was the one truly capable of saving Erii, while Lu Mingfei was only providing some emotional comfort—essentially just sweet talk. One day, Erii would realize that the real good men in the world were like her brother, who had no blood relation to her. They silently arranged everything for her, but in the moment, couldn’t say anything comforting. The ones who spouted sweet words and promised to show her the world were just immature kids.

After sitting quietly for a few minutes, Lu Mingfei suddenly remembered something. He quickly pulled out his phone and disabled the location function. Line could track friends’ locations, and although he hadn’t taught Erii how to use it, she might figure it out. Theoretically, she could see his location. Given her stubborn nature, if she knew where he was, she might just turn around and come for him.