Page 79

“Because…because…” Mai stammered, turning her gaze to Zero, hoping she could help her explain.

But she forgot that Zero had just embarrassed her, and of course wouldn't go back and change her words now. Zero was looking up at the sky, as if everything happening around her had nothing to do with her.

"Looks like it's a reason I can't say it out loud." Lu Mingfei shook his head, then lowered his head, looking quite shy. "I never expected this, we've only met once or twice... I really didn't expect it to be so fast..."

What a load of nonsense! Don't be so self-satisfied!

Mai Shude was internally screaming, cursing this narcissistic guy, but the problem was, she couldn't think of a more reasonable explanation.

She turned her gaze to Su Enxi and found that this disloyal guy also had a "Yeah, why? I'm so curious" expression on his face, as if he was watching her make a fool of herself.

She felt like she was about to burst into flames with anxiety.

This guy has such a handsome face, why is he so mean? He's just like a real boss.

"Alright, that's enough playing. Anyway, I really have to thank you." Lu Mingfei seemed to have had his fill of fun. Suddenly, his expression changed. Both his feigned shyness and his previous contemptuous smile vanished in an instant. He sighed, patted Ling's shoulder, and prepared to head towards the center of the lake.

Mai grinned, and she couldn't help but feel that this guy looked more like the boss. Looking at his face now, she even had a vague feeling that she couldn't tell who was who between him and the boss.

But in a daze, she suddenly remembered her mission and quickly shook her head. Her long ponytail fluttered in the air and hit Su Enxi's face. The lazy girl covered her face in pain and spat out strands of hair. Jiu De Mai quickly grabbed Lu Mingfei's shoulder across the ship.

Lu Mingfei turned his gaze back, looking at her with amusement.

"I...I..." Mai Shude's throat seemed to be choked.

She felt that she was really unlucky. Ever since she met Lu Mingfei, nothing good had happened. It was one thing to get injured one after another before, after all, she was destined to go through fire and water. Even if she risked her life to be someone else's wet nurse, it would be understandable. But now that the tense atmosphere was gone, she still couldn't have a good life. She was being teased like a chick by this loser who had been observing her for many years.

"I want to talk about what you asked us to do before!" She finally thought of an excuse to start the conversation, as if grasping at a straw.

Thank goodness! Mai was grateful that her brain wasn't so stupid as to not be able to come up with a reasonable excuse. She quietly caught her breath and then rallied her spirits.

“Yes,” she said, “it’s about that ‘Mr. Tang.’ I think we can talk about it?”

Lu Mingfei's expression changed slightly; he became more serious. This man named "Old Tang" held considerable significance for him.

This made Mai sit up straighter, indicating that she had become more confident. "To be honest, I really didn't expect you to ask Zero for our help. This is a kind of trust."

"You're asking me for help, so don't take all the credit for yourself..." the girl protested softly from behind her sun hat.

"Shut up." Mai pinched Su Enxi's mouth and continued, "However, when we were helping this Mr. Tang conceal his past, we discovered a little problem. He seems a bit strange, and from Kassel's perspective, he is slightly suspicious."

"Hmm." Lu Mingfei remained noncommittal, though he had already shown some aggressive intent, he still maintained a smile on his face.

"Don't be so nervous. If we wanted to report it, or had any other ideas, we would have done it already. We wouldn't have waited until now." Mai was very satisfied with her current situation of escaping the status quo of being a "little chick." She puffed out her full chest and a seductive smile appeared on her face.

She said, "A friend of a friend is a friend. You are Zero's friend, so we are also friends. And since you and Mr. Tang are friends, he and we are also friends in a sense. Don't worry that we will do anything to hurt our friends."

Mai, like a spider weaving a web, connects unrelated people into a whole.

"So?" Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow. He actually felt that the girl in front of him was neither charming nor seductive, but rather outwardly strong but inwardly weak. Her intentions were actually quite obvious.

For some reason, he felt that he actually knew this guy quite well.

"So I think friends should help each other, right?" Mai Shude revealed a captivating smile. She was truly beautiful, both in her face and figure, and even more so when she deliberately exuded charm.

She said, "So we have a problem now that we need your help with. Could you lend a hand?"

Lu Mingfei knew this would be the sentence.

Chapter 189 Don't Call Me Mom

"Actually, we've run into some trouble and need your help. After all, you're so powerful that you can hold your own against the head of the Minamoto family from the Snake Clan. We have no other choice." Mai Shude felt she had the upper hand and began to speak eloquently. "But don't worry, it's not coercion at all. It's just out of friendship that we're asking for your help."

She smiled confidently, as if she wasn't worried at all that Lu Mingfei would give an inappropriate answer.

Before Lu Mingfei could say anything, she continued, "We two are amateur archaeologists—"

"What a coincidence? My mother is also an archaeologist," Lu Mingfei exclaimed, ignoring the fact that his father was also an archaeologist.

Jiude Mai waved her hand and said, "Then don't think you'll suddenly call me 'Mom' one day." She became more relaxed and her posture was no longer so formal. She leaned back and rested on Su Enxi's legs. "Since you have an archaeologist mother, you must know that the most important thing for archaeologists is first-hand artifacts. Coincidentally, we started a big research project together."

Su Enxi nodded like a sheep, although she seemed to scoff at the "archaeologist" excuse. But that's how things are; you need a respectable reason. They couldn't just tell Lu Mingfei directly, "Hey! Lu, we have a dragon king's egg here that we need to excavate. Can you go and retrieve it for us?"

It would be a miracle if they agreed.

"What big project?" Lu Mingfei seemed quite interested.

"It's a big topic about dragons. Have you heard a rumor?" Mai lowered her voice. "It's said to be related to a shipwreck called the Lenin."

"Oh?"

"That all happened during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Oh dear, it sounds like something from ancient times. But you were born around that time, weren't you?" Mai seemed to enjoy talking to Lu Mingfei in this state, and she even became a bit talkative herself.

His face truly delighted her.

She said, "At that time, there was an icebreaker that set sail, called the 'Lenin.' Just like its name, it was a great ship. It was the world's first polar icebreaker to be called 'all-sea'. But on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union, it suddenly made a move that was almost treason. It ignored the fleet's orders and sailed alone to Japanese territorial waters. Then, it inexplicably sent out a distress signal. In the end, it sank in that sea area."

"Related to dragons?" Lu Mingfei's voice sounded even more curious.

But his gaze was now buried in the shadows, and he could hardly control his excited expression... How could one not be shaken to their core upon hearing news of an "old acquaintance"?

He certainly remembered the Lenin, which would arrive at Black Swan Port on time to deliver supplies, and he even believed that... Herzog ultimately left on that ship.

Lu Mingfei reads books every day, not just to appear befitting the president of the "Pretty Girl Book Club," nor because of a habit he developed in the literature club in high school. He simply wants to acquire information, just as he did many years ago. He needs to understand what's happening in the world, and he needs to know about all aspects of it.

As for those hidden in the world of snow, he naturally also had a lot of bits and pieces of information.

“That’s right, but it wasn’t actually an external attack.” Mai enjoyed the conversation and nodded in confirmation. “It’s related to a dragon, and not just any ordinary dragon. It’s suspected to be a first-generation dragon.”

"Hmph," Lu Mingfei couldn't contain his joy and let out a hum.

He roughly knows what's going on.

"But it wasn't a living creature, it was an egg. We still don't know who it came from. After all, our sponsor went offline after saying a few words. He's always elusive these days, it feels like he's been possessed. He only shows up once in a long while." Mai sounded like she was complaining.

"It's also possible that the attempt to possess someone else failed, and the person was subsequently eliminated," the reclusive woman speculated.

“That’s possible,” Lu Mingfei joined the discussion, saying to Su Enxi, “Maybe he’s being choked and beaten up right now. He doesn’t sound like a good boss. Maybe he’s owed other people’s wages? Or maybe he’s been punished for spending money recklessly?”

"Yeah, yeah, he's not a good boss at all. He spends money recklessly and squanders it all. He deserved to be beaten up!" Su Enxi was eager to speak on this topic. She almost reached past Jiude Mai, who was standing in the middle, and stretched her neck like Orochimaru to get close to Lu Mingfei and chat with him for ages.

However, all of this vanished under the cold gaze of Jiu De Mai. Su Enxi shrank her neck, chuckled dryly a few times, and hid back under her sun hat.

"We don't know which monarch it is specifically, but this information is confirmed because the boss has confirmed it," Mai Shude emphasized.

"You sound like you trust your boss a lot?"

“Of course,” Mai said. “But the problem now is that the ship has sunk to one of the deepest parts of the world, and diving down won’t be an easy task.”

“Then you should sponsor one or two scientific expedition teams. After all, I’m just a student, not a diver,” Lu Mingfei shrugged.

"A student who can dive hundreds of meters without equipment? A student who can fight a sub-genius underwater?" Mai clicked her tongue, feeling frustrated. This guy wasn't cooperating at all.

“That was a power surge.” Lu Mingfei said shamelessly. “You know, a devil offered me a deal, asking if I was willing to exchange my soul for power. I actually said no, but Zero was there too. She was being chased and bitten by that third-generation monster, so I got angry and made the deal. As for Samson, he was just caught in the crossfire.”

He was talking nonsense and didn't seem to be trying to cooperate at all.

This gave Mai Shude a huge headache, and she also had another personal thought—she didn't want Zero to hear about it.

This is a dangerous matter. She knew this when she received the information from her boss, and given Ling's feelings for Lu Mingfei, she would most likely advise him not to take such a risk, making it difficult to reach this deal or negotiation...

How annoying! Everyone has things they need to weigh in their hearts, but I'm just like a pawn, only able to act on orders...

She suddenly stood up, standing on the swaying cabin, and strided across with her long legs that had already broken through Lu Mingfei's line of sight. Then, without any hesitation, she squeezed between Lu Mingfei and Ling, separating the two of them.

"Go over there, Chips said he wants to go boating with you." Mai gestured for Zero to go over.

"What? I didn't—" Su Enxi denied it reflexively; she didn't want to take the blame for Mai.

However, recalling the pitiful look on her boss's face when assigning the task, she realized this wasn't the time to be impulsive. She immediately changed her tone, nodding repeatedly and saying, "Yes, yes, you're the clueless girl here!"

Zero's mind was not swayed by the words of her two "friends." She simply turned to look at Lu Mingfei, and after he winked as if in agreement, she silently stood up and gave up her seat.

The two ships were now some distance apart.

Chapter 190 I feel we'll be a good match

"Stay a little further away from me. We're not that far from the shore. See that girl squatting by the roadside playing with the reeds? She doesn't like other girls getting so close to me. She might bite you to death."

Lu Mingfei tried his best to avoid physical contact with this sharp-eyed woman; she didn't seem to have any good intentions.

"Oh, Vice President Xia, right? It's alright, we're maintaining normal social distancing. If she insists on being petty and attacking me, there's nothing I can do. She can't exactly imprison you and prevent you from having any contact with women, can she?"

Mai Shude didn't care about this at all. She even moved closer, her breath sweet and fragrant, and her long legs were crossed and stretched out in front of Lu Mingfei, as if hinting at something.

But Lu Mingfei keenly sensed that Zero probably hadn't told his "friends" everything, and that Miss Jiude Mai completely treated Xia Mi as an ordinary girl... He really didn't think Zero was an idiot for not realizing Xia Mi's true identity for so long...

"OK then……"

Lu Mingfei prayed for this woman who knew nothing. He was not joking at all. For a dragon, possessiveness and control are almost innate, let alone a female dragon king. Sometimes Lu Mingfei didn't dare to think too much about what kind of image and position he had in Xia Mi's heart.

However, judging from Xia Mi's recent behavior of blowing on his neck or unconsciously touching the back of his hand, the extent of the problem should not be underestimated.

And now, another woman is blowing on his face.

It seems that Mai Shude is planning to use some "special means" to disrupt his mind; to put it bluntly, she's going to sell her body.

"Alright, let's get down to business. What I just said about the Lenin was just a prelude; what I'm about to tell you is the main point," Mai said sweetly. "The place where the Lenin sank is very special, so special that it's hard to believe it's just a coincidence. It's the Tuscaloa Deep, about eight thousand meters deep. Only someone very brave would dare to risk their life there, someone as brave as you~"

As she spoke, she winked tenderly in their direction, seemingly admiring Lu Mingfei greatly and hoping he would lose himself in his euphoria.

Lu Mingfei completely ignored all of that and said something shocking: "Holy crap! It sounds like they're dumping a corpse."

Mai's lips twitched. She thought to herself, "Why isn't this guy playing by the rules... Shouldn't you be smugly accepting this compliment and saying, 'Leave it all to me'? Those shallow men are all like that..."

She managed to maintain her composure and continued, "That's right. Considering there's a Dragon King's core there, it's hard to say it wasn't intentional. But the question is, why would they do that? Why would they sink a Dragon King's egg into the abyss? And who did it? You're so smart, you must be able to figure it out, right?"

She continued her "adoration offensive," blinking her eyes. Such an expression from a beautiful and sharp woman like her was truly unsettling.

But Lu Mingfei lacked both research spirit and patience. "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Besides, didn't you ask me to help you? Why are you just talking about popular science all the time? Your dream is to be a teacher?"

The woman was startled when she was interrupted, and then felt a surge of anger rising from her stomach. She rarely saw such an impatient man, who even seemed to dislike her.

"So what do you want me to do? And you deliberately took Ling away, you must be saying something bad, right?" Lu Mingfei talked on and on, making the woman dizzy. "But the reward you offered should be quite good. I heard Ling say that you are very rich. How about giving us more? Vice President Xia has been spending money recklessly these past two days and has already made us penniless."

Mai covered her ears, finding it difficult to deal with such an unpredictable person.

Although she is not a quiet person, she is indeed very afraid of noise. If someone keeps making noise at this distance, she will feel confused and unable to concentrate.

"Besides, I don't have a submersible. A depth of 100 meters is one thing, but 8,000 meters? Do you think that's something that can be achieved by human power?" Lu Mingfei continued to shout.

She finally couldn't take it anymore.

"That's the problem!" Mai, now devoid of her usual elegance, leaned close to Lu Mingfei's ear and began to yell, "I don't have a submarine either. You can't get something like that with money. You'll have to get it for me!"

Lu Mingfei had different strategies for dealing with different girls, but those were just the girls he had encountered... He found it strange, as if he knew this girl's Achilles' heel from birth. He knew that as long as he started to make a fuss, she would become irrational.

Just like now, her long-planned purpose was easily tricked out; she hadn't originally intended to say it so easily. Lu Mingfei could tell that she was worried he wouldn't take the bait, so she used all sorts of methods to try and get a "guarantee" first before revealing this tricky matter. Although not particularly clever, it was still a scheme.

"What do you mean?"

Lu Mingfei stopped making a fuss and quietly squinted his eyes.

Mai realized she had completely lost her composure, so she decided to stop beating around the bush. She could tell that Lu Mingfei was a tough nut to crack, and her seductive tricks probably wouldn't work.

Now we can only talk openly and honestly.

She composed herself and cleared her throat: "Generally, such instruments cannot be obtained with money alone; they are mostly controlled by major powers. There is only one exception: the Gattuso family."

"Caesar?"

“That’s right, Caesar Gattuso, his father Pompeii Gattuso, a few years ago he made a high-profile purchase at an auction of the legendary retired submarine, the Trieste, a submarine capable of diving into the Mariana Trench and now in private hands.” Mai calmed herself down and took a breath. She genuinely felt that talking to Lu Mingfei was really unbearable.

She said, "Advanced submarines can't be operated by hacking into them. The noise they make is too conspicuous, and it's difficult for us to get involved at the national level. So, we can only borrow them from private collections."

“But Caesar and I aren’t even that close, why would he lend it to me?” Lu Mingfei retorted.

"It's not about him lending it to you. This has nothing to do with Caesar himself. I told you, it's the Gattuso family." Mai Shude gradually changed her perception of the innocent rabbit she had long held, and no longer harbored any illusions.

In her confrontation with him, she admitted defeat, admitting she was the loser.

So she could only appeal to their reasoning: "The Gattuso family is one of the school board members in Kassel, and they are also among the most enthusiastic about dragons. If we can let them know this news, they will definitely take the initiative to explore, and then we will have an opportunity."

"Oh." Lu Mingfei nodded.

Mai Shude finally breathed a sigh of relief—

“I’m not going,” Lu Mingfei firmly refused.

"why?"

"For no reason, it just sounds dangerous, and I never intended to agree in the first place."

"So you've been listening for so long just for the spectacle?!"