69novels Page 31
Page 31
His eyes were like those of a traveler who had traversed a long period of time and finally found a long-lost treasure.
"I did lose, but it was worth it to drag you down to hell with me!" Lu Mingfei said calmly.
The boy was silent for a moment, then spoke:
"It's a pity he didn't fall for it and become Lu Mingfei... otherwise you could have become 'Lu Mingfei of this world'."
"This way, we can not only escape the pursuit of the Palace of Fixed Boundaries, but also regain control of this world!"
"Actually, you could have just replaced him back then. Why did you have to play these childish games with him?"
"What, seeing your past self... can't you bear it?"
"Brother, you haven't changed at all. You're still so indecisive, cowardly, and incompetent!"
Lu Mingfei's voice was cold:
"I know exactly what kind of person I am, I don't need you to remind me!"
"But you, Lu Mingze, instead of going to see your girl, you come here to argue with me?"
The false innocence on Lu Mingze's face shattered instantly.
He stomped his foot hard on the floor, and the bunch of keys he had smashed down emitted a piercing groan in the silence.
“My ‘girls’?” He repeated the words almost through gritted teeth, each word carrying a metallic, rusty taste. “You mean Su Enxi? Or Jiu De Mai? They’re just… my toys, unlike you, guarding a ‘fake’ and treating it like a treasure!”
"Toys?" Lu Mingfei's eyes remained completely unmoved. "Yes, you're amazing."
"Never mind, I don't want to argue with you," the boy said, bending down to pick up the bunch of keys and gently putting them back into the guard's pocket.
A few minutes later, the little boy spoke again:
"Brother, we should go!"
Lu Mingfei finally shifted his gaze from the girl, took a deep breath, and strode forward.
Lu Mingze silently followed, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
They were brothers, bound by a shared destiny of life and death, and also accomplices in committing a heinous crime.
A minute after the two left, the air where Lu Mingfei had been standing suddenly distorted without warning.
The figure of a black-haired girl appeared silently, as if extracted from frozen time.
Strangely, her appearance did not attract the attention of the guards.
The girl tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling on Erii, who was pacing alone in the room.
She glanced at it briefly before looking away.
"Two little reptiles! They're pretty fast!"
The moment the sound faded, the girl's figure vanished like a dream.
Chapter 26 Su Xiaoqiang
Downstairs from Century Star Building.
The afternoon sun streamed into the café through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting an amber glow on the wooden floor.
In the corner, Lu Mingfei and Liu Miaomiao occupied a leather sofa, with two iced coconut lattes on the table where fine water droplets condensed.
Liu Miaomiao's slender fingers tapped rapidly on the phone's keypad, occasionally letting out a soft chuckle.
Lu Mingfei leaned back on the sofa, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.
He usually doesn't touch "bourgeois drinks" like coffee, but today is an exception—he needs every possible bit of help for the upcoming "duel".
Water droplets silently slid down the cool coffee cup, leaving a winding trail on the glass tabletop.
The thought that there were still thirty minutes until his match with Su Xiaoqiang made his stomach tighten slightly.
"A 'one-stop service' for failed missions... This weird name sounds creepy! What on earth is it?"
As a mixed-race individual, Lu Mingfei's mind couldn't help but delve into the deeper meanings of the word "dragon"—
If even a half-baked one like him exists, then a real, powerful dragon that can fly, dive into the earth, breathe fire, and demolish buildings... must also exist, right?
"My God..." The thought that this "one-stop service" might actually refer to a physical "dragon" to "serve" him... sent chills down Lu Mingfei's spine!
The scene was simply unbearable to contemplate:
A colossal creature descended from the sky, pinned him down with one claw, and then crunched him to bits... The outcome was all too clear!
The second explanation is much more normal, almost eerily so—it's roughly the "all-inclusive" funeral package offered after someone passes away:
The process of receiving the body, wrapping it up, putting it in the furnace, burning it to ashes, and then putting it in a small box is quite "complete".
“As for the last explanation…” Lu Mingfei shrank back, a guilty yet sly expression creeping onto his face, his eyes darting around. “Hey, that’s… interesting…”
He quietly adjusted his breathing, trying to calm his racing heart.
The cool air from the air conditioner brushed against the back of my neck, sending a slight shiver down my spine.
Liu Miaomiao suddenly looked up, her gaze shifting from her phone screen to the boy beside her: "Hey, you look terrible."
Her voice carried a genuine concern, and her fingers unconsciously tightened around the edge of her phone case.
Lu Mingfei didn't open his eyes, but just forced a perfunctory smile: "The air conditioning is too cold."
The excuse was so lame that even he himself didn't believe it, but it was better than explaining the truth—that he was preparing for a contest that concerned his dignity and life.
Lu Mingfei suddenly remembered that he hadn't checked the little gift he received after winning the rock-paper-scissors game with the system.
He opened his eyes and accessed his personal account.
In addition to the original two bottles of memory potion and three fitness capsules, three cards emitting a faint blue light suddenly appeared in the account—the [Time-Swept Cards].
When he read the card's instructions, his pupils suddenly contracted—after using it, he could rewind to an hour earlier!
This is just like the save/load function in a game!
"Is the system acting up?" Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, "The rock-paper-scissors game is actually giving out such an overpowered item?"
What made him even more suspicious was that the system not only informed him of the order of punches in advance, but the whole process was so smooth that it was as if... as if these cards were deliberately being delivered to him.
Lu Mingfei's eyes darted around a few times: "Wait...could it be..."
A guess gradually took shape in his mind.
He called out in his mind, "System, are you there? If you are, please reply!"
[Please note that there are 27 minutes remaining until the final showdown with Su Xiaoqiang!]
The cold, mechanical voice echoed in my mind, but it lacked the usual playfulness and warmth.
"System, stop teasing me..." His voice weakened in his mind, as if afraid of disturbing something.
[Please note that there are 27 minutes remaining until the final showdown with Su Xiaoqiang!]
The same reply, exactly the same.
Lu Mingfei sat up abruptly, grabbed his coffee cup, and took a big gulp.
The icy coconut juice mixed with caffeine slid down my throat, but it couldn't quell the inexplicable anxiety in my heart.
"System, what exactly are you..." His call stopped abruptly, and he froze on the spot as if he suddenly realized something.
"Damn it!" The fist slammed heavily on the sofa armrest, drawing sidelong glances from the guests sitting next to him.
Lu Mingfei then realized that the system had been responding to him with preset prompts from beginning to end—like a machine with a pre-programmed sequence.
Liu Miaomiao cautiously approached: "Lu Mingfei, what's wrong with you again?" Her voice was filled with undisguised worry.
Lu Mingfei turned his head, looked at the girl's slightly furrowed brows, and suddenly smiled: "I'm fine! The coffee is delicious, it makes me very happy!"
The smile was so bright that Liu Miaomiao took a half-step back in suspicion.
"Always acting weird..." she muttered to herself, unaware of the hint of melancholy that flashed in Lu Mingfei's eyes.
The ice cubes in the glass clinked gently, making a crisp sound.
Lu Mingfei watched the ice gradually melt and suddenly understood—
The system guy who would argue with him, threaten him, and reward him while beating him up might really be gone.
It's strange. I'm being tormented by the system all day long, but now I feel like I've lost something important.
Lu Mingfei chuckled self-deprecatingly. It turned out he was really that pathetic. Even if it was a system brother who bullied him all day, he would be happy as long as he could talk to him.
The background music in the coffee shop changed to a soothing piano piece, and Lu Mingfei tilted his head back to finish the last sip of coffee.
The ice cubes made a hollow, clinking sound at the bottom of the glass, just like his empty feeling at that moment.
He leaned back on the sofa again, closing his eyes to think.
The system is still there, but the system guy is gone.
Recalling the System's actions before it disappeared, which sounded like a final farewell, Lu Mingfei felt incredibly stupid.
Why didn't I notice it at the time?
……
At exactly 14:00 PM, a cold, mechanical voice boomed in Lu Mingfei's mind:
[Warning: There are 10 minutes left until the mission to confront Su Xiaoqiang. Please set off immediately!]
Lu Mingfei suddenly opened his eyes; the afternoon sunlight streaming through the French windows made his vision blurry.
He subconsciously turned his head to look at Liu Miaomiao beside him—the girl was engrossed in fiddling with her phone on the table, completely unaware that he had woken up.
Lu Mingfei's gaze inadvertently swept across the phone screen, and his breath hitched.
The screen prominently displayed the chat interface between Liu Miaomiao and Su Xiaoqiang:
Liu Miaomiao: What kind of person do you think Lu Mingfei is?
Su Xiaoqiang: Why are you suddenly asking him? Did something happen between you two?
"This 'Little Fairy's' intuition is too accurate..." Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, continuing to steal glances at the screen.
Liu Miaomiao: I just wanted to ask...
Su Xiaoqiang: That guy is a scumbag and a coward. He's treated like a dog by Chen Wenwen all day long and has no self-awareness at all.