Dragon Raja; Chapter 79: Stars and Flowers (5)

Dragon Raja

Suddenly, the Russian girl paused, her long skirt swirling tightly around her straight legs. With a ballet-like motion, she rose onto her toes for a second, then leaned gracefully into Lu Mingfei’s hands; it was like the dying swan from Tchaikovsky’s composition.

A moment later, applause erupted like thunder, as Caesar was the first to clap, the host letting go of his reserve, and others joined in as well.

Suddenly, Lu Mingfei felt a vague sense of déjà vu, like he’d experienced this before somewhere—an extravagant light, thunderous applause, and a delicate figure spinning before him, her skirt flaring out like a peacock’s feathers.

How could that be? In the past eighteen years of his life, when had he ever experienced anything like this? Impossible, right? It had to be an illusion. The kind of imperial grandeur couldn’t belong to someone like him.

But what followed was confidence—an incomparable, overpowering confidence—accompanied by a surge of strength. He suddenly extended his hand and caught Zero’s small hand. It was the final moment of the dance. Zero completed her 3600-degree spin and curtsied to him. Her flared skirt folded back down along her legs, like a blooming flower closing into a bud. The timing was flawless, as if Lu Mingfei had signaled her to stop. In reality, he felt like he had impulsively grabbed her hand, and that was all.

Zero remained in her bow, the proper ending pose for a courtly dance. Now Lu Mingfei was supposed to bow in return.

Suddenly, Lu Mingfei froze. He snapped out of his regal feeling, realizing he had never learned any kind of courtly dance, much less how to bow. He hadn’t paid attention to the other guys who bowed to the girls at the end of the dance—his gaze had been fixed entirely on Zero.

Damn it—was he supposed to kiss her hand? Or just bend over? Or maybe place his left hand on his chest? That might make him look like an Arab. Sweat formed on his forehead—such a great dance, and he was about to ruin it with this tiny detail?

“Rise, my dear minister…” Lu Mingfei, in his nervousness, blurted out a ridiculous phrase that even he found cringeworthy.

“Why am I like this?” he thought, looking around to see if anyone had heard. To his relief, everyone else was busy clapping, and the applause had drowned out his nonsense.

Zero stood up, not sparing a glance at Lu Mingfei. She turned and walked to the edge of the dance floor, slipping back into her black shoes, placing the silver high heels in their case, and putting them back into her black bag. Taking a deep red coat from a server, she put it on and walked straight out the front door without acknowledging anyone. She came in sharp as a blade but left as quietly as could be.

“This year’s freshmen are interesting,” Lu Mingfei heard Caesar say in a low voice.

Caesar was holding a glass of brandy with ice, watching Zero’s silhouette disappear into the darkness.

2. Dragon Invasion

On the winding mountain road, the lights of the “Black Widow” motorcycle pierced the darkness.

The well-trained motorcyclists were connected head to tail, each headlight illuminating the rear license plate of the companion in front, which was covered with black cloth. If you look from the sky, they are a chain of black pearls strung together by a light chain, all wearing black leather jackets and black helmets.

No. 13 stroked the handle of his gun with some pride. He had a great sense of honor holding the power of life and death. They did not call each other by their names. No. 13 was the 13th in the queue. This unlucky number made him feel like the god of death.

“Turn off the headlights!” shouted the leader in front.

Orders were passed one after another until the 13th, when the entire team of motorcycles turned off their lights and engines and quietly parked beside the winding mountain road, hidden under maple trees. There were no street lights on this mountain road, so no one could detect this dark convoy.

Soon, No. 13 realized how timely that order was. A few minutes later, the roar of a helicopter came from directly above. It was a dark helicopter with dazzling spotlights on, flying straight to the middle of the mountain. No. 13 vaguely saw the silver World Tree stamp painted on the fuselage. They were lucky that the spotlights did not hit them.

“We are less than one kilometer away from the target. We will approach on foot without making any noise.” The leader ordered, “The ‘cargo’ is on that plane, and it will be immediately sealed in the ‘ice cellar’. Follow the instructions of each of you to sneak in, find it, do not alarm anyone, and then withdraw. Repeat, do not doubt the instructions, and after success, the money will be deposited into your respective accounts. We have always been very trustworthy.”

No. 13 doesn’t like this team leader, who is always mysterious. He probably has some voice-changing device installed in his helmet, and the voices he speaks are synthesized from magazines.

But he likes money, so he doesn’t mind it too much, especially since he can make money doing such an exciting thing. In fact, sometimes he thinks that even if he doesn’t get paid for such an exciting thing, he would still be interested in trying it.

Everyone in the convoy took out their cell phones and put them close to their ears. After the phones were turned on, there was silence for a few seconds.

“Number 13, your entry direction is due south. Use the prepared magnetic card to enter. It will not trigger the alarm system. After entering, you will see the campus guide map of Cassell College engraved on the ground. There you will find a building called ‘Odin Hall’. There will be new instructions at that time.” A monotonous female voice came from the phone, and then the call was automatically cut off.

“These people should trust the experts! What kind of command mission is this? It’s just like a tour guide! Does she think she is talking to a child?” No. 13 was a little dissatisfied with this instruction.

His companions had already dived into the darkness according to their respective orders, and he was the last one left.

It was then that he remembered something terrible…

He has had no sense of direction since childhood, so he has no concept of “due south”.

He now wished that the tour guide-like woman had given more detailed instructions, but no matter how he called back, the phone prompted that the number he called did not exist.

“There’s no other way. If you’re a man, you can use your gun to fight your way out, right? They don’t care anyway. These desperate criminals just want that thing!” No. 13 encouraged himself.

But he found that he didn’t know what that thing was.

Amber Hall

“Now, let’s invite the Student Council President, Caesar, to say a few words,” a minister said, tapping a microphone from the platform on the second floor.

The murmurs about Zero died down. No matter how dazzling the Russian freshman was, Caesar was undoubtedly the star of the college. Caesar handed his glass to a server, ascended the spiral staircase, and stood in front of the microphone, his gaze sweeping across everyone below as though he were an emperor reviewing his troops.

“I was deeply disappointed when I first arrived at this college,” Caesar paused, “because there were too many people here!”

“True elites are never the majority!”

What an ice-cold opening—enough to give you goosebumps, Lu Mingfei thought. If this guy ever ruled the world, he’d probably team up with Hitler and become a fascist. The first person he would eliminate would be a loser like Lu Mingfei.

But then Caesar smiled faintly. “Thank you all for coming. I’m very glad to see the best group of people gathered here. Guests of the Gattuso family,” Caesar raised a finger, “are always the best!”

There was a moment of silence before someone began clapping enthusiastically. Then everyone else joined in. Each person’s eyes glowed with excitement. It was a distinct honor to be considered by Caesar as part of the finest group among their peers.

Lu Mingfei felt somewhat flattered; it seemed that he was considered excellent as well… but he was a little confused, seeing that the one leading the applause was none other than Finger, whose face was nearly tearful with emotion. It seemed that this “F”-rank senior brother was deeply moved by Caesar’s recognition, completely forgetting that he wasn’t even on the guest list but was just accompanying Lu Mingfei.

“I like working with outstanding people because my time is limited, and wasting it on those who aren’t good enough is intolerable to me,” Caesar gestured for silence. “My consistent belief is that Cassell College is a miracle, bearing a tremendous mission, and thus it should be the best who deliver the simplest and most powerful voice.”

“Who should deliver that voice?” His gaze was cold as he looked down.

“Caesar!” Someone from the Student Council shouted.

“No, not me. It’s… us!” Caesar raised his voice. “It is us—the very best!”

The applause doubled in volume, almost bursting Lu Mingfei’s eardrums. He was a child raised in a socialist country, where in high school politics class, they were taught that the voice of the masses was the loudest. But surrounded by this group of self-proclaimed elites and being considered an elite himself, he could only follow along and clap.

“From the day I took over the Student Council, it no longer served everyone. Why are we here? To kill the Dragon Kings? To maintain the world order? Or to prove ourselves?” Caesar shrugged. “If you told others what you are doing, they’d think you’re crazy.”

“But true elites will always be seen as lunatics by the mundane! Like Nietzsche! He may have died, but he was truly an elite of his era.” Caesar spoke like a passionate Greek orator, forcefully waving his arms. “Because the mundane cannot tolerate those different from them! They cannot tolerate the elite because they are foolish!”

Lu Mingfei saw a look in the eyes of those students that said, “I am a madman who is not accepted by the world.”

Caesar spread his hands. “I have no intention of driving anyone out of this campus. Since the rules of Cassell College allow those who aren’t good enough to enter and study here, I can accept that. I also understand the ways those who aren’t up to the mark choose to survive, and I have no desire to interfere. However, I do hope they refrain from making too much noise—I don’t like noise.”

“But ultimately, this college and its mission must be supported by the best among us!” He pointed to the sky again. “Now, as Student Council President, allow me to welcome you all into the ranks of the madmen!”

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